Best girl has arrived.
After their rendezvous in the Safe Room, Ib and Garry, along with their new friend Florian, headed out and made their way to the Violet Area. After looking around, Ib noticed a bookshelf outside a room, and out of curiosity, took a book and started reading.
"I found myself ? my finger over her ?, beautiful ?..." The book read. "And as she lay there, ? my ?, I..."
Before Ib could continue, Garry, realising what she was actually reading, quickly closed the book.
"...Don't read this kind of stuff until you get older." Garry advised.
"Why? What sorta book was it?" Florian wondered.
As he wasn't paying attention, Florian took the book to see what Ib was reading. Upon actually finding out, he quickly threw the book away in horror.
"Oh no, why?! Why would someone make this?!" He exclaimed. "Who would write this kinda stuff?!"
After this little debacle, the trio entered the room and saw only a single painting titled Separation.
"I don't know why, but I have another bad feeling…" Florian said.
"I know... What an off-putting painting…" Garry agreed.
Suddenly, the lights unexpectedly turned off.
"W-What?! The lights..." Garry exclaimed.
"No, no, no! What happened to the lights?! Who turned out the lights?!" Florian panicked.
"I-It's too dark to see...!" Garry added, before addressing Ib. "I-Ib! Are you there?!"
"I'm here." Ib answered meekly.
"That's good to hear..." Garry said in relief. "Stay put there, alright?"
"Yeah, stay with us for now, Ib. But we need to find a light switch or something, guys." Florian advised. "We can't just stay here."
"You're right, this is a problem..." Garry remembered before remembering something. "Ah, that's right."
"What? What is it?" Florian wondered.
"I forgot I had a lighter." Garry said as he tried to turn it on, an odd sound emanating from somewhere as he did.
"What was that...?" Florian asked cautiously, before Garry successfully used the lighter to turn the lights on...being greeted by sudden red text on the floor, which read the following paragraph.
A notice to all visitors: The gallery has a strict ban on fire-starting implements. We request that you not bring in items like matches or lighters. Should the use of such items be reported to the staff.
"...Huh?" Garry wondered, before seeing the text, which startled everyone.
"Ahhh!" Florian exclaimed as he jumped back in fright.
"Wh... What is THIS...?!" Garry also exclaimed. The two grown men briefly panicked before settling down, being noticed by Ib, who looked concerned.
"I don't think this is...good for my mental health"... Garry said.
"This is too much for me to handle, I can't take it!" Florian added. "We gotta get out of here!"
Ib agreed and headed for the door. Upon leaving, they discovered red paint on the floor.
"...That wasn't there before, was it?" Florian questioned.
"Not a chance." Garry denied before deducing something was amiss. "There is definitely something wrong... We need to follow that trail!"
"This is a bad idea, this is a bad idea..." Florian worried, as Ib scoured ahead, being followed by the other two.
Ib followed the trail, which led to another door. Upon entering it, she was unexpectedly approached by another little girl around her age with blonde hair, blue eyes and a green dress, who accidentally bumped into Ib.
"Ahh?!" The girl exclaimed before falling backwards onto the floor.
"Whoa, are you okay?!" Garry asked as he and Florian both approached the girl worriedly.
"...!" The girl reacted in surprise and backed away from the two men cautiously.
"Ah! Wait!" Garry called out.
"No, it's okay, we're not the bad guys here." Florian said to her in a gentle tone. "Just relax, there's nothing to be scared of."
"Say, are you... Could you be one of the visitors to the gallery?" Garry asked.
"Ah...!" The girl reacted in surprise.
"As I thought..." Garry deducted.
Ib, who was hiding behind Garry and Florian, then came out of hiding and stood next to the pair.
"My name is Garry." Garry said, introducing himself and Ib.
"And my name is Florian." Florian added, introducing himself as well. "It's nice to meet you."
"..." The girl didn't introduce herself just yet, only staring and listening to the group.
"We, too, were at the art gallery, but we soon found ourselves lost in this odd place." Garry explained. "So now we're working together to try and find a way out. I presume it's the same story for you?"
The girl didn't answer right away, so Florian tried to reassure her.
"It's okay if you're scared. I mean, I'm honestly pretty terrified right now." He admitted to the child. "I was kidnapped and locked inside a casket before these two came and saved me. But you seem like you wasn't attacked or anything. How did you get here?"
"I...I was looking to see if there was anyone else, too..." The girl started to say. "I wanted to get out... So I..."
"As I thought! Well then, would you like to come with us?" Garry offered.
"Huh...?" The girl asked in surprise.
"It's dangerous to be alone here. There's lots of strange creatures around." Garry said.
"Yeah, and if we're gonna survive this, we all need to stick together." Florian added. "We can't afford to be apart."
"Florian's right, it's not safe here. So will you come with us?" Garry continued. "I think it would be best if we all stayed together."
The girl thought it over, before she reached her decision.
"Yeah! I'll come...!" She accepted.
"Then it's decided! Oh, what's your name?" Garry asked.
"Mary..." The girl answered.
"Mary, then! Nice to meet you" Garry said politely.
"I already said it, but I'll say it again. Nice to meet you, Mary!" Florian added.
"...Mhm!" Mary replied to both of them before approaching Ib.
"Um... Nice to meet you, Ib..." She said to the girl in red.
"Nice to meet you too." Ib replied.
"...Mhm!" Mary said again.
"Alright! And with a new companion, let's proceed with our spirits high!" Garry declared.
"Yaaay!" Mary cheered in agreement. Florian couldn't help but smile at this endearing attitude.
With that, the party of four ventured off to try and find a way out of the haunted gallery.