47. The World of Guertena

Did I mention Mary comes from Ib? 'Cause that's kind of important. Also, an Atbash.

 Chapter 47: The World of Guertena 

Goldenweek Residence

The sun rose over the lush grassland where the Goldenweek mansion stood. Few white clouds were in the sky, so the day would be bright and clear today. Mary was still asleep in her soft, warm bed, her yellow hair a mess after rolling around all night. When she stretched her arms to either side, she hugged only dolls. It took her an hour to realize that none of them were body-size. She lazily sat up, looking around. She looked at her doorway when April walked in, fully dressed except her shoes and hat. "Good morning, Mary! Did you have any nightmares?"

"Mmmm… mm-mm." Mary shook 'no.'

"That's good. Do you wanna sleep in or eat breakfast first?"

"No, I'm hungry." She smiled. "I wanna eat cereal! It tastes like tiny tasty sand dancing in my mouth!" She smacked her lips and tongue up and down like she were chewing.

"Ha ha ha! Be down, soon! The gallery opens at 11, so your mom and dad wanna go at 12:30. Plenty of time to play around!"

"Okay. I can't wait!" After April left the room, Mary kicked off her bed and entered her bathroom. She doused her hands with hot water under the sink and splashed it on her face. She looked up at the mirror, her tired eyes squinted as water dripped from her face. For some reason, her face seemed darker in the reflection. She stared at herself close, like an image in a canvas. Today, they might learn the secret behind her nightmares. But Mary felt like she already knew.

Outside

"TAG!" Aisa exclaimed, pushing Chimney. "You're it!" The Nimbi laughed as she ran away, the feel of the grass under her bare feet giving her energy. After they had breakfast, the friends went outside to engage in an energetic game of Tag.

Chimney chased Aisa, her teeth gritted furiously, until the leader stopped and noticed Mary to her left. Chimney smirked, dashing over to push Mary forcefully. "TAG!! You're it, Mary-chan!" She ran away.

"Yaaaaay! I'm it, I'm it!" Mary jumped.

"Mary, you don't want to be 'it'." April chuckled, painting a canvas.

"Why not?"

"Because the one who's 'it' dies! That's how I always interpreted it."

"Oh. I don't want to die." Mary frowned.

"Actually, since Chimney tagged you, that makes you our new Sector Leader!" Apis grinned.

"WHAT?!" Chimney freaked. "NO I DIDN'T! YOU TAG ME BACK RIGHT NOW, YOU SNEAKY…" She tackled Mary, angrily slapping her face as the others laughed.

Aeincha and Mini Mocha climbed up April's long legs, eventually resting on her shoulders to view her painting. "Whatcha doin'?" Aeincha asked.

"Oh! It's Sector V!" Mocha pointed. The painting depicted Sector V standing on Candied Island's shore, with Sheila grinning, winking, and raising a 'peace' sign.

"I know. I'm making pictures of all the places the Lights went to." April explained. "There's the others." Aeincha and Mocha dropped to the ground and walked around a tree, viewing the four paintings leaned against it. Sector IC with Arendelle Castle at the top, Sector W flying through Birka's storm, Team Gallagher fighting in the Battle of Washington… then Sector W7, happily exploring an art gallery.

"Ours isn't very exciting, huh." Aeincha sweatdropped. "But does this mean you think one of us will be awakened there?"

"Kind of. I met Sheila in a dream last night, and she told me about the other people she visited. A few chapters later, a new Light."

"'Guess Chimney is finally going to learn her secret power." Mocha said. "You're amazing though, April. You'll put this Guertena guy to shame."

"I wouldn't say that. His art was pretty deep, from what I remember."

"Yeah, but he lived a long time ago." Aeincha said. "They'll need to make way for the Goldenweek Gallery pretty soon!"

"Hm hm hm hm! That would be awesome."

"YEAAAAAH!" Chimney stood victoriously over Mary. "I'm the Leader of Sector W7 agaaaaiin!"

"Oh- my mistake." Apis said. "Since Mary isn't an operative, we're playing normal Tag, so you're going to die."

"NOOOOO!" She fell over. ("Gyom-gyoooom!")

"Hehehehehehe!" Mary giggled, still lain on the ground. "Do you guys have this much fun every day?"

"In some way or another way." Aisa shrugged. "You aren't bored of us, are you?"

"No way! You guys are so much fun! Hey, if there was a way we could play like this forever and ever, would you?"

"HECK no!" Chimney shouted, sitting up. "I might DIE if I was stuck with these on'nanokos forever! I need my alone space." She folded her arms and turned away.

"Oh. Well, I surely would!"

"You guys, it's 12:00!" Rosa Goldenweek yelled to the children. "If we leave now, we can make it downtown by 12:30!"

"Adams Tech tells me the monkey situation is under control, so that sounds like a green light." Alvin called.

"Okay!" April beamed, quickly grabbing her paintings. "Let's go, Mary!" ("Gyom!")

Mary stood and watched her new friends run to the two separate cars, driven by her mother and father respectively. She sighed and hurried to her mother's dark-red car, where April was sitting.

Downtown Düssenheim

"My, I can't believe a pack of monkeys could cause this much damage." Rosa said, studying the smashed windows of many cars and buildings. Their trip took numerous detours because of holes in the road.

"I kept telling them the Pipo Helmets would come back to haunt them." Alvin said, speaking to the other car via their radios. "It's awful, almost every building in town was attacked. Thankfully the bridge was fixed, otherwise we couldn't get over there."

April gasped. "You don't think they ruined the gallery, do you?!" If that were the case, she wouldn't rest until every monkey on Earth were strangled.

"As a matter of fact, I asked about that." Alvin replied. "My co-workers had a funny story. Apparently, several of the monkeys and their robots were seen guarding the Guertena Art Gallery. They didn't let any visitors in at all, and after they were finally captured, nothing in the gallery was reported damaged or stolen. They were entirely baffled, it's almost as if… they were expecting somebody."

"The monkeys… they work for that Team Gnik group." Apis remembered from the Star Train. "Team Gnik is after the Seven Lights. Do you guys think that… a Gibberish Rock is inside the gallery?"

"A Gibberish Rock?" Rosa smiled humorously. "That would be something Master Guertena would create. I can't wait until we get there."

Galdino Goldenweek huffed exhaustedly. "The only exhibit I'm looking forward to is the lounge. I didn't enjoy coming the first time, I won't enjoy it this time."

"You're just upset because Guertena had a better mind for sculptures." Alvin said simply.

"I could outwax him in my sleep…"

The Guertena Gallery was a large, white building that was two floors tall, and a posh tiled floor was spread out before the stairs leading up to it. The sign read, in German, Welcome to the World of Weiss Guertena! The place of homage to the late artist since 1923! "It's been around that long?" Aisa asked.

"Some say it was Guertena's own living quarters." April answered. "It has to be, because one of them is a floor painting. It's pretty cool, wait'll you see it."

"Yeah, yeah." Chimney sighed, uninterested. "I'm just gonna be thinking about trains the whole time." (Play the Gallery Theme from Ib.)

Stage 57: Guertena Gallery

Mission: Explore the gallery.

Act 1

The lobby of the gallery was a bright white, and the floor was shiny and marble. The visitors wore mostly fancy clothing, but teenagers wore average clothes. "It's already bringing back memories." Rosa smiled. "I wonder if they still have the pretty rubies?"

"I still remember needing to visit the reception desk before touring." Alvin said. "Shall we?" The band of kids followed the parents to the brown desk, where a white-haired man in a black tux stood.

"Uncle Alvin, Aunt Rosa?" April spoke. "Is it alright if we all go ahead?"

"Hm hm, eager for an adventure, aren't you?" Rosa chuckled. "Alright. Just don't cause trouble for the other visitors. April, you're the oldest, so we're counting on you to keep your friends under control."

"Will do." April blushed. "Come on, fellas." The kids all walked ahead (Gonbe peeped out of Aisa's satchel).

"So do you really think a Gibberish Rock is here?" Aisa asked Apis.

"It's possible." Apis smiled thoughtfully. "If one of us is a Light, that person would be able to read what's on it."

"Right you are, Apis-chan." Chimney agreed. "Let's split up in groups. Search every nook and cranny 'til we find that rock."

"First I wanna show you the floor painting." April said eagerly. "It's over here! See?"

Several visitors were standing around a square-shaped rope fence. The W7 members looked over, gazing at the huge floor painting: it depicted a gray angler fish coming in from the right, against a dark-blue background that was under the sea. The angler had a gaping mouth of sharp teeth, and black holes for eyes. "Whoa… for the first time, I feel super tiny." Aeincha said.

"I wanna be bigger in case that thing comes out." Mocha said worriedly.

"Hmhm, that's a typical reaction." April laughed. "It's called 'Abyss of the Deep.'"

"Hey girls, check it out!" Chimney waved her friends to come over beside the nameplate. "I found gibberish! Maybe this is connected to the rock!"

"Chimney, that's German." Apis said. "It says, 'Abyss of the Deep: A world where man will never stand. To realize that world, I decided that I would engrave it within the canvas.'"

"Hah?? You understand German? I don't know any of these words!"

"Mary taught us all while you were fixing your train." Aisa informed. "She showed us a bunch of super-easy tips. Even Gonbe learned a few words!" ("Gyom!" the rabbit confirmed.)

"You mean I'm the only one in this gallery who can't read?!" Chimney shouted quietly. "I feel so…so… stupid!"

"Aw, chill out, Chimney." Mocha smiled. "Just be thankful that you know the storylines of anime better than anyone, because dubs and subs can never get it right!"

"It's not the same, guys." Chimney was down on all fours, facing the floor in a depressed fashion. They could imagine the blue wavy anime lines over her form. "I need some time to monologue internally."

"Well, okay." Apis said. "Let's split up and look for that rock." She went with Aisa, Aeincha explored with Mocha, and April with Mary.

Apis and Aisa went south of the floor painting and found a tall sculpture of a red rose. The stem was spiky, and red petals lay on the floor. "'Embodiment of Spirit: Beautiful at a glance, but if you get too close, it will induce pain. It can only bloom in wholesome bodies.'" Apis read.

"What do you think that means?" Aisa asked.

"Who knows. It's art."

April and Mary carried Aeincha and Mocha up to the second floor. They glanced at a painting of a green Yoshi, dangling upside-down via a rope around his legs. The Yoshi's face was miserable. "I read that Mr. Guertena based this creature off of those from an exotic island." A man observing the painting said.

"He does not use real creatures for models often, does he?" his female companion asked.

While April walked ahead, Mary stopped before a familiar painting. She gasped to herself: it was the painting from her dream. A slumbering man with lavender hair, wearing a dark blue, ragged jacket, with a green shirt underneath. He held a blue rose, and was surrounded by such roses against a black background. It was called Forgotten Portrait. "Mary?" April called.

"Oh. Coming!" She chased her cousin.

"April, what did Guertena look like?" Mocha asked.

"I don't know. There really aren't many pictures of him. There's plenty of books, but no pictures. He didn't do self-portraits, either. Though to be honest," April smiled, "I picture him wearing white clothing. The 'Weiss' in his name is German for 'white.'"

They looked at paintings labeled Misshapen Diamond, Couplet Towers, Bitter Fruit, and The Lady in Red, a brown-haired woman with red eyes and a red dress, smiling. Mary smiled back at the painting, delighted by her appearance. Aeincha and Mocha especially took interest in a trio of headless statues, colored red, yellow, and light-blue. They were titled Death of the Individual. "How come those guys don't have heads?" Aeincha asked.

"I guess it's because 'the individual' lies in one's expression. That's why they're 'dead.'" April responded.

"I just thought it was because you need your head to stay connected to your body." Mocha said. "But your idea's good, too."

Downstairs, Apis and Aisa viewed a set of four glass cases; this exhibit was labeled the Twinkling of Crystals and Stars. The sight inside the glass was too spectacular for human words. "…Apis, look!" Aisa pointed, running to a door in the corner. "It's the Basement! They probably have a ton more things down here."

Apis tugged on the doorknob. "It's locked. Do you have any shrink apples?"

"I had to make room for Gonbe. But Aeincha's arms could probably reach in."

"Good idea. It would be great if the Gibberish Rock was hidden in here."

After passing the headless statues, April received a call on her wristwatch. "April, are Aein and Mocha with you?" Apis asked. April confirmed 'Yes.' "We found a door to the basement, but we need them to reach into the lock."

"Alright. Mary, can you carry them down?" She handed her cousin the tinies.

"Of course! I love holding my dollies!" Mary pressed them to her cheeks.

"We enjoy your company too, Mary." Aeincha remarked.

While Mary jogged back to the stairs, April proceeded on this floor. A white couch sat inside a rope fence, titled Reserved Seat. A little boy with a yellow shirt tried to sneak under the fence, but his mother grabbed and pulled him away. "I told you you can't touch anything, Norbert."

"Eh." When the boy thrusted his arm toward the couch, a card fell out of his sleeve. "Mom, my Yu-Gi-Oh card!"

April shook her head humorously and kept going. "Wariness" was a pink sphere with three swords stabbed into it. The "Taste-Cleansing Tree" was a thin black tree with colored strips hanging from the branches. "Fusion" was a sculpture of a blue, blob-like humanoid with a bald, drooped head. She then walked by a painting of a black cat's head, and a little girl excitedly pointing at it. "A kitty! Mommy, look, it's a kitty-cat!"

"Yes, I see it, now be quiet! I told you not to shout."

April remembered why she loved this place. So many unique paintings and sculptures, so many people talking about them. Art can have so many interpretations, they create so many discussions. April wondered if, a hundred years from now, people would talk about her art. How amazing it would be if she lived on in history as Germany's second greatest artist. People would call her a reincarnation of Guertena… no, no, April was thinking too much.

"Hm?" April saw another painting… well, it was almost like a mural. It was very wide, taking up a large space of wall. There were many black, shadowy blotches. The left side was blue and had a red rose in the upper-left. After that, green, then yellow, a pink splotch with a crescent moon next to it, then gray. The right side was dark-red, with the Lady in Red's canvas at the very end. April read the title. "S…Something… World? I can't read that word. …I don't even remember this painting. Hmm." (End song.)

The lights flickered. April looked up with a start. The light remained normal afterwards. "That's strange…" Then again, this gallery was a century old, so lighting problems would happen. April continued ahead; this route made the loop back to the headless statues. The gallery had gotten quiet. April saw no other visitors. "Where did… everyone go?"

She went downstairs. The receptionist was gone, his desk abandoned. April walked to the room with the floor painting: she never pictured a time where no one surrounded the marvel. "HELLO? Chimney?… Apis?… Mary? Anyone?…"

She returned to the lobby and looked at the entrance. "Did they all… go outside?" April approached the brown double-doors and grabbed both handles. She gasped when the doors wouldn't open, jiggling and tugging them. "It's locked."

The lights flickered again—then they faded to a very dark dimness. April heard faint, rhythmic footsteps in the distance. "Hello? Who's there?"

No one responded, and April wasn't sure how far the footsteps were. Her heart racing, April rushed to one of the windows, trying to pull open. It was sealed tight. April peeked outside, viewing the pitch-black world. "But… it was broad daylight."

Blood leaked from the top of the window—April jumped back. Her heart raced faster, the footsteps kept pounding in her ears, so April ran upstairs. She passed a window—a silhouette walked by the window. Curious, April approached and looked out. When she saw nothing, April resumed walking- BANG BANG BANG! She whipped around, and the window was cracked. She ignored this and fast-walked past the headless statues, to the big mural painting. A blue ooze leaked from the bottom left of the canvas. April slowly approached. "What… is this?" She softly touched it-

BIP BIP BIP BIP! She turned—blood-red letters splattered on the floor, reading W E L C O M E B A C K. The blue ooze had turned into writing. It said, come down below april you know the way.

April didn't understand, but she chose to return down the stairs. The footsteps wouldn't stop, but there was no sign of another presence. She wondered what the writing meant… then, she saw it: a piece of the fence around the floor painting was open. Blue, painted footprints led into the Abyss of the Deep. April didn't appreciate defilement around such a great painting, but it didn't appear damaged.

She looked around the gallery further. She viewed the Embodiment of Spirit sculpture, which- "Cough!" April whipped behind. The Coughing Man painting hung on the wall, a black-haired person in an orange shirt. April approached and looked at him closely. Did he just… cough? April shook this idea off and kept looking. She returned to the second floor, passing the mural to the next row of paintings, such as the black cat-

"Mroooowww." She definitely heard it that time. That cat moaned. Yet the painting lay motionless. She went up to view the other paintings. The Lady in Red, Misshapen Diamond, and Bitter Fruit remained—the apple in Bitter Fruit fell out and splat on the floor, leaving only the pear. Well-p, that pretty much clarified it: something was wrong with this gallery.

April was getting more annoyed with those footsteps, but seeing no one they belonged to. She wandered downstairs and looked at the footprints beside the Abyss of the Deep. Could it be that… April stepped on that spot. As she viewed the giant, open-mouthed angler fish, she thought without a doubt, this would be the craziest thing to ever happen. She stepped one foot over the floor painting. She stepped down… then, she splashed in as if it were water.

April held her breath. She was underwater, inside the painting. Bubbles floated from her mouth. Fish swam about. It was brighter blue than it had been in the painting, but the angler fish wasn't here. It was… amazing. Already, she felt like she were in a whole different world. A world where man would never stand. April felt her body turning, slowly within the liquid. Her soul felt uplifted, her mind was wide open. This entire space… was inside a painting. She fell into a painting… everything under this water was paint. And yet, it felt so real. One minute ago, she was afraid. Now, she was in awe beyond compare. Her imagination was touched at its core. (Play "Dungeon 1" from Ib.)

She felt herself go through a surface, and her feet touched down on a flat, blue floor. She looked around the short, blue-colored hallway, then at the ceiling, where she noticed the faint waves of the "water" stop rippling. That was where she came from, but it looked like a blank ceiling now. Wherever she was, she wouldn't be getting back.

There were two paintings on the wall: both depicted cliffs looking out over a sea, one blue, the other red. April followed the hall past the blue sea, coming to a door beside a painting of an abstract, gray pattern. The Geometrical Fish, it was called. It didn't look much like a fish; perhaps Guertena can stump April after all. There was an empty, square hole under the picture. The door was locked, so April went down the other hall. Light-blue letters were scattered around the wall; April tried to list them in the order she passed, T F V I G V M Z O R E V H.

There was a small brown desk blocking a door, and a base with a bright pink rose sat on the desk. April was enticed by the rose. It smelled lovely, and looked beautiful. The vase's water was shallow, so she found it amazing that a rose could have so much life in a building's dim-lit basement. April reached over and took the rose… for some reason, she felt an odd connection with it. A part of her told her not to put it back. April gently put the rose in her jacket pocket. She moved the desk aside to enter the door, leading to a small room with a painting of a woman with dark-cyan hair. She was smiling, eyes closed in arches, and wore a white shirt. It seemed her hair's paint was leaking out of the canvas.

There was a box-shaped device with mini square tiles on the floor. April picked it up—the painting's eyes opened to an angry slant, and her mouth grinned with sharp teeth. April gulped, wanting to walk out of there, but she noticed a paper under the painting. It said, When the rose wilts, so too shall you rot away. April walked out of the room. There was also a poster beside the rose's former desk, which said, You and the rose are unified. Know the weight of your life.

The light-blue letters in the hall were gone, replaced with red letters. April couldn't put them in a specific order, but each of the five different letters splatted on the floor before her, reading THIEF. April quick-walked down the hall, back to the Geometric Fish painting. She put the tile box inside the open square. When she moved the tiles in the box, the tiles on the painting moved as well. April reorganized the tiles, each with various shades of gray, and created a realistic fish. A blue key dropped from behind the portrait, and April used it to open the door.

She was in a green hallway with numerous, simple paintings of bugs. A ladybug, a bee, a Bulborb, a dragonfly, a- "hey, watch where you're going." April gasped and looked down. An ant was close to her large shoe. Curious, April bent down and scooped the ant on her finger.

"Did you just… talk?"

"of course. i'm an ant. ants talk."

"So do humans, but we know how to use capital letters."

"do you love paintings? i love paintings. my painting is especially cool. i'd like to see it again, but it's kind of far away."

"Where is it?"

"over there." His stubby leg pointed to an alternate corridor.

"Well, I'll take you." April smiled.

"no, i don't go that way. you can bring it to me, though."

"Um, okay." April set the ant down and walked toward that passage. A sign read, Beware the edges. April progressed, not sure what that- "HAH!" A black claw reached from the wall, April jumped back with a start. "HAH!" Another one nearly grabbed her—April bolted down the long passage, "HAH HAH HAH!" arms shot out to grab from every direction, she dodged left and right and moved her legs faster. When the hall turned right, she dodged that way, and no more claws reached for her. Beside a locked door, April found the ant painting. She took it off the wall and swallowed nervously. The arms were still outstretched, but could only go so far. She kept in the very center of the passage and walked quickly.

"oh. that's my painting. it's just as cool as i remember it." The ant was staring longingly at the picture when April showed it to him.

"Um… that's nice… Hey, do you know a way out of here?"

"oh, no. maybe the person in there will." He pointed further down the hall. April sighed, still carrying the painting as she followed. A picture labeled Prologue depicted a yellow-green dot against blank white background. Chapter 1 showed a worm, Chapter 2 had a cocoon, and the Last Chapter depicted a beautiful yellow butterfly. April opened a door to a small room with a rectangular hole in the floor. Oddly, the ant painting would be good to lay down and cover it… but April wouldn't treat art that way, not to mention her long legs could easily step over the short hole. So she did.

She was led to a dead-end room with a red headless statue on the other side. A painting on the wall depicted the yellow butterfly being eaten by a black spider. Epilogue. A green key lay on the floor, so April picked it up—"HAH!" The headless statue reached forward and chased her like a zombie. April immediately bolted through the door, the statue pursued quick and prevented her from shutting it, so April—"WAAAAAH!" Her foot stepped into the hole in the floor; losing balance and scraping her head against the side, April plummeted through.

She landed in a red hallway, feeling a searing pain in her legs and on her face. "O-ow-w-w-w-w…" Her knees jittered when she tried to stand. She saw that the ant in the painting was literally squished by her weight, its body parts severed with blood leaking out as if it were flesh. She looked up, seeing the headless statue standing over the hole in the ceiling. April tried to walk forward quickly, but the pain wouldn't leave her body. Her legs felt like sticks. April remembered the rose in her jacket and pulled it out. It had one petal left.

April eventually made it to a door, bringing her to a corridor with a bright blue vase on a desk. There was a painting of such a vase, and it was called Eternal Blessing. April decided to put her one-petal stem in the vase. Like magic, the rose's petals reappeared, making it good as new. The pain in her legs and head disappeared, allowing her to stand upright. She sighed with relief.

"Hm…" April picked the rose up and stared at it. "So, does this rose… represent me?" She turned it over from a few angles. "But just what is this water?" She looked at the apparently magic vase. April sighed and sat on the floor, staring at the pink rose thoughtfully. "Talking ants… living statues… everyone disappearing… nothing here makes any sense."

April's eyes inched left, stopping at the communicator on her wrist. Realizing this, she tapped it to try and call her friends. …It was completely dead. Worry flowed inside her heart. Where had her friends and everyone in the gallery disappeared to. She took a breath and cried out, "MARY, CHIMNEY, APIS, AISA! CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?"

As she expected, no one responded. Her voice traveled as far as the limited space in this hall. She sighed again and got up. "I wonder if they're in the same situation as me. …I wonder if they're not and they even know I'm gone. …" She looked up at another door ahead. "I guess I have to try and find a way out of here." April walked forward, putting the rose in her jacket.

Gray Area

Aeincha and Mocha were climbing a ladder down a small shaft. After Mary set them on the floor and ran back to find April for some reason, the tiny girls attempted to follow her. The lights flickered when they looked at a giant painting, and everyone else disappeared. They found a loose tile in the floor and decided to climb down the secret tunnel. "Why would an art gallery have this?" Mocha asked. "Do Lilliputians work here?"

"It is kind of strange." Aeincha agreed. "Hopefully, this leads down to the basement. If only I brought a flashlight."

"The one thing I don't understand is, weren't we on the second floor?"

"That's what makes me lost."

They finally set foot on ground and crawled out of a mouse hole, into a small (to a regular human) gray room. There was a white canvas with a line-drawn, unsymmetrical box called Unbalanced Box, and a picture of two hands clutching a heart, called Heart in Custody. The girls took solace in the fact they were clearly in the gallery's basement, and there was enough light to see. They approached a gray door that towered over them. "I still can't believe how small I am now." Mocha said. "I've been giant for so long, it's such a dramatic change. How are we supposed to open that?"

"I'm glad you asked, Mocha," Aeincha smiled and winked, "because Mistress Aeincha will happily teach you the Art of Tiny Lifestyle to make your tiny experience as easy as eating pie. Starting with my grappling hook!" Aeincha pulled out and threw her hook up to the doorknob. She climbed up quickly and grabbed the knob, shifting her body weight to make it turn. At the sound of the click, Mocha used her strength to push the door open.

Aeincha dropped to the floor as they entered the new room. They gasped—the wall was aligned with ghostly-white mannequin heads that all faced the center path. Paintings of said heads hung on the wall; the first one had an average face, as did the second one, and the third one had no pupils. The hallway was very long at their size. "This is creepy…" Aeincha shuddered.

"Don't worry, Aeincha." Mocha put on a brave smile. "They're just sculptures. It's not like they're gonna eat us."

"Yeah, but if they wanted to, we're the perfect size. …Mocha, look at those!" Aeincha's eyes lit up as she pointed up the desk in the corner. Two roses, a green and a gray one, sat in a vase.

"How do those roses survive down here?"

"I don't know, but they're so pretty! Let's climb up there!" Aeincha grabbed the table leg and climbed.

"Aeincha, hold on!" Mocha climbed after her. "We don't wanna knock anything down!"

After getting onto the desk, Aeincha attempted to climb the vase. "It's too slippery. Mocha, give me a boost."

"Aeincha, I really don't think we should-"

Aeincha accidentally pushed the base, spilling the water as the roses fell to the floor. "Er!" the girls yelped, feeling an aching wince. "Boy, that was weird." Aein said.

"Yeah…" Mocha looked down at the roses. "Well, someone's gonna be mad."

"Let's just take them and find another vase!" Aeincha happily dropped down to pick up the green rose. Mocha followed her and grabbed the gray rose. "Hahaha! We're Rose Warriors!" Both girls giggled as they swung their larger-than-them roses.

"We sure are! But let's be careful with them. Hopefully, we can find someone-" Mocha turned toward the mannequins' path—the sculpted heads were staring at them creepily. "Uhhh… they weren't looking at us before."

Aeincha noticed this. Her heart filled with worry. "Uhh… I think I saw another door this way." The girls returned to the room with the two paintings, where another door stood. Aeincha repeated her grappling trick to open the door, then Mocha pushed it. They had to jump down a step into this new passage.

"AHAHAHAHAHA!" Their tiny hearts almost stopped at this crazy laughter. They whipped around—the other side of the door was a black canvas with blue, droopy eyes and a mouth, both twitching up-and-down. "Your flowers look nice! Give me those flowers and I'll let you back through! Ahahahahaha!"

"AAAAHHH!" The girls scampered away, afraid of becoming dinner for a talking door-painting. Once around the corner, they stopped to catch breath. "THAT was unexpected!" Mocha said.

"What's up with this gallery? It's like Night at the Museum!"

"I thought the point of coming during daylight was so that WOULDN'T happen!"

"Maybe this is the reason the basement was locked. Maybe we should find a way out of here."

"Good idea. Wait, I hear footsteps!" The girls looked down the hall. Two red headless statues came from around a corner, marching their way.

"Are those the same statues that were upstairs?" Aeincha asked.

"Can they see where they're going?"

One of the statues turned to their direction, stopping. It took notice of the roses being held by the doll-size girls. "HAH!" They walked quicker, and the girls sensed that they were the targets.

"I think they can!" Aein exclaimed.

"Run for it!" The two hurried down another passage, but the larger statues caught up before long.

"Never mind, I wish you were bigger now!" Aeincha panted. "I don't think Tiny Style will be good against those things!"

"Maybe, but to me, size is irrelevant!" Mocha set her rose down and turned to face the statues determinedly. "I'm still an Honorary Amazon!" Mocha ran forth, and when a statue tried to step on her, she threw her Armament hands up and kept its foot lifted. She poured more strength when the statue pushed harder, and the shrunken giant forced up and caused the statue to fall back, knocking its ally down. Mocha got her rose and ran back to Aeincha. "But on the bright side, we know why they're called 'Death of the Individual.'" Mocha panted, giving a humorous smirk.

They saw the statues recovering, so Mocha and Aeincha kept running. They managed to get around a few more corners before the statues lost sight of them. The tiny girls caught their breath and sat along a wall underneath a small painting of coffee and cake. "April thought this was gonna be boring." Aeincha breathed. "But honestly, I would welcome- OOOOWWW!" A piping hot drop of brown liquid fell on her head, the Lilliputian shaking her head frantically. "What is this, COFFEE?!"

Mocha looked up at the aforementioned painting. "I… think so? …Aeincha, your rose!" The girls looked to see a couple petals fall off the green flower.

"Oh. I guess we should find a vase. I don't know why, but… I feel something weird from these roses."

"Me, too."

They silenced when they heard more footsteps, looking to a leftward passage a few feet away. A man of about 18 years appeared. He wore a dark-blue jacket that was very ragged on the edges, a light-green shirt underneath, and light-brown pants. His lavender hair was messy, hanging over his wondering dark eyes. "Aeincha, it's another person!" Mocha pointed.

"HEY!" Aeincha ran to him first. "Excuse me! DOWN HERE!"

The man stopped walking when squeaky voices reached his ears. He looked down, seeing the tiny girls waving their roses. "Oh-…Oh my." He walked closer and knelt down, speaking softly. "This is a surprise… how did you ladies get so small?"

"That's a long story." Aeincha blushed. "My name is Aeincha, this is Mocha. Mister, your hair is so cool!" Her eyes sparkled. "You have to let me cut it! (You can use it, honestly.)"

"Sir, can you please help us?" Mocha asked. "We climbed down from upstairs and we wanna get back up to our friends. Can you carry us?"

"Why, of course." The man smiled, gently picking the girls up. "I couldn't leave two young ladies of such a stature by their selves. My name is… er…" He frowned. "Hm… I dunno…"

"You don't?" Aeincha asked.

"No… Well, no matter, anyhow." He smiled warmly. "I've got to get you girls to safety." He began to carry them around the halls.

"There's a lot of scary statues walking around." Aeincha said as she relaxed in his right hand. "I'm glad we have a handsome giant to protect us!"

"I guess somebody has to be." Mocha chuckled, making an embarrassed blush.

The man's hair hung over his eyes, casting a shadow. The girls didn't see his devilish look.

Yellow Area

Aisa and Apis were wondering what was taking the others so long, so they went upstairs to look. After wandering the second floor—and everyone else seemed to disappear, the door into the basement was open. After going down stairs, the two found their selves in a storage room with white mannequin statues, large heads, and tables. "Something isn't right here, Aisa. Everyone else in the gallery disappears, our communicators don't work…"

"Well, if there's no staff, I guess no one'll mind if I do this." Aisa took her sandals off and smiled innocently.

Apis noticed a vase nearby, holding a dark-yellow rose that matched her dress, as well as a brown rose. She reached to take both out, studying them. "Here." She handed the brown rose to Aisa.

The Nimbi sniffed it. "It's nice, but…"

The lights in the room flickered; one of the head statues began to move toward Aisa. It moved a little closer every time the light flickered, but Aisa didn't notice as she explored the room casually with Apis. They stared at a painting of a red rose. "The budget on this place is terrible." Apis said.

Aisa felt her foot step in goo, looking down to see it was yellow paint. The substance was dripping from the ceiling. "Eww! Tell me about it." She left footprints as she walked further. "These leaks won't be good for the artworks-"

A shattering sound rang in their ears. Both girls whipped behind, seeing a head statue fallen over and broken. It seemed to have tripped on the yellow puddle. "…" Their skin was still tingling. "Let's go someplace else." Apis said.

There was a yellow key inside the head's remains, so they used it to open the door out of this room. They passed a small room with cat-like eyes on the wall, to one with several block-shaped pillars, and curtained portraits with yellow painted buttons under each one. She had doubts these paint spots would actually react like buttons, but she pushed one anyway, and the curtain opened to reveal an eraser. "AAAAHH!" Apis screamed when the upper-right half of her vision turned blank. "What happened?!"

"Apis, your eyes got erased!" Aisa exclaimed.

"Erased?! Well, find a pencil and draw them back!"

Panicking, Aisa ran to push another button, exposing a painting of a naked woman. "Aaaah!"

"OW!" Aisa was slapped. "Sorry!" She pushed another button, exposing a gun. "OUCH!" She was shot in the foot; two petals were now missing from her rose. The Nimbi began to limp as her foot bled. She pushed a button that unveiled a painting of a pot of roasting fish. They could smell it as though it were actually there. "MEOOOOOWWW."

"APIS, WATCH OUT!" Aisa grabbed her friend and dodged between the pillars when a giant, yellow cat stormed in to gaze at the painting. They helped each other out of the room. A chunk of the wall, where the cat eyes formerly were, was gone, exposing a passage.

"Thanks a lot, Aisa…" Apis sighed with relief. "…Hey, my vision's back!"

"Thank goodness. Can you help me walk?" Apis nodded and helped her injured friend. The girls entered a new hall and saw a black canvas, with red eyes and a wiggling tongue, on the wall. The face spit on the floor- "Ow!" Aisa felt a burning pain in her foot when she stepped on the spit. "I'm starting to think the 'No shoes' policy was a warning! I need a first aid kit, fast!"

They entered a door that led to a small library. They skimmed the titles for anything that might be interesting. Apis found a book titled Worldbuilding, which she opened to a bookmarked page. When an artist develops a world inside their head, consciously or subconsciously, it becomes more real than they realize. When that world forms into being, the only laws are that which the creator establishes. Even as they die, the world they created lives. Of course, without their creator, the denizens of that world cannot survive beyond the boundaries.

Aisa found a book titled Secrets of Immortality. Inside were images depicting a magic fountain, a person's spirit being split in two, and one of a black demon. Aisa found this too scary and put it back. Apis skimmed a book about Conspiracy Theories, seeing pictures of Bill Cipher, a gray face with two orange horns, and a diamond whose page was labeled 'Polymorphic Rocks.' "Sigh, we need to find a way out." Apis sighed.

"Yeah." The two left the room and went down an alternate passage, which had a painting series lined up. An axe rose from a log it was chopping, inched higher, higher, the last painting had the axe at its highest—"AAAAH!" it chopped down and nearly cut them. They stayed silent for a few minutes to let their hearts race. "Apis, please tell Arceus not to let me lose my feet today!"

"I already asked Him to help us get outta here alive!" Apis helped her friend back the opposite way, eventually squeezing through a door called the Liars' Room (however, they didn't read the label). Paintings of shadowed people hung on the wall, wearing green, brown, yellow, blue, white, and red respectively.

Try the door on the left! the writing under the green one said. Try the door up north. Brown said. Blue's got the right idea. Yellow said. I just went with white. Blue said. The right door, it's the right one! said White. There's a trapdoor behind the statue. Red said.

The girls were confused, but there seemed to be more votes for white. They shrugged, heading into the next room to walk to the right door. Apis creaked it open and peeked into the darkness. A cloud of purple gas blasted both girls. They grew sleepy, lost composure, and tumbled into the abyss within.

Gray Area

It felt like half an hour since the strange man began carrying the tiny girls, but Aeincha and Mocha didn't mind the rest. The gray halls seemed to drag on forever. They both looked up when the man was approaching two paintings, depicting a bride and a groom. Grieving Bride and Grieving Groom, they were labeled. "Awww. What's wrong with them?" Aeincha frowned.

"The bride lost her wedding ring." The man replied. "Now they can't be betrothed."

"That's so sad." Mocha frowned. "Assuming these paintings are alive, too, it's good to know they have feelings… sort of. …What are those hands?" There was a black hand in front of each painting, flexing its fingers.

"Those are the bride's hands. They're desperate to find her ring. Hm…" He smiled. "You shouldn't feel too bad for them, though. They like to play. In fact…" He formed a smirk, "you girls look pleasantly fun."

"Hey, what're you-" Aeincha gasped when the man set her in the left hand, while Mocha was placed in the right hand. He swiped their two roses, and the black hands began to squeeze the helpless girls.

"Ahh! Mister, help us, please!" Mocha pleaded.

"Hm hm hm hm hm." The man twirled the roses in his hands. "You girls will make excellent toys for the Ladies here. There's nothing for you to worry about, however. As soon as you're dead, you won't feel a thing."

"D-DEAD?!" Aeincha panicked, trying harder to squirm out of the bride's hand. "No! We don't wanna die! Please don't kill us!"

"Have you girls ever played 'Loves Me, Loves Me Not'?" The man giggled maliciously. "There's a trick to it: just pluck the stem petals, too. You can always win. Over he-e-e-e-ere, lad-i-i-ie-es!" He wagged the roses in the air. "Come and geeeet 'eeeeem!"

Hissing sounds were heard. Creatures were crawling from down the dark passage. The tiny girls shuddered at them.

Red Area

April passed a painting of a Smoking Gentleman, in which she could smell the smoke. A Heartbeat picture depicted a simple green line, but it made a thump thump as the line waved like a heart monitor. A blue statue called "Uh" towered in the room; it was a blob-like woman holding a baby in a bundle. A red statue called "Ah" depicted a similar woman, but her mouth was open as she cried.

April looked ahead and saw a more pleasant painting at a dead-end passage: The Lady in Red. The upper half of a brown-haired woman in a red dress, pretty red eyes, and smiling courteously. April returned this smile and stopped before her. If this painting was alive as well, April couldn't imagine her being monstrous. It was like Mona Lisa: April got a warm feeling from her. Her smile gave her comfort.

"RAAAAH!" The Lady in Red exposed sharp fangs, smashing through the glass of her canvas as she grabbed April. The girl was hurt by the glass, she punched the Lady off and ran away—the Red Lady crawled after her, having no legs, only the canvas to serve as her "lower half."

April swung a door open and slammed it before the Red Lady caught up. The Canvas Lady furiously banged on the door, desperate to claim her prey. Thankfully, she couldn't seem to reach the knob. April sighed with relief, walking calmly down this new path. April noticed a hole camouflaged within the dark-colored wall. She viewed the inside, ducking as she entered it. She hit a wall and had to turn right, seeing an exit.

On the other side, she gazed at a large painting of a blackish-blue tree, leaves scattering under a shaded pink sky. Black creatures with red eyes stared at the tree, and misty energy flowed from their bodies to it. The painting was Soul-Sapping Throng.

If the Abyss of the Deep sucked her into this world, April wondered if this led to another world. Did she even want to know… or maybe there was no other way. April approached cautiously… she reached her left arm… and touched the painting.

"AHHHH!" Black claws emerged from the painting and grabbed her tightly. She struggled to shake away, but it proved hopeless as she was pulled inside. She completely vanished into the portrait.

Violet Area

"Uuuuuhh… where am I…" Chimney mumbled groggily, hunched forward as she limped weakly. The hallway was dim with a strong shade of purple. "I thought I saw a head in a picture hide behind the wall… and when I tried to climb after it, I'm here. Why doesn't my wristwatch work… and why does my arm hurt?" She flexed her right arm. "Ugh… comin' here was a bad idea. I ain't gonna be the chosen one if I don't even know German gibberish… I just wanna go outside and sit down somewhere."

Chimney stopped when she noticed someone a few meters ahead. A girl with blonde hair and a green dress was happily twirling a yellow rose in her hand. "Nnn? Mary?"

The Goldenweek girl looked over. "Oh, Chimney! Hi there!" Mary waved. "For a second, I thought everyone else left me."

"I wouldn't blame them." Chimney remarked as she approached her. "What's that rose you got?"

"I found this in a vase. Isn't it pretty? I mean, I was never a fan of yellow, to be honest, but I still like it. I mostly like red, and pink, but especially blue! What's your favorite color, Chimney?"

"Nnn… never thought about it."

"Oh. I was hoping it's orange. I found this rose, too!" Mary pulled out an orange rose. "For some reason, it reminded me of you. I was touching the petals and I pulled one off by accident." Mary frowned regretfully, handing Chimney the rose. "Sorry, Chimney."

Chimney stared half-interestedly at the 8-petal rose. "Eh… I don't mind. Mary, did you get here the same way I did?"

"Um… I found a staircase, so if that's what you mean…"

"Well, can you show me those stairs? I wanna leave."

"I wanna leave, too…" Mary's head faced down as she bore a sad, worried look. "But I can't find the stairs. I don't think they're…"

"Sigh, I'll look for them myself." Chimney walked past her. "Or at least an elevator or something."

Chimney's left wrist was grabbed in Mary's hands. Chimney turned to see her pleading blue eyes. "Don't leave me, Chimney. I'm scared of this place."

"Okay, Mary, sheesh. Just let go of my hand." Chimney pulled her arm free and kept walking.

Mary's footsteps stayed in rhythm with hers, so it only sounded like two feet were moving. Chimney stopped and turned, seeing Mary just inches behind her. "Personal space, please?" Chimney walked again, but Mary kept in close quarters.

"I wanna stay with you, Chimney. You're a nice person. You protect your friends if they're in danger. I'm your friend, too, right?"

"To an extent, I guess."

"Chimney… what if there was no way out of here? What if you, me, and all the others were trapped here? That wouldn't be bad, right?" Mary smiled lightly. "Because we would have each other. Forever."

"Forever with you is long enough. I'd just as soon leave you here if I wanted to."

"Oh…" Mary frowned and kept following Chimney. She smiled again, "Well, I was just saying 'what if.' We'll get out of here, right, Chimney? Then we can all play some more. You, me, and our friends."

All they did was walk through the dark, violet corridors. They passed a painting of a shadowed, crying man, a painting of a grey toad on a lilipad, and a painting of a fly on a branch—the toad's tongue shot into the fly's canvas and caught it. "Chimney, since I know German, do you want me to read any of these paintings for you?"

"Nah, the point of knowing their names is to figure out the symbolism, and I'm not into that stuff. I like April's stuff better 'cause I know what's going on."

"Yeah, Sister April makes fun pictures. Guertena's pictures are fun too, though. Are my crayon pictures fun, Chimney? Look!" Mary held up a crayon picture of herself holding a little Chimney. "It's you when you're tiny! I like Tiny Chimney, she's fun to play with."

"I'll be glad when we find the Gibberish Rock and never have to see you again. Why can't I call the on'nanokos?" She looked at her blank wristwatch. "This is starting to feel like some Halloween gag."

"Halloween is fun." Mary beamed. "You get to dress as something you aren't to get candy. I like being a mummy."

The girls walked down a long, vacant hallway in silence, only their footsteps making sound. The hall turned left, and they glanced at a blue, zombie doll with yellow eyes, black frizzy hair, and a pink dress lain against the wall. There was purple writing on the wall that said, Hello, Mary. Mary stayed beside Chimney so that she wouldn't notice the writing, and she gestured Chimney to walk faster. Mary looked back; the doll was gone from its spot—Mary gasped to herself when the doll was leaned against the wall up ahead. The writing said, We missed you.

"You lookin' to race or something?" Chimney asked as Mary took her hand and walked faster.

"I just wanna find April." Mary replied sadly. "Or a way out. I wanna get out soon."

They passed the doll again, with writing that said, We like your new friends. The wall turned right, then right again, and when they passed the doll with writing that said, Will they join us for tea?, Mary began to jog, pulling Chimney with her. They turned several more corridors before they saw a door up ahead. "Maybe we can get out over there."

"Sheesh, Mary-chan, get ahold of yourself, nothing in a haunted house is real, and all these paintings are a load of-" When Mary pushed open the door, a red, blue, and yellow headless statue were on the other side, along with a Lady in Red and Lady in Blue.

"HAAAH!" The monsters hissed. Mary screeched and tried to pull the door shut, but a headless statue stuck its foot in while the Canvas Ladies pulled it back open. Chimney and Mary backed away in fear as the monsters inched closer.

"Chimney…" Mary held the girl's shoulders and crouched behind her.

The Red and Blue Ladies crawled toward them with ravenous expressions, eyes locked on the orange rose in Chimney's hand. But they stopped, noticing the blue-eyed girl behind her; Mary ducked her head behind Chimney's when she saw them looking at her. The Canvas Ladies smiled with glee, exposing their sharp teeth and terrifying the humans with their mad looks. "MA'Y!" The humans backed away faster as the grinning ladies came. "MA'Y!"

"It's okay, Mary, we can get past 'em." Chimney clutched her rose confidently. "Use that Ice Crayon to color the floor, then we'll kick across the wall over them, a-; Mary!" She turned around, seeing the Goldenweek bolting back the other way. The Red Lady reached for her rose, Chimney kicked her in the face, then swung her foot to the side of Blue Lady's face, afterwards leaping to kick between the headless statues. When Chimney landed- "Ah!" the Red Lady scratched her leg, causing a petal to fall off her orange rose. "MARY, COME BACK HERE!"

"No!" Mary cried, running ceaselessly around the many corridors. "I don't want to! I don't wanna come back, I never wanted to come back!"

She arrived at a fork, she tried to run one direction, but three headless statues were waiting for her. She tried to run the other way, a Lady in Yellow and Green peeked around the corner, grinning at her. Mary's only other option was to enter a door, but at the feel of the cold doorknob, she stopped herself. She looked both ways frantically, backing against the door as her heart raced. The headless statues and Canvas Ladies came closer. She looked at the passage she just came from, seeing the blue doll walk toward her like a zombie. There was nowhere to run. The monsters were about to seize her. She could feel death approaching.

"No… No, please!" Mary turned and leaned her head against the door, crying. "Please… don't take me… please!" I… Mary clenched her teeth as tears fell. I'm not one of you… I'm not… Please leave me alone… Please…

The Lady in Yellow reached up and softly touched Mary's shoulder. She hissed through her devilish, sharp-toothed grin, "Welcome back, Mary…"

Visiting the Guertena Art Gallery was like visiting an amusement park.

I had so much fun, the day was over before I knew it!

You'd be surprised what delightful friends you could make of the paintings!

It was from that day that I began to get my muses from dreaming.

-Diary of Stanford Pines