Edison's Dream ~ Chapter Five ~ Part Two

While he carefully traversed through the field, Edison tilted his head in every direction so that he could compare the dream realm to the actual place itself. The minimal number of trees that existed in his dream did not exist at all in reality. The field was completely bare, and seemed to spread across the horizon for miles. A slight wind blew throughout the area, sending shivers down Edison’s back. From afar, he noticed that on both sides of the temple’s entrance were massive gargoyles. Sturdy cement stairs lead to a brown wooden door. As he moved closer to the temple, he thought he saw someone standing inside the alcove of the rightmost tower pointing down at him. “Am I being watched?” he thought. He then heard the blaring of a whistle from behind him. “It is him! The rascal Master Fine warned us about! Do not permit him entrance!” a voice with a slight accent shouted. Edison stood still, petrified. He stared at the wooden door, and contemplated sprinting up the stairway and dashing into the temple. He then spun around and faced whoever it was who shouted at him. Spread out in the field was a group of five men, each dressed in grey robes with hoods that covered their faces. They wielded tall burning torches that were pointing at Edison. “What business do you have in our temple?” one of the men questioned. Edison gave the men a look of perplexity. He tried with all his might to not appear nervous. “And what gave you the idea it was yours?” he asked sarcastically. The man who first shouted at Edison pulled back his torch while his arm was shaking. “Don’t get us angry, kid!” he said forcibly. “The last thing we’re going to do is let the likes of you into our temple!” After that, the men began to chase after Edison, who hastily charged up the stairway anyways and threw himself into the temple’s front door. The force of his lunge nearly knocked it off of its hinges. While the men were hot on this trail, Edison barricaded the door shut by placing a metal rod from the floor in between both knobs.

The Temple of Imbroglio’s interior was tremendously huge. The main floor contained a wide hallway that stretched very far to the right, and only a short distance to the left. The floors were covered with a red velvet carpet that sparkled with gold, and numerous candles hung from the walls. The ceiling was high and arch shaped, and had green streamers hanging down decorating the main hallway. The atmosphere seemed very dark in spite of the glowing candles. Straight ahead of Edison was a monstrous room with a circular staircase. The hand railings were lined in purple velvet lace. There was also a wall of windows displaying the view of a river and a small patch of woods. Edison was just about to take a step forward until there was thumping and banging from the door behind him. “You had better run and hide you rat!” The muffled voice of one of the men threatened. “Just wait until we get a hold of you!” Edison’s body cringed, and he searched all over the place for somewhere to escape to. He then remembered the room in front of him, so he bolted inside of it and rushed up the staircase. Just before he reached the next floor, he crouched down and peered into the hallway through one of the railings. The front door had broken off its hinges and fell onto the floor. Nearly twenty men charged in through the front entrance holding torches. “I want all of you to listen to me very carefully!” The man who first confronted Edison demanded. “V.H. Fine ordered us to never let that kid even step one foot inside this temple. Since he is lingering somewhere in here, he must be exterminated!” Edison overheard every word. Drops of sweat poured down from his forehead. I have no weapons…No way to fend for myself…I am going to die, I am certain of it... Countless thoughts ran through his mind. “We will divide ourselves into groups and patrol the entire building.” The man continued, pointing at seven others standing closest to the door. “I want the seven of you to keep a close guard on this floor. There is no doubt this scoundrel is roaming the temple as we speak.” The men he spoke to nodded their heads obediently. “As for the rest of you,” he ordered, directing his attention to the rest of the men. “Ascend that flight of stairs and search through every hallway.” The men bowed and headed for the staircase.

Edison, who witnessed everything that had just happened, jumped up from his spot on the stairs and ran down the hallway of the next floor. The ceiling was still decorated with streamers, only they were blue instead of green. More candles were hanging out from the walls, but they glowed with harsh violet flames. Looking directly ahead of him, the hallway appeared to continue on and on with no end in sight. While he was mildly confused by this, he focused mainly on finding a proper hiding spot. To his left and right were two doors, one red and one blue. He walked over to the left door and tried its knob, only to discover that it was locked. Mysteriously, the door’s color changed from red to black when he did this. He then heard the sound of loud footsteps coming from the staircase, and saw the faint shining of torch lights. Knowing this, Edison scrambled over to the other door and frantically turned the knob. This time, the door opened with ease, so he jumped into the room on the other side and quietly closed the door behind him. He then peered out into the hallway one last time through a small peek hole in the middle of the door, which had now changed its color from blue to white. The room consisted of a lecture hall that contained over three hundred seats, and a blackboard that was covered in words and diagrams that he couldn’t make sense of. Right in front of it sat a podium with an open book. At the end of each row was a lantern planted firmly into the ground. Edison sauntered further into the room to inspect the blackboard, until he was spoken to by a timorous voice. “Are you one of them?” It asked. “Please don’t hurt me… Please…”

Edison's Dream ~ Chapter Five ~ Part One

In a former life, I ruled the perfect kingdom…

           

The face of V.H. Fine held a very sadistic expression. He glared at Edison, grinning mockingly. “I imagine about now, you wish to see your fiancée?” Edison’s body was still flying forward. “I want to know what your purpose of holding her is! She has done nothing wrong!” he shouted. V.H. Fine gave him an even bigger smile, this time showing his teeth. “As you wish…” he said. The image of his head faded into a patch of grey fog, which then showed a room with walls made out of shining purple glass. Two men in long green robes stood with their backs facing Edison. They were waving their arms back and forth. “Do you think she will make it through this?” One of the men asked. “Worry not,” the other man responded, “Once she is completed with the hypnotism phase, she will forever be loyal to Master Fine.” Edison halted and his body lowered onto a platform that was constantly changing colors. He stood and absorbed what he was hearing, and he attempted to run in the direction of the two men. Unfortunately, he was unable to move his body properly. He felt as if his body was being pushed down to the ground. “Who are you two? What are you doing!?” he bellowed. The men did not answer him. They continued to wave their hands. Eventually, one of the men stepped to the side, revealing what was in front of them. Once Edison got a clear view of what it was, he became lightheaded and his heart beat so rapidly that it felt like it would burst. He fell to the ground and landed on his knees, trying to keep his head propped up. Tears were spilling out of his eyes and landing on the platform. Only faint whispers could slip from his mouth. “Angelica…”

            Lying on a circular pedestal in the room was Angelica, her arms crossed against her chest in stillness. Her appearance had altered drastically, which both saddened and scared Edison. Her eyes were no longer the vibrant color of blue that Edison once remembered. Instead, her pupils were now jet black. On her cheeks were strange symbolic markings made out of brown ink, and her lips sparkled with purple gloss. She wore a long pink dress that had designs of two black crow heads. One was on the left side of her dress with its head facing to the right, while the other one was on the right side, its head pointing to the left. “Angelica!” shouted Edison repeatedly, tears streaming down his face. “Angelica, I’m finally here! I’m here to rescue you!” There was no response. The two men were still standing at the side with their backs turned, and Angelica remained on the pedestal motionless. “What are they doing to you? Who are they?” he screamed in terror. No response. Edison tried to move his right leg forward, and found that nothing was holding him down this time. He ran in the direction of the room and attempted to jump inside of it. Unfortunately, he could not. Just as he almost flew right into the room, his body slammed up against an invisible wall, knocking him backwards. He then tried his best to place his left foot inside of the room, but something was definitely blocking the way. Suddenly, the glowing platform beneath Edison’s feet diminished. The dream realm he stood in began to shake violently. He then started to fall into a darkened hole that shone a white light. He shut his eyes tightly, and couldn’t even hear the sound of his own screaming.

Very briefly, his eyes opened, and he saw black and white images of his childhood. He could see himself as a young child, his parents holding both his hands and walking him down a path in Hollowmill. He then saw himself meeting Angelica for the very first time at the Bazaar, amongst many other images. He shut his eyes again and fell deeper into the hole, until he eventually landed on his back quite forcefully. His eyes remained closed, and the rest of his body stayed completely still. The feelings of both his legs were lost temporarily. Although he was injured, he managed to retain consciousness. Ever so slowly, he moved the fingers on his right hand, being able to do so with ease. No invisible forces held them down. The feelings of his legs started to return, so he tried to move his right foot, and again could do so without any difficulty whatsoever. Nervous at first, he carefully opened his eyes and saw nothing but grey clouds, followed by a quick flash of lightning. He propped his head up, which sent a sharp wave of pain down his back. While he was still lying down, he took a minute to gaze around at his new environment.

Edison had awakened in a large open field. Straight ahead of him was the building from his dream, the Temple of Imbroglio. All around him, everything appeared to be exactly the same, only this time the entire area was colored. Most of the grass looked like it was dead, as pieces of it lay everywhere, and were the color beige. Very few trees stood in the field, as a lot of them were cut down, leaving only stumps. Grey clouds filled the sky entirely, with flashes of lightning striking every so often. Cautiously, Edison got himself up from off the ground, and dusted the dirt and grass off his clothes. After a few arm stretches and a full rotation of his neck, he set off towards the temple.

For Japan

~ W.B.

Edison's Dream ~ Chapter Four ~ Part Six

                    Edison tried blinking his eyes in order to get a clearer picture of where he was, but his surroundings only became blurrier and blurrier. Eventually his body fell to the ground entirely, and his muscles were numb. He was soon about to enter another dream realm. The blur of what was once the Wanderer’s Museum changed into a strange field. The whole area was difficult to see through as it was very foggy. The sky had a small tinge of green in it, while everything else was uncolored and distorted. Although his muscles were weak, Edison got himself up off of the ground and made his way forward. The area seemed to shake slightly as he moved. He continued to blink to navigate better, as his eyes were hurting greatly. The fog started to clear up as Edison took a few more steps forward. The area itself however, remained colorless and dreary. He halted and nearly toppled to the ground when he saw what was ahead of him in the distance. Luckily, a small bush which appeared to be swaying back and forth sat to the right of where he was standing. He dashed towards it and knelt down, in order to see what was occurring without being seen.

          Right in the center of the seemingly endless field stood a tall, temple-like structure. On its rooftop sat a large tower that lightly touched the clouds. The entire building was very elegant to the eye, constructed out of various shaped cement bricks that colors were a mixture of black and grey. The whole structure was exceedingly wide. The tower housed a cracked bell, which suddenly rang three times.

          Outside the building, hundreds of young men and women were lined up, with huge gaps in between them. All of them were crouched down on both knees. Their hands were flat on the ground, and their heads were hung down. Each person wore a black gown that had orange stripes running down both arms. From where Edison hid, he counted out eleven rows of people. At the end of every row, there stood a man holding a weapon. Each one was garbed in a long auburn robe. Their faces were of a burnt umber color, with white wavy lines painted on both cheeks. All of a sudden, another man much taller than the ones standing at the rows approached the top of the tower. He looked to be about seven feet tall, and wore a burgundy robe with goldenrod markings on the torso. His violet eyes shone across the colorless field. His face was burnt umber as well, however the wavy lines on his cheeks were white and one side, and black on the other. “The school of magic has ceased all spells!” His voice echoed. “I, Sir Vasarlium, have at last obeyed the orders of V.H. Fine and have overthrown the Temple of Imbroglio. The teachings of the art of illusionism will be no more!” The men cheered once again. Just then, a person crouched down closest to the temple stood up. “We shall never allow the likes of you to take over this sacred temple!” He screamed. “Just what do you hope to accomplish here?” The person was then seized by two guards before he could utter another word.

          Sir Vasarlium proceeded with his speech. “Our leader, V.H. Fine, wishes to use the outstanding arts taught in this facility to become even more powerful and dangerous than he already is! Soon, he will take full kingship of Portrainia, and make it a much lovelier place!” The men at the rows bowed to Sir Vasarlium, who was peering down at the people crouched in front of the temple. “And as for these disgraceful rats, who call themselves the students of Illusionism, I demand for them to be imprisoned! Lead them into the underground chamber this instant!” The men at the rows saluted Sir Vasarlium and gathered the people from in front of the temple. They arranged them all into one straight line, and marched them down a long stony path that leads to a hollow cave under the temple. Without thinking, Edison jumped out of the bush and ran towards the scene. However, the temple and the field faded away, until nothing but a grey blur could be seen. Edison felt his body being lifted off the ground, as an invisible force threw him forward. He started to fly ahead, and as he did, the blur slowly changed into the head of V.H. Fine, who was grinning precariously. “What an ingenious display of bravery, young man…” he chuckled. “But are you ready for what is next?”    

Edison's Dream ~ Chapter Four ~ Part Five

          Edison stood motionless, gazing blankly at the soldier. “I…am your master?” he asked. “Well yes,” replied the soldier, “You are the one who holds the sacred ruby, are you not?” Edison squinted in confusion, and held up the curator’s key. He centered his eye on the embedded jewel. “This ruby was worn by our dear general. He was done away with by the curator many years ago during our captivity.” The soldier spoke quietly, hanging his head down. “Now that you hold his prized possession in your hands, we are at your command.” The soldier bowed again, while many other soldiers poured out of the exhibit and formed a straight line. They all wore comb morion helmets, and platinum chest armor with black leather cuffs covering their arms.


          When they exited the exhibit completely, they kneeled on one knee and placed their swords against their shoulders. “Oh master, what are your wishes?” They asked in unison. Edison spun around and noticed that Dmitri was smashing the glasses of the exhibits and searching inside of them. “I wish for that museum curator to pay for what he has done!” he shouted. “There have been too many lost lives!” The soldiers stood up from their knees, preparing for battle. Just as they did, Dmitri barged over to them, his whip still in hand. “You thought you had a chance to escape, did you?” he asked, condescendingly. “I was not attempting an escape.” Edison replied coldly. “Oh yes, it appears you have formed an army of your own! But even still, you’re no match for me!” Dmitri stepped aside and revealed a line of several highwaymen, each aiming a flintlock musket at Edison and the soldiers. “Do not fear, this will all be over soon, and you will become yet another one of my fabulous exhibits!” Dmitri faced the highwaymen. “These imbeciles are your villains! I demand that they be destroyed at once!” he ordered.


           The highwaymen cocked their muskets and began shooting at Edison and the soldiers. Some of them were hit and fell to the ground, while others jumped out of the way and attacked the highwaymen. Dmitri rushed over to Edison and raised his whip at him. A soldier stood in the way of this and slashed his sword at Dmitri’s hand, causing him to drop the whip and shriek out of pain. While the highwaymen and the soldiers battled each other, Edison picked up Dmitri’s whip and lashed it at his head four times. As Dmitri toppled down to the ground, there came an eerie ray of cyan light from his chest. Everyone in the chamber followed it as it floated upward towards the ceiling. At that very moment, it exploded. The soldiers protected their eyes, as what seemed like grains of sand fell slowly to the ground. Dmitri’s body lay still. No one dared to remove the hood that masked his face. Cheers of joy echoed throughout the cold chamber, while the highwaymen disappeared from sight. “After many years, we are now free men!” The soldiers rallied around Edison with admiration. The one who first spoke to Edison re-approached him, and put his hand out to offer his gratitude. “Do not worry my friend,” he reassured Edison, “I know that you will find what you are searching for.” With a feeling of pride and exhilaration, Edison held the jeweled key tightly in his hand as he headed towards the far end of the chamber where a door stood for his freedom. He grabbed onto the iron door handle and pulled it opened. He had finally found his way out of the museum. At that very moment, there was a scent that he couldn’t decipher. The light that was similar to that of Dmitri’s body encircled Edison, which started to make him feel nauseous. He felt himself becoming weak once again, and desperately tried to regain his composure. It was then that all went dark.

Edison's Dream ~ Chapter Four ~ Part Four

The door made creaking noises that echoed loudly. Edison placed both of his hands on it and held it tightly in order to minimize the sound. When it finally rested against a wall, Edison extended his left leg out and placed it down on the ground in front of him. He then extended his right leg out and leaned his whole body forward. From there he was able to move his head in each direction to get a look at where he was now. The sound of his shoes clicking against the floor echoed throughout the room as he took a step. The curator’s key had lead Edison into an enormous oval shaped chamber. There were six floors, each filled with dozens of exhibits. Tall golden pillars stood between every one. Eleven ground torches formed a large circle in the center of the room.

“I want to know who you are and why you have brought me here!” Edison asked piercingly. The torches began to light by themselves, one by one. Wrought iron bars fell from the ceiling and sealed the door behind him. “Are you ready to show yourself to me?” he hollered. “Have you no knowledge of the rules?” boomed the same voice from the museum’s main hallway. “No one leaves the Wanderer’s Museum under any circumstances.” From the chamber’s ceiling, a metallic grate opened up wide, revealing a pitch black hole. The voice let out a vile laugh, and a tall person brandishing a whip dropped down from the hole. They landed on their feet and stood across from Edison inside of the torchlight circle. The person wore a bistre colored cloak that had eccentric designs and patterns all over it, outlined in black. His face was darkened by a hood. “You, my child, have broken the rules of my museum time and time again.” the person growled. “It is now time to suffer the consequences.” Edison gasped and stepped back. “You are Dmitri Downs, the museum curator. Are you not?” he asked. “Indeed, I am.” The person replied. “I travel throughout this lonely world to find people of value. It is then that they are brought here to my museum, never to be heard from again.” Edison felt his upper lip trembling slightly. “I believe that your reign of terror is coming to an untimely close!” Edison blurted. “Is that so?” Dmitri responded slowly. “Well I believe that your corpse will make a splendid new statue!” After another evil cackle, Dmitri raised his whip thrust it wildly at one of the torches, making it fall against the one beside it. One by one, all of the torches were knocked down like dominoes.

When the final torch fell, a ring of fire encircled the area between Edison and Dmitri Downs. “Oh yes that’s right, you have no way to defend yourself.” exclaimed Dmitri. “Isn’t that just a crying shame?” He mocked as he raised his whip once again and attempted to strike Edison in the head. Luckily, Edison moved so fast to dodge it that he even surprised himself. He then rolled over to his right side as Dmitri tried another strike at him with his whip. “Why don’t you just surrender? There is no way you can win this!” Dmitri yelled. Edison ignored him and continued dodging the whip. This is hopeless. Edison thought to himself. How can I possibly fend him off without my weapons?  He then felt a rumbling in his pocket where the curator’s key was. He took the key out and noticed that the red jewel embedded in it was glowing brightly. As Edison held it in his hand, one half of the ring of fire dissipated, and he quickly dashed out of the circle. He ran over to one exhibit entitled Soldiers of Servenia. Edison continued to stand by the exhibit, gasping for air. The red jewel glowed again, and the glass protecting the exhibit shattered. Dmitri jumped out of the fiery circle and stood before Edison. “You are using my special key without my permission?” he shouted at him. The jewel continued to glow in Edison’s hand, and he held it high above his head, pointing it in the direction of the exhibit. Bits and pieces of shard glass flew everywhere. Edison placed his arms around his face to protect himself. The glass settled to the floor, and Edison could see movement from within the exhibit. Soldiers of all different shapes and sizes emerged out into the chamber. Edison stayed still, pondering his fate while the soldiers escaped from the exhibit and encircled Edison.

The shock of what was happening rendered him speechless, until one of the soldiers walked up to Edison and bowed before him. “You are our new master.”  

Edison's Dream ~ Chapter Four ~ Part Three

Without responding to Aequgus, Edison obeyed his instructions and immediately examined the room for significant differences. He first took a look at the two statues. He then closed his eyes and tried to remember how the real throne room appeared. “The statues…” Edison recalled, “I know there is something different about those statues.” He opened his eyes and studied them very carefully. He noticed that the leftmost statue was holding its spear in its left hand as opposed to its right. “One statue holds the spear in the wrong hand!” Edison shouted. The spear floated up from the statue’s left hand and moved over to the right hand. “Very good,” echoed the voice of Aequgus. “Only two more differences exist. Surely you are clever enough to locate them.” Edison turned his head away from the statues and directed his attention to the floor. The checkers were colored red and white, and their patterns seemed to be identical. Regardless, Edison swam to the far end of the throne room and was able to examine the whole floor. Upon a closer look, he noticed something very peculiar about the checkers to the extreme right of the room. “What is it about that pattern?” asked Edison, puzzled. “Of course!” he exclaimed. “There were two columned red checkers, followed by a white one. This time, two white checkers form a column!” Aequgus’ voice chuckled. “You are not as stupid as you look.” he mocked. “Only one difference remains.” Edison’s heart started to beat rapidly, and he headed for the ceiling.

The chandelier caught Edison’s eye. It hung in the exact same fashion as before, but he thought it would be wise to take a look at it. He counted the number of candles that sat in it, and then how many of them were actually lit. He discovered that the previous room’s chandelier had ten candles lit, and that this one only had eight lit. “Two of these candles are unlit!” Edison shouted. Aequgus’ spirit appeared once again. “That was quite the performance.” he commented, clapping. “You are free to go. Enjoy the rest of your journey, for every step will be challenging.” His spirit faded away, and the throne room turned bright white. Edison could feel the water drying up, and his whole body being forced sideways. Moments later, he ended up back in the museum’s hallway, lying flat on his back. He stood up and in his left hand was a bronze key with a red jewel embedded. Edison was standing in a part of the museum where there were no exhibits. A colossal door with an awkward design stood in front of him. “Go ahead. Unlock the door. I cannot wait to meet you!” bellowed a voice that echoed throughout the hall. Edison couldn’t control his hand from shaking, but managed to stick the key through the lock and turn the door handle. He pushed the door open and slowly stepped inside.

Edison's Dream ~ Chapter Four ~ Part Two

“The statue’s…mouth?” Edison pondered to himself. He looked up at the spot where Aequgus vanished, and then back down at the statue whose mouth continued to open and close. “Will this will help me find Angelica?” he asked, swimming towards the statue. He hovered over the top of it and waited for its mouth to open again. When it did, Edison quickly dove inside. He found himself faced with another tunnel. He swam through this one at a fast pace. The crevices were very wide, so Edison had plenty of room to move his body. As he progressed through it, he could see a ray of light shining at the far end, which got brighter as he moved forward. He soon discovered as he reached the other side, it was a dead end. He began to panic, and searched all around for an exit until he found a hole about the circumference of his body on the top crevice. He swam right into the center of the hole and emerged into another monstrous area. He could not believe where he was now.

Aequgus had lead Edison into a deteriorating underwater city, with buildings that lay all over the ground in ruins. Broken street lamps and cracked pieces of stone were scattered about, along with old spears, shields, and fish skulls. Ahead of Edison was a rundown palace that had tattered flags staying motionless at the very top. To the right of him was a sunken ship where the ghost of Aequgus was waiting. With a sneer on his face, he spoke to Edison, “Very good. You’re not as dull-witted as I expected.” Aequgus then turned his body. “Do follow me. What you seek lies in here.” he instructed, swimming into the ship. Edison took one last look at the underwater city, and obeyed Aequgus’ command.

The ship’s interior was in surprisingly good shape. Although there were torn paintings of pirates on each of the walls, there were treasure chests set up in straight rows, and a large rectangular table that was covered with a red cloth. At the far end of the ship was a silver treasure chest. As Edison approached it, the ghost of Aequgus appeared above it. He raised his hands, causing the chest to open. Edison then dove into the chest and noticed a strange looking key. It appeared to be molded, and it glowed with a dark shade of grey. The ground beneath the key then started to shake all of a sudden, and began to crack. “What’s going on here?” Edison shouted. He tilted his head to see if Aequgus was there, but he was nowhere to be found. The ground inside of the treasure chest cracked some more, and eventually created a hole that the key fell into. Edison let out a cry, and his stomach began to get queasy. The treasure chest then fell into the hole that was created, and ever so slowly, the ship went down with it. Edison fell straight into the hole underneath the chest, and after what seemed like an eternity, he somehow ended up back in the throne room with the two statues.

Aequgus was sitting on the throne between the statues with a sly grin on his face. His head was cocked to the left. “You didn’t think I would let you off that easy, did you?” he said while snickering. “What else must I do?” begged Edison. Aequgus slowly sat up from the throne and spread his arms out wide. The entire room filled with a white haze, yet faded away soon after. Edison and Aequgus were still in the exact same room, although things seemed very different to Edison. “I sure hope you memorized how the room appeared when you arrived.” Aequgus remarked, “In order for you to leave my kingdom alive, you must spot the differences between my throne room and the room you are in right now.” Aequgus’ sadistic laughter could still be heard as his ghostly appearance vanished from the throne.  

Edison's Dream ~ Chapter Four ~ Part One

The school of magic has ceased all spells…

               As Edison descended down into the hole, he noticed that it was a circular passageway that seemed to stretch down very far. It was extremely narrow with silver pearls that were stuck in the crevices. The passage was very dark, yet as Edison swam forward, it strangely illuminated with a hazy light so that he could see his way clearly. Regardless of all this, he still found difficulty in navigating through the hole, as he kept hitting his hands and feet against the sides of the crevices. Without even realizing it, he opened his mouth to speak. “Do I even know where I’m going?” he asked. The words slipped out perfectly, even though he was underwater. He stopped moving momentarily.  “I can talk underneath all of this?” he spoke again, confused. While he was looking around at the passageway, he felt the urge to cock his head forward. The light that surrounded him began to bounce around from crevice to crevice, almost as if it was dancing. It soon changed its color from grey to orange, and shone on the top crevice. It then formed the shape of an arrow, which seemed to be pointing down deeper into the passageway. Edison looked up at the light, which started to shine further and further down into the hole. “What awaits me this time?” he asked himself. The light soon dissipated, and Edison dove down further into the passage.

After a short while of navigating through the darkened hole, Edison eventually reached the end of the passageway, and was now at the very bottom of the exhibit’s castle. He was shocked by what he saw. Although the passageway was extremely narrow, the area underneath it was an expansive underwater cavern. The crevices were spread apart much farther, and tiny pieces of gold were wedged within them. The ceiling was also much higher. Directly ahead of Edison was a crevice with a large crack in the middle of it. When he swam closer to it to get a good look at the other side, he could see a half destroyed throne room with two statues at the very end. The statues were of fish heads with human bodies, and they were both clad with bright blue armor. Their eyes looked as if they were angry, with eyebrows that were slightly slanted. Tall wooden spears were being held in their right hands. As they stood there, both of their mouths were opening and closing automatically.

The entire throne room was fairly gigantic. The floor was colored with red and white checkers, and a dilapidating chandelier was hanging on the ceiling. In between the two statues sat a red chair with a broken backrest. “Where must I go to find the key?” Edison wondered. Just after he said this, the room began to shake heavily, and air bubbles were forming in the water. “What did I do?” he exclaimed. “You entered the castle of my lost kingdom. That is what you did.” A voice replied. This terrified Edison, whose body started to shake. He looked every which way for the owner of the voice, but found no one. “This way, fool!” the voice shouted. Edison jerked his head toward the chair between the statues. A ghostly figure of a fish was now sitting in it. The fish wore a black and white crown on its head, and was dressed in a green robe that covered its whole body. Although it had the head of a fish, it had the body of a human. “Ah! Do we have yet another thief who wishes to steal my precious jewels?” it asked, with a scowl on its face. Edison was speechless at first. “Why no, I am not. I am searching for a key.” he said. The fish leaned its head to the left and raised its arms. “Then I suppose you would have the same intentions as that girl from earlier on.” It stated. Edison nodded his head. “Do you know where I can find it?” The fish let out a sigh and stood up from the chair. It then turned its back and started to swim up to the ceiling. “It is hidden here in Absunda, my kingdom under the ocean.” Edison was intrigued to hear this. “And who are you?” The fish stopped and turned its head towards Edison. “I am Aequgus, the King of Absunda. And you, you claim you are not here to invade my old kingdom and steal my riches?” Edison nodded his head. “I am not a thief by any means.” he reassured. “I see. Well then, you must prove yourself to me if you wish for my assistance.” The King replied. “What must I do?” Edison inquired. “First, you must enter the mouth of the statue to your right.” The ghostly figure of the King then disappeared.

Edison's Dream ~ Chapter Three ~ Part Three

All that could be heard throughout the museum was the sounds of moaning and groaning. The eyes of the exhibits were staring coldly at Edison, almost as if they wished to attack him. “So all of these people…are real…” he said to himself, sickened at the thought. Although he tried his best to not look at any of the exhibits, one in particular did catch his eye. It was a large aquarium, and inside of it to the far right sat a castle. Little pieces of seaweed fluttered throughout. Edison looked towards the exhibit and noticed a diver figurine swimming out of the castle’s entrance. The figurine wore a blue jacket and pants, with black flippers. A scuba diving mask was on its face. When it fully exited the castle, it swam to the edge of the aquarium where Edison stood peering in. The figurine raised its left hand and gave Edison a small wave. This startled him, making him jump back slightly. It then motioned Edison to come closer toward the exhibit. “Am I completely out of it, or what?” he asked aloud. The figurine continued to motion him. He sighed and slowly approached the aquarium and bent over to get a closer look.

All of a sudden, the entire room seemed to get larger and larger. Edison felt his feet being swept off the ground, and his body began to hover in the direction of the exhibit. The figurine remained on the other side of the aquarium, watching Edison as he hovered in mid air. “Where am I being taken to?” he asked, shutting his eyes tightly. Just as he did, he could see a bright white flash through his eyelids. Ever so carefully, he opened his eyes, and was instantly shocked. He found himself inside of the exhibit’s aquarium. Mysteriously, he was able to breathe without any difficulty. From around the corner of the aquarium’s castle, the diver figurine swam towards Edison. Both of them were now the exact same size. The diver appeared to be a young woman, with shoulder length blonde hair reaching down from the scuba mask. “So glad you could make it.” She said. “You…you can talk?” replied Edison. “I thought you were a figurine.” The diver smiled. “I’m not really supposed to be,” she revealed, “I was turned into this by the curator. I must now spend my life inside of this aquarium.” Edison felt sad and frightened when he heard this. “How did I get in here?” he asked. “I was granted the gift of shrinking people from outside of this exhibit. So when I saw you, I brought you in here to help you.” The diver explained. “Help me with what?” asked Edison. “There is something hidden within this exhibit that unlocks the curator’s private chambers. It is there that you will find him and defeat him.” The diver spun around and started swimming to the castle. “Follow me, my dear.” she instructed. He obeyed the diver and followed her across the aquarium.

As Edison and the diver approached the castle, its drawbridge lowered for them to enter. A deep rectangular hole was inside, with miniature torches placed in each corner. “The world beneath the castle is a cold and treacherous place.” the diver stated. “I have tried many times to enter it and find the curator’s key, but I have had no luck.” Edison stared at the castle for a brief moment, and then looked back at the diver. “I will try to not let you down.” he reassured her. With that, he swam inside of the castle, and dove into the hole.