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.