"Had you taken the time to even look at the writing on the stone, you would notice that it is in a different language than your own... So to clear this floor, you better pay close attention to what I'm about to tell you," the voice bellowed. "Yeah, and why would you of all people... Or, whatever you are... Want to help us. Austin asked. "Well what fun is a game if you don't know how to play? Besides, I'd like you to get to a certain floor to find a certain something that you want really bad, and see you fail right then and there," the voice said slowly. "But don't think to hard about it," the voice continued. "It will spoil the surprise. Now, in front of you, you will see three rows of stone pillars. Each row consists of ten pillars. To get to the second floor, you need to maneuver across the pillars, to get to the ladder in the other side, and climb to floor 2. As you can see, one crumbled beneath your friend when he tried to step onto it..." Austin's face went red. "This is because only one pillar in each of the sets of three will support any weight. The other two will crumble instantly with the weight of any solid. Even something as perpetually weightless as a grain of sand. Therefore, since there are a total of 30 pillars, you must select and maneuver across the 10 sturdy pillars. I am sure that you have all noticed by now what will happen to you if you choose incorrectly..." We all looked down into the darkness beneath us. "That is all that I will tell you. Let's see if you can figure this one out..." The voice faded away.
"We're doomed." Austin sighed.
"Not yet, I'm sure we can figure this out," I replied reassuringly.
"Oh yeah? And how do you suggest we do that?"
I focused. So we have to maneuver across a 3x10 grid of stone pillars, and only one in each row of three won't crumble beneath us. So we should have to take a path of just ten pillars to get across. The others will crumble under just the weight of, what did that thing say? A grain of sand? Wait, yes! I get it now!
I gasped, and quickly moved to the metal doors that we came in from. "I've figured it out! So the pillars we can use will crumble under the weight of even a grain of sand? So, if we throw a handful of sand from outside at each pillar, it will get rid of the pillars that we can't use, and we will just have to jump across the ten pillars that won't break! Hey Austin, how good is your throwing arm?" I asked.
"Well certainly better than yours."
"So could you throw some sand at even the pillars in the very last row from here?"
"Yeah. So that is what you want me to do, isn't it. You want me to be the one to throw sand at each pillar, and eliminate the bad ones. Fine. But you owe me big time," Austin replied.
He walked up to the doors slowly, which ran my already slim patience down to almost nothing. I reached an open palm out to Ruby. "Hey, can I see the box for a moment?" I asked softly. She nodded, reaching a hand into the pocket of her pink hoodie, then handing me the small wooden box. I looked at the keyhole, noticing that it was already half black, half gold. I sighed. We don't have much time left. And with Austin taking his sweet time, we definitely aren't going to make it to floor ten before it's too late.
Austin opened up the doors, reached over the cobblestone surrounding the tower, and grabbed a large handful of sand. He then stepped back inside, and sprinkled a pinch of sand on the pillar to the left of what used to be the center one for the first row of three. It stayed sturdy, and the sand just sat on its top. "I'm just gonna get rid of this other one, so we remember not to go on it."
He threw another pinch of sand onto the other pillar, watching it crumble to the ground.
