Anakin and Carmine contemplated for a good two minutes of what the first clue meant.
"You must find the time. Look back where it all began, something there for the time you will find, and your next clue you shall find." Anakin repeated. "What does it mean?"
"Well, when I write new songs or listen to those of other artists," said Carmine. "The lyrics can have multiple meanings. We just have to put our heads together."
Anakin thought and said, "Well, we know it's the beginning of something. But what? The beginning of a song? Do you know any songs about time?"
"Yeah, but I don't see anything in here that has to do with music." Carmine said.
But then, Carmine looked on a bookshelf and saw... "Hey, look! There's an hourglass on the shelf."
Anakin looked at saw it.
"Yeah. And... an hourglass has to do with time." Anakin said.
"And it has sand in it!" Carmine said. "Think about it!"
The twins both realized what the clue meant. Where it all began, where they were born! The twins were born on Planet Tatooine, a planet covered in hot sand.
Anakin picked up the hourglass and looked at the bottom. There was a note taped to it.
"Our next clue!" Anakin exclaimed.
"What's it say?"
Anakin read the next clue.
Congratulations on finding your second clue, now here's the next thing you must do. Since you both act like you are two, search for your next clue in something you find where a pet is blue.
Carmine scratched his head.
"That doesn't make any sense." He said. "Other than at least one of us acting like we're two."
"You're the one who acts like a child all the time!" Anakin said.
And thirty seconds were subtracted from the timer.
"Oh, great. Now look what you've done." Carmine groaned.
"Enough! Let's stop and think about this. Something sounds familiar about this clue. Two years old, a pet being blue."
Anakin and Carmine contemplated what this next clue could mean.
"Could it mean a pet being sad?" Carmine wondered out loud.
"No! Blue's Clues. Gabby first watched that show when she was two! And there's a blue puppy in the show, and a puppy is a pet."
"Oh, yeah. I remember that. Lamenta loves it too." Carmine looked around. "But I don't see any paw prints anywhere, a side table, or a mailbox."
And then Anakin spotted.
"A notebook!" Anakin said, taking it off from the shelf.
And sure enough, when Anakin scrolled through the notebook, something fell out. A key with a note attached.
Carmine tried to use the key to open the door, but it didn't fit. And Anakin looked at the note.
"That's not the key we're looking for, apparently."
The third clue was...
This key is not the one you seek. To find your next clue, you need keys. All three. The first you hold is one, to find the second, a simple trick, find two hearts together as one, and that you pick.
"A simple trick, two hearts as one?" said Anakin perplexed.
"Maybe we're looking for a wedding invitation?" Carmine guessed.
"Or wedding rings?" Anakin looked at the clock. "We'd better hurry! There's only thirty-eight minutes left!"
The twins looked around the room for anything that the key could've been hidden in, but found nothing. It didn't look like they were getting out anytime soon, and they only had twenty-four minutes left!
But then, Carmine looked in a drawer he'd missed, and found a deck of cards inside.
"A deck of cards!" Carmine exclaimed. "That's it! A card trick! Two of hearts, one card!"
"Is there a key inside?" Anakin asked, rushing over to see the deck for himself.
Carmine picked up the deck of cards and realized it seemed like there was something between them. And sure enough, there was a key taped to the two of hearts card.
Not only that.
"Look, there's writing on it too!" Anakin said.
You've found the second key, now you need one more, and you'll have the last clue to open the door. Find two rulers, of each there are four. One can move one space, another wherever forevermore. Arrange them in the right order, and you will have your last key before time's last quarter.
"I think I know what this clue means." Carmine said. "It's like one of my songs!"
In chess a king can move one space at a time, but queens are free to go wherever they like.
"That's true." Anakin smiled. "And there are four kings and four queens in a deck of cards."
Anakin and Carmine split the deck of cards and found all the kings and queens.
On all eight cards, there were letters: Y, T, B, R, A, two cards with E's, and one with two D's on it.
"Okay. Now we just gotta put these letters in the right order." Anakin said.
Carmine looked at the time.
"Twelve minutes!" He panicked.
The twins had to hurry! They quickly started to arrange the cards in different orders. They knew it was a word with two D's. And then, Anakin and Carmine had the same answer. So, together, they arranged the cards and got the words: TEDDY BEAR!
And there was a big teddy bear sitting in the corner. Carmine lifted the bear off the floor, and Anakin found the last key underneath.
"The last key!"
And the second to last clue as well.
Now that you have all three keys, in the toy chest, your last clue shall be.
The twins looked at a chest and found it to have a heart-shaped lock with three holes on it. The twins unlocked the lock and found something else inside.
A book. And inside, the twins found a picture with their final clue written underneath.
Your final clue this is to set you free. But in order to receive the final key, you must look back and see what the two of you used to be.
Anakin and Carmine looked at the picture. It was the first family photo both of their families had taken together as one big, happy family.
The twins looked at it and saw how they were both smiling in it. And in the book, there were more pictures of great times they'd had since being reunited. The two of them singing karaoke together at home, Carmine teaching the kids to dance, and the twins even sharing a big hug at one point.
Anakin quickly noticed something behind Carmine's glasses.
"Carmine, are you crying?" Anakin said, not realizing tears coming to his own eyes.
"No, you're crying!" Carmine said, wiping his eye.
There was less than two minutes left on the timer, but the twins didn't care.
"How did we end up this way?" asked Anakin.
"We argued over something we shouldn't have." Carmine said. "Anakin... I'm so sorry I yelled at you for losing Lamenta, and for losing your kids too."
"And I'm sorry for yelling at you and losing Lamenta."
"I shouldn't have blamed you for what happened. It was an accident."
"Same here. And I can understand why you were upset. You worry about your baby. Trust me, I know what that's like. I love my kids, and the rest of our family too."
"We're brothers. We shouldn't fight, and I don't think we'd be setting a good example for the kids. The last thing I'm sure either of us wants is our kids fighting each other."
"You're right. And I don't wanna fight with you anymore." Anakin reached out a hand. "Friends?"
"Friends." Carmine said, shaking his twin's hand.
And then, the twins embraced each other in a big hug.
"I love you, Carmine." Anakin said.
"I love you too, Anakin." said Carmine.
Suddenly, the timer stopped, and the door opened, revealing the children.
"Congratulations!" The kids all said together.
"You solved the escape room!" Gabby exclaimed as she and Lamenta shot a bunch of glitter and confetti in the air.
"Wait a minute," said Anakin. "So... the last key was...?"
"An apology?" said Carmine.
"Yes. But more importantly, love was the key."
"Love is the most powerful force their is." Gabby said. "It can unlock even the hardest heart if allowed the chance to ignite and grow."
Then Gabby hugged her big brother and said, "No fight is worth losing a brother or sister."
"Or cousin," said Lamenta, hugging her cousins.
"Get over here, kids." said Carmine, smiling. "Group hug!"
And the kids joined their fathers in a big group hug. It was a happy moment for all of them. The twins were friends again, the cousins could be with each other again, and they decided this time to spend time together as a family and celebrate the end of the feud with ice cream.
