"So," Edward said straitening up, preparing for a fight. "You're a humonculos. I suppose that means you're with Envy and the others like you."
"Yes I've met them." She said nonchalantly
"Then what are you doing at a dump like this! There's nothing here that would bring any of you closer to gaining the Philosophers stone and becoming human, you-"
He was cut off by his own thoughts. What if this was an operation to gain further access to the stone? What other purpose would there be to take lives except adding another soul to power the stone? Butterflies were square dancing in his stomach. If this were the truth then there was no chance of Einon still being alive. But if souls were what these people were after why stick them in that machine to kill them? A gun would bring the same result way and the humonculos could get creative with their methods of murder if they had a hand in this in any way.
"Whoo??"
The girl shrugged. "I don't know what he's talking about either. The others told me about the Philosophers stone and about becoming human but I had no interest in the stone or them." She stroked the owlets tummy. "Gluttony was irritating with his squeaky voice and asking if he could eat everything. Lust acted too full of herself for my taste just because she's pretty, Envy's a moron and Wrath wouldn't leave me alone. So I created Latara to keep my company and left."
It sounded like a believable story but The Fullmetal wasn't going to trust a humonculos just because they could spin a believable tale, whether it was true or not.
"So what are you doing here?"
"Looking for a companion. Since you're the only person I could find so far then I guess you'll have to do."
Edwards tension began to wear off. "Sorry to rain on your parade but I'm on a tight schedule and need to-"
"Are you good at riddles?"
"What?" her interrupting was beginning to get annoying.
"I asked if you were good at riddles."
"Um, kinda've….not really." To his surprise her face lit up and squealed with delight. "What did I say?!"
"Oh goody! Goody!!!!" she giggled, jumping up and down. The poor owl was left to hang on for dear life.
"'Oh goody' what?!"
"If you're not good at riddles then we'll be able to stay here forever!"
"Huh?"
"Hold on." She turned and aimed her mirror at the ground. As though she'd been used alchemy a wall grew up from the ground. "Perfect. We'll stay here forever and be best friends! At least until you answer one of my riddles correctly, then I'll let you go."
"I don't think so."
He clapped his hands and slapped the wall, with the intention of blowing a hole in the wall to get away. But nothing happened. "What have you done!"
"I've trapped us in here so you can't try to get away when we play riddles."
"I figured that, I meant what you'd do to the wall so my alchemy doesn't work?"
"I wanted it to be alchemy proof so that's how I made it when I sprouted the other wall. Just so you don't ask I did it with my mirror. Just by capturing the reflection of any and everything I can transform it into anything I desire." She plopped on the ground and sat Indian style. "Come on, sit down and lets play."
"NO WAY!" he wasn't about to treat a humonculos like a friend. "I'm not playing riddles, I think your crazy to believe a mirror can do virtually anything just because you want it to and I've got places to be!"
She sighed. "I hoped it wouldn't come to this but here we go." She turned the mirror around so Ed could see himself. "If you don't believe me I suppose I'll have to show you."
"Wait…what are you doing?"
On top of the decorative frame of the mirror a jewel sat in the middle of a transmutation circle and glowed green. The next thing Edward knew everything had gotten like one hundred times their size. A stone by his foot was almost to his waist. What the heck was going on? Why was everything so huge? He tried to yell "What did you do!?" but nothing came out. He looked down, red. Nothing unusual, he'd had his jacket closed.
"AWWWW!" the girl squealed. "You're so cute!"
She looked enormous too. He took a better look at himself and just about fainted.
"HUMMM!!!" The humonculos had transformed him into a golden hummingbird with a bright red breast. The flipping out alchemist's brain had gone on a jam with shock and commanded that he run around in circles screaming. But for those that know anything about hummingbirds they can't walk. Their feet are specialized for perching not walking…so he fell to his side with one wing buzzing so he slipped around in circles.
The girl approached the bird in distress and lay on her stomach watching. Finally she poked him in the chest with one finger to stop his spinning. "I'll change you back if you promise to play riddles with me. If you don't," she giggled with delight at the mere thought. Not an evil giggle, she just was childishly happy about the idea. "I'll tie a string to your foot, tie it in my hair and wear a veil of flowers so you can eat, more importantly it will make me look pretty!"
"Ok ok I'll play riddles!" Ed tried to say but all that came out were hums. She understood, pointed her mirror at him and he changed back. "That was weird."
"There was a little green house, and in the little green house was a little brown house. And in the little brown house there was a little yellow house and in the little yellow house there was a little white house. And in the little white house there was a little heart. What is it?"
"WHAT!?!?!"
"That's the riddle."
"Oh come on! This is crazy. I have people waiting on me.
"Rubbish."
"I've got a job to do."
"Rubbish."
"I've got someone I'm supposed to be saving."
"Rubbish."
"I've got-"
"Latara."
The fluffy white owlet had been transformed (no doubt the work of the mirror) into an enormous rattlesnake, its tail like a maraca and poised to strike.
"On second thought how 'bout you repeat that for me?"
(eight minutes later)
"I haven't gotten the slightest clue."
"Teehee. It's a walnut!"
"WHAT KIND OF A RIDDLE IS THAT!!"
Latara rattled her tail and Ed shut up.
"Ok, black within, and red without, four corners round about."
Again the Fullmetal was stumped.
"A chimney. Now try again. Twelve pairs hanging high, twelve knights riding by, each night took a pear and yet a dozen left there."
"Um……"
"A pair of twelve is twenty four. Twelve knights picked one pear and left twelve. It's simple math."
"I'm never gonna get out of here at this rate." He was started to feel really stupid that he hadn't been able to give any kind of answer besides 'um' and 'I don't know.'
"You're not supposed to. We're gonna say here, play riddles and be best friends."
"Yeah whatever, what's the next riddle?"
The girl changed Latara back into an owl and held out one of her wings, holding up a few feathers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
Ed was careful to count every feather. She never said whether she was counting the small feathers as well. "If you mean the big feathers there's four, the little one's there's eight, all together you're holding up twelve."
"Wrong."
"WHAT? How can I be wrong?"
"Owls don't have fingers."
Edward crashed to the ground again. This was beyond ridiculous. Unless this was just to distract him her motives were completely backwards from any humonculos he'd ever encountered. It was as if nothing interested her if it didn't revolve around herself. Sure, the other humonculi acted selfishly about becoming human with the philosophers stone but she'd already said the stone didn't interest her at all and he was beginning to believe that.
"Ok, next."
"I've seen you where you never were, and where you never will be. And yet you in the very same place may still me seen by me. What is it?"
Where is a place that you can be seen without actually being in that place? The Fullmetal thought. A place that you can never really be, and yet can at the same time.
A place where you are, and yet can't be at the same time. You can be seen in the place that you can never really be and still be in the same place where you start. By all means that sounds impossible so how...
His thoughts trailed off as inspiration hit him hard. Ed looked at the girl, at Latara, at the wall, then at the thing that they all had in common, the mirror. That was it!"
"A reflection! The answer is a reflection!"
Her expression of glee was quickly replaced with horror. "How-?"
"I got my clue from your mirror. You said yourself it needed a reflection, you had my reflection right in front of you when I was still twenty feet away. I hadn't moved but my reflection could be seen from a place that I never had been."
She made a pouting face like a spoiled child that got their favorite toy taken away. Latara noticed her mistress's distress and poised to strike again.
"No, it's all right. I promised that he could go if he could answer a riddle." She sniffed. "I just wish it could have lasted longer, that was the most fun I'd had…ever."
She sobbed a little; making some of Ed's original thoughts that humonculi had no feelings dissolve a notch. There was no way anyone could act that well and those were honest to goodness tears.
"Ya know, if you simply asked people to spend time to play riddles I'm sure they would. You don't need to hold them against their will just to get what you want. Wouldn't it have been more fun if I had wanted to play?"
She thought about it for a minute then dissolved the wall blocking the exit.
"Maybe it would be twice as much fun if someone wanted to play with me."
"I just said that."
"Yeah but it wasn't my idea until just then so it didn't count."
Ed walked by her shaking his head. "You're really strange you know that?"
She giggled and the snake had returned to its owl form and resumed its perch on her shoulder.
"Maybe I'll see you again, Edward Elric."
"Maybe. By the way, you never told me your name."
She smiled, pointed the mirror at herself and morphed into a large snowy owl. With the mirror in her talons she silently took off into the dark sky, the owlet's big eyes peeking out from over her shoulder.
Ed couldn't help but smile a little. As he continued walking he heard a little voice in his ear that explained quite a bit about the stranger he'd just met.
"Vanity. My name is Vanity."
Me - So Edward escapes his fate as a riddle partner for all eternity but now what? He finds a very unusual way to get back to Yoyo Manor and Chanty and Ian are already there. In Einons hand there is a very bizarre clue as to what he experience while trapped in the warehouses.
Chibi me – you're no fun this time.
Me – why not?
Chibi me - because you're strait and to the point with your preview.
Me – why is this a problem? Usually when I goof off or say more you yell at me for doing just that. Goofing off and saying too much.