Not even a day since the last update. XD

I have it all written down, ready for upload until the third last chapter! XD I think.

YAYZE!!

I still want as many reviews as possible, so if you came here without reviewing the last chapter could you PLEASE go back and do so? It's really crucial cause this here has the answer to the riddle before. You NEED to think about it before you look at the answer!! XD

It goes the same for the rest of the chapters. Even though I might update loads at the time, I really really wish that you'd review each and every chapter!! PLEASE!!!

I'm going to take the very last chapter as hostage. I don't care if it turns out not worth it. I really want those reviews!!

Oh, and it seems there was a lot of confusion about the riddle.

I honestly don't have an idea on how riddles are made, so I just did it in my spare time, five hours straight. I tried to make it extra hard, cause it's supposed to be hard enough for the two geniuses, and I ended up with this. I really hope it is good enough to get your approval. If you don't know what I mean by the hard riddle, GO BACK!!!

DON'T LOOK UNLESS YOU HAVE AN ANSWER!! EVEN IF IT'S WRONG!! PLEASE!!

I also think that the chapters from now on will stay around 900 words. I think. Well, at least until around the last few chapters. Last chapter, which will be an epilogue and a secret chapter, will be quite long. I believe. Eheheheh.

I don't own. Not FMA, nor Harry Potter.

Some confusion may occur, please tell me and I'll try to explain.

Prolly lots of cussing, especially since it's ED we're talking about.

There will be some hints about Boylove, mainly RoyEd cause I'm a fan like that. It won't be explicit, and all hints of pairings... okay, all hints of RoyEd is ultimately for humour. Humor. whatever. It's for fun. Don't take it seriously.

Rating. The day I move this fic to M Rating is the day I get 10 reviews saying 'change it to M!'. I trust ye people to be calm about some cussing and some nekkidness. No scenes, people. Remember, T. TEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

I'm keeping the main story around two pages limit, even if I have to cut it in the middle of something.

Anyways.

TSpAl - Thanks, and thank you!! XD Animeseason, hmm..

KrWng - XD Thanks!! I hope it isn't TOO hard.... after the explanations....

Annms - I honestly have no idea what you wanted to say. Does that mean that I have typo, or that you don't understand the riddle?

Sphia - Heheh, ghosts can't hold things. Nick wasn't holding it. It was floating, like the parchment that Rita has around. They could have done the 'platform rise-y uppy thing', but like I mentioned before, they tried it, and the walls grew along with them. So it's logical that the invisible wall also grows along. Your convo... actualyl made me worry. Maybe I made it too hard? Maybe it has a hole I'm not aware of? D:

Ahem. Hem. Okay. Uhm. Right. So ..... Enjoy?

Minutes, hours may have passed. The brothers were still brooding over what the words may point to.

It was too hard, even for the brothers: it was too broad, too ambiguous, there was not much hints- no clue as to how to solve it. It was definitely something quickly-made just for this occasion.

"This is hard…" Al muttered. "Brother… could this be a homunculus..?"

Ed's eyes narrowed. He'd thought of it before, but …

A light bulb went off. "… no… it's…" Ed looked at Nick. "It's Human."

Nick smiled and nodded approvingly, and gestured them to pass. "Correct."

As they hurried towards where they hoped were the center, Alphonse asked the question. "How did you know?"

"I am born with four pillars, two of each I do not own," recited Edward, "they are the parents that contribute to what you are, the two pillars that you depend on."

"What about the other two?"

"Your own two legs," said Edward, grinning ear to ear as Alphonse's face showed enlightenment, "Just like I say always, 'you have two strong legs, use them'."

"I am life, within it another," he continued, "I think it represents mothers, but I guess it could count for men as well."

Al nodded. "Life inside human body, ova for women, sperm for guys, baby for mothers,"

"An endless death hiding in its shell," said Ed, "in every life, there must be death, because-"

Al's eyes widened, and smiled in understanding. "-it's the natural flow of life: all is one, one is all."

"Right. I am the strongest with impenetrable skin, a skin so tender fit for the weakest," Ed recited on, "the tools we humans made to protect ourselves, they made us almost invincible against other animals, except, without them, we're next to dust, you know?"

"What about the part about twice the time?"

"Twice the time doesn't refer to years, but the things that take those years until death: age and experience."

"Okay," Al said, frowning as he mulled over the answers, "what about the middle parts? Aren't they the seven deadliest sins?"

"You're confusing them with the homunculi at our country," smiled Edward. "They represent the seven deadliest sins that can be committed by humans, right? That's it; those seven deadliest sins are only present at the same time in a human's body."

"That's it?" Al asked. "But they fit in Homunculus too."

"It's just there to confuse you, there's one hint from the-"

Before he could finish his sentence, a thick wall of the hedges grew suddenly between the two brothers, almost cutting Alphonse.

"Brother?! Ed?!" Alphonse yelled, hoping that his voice may be carried over the hedge.

"I'm here-wack!!" Al paled. What was going on?

He looked at his burnt hand and frowned. He clapped, transmuted a scythe from the ground, and started hacking the wood. "Hang on, I'm coming through-whaa-?!"

A creature jumped out, lashing out with its hideous claws. It looked like wood, but Al wasn't sure with its green beady eyes.

"You're one ugly-looking creature," muttered Alphonse, steadying himself away from the thing. "Maybe you're one of those that bite, like Mister Mustang told me about?

"Stupid weird looking-flying-chimera-thingeys!" shouted Edward as he pried off blue flying pixies from his hair. "Ack!!" He took a handful of them in his hand, then another, and threw them into the hedges' vines, in which they were immediately tangled.

He glared at the remaining pixies.

"Git!!"

They were gone.

Ed turned quickly towards the hedge, hoping to hear something over it. "Al?!"

Thankfully, the reply was quick. "I'm here, brother-ack!"

"What?! What is it?!"

"Nothing, there's this wooden-thing trying to scratch me!"

"Damn it, I'm coming through-!" He clapped.

"No! Stop! It attacked me when I tried cutting through the hedges! We'll find another way-tch!"

"I got him, I got him!" came Al's voice. "He's run off, now- I think I'm bleeding."

Pause.

"I am bleeding, damn it."

Ed rolled his eyes. "Great, come on, keep talking to me, we gotta find the next exit!"

"Right! …"

The brothers fell into silence.

"Speak to me, Al! We need to keep each other informed!"

"Uhh, so … uhh…" Al searched his mind for something to say. "How's it going with the guys asking you out?"

Ed remained silent for a minute. "They stopped, surprisingly," came the thoughtful voice. Al tensed for a moment, but soon relaxed when Ed's voice became lighter. "It seems like they got the idea, finally!"

"That's great!" grinned Al, "Lavender's been looking at me weirdly after the Yule ball, though…"

"Who cares … her?" said Ed. His voice became oddly smaller.

"Er… Ed?"

"I mean … … she… … d-Al!… sp…me! Aaaack!!"

"Ed? Brother?" Alphonse looked at the hedge in alarm. "Ed?!"

No response came.

Panicking, Alphonse ran up, taking the quickest left turn he could find. Thankfully, if he ran straight back, he could get to Edward quickly enough.

His mind halted when he saw a golden flash from his peripheral vision.

"Ed!" shouted Alphonse, having a double-take. It wasn't where Ed was supposed to be, but then his short-tempered brother might have taken a wrong route. "I thought we agreed on talking-"

Al stopped dead.

Ed didn't move. He was standing with his back to Alphonse, swaying strangely as if he couldn't balance on his two feet. Alphonse noted a pool of black-red liquid at Ed's feet, and felt his stomach sink in dread.

Just when he felt it, Ed collapsed onto the ground.

"E-Ed…?"

I needed to cut Ed's explanation there. He talked about a hint differentiating Homunculus from Human. It's provided in his explanations. Can anyone figure it out? :D

Mrawgirl09