A/N: And we're back! After far too long. But this is the best this is going to get. It's still terrible though. If you want just skip to the last line break and read from there. Of course that won't make much sense, but it's the only plot relevant part. Everything else is crap.

Song: Strawberry Swing by Coldplay

Enjoy!


Ana, Jack, Savon and Naomi walked around the festival grounds outside Central City. It was the Elric Festival. After Mustang had been elected Fuhrer, he had created the holiday in honor of the Elric's defeat of the homunculi. So once year, Central turned itself into a giant fairground. There were carnival games, rides, numerous greasy food stands, alcohol, and a parade. But the greatest attraction was the Alchemy Maze.

The Alchemy Maze was new every year. It was designed by the greatest alchemical minds in Amestris. But it was much more than just a maze. The labyrinthian structure was divided into four sections. Each section was cut off from the others. In order to progress to the next section, the player had to solve a riddle.

No one had ever solved the maze; Ana decided to change that.

She dragged her friends to the entrance and announced her plan.

"This is a bad idea," Naomi complained.

"No, It'll be fun!" exclaimed Ana excitedly.

Jack spoke up, "I'm with Naomi on this. Why don't we go on a ride or-"

Ana interrupted him by grabbing his and Naomi's hand and dragging them into the maze. Savon gave a small chuckle and followed them in.


Within five minutes the group of four was completely, totally, and utterly lost.

"Where are we?" asked Savon glancing around.

"I don't know. In a MAZE maybe?" said Naomi irritatedly.

"Okay, okay. I get it; we're lost," Ana interrupted before things could escalate.

The maze itself was an alchemical creation. It was transmuted straight out of the ground on the first day of the festival, and deconstructed again at the end. The walls looked the same as the ground and there was no way to mark the path back to the entrance much less anywhere else.

The four started walking again and then Ana spoke up, "Okay. Let's think about this. There has to be some trick to this puzzle."

"What do you mean?" asked Jack.

"All puzzles have some sort of a trick to them. Mazes included. It's how they're solved," replied Ana. "If we figure out the trick then we can solve this. Anybody got a marble?"

The others just stared at her like she was crazy.

Ana sighed dramatically. "Okay. Any metal?"

Naomi pulled out her dogtags. "I have these," she said slowly. Naomi did not trust whatever Ana had planed.

"Perfect." Ana grinned, snatching the tags from Naomi's hand. She placed them on the ground and clapped her hands. Ana pressed her hands to the tags and when the transmutation was finished a small metal ball laid at her feet.

"What's that for?" asked Savon.

"I'm gonna see whether the floor is slanted," replied Ana.

"Why?" Jack questioned.

Naomi realised Ana's goal in this little experiment. "This maze is a type of labyrinth, which means the goal it to find the center. Sometimes the floors of the labyrinths are sloped towards the center. However, the decline is usually so minimal that it's unnoticeable. Unless, of course, you have a tiny ball which you can roll."

"Exactly." Ana beamed. She nudged the ball with her toe towards the direction they had come from. The ball quickly lost its momentum and rolled backwards toward the teens. It rolled to the end of the hall and bounced off the far wall and down the left passageway.

"C'mon! We can't lose it!" Ana shouted chasing after their little guide. The others quickly followed.


The ball finally stopped rolling when it met a large metal door. The four quickly came to a stop when they realised the ball was no longer rolling.

"Huh, can't believed that actually worked," commented Ana.

Savon approached the door. He looked at the door for a moment and then pushed. The doors did not move. "What the….?"

Naomi placed her hand against the door and sighed, "Savon, we've found the door, but we still have to solve the riddle."

"Oh...Right. I forgot," Savon said, abashed.

"Found it," said Jack. He pointed to the wall on their right. Written on it in black letters was:

"I am odd.

Decapitate me and I am even

Truncate me and I come last

What am I?"

Ana read the riddle aloud. "So…. anybody have any idea what this means?" she asked.

Naomi gave her a death stare. "This was your idea, genius. Why don't you tell us?"

Jack began an attempt to stop the girls from fighting, when they were all interrupted by Savon's shout.

"Seven!" he shouted gleefully.

"What?" asked Jack, blinking as if Savon had just shouted something completely random.

"Seven," Savon repeated. "It's the answer."

Naomi narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"Seven is an odd number. If you take away the "s", it spells "even". If you take away the "n" from "even", you get "eve" which is the last part of the day. The answer is seven," Savon explained quickly.

"It won't hurt to try," Ana said with a shrug. She stood in front of the door and clapped her hands. As she pressed them to the door, blue lighting carved out the word 'SEVEN' onto the door. The door slowly swung open, splitting the 'V' in half. The four teens quickly stepped through the open doorway and into the next part of the maze.

"Now what?" asked Jack.

"Now we find the next door," Ana explained matter-of-factly. She dropped the metal ball. It rolled slowly and simply came to a stop.

"Why isn't it working?" asked Savon, nudging the ball with his foot.

"No idea," said Ana as she crouched down to look at the round object.

Naomi sighed. "Obviously the same trick won't work twice," she said.

"Well then we need a new trick," concluded Jack.

"We could unravel some string," Ana mused.

"And where would we get that?" Naomi drawled.

All eyes turned to Naomi's scarf. She was confused for a moment as to why, but then it dawned on her.

"No. No! Absolutely not," she shouted. "I'm not giving up any more-"

Ana picked up the ball and transmuted it back into Naomi's dog tags. "Here," she said, holding the tags out to Naomi. "We can make a trade; the dog tags, for your scarf."

Naomi sighed in resignation, deciding that the dog tags were more important. "Fine," she stated tersely, accepting the trade. Naomi handed over her scarf and Ana gave over the tags. Ana clapped her hands and the scarf was gone, replaced by a pile of yarn.


It took them a good while, almost two hours, but they eventually found the second door. It looked the same as the first. On the wall was the riddle.

"Soaring, smashing,

Power, crashing,

Thunder, lighting

People fighting

Limbs are swinging

Hands are meeting

Dying, singing

Tune that's ringing

Blinding.

What am I?"

"Interesting," commented Naomi. "Another 'what am I?' riddle."

They were silent for a moment then Naomi asked, "Any ideas?"

"Alchemy maybe?" mused Savon.

"No, that wouldn't fit," said Jack. "'Hands meeting'? It just doesn't work."

"What about Ana? Her hands 'meet' when she uses alchemy," countered Savon.

Naomi interrupted before the boys truly started fighting. "Jack's right. Why would the creators make the riddle so specific to one person? It doesn't make sense. Any other ideas?"

"What about 'the heart'? Or maybe 'love'?" suggested Ana.

"Love?" asked Jack incredulously.

"Yeah," said Ana, growing excited as she explained. "Soaring, smashing, power, crashing, dying, and singing. Those are all words that could describe a person's love ."

"What about the fighting part?" asked Savon.

"Lovers fight," replied Ana. "Thunder, lighting are emotional turmoil. The hands meeting represents new love and love is said to be blind."

"Try it," Naomi shrugged.

Ana placed the ball of yarn on the ground. She clapped her hands and pressed them to the door. Once again the answer carved itself on to the door. It swung open slowly revealing the third part of the maze.

They walked through the door. That was when they realized, they did not have enough yarn to map out the next section.

"Okay people," commanded Ana. "We need a new trick."

"We could try the ball again," suggested Jack.

"If it didn't work in the second section, it won't work now. The creators are too clever for that," commented Naomi.

"We could try placing a hand against a wall and traveling that way," said Savon.

"We're in a labyrinth. That won't work," replied Ana.

"Why not?" asked Savon.

"Because," explained Ana, "that method assumes that there is an entrance and an exit. But a labyrinth only goes one way. The entrance is the exit. You would end up walking in circles."

"That shouldn't matter though," said Naomi. "The maze is divided into sections and each section has start point and an end point. So the maze as a whole is a labyrinth but each section is its own maze."

"Hmm. I never thought of it like that. You're right," agreed Ana.

"Well then let's go," shouted Jack gleefully as he started running with his hand on the wall.


They made it to the third door without a hitch. It took them almost an hour, but they made it.

"Okay. Let's do this," said Naomi with a happy smile.

Ana grinned back. She was happy that Naomi had finally decided to act her age. Ana read the riddle aloud:

"What is greater than God?

More evil than the devil?

The poor have it, the rich need it.

And if you eat it you'll die

What is it?"

"Let's think about this logically," said Savon. "Greater than God, More evil..."

"I don't get it. None of the riddle makes any sense," stated Ana.

"You're giving up already?" asked Naomi incredulously.

"This riddle is ridiculous!" shouted Jack. "Nothing is greater than God or more evil than the devil."

Ana's eyes lit up. "Wait. Jack! That's it! Nothing!"

"Nothing what?" asked a confused-looking Jack.

"Nothing is greater than God or more evil than the devil," she explained excitedly. "The poor have nothing, the rich need nothing, and if you eat nothing you'll die!"

"Good job," congratulated Savon, slapping Jack on the back.

"Uh...Thanks, I guess," replied a still bewildered Jack.

Ana used her alchemy to carve the answer on to the door. They traipsed through the now open doors.

Savon placed his hand against the wall and started walking. But he stopped when Naomi called after him.

"Savon," she called. "That's not going to work. Remember?"

"Oh right," Savon said wearily. "'Cause we're looking for the middle now."

"So what's the new plan?" asked Jack, wanting to start moving again.

"We could try marking the walls," suggested Naomi.

"With what?" asked Ana.

"I don't know. This was your plan," snapped Naomi.

"I didn't have a plan," Ana responded. "I've never done this before."

"That doesn't matter now," Jack intervened.

"Hey Ana," Savon called. He was examining the doors. "What are these doors made out of?"

Ana approached the doors. She glanced over them and said, "Iron. Why?"

A maniacal grin appeared on Savon's face. "Because now we can make a magnet."

"What good will that do?" questioned Jack.

Naomi figured out Savon's train of thought and explained, "Since iron is magnetic, a large enough magnet will be able to lead us to the last door. But we don't have anything magnetic."

"Actually….," Savon admitted, slightly abashed, "I have a magnet." He pulled a small square magnet from the back pocket of his pants.

"Okay, that's great. But that's too small to be useful," commented Jack.

"But that's where this door comes in," said Savon excitedly. "If Ana transmutes part of the door and this magnet together-"

"Then we have a large enough magnet to lead us to the next door!" Ana finished with enthusiasm.


By the time they reached the last door, they were exhausted. It was near two in the afternoon and they had started at ten.

"I'm hungry," complained Savon as his stomach rumbled loudly.

"Suck it up," Jack frowned.

"You can eat after we solve this riddle," said Ana.

"Crimson rivers running ragged,

Scabbing over, thick and jagged,

Over sides so lifeless now,

Comes the tide and in its brow,

Is the seed,

Which in the spring,

Fills the need,

And brings the green,

Beauty from what once was dead,

Then they come, the rivers red."

"Okay...That's weird," commented Savon.

"Yeah," Jack said slowly.

"What's it even supposed to mean?" asked Ana in wonderment.

"I have no idea," the boys said in unision.

Ana sighed. "You have any idea Naomi?"

"Let me think," Naomi snapped. She was frustrated that everyone but her had solved one of the riddles. This one was hers.

"Blood?" suggested Jack.

Ana nodded her head considering it. "Maybe but what about the green?"

"I GOT IT!" shouted Savon. "Salmon spawning!"

Ana and Jack looked at Savon as if he had just grown antlers.

"Umm….no. I think blood is a better option," said Ana slowly.

"Aww. C'mon," whined Savon. "You didn't even let me explain-"

"Volcano?" Naomi muttered.

"What?" said Jack turning to Naomi.

"I think that's the answer. Volcanoes," said Naomi.

"Okay. But why?" asked Ana.

"Crimson rivers is lava. Scabbing refers to dried lava," explained Naomi. "Volcanic ash is also said to be the richest soil on earth, the green. When the crimson rivers return, it means the volcano erupted again."

Savon nodded in agreement. "Better than my idea. Try it, Ana."

She did. The doors swung open to reveal the center of the maze.


At the center of the maze stood a stone pedestal. Atop it, was a gold plated trophy, meant for the solver of the maze.

Ana walked up to the pedestal and picked up the trophy. All of a sudden the ground started shaking violently.

"Get down!" Naomi shouted, dropping to her hands and knees. The others followed her lead.

Ana dropped the trophy and started to crawl towards her friends. Suddenly the ground behind her slowly started to give away and red lightning sparked around the edges. She screamed as she felt the ground beneath her legs give out and her body hit the side of the growing pit.

Ana quickly started to slide down the smooth side of the pit as she lost her grip on the edge as the earth beneath her hand disappeared. She heard her name called out and then saw a shadow as Jack jumped in after her.

Ana hit the ground and everything went black.