For Lyvia Fuma

[Prof. Teodoro Mosiello]

*Task #3*

[Lyvia Fuma]

Let's say Lyv has warmed up a little bit from the last task. She didn't end up with Hipposkin or whatever Mae was thinking about. Lyv imagined something called similar to the skin of a hippo was probably heavy and made her huge and slow. This weren't the things you want to be during a tournament like this. Obviously she hadn't had much to do with medical terms and she probably will never really bother. As long as they fixed it, it was fine, better not name it. However, everything was fine and slowly the cuts she had from task #1 slowly turned into itchy scaling buggers. Lyv was standing there scratching her arm for a moment when she had been dropped off. Final task! Can you believe it? Of course you can, because honestly, she was determined to win. Somehow the whole 'do not get attached to your partner' hadn't had worked out so well though and this made her feel twisted, just a little, just for a moment. Keep it in mind, win this, if there is no way of winning then you can think about others and wish that Mae would win it. Lyv couldn't care less about the other two right now. May they get lost in.... what would they have to do in this task? She looked around, still scratching her arm. It looked like a hedge, a huge one, and when she walked a few steps closer, she noticed that it wasn't a normal hedge, nothing natural. After the last tasks was it really a surprise? Not really, though the thought of getting lost in a maze made her feel uneasy. Speed wouldn't be everything in this task and she had to had a good amount of luck to help her and who knows what was lurking inside... Lyv shook her head. Don't think about it girl, you'll probably figure it out earlier than you wish. Lyv entered the maze, directly turning to the left and walking towards the next corner...

[Prof. Teodoro Mosiello]

Around the next corner was a long stretch of maze, a bit wider than the entrance had been. The 'corridor' between the hedges and trees was about twenty feet long, and within that stretch were four large, swinging pendulums. The swung, at different speeds, back and forth, disappearing for a couple of seconds on each side into the hedges. The pendulums were huge, heavy brass, and charmed to withstand any and all spells that a student witch or wizard would know. The fist one was the smallest, not much bigger than a large dinner plate, swinging far off the ground, to the last one which was more like a large bodyshield, used in battle, scraping the ground as it swung. The goal, clearly, is to get to the other end.



((Hard to find pics for this, so please if you have questions, just PM me and I'll try to explain better!))

[Lyvia Fuma]

Lyv had turned around, yet still walking forward. Why she had been doing this? Because she thought she had heard something and Merlin knows she wouldn't be surprised if suddenly something had been trying to attack her from behind. Only the gamemakers knew what had been hiding in the bushes, well hedges, there could have been everything lurking behind the next corner or following you around. Lyv stopped, suddenly she felt weird, the claustrophobic feeling that the small ways between the high hedges gave her, suddenly had been gone. She turned back around, to see what happened, when she noticed that the maze suddenly stretched out. Nice, this meant she just had more space to fight back just in case something crazy would jump right at her every other second, but there hadn't been anything jumping and Lyv turned around once more, to check on her back. There where swooshing noises, something scratching as well and when she turned back around, she saw them, for the first time realising the pendulums. Okay, let's just pretend they just popped out of thin air, because you know, Lyv, not seeing them is rather embarrassing. They are right there, four of them in different sizes, swinging with different speeds. Maybe she could just freeze them. Yep, poof, time stands still for them and she could just go on! As if. They'd never let her have her way that easily, but it's still worth a try, so Lyv took out her wand pointing it at the first and therefor smallest pendulum, sending a stunning spell in it's direction and then...nothing happened. Did she miss it? No she clearly saw the spell hitting it. Maybe another spell? She would end up wasting time when she stood there trying every spell she could possibly remember. It was time to move forward, faster, maybe the others had been dropped off somewhere in the same maze. This was a race. She looked at the first pendulum, frowning. She could crawl on the ground to get around it. It wouldn't hit her, she just had to make sure to stop before she was in the way of the next one. This was the plan, doing this step by step and Lyv walked close to the pendulum, watching it for a moment and then diving down, it had been swinging too fast to just run to the other side safely. She crawled the few meters, turning her head to check if she had been safe and stood up just in time to get a closer look at the second one that had been just swooshing past her. This one had been a little bit slower, not much but crawling wasn't an option this time, so Lyv moved to one side of the way, waiting for the pendulum to enter the hedge in front of her. When it left the hedge again, she sprinted forward, managing to pass to the next gap unharmed. Maybe this one would be not only bigger, but also slower? If so, her current plan was going to work for another time, but when she wanted to sprint, the pendulum had been here again. Oh no, was it faster? Maybe Lyv was just imagining it to be faster. She counted seconds. No, this has to be faster. She frowned, thinking. Under it hadn't been an option, the pendulum didn't leave enough space to the ground. It was fast and Lyv didn't feel like getting hit by it at all. Maybe there had been a way over it. She'd have to try to see. The next time the pendulum disappeared in the hedge, Lyv prepared herself, and in the second it left, she jumped forward, grabbing the pole where the shield was fixed on and swinging herself to the other side. Hurray for climbing trees and being able to hold onto poles. Though, the thing was fast and she let go just in the right moment, or the pendulum would have dragged her right into the hedge. Ouch. Lyv was sitting on her butt for a second, tailbone hurting, thinking that it would probably bruise, but she hadn't had the time to think about it. This is a race and you want to win it! She watched the last pendulum, making it's trail in the ground, if she'd watch her timing she can run through it. Lyv moved to the hedge once more, her shoulder touching it because she had been standing so close. This thing looked heavy, she wouldn't risk to get hit by it. The second the pendulum left the hedge and made it's way towards the other side, Lyv jumped forward, rushing out of the way. When she had passed all of them, she stood there panting a little, with her hands resting on her knees, leaning forward. Pfew. Okay, hello there adrenaline!

[Prof. Teodoro Mosiello]

After a few more turns and travels, Lyvia will come upon The Sphinx. He will be completely blocking her path, and will not allow her to pass until she answers the following riddle:

If you throw me from the window,
I will leave a grieving wife.
Bring me back, but in the door, and
You'll see someone giving life!

((Feel free to post the travel between the pendulums and this. Once you've posted your answer to the riddle, please let me know, and the Sphinx will tell you if you are correct and allowed to pass...or not!))

[Lyvia Fuma]

After that little sports exercise with the pendulums, Lyv had to catch her breath for a second. But only a second! That was still a race and Lyv had to get going, her thoughts were racing what the next thing could be that suddenly popped up in front of her. In all honesty, she wasn't sure what would be worse, meeting a werewolf or inanimate objects that refused to be affected by magic. This way, it was all about her physical abilities. No, strike that off, she was sure she'd need a hella physical abilities, magic and a big pot of luck if there would be werewolves appearing out of nowhere. She'd most likely end up running into a dead end and who knows how this would end. Geesh! Let's not think about such things until they really happen, Lyv! No need to distract yourself so badly. Focus on the goal! She started walking again, faster than before, but keeping a close eye on the hedges, just in case another pendulum would show up. After a few turns, where she had been sure that they'd lead her to the more middle part of the maze, but in the end who really knows, she came to a sudden halt. WOAHHH, what was that!? It looked like a huge stoney woman, man, lion, ick. MUTANT! Lyv hoped as hell that this thing would stay where it was and not suddenly jump out of it's nice and cozy position and then try to attack her. Obviously Lyv had no idea about muggle mythology because when the Sphinx gave her a riddle she mumbled a 'what the...' before actually thinking about it. But her thoughts weren't too helpful either and she nearly asked if that thing could repeat that once more. If you throw me from the window....not really nice, I'd say. I'd leave a grieving wife. Oh, so we're going to throw some men out the window? Or maybe, you know, a stone and it accidentally hit a married man! Or one with a girlfriend, Lyv's thoughts weren't forcing anybody into marriage. And then you'd have to drag the dead guy through some door and most likely some pregnant woman would be around and would be shocked enough to give birth. What teaches us that? Don't throw men out of windows, or stones at men from windows and then drag the dead guys around. It makes some woman's water break. Iew. Honestly, can't she just ...climb over that thing? Lyv looked around. No, no way and that still might get it out of it's cozy position, when she was randomly climbing around on it. THINK LYV! YOU AREN'T DUMB! Throw me out the window..what is it with the wife? What's a grieving with? An angry brat. No that probably wasn't the right answer. She stopped shaking her head, trying to focus. Grieving wife. Dead men. A widow! If you throw a guy out of the window the woman would be a widow! Wait, window, widow. Funny how close those two are. The next part was something about bringing him through doors to give life. Other words for getting a baby? Or wasn't that rather giving birth? Lyv hmphed, thinking, when she noticed that the similarity of the words might not be by accident. Maybe it's about the letter, because she couldn't think of any word that had been connected to giving life. She'd just go for it, but she took out her wand nonetheless. Just in case, she gripped it a little tighter. "Is this crap about the letter, that's twisting the word to something new? The N? If not, you can just move out of the way, because I'm not really having time for your funny chats!"

[Prof. Teodoro Mosiello]

The Sphinx was silent for a very long time, content to let the girl wait for her rudeness. Finally, he conceded. 'You are correct,' he stated, the maze around him shifting to allow her passage.



You have now completed the second and final obstacle. Please proceed in the maze until you reach a square clearing. In the center of the square is a bell. You must ring this bell in order to have finished the maze.

[Lyvia Fuma]

Geesh, something like hurrying up was definitely a foreign thing to that stoney guy, lion, girl, whatever it was. Hopefully it wouldn't be able to read her mind, because then she'd would have to wait for even longer and then she'd never get to the center of the maze! By now Lyv was stepping from one foot to the other, doing a little dancey thing in front of the Sphinx. Come on, come on, hurry up! When the Sphinx finally told her that she was right, after what felt like ages, she nodded and rushed pass it. Not without any comment for sure, she had clapped her hand on the back leg of the Sphinx, hey credits that she didn't clap it's butt. "Thanks! Have a nice one, pal!", she exclaimed and ran off.

She wasn't sure if there would be another thing popping up in her way or not, but Lyv had to make up time she had lost with that stoney fella. She turned around corners, ending up in a dead end once. Lyv swore pretty loudly to herself, hoping that wouldn't cost her any point with the gamemarkers, but in her defense she was getting frustrated with losing time! She ran back, turned around another corner and found herself running in somewhat of a circle, but also not, because she definitely got somewhere else than she had been before. It just felt like the maze was sending her in a spiral now. Could this mean she was heading for the center? Hopefully, because the other option would be another dead end and this time it would take her way longer to get back to where she had been. Eventually Lyv found herself in a clearing, a bell in the middle of it. She ran, jumping forward to grab the bell and rang it. Done, she thought. "DONE!!"