Of Ravens and Murder: OM&N Volume 2

Day ?? - 2018

The lost woman stood at the foot of Mt. Fuji; she'd been there once before nearly ten years ago now, but it seemed much taller than she remembered. It was odd, the memory was fragmented and the more she tried to recall, the further away it seemed. This was true of most of her memories now, or at least of the ones she still had; the lost woman couldn't even remember her name at this point. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes to center herself before she began the long climb up the mountain side.

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She was fairly certain a few hours had passed and finally, she could see sunlight beginning to stream through the fog. A quick glance told the lost woman that she could no longer see the forest floor for the fog beneath her and the wind up here would sometimes threaten to tear her from the mountainside if she didn't cling tight to the rocks whenever it picked up. When the wind died down again for a moment, she continued her climb, picking her way carefully through the larger rocks until she came across a Sphinx among the boulders; she stopped, her expression a mask of resignation.

"If you wish to pass, you must answer my three riddles correctly." The lost woman looked past the Sphinx in mild curiosity, but all she saw from where she stood were more boulders.

"Alright, I'll play." She agreed, she didn't have much left to lose.

"Which creature has one voice and yet becomes four-footed, two-footed, and then three-footed?" The lost woman smiled briefly at the Sphinx's first riddle.

"The answer is man." The Sphinx's expression remained impassive, but the lost woman could swear the fog cleared a little in the sun.

"There are two sisters: one gives birth to the other and she, in turn, gives birth to the first. Who are the sisters?"

"Ήμέρα and Νυξ, the sisters are Day and Night." Again the lost woman answered, though she wasn't sure how she'd done it in what sounded like Greek. And at her correct answer, the fog cleared a little more behind the Sphinx.
The final riddle was simple, it consisted of four words: "What is a human?"

"A monster," The lost woman spoke her answer with a smirk, though she wasn't sure why, and the Sphinx dipped its head in what seemed then like approval before it vanished into thin air, leaving her alone in the sunlight.