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The ruins were...strange. For some reason, Jolyne felt certain that there was something different about them. The lack of flowers, for example. they were omnipresent everywhere else in the Garden, but here? No sign of them.

But what really seemed strange to her was that, whenever she tried to investigate them, the Vine stopped her from descending down any of the staircases. It didn't do that anywhere else. Jolyne could feel it in her gut: there was something different about this place. And she wanted to find out what it was.

A loud cry of "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA" echoed through the ruins as she tried once again to batter her way through with her Stand. Just as it had all the other times she'd tried it, the barricade stood firm, even against blows that could break through a brick wall. She gave up and stood back, sweating lightly. She couldn't beat her way in, and the Vine was too tightly wound for even her strings to penetrate. She would have to think of something else.

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"Whoever designed this place was an expert in kekkai," came a voice from not far behind, and just slightly above. A floating girl?

Jolyne turned to face the voice, wiping her forehead off with the back of her arm. "Kek-what now?" she asked. She'd taken Japanese lessons when she was younger, but she hadn't used it in years and had forgotten most of it.

She didn't seem perturbed by the fact that the other girl was floating. She'd seen much, much weirder in the Garden.

"Kekkai is a term for barriers in my world. Though I don't just mean walls. It's more complex than that. They're usually used in sealing rituals, you know?" She settles onto the floor, walking up to stand beside the other girl.

Jolyne jerked her thumb over her shoulder, indicating the mass of vines that barred her way. "You mean like that? My Stone Free should be able to clear it no problem, but it won't budge."

"Pretty much. They take many different forms, but I'm definitely sensing some other power behind it. It's definitely not an ordinary vine wall by any means. It makes me wonder what needs to be hidden so badly?"

"Which is exactly why I want to get in there," she said, her mouth set in a line. "If it's this well protected, then whatever's behind it must be important, and I'll bet the Queen doesn't want us getting our hands on it for a reason."

Maybe they could use whatever secret was being kept in there as leverage. Maybe even force her to send them home. It was worth a shot.

"Hmm...," the girl made a thoughtful sound, walking up to the fines and putting a hand against them. She seemed to be in thought.

"I wonder... if there's a means of counteracting it through spiritual means. Like when two identical frequencies meet, they cancel each other out."

"You mean like...noise-canceling headphones? I don't think it works that way."

As far as she was concerned, 'spiritual means' meant 'summon up an incarnation of your spirit to beat the crap out of things'.

Or, alternatively, using pseudo-science babble to make it sound like more than just summoning up an incarnation of one's spirit to beat the crap out of things (~~I'm looking at you, Rykiel~~). Sanae gave a sigh.

"Not quite like that. I'd need to talk to Suwako-sama and Reimu. But maybe we can work together to find something that might work. Who knows, really."

Jolyne nodded. "Well, if you figure something out, let me know. In the meantime..."

She stepped away from the stairs, moving over to an open patch of stone floor. She cracked her knuckles. If the entrance was blocked, she'd just have to make her own.

"I'm going to try things my way."

Well that certainly look interesting. Hopefully Jolyne wouldn't mind if Sanae watched a bit...

She hadn't expected anything different. She summoned her Stand, and it began pummeling the floor beneath her with its meteoric fists. The tile cracked and split, and was forced away by the force of her blows.

Her reasoning was: Perhaps this barrier was only over the entrance to the ruins. If so, she could get access by smashing her way in through the ceiling.

Holy crap! That was amazing! Sanae stood there, visibly shocked and in awe...

"It's like Hokuto no ken!" ... Close, but no cigar.

Jolyne takes no notice, focused exclusively on the task in front of her. She stops, though, when she feels Stone Free's fist encounter something that wouldn't yield.

She bends down and starts clearing the rubble away to get a look. And...just like she thought, the wall of vines had grown here too, blocking her path.

"Damn. So much for that plan."

"Wow, they were really thorough...," Sanae hopped down near Jolyne, waving some of the dust away with a minor wind spell.

Jolyne nodded. "They've probably got this barrier up in all directions, then. I don't think I'll be getting in this way."

"Makes you wonder... just what sort of power they really have stored away here."

"That is exactly what it makes me wonder," Jolyne says. "It must be pretty important if they're trying this hard to protect it."

"I agree. I should talk to Suwako-sama about this, definitely."

At the sound, Sephiroth's attention was drawn, pulling her away from one of her patrols. "Once, we were able to enter that place. The Labyrinth was beneath."

She smiled politely. "I wouldn't damage the Vine. Not only is there no way through, but it has some sentience, and you might attract negative attention." It didn't truly trouble her, and the Vine as a whole wasn't hurt by it, but she knew the Vine could be spiteful.

"Maybe some negative attention is just what I want," Jolyne said, stepping back and wiping off her forehead.

So this was where the labyrinth was, eh? She'd heard about that but had missed out on actually encountering it. Maybe it wouldn't be as useful as she'd hoped.

"That is an idea." It's one she's considered before, but she isn't sure how to get a satisfactory result from doing so. "In this case, the Vine might simply consider you an enemy and decide to record you at inopportune moments."

She nods. "I'm not sure if there's some other place that can be accessed from here, but yes, once the Vine withered away, we were able to descend into the Labyrinth."

Jolyne nodded, considering. "So you've been in there? What was it like?"

She still wasn't sure that this wasn't something important. After all, a Labyrinth was usually built to protect something at it's center...

"I have." She remembers it quite clearly. "We were given a light to guide us, but it's completely dark otherwise, a magical darkness. I imagine those imprisoned within for breaking the rules are given no light to see by. The corridors are seemingly endless, and possibly shifting. Eventually, one is faced with convincing illusions, usually of one's worst fears."

"Interesting." The dark didn't concern her. And illusions? She could handle that.

"What sort of rules would you have to break to get sent there, I wonder..."

If they wouldn't let her in the front door, she'd just have to make them let her in.

Battlecries and the sounds of things being hit are a good way to get Katina's attention real quick - though she had to wonder why someone was pummeling the flora, until she noticed the entrance.

"You hit pretty hard, but I don't think it's gonna budge."

Jolyne wiped the sweat off of her brow with her sleeve. "Yeah, I already figured that out," she said. "I just come by here every now and then to try it again. Figure maybe something'll change eventually."

"I'll give you points for stubbornness but I'd have started looking for a flamethrower by now." She looked the vines over, wondering what made them any tougher than regular plants. Either this place actually was teched-up, or... magic... stuff was happening.

"I'm pretty sure then it'd just be invincible and on fire," she noted. "These vines aren't natural."

"Nothing can ever be that simple, can it?" Katina walked up to give the vines a halfhearted kick, and sure enough... it did nothing at all.

"Nope," she said. "But I'll find a way in. They can't keep me away from my answers forever."

"I dunno what exactly you're looking for, but if I can help you stick it to the ones in charge, count me in."

"Well, I'm not really sure myself," Jolyne admits. "But whatever's in there must be important if they're hiding it. I bet it'd really stick in their jaw if we figured out what it was."

"Just wanna piss 'em off, huh?" she asks with a grin. "I like how you think. Make them make some kinda move."

"Right now, they're running the show. We can't do anything against 'em. But if whatever's in there is something valuable, something they want to keep us away from...maybe we can force 'em out."

"If you figure something out, and you need help, I'm in."

"Noted."

For now, though...there wasn't much more for Jolyne to do here. She was clearly not getting in this way.

Katina crosses her arms, glaring at the barrier, such as it is. "We'll figure something out."

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