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Windsurfing is hard. So is writing labyrinths.
[5] Spoof a call for an emergency services
- [4] on police bands (shots fired! etc)
[3] Ask Nanami if she wants to stay to watch
What? questions Nanami. Didn't the cop just stop the shooter?
I'm concerned that the cop might be dirty, you tell her. He's out here without a partner at night, he seemed to know Souta already, and he's being remarkably slow about calling an ambulance for help. For all we know, he could do something stupid like shoot him as a witness.
She sighs.
We could send out a call on police radio ourselves, you offer. I've synthesized a generic male voice; it won't fool anyone into thinking it's legit, but we can call down attention on this location.
She takes a deep breath.
Send it here, she says, I'll take care of him. You guys manage that witch for me, okay?
Will do, you tell her.
Take this before you go, she sends, and hands you the small railgun again.
Oh. Are you quite sure? you ask her.
Of course! she says. Think nothing of it.
Thank you, though, you insist, placing it inside your purse.
Nanami smiles.
"Come on," you whisper to a nervous Homura. "We've got a witch to catch."
Homura turns, blinks a few times, then nods, with a determined look.
Nanami sends you a feed.
"Shots fired. Karasuma alley above Shiokōji street. Request ambulance dispatch."
The cop looks down at his police radio in disbelief. "What the hell?"
The dispatcher replies promptly, confused about who this is, asking for clarification.
Nanami repeats the broadcast without any changes.
The officer picks up the radio. "Dispatch, this is officer Yamomoto, I have no idea where the hell that broadcast came from but I'm here in an alley getting shot at. I think there's some more of them. Send some backup with that ambulance."
"Rolling backup."
The policeman sighs, holsters his radio, and crouches down by the shooter's body, reaching into his pocket and extracting a cell phone. He pulls out his own, and copies over a number to make a call.
"What's up, Kobayashi?" asks the voice on the other end.
"This ain't Kobayashi," says the cop.
"What the fuck? Is that you, Yamomoto? Where's Kobayashi?"
"Bad case of lead poisoning, can't come to the phone."
"Lead — What the hell is going on?"
"I dunno, why don't you tell me why your guys are shooting up Mitakihara?" he asks.
"Why don't you tell me what the hell we're paying protection money for when you shoot my best distributor?" replies the voice.
"Protection money doesn't cover your dealer trying to put holes in cops," says the cop, "especially not when the cops are me. This mess is all on you."
"Why are you calling and what the fuck do you want, Yamomoto?"
"It's a courtesy call, motherfucker. That's what you're paying your god damn protection money for."
He hangs up, and throws the phone up onto the roof just across the alley from Nanami. She ducks out of sight, carefully.
The labyrinth, meanwhile, seems to be a fortress, set on a rock, surrounded by the ocean. The ocean waves crash around you. It's strangely empty. There's a large wooden door ahead of you,
"Is it usually this quiet?" asks Ryouko. "Last time, there were swarms of familiars around."
"Yeah, it's a little weird," says Kyouko. "Maybe because it just hatched and there's not a lot of time to make more familiars?"
"Is that a thing?" asks Ryouko.
"I dunno," says Kyouko. "I don't usually hang around waiting like we just did."
A pair of wooden doors which you just passed shuts behind you with a deep, resounding boom.
Homura spins around with a fright. Kyouko only spares a quick glance, but prepares for an attack from the front. Ryouko looks for cover, but the hallway is pretty lacking.
After a moment, Kyouko sighs. "Really? Nothing?"
Homura is worried. "What if … what if it's a trap?"
"It's a labyrinth," observes Kyouko. "Of course it's a trap."
"Practically speaking," you say, "if it's a trap, then Ryouko teleports us out. And if it's an ambush, you stop time."
The hallway continues to another big pair of doors, sliding ones made of metal, with an oversize wheel, like for an old fashioned vault, but the wheel has been bent and twisted and there are dents on the metal. Beyond this door the hallway is lined with books.
"That's mildly disconcerting," you say, as you pass the door. "Is it supposed to symbolize something?"
Ryouko picks up a book off the shelf and leafing through.
"You're not reading that, are you?" asks Kyouko.
"I can't quite read it," says Ryouko, leafing through a few pages. She experiments briefly holding the book at an angle, and upside down.
"I think it's some sort of poetry," she concludes.
"Could be dangerous," says Kyouko. "Especially if it's poetry. Witches play all sorts of mind games."
Ryouko nods, shutting the book.
The doors behind you swing shut.
Ryouko looks alarmed.
"See?" says Kyouko. "Mind games."
Homura steps forward into the labyrinth, advancing slowly and deliberately. Her whole body is shaking, though.
Ryouko replaces the book on the shelf, and steps forward to walk beside her. Kyouko shrugs her shoulders, and the group proceeds through the empty halls ahead.
The ambulance is almost here, says Nanami. And our policeman friend is behaving himself. I think we're in the clear, or will be soon.
That's good to hear, you tell her. It looks like we're at a bit of an impasse here. You send her a quick snapshot of the situation, and switch your attention back to everyone else.
"Labyrinths and mazes are different," says Kyouko. "They are distinct architectural forms. Mazes are the one with all the different dead ends that try to get you lost. Labyrinths are all about the one deliberate path. You'd have people put them in the floor of churches and things, as mosaics, and you'd slowly trace the path to the center as a meditation of sorts."
You look at the obstacle in front of you: a towering doorway, except the door is a book, titled in an indecipherable font. It's proving resistant to entry.
Kyouko continues. "Witch's barriers are much more like labyrinths than mazes. Some of them have branches and dead ends, but it's usually super easy to tell what the way forward is, especially if you can sense magic."
"I suppose there's also the connection to Greek legend," you add, "with the monster in the middle."
"Yeah," says Kyouko. "Ironically, that's really more of a maze. Go figure." She shrugs.
Ryouko nods.
"Anyway, so, religious architecture motifs are fine and good but the point is, a witch's barrier is never a big navigational challenge," Kyouko continues. "And familiars' barriers are even easier. They're just like a shallow overlay on top of the real world's geography."
"So there's probably not another way that we missed," you sum up. Her didactic approach is informative, but takes a little while to get to the point.
"Pretty much," confirms Kyouko. "Now, I don't understand why it'd be locked up like this either, I've never seen this before. It's almost just as weird, but at least it fits with the doors and things."
"I suppose I shouldn't have touched the books," says Ryouko.
"I doubt it's just that, either," says Kyouko. "Mind games."
"So, uhm… what do we do?" asks Homura.
Kyouko stabs it a few times with her spear, but the surface is unyielding.
"Could always knock, I suppose," says Kyouko.
Nothing in particular happens.
"Are there … magic words?" asks Homura.
"Open sesame?" you suggest.
"Oh," says Ryouko. "I know what we should try."
"The ribbon?" you reply, scanning her thoughts.
She nods.
"Huh," you say. "Well, metaphorically speaking, it's gotten us to a variety of interesting places that maybe we're not supposed to be."
"I don't think it's just a metaphor," Ryouko says. "The labyrinth itself is a pocket universe. And there's a soul in the middle."
Kyouko looks at you funny. "What's this now?"
Ryouko takes the ribbon out of her hair. Can you explain?
"It's… a magical artifact," you tell Kyouko. "It's associated with a goddess of hope, and it's been known to give visions and things. Don't touch it."
"Wait, what?" says Kyouko. "A goddess? What religion is this?!"
You try not to look at her too funny. "Don't worry about it," you say. "No one has founded it yet."
"Oh, I get it," she says. "It's just some magical girl who made a wish and scammed people into worshipping her, isn't it?"
"Who knows?" you reply, hoping to keep things ambiguous. "I don't think of it that way myself, but regardless. The magic is real."
Ryouko has the ribbon in her left hand, and has pressed her right hand up against the door, or the cover of the book.
"Definitely poetry," she says. "I still don't understand it, but it's lovely and sad."
Everyone is quiet for a moment, then there is a subtle, deep click and the door moves inwards in the frame.
Ryouko replaces the ribbon in her hair.
"Well, I guess it delivers, anyway," says Kyouko, moving forward through the doorway. She halts, abruptly, and looks down to her feet.
"What in the hell is this?!?" she asks.
You can just feel a hint of a ghostly coolness, like a fog or mist, flowing out of the doorway past you. It gives you goosebumps.
Ryouko's eyes go wide. "Clarisse … it's a miasma!"
"Inside the labyrinth?!" you exclaim.
"No wonder the witch was desperate for violence," says Ryouko.
"What? Explain, please!" demands Kyouko. She's on edge.
Homura is also quite confused.
The space of the labyrinth ahead is distorted, and wobbles, as if reflected in moving water. Ryouko can just make them out in the distance — the tall demons in grey robes, at least five of them, and a low, dark figure, glowing orange and red in a suit of armor. They seem to be in conflict with each other.
You turn to Kyouko. "The grief cubes that Kyubey was after? This is what happened to them, or some of them at least. This is what they do. They must have been planted in the familiar's labyrinth, probably to absorb grief. It's probably _also_ why there are no other familiars."
"Should we wait for Nanami?" asks Ryouko.
"I'm not sure she can get through the doors," you say.
"You saying they're too tough for us to handle?" asks Kyouko, with a grumpy face.
"I don't know," you say. "They're a lot tougher than the other familiars. And running into them here is weird. There could be more surprises in store."
Ryouko smiles at the idea of a challenge.
"What — what should I do?" asks Homura, nervously.
> combination witch / demon fight
[ ] Stay back, let the demons fight the witch.
[ ] Fight the witch, try to catch the demons in the labyrinth collapse
[ ] Fight the demons first, save the witch for last.
[ ] Propose that Nanami clear out to avoid police scrutiny.
[ ] (write in tactical doctrine for four)
You do have a small railgun.
[ ] Have Ryouko teleport you back out, so you can get Nanami.
[ ] (write in tactical doctrine for five)
(Postscript)
[ ] Attempt to ribbon the witch after beating it up.
