I'm back with a new chapter. I think I'll keep a weekly schedule so I can get onto other projects and give myself time to think about what I want out of this arc.

In the meantime I'll be introducing new OC characters, with a theme naming based on fantasy novelists.

The group stepped into the Snow Temple as Ticket to Ride came to a stop. Despite the large blizzard, George and Gyro had been able to guide the train along the Spirit Tracks by feeling out the large amount of life force from within the temple. "This part of the region has always been cold," Zaryusu noted, "But now the temperature is so low my Stand might be of little use." Just up the stairs was a young woman wearing all pink, alongside two prepubescent dark elves.

Gyro raised an eyebrow when he quickly realized one was a girl wearing boy's clothes, and the other was a boy wearing girl's clothes. "Why do you have two cross-dressing dark elves with you?," he asked the woman. "Oh sorry," she replied, "I should introduce myself. I'm Bukubukuchagama, and these are the twins Aura Bella Fiora and Mare Bello Fiore." "That... Didn't answer my question...," Gyro pointed out. "Bukubukuchagama is into 'gap moe'," Takemikazuchi explained, "And the twins look up to her like a big sister. Which is odd since they're both twice her age..."

He then found himself clobbered by Bukubukuchagama. "How dare you insinuate that I am old!? I'm still attractive by any species standards!" The rest of the group looked flabbergasted at the sight, until Imina cleared her throat. "Pure-blooded elves, whether high elf or dark elf, have longer lives than humans. As such they age slower. These two are likely in their seventies, which would still make them pre-teens." "Still doesn't explain the cross-dressing thing," Gyro reminded her.

"Big Sis thought it would look cute on us," Aura explained, "I gotta admit, I kinda like it." "Speak for yourself Sis," Mare said, "This cold atmosphere is not meant for skirts. The only thing making it bearable is the bloomers Lady Bukubukuchagama asked me to wear." "Bloomers?," George asked. "I thought having Mare wear panties would be unsightly should anyone get a peek," Bukubukuchagama explained, "So I suggested he wear bloomers instead. They're pretty much gender-neutral in terms of clothing, after all."

She started walking into the next room, only to have something echo through the halls and hit her, splattering her across the entire room. "Lady Bukubukuchagama!," the twins called out in shock. "What the hell was that!?," George called out. "Got one already," a voice replied, "I'm a little surprised. I didn't think my power was so strong." A grown woman carrying a large weapon that looked like a remix board shaped like a cannon.

"The name's Tolkien," the woman explained. George and Gyro looked at each other in bemusement, since the woman's name was similar to popular fantasy author JRR Tolkien. "So just what let you destroy Bukubukuchagama like that?," Takemikazuchi asked. "I dunno," Tolkien admitted, "Normally my Bass Renaissance isn't so powerful. Here..." She lifted the cannon. "Let me give you a demonstration." At once, the cannon fired out a massive sonic pulse so strong the entire group found themselves having to cover their ears.

"That sound is too strong!," Starlight realized, "We can't get close or use our powers unless we want to risk permanent damage!" "Me, Gyro, and Takemikazuchi can still fight!," George pointed out, "Tusk Act 4!" "Battlecry!" "Ball Breaker!" However, the three Stands found themselves getting pounded by sound waves, causing damage to Gyro and George, though Takemikazuchi didn't take damage thanks to his Stand's effect. Tolkien laughed. "So long as I hold you here, you'll never reach the magic well. And before long, the constant sound pounding against you will cause your hearts to explode!"

"I think the sound will cut out long before that happens," came another familiar voice. "What!?," Tolkien asked. She whirled around, and was surprised to see Bukubukuchagama standing there, smirking as she cracked her neck joints. "Gotta hand it to you," she said to the bewildered woman, "That blast was enough to take me out temporarily. Lucky for me, my Stand was already active." Tolkien grimaced. "Bass Renaissance!" She fired out a burst of sound, but Bukubukuchagama split apart to dodge it and reformed behind Tolkien.

"I notice your Stand only fires in one direction," she said, "But my Stand, One Minute Man, turns me into liquid that can travel according to my own will." To demonstrate, she flew right into Tolkien's ears before she could try another attack. Then she launched herself out of the woman's mouth, causing her to cough terribly. "I could have done worse in there," Bukubukuchagama noted, "But then your blood would have gotten on my nice clothes. See I can't absorb any other liquid into my body, as that would interfere with my normal mass."

She shot forward as a blob of water that slammed right into Tolkien's stomach, knocking the wind out of her. "I still have options though." Tolkien got up to try another shot and managed to catch Bukubukuchagama off-guard, blasting her again. But before she could turn on the others, Starlight took action. "Dove and Grenade!" Right as Tolkien tried to fire, she was encased in a metal box, her brief scream indicating that she had been hit with her own power. When the box was lowered, she was unconscious but alive.

"I think we should take her into custody," George suggested, "She can be made to give us information on the forces working against the Spirit Tracks." Moments later, Shasryu returned, rubbing his neck. "Had to keep her down in chains, but we finally have her contained. She kept yammering on about needing to kill Fraaz, the Elf King sent to guard the temple here, for the sake of her daughter Zesshi." Starlight looked shocked. "I know that name. She's a member of the Slane Theocracy's Black Scripture. She's considered one of the most powerful beings in this world. And she doesn't even have a Stand."

Some of the others looked worried, but George allayed their fears. "Unless our goals put us in conflict with Slane, we won't have to worry about her. Besides, Starlight said she was only one of the most powerful, and that's without a Stand. I can name plenty of times when a strong warrior was defeated because his opponent possessed a Stand. For now our focus should be on releasing the magic well and linking the Snow Temple to the station." The group nodded, and continued on.

Barbro was speaking with Boullope in his quarters when the door opened, revealing Barbro's younger brother Zanac Varleon Igana Rye Vaiself, along with his closest friend Elias Brandt Dale Raeven. "Now this is an unusual sight," Zanac noted, "My brother actually making plans? I didn't think you had the motivation." Barbro gave a wry grin. "Just making sure our kingdom is prepared for when the inevitable happens in the wake of the Spirit Tracks disappearance."

Zanac chuckled. "Have you not heard? Or are you merely blind? By now the whole kingdom is abuzz with talk that the Spirit Tracks are starting to return." He and Raeven shared a grin. "Personally I'm looking forward to it. I've missed the taste of elven wine. It has a far more natural feel to it than what we produce here." Barbro laughed. "Why trade with them when we can simply take over their country?" Raeven chuckled lightly. "If the whole of the Theocracy has been unable to conquer them, then what chance has our smaller kingdom? Especially when our 'military' is composed entirely of conscripted soldiers that barely know how to defend themselves, let alone fight a war."

"And what few true soldiers we do have are only trained to defend our father, His Majesty Ramposa III," Zanac noted. Barbro frowned. "Say what you will, but when my plans are finished Re-Estize will stand atop this realm. And nothing my foolish sister does can stop my plans." "Would you be speaking of Starlight perhaps?," Zanac questioned, "She told me of her plans, by the by, and I was the one who provided her with several high-ranking adventurers that would prove useful. Last I heard she and her party were heading for the mountains near the lizardmen territories."

Barbro smirked. "I can just imagine what those barbarians would do to her when they spotted her." "Probably nothing horrible," Zanac noted, a hand on his chin, "After all, while their technology is nowhere near our level, in terms of civilization the lizardmen are actually quite sophisticated. They simply make do with what they have." He grinned. "Every civilization looks at their own as superior, but it takes a truly sophisticated eye to see other civilizations as being just as advanced, in their own way." And with that, he and Raeven left.

As the two of them walked down the hall, Raeven noted, "Barbro is clearly up to something. I don't think I've ever seen him scheme before, so this is clearly something he's been building up to." "Personally I wouldn't be surprised if he had a hand in the Spirit Tracks vanishing in the first place," Zanac admitted, "The only question is... Is he the one pulling the strings, or is it Boullope? Both of them have powerful Stands, it could truly be either of them."

Back in Barbro's quarters, Boullope stroked his beard. "Do you think they could be on to us?" "Maybe," Barbro admitted, "But even if they are, there is little they can do. Among the royal children, only Starlight and myself are Stand users. Our other three siblings have no such power. All we have to do is place our agents in the right locations and have them perform their special powers." He grinned wickedly. "And then... My own Stand can repeat that action, ensuring that even if that agent is killed, we can still access their power."

The path through the Snow Temple led down into the basement. "It's like dungeons in modern RPGs," Gyro noted, "I'm kinda getting a Legend of Zelda vibe from this." "Huh...," George said, "Now that I think about it, there is a Zelda title called Spirit Tracks. One of Jolyne's favorites." "Jolyne?," Starlight asked. "My grand-niece," George explained, "It may not seem like it, but I am far older than I appear. One of Hamon's powers is that it slows down the aging process, though it cannot actually stop it."

He continued on. "He seems quite motivated," Shasryu noted. "It's finally his chance for destiny," Gyro explained, "Despite being the son of a man secretly responsible for saving our world, George has had to watch while destiny passed him over in favor of his brother-in-law, his nephew, his half-brother, his biological uncle, and his grand-niece. Five holders of the title of 'Jojo', one of whom doesn't even have Joestar blood. I'm not surprised that he's so motivated now that it's finally his turn."

George quickly stopped and leapt back as something dropped down with all the force of a jackhammer. It quickly unfurled itself to reveal a humanoid harlequin. "A pleasure to meet you!," the being said, the voice revealing itself to be male, albeit high-pitched, "I am the court jester Dahlman! Spelled with an A-H-L, for the record. I have been tasked with killing you all and preventing you from reaching the center of the temple! And with my madcap Stand, Baha Men, I'll be sure to make quick work of you!"

Gyro put his hands on his hips. "You ever notice how Stands tend to have a musical reference in there somewhere?" "I have no idea what you speak of!," Dahlman said, before crumpling up again and leaping like a Jack-in-the-box to slam into Gyro, catching him off-guard and slamming him into the wall. He continued to attack, taking down each group member in turn, easily dodging their projectiles. The whole time he was laughing. "As long as I have room to work with, you'll never be able to hit me! And even if you could, only sharp weapons can actually injure me!"

Starlight wiped her lip as she got up. "Then let's see you dodge an attack from every direction. Dove and Grenade!" She pounded the ground, causing wood to sprout up everywhere, breaking through the ice. "Huh?," Dahlman said in bewilderment, trying his best to stay a step ahead of the sharp branches that were cropping up everywhere. Before he could get far, however, he was quickly frozen up to his neck when Zaryusu stepped in, tagging him with his Stand.

"Looks like elemental techniques work just as well," Zaryusu noted, "And it has the added bonus as being a prison you can't wriggle your way out of." Dahlman gave a quick sneeze. "I'll be out when this ice thaws. And sticking me a cell afterward would be useless." "Fine," Starlight said, "Then we'll just finish you off here." Dahlman soon found himself screaming as the ice was quickly melted, only for him to start burning as Starlight's fire magic went to work. He was finally silenced when George launched a fingernail through his brain.

"That was for Gyro," George said. Gyro coughed. "I'm not exactly dead yet." George chuckled. "Yeah, but I've always wanted to say a cool line like that." Gyro laughed. "Seriously? This isn't the seventies you know." He shook his head. "Anyway, there should be one final opponent higher up. Let's get moving." The group hurried through the various rooms to reach the upper level of the temple, but Starlight couldn't help but think on what she had learned regarding George.

Meanwhile Gazef was meeting with Ramposa in his throne room. "So Starlight is choosing to find out how to restore the Spirit Tracks," Ramposa noted, "It's fortunate I studied how they were crafted to begin with. But I do grow concern, since there are likely forces stacked against her." "I share those fears Your Highness," Gazef said, "But Starlight was wise enough to surround herself with powerful allies. And she has access to the legendary train. Still, it won't be easy. Already we faced a powerful Stand user that pushed us to the edge through stamina alone."

"I also worry about Renner's state, should Starlight be gone for so long," Ramposa said, "Having someone her intellectual equal is good for Renner, but if Starlight is gone for an extended period, she could relapse back into her emotionless state." Gazef nodded and grimaced. Thanks to Starlight, Renner was learning to have genuine emotion. But at the same time Starlight was the primary catalyst for that. If something were to happen to her, it could turn Renner back into what Zanac often described her as. A monster.

On the temple's second floor, Starlight saw something that made her chuckle. "Well, well. Count Lytton." George looked and saw a rather middle-aged man in upper-class finery. "Someone from Re-Estize?" "He's one of the Six Great Nobles that leads the Noble Faction against my father," Starlight explained, "I take it then that you are part of the conspiracy to remove the Spirit Tracks." "Their presence prevents noblemen like myself from achieving greater glory," Lytton explained, "With them gone, we can finally achieve true power."

Starlight had a bemused look on her face. "You know I could probably kill you right now and Boullope and the others wouldn't care." Lytton shrugged. "Well, if you could even reach me. But you'd have to get through my Stand first. Jingo Jungle!" A troop of about eighty soldiers carrying firearms appeared. They took aim and made to fire, George acting quickly as he pulled out a few strands of hair. "Hamon Hair Attack!" The conjured barrier blocked the shots, but it was clear the Stand was designed to fire multiple times, threatening to eventually break through the barrier.

Gyro took a look at the Stand and snapped his fingers. "I think I remember reading about this formation. Nobunaga Oda loved the idea of firearms on the battlefield, feeling they would revolutionize warfare. But he was also a realist that recognized the long reload time and single shot capabilities of the early rifles were a liability. So when he pit his rifle battalion against the cavalry of the Takeda clan, he came up with a perfect work-around. He had three lines of riflemen set up, with one line firing while the other two reloaded. Using this, he could maintain a constant stream of fire that wiped out the Takeda cavalry."

"Are you going somewhere with this?," Zaryusu asked. Gyro nodded. "Look at how Lytton's Stand is set up. Doesn't it look exactly like what I described?" Zaryusu looked and saw Gyro was right. "But it only seems to be positioned in front of Lytton. If he's attacked from behind..." He picked up his Stand and struck the ground. "Cold Wind Blows!" The icy tendrils from the Stand quickly reached Lytton's boots and started to freeze. "What!? Wait! Stop this!"

His Stand suddenly stopped firing, causing his eyes to widen as he realized he accidentally deactivated it with his words. This gave George and Starlight the opportunity to move in and attack. "Dove and Grenade!," Starlight called out, coating her arms in metal. George joined in. "Tusk Act 4!" Lytton soon found himself pounded by both fighters at once. "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!" Lytton was quickly tossed into a nearby wall, heavily injured but still alive.

"No need to finish him off," Shasryu noted, "If it can be proven that he came here with the other two, that proves he's part of the conspiracy. We lizardmen know about politics as well, albeit simplified, so I can tell that discrediting Lytton could prove a heavy blow against his faction." Starlight smiled. "Agreed. I think it's better if we keep him alive. It's a good thing we spared Tolkien. I'm sure she'd be willing to speak out against Lytton if it meant her freedom. But first we need to finish what we started here."