>>>584 For the first time, somebody cheats the stairs and doesn't
>>>climb them all the way up. ALC
>>
>>When Raven and Gar were travelling to Midgar, Raven implied that this
>>would be a risky idea. I'm guessing either the idea was scrapped, or
>>Juni just plain didn't know.
>
>Raven was expressing a general guideline of the magic arts - "never
>fly up magic stairs" - not specifically addressing a Known Problem
>with the stairs to the dueling platform.

I kind of figured the fact that she ran the last 270 degrees, and didn't jump straight to the platform was part of why the Stairs worked for her. I'm not sure they would have done so had she cheated all the way to the top.