JUSTIN: * The night continues without event, both occupants of the bed fast asleep, comfortable, and undisturbed. Hours pass by one after the next, until morning springs up, the sun's rays creeping across the Juno streets until the inn comes under their wing. The window panes the light onto their bed in a segmented pattern of squares, inching slowly closer to their faces as the minutes tick.

JENNA: * Jo stirs when the sunlight strikes her, barely enough to wake her and not nearly enough to motivate her. She murmurs something almost irritable and snuggles closer to him, burying her face against him before relaxing with a small sigh.

JUSTIN: * Shane moves a little in his sleep, drawing her against himself and nuzzling into her hair. The sunlight hits his eyes, and thought they're already closed it does cause him to squint against the brightness. He lets out a quiet groan, turning away from it and using Jo's head as a shield against the light.

JENNA: * It's unclear what finally brings her out of it, but Jo wakes with a start, blinking blearily against confusion and surprise before she realizes where she is. She mumbles something that might be "What time is it?" before attempting to push herself upright, somehow aware that she has overslept and is forgetting something important.

JUSTIN: * Jo's movement, more than her voice, causes Shane to stir from his sleep. He stretches, eyes poking open and then squinting against the light while he grimaces. Before he even attempts to get up, talk, or anything else, he wiggles his way behind Jo to take advantage of her shadow, and nuzzles against her back. "Too early..." He finally answers, feeling especially lazy after such a relaxing evening.

JENNA: "Mnh," she says, reaching back to catch his hair and tug it. "We need to get up ..." She isn't entirely sure why until her gaze drifts over to their packs, and she very abruptly remembers their contents. "Oh yeah. Right. The pages. We have to go sell the pages -- to that guy." For some reason the notion isn't as appealing as it was yesterday afternoon, but she still feels it needs to be done.

JUSTIN: * Shane sighs with exaggerated weariness, placing a hand on each of Jo's shoulders and hoisting himself into a sitting position. "Your memory could use some training, there, Jo." He grins a little, rubbing at his eyes with one hand, patting her head with the other. "All that trouble to get them, all that excitement finding out they're priceless, and you forget all about them overnight?"

JENNA: "It was a busy night," Jo retorts, planting a gentle punch against his ribs before sliding out of bed and fumbling around for her boots. "I guess we didn't want to wake the old guy up too early anyway ..." She yawns again, plopping down on the bed to pull her boots on, once she's found them.

JUSTIN: * Shane gives a light shrug of his shoulders, rolling away from her to tumbles off the far side of the bed, where he searches around for his shirt and boots. "Can't argue with that..." He reappears on the bed, clothing in hand, and begins to dress himself.

JENNA: * Jo, by now, is ready to go, pack slung over her shoulders as she chews on a piece of bread and jerky. Her mind is still hard at work speculating on how much money the pages are going to be worth, but she doesn't bother voicing her estimates aloud. It wouldn't pay to be too optimistic. "I wonder what they say, anyway ... think this old guy'll tell us?"

JUSTIN: * Shane finishes tying the laces on his boots and slips off the bed, walking around to snag his coat and pack. "Don't see why he wouldn't... we're the ones who found them, don't we have the right to know?" He slides into the coat and secures his pack on his shoulder, hurrying only due to the fact that Jo is already set to go.

JENNA: "Maybe we do.. but that doesn't always mean anything to a scholar." Once he's ready, she pushes out the door, trotting rapidly out to the stables to retrieve their birds. Her enthusiasm for the business deal is rapidly returning at the though of never having to follow a caravan again. Though isn't entirely sure what she'd replace the work with.

JUSTIN: "Well, I guess if what I know of sages is any indication, you're unfortunately probably right..." Shane follows after Jo with an enthusiasm of his own, though he is still feeling entirely too lazy to pay much attention to anything. Once they reach the stables, he goes into autopilot mode to get his bird saddled up, thinking idly on what he'll do with his fortune.

JENNA: * With peco saddled and (grumpily) ready to go, Wraith trots out into the inn's yard and starts for the entrance, hoping sincerely that a particular guard is not on duty. She glances back, waiting for Shane before she starts into the street. "Teleporter or bridge?" she asks mildly, knowing the question is more important for her, but mostly wanting to know what he wants to put up with.

JUSTIN: * After a minute or so, Shane wanders out into the street, looking every bit as lazy as his peco -- but far more agreeable. "Teleporter's faster, but you already know that..." He hops easily into the saddle, giving a largely exagerrated stretch and a long sigh. "I think the question is... do you want to throw up, or do you want to be paralyzed with fear?"

JENNA: * Jo sighs, staring down at her peco's neck with a certain amount of irritation and disappointment -- largely directed at herself. "Let's just try the bridge again," she says wearily. "I'll shut my eyes, you can lead the peco, and I'll pretend there's a surprise waiting at the other end." She folds her arms, shaking off the mood. "I just wondered if one might be closer than the other."

JUSTIN: * Shane refrains from any cruel jokes -- such as the "surprise" at the end being a several hundred foot drop -- and turns his peco around in a circle until he's pointed in the right direction. "Even if the teleporter was on the other side of town, it's still faster." He grins and starts off at a leisurely trot.

JENNA: "Yes, but then we'd also have to walk around the cliff," Jo retorts, following him. The city, which never seems to bustle in quite the same way many others do, is as active as it is likely to get, giving Jo some hope that even if Jordan is at the gate, he won't notice them in the trickle of humanity.

JUSTIN: "And if we take the bridge, we have several hundred stairs." Shane smirks, steering them by a bakery on the way to the gate, and stopping to purchase some rolls and cinnamon buns for a makeshift breakfast -- even if Jo's already had jerky and stale bread.

JENNA: * Jo takes her share of this breakfast without complaint, eating quickly as they ride along. "Then it evens out," she mutters, looking warily ahead toward the bridge, where the thin crowds funnel toward and away from it.

JUSTIN: "Face it, Jo, you'll say anything to avoid the teleporter." Shane says around a piece of bread, chewing away with little regard for how silly he might look with a roll sticking out of his mouth. He turns his peco to get into the flow of traffic, and leads the rest of the way to the bridge, staring absently off into space.

JENNA: "I don't like having to vomit every time I come to this city," she says, huffing a tired sigh. She pauses once they reach the edge of the bridge, hand clenching around her peco's reins as she stares firmly at the back of its head. "Whenever you're ready," she grumbles, some of her earlier sullenness returning.

JUSTIN: * Shane back his peco up a few steps, coming alongside her, and reaches over to pat her arm. "I'll be quick and gentle." He takes the reigns from her hands and starts forward, only now deigning to pay attention to what he's doing.

JENNA: * Jo doesn't answer, eyes already closed as he starts the bird forward. She keeps them firmly shut as they go, listening quietly to the movement of the crowd adn the voices of the people around them. Bit by bit, this helps ease her tension, redirecting her attention from the miles of air beneath her.

JUSTIN: * Shane keeps his silence as he goes, looking back at Jo every few feet to make sure she doesn't faint or fall out of her saddle. The small group of people in front and behind of them continue to move at a steady pace, not allowing him to go slowly just for her sake, but at the least it makes the trip go faster than usual. Once they've left the open bridge behind, he leads her peco off to the side to give her a moment to relax. "Still with me, Jo?"

JENNA: * Jo opens one eye, giving him a suspicious sideways look before opening both eyes and sitting up straighter. "Seem to be," she says after a moment, shrugging. Though she can't say it's becoming easier to cross the bridge, it's at least going more smoothly. "Better get a move on, right?"

JUSTIN: "Mhm." Shane hands the reigns back to her, smiling vaguely as he trots in a circle around her peco. "Have a fortune to make, after all." He flashes a brief grin and points his mount in the proper direction. Meanwhile, not a couple meters away, Jordan is checking incoming and outgoing goods with the help of another young guard.

JENNA: * Jo shakes her head, managing a smile as her insides settle themselves. "Only one way to do that ..." She starts forward again, grinning faintly. "It still doesn't seem quite real, you know?" she remarks, missing Jordan completely in spite of her earlier worry.

JUSTIN: "You never know, this could still turn out to be one big, bad practical joke." Concentrating as he is on Jo, Shane somehow manages to avoid noticing his archnemesis as well, pausing for a moment behind the people in front of them. The group moves on in only a matter of seconds, and Jordan looks up from his work to get a look at the next people in line. "I'll need to see your papers, sirs."

JENNA: * Jo freezes at the sound of his voice, looking down at the young man in surprise -- and then alarm. His question (she still has no papers) causes fewer concerns than his appearance itself, and she makes an abortive lunge at Shane, shaking her head.

JUSTIN: * Shane is slow to react, though his face goes immediately blank at the sound. After only a moment of thought, however, he swivels to look down at the young guard -- who immediately realizes his error. "You!" They both exclaim in unison, but only Jordan flinches. Shane scowls. "We don't have papers, we're not transporting goods. Does it look like we're transporting goods?" Jordan's friend is too busy dealing with other travellers to take notice, and so the boy is left to defend himself. "Y-you're in the... If you're not transporting, you need to leave the line."

JENNA: "We got in the wrong line," Jo says immediately, taking Shane by the arm and once again trying to shove him aside with the help of her peco. "It's no big deal -- right?" She appeals to Shane primarily, knowing he's the one who'll cause the most trouble.

JUSTIN: * Shane struggles against Jo's grip, otherwise not even acknowledging her in his singleminded state. "That's quite all right, I've got other unfinished business with you anyway." He starts to slip from his saddle, a task made awkward by Jo's hold on him, and the movement of his peco. Jordan looks particularly dismayed, having nowhere to run this time. "C-can't we just forget about that? You're... you're holding up the line, you can just go -- I won't write you up or anything!"

JENNA: * Jo hauls back harder on Shane's arm, ignoring the puzzled sounds coming from the crowd around them and finally resorting to grabbing him by his coat and forcing him to turn in the saddle to face her. "We have other things to worry about --" she starts, then realizes he probably isn't going to listen to her, whatever she says. Unable to think of anything else short of shoving him out of the saddle, she jerks him another notch closer and catches the side of his face in a motion that isn't /quite/ a slap. Then she leans in and kisses him in an almost savagely thorough way.

JUSTIN: * Shane is aware of very little at first -- simply that he's having an extremely hard time getting off of his peco, and his arm has stubbornly decided to travel in the wrong direction. So intent it he on his target, that it isn't until he is bodily spun around in his saddle that he finally realizes Jo's involvement in his complications. His mouth opens to protest her interference -- and rough treatment -- when his mouth is suddenly invaded in a brutal (wonderful) assault. Jordan can only stare, slack-jawed and unsure whether to be grateful or jealous.

JENNA: * Jo keeps up the treatment until she's absolutely certain Shane's stopped struggling, releasing him a little roughly and scowling. "Now let's get going, all right?" She gives Jordan a pointed stare before taking Shane's peco by the reins and pulling him out of the line -- much to the relief of everyone else passing through it.

JUSTIN: * Shane is barely able to keep his balance as Jo leads his peco out of the way, but her scheme has a measure of success: he completely forgets about Jordan long enough for her to get his bird pointed and marching in the proper direction. There are several failed attempts on his part to formulate words, and he eventually decides to just shut up until his head stops swirling.

JENNA: * Jo heaves a weary sigh, pushing the pecos as fast as she dares through the bottlenecked crowd -- and with as much care as she can manage for the steps. They're partway into the woods before she turns to look at Shane, arching an eyebrow. "Better now?"

JUSTIN: "What... what was that..." Shane isn't better, per sae, but he's at least able to hear and speak. "What was that for?" He doesn't sound upset, but surely a hefty dose of bewildered. "I was trying... to... what was I..." He shakes his head, memory a bit fuzzy -- an unusual thing where he's concerned.

JENNA: "You were about to get yourself arrested -- again." She puts her hands on her hips, looking cross. "Don't you think getting rich will more than cover whatever that kid had coming to him?" She huffs another annoyed sigh and starts moving again, glancing back over her shoulder as she does so. "Unless you'd like another dose of that medicine."

JUSTIN: "I don't think -- I was just--" Shane begins to formulate a proper picture of what just occured, and it's more than the least bit embarrassing. "The money's not... I mean..." Belatedly, he starts his peco after her. "I wanted to teach him a lesson, that's all!"

JENNA: "And I'm telling you, he already learned it." Jo shakes her head, pausing again to get her bearings. "We should probably make for the cliff.." She glances up through the trees to where Juno can still be seen floating above, then sets off in what's probably the right direction. "Shane, it doesn't matter -- with this amount of money, we'll never have to go back there."

JUSTIN: "You don't know that..." Shane mutters, probably in response to both of her assertions. He stops his peco at a respectable distance behind her, staring down at the grass with a fairly prominent pout, cheeks red. "There... there should be a path, somewhere... I never checked where it ends up, but it starts out going west..."

JENNA: * Jo sighs, trotting back toward him and drawing her peco up alongside. "Then lead the way, hm?" She tilts her head, arching a brow, and reaches out one hand to turn his face toward her. "It's not the end of the world, is it?" she asks mildly, using the other to straighten his coat a little.

JUSTIN: * Shane makes a short-lived, and mostly fruitless attempt to avoid looking directly at her, but he gives up without much provocation. "I was only trying to help." He murmurs, and gives her a pitiful look, apparently fishing for more sympathy -- likely of a kind she's not going to give him.

JENNA: * Jo gives him a hard stare, then relents with a sigh, leaning up to kiss him lightly. "We both made it out in one piece, so it's all right." She stays within range, catching one of his hands and twining her fingers with his. "Now let's go get rich, shall we?"

JUSTIN: * Shane's cheeks turn a deeper shade of red, and he murmurs a quiet acknowledgement, giving her hand a small squeeze. He lets her go before turning his peco, and starts off again in a strangely satisfying state of embarrassment. "It's just over this way..." He leads past a familiar, fallen piece of carved stone, the same he used to nap behind on his worse days. The path he mentioned begins not far from his hiding spot off the main road, and it's clearly not meant for major use, as it's barely better than the surrounding forest for a person on pecoback.

JENNA: * Jo follows him quickly, promptly returning to the matter at hand. "Did you do a lot of exploring?" she asks curiously, somewhat embarrassed at the fact she would have missed the path entirely if he hadn't known about it to begin with. "I never came to this area much," she excuses herself. "So I don't know any shortcuts."

JUSTIN: * Shane shrugs his shoulders lightly, brushing low-hanging leaves out of the way as his peco trots leisurely down the dirt path. "Not that much... just some of the areas around the road. I never went more than ten or so minutes in any direction." He was mostly looking for good places to blow off steam, so exploring for exploring's sake wasn't really the motivation. "I never knew someone lived out this way. He must not come to the city very often at all."

JENNA: "I see." She trots up alongside him, looking around the scrubby path with interest. "Well, this came in handy, didn't it?" she remarks, patting her peco when it squawks conversationally at its companion. "If he's a hermit, he probably doesn't ... I just wonder if he really has that much money."

JUSTIN: "If he's able to live in the middle of nowhere and still do all the research he wants, he must have a good deal of money..." Shane ducks a branch, grabbing his hat before it can fall off his head. "Otherwise he'd need to get a job, like any other decent person." He smiles a little, knowing full well he can't complain -- after all, the old hermit very well might give them the means for an early retirement, too.

JENNA: "Hope so," Jo grins, pushing her peco to a slightly faster trot. They break out of the forest before too much longer, veering along the cliff's edge for a while before Jo pauses, peering off at what looks to be a structure in the distance. "Think that might be it?" she says, back firmly turned to the hole underneath Juno.

JUSTIN: * Shane sits up a bit straighter in his saddle and gnaws at his lip as he squints, attempting to determine the nature of the distant building. "Awfully big house for a hermit. But then, I guess most hermits aren't rich..." He shrugs, starting off again. "One way to find out..."

JENNA: "Rich is what we want, right?" She grins again, plunging after him. "And if it isn't him, maybe he knows where the guy lives, right?" She keeps to the edge of the trees, eyes fixed on the large house they're aiming for. It only becomes more imposing as they approach it, and when they're near enough she stops in complete surprise, scratching her head. "That is big, isn't it ..."

JUSTIN: "A bit bigger than I was expecting, yes..." Shane stares up at the building, which is a peculiar combination of gothic mansion and stone tower. "That's a lot of space for one person." There is a low stone wall surrounding the property, with a wrought-iron gate at the head of a stone walk leading straight to the front steps. The entire yard looks only barely taken care of, with a spotty lawn covered over completely by fallen leaves. Ivy crawls up the cold, grey stone of the building's walls, and nearly every window is shuttered. Those that aren't are of a dark stained glass, and without lights in any of them, it's impossible to see through them. As if the scene wasn't creepy enough, clouds begin to roll in front of the sun, casting the entire area into shade. "So... do we just walk up and knock...?"

JENNA: * Jo shrugs, trotting up and pushing the gate open. It gives way with a loud creak, and she starts up the walk, looking over her shoulder. "Well, if he's really the only person who lives here, there's not anybody to stop us, I guess." She does her level best not to appear impressed by the place, but it is much larger than anywhere else she's ever had to inquire for a total stranger at.

JUSTIN: * Shane follows along with a little reluctance, rather put off by what he sees so far. It may be big, but it's also fairly daunting. Not to mention dark and creepy. He does his best to console himself, noting that just because the house is big, old, and the lawn could use some work, doesn't mean that the old hermit is a nasty curmudgeon. When they reach the end of the long walkway, flagstones cracked with age, he slides down from his saddle and ties the reigns to the iron railing on one side of the short, but wide front steps. Giving a last look over his shoulder -- the gate seems miles away -- he starts up to the large, carved front door, and gives a hesitant knock.

JENNA: * After a few moments of silence, Jo gives Shane a level stare, sliding down from her peco and following him up the steps after tying it next to its counterpart. "I doubt knocking's going to work," she points out, looking around the entryway and pausing when she comes across a braided cord that seems to go nowhere in particular. Shrugging, she gives it a bored tug, set to resume her search.

JUSTIN: * As far as they can tell from the outside, absolutely nothing has happened, and Shane glances over at the cord with suspicion. He reaches over and gives it another pull, and not seconds later, the door abruptly opens. "Yes, thank you for stress-testing my doorbell. I heard it the first time." The front porch is thrown into a dim, but warm light -- which mysteriously enough, didn't show through the stained window panes at the top of the door -- and reveals a man who looks no older than Shane, and despite his distinctly sage-like attire, he looks to be in as good -- or better -- physical shape than the former guard. "There better be a good reason why two strangers are interrupting my studies."

JENNA: * Jo stares at him for a moment with deep-rooted skepticism, but she decides to give it a shot anyway. "Mackenzie vel Malachi?" she asks mildly, placing her hands on her hips and arching a brow. He certainly doesn't match any descriptions she's heard for "old hermit," but the crankiness is certainly on target.

JUSTIN: "This is his property. What do you intend to bother him with?" The man is still half-hidden by the door, not bothering to step out, nor to invite them in. Shane sidesteps over to Jo and gives her a gentle nudge. "Get the papers." This non-answer only seems to test the man's patience (what little there is to begin with), and he glares out at them with great disdain.

JENNA: * Jo meets the man's glare with one of her own, stepping around Shane and planting her feet in front of the doorway. "We came here to meet with Mackenzie vel Malachi, and we aren't going to play games with anyone else. Armand Hester said he might be interested in some property we recovered, so if you're not him, you better damn well go fetch him."

JUSTIN: * Shane slowly pulls the brim of his hat down over his eyes, deciding it is in his best interest to stay out of this conversation until further notice. The man in the doorway, however, looks fairly unimpressed by Jo's gung-ho bravado, and he only leans more comfortably against the inside doorframe. "I don't have the time nor the inclination to speak with anyone who comes onto my property and begins making crass demands. If you have anything Hester believes I would be interested in, then you can find someone with more respect to make the delivery. Good day."

JENNA: * Jo shrugs, slinging the pack down to the ground with a sharp thump. "I'm not handing it over to anybody else -- Hester said to expect a cranky old fart, and you're close enough to fit, whatever you look like." She jerks the pack open and rapidly tugs one of the pages out, danging it from two fingers just outside the doorframe. "Hester recognized it right away -- you got an inkling, old man?"

JUSTIN: * The man in the doorway stands up straighter and gives her a long, level stare. "I don't do business with self-important young fools. If you have something the least bit valuable, and you hope to strike a deal with me, you'd best mind your tongue until this is over with." He opens the door further, revealing a rather darkly, but expensively decorated foyer of sorts, and lifts a gloved hand. Jo's fingers go slightly numb, weakening the grip she has on the old page, and Mackenzie snatches it in one sharp movement. "Now. Where did you get this?"

JENNA: * Jo growls something that might be a curse, whipping her pack around behind her with her foot and rubbing her hand silently for a moment. "On an island east of Hugel. There were a lot of old ruins and a temple at the back. We found these in one of the rooms." She frowns, flexing her fingers to discover they're no longer numb.

JUSTIN: * Whatever doubts he has about the delivery girl, Mackenzie is clearly impressed by the piece of paper in his hand, losing all smugness in exchange for total sterness. "Come inside -- but leave your boots and coats by the door, I don't want any mud tracked through my house." He turns and begins walking, disappearing out of sight around the edge of the door, which he simply leaves half open. His voice floats back to them, and he's clearly already in beyond the foyer and into the next room. "Before I can offer you anything, I need to analyze this."

JENNA: * Jo shrugs, dropping her boots and cloak by the door but carrying her pack with her. "Analyze away," she calls after him, glancing at Shane and looking boredly around the hallway. It certainly looks like he has money, but she keeps the comment to herself, firmly believing that mages and their kin are not at all to be trusted.

JUSTIN: * Shane creeps in behind Jo, shutting the large door carefully -- it moves with much more grace than the creaky gate out front, in spite of its daunting size and weight -- before he crouches to remove his boots. "Jo... you really need to be more tactful... You could have cost us the entire deal before it even got started."

JENNA: * Jo makes a faint, irritated noise. "I'm supposed to bow and scrape for a self-important hermit mage?" She turns and gives Shane a tired look. "He's looking at the damn thing, isn't he? Not like he's given us any of the respect he thinks he deserves." She sighs, putting a hand to her forehead. "Never mind ... even if this falls through, I'm sure there are other rich scholars in the world ..."

JUSTIN: "Well, we /are/ on his property. By all rights, he can treat us however he wants." Shane stands straight again, shrugging his coat off and hanging it on a coat rack that obviously gets very little use. "Besides," he steps over and gives her hair a light tug, "it's not like we weren't warned. Your friend Armand seems to think highly of the guy, anyway, right? Although... for an 'old hermit', he doesn't look particularly old..."

JENNA: * Jo sniffs, reaching over to tug a lock of Shane's hair in turn. "I don't know if there's warning enough for someone like that. He's probably an excellent scholar ... probably all he's good for," she adds in a lower tone. "Maybe he used magic.. since he obviously can." She shrugs, rubbing her hand again resentfully.

JUSTIN: * Shane takes her offended hand and gives it a gentle rub, grinning a little crookedly. "I thought there was going to be a bloodbath for a moment, there. Nice to know I'm not the only one who can make you that angry." He tugs her along as he cautiously steps into the room beyond. It's a central hub or something similar, with a high ceiling and only sparse furnishings, but with arches and doors leading off in several directions. One of them is still slightly ajar, likely the one that Mackenzie disappeared through. "Well, we won't have to deal with him for long, no matter what the case."

JENNA: * Jo nods and follows him, curling her fingers around his hand for a moment. The other hand rests on the strap of her pack, where the other two pages lie, and her face hardens. "So far that's the only bright part of the day," she says irritably, stepping toward the door and opening it the rest of the way.

JUSTIN: * The door leads to a very short hallway, with a closed door at the far end, and dark save for a dim light coming from an archway to their right. The arch opens into a winding staircase, leading up and out of sight, and it's from somewhere up those steps that the light is trickling down. "Maybe we should... wait for him to come back..." Shane suggests quietly, not liking the idea of wandering around someone else's mansion without express permission.

JENNA: * Jo rolls her eyes, pulling Shane along toward the stairs. "He never said one way or the other, did he?" She shrugs, finding her own argument weak, but she doesn't back down, pausing at the steps before starting up them. "Think he really uses every room in this place? Seems too big for that."

JUSTIN: * Shane allows himself to be dragged along -- reluctantly -- and moves with undue care, as if stepping too hard on the steps might somehow cause untold destruction. "I wouldn't presume to know what rich people do with their giant houses..." He says quietly, the stairs winding in a loose circle until it deposits them in a hexagonal room, situated above the central hub they just came from. Each wall is lined with shelves -- some of books and scrolls, others of gizmos and artifacts he can't identify -- and in the center is a large, wooden desk, with a lamp burning dimly. There is surprisingly little clutter, compared to most scholars' offices. Regardless of what the outside looks like, Mackenzy clearly keeps a tidy house.

JENNA: * Jo pauses, her thieving instinct itching for a closer look at the scholar's belongings. She behaves herself, however, stepping just inside the door and leaning against the wall, releasing Shane to fold her arms across her chest. "Fill them with junk, apparently," she says after a moment, in spite of her strong urge to go poking around.

JUSTIN: "Junk only to a simpleton." Mackenzie's voice comes from behind them, and he barges past Jo and Shane to make his way toward his desk. "And I told you to come in, I don't recall encouraging you to wander off." He sets a polished wooden display case on the desk, and through the glass can be seen a series of pages similar to the one Jo gave him, and probably indistinguishable without closer inspection. Shane slides Jo a brief "I told you so" look, but otherwise keeps his mouth shut.

JENNA: "You didn't tell us to sit still, either," Jo replies pleasantly, ignoring Shane and ambling toward the desk. She reaches behind her to open her pack again, sitting down on the floor in front of the desk and resting her elbows on her knees. "Only a scholar would want so much paper." She does stand up again moments later, however, watching him work with undisguised curiosity.

JUSTIN: * Mackenzie slides a key from some pocket hidden inside his robe, and with it unlocks the case, opening it up to fetch the fragile papers inside. "Of course I didn't, I assumed you'd exercise some restaint in another's household." Setting his own papers aside, he removes a vial of brown liquid from another pocket, also producing a small swab. He wets the swab with the liquid, and with extreme care, he dabs at the corner of the page he aquired from Jo. "Clearly I should have expected that anyone brazen enough to step onto another's property and begin making demands of the landowner, would likewise not respect the privacy of that property or landowner."

JENNA: * Jo watches him idly, by now at least adjusted to the volley of rudeness. She's beginning to doubt it's all that personal. "Some habits die hard, I suppose. Or maybe a hermit's small fry after trespassing in the land of the gods." She shrugs. "The valkyrie was a lot politer than you, though."

JUSTIN: * Mackenzie mostly ignores her as he works, huffing a faint snort at her attempt to impress him. He's seen a lot in his time, even if he hasn't seen a Valkyrie -- yet. "Then I was right in my speculation. From the Temple of Odin itself. And I suspect you two didn't have the barest clue of what you were getting into while you were there, either." He sets his swab down, comparing the corner he'd dabbed with the corner of one of his previous pages. "If a Valkyrie was there and she didn't outright kill you, it's because she realized you were clueless. There was undoubtedly more there than these pages, but I will give you this much -- they're authentic. I've had more than a few idiots attempt to pass off replicas on me."

JENNA: "She seemed bored, actually ..." Jo scratches her cheek with a shrug. "You're right enough ... all we did was follow a book to see what was there. The pages --" She removes the other two from her pack, laying them on the desk in front of him. "-- were kind of a bonus. Not what we were expecting, but we figured somebody would pay for them." She then leans down to flip her pack shut. "So how much does three pages from the Book of Ymir run these days?"

JUSTIN: "Somebody? Very few." Mackenzie snatches up the other pages, giving them a close visual inspection, and then swiping them with the swab just to be safe. "The Church goes out of its way to horde artifacts like these, and they're not above tricking the ignorant out of them, with little more than a pat on the back to show for it." He sighs, finding the whole deal tiresome -- not the pages, but the utter lack of appreciation the two unwelcome guests have beyond a pricetag. "If you were wise, you'd know when something is more important than money. But as you clearly are not possessed with wisdom or insight, I will try to appeal to your other more base needs. I'll give you three million zeny per page, take it or leave it."

JENNA: * Jo's about to make a fairly harsh retort about food and shelter being more important than dusty books, but she goes still at the named price, glancing over her shoulder at Shane. "We'll take it," she says strangely, trying to keep anything else from flickering across her face on the off chance the old goat will lower it.

JUSTIN: * The old goat, for his sake, isn't even paying attention to her face, more concerned with his new acquisitions. "And your companion agrees?" Shane, meanwhile, isn't trying to hide the shock, and his face is in a state it hasn't been in since the first time he saw Jo in the river. "Y-yes, we'll take it. We'll take it!" If Mack finds the enthusiasm amusing, it doesn't show in the least. He rounds the desk and pulls out a small, leather-bound pad, and a self-feeding ink pen. A few scribbles later, he looks up. "I'll need your names."

JENNA: "Jocasta," Jo says at once. "No last name." She scoops her pack off the floor, slinging it over her shoulders and watching him write with almost as much interest as she watches Shane read. She gestures for her companion to come forward, mostly so he can verify what's being written on the page.

JUSTIN: * Shane wobbles forward, curling his hat in his hands and peering down at the paper. He silently marvels at the man's impressive handwriting for a moment, then remembers what he's supposed to be doing. "Sh-Shane... Veribaent." He spells out the last name, not expecting it to be as obvious as Jocasta. Once done, Mack tears the paper from the pad and places it on the desk in front of the two. "Your receipt. Show it to the bank in Juno, and they'll give you your payment."

JENNA: * Jo takes the paper, glancing at Shane almost ruefully. "Back to Juno ..." She then glances back at Mack and inclines her head, a measure of irony returning to her expression. "Thanks for your business, old man." She lifts a hand in farewell and starts for the door, plucking at Shane's arm as if to remind him to move.

JUSTIN: * Mackenzie doesn't bother to reply, already seated and scouring over his new pages. Shane takes Jo by the hand almost roughly in his hurry to leave, dragging her along with him as he nearly stumbles to get down the stairs. Once he's satisfied that they're out of earshot, he snags her by both hands and gives her a blank stare. "Jo."

JENNA: * Jo stumbles after him, surprised when he takes the lead, and comes to a jarring halt when he finally stops. She tries to wriggle her hand free when she feels the receipt crumple in her grip. "He.. he said it would be a lot of money," she offers weakly. "It.. it's a lot of money."

JUSTIN: * Shane looks off to the side for a moment, dazed, and when he looks back, he starts to poke and prod Jo in various places. "You feel real enough..." He doesn't look completely convinced, however. "I guess... I'm not hallucinating, or dreaming..."

JENNA: * Jo gives herself a slight shake, wiggling away from his prodding with a slight scowl. "Stop that -- it's real --" She turns away from him momentarily to tuck the receipt in her pack, hands shaking when she considers the amount of money it stands to gain them. "You want me to prove it to you?" She turns back to him, hands on hips.

JUSTIN: * Shane folds his arms behind his back innocently, and gives Jo a suspicious look. "Well, if you are a figment of my imagination, how can I really be sure you aren't just trying to trick me?"

JENNA: * Jo glares at him for a moment. "Well, I don't care. If I'm a figment of your imagination -- or you're a figment of mine. Either way, we're ... we're rich." She reaches up and grabs him by the collar, tugging him close enough that she can reach up to kiss him, pulling away after a moment. "Real enough?"