Jun and Janez had retired to the medical tent after their encounter with Rikou. Jun had much to think about. So much that she didn't think she would be able to sleep through the night; Senako wouldn't be ready to leave until morning, or so she assumed which she hated. Jun had yet to get in contact with Senako, the twins, or the medic tending to him. Still, the morning would wash everything anew as it always did and the thoughts of such calmed Jun's mind enough that she was able to fall asleep.

However, her dreams were plagued with odd pagan tidings. She tossed and turned throughout the night, and by the time she woke, the blanket she had managed to find was knotted up around her, her hair was disheveled, and her clothes were twisted about. It didn't help that a harness of some sort had seemed to ensnare her left arm. Jun stared at it. Janez stared at it from across the floor. Pieces of the dream filtered through. Jun managed to mutter, "Help me, Christmas Spirit," though she was doing so in a contemplative manner as her confusion was quite encompassing at this point.

As the words left Jun's mouth, the darkness of sleep curtained once again over her eyes; the world she suddenly found herself in was, to say the least, vertigo inducing, with no actual sense of up or down made until, as though it had always been there, a desk suddenly was before her. Behind the desk stood a young man of no remarkable trait, though his visage was marked with the obvious signs of an overall meekness and tint of sorrow aimed at nothing in particular.

"Good m-m-morning, Jun-sama." The boy spoke in a tone just above a murmur, his tongue darting out to wet his lips as he watched her warily, a touch of distrust painting his features as he fidgeted slightly. "I am the Holiday H-Helper, come to explain to you concerning the gift you've been given! It, ah.... it's a part of, of a mask, you see. The Mask of Anonymity, it's called; there are five other pieces, though I can't tell you where they are or who has them. Ah... if... if I did have any pieces to it... I could sell them to you, for a fair price, or send you on a quest to, ah, to earn them... but I can't... and I can't tell you more about the mask until, um, until you get the rest of the pieces..."

The boy stuttered slightly, shifting and fidgeting on his feet as he attempted to work his way through the explanations that had come so easily to him not so long ago. "Er, and... and if you, um, you don't want to hold onto it, I can hold your item for you, for no charge... n-nobody will find out what it is, that I have it, or who it belongs to.. if you choose that... and, um, if you'd rather not participate at all, I can p-p-pay you for the, ah, the item... It's all up to you, of course; it was a gift to you, you see."

Jun swayed unsteadily upon her feet as the world shifted then stabilized. She brought a bandaged hand to her forehead and let the weight of her head rest in her palm as her equilibrium fought the good fight. Eventually it won out and Jun did not find herself sprawled out upon the floor. Just barely though. Then someone spoke her name and she very carefully lifted her head to view a nervous looking manboy who was spluttering some nonsense here and there. "What," she said when he finished, her confusion not helped in the slightest by the fact that she was still dizzy. She blinked at the boy as he fidgeted and tacked on, "Are you okay?"

The boy's face turned flustered as he flinched away from her question, as though it might have been a physical thing. "N-no- er, I mean, yes, yes, I-I'm fine! Auuu..." Fidgeting and shuffling in place, the boy looked from his counter to Jun and back again.

"Ah... do you... n-n-need me to go over all that again?" His voice was low and almost defeated; he knew he should have waited! Curse his haste! Damn the luck!

Well, he certainly wasn't alright, but it appeared he also wasn't talking either. So Jun pointed at the mask harness in her opposite hand. "What is this?" Her question was simple enough though she didn't realize that the entire previous explanation had been essentially all about what it was for it was far more than it seemed. Then Jun paused to wonder why she was bothering to ask what the object was. Clearly she was either dreaming, hallucinating, or possibly possessed. At the very least, Jun knew reality was out the window. Perhaps it was the object's doing! It might be best to get rid of the cursed item.

"O-one sixth of an artifact called the Mask of Anonymity!" The boy stated, nodding briefly before smiling weakly. "The harness, specifically." He fidgeted and shuffled in place, looking from the girl to the counter to the mask piece and back.

"I can b-b-buy it from you for fifty thousand yen, or you can keep it and try to find the other pieces! If you don't want to hold on to it, I can hold on to it for you, free of charge, with perfect secrecy." The boy nodded at this, and even managed a little smile at himself, apparently taking some small measure of pride in his ability to do his job.

The more the boy talked, the more the item sounded like a cursed artifact and less like a dream despite the shady location she could see around her. Perhaps that was part of the demonic object's powers. Either way, even for the sake of science, it did not seem like something Jun wanted to deal with or claim ownership over. She could simply throw the thing away or attempt to destroy it, but it did not seem like such methods would work on an object like it. It would more than likely return to this snow ridden landscape. If it was just going to come back... "I think I'll sell it," Jun said slowly, as if still thinking over the decision though she walked to the counter and placed the mask harness atop it.

The boy nodded solemnly as Jun made her decision; as she placed the harness upon the counter, it would slowly be absorbed through the glass, where it would manage to find enough empty space on the shelves within to fit itself. The boy would bow his head in thanks as the woman offered up her artifact, and then placed his hands on the strap of his backpack, delicately turning it over his body before unsnapping the pouch at the top and reaching into the container, fishing for only a moment before pulling free a little satchel that jingled, full of coin. With a smile, this was placed upon the counter, free for the taking.

"Thank you for your patronage, and Merry Chistmas to you, Amai Jun-sama. Please have a happy new year!" And with this spoken, the dream would begin to end as soon as the Quincy placed her hand on the satchel of coinage: coming awake in the medical tent, where once a harness had ensnared her arm would now be a small sack of coins tucked between her arm and body: a true miracle!

[5 stat points, 50K Yen earned; post placement with exit]

Well, that was certainly creepy and by no means a miracle to Jun as she watched the mask harness be absorbed through the glass. Still, she took hold of her money and the false world fell away leaving Jun back in the real world with the pouch of yen in her lap and Janez's face almost inscrutable as he stared at Jun and her new found acquisition. Jun ignored him for the most part as she rose from the floor. "Come, we need to visit Father Bruno," she said to him in German before starting off.

[exit; five points to reiatsu skill]