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[She's not Padmé Amidala. Nor is she Jane Foster. It's just Ariadne, sitting on the wooden floor of her home, in front of an enormous, four-poster bed with a canopy of sheer, white fabric. Splashes of color occasionally hit her face and the background, as her homemade mobiles, flitting with broken pieces of colorful glass, catch whatever sunlight there is. Her long, long, long brown hair is hanging loose over her left shoulder, crinkled to show that it's just come undone from its braid.]

I...I've noticed that a lot of important holidays seem to be in the middle of the winter. And I guess it makes sense. The days are short, the nights are long, and everyone is cold and missing fresh fruits and vegetables. It raises the spirit to have something to celebrate and people to celebrate it with.

[There's a small smile. A memory or two from her days in Valeria.]

Back home, the New Year was the most important holiday. There would be parties and feasts and masked balls. Presents. Lots of music...

[And she misses that music. But Ariadne won't let herself stay sentimental for long.]

Last year, I learned about an Earth holiday. The one where the fat man breaks into people homes and leaves them gifts, instead of stealing stuff. Christmas!

[Makes no sense, but it's a lovely sentiment.]

I was hoping to maybe learn about some other holidays from this time of year. What do your cultures celebrate? Maybe we can find a way to all celebrate together. I'm still convinced that togetherness is the only way we're going to survive this place. And I...I know I'm not alone, feeling that way.

[A small shrug.]

So let's talk to each other more. When there isn't an emergency. Talk about some of the happy things, maybe. Tell me about the good stuff.

[Ariadne doesn't really know where to go from here, so she shrugs again.]

Anyway, that's all. Sorry to interrupt anything.

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It's... not something I've experienced obviously, but he was always a very patient soul. One step at a time, and everyone would hustle and bustle around him. He was easy-going about all things, until the moment you truly angered him. On those rare times it was like the wrath of a tree falling, sudden and catastrophic.

Now that I can imagine.

[And she shudders at the thought of it. She grew up in a rain forest. She understands how powerful trees are. And gravity, too.]

I'm sorry, though. You must miss your friend.

I do... but I've grown... accustomed to knowing there are partings. I hope to see him again one day. For now, he is in my heart, just as your friends are in yours.

They are always with us, in here. [She tapped her heart.]

[Ariadne ducks her head.]

Wise as always, my la--

[Whoops. We're not doing titles now.]

My Friend.

[She chuckled softly.]

Yes, that's fine. Thank you. I do try to at least pick up a few tidbits that could be useful to listen to. And you are as good natured as always. I think it's a good thing for us to keep in touch in the cold of winter. Never know if we'll get snowed in.

Yes. I'd like that.

Even just having someone to talk to...

Say, would you like to come over for tea and a fortune reading perhaps?

[Look, she wasn't going to say Ariadne sounded lonely, but she definitely sounded lonely, and Vira-Lorr definitely wasn't going to say no to the company.]

A fortune reading?

[Head tilt.]

well yes. I can see the future... and it isn't always blood and horror these days. [Just mostly. Shhh] So I've taken up a practice of reading fortunes, usually with cards. It's also a chance to speak of anything mystical people want, or to just chat about our problems.

Sometimes it helps a little.

I don't know if it would help me...

[She's not sure she even has much of a future.]

But the tea would be nice.

Tea always helps. I will see you at my home shortly. Come to the door that leads to the left, not the right, and knock there.

[It would be apparent what she met when Ariadne arrived. There was an entry door, and in the foyer were two doors, one on the left, one on the right. The one on the left had the label 'the third eye.' It was probably her place of business where she took guests like this?]

[Ariadne arrives a bit later than she would like, but it's hard to get a sense of the geography without a bird's eye view or map. Yes, she's taken to wandering the streets as much as possible. But she's only managed to memorize so much.

But arrive she does. With a mason jar of dried cherries. She may not know a lot about humanoid norms, but she knows it's impolite to arrive at someone's home empty-handed. This is what she has.

Politely, she knocks on the door.]

[Vira-Lorr opened the door to the shop side of things and smiled, motioning Ariadne in. The space wasn't exactly cramped. It was a small sitting room in which two could sit around the table comfortably, and it was kept warm to ward off the weather. But there was a cramped feel. Various arcane and occult implements lined the wall, all of them more 'herbalist' than they were macabre. It all had a lightly surreal feel to it, right down to the crystal ball sitting on the table.

Very little in the room had actual function, if she knew what to look for. It was ambiance. The power was in Vira-Lorr's eye.]

Welcome! I've got the water heated already for tea. Didn't have too much trouble finding me I hope.

[She nearly curtsies before remembering herself. So, ultimately, she bows her head and supposes that's respectful enough.

As she drifts into the room, she's struck with a pang of nostalgia. It looks like the sort of shop you might find, wandering the streets of Valeria. At least, Valeria before the final days of the siege. She can almost see a gaggle of courtier ladies gathering around the table, eager to learn who they'll marry.

At Vira-Lorr's question, Ariadne turns back to her quickly, her braid swinging behind her back.]

Not too much trouble. We're all still learning Trench, I guess!

[That was exactly the kind of air that Vira-Lorr had intended, an air of the mystical and the mundane littered together, like some hedge mage. Closing the door behind them, Vira-Lorr settled properly.]

Mmmm, I may have put my little lantern near the shop and the house to make my life a little easier in that. I've never been above a little cheating. But it's good you're finding your way around.

So, [Ahem, she smiled enigmatically] I sense a soul in search of answers, yes? You wanted a reading, I believe. Would you like the cards or palmistry perhaps?

[Ariadne tries hard not to wince.]

I'm not sure I want to know the future.

[She glances down at her palm, before turning back up to Vira-Lorr again.]

It seems to me, it if it's good, you just spend your whole life wondering when it's going to happen already. And if it's bad you just send your whole life dreading it.

Either way, you kind of forget to live.

Now, aren't you the smart one? Figured that out without me ever having to tell you.

[She grinned warmly over at Ariadne and winked. There was no element of mocking in her tone. Her laughter was soft and had a pretty obvious tone of commiseration to it.]

Most mortals I talk to pine over the thought of seeing their futures. But you? You already have a bit of a sense of the truth. My people live with the gift all our lives. We don't know how not to see the future, so it is a little different for us, but the truth is that life is better lived with a bit of blinders.

Though I can't see 'that far' these days. The usual fog. Nothing more than a month ahead and always rather vague.

[It's rare that anyone ever calls Ariadne 'smart.' Naive, yes. Optimistic, sure. But smart?

Not...really...

Puzzled, and a bit pleased, perhaps, she sits down at the table, peering at the glass ball.]

I do understand that. A little. I used to be very good at predicting the probabilities of certain outcomes. But these days?

[She just shakes her head.]

I always feel like I'm walking into a void. Like with Sam? He's my friend and he's kind of...broken. And I'm so worried that we'll never be able to fix him. Back home, I would have known instantly how likely it was. But here? No idea.

As unpleasant as the thought of not being sure whether you can help someone is, you do not feel bound by fate, trapped within a pathway that gives no leeway to the left or the right. At least with probability, there are chances, but it's still a very limiting way to live.

Flying blind? It's a little exciting, even if it is a bit scary. Would you like to talk about your friend some?

I don’t suppose it would be wise to ask his future.

[Ariadne heaves a small sigh at that.]

I just worry he’ll never be whole again.

What is it in them that you feel is incomplete or broken? Some things may be fixed here, but others may be more difficult. I fear that I might have difficulty asking of his future if he is not here, but I can help as need be.

[She frowns a little.]

I'm not sure I'm supposed to be talking about it. Dean is desperately trying to work on a solution. But...

[But he's also Dean.]

Well, we think there's some sort of damage on Sam's soul.

This conversation is private and I won't be butting my nose in. We never had it if anyone were to ask, which they won't. The strictest of confidence.

...

Ah, that sort of issue is never easy. The notion that one's soul might be broken on some level can be terrifying in its own way. Is it from home, or something here? That can impact how you approach it.

Well...Dean seems to think it's...missing.

[Don't look at her, she has no idea what the heck that even means.]

He's not behaving as himself. And I just...I guess I want to know if he'll ever get back to himself.

Hmm... [She frowned and reached up to press her fingers to her lips.]

If his soul is missing, that's a signficant impact. It means that the person within his frame is not the same soul and spirit as the person who originally lived within. It might entail a permanent shift of his nature.

Has Dean told you why they believe this?

[Not a topic she ever discussed with Castiel, sadly.]

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