Re: BEACH location thread
Saying goodnight to everyone once they returned to the castle, and assuring Ballad that she'd be at breakfast, Ariadne went to her rooms. She was a bit tired, mostly because she was still healing, but not quite ready for bed yet.
Looking around the luxurious, if rustic, suite of rooms, she reflected on her new life here in Amber.
Was this her life now? Or was it just another stopover in her life, like her years in college, or her time in Hollywood? And was her Hollywood career over? On the one hand, she certainly didn't want to simply walk away from her friends and coworkers in her niche production company in California. On the other hand, going back to being an actress and stunt woman when she might soon have the option to literally visit other worlds seemed like a ludicrous decision. Being a positive force for change in the entertainment industry, especially for the LGBTQ community, was always such a noble cause and a dream come true, but now it seemed almost pointless. It would be akin to giving up the life of a millionaire Adventurer to go live ones dream of being a convenience store clerk.
She chuckled at that, and wondered what her cousins and other family members would think if she left Amber to go work the night shift at a 7-11.
The first idiots who tried to rob the place would certainly be in for a shock, that was for sure.
Thinking about her old peer group back in California made her also think about hee current social life. Or lack thereof.
Busy with work and social causes, Ariadne had never really wanted to settle down into a relationship, so there wasn't anyone special that she'd left behind on Earth. She'd had a number of 'friends with benefits', but they had all kept things casual. Mostly at her own insistence.
It had been more than a week since she'd had any company in her bed, and she was starting to miss it. She sighed. Any time she went to a new place she had to be careful about socializing, because different places had varying attitudes about her lifestyle. She still remembered her first year at Boston University , when she awkwardly flirted with a pretty girl named Lori who lived on her dorm floor, who turned out to be VERY straight, and a conservative religious person.
Things were awkward for months.
Amber, unfortunately, was a place she still hadn't nailed down. Historically, most places that were, for lack of a better word, medieval, were very closed minded and conservative. However, Amber had a definite air of "live and let live". But trying to read the ladies here was much more challenging than back on Earth. And it could be challenging as hell on Earth, to be honest.
Most of the anti gay sentiment on Earth seemed to come from the Western religions, akd these people seemed to worship, or at least pay lip service to, a Unicorn.
So what did that mean?? She didn't have any clue about what this Church of the Unicorn, or whatever it was called, taught about same sex relationships. But then again, was there anything gayer than a Unicorn??
She chuckled at the thought.
But it felt too late to go try to check out the night life in Amber. She wondered to whom she she could talk to about it. Jade's little sidekick Odile might be a gokd source of non judgemental information, but then again, once Odile knew, the entire servant grape vine would probably know.
And was that a bad thing?
It was also something to worry about another day. Apparently, according to the family mythology, Ariadne would have plenty of time.
That was a weird and uncomfortable thought for another time as well.
Restless, but not wanting to leave her room, Ari walked around, exploring her mother's room. She found many books, a large portion of which she couldn't read. She didn't even recognize the language. There were plenty of Earth books as well, mostly philosophy and political science. She was amused to see "The Art of War", something she'd never gotten around to reading.
Eventually, she returned to her mother's ornate wardrobe, opening it up to see the elegant and fancy outfits, then pushing them aside to see her mother's strange and apparently enchanted battle axe. Without even thinking about it, she picked it up again.
She tensed, almost expecting more weird magic to happen, though she was realizing now that it was more an interaction with Jade's strange magic than anything from the axe itself. Still, the whole concept of "holding a magical weapon in my hand" was just surreal. Ari still struggled with accepting it
She took a few casual practice swings, moving to the center of the room to avoid slicing through her bed. The axe felt so good in her hands. Like am extension of her arms. She'd felt that on occasion while training with weapons on Earth, especially with a tonfa she'd used in a futuristic wat movie, and a katana she'd used in a movie about immortal warriors fighting for dominance. But those had taken time and practice. This felt instant and effortless. It was almost like dancing.
After a while, as she was on the verge of working up a sweat, Ari put away the axe, and went to bed.
She had a lot to think about.