Stars and a Bell

"The bell." Aidan said. "Finally got here at last. Okay wish first. Then ring it." He spoke as he approached the bell. "I wish that stars would lead me home."

"Not gonna work." A strange looking creature sat on top of the wooden post where the bell still hung, and took a swig of her drink.

“I… What- who are you, and what gives you the right to disgrace this place?” Aidan asked.

“A Dark Mystic, Sofia Roffguard, and what makes you so sure I'm disgracing the place? In that order.” Sofia replied.

“You are sitting on top of a sacred belltower?!” Aidan said. “With a mug.”

“You do know there is literally a god of alcohol and parties, yes?” Sofia asked. “Several actually, if mythology is anything to go by.”

“Well… if she cared, and is a goddess, she could’ve removed me by now.” Sofia said.
“What if they aren’t a she?” Aidan asked.

“She prefers to be a She and before you ask how I know that.” Sofia replied, and took another swig. “Because I do.”

“You met her then?” Aidan said. “And she told you the stars won’t lead you home?’

“Stars don’t lead.” Sofia replied. “How exactly do you intend to make a thing that doesn’t lead you, lead you to… home? Was it?”

“What makes you so sure stars don’t lead? Aidan asked.

“What makes you so sure they do?” Sofia replied. “What makes you so sure that random lights in the sky have anything to do with you?”

“I wanna go home.” Aidan replied. “I want to believe in myself.”

“Okay.” Sofia replied, and took another swig. “And?”

“And? Aidan asked.

“And. Question mark.” Sofia said. “You went into a settlement in the middle of literally nowhere, and marched up a mountain. For ‘I wanna go home?’ sounds to me like you gotta find out where home is first.”

“So this is home for—” Aidan paused and turned around as a massive black bear growled at him.
“Arch. down.” Sofia said. Arch sat without question. “He gets overprotective. Built him that way.”

“Built him?” Aidan replied. “You built this thing?!”

“Could you stop yelling?” Sofia said. “I can hear you just find. And yes built him, didn’t realize I was putting that much into a plushie at the time. Doesn’t change the fact that I did, and that it is mine.”

“If you want me to stop yelling then why don’t you—” Aiden shouted.

Sofia jumped down and was in front of him now. Having landed flawlessly an inch away from him. “Happy now?... Yeah that’s what I thought. Welcome to life, sweetheart. You don’t run the show. You don’t own this place, and you can’t control every last detail about life.”

“B…but I was told you should be able to, you’re supposed to” Aiden replied.

“Should, and supposed are two very different words.” Sofia replied. “They mean very different things, and more importantly they are a mask for the random little small things people choose to do.”

“You’re supposed to do them.” Aidan said, a bit sheepish. “You need them.”

“We’re onto need now?” Sofia asked. “There is only one thing in this world you ought to do, and that is wear the mask that feels the most you. Everything else is a parlor trick.” She walked away.

“What do you know?” Aiden asked, out loud.

He walked away, and the wind blew. And while he didn’t hear a bell, he did hear a voice“More than you, it seems.”

“And once a year” Nami said to children, she had been telling this story to. “On the date of our choosing we look there.” She pointed to the cliff. “Where the bell is still there, and no one has ever needed to ring it. Because she is always right there, and before you can even really think you need to. She will tell you everything you need to know. With a single exception.”

The bell rang as it always did on this day, and the silhouette of the strange creature, who introduced herself as a Dark Mystic, stood there. Clearly hugging some old bear shaped plushie. Still telling this settlement the same old thing. (I’m. Still. Here.)