--Echo--

Are all mortals mean like Piper, or is it just Phantoms? I think, hovering over the trees. I literally save her life and she says I’m imaginary? I float ahead on the path, in the direction Aurora is heading. 

I hear a familiar bell ringing around me, and see that Aurora and Piper haven’t heard it. 

An emissary? Who would be wanting to send me a message after I just got here? A million possibilities roam through my head. 

Maybe this assignment was a mistake, and I get to leave this filthy place full of rude people. I think hopefully, then realize the emissary’s bell is still ringing, and allow them to appear. A female emissary, with golden hair that matches her golden wings, appears with a smile. 

“You have a message from the Guild.” The emissary says in her ethereal voice. She hands me a letter. “And try not to fail at this, Storyteller.” She tells me. Wow, harsh. I watch as she flickers away into the clear morning air, then unfold the letter with a sigh.

Storyteller,

As the narrator of tales, it is your job to tell the tales, not write them to your own will.. If you interfere with the mortal world again, you will be punished severely. Stop interacting with the mortals. It changes the story far too much. Consider this a warning. 

-The Guild of Storytellers

Yeah, well maybe the story needs changing. If we keep thinking of Phantoms as antagonists, there won’t be a happy ending to this tale.  I crumple up the paper and float down to listen to Piper and Aurora, who have started a conversation while I’ve been reading the letter.

“My brother could fly, and whenever he did it, he glowed blue.” Aurora says, her eyes lit up with the story. Wait, was that the person I saw in the marketplace my first day? “He really liked his powers. Too bad it’s illegal for him to even be alive.” She says sadly. 

“Yeah, that part sucks.” Piper says. Well, if you actually used your powers, you’d find survival a lot easier. I fold my arms and sit in the treetops.

“So, what can you do? Like, can you turn into a wombat or something?” Aurora asks. 

“Why a wombat, Aurora?” Piper asks. “They’ve got an insatiable bloodlust and they’re mindless beasts.” 

“They’re adorable.” Aurora says, laughing. “But seriously, what is your ability?” She asks. 

“I can turn invisible. But I don’t like to do it.” Piper tells her. Right, because of your weird ‘I refuse to be a Phantom’ philosophy.

“That’s not as cool as turning into a wombat, but still cool.” Aurora said. She really likes wombats, doesn’t she? It’s always those ones who trust wombats that get eaten first. 

 “What is with you and wombats?” Piper asks with a sigh.

“They’re cute, and I also have a pet wombat which I keep here.” Aurora says, then grabs Piper’s hand and leads her into a clearing, where what looks like an old abandoned power station stands, the overgrowth going halfway up the sides. Aurora lifts a corrugated metal piece to reveal a door. Piper steps in, and I follow her, curious, but still very annoyed with her.

It’s dark, and a window is open, letting a beam of moonlight into the dusty space. Piper screams and I spin around, hoping she is being eaten by a dragon. Do they have dragons here? I forgot to ask my teacher back during training. But no, there’s just a small chubby creature chewing on the hem of her jeans. Ugh, a wombat. The most dangerous creature in the world. I levitate up higher so it doesn’t get me and my life ends early. 

“Walter! We don’t eat Phantoms!” Aurora says, picking up the furry thing. “Especially not Phantoms who are our friends.” She turns to Piper, with Walter under her arm. “Sorry about that. Walter is a little weird sometimes.” 

“I still don’t understand why you like them so much.” Piper says, folding her arms. Well, from the looks of it you don’t understand anything. Stupid, idiotic mortal. I turn upside down, and stick my tongue out at her, though she can’t see me doing it. 

“What’s not to like? He’s fat and beautiful and cuddly and sweet and soft.” She says, holding Walter out to Piper. “Go on, pet him.” Piper put a cautious hand towards the wombat, and started petting the creature, still wary of Walter’s teeth.

--Piper--

When the sky gets light again, I decide to explore the powerhouse. I bet the wombat’s following me again. I look down, and sure enough, Walter is chewing on my shoelaces.I pick him up with both hands, and firmly tell him to stop. After this, I put him gently back down, and continue walking. 

Aurora left the powerhouse at about four in the morning to go home. I’ve just been here alone, since I assume Echo is gone, and Walter doesn’t count as a person. I can’t believe It’s been hours and I haven’t heard Echo be annoying once! I think he’s gone. Maybe I was crazy, and that whole police incident was a crazy coincidence.

“You still think I’m imaginary?” Echo’s voice said. I bend over, pull Walter off me once again, and sigh.

“You broke my streak of not talking to you. I was at four hours and thirty-six minutes.” I say with a glance at the wall.

“For someone not wearing a watch, you know time well.”

“There’s a clock on the wall.” I say, ponting.

“It’s called a compliment, Piper. Accept it.”

“I refuse to if it’s coming from your general direction.” I go up a metal staircase to the top floor, where I can see everything. The sunlight shining in through the windows lights up the entire space, and it makes it possible to see the dust floating in the air.

“Do you have dragons here in the Otherside?” Echo asks as I brush some dust from a window and look through it.

“Not that I know of.” I say. “Do you have dragons where you come from?”

“Mortals cannot live up in the stars. Dragons are mortal. Therefore, we don’t have any dragons.”

“I still find the idea that you’re immortal hard to believe.” I say, bending down to stare at Walter, who has yet again chewed a hole in my boot. “Seriously, Walter? I will turn you into wombat pie if you do that again. Well, I'd like to turn you into pie. Aurora would kill me if I did.”

“I’m scared for your sanity if you’re talking about baking wombats.”

“I’m not sane. Because I’m hearing voices.”

“For the last time, I’m not imaginary.” I hold onto the rusted railing.

“You don’t have any proof that you’re real!”

“You don’t have any proof that I’m fake, either. And what about the time I saved your life?” Ugh, why does he have to keep bringing that up?

“That was just a weird coincidence that the police happened to be there.”

“Was it, though?” I ignore him and go down the stairs. Walter follows me, so I walk backwards, making sure the demon wombat doesn’t follow me. “Turn around or you will fall over.” I spun around just in time to see that I would have fallen down the stairs backwards if I hadn’t listened to Echo.

“Just stop talking to me.” I say, refusing to admit the fact that he may or may not be right. 

“I am right. Stop denying it.” 

“I forgot you could hear my thoughts.”

“I’ll leave, just to show you how to listen to other’s suggestions.” I sigh and his voice goes away. 

--Echo--

“Why did I even save her from falling down those stairs?” I ask, floating up to the roof. “She’s not going to thank me for it, ever.” A bell rings, and I turn around to face the emissary. “What are you doing here?” I ask, and the emissary sighs.

“You should know. This is the second time in twenty-four hours that you’ve interfered with the plot, Storyteller.”

“This isn’t a plot, this is real life. And Piper was in real danger.” Even if she won’t thank me, I don’t regret it.

“The mortal girl is the antagonist. Were you not listening when you first came here? The Phantoms are villains. They’re dangerous.” I look through my notes in my little satchel. Everything I wrote down only supports his claim. Piper is the antagonist.  She is defying the law, and is mean to almost everyone she meets. She refuses to face the truth, and refuses to admit that she was born the way she was. I sigh. 

“Right. I’ll stop interfering, and write the story right this time.” I say humbly, closing my notepad and putting it away. 

“Wrong. You’re going to be stripped of your powers, and your immortality.” I gasp. What? I’ll be a human? How awful!

“What? Why?” I demand. 

“You were warned yesterday. Stop interfering with the plot. This is the second time you have saved the mortal.”

“So, I should just let characters die? Be another one of those shameless authors who kills the characters and destroys the readers’ souls?”

“You are not an author. You are the narrator. You tell the story. You do not write the story.”

“What if the story is wrong?” I yell. The emissary just groans and waves her fingers. Suddenly, I’m not floating anymore.

--Piper--

I hear a thump, and put Walter down. What was that noise? Walter and I are the only ones here. “Stay there.” I whisper to Walter, though I doubt he’ll listen. I climb down the stairs and to the center, where a body lies. How did that random corpse get in here? The doors haven’t been opened.

The person is a boy, with dark hair and pale skin. He wears black dress pants and a dark gray button-up shirt with a black vest over it. A brown satchel hangs over his shoulder, its leather strap worn. 

“I made a mistake.” The boy mutters. I recognize the voice.

“Echo? You’re real?” I sit down. “This whole time?”

“I told you so.” Echo says, sitting up. I slap his arm. “What did I do to deserve that?” He aks, wincing. 

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because you were an annoying voice in my head, and now you’re sitting in front of me, and I don’t understand a bit of it!” I cover my face with an audible sigh. “I really am insane.”

“Nope. I used to be an interdimensional being known as a Storyteller, but now I’ve been stripped of my powers, and I’m human, all because I interfered with your life.” He says, plainly. 

“I’m not going to believe any of that.” I say, and stand up, walking away. 

“You believe that I’m real, don’t you?” He asks. I reluctantly nod. “Then why don’t you believe this?”

“Because it’s utterly preposterous!” 

“The fact that your dimension even exists is preposterous. Earth is so much better than this horrible place, according to my professor.” What the heck is Earth?

“You can’t expect me to believe any of this!”

“The only reason I ever had my powers taken away was because I saved you from the police and from falling down stairs,” Echo says, his nostrils flaring. “I gave up everything, just so you wouldn’t get caught.” I roll my eyes.