Once long ago in a village nestled in the midst of a forest, there lived a Raven and an Echo. Everyone in the village loved and worshiped The Raven, with his beautiful dark wings and liquid brown eyes. And then there was The Echo. Nobody liked The Echo, an entity, a spirit of truth. It spread the secrets, exposing the lies of man.
The villagers begged and begged for The Raven to do something about The Echo. The Echo had dark magical powers everyone was afraid of. It messed with the villagers' minds and exposed their secrets.
"Please, please," the villagers pleaded, "it's wrecking our lives!" The Raven agreed, The Echo had no right terrorizing the villagers'. And so The Raven went flying to the cave right outside of the village where The Echo resided. As if it sensed The Raven's presence, The Echo greeted The Raven-its voice floating through the cave like a faint whisper.
"Hello Raven, Raven Raven," its voice echoed, bouncing off the walls. "I was expecting you, you, you."
"Where are you?" The Raven asked, not sure where to ask, as the Echo was nowhere in sight.
"What a silly question, question, question! I'm everywhere, everywhere, everywhere! Now tell me, why have you come, come, come?"
"I-i-i, need you, wherever you are, to leave this village at once," The Raven demanded, struggling to remain his neutral face.
"Why, why, why?" echoed the floating voice.
"It's what the townspeople asked me to do," squawked The Raven.
The Echo pondered the answer for a second and then announced.
"Come back tomorrow and I'll tell you my answer, answer, answer," and the cavern blew out like a candle as if all the life was sucked out of it.
"Echo, get back and face me, you coward!" The Raven yelled, but got no answer. So The Raven left and went back to the village where he was greeted by the villagers.
"Did you get it to leave?" they asked hopefully.
"N-Yes, yes, I did, but I need to go back tomorrow to sort some things out."
"Hurrah!" They all cheered, "All hail The Raven!" And The Raven just stood there as they all believed his lie, as they worshiped him. The Raven could get used to that. But as they all partied, The Echo stood far away in the shadows, not happy with The Raven's lie.
In the dawn of the morning, The Raven awoke to feel pleased with himself. Everyone in the village believed the lie. Why wouldn't they? He was their god. And after he visited the Echo today, it would be the truth.
But today as The Raven visited the cave the mood was different.
"Are you ready now?" The Raven asked the empty air. "Can you please leave?"
The Raven shivered as if something passed through him and then all of the sudden The Echo announced,
"actually I need another day, day, day."
"Why?" The Raven yelped. "You said you only needed one more day!"
"Well something, erhm, came up, up, up." said The Echo, but something was different about its tone. It was harsh, even mean. "Tell the village I'm leaving tomorrow instead, instead, instead." The Raven sighed but felt a feeling of resignation wash over.
"Very well, I shall tell them." The Raven replied as he flew out of the cave with no intention, to tell the truth. So when he arrived back in the village he told them, "It's all taken care of. The Echo is gone. But I still must go back tomorrow." The Raven announced to everyone.
"Why must you go back?" they asked. "You must be done by now; is The Echo even gone?"
"Yes, I swear to you it's gone," informed The Raven. "You can return to celebrating its departure!"
"Thank you, Raven," they all cheered, "you are our savior!" And far away the ghost-like echo chuckled, "we'll see about that, that, that." To nobody in particular.
On the third day, The Raven awoke before the sun even started to emerge from the dusk. It just wanted to get the whole thing over with and be done with The Echo once and for all. As he arrived in the cave, even though he could not see The Echo physically, he knew it was there.
"Today is the day, correct?" The Raven hesitated before finally saying, "that you finally leave us alone."
"About that, I need one more day, day, day..."
"WHAT!" The Raven screeched. "You promised me you would leave. They all think you're gone!"
"I never promised, but promise me you won't lie and I swear tomorrow I will vanish forever, forever, forever." The Echo calmly explained. "You have my word, word, word."
"Thank you, I promise I shall not lie to anyone about your presence," The Raven said calmly. "Farwell Echo." And with that The Raven flew out of the cave, leaving for the village.
"Oh, I wouldn't be saying goodbye so soon, unless you pass my test, test, test."
Arriving back in the village, The Raven was exhausted, sick of The Echo and everyone else. But again, for the third time in a row, he was greeted by everyone in the village.
"So... how did it go?" They all asked.
"It was good, but I still must go back tomorrow one last time. Now if you'll excuse me..."
"What do you mean you have to go back?" They all yelled. "Surely you must be done by now!" They all remarked. The Raven knew they were getting extremely wary. "Are you sure you know what you are talking about?" "Should we not have picked you?" "Are you not all-powerful?" One by one they asked, slowly cracking away at The Raven's composer.
"Shut up you fools! You know nothing. I am your savior, just listen to me!" He snapped. "The Echo is gone. You all are fine. Now celebrate because it is no more." They all stood in silence, stunned by The Raven's words. Should they believe The Raven? Was he telling the truth? "I'm leaving, and getting some rest because The Echo is gone." And with that, The Raven flew to The Echo's cave without a shadow of a doubt. This would be the last time it was ever there.
"ECHO!" He bellowed, "SHOW YOURSELF!"
The Echo's voice drifted across the cave.
"This was all you're doing Raven, Raven, Raven. You asked for it, it, it."
"How?" The Raven squawked. "What did I do to deserve this?"
"It's all quite simple. It's because, well, you lied, lied, lied."
Flying back to the village, The Raven was enraged with The Echo, cursing it, hoping its travels and explorations were as fruitless as growing flowers in the winter. But at least The Echo was gone and everyone would love and admire him. And again, for the 4th time in a row, The Raven was greeted by the villagers. But the usual looks of rejoice and delight were missing from all of their faces. Instead, looks of fear and shock painted all of the villagers.
"The Echo is gone. Wipe those looks off your faces." The Raven snapped. But the villagers just stood there, unsure who they were really looking at. The Echo rubbed their eyes and cleared their foggy minds. They saw that The Raven's dark wings were molting and his brown eyes were more beedy.
"Raven, what has happened to you?"
"The Echo has possessed you!" Everyone looked around at each other. What happened to their perfect raven?
"There is only one thing to do! The Echo's magic is too dangerous. We can not have it in our village!"
"We must banish The Raven!"
"Wait no!" The Raven yelled. "It's The Echo! The Echo is the bad guy!"
"This is all your fault, Raven, Raven, Raven."
"Don't you fools hear it!"
"It's true! He's possessed!
"No! that's not true!"
"Raven, we hereby banish you from this village!"
"This is all your fault for lying, lying, lying."
