The Root of All Evil is Innocence

Asher walked across the dungeon floor, sword dragging behind him. At the end of the short hallway, The Mimic was held down by magically grown vines, twisting and tightening around their body, holding them in place until Asher got to the end.

Asher raised his sword, the silver blade glinting in the little dungeon light.

“Mimic, with the authority given to me by the people of Estroi, I hereby sentence you to death, for your crimes of corruption and evil. To destroy evil is to destroy the root and all that has been infected. You are the final root. Do you have any last words?”

Asher leveled them with a cold gaze, as the Mimic shook their head. Their body slumped against the wall, allowing the vines to hold them up, tilting their head to the side and flexing their hands a little. The white mask on their face was lifted up a little, and Asher found his hands reaching out before he could stop himself. He lifted the mask up and let it clatter on the tile floor, looking down to see the final Mimics real face.

Only to see the smiling face of Luca Vance looking back up at him.

“Don’t lose your tenacity now, Hero, you still have to destroy the final root.”

Asher couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t understand. The ropes holding Luca went slack, and he stepped towards him, reaching out with his hands. Luca grabbed the tip of Asher’s sword, and he watched in frozen horror, as he pushed it into himself. Asher’s hands shook but he kept the sword steady, as Luca cried out in pain, pushing the sword deeper inside himself, letting the silver work it’s magic and burn him inside out.

Asher came back to his sense at the second scream.

“Luca, stop. What’s going on? Stop don’t hurt yourself!” He tried to pull the sword back out but he didn’t have enough strength and Luca too much. He lifted his arms and let his hands cradle Asher’s face, still dressed in the Mimics robes, and the hero’s armor. Asher could see the dark markings of the Mimic, glowing and moving up Luca’s arm and down his face, looking every part a Mimic should be.

But Asher knew in his heart he wasn’t, Luca couldn’t be. Not his Luca, his Luca who grew up with him who he was fighting to come home to. Not his Luca who’s life was dedicated to loving their small little village, who is at home, taking care of his baby sister Lily- God’s, who was taking care of Lily? Asher couldn’t wrap his head around it, he felt so confused and couldn’t even stop it when the tears started to fall and a sob came out of his throat.

“Hero, Asher, I need you to listen to me,” Luca tightened his grip on Asher’s cheek, pulling him down to look him in the eye. “You said it yourself, the Mimic needs to die with me. I can’t allow it to infect anyone else. You need to kill me before it takes control again.”

“No-No you can’t, I won’t,” Asher choked out shaking his hand in disbelief. His hand came up to hold on to Luca’s arm, holding it close and closing his eyes. “Please tell me what’s going on you can’t-”

“Asher, you know what you need to do. Kill me and bury the mask, burn it if you have to don’t let another soul touch it. Then go home and take care of Lily for me.”

Asher still wouldn’t open his eyes, he just couldn’t. He refused to believe what was right in front of him. This must have been a dream and he’s not here. He’s back in the hideout with the rest of the team, going over the plan to storm the castle. He is not sword deep in the only person to ever matter to him.

Luca’s hands pulled him by the face violently, forcing Asher to open his eyes and look at him, really look at him.

His eyes had a red hue to them, and the black markings were getting bigger flicking faster. A sign the Mimic was getting closer to taking control. Luca was crying too, and Asher realized then that this was it for both of them.

“Luca,” Asher choked out. “How did this happen, how did we get here?”

“It’s okay, it’s gonna be okay, Hero. It happened the same way it happened with the other Mimics, hate and revenge took over. Revenge for you, for me and Lily’s parents, for everything that was left after the last Mimic. Promise me that you won’t let this happen to Lily, to anyone else. Promise I’ll be the last, and you’ll take care of things when I’m gone.”

When I’m gone. This was really it. The end of the line for them, and all that they were or could’ve been.

Asher opened his mouth, but the words caught in his throat. It was too much, the cold of the sword, the warmth of Luca, the light of the Mimic mask.

“Promise me Hero! I need you to promise!” Luca screeched a bit, and Asher could see the transformation happening. His hands dug into Asher’s face harder, nails sharpening, and sweet Luca was fading away.

“I promise. I promise that you will be the last and that I’ll take care of everything.” Asher sucked in a breath before adding, “I promise you won’t die in vain.”

Luca shook his head softly, closing his eyes and dropping his hands. Asher took this opportunity to end it all, pulling out his sword and letting it clatter to the floor. He looked away as he felt Luca crumple in his arms, warmth leaving him fast, too fast. They fell to the floor together, and Asher pulled Luca closer, resting his head on top and whispering sweet things in his ear.

He laid him down on the dungeon floor, taking a final look at him. His eyes were open, fully red, and the markings had grown to their final form, the ink detailing the story of the Mimic from its birth. Luca’s blonde hair was fading gray, and his whole body looked like it would blow away from the slightest wind. The color was quickly draining from his face, as the Mimic inside tried to hang on to the last bits of life Luca had to offer. They looked every part of a ruthless mimic, killer and manipulator. Asher couldn’t stand it. He grabbed the Mimic’s mask, hooking it on his belt, and put the sword back into it’s hilt.

Pressing a soft kiss to Luca’s temple, he picked him up, carrying him down the dungeon hallway and up the stairs. He walked through the castle, carrying Luca into the main throne room. His team was there, resting after fighting the Mimics conjured subjects, cheering when they saw him walk in. It stopped abruptly when they saw what was in his arms, silence falling the room as he walked up to the throne, stepping up and laying Luca down on the throne.

“Captain? What’s going on?” Lyra asked, never afraid to speak her mind. He simply shook his head turning around to face the room, and his 5 team members. He unhooked the Mimics mask from his belt, throwing it into the center of the throne room, the others flinching back away from it.

He looked up at his small group, locking eyes with Eiloa, who nodded at him. “You aren’t done Captain. We need to make sure it ends here.” Asher swallowed hard, biting back the urge to curl up in Luca’s arms and cry. Eiloa was right, she was rarely ever wrong. Luca had been strict in his request, the mimic needed to die with him.

Asher bit his hand, digging his teeth into the skin, until he felt the blood flow from it. He turned back to the Mimic, to Luca, lifting his hand up and letting the blood drip down onto his face. He angled it carefully, as to not let his blood mix with the wound in Luca’s chest. He drew the Mimic’s symbol onto Luca’s forehead, then drew a line through it and closed his eyes. When he turned back to the rest of the room, Eiloa had stepped forward, arms out controlling the fire currently burning away the Mimic’s mask. Asher walked over to it, squeezing a bit more of the blood from his hand.

“I banish the Final Mimic, and all the Mimics stand for, to free the people of Estroi and ensure peace, and happiness in the times to come To destroy evil is to destroy the root and all that has been infected. Goodbye Luca.”

The fire glowed and Asher sucked in a breath, which was all he could do before crumpling to the floor in a sobbing angry mess.

When Asher woke up he was back at the hideout, a bar and inn that MAshere Loverett let him and his party use until their mission was finished. He looked over the side of his bead, to find his bed and his armor, cleaned and put to the side. Someone, no doubt Leorio had laid it out for him, along with some biscuits and tea. Asher groaned softly, before pushing himself out of the bed and onto the floor, moving clumsily over to the desk and snagging a biscuit on the way to the bathroom. There was already water in the tub and he stripped out of his close and sunk into it. He closed his eyes relaxing, letting the water seep into his body,.

Everything hurt. His heart most of all. He could remember all of yesterday. Killing Luca, carrying him, burning the mask. He opened his eyes, fighting back tears, and lifting himself out the water. Asher got dressed armor and all and met with the rest of his party downstairs.

They all looked up when he walked in, Daniel coughing into his hand, and Eiloa looking pointedly away, Lyra opened her mouth and he piontedly held a hand up.

“Please no questions about the mimic, can we all just focus on getting home, now that it’s all over.”

They all nodded, but Asher could still see Lyra bubbling with things to say. It could wait, he decided, until he had answers for himself or at least Lily. He didn’t even know what he was going to say when he saw her, what he was going to do. He felt like his heart had been ripped out and burned with the mask. He was lost. So, so lost without Luca, his Luca. Elena, Daniel’s sister came down after he did, gave him a pointed look, and headed out towards Madame Rosetta’s study that she was letting them use for the time being. He left the table and followed her out, leaving everyone else to discuss what to do with the remains of the castle.

Asher sat down next to Elena on the coach in front of the fireplace. She looked as tired as he felt, and he knew she had been the one holding things together where there was gaps in his memory. She always did, and Asher was incredibly grateful.

“We took the Mimics body up to the castle’s courtyard and I had Eiloa burn it with her fire, as well as any Mimic tainted things we could find in the castle. We tried to collect as many of the ashes for you as possible, but all the other residue wasn’t salvagable. I couldn’t risk leaving it out.” She gave him a very pointed and sorrowful look before continuing. “I found two letters on their person, one adressed to you and one adress to someone named Lily in your hometown. I’ve sent ahead the second one to the addressed to Lily, as well as separate letter telling her that you’ll be coming soon.” She handed over a small folded up piece of paper, and Asher took it, rubbing it between his fingers.

“You need to go home, the team and I can handle clean up, and the soveriegn won’t be restated until another week or two when we are sure the castle is safe. I’m not quite sure what you have going on with the Mimic, or with this Lily person, but captain please, go home.”

Asher didn’t even look up at her, he stared at the folded paper in his hand until he heard her leave the study. That night he packed his things, just a rucksack, his armor, and a small jar with Luca’s ashes. He said his farewells and goodbyes, gave them the address to visit, and left under the cover of the night.

The trip back took three nights, stopping during the day to rest and hide under disguise in nearby towns, keeping Daniel’s mare fed with food from market booths. He read the letter, twice. It put things into perspective for him, but it didn’t change things. He got to Lily and Luca’s family home on the third night, knocking even though he knew the sun was about to rise. When Lily opened the door he took a deep breathe, taking her in. Her hair was blonde like her brother’s and her eyes the same shade of gray. Only now they were puffy and bloodshot, her hair looked like it hadn’t gotten brushed in a while.

They stood together, on two sides of the doorway, Lily’s hand still on the door knob.

“I got the letter this morning,” Lily croaked out. She sounded like she’d been crying.

Neither of them said anything, and Asher watched as a tear fell down her face. She let go of the door handle taking steps towards him and wrapping her arms around his middle. He instinctively hugged her back, sobs coming from his throat even though he didn’t even know he could cry anymore.

“It’s not your fault,” Lily choked out, burying her face in his chest as they both fell to the floor, holding on for dear life.

“I’m still sorry, Lily I’m so sorry. I should’ve seen it earlier, I should’ve done more-”

“Stop it! Please, I can’t. Not from you. There was nothing you could do,” hearing Lily reassure him only makes him cry harder, harder than someone who’s seen five more years than her should.

He pressed his face into her hair, holding her gently and whispering.

“It’ll be okay, we’ll be okay, I promised them I would take care you.”

Lily nodded back and they stayed like that until the sun rose, and they went inside the house. They sat in front of the fireplace, reading the letter’s Luca left to each other, trading memories and trying to pinpoint exactly where it all went wrong. They couldn’t of course, but it felt good to verbalize it, to make peace with what had happened.

A few months later and Asher had retired a hero. Moving into the Vance family home to help take care of Lily, as she still had some schooling to do. His armor sat in the corner of his room, collecting dust, and the jar of ashes sat on a table next to the door. In the past couple of months his team had visited, keeping him updated on the reconstruction process and him explaining what he new about the Final Mimic to them. The world felt like it was breathing again. And after Luca’s death, Asher feared it never would.

Up at the Del Movea, the castle where the sovereigns of Estroi live, a young princess picks up a small ring in the corner of her father’s study, with black markings on it and glittering red rubies. She’s about to put it on when her best friend, and handmaiden’s daughter calls from the door, asking her to come play. She leaves, but not before tucking it into the pocket of her dress, for safe keeping she tells herself.

She plays with her friend and has dinner with her mother and father, and in the evening retires to her room. She shoos the maids away, asking to put on her night gown herself, and in the dead of the night she slips the same ring from the study out her pocket,

She puts it on her finger, and the root takes hold.