It didn't feel right. Whenever I felt his emotions, it was always calm and loving, but now, I felt deceit and hate. I turned to Leo and whispered in his ear. "Leo… that's not Orion, I can feel it," I said, closing my eyes, turning away from Leo. His hate was so strong that it was almost overwhelming. I opened my eyes, and this man seemed to pick up on that we knew something was off. Before he could figure us out, I quickly said. "So, Orion where are we going?" Trying to sound convincing as if I didn't know that wasn't him. The man who looked like Orion didn't buy it. He got up from where we were sitting and walked toward us pointing his finger at me. "Do you take me for a fool? It's very obvious that you know I'm not Orion." He grinned evilly. Leo got up and put his hand in front of my chest guarding me from him.
"What do you want and who are you?" Leo asked protecting me. He stopped and rolled his eyes. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Mimic, and I think it's pretty obvious what I want…" he paused then began to say. "I want you dead!" He continued to slowly yet creepily walk up to us. Leo looked at me then quickly shaped into a white tiger. "Game on!" Mimic yelled and they started to fight. Leo kept attacking Mimic, but Mimic would dodge his attacks or shape into someone else. Eventually, Mimic attacked Leo, and he dodged his attack. Then, is when the real test came. Mimic shifted into me and Leo quickly turned around. I looked at Mimic and he looked back at me trying to act concerned. "Oh no! Mimics shifted into me!! You have to attack him, Leo." Mimic said pointing at me yelling in distress he looked at me and puffed. "No Leo, that's Mimic he's lying please believe me." I could tell Leo didn't know who was who because he was huffing, puffing, shaking his head, and he had a confused look on his face. I leaned down and Mimic followed. I reached my hand out and Mimic pretended to act concerned, telling Leo not to take it. "Look at me Leo, it's Luna. We protect each other, remember?"
Leo nodded putting his paw into my hand then he looked at Mimic and growled. Leo attacked Mimic and he shapeshifted again. I could tell this was his normal form because he was hurt and it would take too much energy to shift again. He had pale white skin, almost gray. It was as if every time he shifted more life was drained from him, his eyes were what scared me the most, they were pitch black which I found extremely creepy, and he had blonde icy, almost silvery shade. Leo shifted back into human form and wobbled again. I helped him sit down on a stool while he was recovering. Mimic smiled and then laughed evilly. "Oh you stupid little kids." He grunted in pain. "I will get you next time, mark my words. My life's mission will be to destroy you and YOUR BLOODLINE!!!" He said, used the rest of his strength to run up to Leo and punched him hard in the stomach "Mark my words! This is not the end. Then walked away limping. I was too busy to notice Mimic making his escape because I was tending to Leo. "Oh my god! Are you ok?" I asked Leo concerned as he struggled to breathe. Leo gasped for air. "I'm- I'm ok." Leo said weakly still gasping for air. While I was helping Leo, I realized something… all powers came with a weakness. Leos was that every time he shapeshifted back into human form he became disoriented, and Mimics was every time he shifted a little more life was drained from him. Suddenly, I heard footsteps coming from the front of the alley.
It looked like Orion, but I wasn't sure it was him. "STAY BACK!" I screamed holding up some garbage I found on the floor that looked like it could pack a punch. He stopped in his tracks holding his arms up. "Woah. Luna, what are you doing?" He asked. "Don't give me that! I won't be tricked by you again." I said, holding up the garbage quickly, looked at Leo who was still gasping for air, then back at the man. "Luna, what tricks? What are you talking about?" He asked. "I won't be tricked by you again Mimic!" I replied. "Who's Mimic?" He asked. It dawned on me suddenly that this might be the actual Orion, but I couldn't be sure. I realized that I could use my powers to hone in on his emotions. I took a deep breath and tried to feel his emotions. What I felt was confusion, that same warmth that had always come off of him, and that same sadness I had always felt. I dropped the weapon on the floor and went up to hug him. "I'm so glad you're ok." I said still hugging him. He hugged me back. "I'm glad you're ok!" Then he took a look at Leo who was recovering and went up to him. "What happened?" Orion asked. I explained everything that happened since we left. How we went to get shoes for me, then to the Eiffel tower, how we met someone that looked like him but ended up being Mimic, how Leo and Mimic fought, and how Leo had won but Mimic packed a punch on Leo. "He should have recovered by now unless-" Orion's eyes widened as he slowly lifted up Leo's shirt and found a mark on him. The mark looked like a piece of broken glass. "Oh no." Orion said concerned. "What?" I asked. "What is it?" Orion closed his eyes and sighed then opened them and looked at me. "It's an Echo Sigil. This allows whoever placed the mark to place fake memories into the person who has the mark's head. He's in pain right now because his body is trying to fight off the mark but if it continues to grow…" Orion paused. "Mimic can place any memory into Leo's head that he pleases."
I felt like I was having a heart attack. "What did this mean for Leo? Would he be, ok?" I started to ask Orion these questions and he nodded. "This spell doesn't seem to be strong so as long as we take him to an arcane before the spell ingrains in him, he should be ok." Orion replied which made me feel relieved. "Leo, can you walk?" Orion asked. Leo sat up and nodded. Orion smiled, "Ok, let's go."