Seto stood stubbornly in the middle of the headmaster's 'office' which was more like a private room, because there was a bed, a desk, a bookcase, and a door that led to another classroom, which made him wonder if Dartz was a prisoner here too, because why didn't he have a nice office?

"You sleep in here?" Seto asked bluntly, and the headmaster sat gracefully down in the desk seat, nodding.

"I do. I live like everyone else," he said, folding his pretty hands in his lap. "My room is not more special than the one you sleep."

Seto wrinkled his nose and crossed his arms defensively, waiting to be reprimanded for the broken wall. It wasn't his fault everyone wanted to try healing him all at once. He literally didn't ask for it. Bakura was right. It was grasshopper boy's fault.

"Come, let me see your head," the headmaster asked genially, holding his hands outstretched, and Seto glared at him.

"You have eyes. Look at them from here," Seto growled, lowering his head and feeling his cheeks burn with shame. Fuck this guy, seriously. He wasn't sure how to start trusting this elf.

On one hand, he disliked elves for being snobby, self-important beings, and on another hand, he envied their beauty and intelligence. Porter was an exception. He was clearly born stupid because his father was stupid.

"Let me try healing them," the headmaster said impatiently, his two-colored eyes flashing as he blinked prettily. "If not, we'll come up with another solution."

That's what Yami said, Seto growled as he cautiously approached the elf and lowered his head again, seeing the man raise a pale palm and say clearly, "HEAL."

And a blinding white-hot light ripped through the front of his skull, making his eyes water as he let out a yell and stumbled back, the top of his head throbbing and…bleeding? Something wet trickled down the side of his face, and he gingerly touched the top of his head, wincing when it came away with more dark blood.

"You hurt me!" Seto shouted, and the walls shook with his anger.

"I pulled them out a bit more…" the headmaster said thoughtfully, and Seto grit his teeth in tearful frustration, touching his horns again and expecting nubs, but feeling a sharp point. Oh. Wait. What?!

"Mirror….here…" The elf said lazily, handing him a hand mirror from the desk, and Seto swiped it from his hand, not caring that he was getting his blood everywhere.

He angled it up over his head, amazed to see that a tiny point had appeared enough to stick out over the puff of his hair, but that was it. It wasn't…long, or tall like it was supposed to be. And that had fucking hurt! How many more of those would he have to go through for them to heal all the way?!

"Now at least, your magic will be less unstable," the elf said with a gleam in his eye. "The sharp point will refine your casting. That, or attach yourself to a staff, which you must forge yourself. If you consider that to be a waste of time, hone your casting."

I… hate this place… Seto thought weakly as he stayed sitting on the ground and speaking up, "I have my broken horns. In my pack…"

"Those won't help you now. Consider it like trimmed claws," the elf said roughly, looking out the window with a jerk of his head. "You must grow it back, not sew it on."

F-Fuck….me! Seto shook and stared at his blood-covered hands, quietly bringing the water spell to his mind and seeing a tiny bubble sitting in his palm. Okay, if he did what Yami said, which was to focus his oasis… The bubble grew steadily larger, and he managed to get it to a nice size, running it down his body from the top of his head, wincing when the cold passed his ears, eyes and mouth before it covered the rest of his body and he let it splash down on the ground.

"You do know mage secrets," Dartz's eyes glowed again, and he grinned wickedly. "I like you, Seto. You give me hope."

"For what?" Seto hissed, struggling to his feet and feeling his legs melt into the floor, so he sat back down on his knees, his body burning strangely. That had been agonizing, but worth it. Bakura was right about this headmaster. If he listened, he would get help…and then get away.

"For us, as a species," the headmaster replied, tapping the crystal he wore around his neck with a thoughtful air. "It's been a long time since I've met one of my kind. Nice to meet you, Seto. I am happy you're alive, well, and ready to learn. I'm about to impart one of the biggest secrets to help you survive. Are you ready?"

Seto blinked rapidly, swaying on the spot as he nodded stiffly. S-Sure? Dartz was a demo? That could explained why ruthless Bakura showed kinship towards him…automatically, instinctively, without realizing it.

"First, tell me what you see before you," Dartz sat up straighter and gestured at himself with a flattened palm. "Describe it. Use insults, flattery, whatever you wish. Tell me. Who am I?"

Seto blinked again and carefully considered this question. It was an illusion, like Bakura suggested…? Or was Bakura given this same lesson too? The thought invigorated him, so Seto answered as honestly as he could.

"You are Headmaster Dartz," Seto began, eyeing the gem circlet the man wore in his silvery teal hair. "A …High Elf who deserves respect."

Yami had told him to respect high elves, so…here he was. Doing that.

"Very good, what else? Physically." The man insisted, and Seto sighed, adding, "you…have long, pretty hair like all elves. Pointy ears, nice features… You wear a ton of clinky jewelry and gems. You have nice hands. You…have…two-colored eyes. You dress like all high elves, in multiple layered robes and…."

"And?" Dartz prompted, and Seto lost his patience.

"And you're tall. The vision of grace. Okay, I'm done flattering you," Seto growled, baring his teeth to show one fang. "What was I supposed to learn from that?"

The elf smiled widely and Seto was shocked to see a hint of fang peeking out from his top row of teeth. W-Whoa. What the fuck?!

"You're learning how to see through…the illusion," Dartz explained, and Seto stared at the top of the man's head, waiting for horns to appear, but there was nothing yet.

"There are no horns. They do not exist, even if you touch the top of my hair," Dartz said fluidly, and Seto opened his mouth to make a comparison to Bakura who was born without them, but the elf cut across him, reading his mind. "They do not exist to you. Yet."

"Okay, I'm fed up. Just take off the necklace," Seto hissed, the strength returning to his feet as he stood up to clench his fists, ready to snatch the gem off from the man's neck. "Bakura told me it was an illusionist's gem."

"Bakura is wrong." The headmaster replied maddeningly with another fanged smile. "He's been seeing bits and parts of me, learning his own way. You two are different after all. Now, open your ears. I will tell you my true name, which is the first step to uncloaking me."

Seto blinked and nodded, bursting with frustration.

"I was once known as Paradius," Dartz said, and Seto stared into the elf's face so hard, he swore he saw the pointed ears change shape, to a higher, more curved profile. Like his own ears. Whoa…hey….

"My clan lived amongst dragons before humans captured the entire nest and took control of the skies with flying machinery," Dartz's face darkened, his eyes changed color, going from two-colored to a uniform blue, and Seto could only gape. W-What was happening…?! The magic was in the words?

"Not knowing what to do with such a large population of displaced demons, they pushed us into the forest at the mountainside, forcing us to fight for a place to live amongst the creatures that were already settled there."

Dartz's face continued to change, the more he talked, the more his features would warp, and Seto was truly disturbed by it all, but deeply fascinated at the same time.

"I went on a violent rampage in Districts, 1, 4, and 5, not knowing better, and the humans came for me," Dartz said with finality, his hair flashing in multicolor before it landed on a plain, dark brown, followed by the stretch of threatening, sharp horns sitting atop his head.

Seto's breath hitched and he stared at them until his eyes watered.

"I escaped the army of humans, elves, and mages tracking my soul signature. I dodged the Wanted Summons and lived in another dimension for years." Dartz continued. "I lived underwater, I lived underground. I lived in ruins, in an icy tundra. There wasn't a corner of the universe I hadn't tried to live in before I realized how to change my soul signature. Now, I will change back."

Seto blinked and held his breath, watching Dartz speak calmly.

"I'm no longer Paradius. No one knows of him," the ears on Dartz's head suddenly lowered in position, and turned into a slender, refined point, similar to an elf's ear. "I am a peaceful, knowledgeable, graceful High Elf, known as…Master Dartz…"

And Seto watched in furious joy as the man's hair changed from dark brown, to a silvery grey-blue again, and the golden-gem circlet returned to the middle of his forehead.

W-WOW, HANG ON…!

"I am a fair Headmaster of a correctional facility for budding youngsters who have lost their way," Dartz recited, his fangs retracting into his top row of teeth, leaving them flat, white, and even. "Everyone, including you, Seto, sees me as…an elf to be respected. Powerful. Handsome, and trustworthy." The long dark nails that had sprouted on the tips of his pale fingers retracted and turned into the nicely manicured hands he was so used to seeing.

Hold the fucking…phone.

"You're literally committing identity theft," Seto declared, his excitement rising as he watched the elf throw his head back to laugh loudly.

"Theft means the identity exists already!" The elf smirked and leaned back in his seat with an air of triumph. "Master Dartz is someone I fabricated…until he became real in the minds of others. Now, I'm powerful enough to say it to your face, that I am a demon wearing elf's skin, and my illusion still stands, because many, many people believe me to be a headmaster elf. He's real, therefore, I'm real."

Seto blinked and could only gape. Fucked up, but cool.

He needed to learn how to do this asap. And maybe pick a name not as lame as Dartz with a Z.

"The key is to hold onto main parts of your personality, and don't lose yourself in the illusion," the headmaster explained patiently. "A soul signature is built on three sections. Can you tell me which?"

Ugh, lesson time? Seto frowned and shrugged. Fuck if he knew. He just got here.

"Don't know? That's alright," Dartz said calmly, folding his hands in his lap with thumbs overlapping. "First, your soul is made of your natural instincts and preferences. Second, it's the way others perceive you, and third, it's comprised of your idealized self. Easy enough?"

"I'll never lose my instincts or preferences," Seto said gruffly, thinking back to the time he tried to 'quit coffee'. Laughable.

"Good. It's deeper than 'quitting coffee', but good start," Dartz said with a small smile, and Seto's heart skipped a beat when he realized his mind had been openly read the entire time.

"How long did it take you to master your fake persona?" Seto asked brashly, and the elf smiled at him again with a handsome wink.

"A few human months. I have faith in you, Seto. I was 50 when I perfected it, and I'm nowhere near as sharp as you!" The headmaster praised, giving him another fanged smile. "And your horns are broken, but you cast with an extreme finesse. I smell power in you, Seto."

"So…who can fix my fucking horns?" Seto growled, reaching up to rub his palms on the pointed tip, finding that the motion calmed him a bit.

"I don't think there is a being powerful enough to heal it the way you want to. There's no one other than yourself," Dartz said simply, crossing one leg over the other and lacing his pretty, manicured hands over his knee. "Don't fixate on it. You are capable without them, and once you regrow them, you'll find that magic will come easier than ever."

Seto hissed through his teeth and crossed his arms. Fine. Play with a handicap in hard mode early on, but then receive the boost later. He could work with that.

"I don't want to be drafted," he said instantly, and Dartz gave him a grave look.

"I would never let that happen," Dartz replied darkly, his face turning almost ugly with rage. "You and that moon imp, Bakura, hold my bias. I would sooner die and fight all five District's armies at once than have them put you in the army."

Seto blinked, touched by the sudden emotion, and he nodded. Aw. Good to know he was…somewhat protected here.

"Now return to the pointless class, and we'll meet again when you've shared this knowledge with Bakura and attempted it a few times by yourselves," Dartz said with a graceful wave. "That white-haired demon doesn't trust me, but he'll trust you. Don't fight and stop destroying school property."

Got it, Seto thought as he turned and stomped out of the office-room, walking through the empty hallway. He shoved his shoulder against the wide doors and walked out into the darkness, surprised that he'd been in the office for so long.

Lights were coming from the dorm windows, so he made his way to the last one, pushing the door open and hearing it grow quiet the second he stepped in.

Every bed was filled with creature children except for the one with his knapsack on it, and Bakura was sitting brashly on top of a dresser, waving and grinning.

"Did you get extra homework for breaking the wall?" The white-haired boy asked, and Seto lowered his head in excitement, showing everyone his pointed nubs.

"He grew them back, sort of!" Seto exclaimed, bursting with joy that felt alien to him. "I bled and it hurt a lot, but he says my magic will be more refined now!"

"LET ME SEE!" Bakura shrieked, leaping off the dresser and rushing at him while a couple other hybrid humans also ran at him to stare at the top of his head.

"It now looks like baby dragon horns," the grasshopper boy declared, and a girl with tiger ears reached out tentatively, asking, "can we touch?"

Seto shrugged. Yeah, whatever.

He nodded, and many hands came for his head, making his head spin from the way he could feel almost every single person brush their fingertips over the point, or wrap their entire hand around it to feel the odd texture.

"Weird! Doesn't feel like a dragon's horn! It's so…ridged…"

"Demons are weird…! Bakura, you're missing out…"

"I don't need to touch it," Bakura said with a sour face. "It's a damn ram's horn. Everyone get over it. I'm trying to pass for human."

"Boooo! Boooooo," twin children with rhino horns protruding from their foreheads gave him a thumbs-down gesture and taunted him loudly. "Booo humans, booo!"

"Shut up you brats! I was human before! I liked it!" Bakura hissed, and Seto felt a pang of understanding.

"Wish I was full vermin," The grasshopper boy declared, waving his four arms up weakly. "Humans hate the sight of me. That's how I ended up here. I didn't even do anything."

"I killed people and it was fun," Bakura said instantly, and everyone ignored him, going back to their beds and leaving Seto alone by the doorway.

Oddly touched by the strange kinship he felt towards the other kids, he sat down on the edge of his bed and received a lumpy yellow fruit in his lap from the grasshopper boy's many human hands.

"Saved this for you. Saw you missed feeding," the boy said with a shrug, climbing up his bunk which was directly in front and above his. "Also if you snore, please cast a barrier. Thanks. My hearing is really good and you'll wake me up."

Bakura bared his teeth and tossed a packet of crackers onto Seto's pillow and turned over in his bunk directly beside him and said nothing.

Awh. It was like being back at the orphanage again, except he was popular this time around, surrounded with nicer furnishings, and an adult in charge who cared about them.

What a fucking twist.

"Thanks…demon," Seto said, knowing the phrase would elicit kinship, and Bakura gave him a middle finger over his shoulder. C-Cute?

"SHUT UP!" Someone shouted from the far corner, and the lights dimmed instantly. "I'm tired…"

Seto tucked the food into the corner of his bunk and laid down, not sleepy at all but deciding to turn over what he'd freshly learned from Dartz. Who did he want to be? He would have to craft this new, idealized version of himself carefully, enough to fool everyone, but not so much that he'd lose himself in it.

I can't be Seto Kaiba. He's…gone, Seto thought with finality, staring at the dark slats of the bunk above him, his cheeks heating up as he wondered how Yami was doing.

He needed to be someone Yami would admire and love. Someone noble, smart, graceful, worthy of attention, and…most importantly, drop-dead fucking handsome.

He couldn't be human. That was a bad option. Being human made him the enemy, and he'd already been a terrible human in a past life. What was the point of a redemption life if he didn't take another path?

Dartz...chose to be an elf, so…maybe that was the way to go. Elves were widely accepted, and they opened doors, were leaders, and taken seriously by the humans, but also respected by other creatures. He could still play the human game while looking like an elf.

Fuck elves, dammit, Seto growled, but he'd made up his mind to emulate Dartz as much as possible.

High Elf Seto…

No. Fuck no.

High Elf…Set…

Without the O.

Because Dartz needed to get rid of the cringy Z, he'd ditch the O in his own name.

The shorter the name the better.

Less to make up, and he would still respond to his own name to prevent fucking up.

But if he could be honest, Demon Lord Seto sounded pretty fucking cool.

"Will you shut up?! What are you thinking about?!" Bakura rolled over to glare, his eyes glowing red and threatening in the dark. "Shut up about high elves and demon lords, keep your embarrassing eighth-grade syndrome thoughts to yourself!"

"Will you guys shut up?!" The tiger-eared girl dipped her head down from the bunk above, hanging upside down, her eyes glowing yellow. "Master Dartz can hear us. We're already being punished with early bedtime for the broken wall. Bakura."

"We'll take it into a barrier," Bakura growled, and he snapped his fingers to envelope the space between his bunk and Seto's, propping his head up on his pillow and glaring. "Okay. Spill it. What happened in that elf's office?"

Seto hugged his own pillow to his chest and laced his arms around his legs, answering coolly, "he told me a secret, and for the record, you're wrong about his illusion necklace. I saw his real form. You'll never guess what it is—"

"WHAT?! HOW?! And on your first day here?! I've been here for two years, and I'm still guessing his form!" Bakura shrieked, and the tiger girl above reached down to thump her fist against the barrier.

"I can still hear you stupid boys yelling!"

Bakura let out a raspy growl and added another layer to the barrier, making it thick and dark. There. Now no one could see in or hear in.

"Cool, teach me—" Seto began, but predictably, Bakura barreled over him.

"What is he?! A dragon? A snake. A horse. A fox. A…human—no that can't be."

"Try…a demon," Seto grinned, and enjoyed the way Bakura's mouth dropped open.

"Yeah, my kind, with horns and…he lived among dragons," Seto said, thinking that sounded cool when he said it, but when Dartz told it, it sounded…normal.

Bakura made a disgusted face and pointed at his own, hornless head. "No horns are the way to go."

"Horns are cool," Seto argued, unable to believe he was having this conversation, and Bakura hissed at him, "Shut up, you infant. I'm begging you to grow up."

"Trying to," Seto replied, eager to divulge the new secrets he'd learned. "He's protecting us from the draft, but we have to learn how to change our soul signature in case the army comes looking for us, so first, figure out who we wanna be, then make cool new versions of ourselves and then make everyone else believe it. Sounds easy but I don't know…who I want to be."

"Well, I want to be human," Bakura insisted, his eyes glowing with determination in the dark bubble they'd made. "So that's easy for me. You're stupid for aiming to be a High Elf. You're just asking for trouble."

"I want to be admired by Yami," Seto began, and Bakura rolled his eyes with a groan.

"Another thing I wish you'd shut up about. Yami. My gwardian, my pwrecious mage savior!"

"Hey. If you keep dissing him, I'm going to bed," Seto snapped, pushing his pillow aside and grabbing the covers with a fist. "Figure out your stupid human identity and tell me tomorrow. I'm still trying to figure out mine."

"Whatever you do, don't be Seto Kaiba," Bakura said with a snicker, and Seto gave the white-haired boy a long, hard stare.

"He died." Was all he said before he pulled the covers up over his head and closed his eyes.

Bakura melted the barrier and stared at the lump in the bunk beside him, feeling an odd tightness rising in his chest before he shoved it back down.

Whatever.

Author's note:

Seto discovers dartz's secret! Seto learns and makes better friends w bakura!