"That Human looks like You"

A few Diasomnia students walked by and mentioned a boy who looked like Malleus but was strangely a human.

"I see. An imposter! We'll chase him down and apprehend him!" Sebek yelled determinedly.

Silver looked at Sebek oddly as if to ask why such a drastic measure was needed.

Lilia paused, 'someone who looks exactly like Malleus?'

Swiftly he looked around, he knew odds were Malleus would be fine but a threat to his life would have to be taken seriously.

Keeping a good track of at least where he was would be a good start.

His concern grew with the realization that Malleus had either quietly left or was never in the Diasomnia common room at all.

"Silver, Sebek, I'd like to accompany you on your search," Lilia remarked.

Sebek seemed to gain literal stars in his eyes. "I would be so overjoyed to be permitted to accompany you Lord Lilia!"

Lilia maintained a polite smile, but if it was an imposter, he would have to personally eliminate them and any evidence of them.

Silver regarded the situation carefully.

The trio charged seeing Malleus's silhouette in the distance. Silver noted that Lilia was going faster, likely due to using magic to enhance his own abilities, but he seemed more out of breath. Silver wondered if that was old age or barely concealed rage at the thought of another threat to Malleus's life.

Speaking of whom, the Malleus they approached looked different. The most immediately noticeable thing was he didn't have horns and in his eyes weren't slit pupils like a reptile. He was standing so he wasn't facing them but his head had turned to observe the rapidly approaching force. His expression had remained neutral but once his eyes fell on Sebek, the corner of his mouth twitched upward in amusement.

Then his nearly otherwise identical face fell on Lilia. The beginning smile disappeared.

"Oh I guess you weren't kidding about being short as a kid, sorry about that Lilia," the boy remarked.

Lilia's face shifted from interest to slight confusion, his mouth closing as he raised one of his eyebrows.

Lilia tilted his head, "Malleus?"

The vivid green eyes regarded him again. "Yes?"

"So you aren't an imposter then, if you were you would have been more on guard," Lilia mused. The Doppelganger just looked puzzled.

"I see that Lilia has decided you are not an imposter making an attempt on Waka-sama's life! However–!" Sebek yelled.

"....It is an interesting possibility though I hadn't imagined there would be a power that strong…" Lilia murmured loud enough to halt Sebek in his rant.

"However –" Sebek started again, this time interrupted by Malleus.

"You… Are you… me?" Malleus asked eyebrows furrowed from being in deep thought.

"We look similar enough," the Doppelganger remarked, staring less at Malleus and more at the horns on his head.

Lilia wanted to sigh, 'the boy deserves to have a genuine shocked face every once in a while.' It sort of disappointed him that this time didn't arise such an expression. From either Malleus.

It seems they shared more than physical appearance as they both had that uncanny trait of being too mature for their age. They should have been shrieking and pointing at each other like that iconic comic superhero meme he started seeing last year. Instead they were acting like they were misinformed about the weather and learned they didn't need the umbrella they brought along.

They stared at each other. Nobody moved, too stunned to immediately react. Slowly the Doppelganger stepped forward, raised his hand–

Lilia blinked. Sebek looked a mix of nervous, angry, and ready to charge but Silver held him in place, as firmly as possible with his steady grip on his arm.

-And touched the tip of Malleus's horns. As if triggering some unknown force, both Malleus and the Doppelganger were electrocuted. It ceased after the Doppelganger let go; Malleus shook it off when it ceased, somewhat baffled by the response. However, the boy who looked exactly like him had fallen unconscious.

oOo

"Mmm... That nightmare again" a familiar smoky voice remarked tiredly.

"What nightmare?" Lilia asked with concern overriding his wariness of his guest.

"Wha?? Lilia!? Aren't you in your late seventies? You look young..!" Malleus sat up.

"Hold it," his eyes shifted and he scanned his surroundings. "where am I?"

His hands twitched as if longing for a weapon. Or possibly still jittery from the electric shock that rendered him unconscious.

"You are at the dormitory of Diasomnia, one of the Seven dorms of Night Raven College," Lilia supplied. "Currently in Malleus's Dorm room."

Doppelganger Malleus had a look on his face that said he only understood about half of everything Lilia told him.

Then the Doppelganger jerked violently and groaned. "Ohhhh my he–….. that's right I woke up here, those people asked me something that made no sense, and then I met… my 'bodyguards'.....Then that person who looked like me appeared…"

"Now you said nightmare. I'd like to know what it was about, if you don't mind," Lilia pressed. Dreams, they could be useful or dangerous. Amusing stories or foreboding premonitions.

"Dream? It was… well. My friends needed me. Azul, Leona, Riddle, the others; Jamil, Idia, and Vil were there. They each had a pen That suddenly filled with ink. That ink was harming them and I couldn't do anything. They were in so much pain. And then I was alone. They vanished. Then..." Malleus halted.

Remembering how he was suddenly in a wasteland and being attacked by two swords that cut through the scales that had covered his body... He shuddered, not wanting to see the dream again. He knew of course that within a few nights he'd see it again anyway. "That dream scares me," he mouthed.

Rubbing his eyes he suddenly noticed that he was dressed differently. His form now clad in black and purple silk robes, gold decorations covering the entire outfit. Oval mirror frame shapes on the flare part of the sleeves. Malleus touched the cloth, running his fingers down his chest, more intrigued by the soft material than the fact he could feel his abs through it.

".. What happened to my clothes..?" He asked.

"I lent you mine after Sebek insisted he search you for weapons. He worried you were an assassin I suppose" Malleus heard his own voice from a farther corner of the room.

" another... Me.. I was hoping that part was a hallucination," Malleus mumbled.

"I believe that now that you're awake. You can tell me why you look like me," he responded, standing up and drawing himself to his full height. Malleus saw that the other... Malleus, the other him, wore the familiar garments he associated with Night Raven High School, but he had numerous obvious differences. For one he saw pretty black, almost green tinted s shaped horns, his eyes were simply bright green instead of hazel and the pupil was a vertical slit. On his arm a golden crest with a dragon on it and beneath it the word Diasomnia. The crest was held by a green and black ribbon. The Doppelganger twisted his mouth into a scowl.

"What…? I'm not anyone but me! I have always been Malleus Danté Draconia! I was born this way! I don't need to explain my life to you!" He glowered angrily.

"You will have to tell us at least. If you want to live that is" Lilia said warningly.

"Otherwise we'll treat you as a threat to the throne and will be forced to eliminate you,"

The dopple Malleus scowled. Lilia bit back a grimace. "Trust us- trust me, we want to hear you out. Blindly killing you would be unjust." Lilia said in an almost pleading tone.

"You trust me, don't you?" Lilia persisted.

Doppelganger Malleus's face twisted slightly as if he were mentally running through all the ways he could answer that question.

"Yes," the boy seemed to finally decide.

"Good," Lilia let the hesitancy slide for now

"we will determine whether or not you are a threat"

"My grandmother Sir Malorie Draconia is head of the Draconia family. We're known as the most powerful mafia in the country." Malleus's doppelganger said.

"My grandmother, Maleficia, is Queen of Briar Valley," Malleus supplied.

The Doppelganger shifted in surprise, his hardened facial expression somewhat relaxing in his surprise.

"Why does she have sir as part of her name?" Lilia asked.

"She grew up in a time and area where women weren't given the same respect as men so she thought she'd have everyone she wasn't close to refer to her as Sir so they'd always be showing her that respect, her husband approved and supported her." Doppelganger Malleus seemed to relax with the less personal question.

" Where are you from?" Lilia asked while Malleus sat back down.

His doppelganger had brief confusion cross his face, " like where my ancestors are from, where I specifically was born or where I was before I came here?" He asked.

"Yes" Lilia said

Doppelganger 'Malleus' fixed him with an unimpressed stare.

"My family has various scattered origins in Thorn Valley, and I too was born there, Night Ravenswood City was where I was less than twenty-four hours ago; where I left Night Raven High school," he sighed.

"How old are you exactly?" Malleus asked surprising Lilia but he guessed seeing his human counterpart look so young may have baffled him in the age department.

"I'm 18," doppelganger Malleus answered.

"How old are you?" He returned

"I'm 200 years old, fae equivalent of 16 for me," Malleus supplied.

"I'm WHAT--?" Doppelganger Malleus blurted.

'It's my current age," Malleus responded.

"..." Doppelganger Malleus looked kind of lost.

"My parents were killed in the war between Fae and humans a century or so ago," Malleus supplied his face, careful not to betray any sorrow. Lilia hadn't asked that question knowing how Malleus might react.

"My parents were--" the other Malleus broke off. He took a deep shuddering breath. "My parents were killed because my aunt revealed their location to save herself I had the honor of being in the wrong place at the wrong time,"

Malleus had a sympathetic look grace his features. Lilia could see the slight shift in stance, the way the doppelganger Malleus clenched his jaw, tensing as he spoke about an obviously hard moment in his life.

Lilia recognized the subtle behavior in his own Malleus and looked torn. "You're both telling the truth. Which leads to one theory. But first, Malleus let me see your forehead," he gestured at the doppelganger. The other Malleus pulled back. "Why?" His eyes narrowed.

"If you are a imposter you won't have what I'm looking for, since not very many people know about it after all," Lilia grinned.

Malleus glowered threateningly before sighing and leaning forward so Lilia could reach his forehead. Lilia pushed back his hair and his breath hitched slightly. The Doppelganger did not have scales, since he wasn't a magical entity, however he did have a birthmark mimicking the shape and pattern of the scales on Malleus. The visibility being because the birthmark was slightly darker than his actual skin tone.

From his chair, nearly halfway across the room Malleus looked partially curious. He wondered if this new Malleus had a birthmark to resemble the scales on his forehead, did he have other birthmarks to represent the other scales magic couldn't quite hide?

"Problem?" The doppelganger snapped.

Lilia frowned. "No,"

Now he looked confused.

"Malleus if you would please,"

Malleus seemed very amused by the request. Doppelganger 'Malleus' looked over at Malleus who had gracefully raised his bangs to reveal his forest green nearly black scales.

The Doppelganger stayed silent in his surprise

"It seems as though the world you come from is similar to the one mentioned by Yuuta Origami, and has no magic," Lilia mused.

"I will inform Silver and Sebek that you will be staying here until you are returned," Lilia remarked in an amused tone.

Both Malleus and his doppelganger looked at each other. Suddenly the Doppelganger thought of something.

"This universe…. It has an Azul Ashengrotto, right?" He couldn't help but ask.

"Yes he's the dorm leader of Octavinelle, is there a reason for asking about him specifically?" Lilia tilted his head curiously.

The Doppelganger didn't reply.

Lilia and Malleus looked at each other but it was obvious 'Doppel' Malleus had zoned out.

"Just the person I was looking for." He smiled at Sebek who flinched at how eerily threatening the gesture was.

"Dagger. Wallet. Phone. keys, All mine and I'd like them returned to me," doppelganger Malleus demanded.

Sebek looked to Malleus for permission. Malleus gave a slow nod. At this, Sebek looked torn that Doppelganger Malleus had been deemed not a threat and would be spared but handed the items back nonetheless.

The taller boy took back the items then as an afterthought seemed to realize he was still wearing the Ceremonial Robes.

"And I would like my clothes back as well." He added while turning on his phone.

He stared at it a few seconds before cursing softly and holding it to his ear after tapping something on the screen.