Joan 'Justice Knight' Deverson. She, of all people, was feeling very, very strange.
In her mind, she felt clear of worry, but her body felt like it was on fire.
"Oh G-go-" she coughed, choking on her own words. "Wha-am I - Poisoned?" She stopped talking and focused on survival.
Then, in some strange twist of fate, it all ended and she was traveling. She thought 'traveling' because she didn't know how exactly she was moving - she was merely aware of the fact, like her existence was something she was far too hypersensitive to not to notice.
She opened her eyes slowly, feeling her body again, and nearly screamed in panic.
Thankfully, she was a level-headed girl.
In front of her was something she never thought she'd see in her life.
"Akako Koizumi," she muttered, her eyes going wide. "Why am I here?"
"I have called upon you, greater being," The person - Akako, the character from the series Joan watched so often, began. "in hopes of hearing about the fate of this world. Something is afoot, something even Lucifer cannot tell me, and I need your guidance."
Then, in her mind, everything clicked into place. Somehow, Akako had summoned her into the story, pulled her into some twisted reality where the entirety of the Detective Conan universe was real. Her heart beat fast as she wondered how to answer.
"You... are too powerful," she settled on, frowning. "This should never happen. None from my world should be pulled into yours."
Akako frowned. "You will not tell me anything? Not even after I went to such incredible effort to summon you, greater being?"
"It may break everything," Joan replied, voice breaking slightly. "If I tell you about your world, not even knowing what has happened so far-" she bit her words and looked away, at the unnamed servant and the dark walls around her. "Time must be preserved. Let me down from your cauldron, and I'll try to fix your mistake, Akako-san." Akako blinked, then with great reluctance held out a hand and led Joan down to solid ground.
With haste, she picked up her phone from her skirt pocket, grateful it was still there at all, and dialed the number she'd promised she wouldn't.
It had been many years ago that the author she looked up to so much had given her his number. It wasn't impossible that she had zero chance at contacting him, but it was worth a shot.
She heard the buttons beeping, the sound as the phone dialed.
Was it even the same number here? Was she just calling a stranger? Was it-
"Moshi Moshi?" A masculine voice inquired with a hint of exhaustion. "Wata-"
"Mister Aoyama?" Joan inquired seriously. "Gosho Aoyama?"
"Hello?" he replied in broken English. "Who is talking?"
"My name is Joan," Joan replied. "but that isn't important. It's about the Detective Conan series, and-"
"Who are you talking to?" Akako asked seriously, leaning in.
"Nani?" Aoyama let slip. "That was Hayashibara's voice... how?"
"No," Joan interrupted. "It was Akako's voice. I'm in this weird place where it's all real and I would appreciate knowing what happened."
"Oh no," he murmured. To Joan, he explained, "Someone warned me about this, that what I wrote was being literally created, but... I didn't believe it. All that stuff about a world computer and... oh no."
"Please," Joan begged. "Just let me see if we can work this out. I'm pretty sure I'm... Akako-san! What year is it?" She asked seriously, holding the phone up to hear.
The reply made Aoyama give a confident sound. "Yes, you be at the beginning of series, before Conan exist, and after Kaito do. I suspect that world try to change from story..." They discussed long and hard, considering the possibilities.
"Who told me of this was not bad person," Aoyama explained. "Was friend. He claimed that he run big, powerful computer that create other universe. Akako probably too powerful, I be sure to add limiter on her in near future of her exist." Akako expressed discomfort at this suggestion.
"May I speak Akako?" he inquired.
"Alright, if you think it won't hurt anything." Joan handed the phone to Akako.
"Your creator wishes to speak with you," she explained briefly. Akako took the phone with shaking hands.
"Hello?" he asked. "Akako?"
"Yes sir?" she answered in a shaking voice.
"Be scared no!" he requested. "I help. Need your help keep world stable. Okay?"
"Okay," Akako decided. "I can't refuse, I guess."
"Be careful, Akako," he requested seriously. "I call back to Joan phone when I find out new things. Make sure she tell you, okay?"
"Okay."
"May I speak Joan?"
"Right." she passed the flip-phone back to Joan, who took it confidently.
"Mister Aoyama? I'll call you back if anything aside from the plot develops," she said. "Please call me if anything at all changes. I'll be sure to keep you up to date."
"Call weekly if nothing?" Aoyama requested.
"Yes," Joan decided. "That's a good idea. But try messaging instead, I don't know how often I'll get involved in the plot."
"Right." a thump sound was heard. "This very big."
"Yes," Joan admitted. "I'm terrified, myself. But I'll stay strong. Maybe..." she paused.
"Yes?"
"What if you character-draft something, and put my name on it?" Joan suggested. "Just curious."
"Okay," Aoyama decided. "But be careful."
"Of course."
She proceeded to describe herself, with some loose but noticeable changes, like her eyes going from hazel to blue and changing her hair to a more common black that the Japanese would expect, instead of the shocking blonde that her hair was. She made herself a bit taller, too, more out of a personal desire than anything, and a few moments after she finished she felt her stomach churn.
Dropping the phone, she directed Akako to it, and her butler picked it up and offered it to her.
"Give to Akako," she requested, right before she yelled and the tips of her hair became black. she cringed as she felt her eyes burning up, hoped she never did something like this again, and paused before stretching out and thanking the stars above for it being over.
"I must leave for work," Aoyama apologized when she got back on the phone. "But I call when I have time. Good Luck."
"Yes, same to you," Joan agreed. "I'll talk to you again soon, Aoyama-sensei."
The call ended, and she turned to Akako.
"What have I done?" she asked pre-emptively. Her butler came up beside her, supposedly to be a support figure.
Joan sighed. "You have pulled me, Joan, into a different universe. In my universe, it's... complicated, but you're, like, a story, a TV show. Something people watch and enjoy, and buy books and movies of. Aoyama Gosho, the man I just called, is the one who creates the story. He owns it, in a way, created you and Kaito KID and everybody of importance in this universe."
"I'm... important?" Akako asked slyly.
"Well, you're not a main character," Joan replied. "But you're definitely important, and you stand out from the pile of detectives and thieves that most of the story is based on."
Akako glowed like the Red Sun.
Joan tapped her on the shoulder. "Earth to Akako-san? Hello?"
"Oh, sorry," she murmured.
"Look, I need somewhere to stay. Mind sparing somewhere in your house?" Joan asked, hints of exasperation in her voice.
"Right, yeah," Akako nodded. "Oi, get her a room, will you?"
The butler nodded seriously, and guided Joan to a rather fancy bedroom on the second floor, on which she slept like a rock.
The next morning, she flipped open her phone and saw that Aoyama had already sent a new message.
It read:
"Joan friend, I hope you is in good health. Would you like be able to switch between child body and adult body?"
"Yes!" She typed eagerly, forgetting briefly how that happened normally in the story. "I think that would be really useful."
"It will happen!" He responded later that day, as she ate the breakfast the Butler had prepared.
"Thank you," she said respectfully, after polishing off her meal. "It was delicious."
"I'm glad," Akako smiled. "I was worried, since you didn't say anything before you ate..."
"Not in my customs, don't worry over it." Joan waved it off. "Why say anything about someone's cooking before you eat it?"
"I guess that's a way of looking at it," Akako decided. "Where are you headed next?"
"To Beika." Joan announced, getting up. "I must ask that you lend me some things. I was summoned here with nothing but the clothes I wear, and I can't retrieve my own things." She frowned. "I don't really want to think about how to get back, but... I guess I have to."
"I'm sorry," Akako said sincerely. "Mostly I summon Lucifer, and he and the other Oni I summon can usually get back on their own. Most incantations don't even require the summoned one to appear; they just do so anyway."
"It should be fine," Joan decided. "But I think that this world will be thrown off balance a bit. I'll have to work towards maintaining the timeline."
Suddenly, she felt her stomach seize up.
Looking down, she noticed that there were the remains of half a pill of... something... oh, no.
She immediately forced herself into a fetal position on the floor, swallowing deeply and hoping for it to be over quickly. She felt her very skin pulling in on itself, and with a few moments of pain she winced and blacked out.
When she woke up, she was a child.
It felt strange, being a child again. She felt her body heat up as she realized she was probably naked, too, but when she looked down she was draped in the clothes from before. Thanking Lady Luck for keeping her image pure, she focused on trying to change back.
Just then, her phone let out a cheery tone, and she read a message from Aoyama.
"Sorry for abrupt transformation! Just touch back of neck and you change to being Adult. Touch to switch between Adult and Child. Good Luck!"
She sighed, glad it was over, and stretched, before touching her neck base and feeling a seizing in her stomach. Luckily, this one only lasted a second, and she was almost instantly an Adult again.
"That's..." Akako searched for words.
"Written in, as per Aoyama's suggestion," Joan said calmly. "Don't worry. Everything's fine."
"You're sure?"
"I'm certain." Joan got up. "Now, those supplies?"
A/N: This will not be updated regularly. It will follow the main series of Detective Conan as much as possible, but... yeah. With an extra variable added into the mix.
I have too many projects, so this will only be updated when I'm incredibly inspired or incredibly bored. Sorry.