Story Note: Heavy abuse of ancient mythology, classical and modern literature in future chapters.

A Fairies Tale

Chapter One: Discovery

Fairy stories are something almost every child grows up with. Stories of good and evil, of things that fly, talk, twist and live in ways that no human ever could. Stories of things that breath magic into the very air.

But fairy stories are just that...stories. The children grow up and the tales are put away for another generation. Dreams and magic are replaced by logic and science. After all...fairies don't exist.

Right?

--

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" The white clad thief yelled and the crowd below him roared in appreciation, several fan girls screaming his name. The thief gave them a low, courtly bow before jumping the from the balcony, giving a spin in the air. He hit the button and white wings snapped open, catching the wind currents, allowing the thief to soar over the crowd, towards the statue guarding the entrance of the arts academy.

A couple decades ago, some genius designer had decided that real, shining emeralds would be a more fitting set of eyes for the statue of Aphrodite then the cheap, synthetic ones previously housed in the sockets. Really, it was just prey waiting for a thief courageous enough to scale the giant monument.

Nakamori had wondered why Kid had never gone for it before, but that wondering had been brief, lingering only a moment over that morning's coffee. Currently the inspector's mind was too busy cursing and plotting to really think of much.

Beside the inspector, a detective was snapping orders into his radio, eyes trained on the white figure above them. The pair couldn't greet the thief properly at the top of the statue, no access and ban on city officials standing on top of monuments after they, accidentally mind you, sent the tribute to the late mayor crashing onto the street, destroying it as well as the local public library.

Kaito landed lightly on the head of the statue, wings snapping back, returning to his trademark cape as he knelt, almost vertical to the statue's front, smiling at the twinkling emeralds. "Hullo, ladies." he whispered, reaching into his pocket for a small pry bar.

"Get him!" Nakamori roared and two special force teams started repelling down the side of the building, towards the statue. Hakuba grinned as he saw Kid turn, almost hearing the curses that were likely coursing through the young thief's brain as the black clad figures moved closer. He moved to join the squad coming up the side of the building, grabbing a safety line and clipping it to his harness.

Just as both units got closer to the thief however, a brilliant flash lit up the night, causing many to cover their faces, missing the exit of the thief and the two emeralds. Hakuba continued his climb as Nakamori's curses could be heard over the radio. He stopped, hovering next to the statue's face, staring at the empty eye sockets. The emeralds had been encased in cement and then covered with gold. Kid should NOT have been able to remove them that quickly. And yet, there was the proof, two very empty eyes, not a trace of gold or cement removed.

--

Emeralds safely tucked away to gods knew where, policemen cursing below him, Kaito smiled, standing on the back edge of the arts academy, staring down at the night. He took a step and fell, letting the winds embrace him like a long lost lover. After a moment of free falling he twisted, glider snapping open, taking him back up and and almost to the height of the academy before pushing him away from the building, towards the downtown section.

The air was warm, perfect weather to simply lay out and enjoy. He wished he had a more secluded spot, away from fans and cameras so he could really FLY. But for now, this would do, watching the city pass by and the stars shine.

On the street below, a shadowed figure raised it's arms, a sharp crack renting the air before light streaked the sky. The police, now reaching the roof of the academy again turned and watched as the white clad thief they had been chasing tumbled from the sky, leaning haphazardly on the roof of a dance studio, his broken glider cushioning his body. The team radioed down, the men on the ground already in pursuit, half for the gunman, half to check on the Kid.

Hakuba had been the closest, heading back to the station with his pictures from the heist to be processed, along with a smear of something black he collected from the statue. His grandmother jerked her convertible to the side of the road and Hakuba shoved his way out of the car, taking off at a run, barely pausing as he hit the peeling red fire escape at the side of the building.

He ran, climbed, and forced his way up the rusting stairs, falling over the side of the roof in his haste. As he pushed himself up he stared at the crumbled figure tangled in silk and metal piping, trying to remain calm and rational.

It was a grotesque sight, if he had to be honest. Blood stained everything, and in the middle, tangled together in a bloody mass, was what looked like Kid's intestines, now resting outside his body. Hakuba swallowed violently, kneeling next to the thief, reaching in his right trouser pocket for a fresh pair of vinyl gloves.

Pulling them on, careful not to rip the thin plastic, he gently reached out, brushing strands of hair from Kid's neck, feeling for a pulse. As it beat against his fingers he let out a sigh of relief, the hand sliding down Kid's chest, feeling for wounds, as the other hand gently rolled Kid onto his back.

The thief groaned and Hakuba pulled his hands away, watching as deep blue eyes fluttered, blinking slowly before opening, staring at the sky above. The pair was silent, Hakuba watching Kid who in turn watched the sky. Hakuba wondered where the thief's mind was, what he was thinking, before returning to examining the blood stained body.

It started at Kid's feet. A wave, invisible except for the slight...shifting, as if air was wavering over a hot surface, displaced by the temperature. Hakuba stared, one hand frozen on Kid's waist, the other on the thief's chest, watching the wave of air move, from the tips of the white pull on loafer's, up over sock clad ankles, pausing for a moment at the hem of Kid's pants before moving on, up over calves, trailing the knees, caressing up Kid's thighs before moving higher still.

Hakuba lifted the hand on Kid's waist and watched, eyes widening as the wave moved over Kid's stomach, the writhing mass buried under the wave before simply vanishing, leaving behind a smooth, unbroken shirt and a neatly buttoned jacket.

The wave moved on but Hakuba didn't notice, staring at the sight before him before reaching down and shoving Kid's jacket and shirt up, barring the thief's stomach. There was no wound, no injury. Just the flat, tanned skin of a stomach. Hakuba poked at it, receiving a growl in reply. Kid reached down, seizing the detective's wrist, glaring at him. "Don't. Touch." he said, before releasing the other teen, sitting up.

Kid reached up and removed the glider's harness from his back, letting it fall to the roof, freeing him from it's weight. He sat there, taking stock of himself and the blood, before raising his eyes up to Hakuba, waiting.

"What..." Hakuba started but trailed off, not knowing which question to ask. 'What are you?' sounded rude, 'What was that?' sounded stupid, and any other question worth asking at the moment just wouldn't come to him. As the sound of sirens grew louder, Hakuba reached out a hand to the thief, settling on silence.

Kid stared at the gloved hand before placing his in it, allowing the detective to pull him to his feet. He glanced at the approaching sirens, before lowering his head. Without his glider he was trapped on the roof. He couldn't run, and he couldn't fly, not with Hakuba standing there.

"It seems you have won this round, Tantei-san." he said softly, raising his head to look into Hakuba's face.

--

It had only taken ten minutes, for them to capture, and then promptly lose, Kaitou Kid. TV stations across the world were broadcasting their failure as fans, once mourning, now celebrated. Hakuba shoved his hands into his pockets, electing to walk back to the house he shared with his father and grandparents rather then have his grandmother drive. The walk would do him good, and allow him to release some of the frustration that was building before he was faced with his family again.

As he walked, his mind replayed the events on the roof, studying every detail, examining each pieces, trying to fit them together into a logical picture.

But there was nothing logical about a grievous wound turning into a perfect, unblemished body.

As he walked, he watched the rock he had been kicking for two blocks roll end over end, stopping before coming in contact with his foot again. The rock was relaxing, it's pattern of rolling, stopping and then rolling again calming to him. So intent on the rock, and the puzzle in his mind was he, that he almost missed the sound. A soft crunch, another foot falling in a pattern opposite of his. He stared harder at the rock, giving it a harder kick as he listened behind him, the sound of the rolling rock contrasting to the footstep.

He turned the corner and stopped, waiting, looking behind him. The footsteps followed and stopped as well. Kid stood, staring at him, his own hands in his pockets, shadows guarding his face. Hakuba studied the thief before arching one pale blond eyebrow. "Shouldn't you have ran off to whatever cave you hide in?" he asked, tone bitter, still annoyed at the loss of his prize, who was now standing before him again.

"I need you to forget," Kid said softly, moving closer to Hakuba, staring up into those brown eyes.

"Forget...what?" Hakuba said, taking a step back, only to have the step mirrored by the thief.

"Forget tonight, forget the rooftop, forget everything..."

The air grew warmer around the pair, a miniature whirlwind blowing past, scattering fallen leaves and garbage. Hakuba stared into the intent blue eyes, falling deeper and deeper with each second that passed. He had never seen Kid's eyes so serious...so pleading. "I can't..." he whispered.

Kid moved closer, his cape billowing in the breeze, caressing Hakuba's body as he focused harder on the boy, his whole being consumed with Hakuba forgetting. "Please...forget." he whispered.

"I ca..." Hakuba's eyes rolled back and the teen pitched forward, falling toward the thief. Kid reacted, taking a step back before grabbing the taller boy, eyes wide, frightened. As the wind died down, the air returning to the crisp fall temperature, he blinked, glancing down at the body in his arms.

"That...wasn't supposed to happen." he breathed.

--

"It's. Not. Working. Jii!"

"You're not concentrating, Young Master. Focus, put all your will and intent behind it."

"It's still not woorrrkkkiiinnggg..."

"Young Master..."

The voice sounded exasperated, as if the speaker had gone over the subject many times with a pupil who would not pay attention and would not listen. Hakuba glared at the voice, wanting to roll back over and go further to sleep.

Unfortunately, the glare was in his mind and the voices were slowly pulling him from the dark, warm embrace he wanted to return to. As the darkness started to pull away, the sweet caress sliding from his mind, it was replaced by awareness, and a stabbing headache that brought him shooting upright in bed, and then laid him back out as he groaned, squeezing the heels of his hands to his eyes.

Kaito and Jii turned towards the detective, the younger man stepping towards the futon while the older disappeared into another room. Kaito knelt next to the mattress, gently pulling the hands off of Hakuba's eyes. "Hakuba?" he asked softly, studying the face before him. "You alive?"

Hakuba's eyes squeezed tightly shut for a moment, before fluttering and opening, staring up at Kaito. He had been expecting Kid. And while he knew Kid WAS Kaito, it was quite odd to see Kaito instead of the expected Kid. He made an odd gurgling noise, as if to ask why he was seeing one and not the other.

"Alive!" Kaito declared and released Hakuba's hands, smiling down at him. "Are you alright?"

"I...I don't remember." he said softly, lifting up his hand to rub at his right temple.

"Don't remember...what?" Kaito said, testing the water, feeling a bit of hope bubble up inside him.

"I'm...not sure." Hakuba awnsered, frowning at that, casting his mind back over the night.

Jii returned, carrying an ice pack and a bottle of aspirin. The ice pack he laid on Hakuba's forehead, earning a grateful mummer, the aspirin he opened and shook two tablets out before handing them to the detective.

"He doesn't remember!" Kaito said happily, before frowning at Jii's look. "What?"

"I think it's only temporary, young master." Jii said before nodding to the detective.

Kaito turned, just as a hand shot out, gripping the front of his t-shirt. He yelled, trying to pull it away from him. "What that...Hakuba?!"

The blond was sitting up now, holding the ice pack, staring intently at Kaito. He studied the thief for a moment before jerking on the shirt, causing Kaito to fall forward, his shirt sliding up and off of him. "You were injured," he said, staring at Kaito's body, studying it. "You were injured, there was blood!"

"Umm..." Kaito gave a weak laugh, retrieving his shirt from Hakuba's now slack grip. "Just your imagination?" he tried and earned a hard glare in reply. "Thought it wouldn't work." he muttered, before resting his elbows on his knees, head in his hands.

"Young master, perhaps if I..."

"No." Kaito said, and the finality of the word caused the older man to back up, blinking at his charge. "Very well then. I shall...see your mother." he said, turning and heading up the stairs before slipping out the portrait.

Kaito sighed, staring at the floor between his legs, trying to figure out how to proceed. Raising his head he watched Hakuba, the detective now laying down again, staring at the ceiling. "what do you want to know?" he asked finally, watching the teen turn towards him.

"Everything," Hakuba said, not one to back down or shy away. "Tell me everything."

"I can't," Kaito said sadly. "Not even I know everything."

"Then start, with what the hell happened tonight."

"I was shot at, I fell, you found me." Kaito summed up and smiled cheekily at the new glare.

"You were injured, you fell, I found you BLEEDING and WOUNDED, and now you're not." Hakuba corrected. "Try again, and this time with the truth.

Kaito sighed before leaning back in the chair, supporting himself on the two back legs. "Do you know what the word 'fey' means?" he asked softly, the English word rolling easily off his tounge despite the fact most others didn't.

"It means many things. Doomed to die, Appearing to be under a spell, something supernatural, or being in high spirits." Hakuba awnsered. He opened his mouth again to speak after a moment of though, only to find Kaito's finger against his lips.

"For this, we'll take the first and third definitions." he said, smiling. "It's also a species."

--

Long ago, before time and history even started to be written down and recorded, there were stories. Each told from the elder to the next generation of the tribe. Stories of gods and monsters, of heroes and valiant deeds. Stories of Life, Death, Love and Renewal.

As the worlds changed and people grew wiser, the stories changed and adapted, old gods were replaced by new, stories twisted to incorporate the changing times. Oral histories were replaced by written ones. Logic replaced myth.

And eventually the gods faded away, the stories gathering in dusty books to be pulled out and enjoyed, but never believed.

But the gods still lived, watching their charges, even as they turned away, even as they stopped believing. And the creatures and myths hid themselves from the non believing world around them, waiting for time to shift, for another set of believers.

--

"This is an ill conceived elaborate joke," Hakuba said, putting is arm over his eyes as he laid back on the bed, staring at the white ceiling above him. Kaito faltered in his story, blinking at the teen in front of him.

"Excuse me?"

"You expect me to believe, that the old gods and creatures of myth and legend are REAL? That there are whole...communities of these creatures out there, and that you're one of them?" Hakuba snorted, turning his head. "I will admit, you have the qualities of a fairy, but you are human, Kaito. Same as everyone else. An extraordinary human perhaps...but still human."

Kaito sighed, massaging his temple. He had known of course, that this wouldn't be an easy conversation, but he had expected SOME measure of belief. After all, Hakuba CAME from the world he spoke of. The blond was a decedent of the species, even if it was so diluted that it didn't show.

But apparently, belief had nothing to do with what was in your blood.

"Believe what you will," Kaito said tiredly, leaning forward on his hand again, watching Hakuba. "But forget it just the same."

"While I would gladly forget this ill mannered joke, I must ask why? After all, you went through all the trouble of creating it, what is the point of forgetting?"

Kaito opened his mouth, but the awnser came from behind him, causing both boys to turn to look at the woman in the doorway.

"Because you're not supposed to know," Kaito's mother said simply, setting a tray next to the futon, handing each boy a glass of juice. "The fey are a distrustful species as a whole, but time has not been kind and they're even more so now. Once hunted down and destroyed, they will now do anything to keep their secret. Even destroying their own as traitors." She glanced at Kaito when she said that, the boy looking away, unable to face his mother.

She brushed her fingers over her son's cheek before looking back at the detective, smiling softly. "I know it's hard to wrap your mind around," she said, her voice soothing, brushing a lock of blond hair from the teen's eyes, causing a warm, bubbling feeling to course through Hakuba. "I was there once, listening to Toichi say the same things...I thought he was insane."

"You're..."

"Human. Normal, like yourself." She seated herself on the floor, smoothing her apron. "It took me three months before I believed. Three months of thinking the man I loved had gone insane."

"How did you..."

"I flew." She said, and left it at that. She picked up one of the sandwiches from the plate on the tray, taking a bite, watching as Hakuba digested the information. You could almost see the blond's mind turning, trying to slide everything into neat little boxes that made sense. Except it seemed he was trying to shove a square peg into a round hole. None of it made sense.

Leaving the boy to his thoughts, Mika turned to her son, offering him a sandwich. "Your grandmother has called." she said and Kaito stiffened, frozen in the process of taking a bite. He hadn't thought it would be this soon, even through he knew it would come quickly.

His grandmother never let anything pass for long.

"When?"

"She wishes to see you next week. She will be in the country then and thought it would be easier then us flying out to her."

Kaito frowned at this, taking a bite of his sandwich, chewing it thoughtfully. For his grandmother to come here, meant something was going on that needed her...personal touch. His grandmother rarely left her country of birth, especially since she had enough aides and proxies here to handle everything but a war.

"She also wants to meet him." Mika added and then patted her son's back as he choked. He looked at his mother, his eyes wide and wild and Mika shook her head sadly. "She has ordered it. If you BOTH do not show up, she will call up the hunt."

Kaito swallowed, staring at the detective on the futon before him. What had once seemed so simple, was now very, very complicated.

Mika stood, patting her son on the shoulder. "Relax, Kaito, Jii and I will be there with you. Though, if you're going to make a move, you should do it now while you have time. He won't be around forever."

A blush stole up Kaito's cheeks and he swatted at his mother whom laughed and left the boys alone. Kaito sighed, leaning back in his chair again, watching the ceiling.