Notes: This chapter turned out to be quite angsty, which was expected because 'Hey, you are in another world, surrounded by magic and you know what? BAM! Here is someone who looks and sounds just like your dead love.' Yup, that will go as well as expected.


Chapter 3. New Places, Old Faces

Chapter summary: In which Shinichi angsts, Kai'el is wondering, Lylenne is suspicious, and Cerea is still in bookland.

Shinichi had no idea for how long he was lost in thought since Syravea had walked out the door.

Magic

He thought back to the light that engulfed her slender hands and couldn't help but look for a logical explanation to it. He knew he wouldn't be able to find it.

Magic

And that was it, wasn't it? Magic was the answer to all of his questions. Completely illogical, it should be ridiculous for him to even contemplate it.

Yet here we are…

With a tired sigh he leaned against the headboard. Getting shrunk into a 7-year-old? That he could handle. His current predicament? Not so much. There was no poison to give a completely legitimate (Haibara had a way of making the impossible effects of APTX 4869 seem logical) scientific explanation. There was no miraculous antidote for it either.

What was going on back at home? Were they looking for him? Did they have any clue? Hattori proved himself capable of making the most impossible leaps in logic (teenage detective turned into a 7-year-old? How did he even...?), but dimension hopping was way too far-fetched even for the Osakan detective.

Was it possible to return?

The Heart's Desire looked lifeless, just like a normal stone. Would it be of any use? He didn't even know anything about magic and everything that came with it.

Like elves and a whole different world.

Covering his face with his palms, Shinichi voiced his frustration, "Who did I piss off in my last life so much?"

Really, what was a chance of a person to encounter a murder? Some never even saw a corpse in their whole life. What was the probability of getting shrunk? What was the probability of teleporting to a different dimension/world/whatever?!

The first lady he talked to… Cerea, was it? She mentioned her brother examining the gem. Maybe he would be able to find a way to send Shinichi back?

Thinking of the mysterious brother, Shinichi tried to shoo away the possible connection between the voice he heard –Kaito's voice– and Cerea's brother.

It was improbable. Impossible. Utterly illogical. Despite it, the gem's name was the Heart's Desire. If he was to believe in magic and teleportation, then he had to believe in the legend surrounding the stone. Meaning… Meaning all this was to grant his wish.

There was only one thing he wanted more than anything.

He knew it. He could deduce it, no matter how unrealistic it was. He just was too afraid to put it into words. To hope. To find hope and have it shattered. Like his whole world was shattered into little pieces five years ago.

He still blamed himself because he didn't do enough. Even after he fought tooth and nail to purge the Black Organization rot, it wasn't enough. He couldn't help but wonder… Had he been more thorough in cleaning up loose ends, would he still have his phantom thief? It was a destructive way of thinking, he knew it. However, if he had just paid more attention, got less drunk on victory and freedom…

Shinichi jumped at an unexpected knock coming from the window.

A colorful little bird was sitting on the other side preening its feathers. Its build was that of a dove, but the colors were more suitable for a parrot. It was mostly covered by red feathers that were nearly pink starting from its head and became brighter and richer towards the tip of its tail. Its wings were speckled with white and had black tips. A black beak hit the glass once again.

On a different occasion Shinichi would have admired its beauty. Now, however, it only drove the point home. He was in a totally unfamiliar environment, even flora and fauna were alien and strange.

Moreover, elves… Cerea and Syravea totally threw him off balance, each conversation having left him reeling and scrambling to find his footing. Both didn't seem malicious in any way. They didn't seem too caring of his fate either. Though, what did he expect? Shinichi was an anomaly and a stranger here, not the other way around.

Knock-knock-knock

The little birdie was insistent. He got out of bed and moved towards the window. On the other side the little birdie tilted its head as if asking him 'Can I come in?'

"Might as well let it in," Shinichi mumbled as he reached for the handle. As soon as there was enough space, the bird darted into the room, flew around it once and landed on his head.

Shinichi lifted his hand up carefully for the bird to hop on. It did so without hesitation.

"It seems so tame," Shinichi noted with a bittersweet smile as he stroked the bird's head with his finger. It reminded him of Kaito's doves.

Knock-knock

Shinichi startled, spooking the bird, who this time was not the culprit of the sound. As he turned he saw it zoom put of the window. The door opened and revealed Syravea.

She looked at his 'caught with his hand in a cookie jar' expression and raised one perfect eyebrow before announcing, "Dinner time."


Lylenne's gaze followed her sister up the stairs as she set the table. Kai'el was busy transferring pastries to a plate from a box they were stored in. Delicious smell of cinnamon and sugar wafted from it. Along with her pie it should be enough to satisfy Cerea's sweet tooth. If they were lucky, it should be able to lure her away from her precious reading.

Tough luck there, she thought, looking at Cerea, who was still engrossed in her studies.

When their brother came home, Syravea briefed them on what she found out, which was not much. Not of this world? No magic? The how and why was still unknown. Cerea must have known more, but… Another page rustled as the middle Starsorrow sister worked her way through the tome. No help from her while she was in the zone. They just accepted that if Cerea thought it was alright to leave their guest unattended, then they would trust her decision. To a degree.

They may have been taking everything in stride, but Lylenne knew to keep cards close to her chest. So did Kai'el. Being the oldest and most involved in the political scene, Lylenne watched her brother smile at petty nobles for years while maneuvering them into doing what he wanted (and even that was while tricking them into thinking it was their own idea) for years. No one had ever seen Lord Starsorrow without a smile. She, however, knew it was as genuine as a boar dancing ballet while drunk. She did not remember much of her father, but according to Kai'el, he had left him a useful lesson.

Smile to conceal. Be polite to disarm. Misunderstand to throw off.

Kai'el took to the lessons fast. Despite disliking and, in some cases, outright hating his political direction, no one could say a bad word about the young Starsorrow head. Jovial smile and handsome looks charmed them, polite manner of speech and impeccable manners spoke of high standing, a silver tongue and sharp mind run circles around his opponents in verbal battles. A perfect heir, that was how Kai'el was described while their father was still alive.

As for Lylenne and her sisters? Their father avoided them. She thought it was due to them taking after their mother a lot. There were no pictures of their mother displayed. Their father found it too painful to look at them, but she had found a portrait once in the attic covered by a heavy tarp. They looked just like her. Unfortunately for their father, he could not hide the sisters in the attic, so he avoided them for all the short time they knew him. Hundred years was not a long time in elven terms and they knew him for only a couple years more. His avoidance was also the reason why they were so dependent on and close to Kai'el. He picked up the slack, looked after them, read bedtime stories and sang lullabies, played with them and acted more like a parent than their own father in general.

She did not really have an opinion on their father's behavior, really. No, she did not hate him. She did not like or mourn him either. Nevertheless, what she could not fault her father in was that he adored Kai'el, his golden boy, his perfect heir. All the love he could not give them? He used it on Kai'el. Praises, lessons, advice, that Kai'el could get from him in abundance. Her brother, for his part, disliked their father's attitude towards his little sisters, but could not do anything about it. However, he really loved their father, listened to everything he said and strived to make him proud. He soaked up all the lessons like a sponge. A very hungry sponge. He learned politics, battle tactics, war codex, governmental management, languages, psychology and anything else that was put in front of him. Lylenne remembered clearly how he used to sit in their room with a book on some subject whenever they said they were too scared to sleep alone. Quite rustle of turning pages still managed to calm her nerves even centuries later.

Her sharp ears picked up approaching steps. Neither her nor Kai'el gave any indication that they had noticed. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a young human male come to a halt a good meter away. His eyes seemed to be glued to Kai'el, which made suspicion bubble in her stomach. It was common for people to notice her brother's presence first, that she understood, but the intensity with which the human stared at him was strange.

It was decided, she would keep an eye on him.


Kaitou KID was known for his ability to disguise as anyone.

Kudou Shinichi was known for being able to see through the thief's disguises despite all odds without resorting to face pulling while they had still been rivals and played cat and mouse as the thief and the detective.

When they started dating and got to know each other even better, Shinichi learned to recognize Kaito in any situation, which was why looking at the tall male elf made his mental processes stutter and come to a temporarily halt.

It was him. If he pretended he was back home and everything was alright, it could have been Kaito masquerading as an elf for some impossible scheme his crazy mind came up with or something of that sort. He barely resisted pinching himself as he stared at not-Kaito in daze.

If it bothered him, not-Kaito did not show it. He cleared his throat and gestured towards the table, "We should eat first before starting with business."

That snapped Shinichi from the trance he was in as he was ushered to his seat. He watched as food was distributed in silence.

After a few uncomfortable minutes of silverware clanking against plates, not-Kaito decided to break the silence, "Now, let us start with introductions. My name is Kai'el Starsorrow, I am the lord of this house. You can call me Kai'el." Next, he inclined his head towards an unfamiliar elf that looked nearly identical to Cerea and Syravea, "This is Lylenne. You must have met Cerea and Syravea already. They are triplets and my dear little sisters as you may have noticed."

He nodded hesitantly, "I'm Shinichi Kudou. You can call me Shinichi?" Despite himself, the last part came out more like a question. He noticed earlier with Syravea that the order was like in the western countries, first name then family name.

"My pleasure to make an acquaintance, Shinichi," Not-Ka- Kai'el studied him for a moment, "Syravea gave us the bare bones of the situation, but I would like to get a proper explanation straight from the source. If you would be so kind as to do so?"

"O-of course," Shinichi said as he noted that Kai'el's manner of speech was similar to KID's. He tried to collect his thoughts. With a sigh, he started recounting his findings. "As you already know, I'm not from around here. My guess is that the stone you found on me is to blame for the whole mess. Its name is the Heart's Desire and is pretty self-explanatory."

"Does it grant wishes?" Lylenne asked, interest sparkling in her eyes.

He threw an unsure look towards Cerea, who had not lifted her head from the book even once and was mechanically transferring food from her plate into her mouth. "We think it does," he shook his head at her inquiring look, "I'd rather not say what the wish was as I'm still not exactly sure what it is and how dimension travelling could grant it." Now I'm pretty certain, he thought to himself trying not to look at Kai'el.

Lylenne threw him a pointed look, "Withholding information does you no favors."

Shinichi flinched but protested, "I have my reasons for not sharing it with you. I want to get to the bottom of the situation as much as you, maybe even more. If don't share my thoughts on what the wish is, then it is not important right now."

No, he was NOT going to confess that, as impossible as it was,he was teleported to another dimension to be mocked by some twisted reality where a version of his lover existed and didn't know him.

Be careful what you wish for, huh?

Lylenne had that stubborn look on her face he was used to seeing on Sonoko when things didn't go her way. She was about to push him further, when Kai'el decided it was time to intervene.

"Stop it, Lylenne," his tone allowed no argument. "Shinichi is not a prisoner for you to interrogate. We already know he has no malicious intent and is even more lost in this situation than anyone. Unless the circumstances call for it, we will not pry more than he is comfortable with."

She huffed in annoyance but complied. Kai'el motioned for Shinichi to continue.

"Thank you," Shinichi said to Kai'el as his shoulders slumped in relief, "I think that the gem may help to find a way to send me back."

And he needed to get back. Others were most likely worried sick for him. Ran won't forgive him for another disappearance. He desperately avoided thinking that he was here. Kaito (Nonononothat'snotKaito) was here.

"Tomorrow is my free day, so I will look into it then," Kai'el said, though he had little hope to find anything useful as the stone was dead, its magic most likely used up. However, he couldn't bring himself to say it out loud and crush Shinichi's hopes. For some reason the man that appeared in their lives out of nowhere seemed familiar, like he met him somewhere before, even though he was sure he had never seen him before.

"What I want to know is what we are going to do with him now," Syravea spoke up for the first time since the conversation started. "We do not know whether he can be sent home. What if it will take months or even years to find the solution? If he is stuck, where would he go? He is a human trespassing on elven lands after all."

Shinichi flinched. It was harsh, but those questions were viable. What if he couldn't go back? What would he do then?

Oh god, Shinichi thought with dawning horror, it's Conan all over again.

Kai'el seemed to have noticed his distress, "Let's not be too hasty, 'Vea. I will examine the gem tomorrow and we will plan from there."

"And should returning him home turn out to be impossible? Syravea made a good point," Lylenne pressed. She adored her brother, but sometimes she thought he was too kind.

"In the worst case I will authorize his stay. It was about time my position brought in some perks instead of inconveniences. We are on friendly terms with humans, so it should not be a problem."

The discussion progressed in that vein. It was decided that Shinichi was to stay with the Starsorrows for the duration of his hopefully temporarily stay. Should sending him home be impossible, there were options of sending him to a human settlement if he wished so.

While the siblings were planning what to do with him, Shinichi felt like he was watching everything from a third person perspective, robotically eating without tasting food, until he was gently coaxed upstairs. As he lay in bed, his foggy from all surprises mind whispered a thought that Shinichi would have no recollection of in the morning.

If home is there, why is Kaito here?

.

.

.

.

.

.

Omake

Deep into the night a thud of a heavy volume closing can be heard.

"Where has everyone gone?"


End Note: Give Shinichi a break. And a hug. Seriously, he has too much on his plate right now.

As for why everyone else is so chill about everything, well, they are used to strange things happening. Like a beginner mage using a teleportation spell unsupervised to take a peek at the rumored Starsorrow Estate. Poor thing ended up all trussed up and in need of years of therapy on their doorstep, courtesy of the protective spells cast on property. Shinichi is fortunate to have avoided this fate, isn't he? Plus, humans in general elven opinion have less raw magic and experience, and are overall weaker. Shinichi, magicless and confused, poses no threat in their eyes.