Author's notes: Akako has had three different voice actresses, so, for the sake of this fic I'm going with Hayashibara Megumi (who, of course, also voices Lina Inverse). Hakuba has had two different voice actors, so for the sake of this fic I'm going with his original voice actor Ishida Akira (also the voice of Xellos). For Aoko... if it matters to you, pick your favourite of her four options.
Yes, I know Hayashibara only voiced Akako twice. But it's useful for the plot.
Chapter 1: A Favour
Nerima-ku, Japan
The 2-B classroom of Ekoda High School was quiet, for once. Teachers normally hated dealing with that class, because the ever mischievous (if charming and intelligent) Kuroba Kaito was always causing chaos. Nakamori Aoko, perhaps filled with a sense of lawfulness by her police inspector father, generally got dragged into the chaos in her efforts to bring Kuroba under control and caused most of the actual property damage trying to stop him. (At least, that was the going theory with most teachers. Their homeroom teacher knew well that Aoko loved to egg Kaito on until he started causing trouble. Aoko enjoyed chasing him about and yelling at him.)
Today, however, both students were silent. Nakamori had even changed seats with her bespectacled friend Keiko to be farther away from Kuroba. That left the only real chaos being the rest of the male population fawning over Koizumi Akako, a girl of downright supernatural charm who, in general, kept out of trouble with teachers.
The reason for the good behaviour of the two usual sources of chaos, which so eluded the teaching staff of Ekoda High School, was the discovery of a secret. Kaito had feigned being ill a few days earlier, to provide cover for not accompanying Aoko to her father's work, where Inspector Nakamori was attempting to prevent the announced jewel heist of the (in)famous phantom thief Kaitou Kid.
The reason Kaito had needed the excuse was due to the complication of his being Kaitou Kid. Being best friends with the daughter of the man who wanted to arrest you was stressful enough for Kaito normally. The night of the heist, however, Aoko had decided that checking in on Kaito was more important than visiting her father at work (as Kaito had overplayed his fake symptoms, making her honestly concerned). Aoko had, as such, let herself into the Kuroba home, bringing various cold remedies with her, only to find the house empty. Against her better judgment, she'd stayed, waiting for Kaito to return. He'd attempted to slip in the back door still wearing the white suit of his Kaito Kid uniform.
He'd explained the situation to her (after much yelling and many thrown objects). How his father had died trying to stop a criminal organisation. How he needed to find a gem before they did. Pandora, specifically. A magical gem said to grant immortality under the light of a specific comet. How he'd had reasons not to trust the police, even if he did trust Aoko's father.
In the end she'd slapped him, but been unable to decide what to do beyond that.
So now the erstwhile best friends were locked in a tense silence, and had been locked in it for three days. Kaito was afraid to say anything to Aoko, in case he said the wrong thing and drove her to confess what she'd learned to her father. He could flirt with the best of them, but actually sharing his feelings usually ended with his foot in his mouth. Aoko, for her part, couldn't decide what to do. Kaito had made sense, and had sobbed honest tears about the stress of lying to her. But, well, he had lied to her. And her father. She'd grown up with respect for the law, and it was hard to abandon that.
So the silence continued.
Kaito gathered his things at the end of another tense school day, running a hand through his messy brown hair before letting out a sigh.
"Kuroba-kun."
The cold voice made him half jump out of his skin. Spinning around as he leapt, he found himself facing Akako. The girl had an ominous smirk on her face, making her otherwise elegant features seem downright dangerous.
"Don't sneak up on me like that," he said, catching his breath.
"I didn't 'sneak' in any way. Your head was merely in the clouds, Kuroba-kun," she replied, her voice just as cold and haughty as usual. "I have an offer for you. Well, more for your other persona that you pretend is someone else."
Kaito glared. Aoko might have found out about his nighttime profession through a mistake, but Akako had used divination to work it out. That was cheating, in his books. So he'd long refused to admit she was right.
"Whether I have another persona or not, I see no good reason to trust you."
"Ohoho. Suspicious as always. It's a simple proposal. You do me a favour, I'll do you a favour. I could help you find what you're looking for just as easily as I found out you were the one looking for it," she said, leaning into his personal space so much that her dark red bangs brushed against some of the wilder strands of his own hair.
"What I'm looking for?" he whispered back.
"Pan. Do. Ra," she whispered back into his ear. If he'd not known better, he would have wondered if the witch's red magic was getting to him, the way her voice sent a shiver down his spine.
He swallowed. Divination was still cheating in his books, but... his opponents did bring guns to heists. That was surely cheating too. Maybe it was fair to cheat just a smidge.
Especially if it would let him retire faster. If he could promise Aoko he had only one last heist, maybe that would buy her silence. (Probably not her friendship, though. He suspected that that was lost to him for good at this stage.)
"What do you want from me?" he asked.
She gave a shark-like smile. "You'll find out tonight. Class 1-C. Bring your equipment, though."
With that, she slipped away. He stared at the shoe lockers across from him. Was he really going to do this?
(Freshly Ruined) City of Vaeril, Alliance of Coastal States
Smoke rose from the edges of a layer crater carved into a town that looked otherwise ready to stand in for medieval Italy or Greece. As this realm of existence was home to significantly more magic than earth, most of the important fire fighting efforts were being handled by mages casting water based magic. Less prime targets were being attended to by peasants passing water buckets about.
The rest of the inhabitants were gathered around the town square, all eyes on the source of the destruction, and the Mayor's ruling of what punishment was fit for such a senseless act of violence.
"ONE MILLION GOLD PIECES!?" Lina Inverse shouted at the mayor of the town, repeating the sum he'd announced for her fine.
The old man nodded. "Your Dragon Slave spell destroyed the harbour, the grain silos, four of the five main banks, and several city blocks beyond that. One million gold pieces is a perfectly fair assessment of the damages and the fine you should have to pay."
The redheaded sorceress fell onto her knees (not that it was far to fall, with her short stature), eyes staring into the distance. She'd made a good amount of money in her career, raiding bandit encampments, exploring ancient temples, and saving a kingdom or two. All the typical (fantasy) adventurer fare. One million gold, though. That was the sort of fortune one had to be a nobleman or leader of a merchant guild in order to gather.
"How about we do a bit of community service instead?" her consistent travel companion Gourry Gabriev offered, the tall blonde swordsman showing his typical lack of understanding of situations.
"The community service equivalent would be a few centuries long," the mayor replied flatly. "Neither of you seem likely to live that long."
Gourry started counting on his fingers. What, Lina didn't care to ask. Her head was spinning enough already without worrying about his nonsense. Where was she supposed to get the money to pay off this fine?
Wait. Why did she have to pay? She was Lina Inverse! Sorceress extraordinaire! She'd fought dragons and mazoku and worse! What was some grumpy civil servant?
Standing up she brought her hands together, channeling some magic between them. "How about you forgot about this little fine, and, in exchange, I show mercy by not blowing up the rest of your town?"
"Your first Dragon Slave against those pirates could, in theory, be called an overreaction with good intentions, but a second would be called an act of war by the member states of the Alliance of Coastal States. You may be a powerful sorceress, but you can't win a war," the mayor said, unflinching.
Lina dispersed her magic, arms flopping to her sides in defeat. Maybe the Alliance wasn't the strongest power in the area (nor the most logically named, considering the landlocked members of the alliance), but... an army was still an army and definitely too much for her.
"Alright. Alright. I'll get you your money somehow. It'll take a little bit, though," she replied.
"Understandable. It's a large sum of money. We'll give you... two months."
She let out another tired whine.
"Didn't you find a duplication spell that one time, Lina? If you use that, and boost in with your talismans, we might be able to do the community service option," Gourry offered.
She yanked him down to her level by his shirt, and then bonked him on the head with the hilt of her sword.
Nerima-ku, Japan
It was dark, as Kaito Kid slipped into the school grounds. He felt silly, sneaking into his own school with all the equipment of a phantom thief at his disposal. It was severe overkill. Still, Akako had asked him to bring everything, and he was... curious about what she had planned.
He made his way to the correct classroom, where he found the desks all shoved off to one side. The ground was covered in magic circles drawn in something red. He silently hoped it was red paint. Akako, in her extravagant red witch garb, stood in the middle, scythe at her side.
"You came. Good. That makes this much easier," Akako said, resting her scythe on her shoulders. "Dressed a bit plain, though, aren't you?"
"I didn't want to be seen too early," Kaito replied, before pulling his white cape out of a pocket and tossing it in front of him.
Once the cape had fallen away he had removed his dark outer gear and placed on his white tophat.
"So, what favour did you hope to get from the ever in demand Kaitou Kid?" he asked, leaning forward, but making sure not to cross over Akako's magic circles.
"I'm looking to steal something. An artifact. It seemed easier with your help," Akako replied.
"And what's all this for then?" Kaito asked, gesturing to the runes on the floor.
"A teleportation spell. The item I'm after isn't... well, it isn't in Japan," she replied, something about her grin making him nervous.
Not that he let that show, his Poker Face did not waver. "Considering what happened last time I encountered one of your magic circles, I think you'll forgive my hesitancy to enter this one. Once bitten and all that."
"I'll stay right in the middle of it the whole time. What happens to you will happen to me, Kuroba-kun."
He took a very subtle breath before strolling in with a carefully crafted air of confidence. Nothing happened, and he let out the tiniest sigh of relief before walking the rest of the way over to the red witch in the middle.
"So, what now?" he asked.
"This," Akako replied, striking the ground with the base of her scythe.
The runes around lit up with a sickly red, and then began to spin about. Faster and faster they went, alternating bands going clockwise or counterclockwise. Then a blinding red light flared up from beneath, and, for a moment, there was only that red light, too bright to process.
Then the light faded, and they found themselves in a field. It was daylight. There were rolling forested hills in one direction, and Kaito got a glimpse of farmland in the other.
Further examination of his surroundings were cut off by a feminine cry from somewhere above their heads. Looking up, he saw a girl in a Ekoda High School uniform about them, falling their way. Both Kaito and Akako hurried over to intercept her landing, catching the girl with her mousy brown hair in their combined arms.
"Aoko-chan?" Akako said, glancing back up at the sky for a moment.
"W-what happened? And... what are you wearing, Koizumi-san?" Aoko asked.
"Apparently you got teleported with us, for some reason," Kaito replied.
"Tele—Bakaito!" Aoko shouted, hopping down from the other two teens' arms. "Who do you think you are, getting so close to Aoko when she's still angry at you?"
"I caught you while you were falling!? Was I supposed to let you get hurt, Ahoko?" Kaito countered, uncomfortable with maintaining the cool persona of Kaitou Kid around Aoko, now that she knew who he was.
"That—Koizumi-san caught me fine! But... anyway, what do you mean 'teleported'? And why is Koizumi-san dressed like Cleopatra?"
"She's a witch. A red witch, specifically. And she used her magic to teleport us to... um... France?" Kaito replied, looking around.
Those looked like vineyards? Maybe it was Italy? The air smelled very fresh. Would the air smell that fresh in Europe? Maybe it was somewhere in North America? Or... New Zealand?
No, New Zealand was in roughly the same time zone as Japan. It would be dark there. Still, he didn't have much to go on.
"She shouldn't have come along... Aoko-chan, were you sneaking around on the roof after school?" Akako asked, still glancing up at the sky.
"Aoko was not sneaking. The astronomy club had their telescopes set up so we could all see the approach of Jupiter."
"That was yesterday?" Akako replied.
"It rained yesterday, so it got postponed," Aoko explained.
"It got postponed... I should have paid better attention to what those nerds were up to," Akako muttered under her breath.
Kaito cleared his throat. "So... what do we do now? Drop Aoko off at a hotel? Is there a consulate or an embassy nearby, maybe?"
Akako just stared at him for a moment. Aoko, meanwhile, continued to study Akako's witch outfit. And blush a little.
"Well, she probably doesn't have her passport, so we can't send her through customs very easily," Kaito replied, looking around. "And is it France? Northern Italy, maybe?"
A frightening smile grew on Akako's face. "The Kingdom of Ralteague. Specifically the Barony of Blaustid."
Kaito nodded. "Is that in... Central Europe?"
"Bakaito. That definitely is not in Europe. Aoko got a 95 in Geography and has never heard of it," Aoko replied.
"It's another plane, or side, of existence," Akako replied. "One much richer in magic than the universe where the Earth resides."
Kaito and Aoko exchanged a glance.
"Alright, we're going to need a detailed explanation, Koizumi-san," Kaito said.
County of Sellentia, Kingdom of Ralteague
Lina let her Ray Wing fade as she glided down to the ground, dropping Gourry once they were low enough. She proceeded to land on her belly, enjoying the feeling of flopping on the soft grass after flying for so many hours. Travelling across half a kingdom in one journey was tiring. At least she'd been able to avoid any sort of border guards by going over them.
Gourry walked over from where she'd dropped him and sat beside her, lounging back. "So... are we trying to run away? I bet Filia might be willing to let us stay with her, and no one would chase us all that way."
Lina let out a sigh and rolled onto her back. That was actually true. Folks from the 'Mazoku Peninsula', as outsiders were calling it these days, rarely bothered travelling to those distant lands on foreign continents. But there was a reason for that: they weren't interesting. Most were rather dry poor places, and the academic understanding of magic was severely lacking on the other continents. It certainly didn't interest Lina all that much. Plus, there was a secondary issue.
"Lina Inverse doesn't run away," she said, raising a fist in protest, though not bothering to sit up.
"We've run away plenty of times?"
"Those were tactical retreats, Gourry. There's a difference," she replied.
"Oh. Okay."
There was silence for a bit. She heard the birds chirping. She felt her stomach growling. The wind felt nice, blowing naturally.
"So, what are we doing?" Gourry asked at last.
"We're travelling to the castle of the Baroness of Blaustid. It's the next province over. There's an artifact in her vault that could fetch close to a million gold pieces: the Eye of Yashindar. It's said it contains the soul of an ancient demon beast."
Gourry scratched his head. "Huh... why's it worth so much money?"
"It can boost any magic cast near it. It's basically an open bucket of mana."
"Woah. That sounds pretty impressive," Gourry replied.
"Mhm. Hence the price tag. There's a sorcerer merchant in Ruvinagald who apparently thinks he can use it for a luck spell or something to boost his business. Or, something like that."
"So... how are we going to get it?" Gourry asked.
Lina grinned, revealing her fangs. "The fun way."
City of Blaustid, Kingdom of Ralteague
Kaito and Aoko had gotten a lot of stares when they'd entered the city. Kaito supposed that made sense, since everyone around seemed to be dressed like medieval peasants. Still, he figured Akako, with her revealing witch's clothes, would have gotten more looks than his and Aoko's more modest clothing. He wondered if it was her love magic making people less suspicious of her, or simply that this fantasy world had more people who dressed like her.
The stares they had received had made both Kaito and Aoko worry that finding an inn might be hard, but Akako had had gold, and that had been all the innkeeper had cared about. Well, that and the Red Witch's love magic probably helped once again. It was useful to have on your side. Even if Kaito considered it unethical.
They'd then sat in the rented room, and listened to Akako's explanation. The existence of other planes of reality. That it was just a coincidence the local common tongue was so close to Japanese. The way some worlds were more magical than others. The fact that some of Akako's ancestors had been refugees from a crisis in the world they were currently in. Those refugee sorcerors had taught a select number of people on Earth how to truly use magic around them. And how certain organizations of Earth had tried to hunt magic users into extinction.
Apparently witch hunts hadn't been completely baseless, even if Akako claimed most victims had been non-magical women who'd ticked off the wrong person.
"But, why?" Aoko asked, as that part of the story wrapped up. "Why would they hunt you
"People fear what they don't understand," Akako replied simply.
"Teaming up with demons probably doesn't help any," Kaito said, offering a grin as sharp as those Akako had been giving. "If I remember correctly, you often deal with someone called 'Lucifer'."
Akako shrugged. "If the Shinzoku and other 'holy' forces shared their power with us more readily, we'd work with them. But they're rather elitist. The Mazoku and their dark forces are easier to work with."
Kaito wasn't swayed. He'd felt the impacts of her dark magic. As much as he'd seen glimmers of softness and kindness in her heart, the magic she used felt very evil to him.
Aoko looked back and forth between the two, as Kaito and Akako glared at each other.
"W-wait. Demons? Mazoku? Lucifer?" she yelped.
"Religions like to paint the world more black and white than reality, my dear Aoko-chan," Akako replied. "Things in the real world are much more grey."
Kaito bit his tongue, hating that he had to agree with the Red Witch for once. Maybe magic was as grey as the justice system...
Blaustid Castle, City of Blaustid, Kingdom of Ralteague
The stone skinned chimeric mage named Zelgadis Greywords took another patrol of the castle walls. He'd pushed through the Baroness' library already in his search for some way to deal with his condition. It had been another dead end.
The pay as a mercenary guard was pretty good, though, and his coin-purse had gotten pretty empty lately. Blaustid was a fairly peaceful barony, so it was also easy money. As long as he ignored the nervous glances and excessive space the other guards gave him, fearful of his chimera nature.
He took the stairs down towards the main gate, watching the various visitors. The baroness liked to keep her castle open to the people, listening to various disputes and letting others observe her judgments. And showing off the art and architecture of the place.
Watching the crowds pass by, one pair of women caught his eye. The one was dressed like a sorceress. She had a golden headband with a snake on it, along with two golden snakes on either shoulder. Her shirt was probably more a bra with short sleeves than a shirt, but he supposed compared to Naga or Martina she was downright modest. Especially on her lower half, with a red sash around her waist and black tights covering the rest of her. She also had a dark red cape to round off the look, and to match her deep red hair (perhaps better described as burgundy or maroon?). Her companion was less striking, a woman in a white and burgundy maid outfit, following behind like a servant. The second girl was tall, though, and both had facial features that were a bit unusual.
Zelgadis ran a stressed hand through his harsh wire hair (thankful that his stone skin protected his hand... not that he'd need stone skin to protect him from his wire hair if he could cure his condition as a golem chimera... ah, but that was a worry for another day). Showy sorceresses were almost inevitably trouble. He had best follow the pair.
The sorceress moved with confidence, and seemed to care nothing for her surroundings to the untrained eye. Zelgadis could tell she was feeling for magical wards, however. The maid, on the other hand, was observing everything around her. If she'd been travelling alone, he'd take her for an awestruck peasant girl, marvelling at the grandeur of the palace. Accompanying that sorceress, though, he was sure she was learning the layout of the castle.
Still, they did nothing to actually warrant action. Sure, signing up for one of the guided tours of the castle was strange behaviour for anyone under the age of fifty, but he couldn't drag them away for being unusual representatives of the younger generation. So he simply followed along.
Once the tour ended, he pulled himself into the shadows, relying on a secret passage to get closer to the pair when they thought they were alone in a side hallway.
"I must admit, it's rather a large place," the maid said, in a soft tone.
"Do you think you can manage the plan?" the sorceress said.
He knew that voice. He was sure of it. It sent a shiver down his spine. But where did he know it from? Zelgadis found himself straining his ear to listen to her voice more than her words, trying to place the sorceress. It was on the edge of his memory.
"Well, we should get back to the inn, Koizumi-san. I'm feeling rather sleepy after our journeying," the maid said.
Koizumi? Was that an alias? It rang no bells he could think of. Or maybe her voice had just sounded familiar as a coincidence?
City of Blaustid, Kingdom of Ralteague
Aoko stared at the ceiling of their room in the inn. She had a lot to process. She'd thought Kaito actually being Kid, like she'd suspected sometimes, was going to be the biggest revelation of the month. But, no. Akako was a witch. Magic was real. And now they were in a fantasy world, with dog people and orcs and gold pieces for currency. And Mazoku demons and Shinzoku divine beings existed. And there was something called a Sea of Chaos between worlds? Oh, and dragons?
Were the dragons and Mazoku just in this world or did they exist back home? Akako hadn't really gone into much detail on several things. How was Kaito just rolling with all this? He'd told her, before he and Akako left, that he was helping Akako so that she'd help him retire as Kid sooner.
Right, because of the magic gem. That made sense. Kaito knew about magic already. She scrunched her face up in a pout at the thought that Kaito was hiding real magic from her. Maybe he was just embarrassed, as a magician, that actual sorcery existed? It had to feel silly, practicing ways to make people think you'd pulled a rabbit from an empty hat, only to encounter someone who actually could pull a rabbit from an empty hat. Thinking about how grumpy he must have been made Aoko giggle, and she found herself less angry with him. Deep down, they were still friends.
Well, maybe her feelings were more complicated than friendship, if she was being honest.
Thinking about complicated feelings that might be more than friendship led her to think about Akako too. They'd both hidden magic from her. But, well, her father was a police officer, and Akako apparently had to hide from authorities, so... maybe that made sense?
Suddenly she felt like she had to earn their trust. After they'd been the ones hiding things from her. It was yet more confusion she didn't need.
The door opened, revealing Akako and Kaito, the latter dressed as a maid. Ignoring how cute he looked (and how beautiful Akako always looked) Aoko sat up and gave a harumph.
"Having fun planning to steal things, were you two?" Aoko asked, not sure what she could do but be grumpy right now.
She wanted them to trust her, but she still didn't like the whole accidentally isekai-ing her and making her an accessory to a heist thing.
"Lots of fun," Kaito replied, dropping any sort of effort to do a feminine voice. "There was plenty of room to run around. No guns, either. Should be a nice time tomorrow."
"Oh, waiting that long to steal things, are you?" Aoko asked.
"It is about 3am, Tokyo time," Akako said. "I know I need my beauty sleep."
"As do I. Would have brought more of my skin care routine with me if I'd known how long this trip would be."
Blaustid Castle, Kingdom of Ralteague
Zelgadis looked over the card he'd been handed. Someone had spotted it stuck to the back of the main hall's doors. On one side there was a doodle of a face in a tall hat smiling away. On the other there was a short note:
I've come a long way because I have an eye for the finer things in life. I shall see you under the crimson sun of tomorrow's evening.
Phantom Thief Kid
Zelgadis looked up at the head guard. "What kind of thief gives advance notice?"
"Not sure. Also trying to work out what a 'Kid' is," the old man replied, scratching his chin.
"Hmm... it sounds similar to the Elvish word for a young goat? But... that doesn't really make any sense," Zelgadis replied, lifting the card up to see if the last bits of sunlight gave him any answers.
"Either way, we'll be putting the castle grounds on lockdown tomorrow afternoon," the head guard replied.
"Makes sense."