A/N: In which Midori and Akako have a nice long chat. XD Now, after THIS chapter, I'll edit the ones that haven't been edited and then continue on. (Nods Decidedly) I hope you enjoy this chapter; I had a lot of fun writing it, though it turned out somewhat short. XDD I feel like I overused a lot of words, so if I did, I'm sorry. I couldn't think of any other words today, for some reason. (Laughs) Notes for the chapter are at the bottom, if you need them! ^^
Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito in any way or form.
Chapter Twenty Six
"I heard from Kuroba-kun about your little incident. It's good to see you alive and kicking." Was the first thing Akako said to me, amused, as I walked into the same living room as the other times. I was getting quite used to this place and even the walk through the creepy forest wasn't as nerve-wracking as last time. Overall, I had the feeling that I might as well get used to it, since I'd probably be commuting here a lot. My gaze didn't even falter to the skull on the hearth as I took a seat on the couch, straying away from the metal snake frames.
A sigh escaped me as I turned half-lidded eyes to her, "Nice to see you again, too, Akako-neesan." She flashed me a smirk in reply, brushing a strand of her long hair behind her shoulder. "Seriously speaking though, he didn't hurt you too badly, did he?" She looked genuinely curious and I gave her a smile as I ripped off my jacket, welcoming the cooler air. "No, he didn't. I bit him before he could do anymore damage." I answered and she seemed to grow more amused. "I should have guessed."
I blinked, but before I could ask anything, she changed the subject, "Did you go to meet someone as Midori?" A pointed look to my current form was enough indication and I nodded. "Just a friend, don't worry. I'm not doing anything reckless in this form yet." Red eyes narrowed at me and I flinched, grinning nervously. Did I say 'yet'?
"A-Anyways! You told me that you needed to talk to me about something…?" I trailed, wanting her to pick it up and go to the original topic of choice. She stared a moment longer before deciding to let it go. She crossed her legs and arms, starting up seriously, "Lucifer told me something disconcerting."
"…Disconcerting?" I questioned, a bit worried.
"Yes. It was actually a premonition about your future." She intoned, and I had to bite my tongue to keep from asking why she was poking her nose into my future. I wanted to know what was so disconcerting about it and if I insulted the witch, I'd probably never know. So, I held my tongue. "I haven't deciphered the riddle, but it's enough to be concerned about. Lucifer's riddle went like this: 'A false identity and another disfigured mass will therefore encounter face-to-face as upside frowns surround and darkness will fall earlier than sunrise.'."
My eyebrows scrunched. What the heck does that mean? I voice my thoughts out loud and got a very unhelpful one-shouldered shrug. "I told you before, I haven't deciphered it. If anyone can, it would be you, since it's about your own future." Akako seemed irritated by this fact and I just offered her another shrug in return. "Well, I don't know, either. Lucifer's riddles sound more like gibberish. I mean, 'upside frowns'?" My tone was incredulous as I gave her a look.
She huffed, letting out a small snicker, "I suppose so. It still speaks of the things to come, though, so try to be careful. I don't want to have to clean up your mess if you die."
"…Thanks for your concern." I droned and she gave me another smirk.
"On another note," She began, turning stern. "Your plan is absolutely moronic." My lips twitched, "Huh?" Akako gave me a no-nonsense glare and I cowered under her intenseness. "Your plan to get the gem back. Lucifer told me that you're going to do something so ridiculous that I can't even speak of it." I barked out a laugh as the gist of the conversation clicked, "Haha, you don't need to sound so disgusted with my plan! It's foolproof~!"
"The police aren't fools, Alice." For some reason, I had a hard time believing that about most of the Detective Conan police force…
"I'm Midori now. Mi-do-ri!" I corrected with a grin, gesturing vaguely at myself. The residential witch decided to disregard my antics, "I'm serious. You'd get caught in a millisecond, even if you managed to actually break into the building." Well, wasn't that rude.
"Pft, are you sure~? 'Side, I'll have an ally, soon enough." I stated haughtily; though, I was a bit worried about getting caught, too.
Akako's face grew surprised, "Ally…? …You don't mean…," She dragged for confirmation and I was quick to give it to her, "Yup, I mean him! Him~!" I teased. Kuroba Kaito – if anyone could teach the art of thievery, it'd be him. The only problem was getting him to cooperate with me (as he liked functioning as a 'lone wolf' in the business); I'd have to plan that later…
"…You're unbelievable." She sounded exasperated, taking a tea cup from the side table that I hadn't seen before and taking a small sip of whatever she was drinking. It smelled too odd to be tea. Again, I couldn't help but laugh at the situation, "Oh, come on, Akako-neesan! Just think of it as a masquerade." "One that could risk jail time?" When you put it that way… "Life's no fun without risks." I decided to answer instead, accepting the drink that the butler offered me hesitatingly as he walked nearer.
I took a sniff of the liquid and stared at it for a moment before deeming it non-toxic. The first sip tasted like plain Kahlúa and I was quick to hide my grimace, swallowing thickly. Guhh. What the freak was this? It didn't look like anything – it was clear, like water! Akako seemed bemused at my not-very-well-hidden gag. "I think Kuroba-kun has rubbed off on you." She commented, taking another sip of her drink easily. I brightened, feeling elated. "Ah, you think so? Cool~!" I cheered, braving another sip. This time, it tasted like Mountain Dew and I relaxed a bit.
Red eyes deadpanned. "…That wasn't a compliment…," Yet another sip of the strange drink before she placed it back down onto the side table delicately.
"I know it wasn't a compliment." I shot back, taking another drink of the clear liquid, expecting Mountain Dew again, only for the taste of rotting milk to assault my senses. It was too late to spit it back up as it had already slid down my throat and I couldn't hold back the disgusted whine this time, which was promptly ignored. My eyes set into an annoyed glare as I stared at the drink some more.
I was startled out of my one-sided stare-off as Akako gave a creepy cackle, making goosebumps appear on my forearms. "Putting more thought in it, perhaps you're one of Eris' favored children." She said and I smiled in amusement. "Then you'd probably be the favored child of Hecate, am I right?" She gave another creepy laugh into her hand, "Yes, she's a very lovely person, Hecate."
I stared at her in astonishment. Had she just said…?
"But enough about her, you are definitely one of Eris' favored. And here I thought that you'd be somewhat predictable, but, as usual, that woman makes everything harder." She muttered, picking up her tea cup once more and taking a calming, long, drink. My mouth curled in distaste before I, too, took another drink of the weird liquid. The taste was sweet yet sour and very familiar.
Orange juice.
"Hey, at least I'm better than someone I know! I swear, he's haunted by both the Phonoi and the Androktasiai!" I defended, not feeling guilty in the least that I was practically insulting Shinichi behind his back. Oh well. What he doesn't know won't hurt him, right? Akako raised a delicate brow, "You know someone like that?" She sounded more amused than concerned. Figures. I nodded anyway. "Yup. Sometimes, it's a real pain to deal with him." I snickered.
"I can imagine. And to think you also live with Dionysus' favored child, not to mention Lady Luck's, as well." Akako sighed, as if it wasn't too farfetched. Which, to her, it probably wasn't, since to her, I'm apparently the favored child of Eris. I didn't know if I should find that rude or funny; I decided to put it in the neutral area of my mind. I blinked as her words caught up with me, "W-Wait, You think Kaito-niichan is Dionysus' favored child?!" A loud, raucous, laugh bubbled past my lips and only my reflexes saved the tea cup and liquid from falling onto the floor.
The witch smirked, "Yes. Ritual madness, and all."
More laughs slipped past as I tried to regain my composure, sides burning from too much convulsions. Once I'd finally caught my breath, I took another drink of the concoction only to spit it out a moment later, bellowing indignantly at the one who gave me the drink, "Okay! What's with this drink?! Now it tastes like White Lightning!"
The demon butler didn't answer my question, so I turned to Akako, glaring.
She merely gave me a shark's smile. "And how would you know how White Lightning tastes like, Midori?" She emphasized the name, making me shudder as shiver ran up my spine before hurrying to defend myself. "I-I don't! It just…seems like it would taste like this!" Lame excuse, lame excuse…
"I'm sure." She continued before I could cut her off. "That's a healing potion I found in my grimoire. It has varying tastes for several reasons." She didn't elaborate. Truthfully, I wasn't sure if I wanted to know these 'several reasons', either, so I was somewhat grateful. "…I see. You gave me this to help heal my neck?" I questioned, looking back down at the drink as the butler began cleaning the mess I'd made diligently. Opps, my bad...
"Yes, I did. I can't have you running around with such an obvious injury in both forms. It's not a big leap from who's who if you keep doing that with that." She pointed to my mummified neck. "Besides, there's only so much you can do if you're not healthy, and this will boost up your energy to, at least, a twenty." My brows furrowed in confusion before I nodded slowly. "I see…," No, I didn't. Was there a scale for energy levels?
"Wait. Then what are you drinking?"
"Sahlab. It's a popular drink in Egypt. It's made with the powder of the bulb of an orchid, Orchis mascula. This one, however, is just an instant mix; not the real product." She said, taking another drink of said 'Sahlab'. "In Egypt?" I asked, curious. "Are you from there?" There was no other real reason I could see her drinking something from Egypt in Japan otherwise. Then again, she wasn't the most common person ever…
"Yes, I'm half-Egyptian." Well, that explained a lot about some of her house and clothing decorations. Especially the cobras that are everywhere. I forced myself to take another drink of the healing potion, trying my best to ignore the taste. "My mother was an Egyptian witch, but when she was exiled for using powerful black magic, she moved to Japan and met my father, a warlock in the Koizumi clan." Exiled?! How long ago was this?! I refrained from asking, though, more than curious about Akako's bloodline.
"Then, my mother gave birth to me." She finished and I pouted. That was all she was going to tell me?
Swallowing down the rest of the horrid-tasting potion, I tried not to give into my urge to pry. I was lucky that she actually told me this much. "So you're Egyptian-Japanese. That's an interesting combination." I commented instead. She gave me a sly look, "Like you're one to talk, Salvadoranian-Filipino." We shared smirks before she broke it off to take another drink of her Sahlab.
"…You know, Akako-neesan…," I trailed, wondering how I should put this. "...Who exactly are the Koizumi's?" Better yet, "What exactly are the Koizumi's?"
She looked surprised at the question before smiling to herself, as if thinking of an inside joke. "We're merely witches and warlocks that use the dark arts for personal joy." She replied shortly, finishing up her drink before standing. "Either way, we should get you back home before Kuroba-kun has a fit of worry."
I hurried to scramble off the couch, placing the empty tea cup on the side table, before dashing after her as she moved swiftly through the house. Surprisingly enough, we found ourselves in front of a bathroom and she pointed to my bag slung around my shoulders. "Your clothes are in there, right?"
I blinked, nodding.
"Good, get changed back and then we'll go. Make it quick, would you?" With that, she stalked off into a darker area of the house, disappearing quickly within the shadows. My eyes stared for a moment longer, confused, before I looked down to my bag, wondering why I had to change before it hit me as I glanced downwards. Right, I was still Midori at the moment. Good call, Akako.
Sauntering into the bathroom, I closed the door behind me, thinking over everything that happened today.
…A good, but strange day, indeed.
Review Replies:
To: Iriss-sama – Yup, another chapter~! 8D And thank you! (Nods) Some people like talkative people (I do. XD) because we can't talk as much without feeling awkward and stuff. (Laughs) And yup, you did! It's been mentioned, like, twice before, but it's at small intervals where you can't really remember she said them. XDD And that's good that you don't notice the glitches. Some of them are super embarrassing to notice as I edit the chapter. XD And I'm sure you and your friend write awesome! ^^ It just takes a bit of practice to get used it sometimes. (I'm still getting used to it;;) (Laughs) Thank you for the good luck cookies~! (Eats them) And here's the next chapter! 8D
To: MagicMilkbone – Thank you! I was worried it turned out strange, since I don't have a lot of experience on that type of situation. XD;; And me, too! I have lots of plans for it. (Laughs Evilly) And fish sounds like a wonderful addition to that meeting~! 8DD Poor Kaito, indeed…XDD
To: Kudo Shinichi Tanteisan – Yup, new chapter~! ^^ A heist with her would be chaotic at best. XD And awesome! 8D Summer vacation is always the best time of the year! And yay! New fandoms! 8D My sister watches Hetalia sometimes and I've been wondering if I should watch it, but I never get to it, for some reason. ;;; And I love MMD! I used to use it, once upon a time, but I could never figure out how to. (Laughs) I hope you have a better time with it than me and animate some cool stuff~! 8D And, yeah, complications. (Sighs) I'm probably going to be working my butt off until summer of 2014, with no break, because of said complications. I won't go too much into detail, but just know that I started school later than usual and stuff. ^^;;; Thank you~! (Grins as snowflakes fall and eats cyber cookie)
To: roxifoxi – Thank you so much! That means a lot to me! Haha, I do that too sometimes; seeing a long story but then not reading it since it has so many chapters. XD And it's okay! ^^ And thank you so, so, so much for those words! I feel so happy now~! Here's the update. 8D
-Chapter notes:
Eris: Eris is the Greek goddess of chaos, strife, and discord.
Hecate (also written as Hekate): Hecate is an ancient goddess, variously associated with crossroads, entrance-ways, fire, light, the Moon, magic, witchcraft, knowledge of herbs and poisonous plants, necromancy, and sorcery.
Phonoi and Androktasiai: In Greek mythology, the Phonoi and the Androktasiai were, respectively, the male and female spirits/personifications of murder, killing, and slaughter/manslaughter.
Dionysus: Dionysus is the Greek-Roman god of wine, merry-making, theatre, ecstasy, and ritual madness. He is often represented as the protector of those who do not belong to conventional society and thus symbolizes everything which is chaotic, dangerous and unexpected, everything which escapes human reason and which can only be attributed to the unforeseeable action of the gods.
Grimoire: A grimoire is a textbook of magic. It usually includes instructions on how to create talismans, amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms and divinations and how to summon or invoke supernatural beings (angels, demons, spirits, ect.,ect.), among other things.
I hope those notes helped. XD I know not everybody is a mythology nerd, like me. (Laughs) Explanations were half-contributed from Wikipedia, edited by me to be shorter. XD