The Raven's Eclipse
by pikacutie25

Chapter 2: The Message

The more he read the cryptic message, the more confused he became. In the past, Conan had solved numerous cases involving riddles and codes, but this one was different than all the other ones he had encountered. He could feel it. This was not like something thought up in the mind of some psychotic serial killer wanting someone to solve his crafty riddles, nor was this something hurriedly written down by a homicide victim trying to leave a clue to the killer. Whoever wrote this put a lot of deep thought and time into making sure it was exactly what it needed to be. But what exactly was it? There was obviously a deeper meaning to this seemingly simple poem, and the author made absolute certain that it was difficult enough that not just anyone could figure it out. Well, this is just a puzzle, Conan thought. And like any other puzzle, it has a solution, and I'm going to figure it out!

The first thing that popped out at him was that the poem seemed to have a recurring theme of nature. A whole lot of good that's going to do me, Conan frowned. What else is hidden in here? The main character, so to speak, appeared to be the raven. Let's see…provided I don't overanalyze this, this story has a very simple plot. A not-too-attractive raven becomes jealous of a much more beautiful flower and in its envy steals the flower away: that much I can understand. But what does everything after that mean? What does a whale have to do with a raven and a flower? Ugh, maybe I'll save that last one for later.

So, the raven goes back to wherever its lair happens to be, and…it waits for a rival? What animal has a raven as a rival? This doesn't make sense. And what kind of danger is the next part talking about? More than there should be…? Was the raven expecting danger from its rival? Then why would it challenge it in the first place? Well, I can probably guess it has to do with some sort of trivial contest between the two. But just who are the raven and this mysterious rival? And then there's the last two lines…the raven will fly far away and the flower won't bloom anymore? So that means the raven will disappear and the flower will…die?

"Aghh! Can this be any more difficult?" Conan shouted, letting his head fall hard on the table.

"What are you yelling about now, brat!?" Kogoro called out again.

"Oh, uh, it's just hard homework! But I'll figure it out!"

"Eh? Is that all? Geez, kids these days…"

Conan sighed. He realized he was making more and more slip-ups lately, though that could be partially owed to his recent "get out of acting free" card; that is, his recent temporary change. He hadn't needed to keep up his act when he was actually himself, but he hadn't thought he would revert back to his original terrible acting. Or maybe he was just being paranoid. He seriously hoped it wasn't the latter option, though.

Anyways, I'd better get back to figuring this out. If something like this was sent to Shinichi's phone, it's obviously important, so I need to reason this out as quickly as possible. It might have to do with a case, more likely than not.

However, try as he might, he could not get any more insight into the poem's meaning. He glanced around the room, trying to draw inspiration from something, but no luck. He imagined how Ran would have reacted if she had seen him right now at such a loss. She probably would have laughed. Even with the bitter possibility of failure before him, he could think nothing but positive thoughts when it came to Ran. Her smile, her face, her radiant personality…just like an angel's, he found himself thinking with a smile. Like an angel…

Wait a second. Conan was suddenly struck by an idea. He needed to stop looking at the poem so literally and look at it from a more figurative viewpoint! Why didn't I think of it before? If each object represents a person or thing, then this just became a lot easier! So maybe the main character, the raven, is actually…a phone?

"Huh?" Conan realized he wasn't actually thinking of the raven as a phone. This time, the melody of a call on his cell phone interrupted his thought process. But it wasn't from the phone he was currently holding; it was from Conan's phone. What, is someone going to explain the answer to this riddle or something? Conan joked to himself. He fished out his phone and flipped it open.

"Hello?" Conan answered nonchalantly.

"Kudo-kun!" said a half-terrified, half-angry voice on the other end.

"H-Haibara? What's wrong?" Conan's tone instantly changed.

"You're what's wrong, Kudo-kun! I told you not to do it, I warned you not to! The whole reason I gave you an antidote was so that you wouldn't upset Ran or tip off the Organization! But then you just had to go and show yourself off to the entire audience at that play. You thought something like that would go unnoticed? They would have found out eventually! They always do…and now none of us are safe…!" Haibara's voice had slowly morphed from one of anger to one of pure terror.

"Haibara, calm down! What's happened?" Conan demanded, now slightly worried too.

"You don't read Beika Weekly, do you? Your carelessness made the headlines this week! The Organization could already be after you, me, and everyone else we know and love!" Haibara finished.

Conan grew silent as comprehension slowly dawned on him. The article, Ran's sudden absence, the message…it all suddenly made sense. How could I have been so stupid and careless…?

"Kudo-kun? Hel-" Haibara was cut off when Conan suddenly hung up without another word.

After hanging up, Conan did not shift position at all; he sat stock-still on the chair. He was in utter shock after realizing what had just happened. All this time, all these careful actions…it was all for nothing…? I couldn't even protect the one I care about the most…? Ran, I'm sorry, it's all my fault…I failed you… Conan shut his eyes, angry at himself and the rest of the world. I suppose they'll come for me next, right? I don't even care if they kill me…I should have been first anyways… He lowered his head to the table to hide the grief his face would inevitably betray.

Conan had no idea how long he had been sitting there in that position. The next thing he became conscious of was his hand vibrating in front of him. Wait, his hand was vibrating? On a second look, he realized he was still holding his phone in his hand, and now it was vibrating from another message. Reluctantly, he flipped open his phone and realized there were actually many messages, all of which were from the same number: Haibara's phone. Some part of his original self that he retained in the back of his mind scolded him for hanging up on Haibara like that. However, he was too upset and shocked to even give a second thought about Haibara.

He read through her numerous messages, only half-caring about what they said. He was able to retain a single overarching idea from her messages, though. She was worried about him. It wasn't like him to suddenly hang up on someone for no apparent reason and not even attempt to contact the person again. She, being the genius that she was, correctly deduced that something was up. Did she send these messages because she simply wanted to know why I hung up, or does she actually care…? Upon reading through the messages, he perceived that she truly was concerned. Could there actually be other people worth protecting…?

Conan finally managed to get his logical mind back together after the shock. It was only then that he realized that he hadn't yet fully deciphered the riddle. There could still be hope if he could figure it out. He grabbed his other phone again and looked over the poem once more. Paying careful attention to the flower's role this time, he realized that the message didn't necessarily say that it was dead yet. It would only die if some extra danger came into play. So could Ran be…? His heart full of hope now, he eagerly set to work deciphering the rest of the poem. Obviously, the raven was the Black Organization, or at least one of its members. Ran was the flower, which should have been immediately obvious given that her name means "orchid."

So, ignoring the out-of-place lines about the whale, the poem had a fairly obvious meaning. Ran, the orchid, was kidnapped by a member of the organization, a raven. This person took her to some secret place, "the whale's home," during the night. After bringing her there, he sent a challenge to his rival, Shinichi, which would explain why he got this message in the first place; the message itself is a challenge. Next, it mentions that there should not be "more danger than there should be," and the only thing that would be significantly more dangerous than Shinichi would be the police. If this extra danger is present, then this person would escape and most likely kill Ran before leaving.

Well, that was actually very straightforward. I can't believe I didn't get it before! Elementary school must really be dropping my IQ or something…

Now that it was apparent that a member of the Black Organization was challenging Shinichi, the only question was when and where. The "when" is probably midnight tonight, seeing as it is the only mention of time anywhere in the poem. The "where," however, is more difficult. The lair is supposedly the whale's home, but what is it supposed to be?

Maybe compiling all the parts about the whale will help me figure out the place? Let's see, something has to be represented by a gentle whale, as both of the other objects turned out to be people. It has to be something that travels back and forth across the water every day. Does that mean it's a type of marine vehicle? But that could've been represented by any aquatic animal. It has to be one about as large as a whale…it travels back and forth…

Suddenly it clicked. A cargo ship! The place must be the shipyard! Of course! It's the perfect place for something like this; the place is practically deserted! Conan glanced at his phone's clock—it was currently 5:32 PM. There was plenty of time until the designated meeting time.

However, Conan now faced a new problem: what was he going to do? So a member of the Black Organization has suddenly discovered that Shinichi Kudo is actually still alive and has kidnapped someone close to him in an effort to lure him out. Alright, great. Now what? He absolutely had to go meet this member in order to rescue Ran, but there were some problems. For one, I can't possibly go like this. How would it look to be expecting the great detective Shinichi Kudo and find some kid waltzing in instead? I'm not going to betray my secret if I don't have to. But, all of Professor Agasa's inventions fit Conan, not Shinichi, so I would be going there completely defenseless. I need help. I can't call the police, or else he'll somehow find out and kill Ran before I can get there. I really can't call Hattori for help either, because he's all the way in Osaka and there's no way he could make it here in time. What am I going to do? I'm out of options!

Conan put his hand on his head. He had no idea what he could do. Was he really powerless to rescue Ran? No, I can't think about that again! There has to be another way…

Conan suddenly raised his head, struck by an idea. Maybe…!

He quickly got up and ran over to Kogoro. He snatched the newspaper right out of his hands, saying, "I'm going to borrow this really quickly, Oji-san!"

"Oi! Give that back!" Kogoro started chasing Conan.

A master as he was by now of dodging Kogoro and his attacks, Conan was able to read the paper and dodge his attacks at the same time. Aha, Conan thought, locating a specific section of the newspaper, I thought so! This will be one of my most desperate moves yet, but it's my only option. I hope this works…!

Finished with the newspaper, Conan tossed it up in the air for Kogoro to catch. Not listening to anything else Kogoro said after that, Conan got ready to leave, quickly putting on his shoes. As he ran out the door, he yelled back, "Oji-san, I'm going to stay over at the professor's tonight! I have something important to do!"

Before Kogoro realized what had happened, Conan was gone out the door, heading hurriedly to Professor Agasa's place with a purpose.

Author's Note: Well, that chapter came faster than even I anticipated! I would say that the next chapter should be out by the end of winter break this time, but I won't make any promises, as I am going on vacation over the break. To Las Vegas. Yay.

So, I can't say I'm entirely happy with the way this chapter turned out. It just feels...wrong, somehow. I think I may have written just a little OOC there. But I don't know! What do you guys think? A review would greatly be appreciated, no matter how short! Thanks for the support! (Okay...maybe I should lay off the rhyme for a while.)