Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed or D.N Angel.

Summary: Meeting with witches and getting kidnapped by artwork definitely hadn't been part of the plan. D.N Angel crossover

Pairings: Kaito x Shinichi (DC) and Daisuke x Riku (DNA)

An Eternal Art

By V. Shalyr

V

My Sleeping Beauty

The one thing Kaito just couldn't get used to about being a teacher was having to assign and then grade homework. For goodness sake, it was like assigning homework for himself to do! He was supposed to be teaching theatre, not mathematics. And yet the school still wanted something to help score the students with—prove that they were learning things.

Tapping the end of his pen against the desk, Kaito waited until most of the students had filed out of the classroom with the final bell before calling out, "Hey, Hiwatari-kun, please wait for a moment. I'd like to speak with you."

Satoshi nodded and stepped up to his desk. The boy had seemed extremely preoccupied all day and maybe a little shocked, though Kaito couldn't fathom why.

"What is it?"

Reaching into his pocket, Kaito lifted the plastic bag containing the cross pendant and held it up. "Well, I was hoping you could tell me more about this."

.

Detective Ishikawa stared at the neatly wrapped package lying atop his desk. He'd found it there when he'd arrived that morning and opened it with caution before hastily calling the museum for an expert to come tell him if the item contained within was what he thought it was. Of course he recognized the painting. He just couldn't understand what it was doing on his desk, having just been stolen by the new phantom thief the night before last.

"Ishikawa-san?" Shinichi poked his head through the door to find the other detective still dithering over the painting Kaito had returned sometime during the night. It was kind of funny watching the man try so hard to figure out what Kaito was up to. "I don't think it's booby-trapped or anything, you know. Just take it back to the museum."

"But why? Why'd he give it back?"

"Well, probably because he didn't want it anymore."

"But then why'd he steal it in the first place?"

"I don't know," Shinichi lied. "Why don't you just ask him next time?"

Of course, Kaito probably wouldn't answer, but that didn't mean you shouldn't ask just in case he was feeling charitable.

"I…suppose."

"Why don't you give me the painting and I'll make sure it gets back to its museum. I've been wanting a look at one of the other exhibits in there anyway."

And this was really the perfect excuse.

Once he'd delivered the painting back to the museum curator, it was easy enough to ask the man to show him to the exhibit in question. There were round about a dozen paintings in all but with five paintings in particular including that of Swan Lake forming the centerpiece. Coming to a halt in front of it, Shinichi stared up at the image of the same silver-haired princess he had seen the other morning, her face turned slightly away towards the landscape beyond the painting as though hiding some sad or terrible secret.

"Have you much interest in art, detective?"

Glancing sidelong at the old curator who had followed him into the gallery, Shinichi shrugged. "It depends on the art. A…friend of mine tells me I'm more of a critic."

"Artists need those too," the curator said, nodding more to himself than to Shinichi.

The detective hesitated then asked casually, "People say that art has a kind of magic. I was just wondering if it was true."

"Of course they do, all art does in a way." The old man smiled up at the painting, though his gaze seemed to be looking at something far distant, probably something long ago. "Music and sculpture, paintings and literature—the magic of emotions and stories and dreams. After all, it's really an era's artwork that ends up defining the character of the period."

Shinichi frowned a little. All kinds of artwork, huh? Music and sculptures, paintings and literature…and magic, Kaito's magic. The art of deception which Kaito had mastered and refined into an art of dreams. Could that be why the paintings had brought him here? Perhaps in this world, Kaito's unusual penchant for making impossible things possible was more than just luck and strategic planning.

"Do you have any other questions I could help you with?"

"Ah, no thank you. I'd just like to look around for awhile if you don't mind."

"Of course. Take your time."

Shinichi waited until the man had gone before walking slowly around the room to examine each painting in detail. He assumed the Swan Lake painting was a reference to the story of the Swan Princess. Mirror, Mirror was obviously an image from some version of Snow White, though Shinichi had to wonder why the subject of the painting was the queen. Perhaps the artist had somehow identified with the queen and her desire to be the most beautiful creature in the world. Or perhaps it was the queen's vindictive nature and ability to harm those who stood in the way of her own story that had given the character its appeal to her. Or her power to ruin the dreams of others in order to fulfill her own desires and make her own dreams come true.

He grimaced at that interpretation. It was certainly possible if unsavory.

Then there was the painting of a sleeping woman with the shadow of someone or something upon the balcony. Or—hold on a moment.

Shinichi blinked and squinted at the painting. The woman—she had been asleep just a moment ago, hadn't she? But now, he could swear he could see just the hint of silver eyes beneath her long lashes and the touch of a strange smile upon her face.

Looking down at the label beneath the paitning, he read aloud, "A Treasure to Keep."

"Shinichi?"

He jumped and spun around. He hadn't heard anyone come in. Then again, considering who it was, he wouldn't. "Kaito!"

The magician favored him with an expression of concern. "You all right? You look a little pale."

"I think someone's in trouble," Shinichi explained, gesturing towards the painting in question.

It only took Kaito a second to realize what he was referring to.

"Good thing I have this then." He snapped his fingers and held something up so Shinichi could see. "Hiwatari-kun said that we could keep it. It didn't do quite what he intended it to, so he hasn't got a use for it anymore. But it should work perfectly for our purposes."

Shinichi eyed the cross-shaped pendant doubtfully. "And what purpose would that be?"

His voice quite serious, Kaito stepped up to him and secured the pendant's chain around his neck. "To keep you safe, just in case Swan-san gets any ideas. This pendant can't actually be used to seal away the power of an artwork, but apparently, it can nullify their magic for a little while—zaps their strength, I guess, even if it won't get rid of them for good."

"What about you?"

Kaito dismissed his question with a shrug. "Hey, she brought me here alive, right? If she wanted me dead, I'm sure she would have made an attempt by now."

"That's not really that comforting. Who's to say she won't decide you're more trouble than you're worth?"

"I'll just have to trust my luck, no?"

When they arrived outside the museum, Shinichi was expecting something—well, obvious, like people screaming or giant animals wreaking havoc in the streets. But as far as he could tell, the town was as peaceful and quiet seeming as it had been earlier.

"I wonder where—"

"This way."

Shinichi turned to Kaito, startled. The magician was frowning down the street towards their left. "Kaito?"

"I don't know how," Kaito murmured, taking his hand and starting towards the boundaries of the settlement, "but I just know. It's this feeling, like something's calling me."

"Are you sure you should be listening to it?" Shinichi asked anxiously.

Kaito chuckled. "Maybe calling wasn't the right word choice. It's just so hard to describe."

Whatever it was that Kaito felt, it drew them to a cliff overlooking the bay where they found three very familiar teens.

Daisuke and the Harada twins had apparently been working on their art class homework, though now their sketchbooks lay forgotten upon the grass. Because Riku was sprawled unconscious upon the ground.

"Why won't she wake up?" Risa was crying, clinging to her sister's limp hand.

Daisuke knelt on her other side, frantic but not knowing what to do. He didn't know what was wrong with her.

"What happened here?" Shinichi asked, moving forward to join them and falling naturally into detective mode.

Daisuke shook his head helplessly. "We were just talking when Riku suddenly collapsed."

Shinichi examined the girl carefully and frowned. "She's asleep."

"But we can't wake her."

Shinichi glanced up at Kaito who was staring out at the sea, his face a blank mask. Could he see something out there? But all the detective saw when he followed the direction of his gaze was the undulating expanse of blue water.

Finally, coming out of whatever daze he had been in, Kaito bent and carefully lifted the sleeping girl into his arms. "Come on, I think we'd better get her home. Harada-chan, would it be okay with you if Shinichi and I stayed at your house tonight? I don't think we should leave her alone."

"Um, sure, we do have a lot of extra rooms," Risa said uncertainly. "But what's wrong with Riku? Is she going to be all right?"

The magician gave her his best reassuring smile. "Of course she will be. We'll all make sure of it."

.

"I wish we knew more about what we're dealing with," Shinichi muttered, standing before the bookshelves in the main sitting room of the Harada mansion. He had some ideas of course, but nothing solid enough for him to want to voice anything yet.

Kaito frowned down into the cup of tea the butler had given him. He wasn't exactly a big fan of tea. "Back there by the sea… I think I saw something."

There had been a shadow in the water, too vast to be anything natural and yet there all the same. It had grown darker as he watched as though it were surfacing but never quite broke the water, and for a moment, Kaito had seen what might have been eyes staring back at him and the flash of scales.

"This is going to sound strange, but I think it was a dragon."

"No stranger than everything else we've seen here," Shinichi sighed. "A dragon, huh? Let's see, the name of that painting was A Treasure to Keep."

The magician glanced up at that, a thoughtful expression settling onto his face. "A treasure, that makes sense. European dragons are said to horde treasures."

"So we have a painting—I'm pretty sure it's related to the whole Sleeping Beauty story—with a shadow in the background, and you saw the shadow of a dragon at the sea where Riku fell asleep." Shinichi paused, the pieces clicking together in his head. "You don't think… Sleeping Beauty was the dragon's treasure, only she was awake in that painting and now somehow, Riku has taken her place?"

They both looked up towards the ceiling. Both Daisuke and Risa were upstairs with Riku and so far, everything had been quiet.

"I've been meaning to ask you about earlier," Shinichi said finally, sinking onto the couch next to his partner. "So far, every time something's happened, you seemed to know about it. You said it was some kind of feeling?"

Kaito closed his eyes, trying to recall how he'd felt at the museum, and before that when they were at the artist's apartment. "I don't know how to describe it better. It's like for just a moment, I'm there and then it's all just an echo in the back of my head."

He stopped suddenly, going rigid before springing to his feet. "Upstairs!"

Something crashed in the room above and Shinichi thought he caught the sound of breaking glass. Then Risa screamed.

They arrived in Riku's bedroom just in time to see a single giant, reptilian paw reach across to wrap scaly talons almost tenderly around the sleeping girl. Then the dragon was launching itself into the sky and Daisuke—no, now Dark—was haring after it. Risa sat on the carpeted floor, pale and stunned but unhurt as far as they could tell.

"The museum!" Shinichi exclaimed and the two young men were racing down the stairs and out the door.

Kaito made short work of the museum lock and security system—this was no time for dithering over legalities—and they were sprinting through the deserted galleries. As they skidded into the room with the fairytale exhibit, they caught sight of the tip of the dragon's tail as it vanished into the painting of Sleeping Beauty followed by a flurry of black wings. Without thinking, Kaito grabbed Shinichi and leapt after them.

"Wait! Kaito, that's—!" But Shinichi didn't have time to finish his protest as the painting blazed with light and they were suddenly falling through a stormy sky towards crashing ocean waves. Shinichi heard Kaito curse followed by a startled intake of breath and then their rapid plunge jerked into a smoother, less frantic descent. Surprised, the detective looked up to find Kaito in his KID uniform, his glider catching the wind as he steered them towards what appeared to be a tiny island with a castle of scorched and blackened stone at its center.

"I'm just as surprised as you are," Kaito said in answer to his unspoken question. "I didn't have all my equipment on me. I just thought it and now it's all here. Lucky break for us, I'd say."

Lucky, somehow Shinichi thought it was more than just luck. It looked like they were finally going to start getting some good, reliable answers. For now, he was just grateful that he didn't have to find out firsthand if the churning waves below were as cold as they looked.

Dark was waiting for them on the beach when they landed, his face alight with curiosity. "I don't know how you two followed us in here, but we have to move fast. The world of artworks isn't meant for humans and can be rather hostile, so staying for long periods becomes extremely taxing."

The two humans nodded and they all turned their gazes up towards the dark towers, back by occasional strikes of lightning in the distance that didn't make a sound. Though even as they watched, the dark clouds seemed to be drifting apart, allowing the moonlight to once again illuminate a rapidly calming sea.

Because the dragon had gotten its treasure back.

Sorry, Kaito thought, but we can't let you keep her.

It would be terribly irresponsible of them.

It was easy to figure out where the dragon had taken its new prisoner. Only so many of the rooms had balconies like the one in the painting, and only one of those had its doors open. And even more importantly, curled upon the railing of that particular balcony was a statue of polished black stone, a serpentine beast with its great wings half unfurled and its angular head resting upon clawed forepaws. Noting the position of the correct tower, the three headed inside.

"This is really quite amazing," Shinichi mused, fascinated despite himself as they passed a torch set in its bracket upon the wall. "There's no heat. It's almost like one big stage illusion."

This comment earned him a confused look from Kaito. "What do you mean?"

"Huh?"

"It seems warm enough to me, just like real fire."

Shinichi blinked and turned his head to stare at him. "Are you sure?"

"Do you doubt me?"

The detective shook his head, adding this new bit of information to his mental files. "Interesting."

The door to the room they were looking for was locked from the inside, but with two master thieves in their little party, the lock hardly stood a chance. Shinichi couldn't help but feel a slightly eerie shiver run up his spine as they stepped into an exact replica of the room in the painting he had been examining only that morning. Down to the very last detail—the way the curtains were billowing gently, the silvery quality of the light—everything was exactly how it had seemed in the artist's masterpiece except for the girl who lay upon the bed.

"Hey, Riku, it's time to wake up," Dark murmured, shaking her by the shoulder with one eye trained on the statue of the dragon out upon the balcony. But try as he might, Riku didn't react, her head lolling in an almost lifeless manner that he found slightly alarming. Frowning, the art thief concentrated and reached out with his own magic before giving a yelp and drawing back. "It seems I'm not very welcome in this world either. I've never felt power quite like this before."

"But it won't really do any good if we just get her out of here and can't wake her up," Shinichi observed. Was it his imagination or was the statue on the balcony getting bigger? They had to hurry and get out of there.

"Of course!" Kaito exclaimed suddenly, "I can't believe I didn't think of it before. This is a fairytale, remember? And in here, we're part of the story."

"But what does that…" Shinichi trailed off as realization dawned.

"Makes sense to me," Dark murmured, "which means…"

A moment later, Dark had vanished and Daisuke was standing where he had been. The redhead stumbled forward in surprise at the sudden change. "But what am I supposed to do?"

Shinichi coughed and looked away while Kaito grinned.

"You're supposed to wake your princess," the magician said, nodding towards the sleeping Riku. "The kiss of her true love to wake the sleeping beauty."

Realization sinking in at last, Daisuke flushed as red as his hair. "You mean I'm—I'm supposed to—kiss her?"

"Yup. Better get to it. Time's a wasting!"

"Don't worry," Shinichi said, pushing his partner firmly towards the bedroom door, "we won't watch."

"Of course not." Kaito smirked, turning so he could pull the door shut behind them and pin Shinichi to it at the same time. "Why watch someone else kiss his princess when I can kiss mine?"

"Kaito! This is not the—mph!"

.

The dragon couldn't remember when it had all started—the first time its sleep had been disturbed and it had realized there was even such a thing as sleep and consciousness. It remembered the brush of a melodious voice, just a whisper really in its mind—not of words or any phrase in particular but of desire.

It hadn't known what desire was until that moment, and it hadn't known that it was content in its unconsciousness until its treasure had been taken away and that sleep was finally disturbed.

It had taken a lot of effort to stir itself and to find a way into the world where it had sensed the presence of its lost keepsake, the princess of this desolate castle that it was supposed to guard, to protect, to keep—to imprison. But it had found a way, found some thread leading into that world and finally, finally it could rest again.

Or so it had thought.

.

Brown eyes fluttered open then widened it shock. A startled gasp and their owner sat bolt upright, her cheeks flushing as vivid a crimson as the hair on her companion's head. The redhead himself had sprung backward so fast it was like he'd been teleported across the room, blushing to the roots of his flaming hair.

"Oh good, it worked!" he exclaimed in relief, partly to cover up his own embarrassment and trying not to think about the softness of her lips.

"What worked?" Riku demanded, not quite able to meet his eyes. It hadn't exactly been a bad way to wake up, she reflected. "Daisuke, where are we anyway? What happened?"

"So you don't remember anything?"

"All I remember was working on our sketches by the sea." Riku's brow scrunched up in concentration, but everything after that remained a blank.

"You fell asleep and we couldn't wake you," Daisuke explained, finally dredging up the courage to edge back to the side of the bed. "It's kind of hard to explain. You got kidnapped by a dragon and taken into this painting and Kuroba-sensei and his friend came too—" and he knew he was babbling a bit but it was hard to stop, "—and he said the only way to wake you was if—was if I k—kissed you."

"Oh." There wasn't really much else she could say.

The awkward pause was broken by a sudden low, menacing growl. The hairs pricked on the back of Daisuke's neck and Riku spun to stare at the balcony's open doors. What had been a relatively small statue of a dragon was definitely no longer small and very much alive. Steely muscles flexed beneath an armor plating of dark scales and angry, reptilian eyes locked on the two figures in the room. Then it opened its mouth, displaying rows of long, jagged teeth like curving, ivory knives and roared.

"Come on!" Daisuke didn't wait for any more. All embarrassment forgotten, he grabbed Riku's hand and the two of the stumbled towards the door just as claws scythed through the air where he had been.

"Kudou-san! Kuroba-sensei!"

But neither adult was in the hallway. Daisuke faltered, panicking for a moment before he spotted—a note attached to the opposite wall?

'Down the hall and up the stairs, we have an idea.'

Daisuke hoped that whatever that idea was, it had something to do with getting them out of here. Riku didn't know that he and Dark shared a body yet, and he definitely didn't relish the thought of her finding out like this.

.

Shinichi grimaced as the castle shook.

"So you really think all I have to do is wish?" Kaito asked dubiously.

"It worked when we needed your glider," Shinichi pointed out, "and you were also able to will your regular attire back."

"Good point. It just seems sort of bizarre." Shaking his head, Kaito moved to wrap one arm around his partner's waist, steadying the both of them as the ground shook again. Above the dragon's enraged yowls, he could hear the frantic footfalls of two people staggering up the stairs. Grinning a little madly with the adrenaline racing through his veins, Kaito lowered his head so he could murmur in Shinichi's ear. "Ready to give this a try?"

"Oi, the kids will be here any second!"

And then Daisuke and Riku had arrived on the open tower top followed by the dragon's massive head rearing up over the low railing. Kaito shut his eyes and concentrated, pictured the museum gallery and wished with every ounce of his exceptionally vivid imagination that the four of them were out there back in the world in which they belonged.

Shinichi didn't realize he'd shut his eyes too until he suddenly felt the ground vanish from beneath his feet and they flew open to find himself already high in the sky, rapidly darkening once more with storm clouds. Above them, mist and white light obscured their destination, bleeding away the color of this place that was not really a place at all, and he could only hope Kaito really had the power to take them back. Looking down once more at the world of the painting which they were quickly leaving behind, Shinichi felt his heart leap into his throat. Because there solidifying upon the shores of the island castle was a woman with long, silver hair, her face contorted in rage and maybe—maybe something like desperation as her icy glare fixed upon them. Then the coils of the massive dragon settled around her and they were gone.

TBC…