Story Information:
Title: Conjour's Masquerade
Authour: Saitaina
Rating: R (chapter)/NC-17 (full story)
Characters: Kuroba Kaito, Hakuba Saguru, Koizumi Akako, Edogowa Conan/Kudo Shinichi, Kuroba Mika (Kaito's Mother), Jii, Nakamori Aoko, Nakamori Ginzo, Edward St. Claire, Pierre Lemont, Ask, Eva, Pan, Kuma, Honua, Bohdona, Edogowa Kiden, Leif, Kidoko.
Pairings: Kuroba Kaito/Hakuba Saguru, Edogowa Conan/Koizumi Akako, Kuroba Mika/Jii, Nakamori Aoko/Pierre Lemont, Kuroba Kaito/Edogowa Kiden/Hakuba Saguru, Eden/Ask, Eva/Pan, Kuma/Honua, Nakamori Ginzo/Nakamori Maria
Summary: It's been seven years, since the death of Kaitou Kid, but there is still one thing out there, Kaito and Kiden left un-finished.
WARNINGS: Sex, death, illness, MAGIC, blood/gore, slight religious content later.
Previous Stories:
Magician's Waltz,
Ilusionist's Ball.
Previous Chapters:
Chapter I,
Chapter II,
Chapter III,
Chapter IV,
Chapter V,
Chapter VI,
Chapter VII,
Chapter VIII,
Chapter X.
Chapter Information:
Title: Pandora
Summary: Kiden has a bit of fun with the BO while all hopes of finding Pandora are crushed.
NOTE: Read the warning on chapter one then come back.
Chapter Eleven: Pandora
He commandsHephaestusto mold from earth the first woman, a "beautiful evil" whose descendants would torment the race of men. After Hephaestus does so,Athenadressed her in a silvery gown, an embroidered veil, garlands and an ornate crown of gold.
Kiden screamed as Vodka's hand reached into the hole in his side, the large man grabbing something that Kiden didn't want to contemplate much. "Don't touch that!" he yelled, kicking out at Vodka's face, creaming again as the razor wire wrapped around his legs bit into his flesh.
Vodka laughed, removing his hand from Kiden's side, watching the thief's eyes as they darted around wildly, adjusting the flow of epinephrine into Kiden's body, enjoying the thief far too much to allow the boy to pass out.
Gin watched the pair, smoke lazily curling from his lips as Vodka shattered Kiden's femur, the chair Kiden was tied to rocking from the impact. Vodka had been giving Kiden his loving care for several hours now, the front of the man's shirt and pants saturated with Kiden's blood, and now each hard won scream was a rather beautiful symphony to Gin, who had been tiring of the thief's silence. He had even forgotten what they were there for, too interested in seeing how well they could break the thief.
--
Saguru opened the door as the visitor started playing Jingle Bells on the buzzer, reaching out to snatch the hand, before blinking as his brother. It took a moment for Saguru's brain to catch up, considering his brother was usually quite a bit…shorter.
"Have you seen Kiden?" Ask asked, pushing past Saguru, moving stiffly, the 'joint' of his prosthetic locked into place.
"Do come in," Saguru muttered, closing the door before turning to Ask. "Not since we arrived home, no."
"He's missing…again. I thought he might have come over here," Ask said, taking a seat as he un-locked the knee of his prosthetic legs, hissing slightly as he could finally take the weight off his legs.
"How long has he been, er, missing…and is he actually missing this time?"
"Two days, and yes, he's actually missing. No female counterparts running around."
"Hmm, have you tried Kaito's warehouse yet? Kiden has little reason to be here, when Kaito's not,"
Ask gave his brother an annoyed look, clearly questioning why Saguru was considered smart. "Of course I have, I checked there yesterday," Ask said, waving his hand to brush off the suggestion. "You were actually last on my list of places to check,"
"So glad to know," Saguru muttered, sitting across from Ask, unable to stop simply staring at the boy.
Ask slowly grew uncomfortable with Saguru's scrutiny, but did his best to hide it, wondering what was going through his brother's brain. He blinked as his brother suddenly stood, vanishing upstairs.
Ask debated leaving, but the idea of standing up again, when his limbs were already killing him was something that he wasn't eager to endure at the moment, so instead he laid back against the couch, giving a soft whimper at the pain shooting up his left thigh.
Saguru returned a moment later, dropping something into Ask's lap as he headed for the kitchen, returning again with a glass of water which he set on the table next to his brother.
"Why do you have a bottle of Percocet just lying around?' Ask asked, turning over the bottle in his hands.
"It wasn't just lying around, it was locked up in my safe, and it's Kaito's. He's a clumsy fool when it comes to new tricks."
"You keep your boyfriend's pills in your office safe?" Ask questioned around the pill in his mouth, taking a large swallow of water to wash it down.
"Only those he can't be trusted with." Saguru said dryly.
Ask opened his mouth to question that further before snapping his mouth shut again, deciding not to push just yet while he still needed Saguru's help. After Kiden was found however, he intended to push every button he found, as hard as he could. Saguru had seventeen years of annoying little brother to make up for after all, and the blond seemed intent on attempting to build some sort of relationship with him. "How are we going to find him this time?"
"We'll find a way, we always do," Saguru said, not sure himself.
--
"I need something of his blood," Akako said, sitting at her desk in front of a silver bowl filled with water, gently holding Shiho as she nursed the newborn. "Blood from a family member, close kin."
"Kiden doesn't have family, Akako," Saguru said, rubbing his hand over his face. "He was created by….whatever the fuck that gem used to create him. Would semen work?"
"Well, it's something of him," Akako said, and the pair turned to Ask who shook his head.
"We haven't had sex since before Cairo and we don't use condoms," he answered.
"What about his blood?" Kaito asked softly from the couch, not raising his head from where it rested in his hands.
"Useable, but where would we get it?" Akako asked, blinking as Kaito stood and took her ceremonial knife.
Kaito tested the edge of dagger before drawing across his hand, offering the dripping blood to her. "Kiden was created from my flesh, we still share the same blood, even if it does flow in another body," he said softly.
Akako nodded, shifting Shiho to raise a small bottle, collecting the blood in the vial, waving Kaito away once it was filled. She turned back to the bowl, chanting softly as she allowed three droplets to fall into the water, stirring the water with a silver rod before sprinkling a handful of crushed orange peel and lavender flower dust over the water, stirring counter to her previous movements. "Silence," she commanded the room, staring deep into the rippling water, waiting for the first sight as the spell took hold.
"He's still in Tokyo…warehouse district…grey metal with a green roof…" Akako said describing the visions as the blood spell narrowed down on the target.
Saguru started writing the moment she spoke, trying to keep up with her woods while Ask copied his notes to a text message for Pan.
"Blood…his blood…everywhere…he's screaming…I can't see…wait…" Akako added another drop of blood, stirring the water again, cursing as the images faded, and clicking her tongue as she waited for the boost to stabilize the spell. "Blond…white blond…large…blocky…a woman…short blond hair…insane…a butterfly on her eye…"
Ask's head snapped up, his breath catching. "Please no…please no…please…."
"Red wine…." Akako's words started to speed up, almost running over each other before she started screaming, clutching at her chest, Shiho starting to cry as her mother cried out.
"Akako!" Saguru yelled, dropping his notes as he raced to the witch's side.
Kaito's arm shot out, sending the bowl flying before grabbing Shiho as Akako collapsed into Saguru's arms, crying.
"He hurts," Akako whispered brokenly, still feeling the echoes of Kiden's pain over the broken connection that she had no idea how was established.
"Do you know where he is?" Kaito snapped.
Saguru glared at Kaito, a frown growing on his face as he caught sight of Ask behind his boyfriend, watching as his brother slowly rocked back and forth on the couch, his arm wrapped around his body tight enough his knuckles were turning white.
"Ask?" Saguru asked softly.
"She'll kill him," he whispered brokenly, still rocking.
---
Kiden didn't know how, in the past two days, they had missed it, but resting in his waistband, build into the back seam, rested Lily's last gift to him, the butterfly knife she had left behind.
It wasn't much, not anything he could use for more then one action, but after all this time, and it was a ray of light from the gods themselves. It took the better part of two hours to get his broken, useless hands in a position to pull the knife from its sheath, another hour to flip it open without dropping it, and still thirty more minutes to saw through the ropes binding him.
Vodka and Gin were asleep by this time, leaving Chianti to guard him, not that she was doing very well, considering she was facing the other way, smoking a cigarette. A grin spread across Kiden's face, and he leapt at her, using the momentum to kick the chair off his legs, razor wire snapping as it smashed into Vodka.
Kiden took the moment of shock to bring the butterfly knife up, slicing Chianti's throat, falling to the ground with her, leaving her gasping on her blood as he stared at Gin, waiting for the gunshot he knew was coming.
Both men started as the door to the warehouse burst open, Akako in the lead of the group, fire already leaving her fingers, aimed at Gin. The blond ducked the first blast, only to be hit by repeat gunshots from Pan and Eva in the arms and legs.
Conan darted Vodka who was rising again, while Ask kneeled next to his mother's body, blinking.
"You killed her," Ask said, pouting. "I wanted to do that,"
"Next time, when we meet your father," Kiden said, leaning on his boyfriend. "If you don't need me…" the thief passed out, slipping from Ask's shoulder, hitting the floor with a rather wet sounding thud.
---
"I'm getting really sick of hospitals," Kiden muttered to the ceiling, wishing he could turn his head so see something other then the ugly industrial white above him.
"Stop getting injured then," Ask said tiredly, once more in his wheelchair, gently holding Kiden's un-casted hand. He brought the thief's hand up to his mouth, brushing a gentle kiss over the bruised knuckles. "Thank you," he whispered softly.
Kiden smiled, squeezing Kiden's hand. "I promised you that you'd see justice…just helped that I needed her out of my way," Kiden said, bushing off Ask's thanks.
"This puts us back a bit," Ask said, releasing Kiden, schooling his face into a mask that kept his emotions locked away.
"How so?"
"There's no way you can be Kid like this, you can't even move your head."
"I would if they took off the fucking neck brace, but Kid doesn't have to move, it's just a matter of illusion. Besides, I only have one more heist to perform,"
"You found…"
Kiden laughed. "Pandora doesn't exist,"
---
"What the hell are you on about? Of course Pandora exists," Kaito muttered, frowning at Saguru and Conan.
Saguru sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Not anywhere in Japan or most of the UK, Kaito."
"How would you know, it's not like you've been,"
"Looking? We have for the past seven years. Between my name and Conan's reputation we have searched every known gem we could, Pandora, for all intents and purposes, doesn't exist."
"There's no way…" Kaito whispered.
"We have collected," Saguru flipped open a file, skimming it for a moment. "Two thousand stolen gemstones, fourteen thousand fakes, and three that no one had ever heard of. Every major insurance agency on two continents have been helping with verifying the stones and there is no such thing as a double gem, either natural or synthetic, the only known doublets are created with glass and none are Pandora." Saguru closed the file, interlacing his fingers on top of it.
Kaito sat down hard in the chair next to him, staring at Saguru. "My father…died for Pandora. It has to exist!"
"The only way Pandora could exist if it's still in the ground," Conan said softly, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Not even my father's sources could track it, nor could the FBI and CIA. We tried, Kaito. For seven years we've been looking for it."
Kaito shook his head desperately, not wanting to hear their words, not wanting to know that everything had been in vain.
"I'm sorry," Saguru said softly.
---
"There's more then one definition for a gem," Kiden said softly, smiling as he heard the scratching of a pen, knowing that Eva was taking notes. "The most obvious is of course, a gem-stone, a precious or semi-precious stone to be cut and polished. But, there are lesser definitions, and I suspect that, that is what we're dealing with here. After all, oral traditions mutate, and any legend that has truth to it is generally far removed from the original,"
"Pandora…wait, you don't seriously believe that the original?"
"Pandora was, first and foremost, a woman. A gem or treasure to any man. How better would you describe the first woman you ever saw? Given all the gifts of the gods to be perfect, beautiful…everything your heart desired?"
"Pandora was an ancient Greek myth, even if such a woman once existed, she would be long dead, Kiden." Pan said, resting his chin against his fingers. "What makes you think you could find her?"
"Pandora was gifted by the gods only in one version, in pre-Hesiodic times; Pandora herself was a goddess, Anesdoria, an immortal in her own right. If Pandora existed, before the myth got confused and convoluted, she would then still exist in her eternal form."
"You're talking about someone living forever, Kiden. Outside of fairytales that doesn't happen, there are no goddess left amongst man, and certainly not one that contains a red stone that bleeds tears of immortality."
"And once upon time, magic didn't exist, a soul couldn't be split into two bodies, and there was no such thing as the Magician in the Moonlight. But it does, it can and I'm him. Say what you want, Pan, but I think Pandora exists."
"You've lost your mind," Eva said, staring at Kiden.
"I never had one to begin with," Kiden said with a laugh, ignoring their looks of fear and doubt.