justonetruth | Here to fight fire with fire.

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Here to fight fire with fire.

It's night.

The flickering light of flames is cast along the walls of the corridor, the dancing light making shadows leap and jump unexpectedly. A single figure walks steadily through them, holding aloft the lighted torch that casts them. Although her pace is sedate and she is outwardly calm, she has a hand resting on the hilt of one of the two swords she carries. In the dim light, it's hard to tell that much more about her -- a straw hat, showing signs of having recently weathered a storm, hides her face, and robes she wears -- in the darkness, resembling nothing so much as the hakama and coat donned by advanced practioners of aikido, although of a colour and cloth not usually worn -- make it difficult to determine even her gender at first glance.

Coming to the end of one corridor she hesitates over which way to turn. As she is deliberating, a faint noise catches her attention and lifting the torch to see better, Ran glances back the way she has come.

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Suddenly caught in the light of the torch, Ran freezes, his hands coming up in an instinctive 'I'm unarmed' gesture. He hadn't meant to sneak up on the newcomer, but he'd been heading back to his room after a late night of study (one of the advantages of the mansion was that it gave him a chance to jump ahead on his schoolwork), and the flickering flame had grabbed his attention.

That attention quickly changes to the new person's mode of dress. Blinking, Ran takes in the haori and the hakama, the straw hat and the swords, and wonders just what world -- and time period -- this particular person has come from.

It might make explaining the Mansion a bit trickier than usual.

"Sorry -- didn't mean to startle you," he apologizes, slowly lowering his hands. He can't make out the newcomer's face below the hat and the shifting shadows, and while he isn't about to be hostile, he isn't going to completely let his guard down, either.

Ran is still a long moment. The sudden appearance of someone clad in unearthly clothes and strangely familiar is enough to give her pause -- as are his words and the gesture of peace.

His words are concilatory at least, and Ran remembers the stories she has heard. Better not to anger the spirit-folk. "It is I who must apologise," she says. "I have entered your house without leave and lost myself in your maze. I must humbly entreat you to allow me to leave. I erred not from malice, but from need."

....Ooookaaaay. At least they're polite.

A different time period is beginning to look more and more likely -- unless it's one of the Kurobas playing an elaborate trick on him, but Ran's pretty sure that even Kaito wouldn't think to do something like this.

"It isn't my house," he admits, rubbing the back of his neck. "I got brought here the same way you did. This place--" Jeez, how to describe the Mansion to someone who looks like they're from the Edo period? "--it's... between worlds. It just draws us in at random."

Right, Mouri, like that explains everything.

"Not your --?" That was not the answer Ran wanted to hear. She reminded herself that if she was to be trapped, it was better to have company. "The enchantment brought you here as well, then?"

Knowing already what the answer would be -- she'd heard the stories -- Ran asked, "Do you know the means to leave this place?"

Enchantment. Well, that worked as well as an explanation as anything. It wasn't like they'd proved it wasn't magic, after all, and Ran was more than half-inclined to believe it.

He shook his head in answer to the newcomer's question. "It kind of lets us go when it wants to," he explained, grimacing. "Some of us go home all the time, and some of us have been stuck here for months."

The torch, crackling merrily to itself, suddenly emitted a pop and tossed a glowing ember onto the carpet. Ran winced and realized that it should probably be put out before the whole place burned down around their ears. (Provided that could even be done to the Mansion, but he wasn't eager to find out.)

"Come on, I'll show you around," he offered, approaching the stranger and turning down the hallway that would lead to the lobby. What would be a good place to douse a torch? The kitchen? A bathroom? "What's your name?"

"There is no one we might petition to leave?" Ran said, bewildered. "What manner of place is this?"

She hesitated a moment before following Ran, taking her hand off the hilt of the swords. "I have not found lamp or candle yet," she explained quietly, noticing her companion's glance. "If we had some manner of light more suited to the indoors, I might leave this torch."

"I am Mouri Ran, least of the House of Mouri, servants of Megure-daimyo of Beika-cho," she explained. "Currently I am on an errand of great urgency."

"A weird one," he said, dryly. "And don't worry, we'll just find somewhere to put it out."

Ran choked and nearly stumbled at the next comment, however, only recovering his balance through sheer force of will. Granted, there was no reason why the new person couldn't be a version of him, but-- and did he just say Megure-keibu was their daimyo?

Wait. He.

"You're another me!" he exclaimed, ducking down a bit to try and see under the hat with a grin. Finally, he wasn't going to be the only guy Ran here any more! "I'm Mouri Ran too!"

"It is certainly strange," Ran agreed pleasantly. "I would not like to be without any light in it." Ran might be fearless in most situations, but she was not going without a light in what was obviously the abode of some powerful spirits, thank you very much.

Ran started at her companion's excited reaction to her introduction, hand going again to the hilt of her swords. "Another you? I do not follow you."

Ran was too gleeful to consider the movement a threat.

"The Mansion likes to pull in different versions of us from worlds where things happened differently," he explained, turning to the next door and placing his hand on the doorknob. "There's at least four of us here -- five, now that you've shown up -- a bunch of Shinichis -- you do know Shinichi, right?"

Ran couldn't really imagine a world where he and Shinichi weren't friends, but he'd already met that one reversed Conan whose 'Shinichi' didn't even exist, so he figured it was safer to ask. What would Shinichi be like in the Edo period, anyway? Probably a member of a high-ranking samurai family, though Hattori was always the one who was best at kendo...

The karateka belatedly realized that he was letting his mind wander. Giving himself a shake, he tightened his grip on the doorknob and thought, Bathroom. Bathroom with a tub.

When he turned the knob and opened the door, the glint of white tile was a sign that the Mansion was listening. Ran cast around on the wall for a light switch and found it, flicking it on and revealing a small bathroom with a western-style tub. He grinned and stepped inside. "We can put the torch out in here."

"Worlds where things have happened differently?" Ran repeated, still not making much sense of this. "Are you sure you are not of the spirit-folk?" Ran-kun's next words definitely caught her attention and she wouldn't even have cared had he answered yes. "Shinichi's here? I must speak to him. It's -- very important."

Ran stopped still as light suddenly flooded their area. All right, so he was a spirit. "What manner of spirit are you to have daylight at your command?" she wondered before collecting herself -- should she have added 'sir' to that? He didn't seem to be standing on formality with her ...

She looked past Ran-kun at the gleaming white tiles of the bathroom. "Perhaps a fire-place might be better?" she suggested. "If you provide the light, I saw a suitable fireplace in the genkan."

"You mean the lobby?" Ran blinked at his other. "That's new. There wasn't one there yesterday..."

All right, one thing at a time. Explaining electricity probably came before explaining alternates.

"It isn't daylight, it's an electric light. The power is generated somewhere in the house, and fed along wires to the light. Anybody can turn them on and off." He pointed to the switch. "Go ahead, try it! I'm just going to grab a flashlight."

Ran squeezed past his Edo-self back into the hallway, intent on summoning up a closet that would (hopefully) have some kind of a light source in it. The hallways weren't always convenient about providing switches, and even if they were, he didn't want to wake everyone up by turning on all the lights.

"The room you see when you first open the door," Ran explained. "The floor is marble and there is a grand fireplace of the same materials. If it had not been for the storm, I should not have taken the liberty of entering."

Ran backed up so that Ran-kun could get past her into the hallway. She watched him hunt around in the cupboard before reaching for the switch. The sudden darkness made her blink. Hastily, Ran turned the switch on again -- and felt something of her concern lift as the light flooded back. "But this is marvellous!"

There was a muffled but triumphant "Got it!" from across the hall, and Ran emerged from what looked like a storage closet with a pair of flashlights.

"That's the lobby," he agreed, running a hand through his hair. "There wasn't a fireplace there yesterday, but stuff moves around. Come on," he urged, flicking his flashlight on and heading down the hall to the lobby, "I'll show you the way there."

Ran followed the other down the hall. "How is that you are so familiar with the way of this place?" she asked. "You must have been here some time?" She's hoping that he says 'no' -- the thought of being trapped here any length of time when she has so much to do is intolerable.

"Moves around? Does it have a life of its own?"

Ran sighed. He really didn't like reflecting on how long he'd been stuck in the Mansion. Sure, it could be a lot worse, but it was still depressing.

"I've been here a while, but not everyone is like that. Some go home a lot, and some people only come here once and then we never see them again. And yeah, it does sort of have a life of its own. I'll show you after we find the fireplace."

The reluctance in Ran-kun's tone spoke more than he wanted it to about his stay in the mansion. Ran was silent, mulling over the possibilities. There had to be some way out, a puzzle, a task -- Shinichi would figure it out easily enough. She should just imagine herself in his place.

"The lobby," she said as they reached the marble hall. "I will not be a moment." She crossed to the grand fireplace, exactly where she remembered it and threw the torch down. Fire flared quickly amongst the logs laid out ready, and Ran reached up to remove her straw hat, revealing that her hair is bound up in the ponytail favoured by young men of the Edo period.

Ran watched her curiously. "What year is it where you are?" he asked, just to confirm.

"The year? Well, it's been ten years since Lord Matsumoto succeeded to shogun. There's been peace since then," Ran said slowly, before collecting herself -- everyone seemed to forget the Emperor with Matsumoto about. "Ah, I'm sorry. It's Yamamura [ year ]."

"You said Shinichi was here?" Ran reminded her companion. "It is important I speak to him as quickly as possible."

"He's only kind of here. There's--" Her alternate stopped himself, stared. "Yamamura-keibu?!"

"The Emperor Yamamura," Ran said firmly. Her family were loyalist; she would not allow disrespect. "Where is Shinichi?"

"And he's Emperor?"

Incredulous as he was, Ran-kun caught the look on his alternate's face and abruptly shut up. Depending on how traditional his other was, he could wind up provoking a duel in the middle of the lobby, and while he could deal with swords, he'd rather not have to.

"There's... a bunch of Shinichis here," he explained instead, waving his hands in a pacifying manner. "I don't think any of them are the Shinichi you know. You're the first person I've seen who looks like they stepped out of a history book."

"Emperor," Ran agreed. "And as such entitled to our respect and service." Her companion seemed to have collected himself, and Ran decided to let the matter drop. The Emperor was young after all, and in the eyes of many had yet to prove himself.

She listened gravely to Ran's explanation. "History book?" she asked, uncomprehending. "Shinichi is so high. He cuts his hair short, and has no crest on his clothing."

"And arrogant most of the time?" Ran hazarded. "That's him. Look, um..." How to say this? "Where I'm from, it's year [ ]. And the Emperor doesn't really run the country any more. We have a prime minister."

"He does not conduct himself in the manner befitting his station," Ran agreed dryly, though she was unable to keep the eagerness out of her words. "You've seen him? Where is he now?"

Ran blinked at the date Ran gave her, the numbers meaning very little. "It is Lord Matsumoto who rules the people. The Emperor concerns himself with the countries spiritual needs," she explained. "I do not know a Prime Minister."

"What is his station?" Ran-kun asked, curious. No, wait, he needed to stay on topic.

Matsumoto-keibu as shogun and Yamamura-keibu as Emperor... That was a weird thought, and something that had definitely not happened in his history. So how to explain time if there wasn't anything relevant to describe it with?

Ran raked his hand through his hair and grimaced, then finally decided on the simplest terms possible. "Where I'm from, the kind of clothing that you're wearing is from about 300 years ago."

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