Valuable Property

One thing that Sora had learned while fighting the Heartless was to expect the unexpected. If someone had told the thirteen-year-old Sora that he'd be fighting enemies ranging from a shotgun-toting hunter riding an invisible chameleon to a compulsive gambler with magical playing cards, he'd have fallen over laughing. But now, after two campaigns against the Heartless and a victory count of over 500,000, he was half-expecting to be attacked by a businessman wielding giant paperclips on a riding lawnmower.

However, being constantly on guard for random attacks had taken its toll on the young Keyblade master. He had become steadily more paranoid as the months went by. Some days, it was so bad that anyone who startled him was liable to be the target of a vicious swipe of the Kingdom Key. He didn't mean to hurt anyone; he was simply watching his back. Nobody blamed him. Most people would have completely come apart by now.

There was one thing that kept him up nights: he knew he couldn't cover every possible attack vector. No matter how security-conscious or paranoid one may be, there is always a way past their defenses. The opportunity, no matter how small, was there to stay. Sora knew this, and it made him crazy. He could never shake the thought of some powerful entity watching him; carefully conducting surveillance and using their new intelligence to plan a perfectly timed strike.

Though the possibility of such a strike being carried out was infinitesimally small, it still allowed half of evil's formula to exist. Evil is the combination of opportunity and desire. If someone had enough desire, he, she, or they would be willing to wait for years and years until the proper opportunity presented itself. That, more than anything, was the source of Sora's insomnia.

One wishful thought of Sora's was to know the exact way in which an enemy would attack. During his fits of tossing and turning at night, he constantly wished he knew how his enemies, real or imaginary, would choose to assault him. When one knows of an attack, one can plan an effective defense. Without knowing that, though, the best he could hope for was a quick reaction time.

His friends, or at least the ones who knew what he had done, tried to assure him that nothing was out to get him. When that didn't work, they tried to console him by pointing out that he had the skills and experience necessary to defend himself against anything that anyone could throw at him. He remained constantly frightened.

Everyone but Riku and Kairi had dismissed him as a lost cause. Psychiatrists had labeled it as post-traumatic stress disorder. Within months, he had become a case study for graduate students. Multiple doctors had prescribed tranquilizers and antidepressants by the dozens. He had refused it all on the grounds that he didn't want his sanity depending on the twice-daily administration of synthesized chemicals. As such, he continued his decline into complete paranoia.

His story followed the same path as those of traumatized war veterans and survivors of deadly accidents. Depression, paranoia, short-term memory loss, and occasional dementia turned the happy-go-lucky Sora into a dark, sullen recluse. He only fraternized with his closest friends. Of the billions of people in the universe, there were only five that had any kind of meaningful contact with him: Riku, Kairi, Hayner, Pence, and Olette. Everyone else was either shut out or ignored.

Kairi was the most affected by Sora's rapid change. When she thought about the awkward, happy child that Sora had been, it brought tears to her eyes. Though she continued to love him, she couldn't help but to want the old Sora back. More than once, she entertained the idea that she was his only link to any kind of sanity.

As Sora worsened, Kairi followed close behind. At night, while Sora checked and rechecked for anyone or anything lurking in the shadows, Kairi would look at an old picture of the two of them on the dock, watching the sun set over the ocean. She remembered all the times they had spent on that island, from her first trip out there with a very young Sora and Riku to the end of the second quest after the defeat of Xemnas. She hadn't been to the island since they had returned.

***

Vega sat in the main chamber, listening to electricity arcing between wires. Her subordinate, Daq, was finishing a diagnostic test of the equipment they had spent two years building. Though the actual building was finished over six months ago, they had the same problem as all complex machinery: it didn't work right the first time. So they had spent the last half year troubleshooting everything until it ran as smooth as silk. It had to be that good. When they put it to work, their window of opportunity would be very, very small.

She used to tug on her long, brown hair while she waited, but that habit had been kicked long ago. Now she just drummed her fingers on the chair's armrest. Apparently, Daq could hear her, as the crackling of electricity stopped momentarily.

"Just hold on, love. This is going to take a while."

She sighed. As much as she hated waiting, she couldn't rush Daq. He was the best engineer in the universe when it came to incredibly complex electronics like the one he was fixing now. There wasn't a machine built that he couldn't disassemble, repair, and rebuild. Companies on multiple worlds had been offering him jobs with very attractive salaries and benefits up until he vanished four years ago. Vega had seen his talent and decided that he must work for her. She had kidnapped him from his city apartment and brought him to this island, where the two of them designed some of the most malevolent technology ever created.

Two years ago, they had begun building the most sinister device ever made. They cut off contact with the outside world and spent eighteen hours a day designing, building, and testing their masterpiece. Their acquaintances hadn't seen either of them in that time, much less had any idea what they were doing. One of their contacts, a lifelong spy, had gotten worried when the two of them disappeared. Unfortunately, he too 'disappeared' before he could warn anyone. To Vega's knowledge, his body still hadn't been found.

Daq and Vega made a strange team. They were both geniuses in technological fields, but Vega's advantage was that she had been gifted with incredible dark powers. Though Daq was smarter, he was Vega's subordinate, as his fighting skills were that of an uninformed average Joe. And while Daq saw everything as a schematic drawing, Vega saw the world in terms of gain and loss. Every action was carefully weighed beforehand. If someone got in her way, they were eliminated. Obstacles were scrutinized, divided, and systematically destroyed.

Their collaboration had created some of the most terrible pieces of technology in existence. They had been responsible for everything from biological weaponry to psychological torture programs to magical power theft devices. The last was a point of personal pride for Vega, who had designed and built the whole thing solo. It allowed one to, in effect, 'steal' the magical gifts of another person. Only someone with extensive training could resist it. Luckily for mages, the device cost upwards of a back-breaking two and a half billion Munny.

When Vega began hearing stories about the Keyblade returning, she immediately began searching for a way to get one. It was late one night, when she was trying to figure out ways to scam chemical companies out of their formulas, when she figured out a way. It was an audacious plan that required precision timing, overwhelming pinpoint force, and a technological miracle. She could provide the first two, and Daq was there to provide the third. Then they started building.

The sound of electricity arcing ceased, and Daq slid out from beneath the machinery. Vega could see a pair of new singe marks on his dirty blue coveralls. His short blond hair had the characteristic coating of lubricating oil all over it, and he had red rings around his eyes where his goggles sealed against his skin. Though taller than Vega, he was very thin, verging on gaunt. He had tailored his appearances to utility. Short hair wouldn't get caught in moving parts. Being thin allowed him to squeeze into tight spaces more easily. Coveralls were easy to clean and don. Nothing about him was superfluous.

Vega's appearances were a sharp contrast. Her dark brown hair was long and styled, accenting her chiseled, angular face, giving her a stark beauty. Her suit, though actually two separate pieces, transitioned seamlessly from bottom to top. Following the tradition of other dark magicians, it was mostly black. The joints and gloves were accented with orange markings, and there was one wide orange stripe on her torso, starting at the back of her neck and ending in a V on her stomach. Her head was the only skin showing. While the actual suit was skintight, lightweight black armor provided some heft and thickness to her appearance. She had made the suit specifically for her combat needs: mobility, flexibility, but able to take a little punishment. The only problem was that the form-fitted armor was quite difficult to take off. A small compromise, in her opinion.

Daq walked over to a console and tapped on the touchscreen twice. The machine whirred to life, ready to work in unison with the hundreds of others in the room. Vega listened to the sound with satisfaction.

"How many do you have left to fix?"

Daq didn't look away from the touchscreen to reply. "You can start Bravo phase any time you want to, if that's what you're asking. By the time you get back, I'll have these finished." He tapped commands into the virtual keyboard. The whirring machine turned off shortly after he finished the last line of code. "Just tell me when I can turn off the transmitter. It's eating up power that I need to fill our capacitor array. The thing's a power hog."

"I will." She stood, continuing her thought to herself. That boy's got valuable property… property I want. Not even seventeen, and gifted with enough power to destroy entire worlds. The very thought of it makes me giggle, and I never giggle.

Smiling, Vega headed for the Gummi ship's landing pad. The excitement of her plans picking up speed coursed through her, making her giddy. She'd have to calm herself down to fly the Gummi ship off this world. Don't want to send the only means of transportation into the drink because she couldn't control her emotions.

She walked to a set of automatic doors, which noiselessly slid open as she approached. Down the long, rock-walled hallway, there was another set of doors. When those opened, Vega felt a chilly spray on her face as a wave crashed on the rocks below. The wind had picked up considerably since the last time she was outside. The sky was thick with clouds. It looked like a tropical storm was on the way.

No matter, she thought. I'll be gone before it hits. I might have to contend with it on landing, though. That won't be fun.

She climbed into the bubble canopy of the ship and began preparations for takeoff.

***

When night fell on the Destiny Islands, it fell with uncommon grace and splendor. The western horizon would be splashed with orange, pink, red, eventually melting into purple and blue farther away from the sun. To the east, puffy cumulus clouds that had been building over the ocean all day towered above the extinct volcano that had created the islands. The tops of the clouds glowed red as the last rays of sun still shone on them. Near the top of the sky, the brightest stars could just begin to be seen at dusk. It was a sight to see, one that often amazed foreigners. Though dawn was nice on the islands, most agreed that sunset was the most beautiful time of day.

Kairi lay on her bed, looking out her window. The sunset was displayed brilliantly between framed photos of her and her friends on the island and a shooting star clock. Though she enjoyed watching the sunset, she wasn't looking at it to savor the color and beauty. She was trying to find something to distract herself from Sora. Every time Kairi thought about him, she felt as if someone was stabbing her in the chest. At first, she thought it was callous to want to ignore the feeling. But as time passed, it became clear that the feeling wasn't helping anyone, so she distracted herself when it came up.

The sun slipped below the horizon, taking what little light was left in the sky with it. Though the horizon still glowed purple, the sky twinkled with stars. Windows shone with bright yellow light. One window she took special interest in was the one on Sora's house. It was just close enough to make out major details with the naked eye. Some nights, it was on until sunrise. But so far, it was normal. The light would go out eventually, and then Kairi would be able to fall asleep with the knowledge that even Sora was content with his own security.

As she lay on her pillow, she drifted off several times, the melodious song of slumber calling her. When she pulled herself back to full conscience, she checked Sora's window. After the third time, however, it was out. Kairi checked the clock. 9:27. That was early. It usually went out around 10:30 or later.

Though her initial reaction was panic, she calmed herself. Maybe he was beginning to recover. If his paranoia was starting to subside, it would only be a matter of time until he was back to the old Sora she had fallen so deeply in love with. That thought alone was enough to placate her fears. She drifted off again, this time with no intention of waking up until dawn.

A/N: Well, with the publication of this, I will have three stories all running at the same time. And though it may seem like I have abandoned Into the Dust, I have been chiping away at a second chapter. It's slow work, but it's getting done.

On a similar note, chapter 8 of Fortress World is getting done as well. With school in session again, I'll have less of my summer time-sinks to contend with, so updating will become fairly regular again.

I'm taking a different route with this story. While before, I have written stories fully planned out for around 15 chapters, I plan to let this one go as long as I think necessary. It could go in many different directions from here. I guarantee at least one surprise enemy popping up very soon. Where things go from there is all a matter of personal preference and ideas submitted in reviews. So be sure to hit the green button!