The World Of Destiny Island

A/N: Kingdom Hearts is the property of Square-Enix etc, etc...

Trying Your Luck is by and copyright The Strokes, from their Is This It? album.

Trying Your Luck

Frega was alive.

"And he tried to kill... me!" Baralai whispered to himself as he listened to the teenage bride and groom start the thirtieth stanza in the wedding vows they composed themselves.

"My love is like a fiery bird..." the bride began.

Sweet. Evil. Yevon. How long is this gonna take? he wondered.

Baralai unkindly wished that her former boyfriend– whom rumor had it she was sleeping with on the side up until last week– would show up and stop the wedding now.

Now! Now damn you! he willed the boy to show up at the Temple doors so hard that he upset his ulcer.

The little guy, their Fry (as they affectionately called him all those years ago) tried to blot them out with a Hadoken spell. It hadn't worked, but Fry had been damned serious.

When the spell fizzled out, Fry simply turned around and left.

"Thanks for the tea, I shall return to kill you," was all he said.

Baralai turned the events over and over while the badly advised wedding dragged on and on.

"Stay inside your house," he told the Mayor, "Whatever happened to him, wherever he's been– he's clearly snapped. Stay inside!"

Frega told them he wanted revenge– but for what?

And where was he? Baralai checked all over town after leaving the Mayor's house, and couldn't find him. He was half inclined to think that they had experienced a bizarre beyond-the-grave vision, but he never found anything like this in the Temple records.

If I could just talk to him, Baralai thought.

He wished Frega would show up and try to kill him right now.

This couple had hurriedly gotten engaged after The Incident– one of those "I could be dead tomorrow, let's get married" deals.

"My love is like this flower petal..." the groom started stanza thirty-one.

Without a doubt, weddings were the worst aspect of the priesthood– it's the same thing, over and over. Couldn't he just get away with stamping people's hands or something?

"... and promoting the rocking... of... the casbah..." the groom said his line as though he took script reading from a bad Captain Kirk impersonator.

Baralai wished he had his gun.

There better damn well be an open bar, he thought.

Kairi had better luck than Baralai when it came to hunting down Frega. She followed him to the Blue Parrot that after he left the house, where he entertained a number of single ladies. She wasn't allowed into the establishment, of course, being a minor, but she watched him through the window until the place closed and he sent the women packing.

And then she stopped him outside and gave him a long speech about friendship or something. She didn't remember it later and no wonder either, it was three in the morning and she couldn't think clearly for some reason. After dropping this enlightenment on him she staggered home and got caught sneaking in by Mom.

Kairi and Mom generally got along well, better than most teenage girls and their mothers, but not by much.

Flashback

Kairi scrubbed the floors on her hands and knees.

"My real parents are gonna come back for me someday!" eight year-old Kairi yelled. She thoroughly deserved her punishment. She accidentally burned down the janitor's shed at school while conducting a test on her doomsday device. She wouldn't admit being in the wrong until Dad sat her down and had a long talk about ethics with her.

"Oh!" Mom slapped her forehead. "You must mean that king and queen who showed up looking for their princess this morning. Oh dear, I turned them away, guess you're stuck here forever!" she sneered.

"You're mean. I hate you!"

"No you don't."

"Yes I do!"

"No. You. Don't."

"Do so!"

"Are you arguing with me?" she asked quietly. This was Mom's dangerous tone, and by the time it came into use in arguments Kairi was guaranteed another day's work doing chores.

And so the morning after Mom caught her sneaking out to pester Frega, Kairi had to get up at sunrise to start weeding the garden, pruning the hedges, mowing the lawn, washing the windows, beating the rugs, chopping wood, laying concrete, tarring the roof, drilling for oil, and whatever else her sadistic mom could think up.

After an entire morning of yard work she got out the pickax and started work on digging that pond Mom had wanted for a while. The yard looks fabulous enough, Kairi thought.

"Wax on, wax off," Kairi sighed, and started swinging.

The work wasn't too bad for her, she liked getting to swing the pickax and destroying the lawn. It felt so... powerful. Maybe she liked to see an equal amount of change to the world around her for the amount of effort she expended, and nothing provided that immediate visual like building a machine or changing the yard. Or maybe it was because she still pretended to be warrior in secret, and she'd pretend that she was "killing" monsters with her mighty war hammer o' justice.

She stopped suddenly and shivered. Her skin prickled and her heart felt frozen inside her. She lowered the pickax, but tightened her grip on it.

She was being watched.

"Hello," the mage stood at the very edge of their property line said with as much friendliness as he could force. She recognized him. Garm, an unremarkable man, neither plain nor beautiful, someone completely forgettable. He was the leader of the white mages who appeared on the morning after the Heartless attacked. He had tried many times to get into their house to "get readings for their study of the phenomena," but Mom always forbid him entry.

It was because of Dad. Dad hated the Center of White Magic in Burmecia, his old school, and they had no love for him. Mom was sure they were only trying to get into his library.

"Oh. Hello," she said coolly.

"Surely such a dirty job can be done by someone else?" he asked. "Perhaps I could help you," he said. Although something about his manner suggested that he'd like nothing more than an excuse to step onto their property.

"No thanks. I'll get in trouble," Kairi said, putting a little more ice into her voice. She turned from him and started again, hoping he'd get the hint.

"This isn't work fit for a lady, Princess. It really wouldn't be a bother– all you have to do is ask," Garm said. Kairi rolled her eyes and ignored him. "Hey! Did you hear me?"

Just go away you creep, she thought. He didn't say anything else, but she dared not look over her shoulder and encourage more talk if he still stood there.

Still, the chill in veins told her that he was still watching her. He'd been doing that ever since he arrived– watching her. Well he wasn't going to get at her Dad's research through her, she vowed.

"What are you doing?" Frega asked. She spun around and saw him crouching at the edge of the marked area. She relaxed and lowered her pickax.

Garm was gone.

"Digging a hole."

"Why?"

"Because it's fun," Kairi said irritably and immediately regretted it. "I'm sorry! I'm not usually like this, honest!"

"In trouble with the law, I see." Kairi cursed Mom for making her do such sweat-inducing labor. He'd never go out with her if she looked and smelled like a serf.

"She's such a slave driver," Kairi said, "What did you ever see in her?"

"She was a good friend. But I guess her not making me dig holes might've had something to do with that." He smirked. To Kairi, it looked like the most radiant smile she'd ever seen. She determined to step up her efforts in getting him to fall in love with her.

Kairi stared at him.

"That's... great! I mean, sure it's still wrong to want to kill someone– but lots of people want to kill the Praetor," Kairi rambled. "However, this is good start. I knew you weren't unreasonable!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him back toward the house. She ignored his hisses at the unwarranted contact.

"Mom was so worried about you turning up like this, all evil."

This is great, she thought. If Mom and Frega could reconcile their friendship then Kairi could hang around him as much as she wanted! She could take him on a date– er, take him to see the (romantic) sights of Destiny Island… all alone… and at night.

"Beaker!" Mom called from the kitchen when she heard the back door open, "You've been at it all day! I was wondering when you'd take a break, you don't have to kill yourself you know… oh."

"Beaker?" Frega said.

"Heh, pet name," Kairi explained with a sheepish grin, a blush spread over her unburned skin. "Hey, Mom, Frega has something to say!" She shoved Frega towards the kitchen and beamed stupidly at Mom.

Frega tried to look as conciliatory as a person who never offered apologies could appear to be.

"Uh... well..." he nervously scratched the back of his neck.

"I'll leave you two alone," Kairi said. She bounced up the stairs to her room to change into a more flattering outfit. It was dreadful that all she had in her closet were too bright and lame, she decided after looking at her options. What if one wanted to leave a more mature impression?

She remembered the way the single women threw themselves unsuccessfully at him. Even in her state she could see that he seemed to get more out of heaping abuse on the women rather than receiving attention.

Things would be different for her, she knew.

I've got an edge. She smiled at her reflection in the full-length mirror in her room. Even when she was smug she was sickeningly, appallingly cute and mysterious.

I better wash up first, she combed her fingers through her hair.

She listened to the two adults for a second on her way to the bathroom.

"Soooo…" Mom drew this out, "You want to kill my husband?"

"Yeah. Isn't it strange how things work out?"

"Yes, it is." Mom said through clenched teeth.

They're getting along, Kairi nodded happily and went to wash up.

She just missed the knock at the door.

"The flowers might be a bit much," Wakka said to himself just before the door opened and the Mayor looked at him with a stunned expression.

"Yes?" she prompted after he stood silent for too long.

"Hi, Mayor!" he said and held out his hand. His nerves made him jumpy and he nearly jabbed his hand right into her chest. She took his hand.

"Good Afternoon, Wakka. Are those for me?" she glanced at the small bouquet he held in a death grip. The lad blushed furiously and stuttered badly. "I see," she said, "You're here to see Kairi."

"Yes! Me see Kairi!" he gasped, his fear let go of him and he relaxed. Now that he'd gone through with this part he felt a lot less nervous– kinda like when he was called upon to make the winning goal for the final game last year. Yeah, he cheered himself, that's the ticket! It's just like sports...

Like baseball, a wicked part of his mind whispered.

Shut up! he yelled at it.

"Come into the living room," the Mayor said with a resigned air, "she'll be back down in a minute. By the way, this is Mr. Frega." Wakka barely spared the blue-haired elf in the sharp suit a glance and a civil handshake. Not that Mr. Frega seemed eager to touch him, Wakka noted.

What would he say to her? He was winging this thing so far, having gotten the urge to see her as soon as he got up from the first untroubled sleep he'd had since his friends…

It still hurt to think of his friends.

The Mayor offered him some tea, but he was too wound up to accept. The blue-haired elf said something in a snooty voice, but Wakka didn't pay attention. The Mayor scowled at her guest. They all sat there uncomfortably for while, before the Mayor finally turned to Wakka and said:

"Mr. Frega owns a hi-tech transport company, Wakka. Isn't that lovely? Hmm?" She looked kind of worried. The two adults leaned in toward Wakka and it really made him feel hopelessly out of place.

"Gee… That's great. I guess," Wakka politely commented.

"Good evening, everybody!"

Kairi came slinking down the stairs. She had washed the grime out her hair and for some reason she was wearing those fancy high-heeled shoes from the other night as well as a rather clingy dress

For Wakka, the wind blew gently and the angels sang.

"Kairi," the Mayor put her hand to her forehead and sighed.

"You have a suitor," Frega sneered. Wakka decided he didn't like this guy.

"Oh, that's just Wakka," Kairi said to Frega in a completely un-Kairi-like simpering manner. "We're just friends!" She walked right past Wakka without even looking in his direction.

Ouch! Noooooo! His self esteem took a header off a very tall cliff.

"Can you stay for dinner?" she asked Frega, "Can he, Mom? Please?"

"Wakka," the Mayor took pity on him, "would you like to stay for dinner as well?"

The Mayor's cooking was legendary in the tri-island area and almost made up for Wakka's bruising disappointment. He didn't know what Seared Red Mullet was (his own family being the fast-food family from hell) or what went into it, but the experience nearly distracted him from the disturbing way Kairi practically draped herself over the obnoxious creature.

While Frega and Kairi were setting out plates the Mayor pulled Wakka aside.

"Don't take any of this personally, Wakka. She's not herself just now, and if you give it a little time she'll forget all about him. You're a fine young man and you shouldn't give up on her yet."

The Mayor had a way of making people feel comfortable in weird situations like this. Too bad it wasn't working just now.

"He's got an unfair advantage, you see, but it won't last. It's a way of making people trust him immediately– a glamour, if you will. Does that make sense?" He nodded, even though he didn't understand.

"By the way, have you met him before? You don't seem to like him very much."

No, he pointed out that if he had met an elf once in his sheltered life on the island he would've remembered it– especially one that had the loathsome habit of making snide comments under his breath and "accidentally" tripping people from time to time.

What did Kairi see in him? Was she nuts?

Kairi got her wish to have unhindered access to Frega.

Mom believed that by trusting people you could get them to trust you, and this was how she would win her friend back to the ranks of reasonable people. He would dine with them, hang around them, whatever was needed to get him to open up to them and reveal what he had against his former friends.

"Why don't you stay with us?" Mom insisted after dinner and Wakka awkwardly excused himself.

"But Myrna–" Frega began to argue.

"I'm not letting an old friend of the family sleep out in the woods, or wherever you've been hiding. You're staying here!"

"Hey! I'll help you get your luggage!" Kairi insisted.

"Excellent idea!" Mom agreed.

So Kairi was sent to fetch his luggage.

"Don't try anything cute," Frega said to Kairi on their way to his campsite. They came to the intersection at the end of the main drag where the road once panned out from asphalt to dirt.

"I won't," Kairi lied, and smiled so hard you could hear the "ping" of the sunlight on her teeth.

Several "Oops I fell over" ploys later and they were out in woods. Kairi nearly walked right over the campsite. Frega brought so little with him, that it only took a few minutes to pack up his things.

"You want to see something beautiful?" she asked when they finished.

"What?" he asked in a completely bored voice. "Are you gonna take me to a tree house or something? Because I'm not interested."

Okay, the Cove is out, what else do I got? She recovered.

"It's a natural wonder..."

He hesitated.

"Ah, this is so romantic," Kairi leaned against him. She led him to an isolated cliff that overlooked the ocean. They were surrounded by trees and well hidden from prying eyes.

"Friendly little thing, aren't you?" Frega shook her off. "Don't you have any hobbies or something else you can do? Please don't tell me you chase old men (and elves) for recreation."

"N-no."

"Good. Now, I'm sure a vibrant young lady such as yourself has a lot of friends, so why don't you go and play with them."

"They're missing," Kairi said matter-of-factly. "The only one left is Wakka." She stopped, what would he think of her? "Not that he isn't nice and all, it's just that we had our own... inner circles."

"So what do you do all day now? Surely you don't hang around all alone. Not on this island with all these immoral pirates and those strange mages!"

"Not always. I take care of Mom. I do yard work and chores." She refrained from adding and don't call me shirley.

"What a good child," he said. He patted her on the head.

She beamed at the compliment, but she could've done without the head patting.

"I like machines. Tell me about the machines your company makes."

Frega sighed.

"I don't think it would be easy to explain," he said quietly, "without a tour of my facility." He suddenly frowned (and if she were on her guard or more herself she would've found it a bit theatrical.) "Your mother would never let me take you there. Such a shame, it's not that far away. We could be there and back in less than an hour." He shrugged. "Oh well. Mothers."

If Frega had offered to take her swimming in shark-infested waters wearing a wet suit made of steak she would've jumped at the offer. He smiled hugely when Kairi told him that maybe it wouldn't be such a big deal if she went with him without telling her mother.

They would be there and back in an hour; what would be the harm?

"You can't have a job," Wakka stated, and it was a clear fact, their Mom would never allow her sons to hold jobs until they finished school. Chappu only looked at his brother sadly and shook his head.

"I already signed a legally binding contract; had my lawyer check it and everything. I'm going to miss that guy," he said fondly.

"What kind of company hires an eleven year-old? What possible use could they have for you? I've never even heard of this company– they could be slavers, or pedophiles!"

"Look, Bro," Chappu stopped packing and stood up to face Wakka, "You know what I've been doing all these years– the scheming, the dealing, things of that nature?"

"Well, uh," Wakka started to squirm. He did know, but he and his family always looked the other way in the interest of familial harmony. Besides, he kinda got the feeling that it made Mom a little proud.

"Well I've pretty much gotten as much done as I'm ever gonna do here. This is small stuff, I want to move on to bigger things. I want respect."

"But what about school?"

"Isn't my thing," Chappu resumed packing.

"Mom won't like this."

"She and Dad already know."

"What?"

"They both said it was okay."

"What?"

"Mr. Frega already came over to talk to them. Man, I didn't think they'd let me go either– except Dad might've gone with it, I dunno– but he just shows up and suddenly they can't be prouder."

"Prouder?"

"Yeah, if I didn't know any better I'd be a little insulted about being pushed out the door so fast. That Mr. Frega… I've got to find out how he does that."

"You're talking about how everyone thinks he's the greatest thing since Lobster Roll Saturdays at the Blue Parrot?" Wakka said miserably. He couldn't understand it. The little creep was so irritating.

What was wrong with everybody?

"Oh he's con artist, I know that," Chappu said, "but he's too good. I'm gonna get his secret for myself."

"I do not like this," Wakka snorted.

"He's such a fantastic liar, a great con artist," Chappu said.

"I know, and he's a jerk! He's always insulting people."

Chappu paused to consider this.

"Yeah," he said slowly, "Yeah, I think you might be right. Damn! That must be some secret weapon he's got!" Chappu frowned. "Hey! How come you don't like him? You've got to be the only one."

"How can anybody like him. He's so... so..." Wakka struggled to find the word that fully encapsulated his loathing for the creature.

"Yeah, but, don't you admire him? Even a little?"

"You must be crazy," Wakka snapped.

"No. You must be immune to it!" he sat back and scratched his head. "I wonder why that is?"

Wakka started to pace around the room he shared with his little brother for nearly all Chappu's life.

"Well if Frega's used "the whammy,"" Wakka made the hanging bunny ears with his fingers, "to convince Mom and Dad to let you go– and that's another thing, where are you supposed to be going?"

"Lunarian Concern Home Office. I think it's in the Sandwich Islands or something."

"You shouldn't go. They'd never let you go under normal circumstances!"

"Well that's my job," Chappu sighed. "I take advantage of unusual situations to improve my lot in life, and if you guys knew the things I did for this community– well, it'd blow your minds!" He finally closed his gym bag and hoisted it over his shoulder. "You shouldn't worry about me, I'll be okay. I'll call you guys tomorrow and tell you all about it; then you'll see."

Wakka followed Chappu out the front door while trying to think of another reason, a great reason for Chappu not to leave.

"You going to see me off?" Chappu asked.

"Yep," Wakka said, grateful for the prolonged opportunity to stop this terrible mistake.

"We better shake a leg then," Chappu looked at his watch.

To Be Continued