I'm so very pleased that I managed to write this in no more than two, count 'em, TWO DAYS. I RAWK. Editing took a long time, but whatcha gonna do? Anywho, just so's ya know, I'll be getting more into character development soon. I had to put it off a bit for plot. ^.^; For me, it's one or the other, since I haven't quite got the hang of them both yet. But I have plans…ohoho, yes, I have plans… Also, thanks again to reownastormcrow for reviewing again. Glad you liked it!

Disclaimer: [insert joke about how I don't own KH and how poor I am here]

Chapter 6

My footsteps echoed softly in the impossibly silent room that menaced above me, teasing with its gigantic size. I wished that I was at a normal height. Honestly, being a gnome wasn't all that fun, and I didn't even get the pointy red hat as a consolation prize. I stopped around a foot from the table, analyzing my surroundings. There were a few heartless around, but, strangely, they were ignoring me. Curiously, I slashed at one, watching it fade as a small heart rose up towards the high ceiling and disappeared. The other heartless continued to float around, completely ignoring me. Suddenly, I turned and poked a nonplussed-looking Shadow, only to have it shy away and scamper behind a nearby Red Nocturne. What was up with these heartless? Then, a strange feeling came over me, and I felt the darkness I had noticed earlier grow impossibly strong.

"So you're finally starting to notice that they're not quite reacting like they used to," crooned a devastatingly familiar voice from behind me, "you poor thing."

I whirled, feeling hatred filling every inch of my lanky body as Maleficent strode forward in all her sickening glory. I did not re-sheath Cathal; the old hag could never be trusted.

"Come, now, let's play nicely," she mocked, "besides, since you have neglected to do your work, it seems as though I have to do it for you."

Maleficent's gaze traveled up to the ceiling, making mine follow almost instinctively. We looked on as Sora, standing quite comfortably on the ceiling, lit one of the flowered lamps above. I winced and shaded my eyes as the sudden burst of light enveloped us. Maleficent began to shroud herself in darkness, but not before the pointed her staff at an unspecified open space behind me, darkness beginning to ooze out of it

"Remember, my dear," Maleficent's voice hissed as her staff lowered once more and she faded into a puddle of darkness, "the brighter the light, the darker the shadow…"

In a last ditch attempt to save Sora from having to fight a heartless, I threw myself forward towards the dwindling patch of darkness, only to make a spectacular face plant into the linoleum. Groaning as I rubbed my aching nose, I looked up, only to see Sora light the next lamp, feeling my skin beginning to burn from exposure to the light. What are you doing, stupid?

Suddenly, I heard a scuffling noise behind me and turned to see a gigantic Trickmaster forming beside the nearby table. Unfortunately, I couldn't do anything about it as my exposed skin was beginning to sizzle. It was the first time in my life that I was smoking hot. Literally. It wasn't as nice a sensation as I thought it would be, either, and it felt like I was being slow-roasted on a spit over an open fire. I only needed an apple in my mouth, and the image of a suckling pig would be complete. Covering my face with my arms and letting my sword fall to the ground, and I ducked under the fireplace, feeling a cool sensation spread across my skin once more. Almost like that time Riku had dunked Sora and me in the water when we were eight in the Destiny Islands. My heart ached at the thought, and I buried my head into my knees, trying to block out everything that was happening. I didn't want to let Sora get hurt, but what could I do? I had even dropped Cathal in my haste to get away from the piercing light. Not to mention the tiny little fact that I was most probably injured…

Outside, the heartless Maleficent had summoned reached a terrifying height, for midgets, that is. I looked guiltily on as the heartless saw the Cheshire Cat (who had just made an appearance) glared at the menace, causing it to fade into the darkness. Just before Sora, who I had strangely been able to sense coming, arrived, the psychotic cat struck a questionable pose. While I was busy thinking of why he would ever strike a pose like that with Sora coming, even if he was twisted, the said boy arrived and climbed up onto the table. They began speaking, but I couldn't hear word. I leaned forward, only catching a few muffled syllables before I succeeded in burning my nose as it was put out into the brightly lit room.

"…too late!"

Suddenly, the cat disappeared, leaving Sora looking bewildered. With the Cheshire Cat gone, Maleficent's mutated creation popped back out of the ground an began to attack with…bowling pins? Maleficent had reached an all-time low with her choice of underling. Apparently, Sora and his pals hadn't seen a heartless even juggle, either, since they froze for a minute in awe and confusion before scrambling to attention. However, the Trickmaster (that was its name, I recalled) did not wait, sweeping them off the table before they could completely get their bearings, sending them flying onto the ground. Luckily for them, they floated harmlessly to the floor before the stomping menace came their way.

"Incoming!" I yelled as the heartless swung at them with its bowling pins, causing them to duck. Sora's head whipped around to look in my direction before stumbling over to help Goofy and Donald attack as best they could from the ground. I groaned. They'd never get far this way.

"Hurry! Get up on the table!" I cried, feeling more useless with every passing minute. Pausing only to block one of the bowling pins while Donald and Goofy made their way, Sora began to climb up the chair and grab onto the table's edge, flipping himself up on top. Just as the Trickmaster was about to sweep them off yet again, Sora performed a truly impressive jump, hacking and slashing at its head and causing it to slump to its feet, temporarily knocked out. Sora did not waste a minute in hopping down and bashing away at the heartless' many heads, since he knew they would not be out for long.

The battle went on like this for a while until one of the Trickmaster's clubs finally hit Donald, causing him to pass out. Sora cried out in surprise and anger, blasting the heartless back with a quick blizzard spell before running to his friend's aid. Unfortunately for Sora, the spell merely hindered the heartless, and got up to attack once again and by now he was too busy to notice. I called out in vain, realizing that Sora wouldn't ever leave his friend, except if forced.

It was then that I decided to do something very, very stupid. Pulling down my cloak's hood as far as I could and pulling the billowing fabric around my arms tightly, I raced forwards past Sora and Goofy, who were both at Donald's side, and towards my target, scooping up my fallen sword on the way. Launching myself into the air, I raised the recently-recovered weapon and brought it down with all my strength, slicing the Trickmaster in two and leaving a sizeable indention on the floor beneath. As the heartless faded away to nothing, leaving only a drifting heart behind, I crawled underneath the table, hoping for some reprieve from the light.

"Enya!" Sora cried, rising from Donald'side and pausing, looking back and forth, obviously torn between his two friends. (I was a friend, right?) I heaved a dry laugh and made a Corridor of Darkness underneath me, feeling a sharp pain from the pendant. Not a good idea, apparently.

"Don't worry about it," I said as robustly as I could, waving a free and burning hand carelessly, "I'll just let Riku kiss the boo-boo and make it all better."

"Enya!" he cried once more, taking a step towards me, only to be stopped by a sleepy voice from the door-that-was-not-to-be-used.

"What a racket! How's a doorknob to get any sleep?" I heard the doorknob say as though he were a long ways away, sinking into the darkness with a slight feeling of comfort. I realized later that it was really the same feeling that people get when coming home.

~0o0~

I was sitting at a booth in an old-fashioned ice cream shop while Kairi and Mini Me sat by the window, licking their Sea Salt ice creams happily while singing sea shanties. I idly wondered how many songs they knew about the seven seas and the woes of pirates as I examined a blue spot on the counter where someone's ice cream had dripped.

"Hey, Doc," Enya called to the guy working the counter, whom I remembered as the man who had taken care of me during my stay in the Destiny Islands, surprising me from my brooding session, "d'you know where Riku and Sora are? They were supposed to have met us at the beach half an hour ago, but they never showed."

"I cannae say that I have, lassie," said the man in a thick Irish brogue to go along with his light red hair, "but I did happen to hear of 'em from old man Donahue down at de post office, a tellin' meh that they went out for a wee bit to do a chore for 'im."

I burst out in laughter, banging my fist on the table. That man was obviously no doctor, like Mini Me had called him, and it was questionable as to whether he could even speak proper English. But maybe that was just my memory speaking…

"But shouldn't they have been back by-" Kairi began to say, but was interrupted by the door bursting open and two panting little boys tumbling through. Everyone's attention, including my own, was diverted to the scuffling boys who were just now righting themselves, picking up two fallen boxes from the floor. The question as to where the two boys were was obviously answered.

"Oh," said an highly surprised-looking Sora, "hi, guys. We thought you were still down at the beach."

"Sheah, right, like I'm gonna sit there burning my ass of in the su-" Mini Me began before she was interrupted by Doc.

"Mind yer language, lassie," he scolded, shaking the towel he was using to clean off the counters with in her direction, "no self-respectin' man would e'er marry a girl with the mouth of a sailor."

The whole room burst into giggles, courtesy of Sora, Riku, and Kairi, while Mini Me sat, turning a brilliant shade of fushia.

"I dunno, Doc," Sora said, still snickering, "Riku said that he likes 'em fiery."

"Shut up, stupid," Riku said, immediately stopping his chuckles and smacking Sora's arm, trying to hide the face that he, too, was beginning to blush. Doc and Kairi roared with laughter as Mini Me tried to sink even lower into her seat. I giggled from my seat and propped my feet up on the table. This show had just gotten all the more interesting.

"Anyways," Sora said as the laughter died down, "we've still got one last package to deliver for Mr. Donahue before we can go back to the beach."

"Little late for that plan, bud," Mini Me said, having recovered, shaking her half-eaten ice cream at him, "That train's already left the station."

"C'mon, Enya, we haven't been yet. Plus, this was all so that Sora and I would have money to buy us all ice cream afterwards," Riku said, placing his package on the counter, "Right, Doc?"

Doc wasted no time in ripping open the package gleefully, taking out a couple of ice creams from underneath the counter and throwing them at Riku and Sora simultaneously.

"Well, Mr. Package here says yes, laddie," he chuckled, walking into the freezer and putting the box on a shelf, "and those are on de house for all a de, eh…hard work you've done today."

"Sweet," Sora exclaimed, immediately ripping his open and taking a bite, leaving his package on a nearby table, forgotten.

"Watch out, Sora, don't eat it all at once," Riku warned, taking a tentative lick of his own. He soon proved to be the wiser as Sora ran around the room, yelling about his brain freeze. Kairi giggled as Mini Me rolled her eyes, turning to Riku.

"Where does the last package go to?" she asked, propping her feet up on the table in much the same way as I did. I hesitantly brought mine down again, embarrassed to see my habit in action.

"Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold-"

"Mayor's house," he said simply, still nibbling contentedly on his ice cream and watching Sora race around the room wildly.

"-cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold-"

"Sweet, we can stop by and get a few towels from Kairi's room," she said, following Sora's path around the room with her eyes as he began to slow down gradually.

"-cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, cold…cold-"

"Hey, I thought you said you'd brought your own towel," Kairi interjected, tearing her eyes off Sora for a second before letting them wander back again. He was definitely slowing, now.

"-cold…cold…cold…"

"Meh. So, I lied," Mini Me shrugged, but by now all three's attention was on the fourth, who had now stopped, panting for breath.

"Guess we'd better get going, then," Riku said, peeling his back off the wall, since his sweaty back had stuck to it, and ripping the last bit of Sea Salt ice cream of with his teeth, swallowing slowly, unlike his unlucky companion. He turned back, holding his hand out for Mini Me's popsicle stick, which she passed to his without a second glance. Kairi, noticing this, huffed and threw hers at the back of Riku's head, where it stuck. Not noticing the dew addition to his hairdo, Riku turned and picked up Sora's package, holding the door open for the others to follow.

"You might wanna cut your hair sometime soon," Mini Me said as she stood to leave, grinning a tad evilly as Riku's had automatically flew to the back of his head. His expression changed into a slightly disgusted one as he pulled out the popsicle stick and threw it into the nearby trash can.

"Thanks a lot, Kairi," Riku said sarcastically as Mini Me and Kairi giggled when they passed, "Sora, hurry up and finish, we're leaving"

Sora whirled around, ripping the large chunk of his ice cream left off the stick, tossing it into the bin, and racing to follow after Kairi (and Mini Me, presumably), beginning to scream once more about things of the chilly persuasion as he swallowed. I got up to follow, but the scene was already fading.

"See you later, Doc," Riku said, letting the door swing closed as I desperately tried to follow. I didn't want to leave just yet!

"Aye, laddie, I have no doubts about that 'un," Doc called back to the empty room, his words echoing through my ears as I was whisked away.

~0o0~

I groaned, cracking my eyes open a bit and wincing at the sudden intake of light. I was lying on a cold, stony floor, and my back wasn't feeling particularly cooperative, but…

"You're awake!" a joyful voice whispered from above, and my eyes rolled to get a better look at who was supporting my head on their knees. Riku's silvery-white hair hung gown in a curtain, making me glad that he'd never cut it.

"Ah, finally, our own little sleeping beauty has come back to us," came a distinctly sarcastic and peeved voice from somewhere to my left. My head rolled over in Riku's lap, and I groaned as Maleficent's green eyes stared back.

"Can't," I choked out, pushing myself into a sitting position with Riku's help, "get rid…of me…that easy."

The old hag's echoing laughter filled the Castle Chapel, where I had a sinking suspicion I had been transported back to. I felt Riku's arms help me to my feet and help me to continue standing, and I wondered if I could've done it without him.

"Funny," Maleficent hissed, "and here I was thinking that you were a fool who disobeyed direct orders and sabotaged a whole mission after giving away precious information to the enemy. That gives me a pretty good reason to."

"Sora may be your enemy, you witch, but he's my friend," I countered, wincing as I felt Riku unconsciously squeeze my shoulder a little tightly, and I could tell it was getting to him.

"You fool," she hissed, her eyes glowing even brighter in the dark, "you've forgotten your place. You are only my servant; you have no other affiliations unless I tell you to."

"On the contrary," I laughed vindictively, shrugging off Riku's death grip and staggering forward, "I seem to have just remembered where they lie."

"Silence!" she bellowed, banging her staff on the floor, creating a miniature earthquake. Miniature here meaning that bricks fell down from the ceiling and sent me flying into a nearby wall. I heard screams, but I couldn't tell whether they were Riku's or my own. Not that I cared that much when I blacked out.

Oh yeah. I'm finally updating. I'll have you know that it was the editing that got to me this time…but anyways, this won't be the longest fic ever to grace God's green earth. But there will be a rather nice sequel. 'Cuz that's the way I roll. Anywho, how'd you like Doc? I like Doc lots. I like everything about him. His accent, his hair, his personality. I want to write a story just about him. IS THIS LOVE? Speaking of which…I know I haven't developed Riku and Enya as much as I should…but…y'know…[insert excuse here]. She's very sick. Honest. Anyways, enough about my Great Aunt Eugenia's Pomeranian. She'll live past this jungle foot rot, I know it.

-Miriflowers