Sorry about the wait. I've had my plate full lately.

I hope you guys like this chapter!

Kingdom Hearts (c) to Disney and Square Enix.

My OCs (c) to me.

Sasuke (c) to Yamichaos27.

Shrek (c) to Dreamworks.

Chapter 12: Duloc

The group emerged from the doorway which vanished behind them. Glacies immediately turned around. "Ignis Riku Petra!"

The others all looked and, indeed, there stood the toddler. "Hi 'der sis…"

"Oh great! Now we have to babysit!" Patria rolled her eyes. "Where's that stupid door? We're sending that squirt back."

"That door won't appear again until you retrieve the lock piece."

"Sasuke!?"

The man sighed. "Yea, I'm here too. I was trying to catch that little trouble-maker." He looked across the group of children. "It looks like Ignis and I are stuck here."

"Let's find somewhere where short-stuff can stay" Brimstone grunted. "If this is an alternate universe, there should be someone we know around here. All we have to do is find them and drop the kid off."

Sasuke shook his head. "That's not a good idea. They may be the same person in name, or even in looks but, that does not mean they're the same on the inside. A friendly person in our world, may be an enemy here. Don't worry, I'll watch after Ignis; you kids can do all the hard work. It's your quest after all."

"Fine…"

"Sis! Look! A cas'le!" The little boy pointed to a large castle.

Blaze cocked an eyebrow. "That castle is a little much, don't you think?"

"Yep."

Glacies motioned to the others. "Let's go. That castle is probably our best bet."

They all walked through the gates, into the castle. Hikari looked around. "Where is everyone? It's so quiet."

"Check the information booth…" Ryô pointed to a booth which was marked 'information'.

"That's just tacky."

Ignis tottered forward and pulled a lever on the side of the booth. Two doors opened to show a bunch of little wooden people. They began bobbing up and down and singing:

"Welcome to Dulock such a perfect town

Here we have some rules

Let us lay them down

Don't make waves, stand in line

And we'll get along fine

Duloc is a perfect place

Please keep off of the grass

Shine your shoes, wipe your… face

Duloc is, Dulock is

Duloc is a perfect place." Suddenly a camera snapped a picture of the confused faces of the group.

Everyone stared in confusion at the booth, save for Ignis, who laughed and clapped his hands. "P'ay it again! P'ay it again!" the toddler reached for the lever but, Sasuke picked him up before he could pull it.

"Oh no… I could not bear hearing that song again."

"Check it out," Patria pointed to a donkey and a large green man. "What do you think they're up to?"

The girl followed with the others behind her. As they left the gates, they heard the donkey a voice say. "Let me get this straight. You're gonna go fight a dragon and rescue a princess just so Farquaad will give you back a swamp which you only don't have because he filled it full of freaks in the first place. Is that about right?"

"You know," the green man said. "Maybe there's a good reason donkeys shouldn't talk."

"I don't get it. Why don't you just pull some of that ogre stuff on him? Throttle him, lay siege to his fortress, grind his bones to make your bread, the whole ogre trip." The donkey huffed.

Ignis dashed forward, "The donkey talks!"

Both the ogre and donkey turned around. "And what do all of you want?"

"Just curious," Xally smiled. "What's all this about a princess and dragon?"

The ogre narrowed his eyes. "I don't have to tell you anything… and why aren't all of you running and screaming in terror?"

"Why would we?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because I'm a big, stupid, ugly, ogre!" He yelled. "You know, grab your torch and pitchfork!"

Patria rolled her eyes. "Oh please. We've seen weirder; an ogre is nothing, and neither is a talking donkey. Now, I also want to know, what's all this princess and dragon business?"

"Well you see," the donkey sauntered towards her, "Ol' Shrek here lives in this swamp where Lord Farquaad dumped all these fairytale creatures. So Shrek wants to get his swamp back, so Farquaad said if Shrek goes and gets this Princess Fiona out of a dragon-guarded castle, surrounded by lava, he'll give him back his swamp. I'm his friend and I'm here to help out."

Shrek rolled his eyes. "Donkey, I didn't want you to tell them my life story!"

Brimstone crossed his arms. "I agree with Donkey on something. Why didn't you go all gung-ho ogre on the Farquaad guy?"

"Oh, I know what. Maybe I could have decapitated an entire village and put their heads on a pike, gotten a knife, cut open their spleen and drink their fluids. Does that sound good to you?"

"Hey, watch it." Sasuke glared. "We do have a three-year-old right here. He does not need to hear any of that. Now, we'd be willing to assist you in rescuing this princess but, I would rather you keep the gruesome and gory talk to a zero around the kid here."

"Fine!"

Following Shrek and Donkey, Justin came up to the ogre. "Are you eating an onion?"

"Yes…"

"Hey Shrek," Blaze came forward too. "Did you really mean what you said about the heads on pikes thing? 'Cause, that didn't sound good at all."

"For your information, there's a lot more to ogres than people think." Shrek sighed.

Ignis, holding his sister's hand, cocked his head. "Really?"

"Yes," the green man held out his onion. "You see, um, ogres are like onions."

"You mean, they stink." Patria smirked.

"Yes… NO!"

Pith tapped his chin. "They make you cry?"

"No!"

"You leave them in the sun, they get all brown, and start sproutin' little white hairs." Offered Donkey, making all but Shrek chuckle.

"NO! Layers!" Shrek huffed. "Onions have layers. Ogres have layers. Onions have layers. You get it? We both have layers." He stormed forward.

Donkey followed after him, rolling his eyes. "Oh, you both have layers…oh… You know, not everybody likes onions."

"Sis! Didn' my birt'day cake have layers? So den you like cake! Eve'ybody loves cake!"

"I don't care… what everyone likes." the ogre glared down at the toddler. "Ogres are not like cakes."

Donkey cocked his head before a toothy grin appeared on his face. "You know what else everybody likes? Parfaits! Have you ever met a person, you say, 'Let's get some parfait,' and they say, 'Hel…" His eyes drifted towards little Ignis before he coughed and started again. "'Heck no, I don't like no parfait'? Parfaits are delicious."

"No! You dense, irritating, miniature best of burden! Ogres are like onions! End of story! Bye-bye. See ya later!"

"Parfaits may be the most delicious thing on the whole darn planet." Said 'beast of burden' continued.

Patria smirked. "Hey Donkey, guess what… I don't like parfaits."

As the animal stared at her, Shrek chuckled. "I like this one…"

It took them over a day to reach the volcano where the dragon's keep lay. As they came up to the mountain, Donkey sniffed and cringed. "Ohh! Shrek! Did you do that? You gotta warn somebody before you just crack one off. My mouth was open and everything."

"Believe me, Donkey, if it was me, you'd be dead. It's brimstone. We must be getting close."

"And by brimstone, he means the rock, not me!" Brim held up a hand.

"Yea, right, brimstone. Don't be talking like it's the brimstone. I know what I smell." The animal rolled his eyes. "It wasn't no brimstone. It wasn't the kid and it didn't come off no stone neither."

Sasuke hefted Ignis onto his back as they climbed up the side of the volcano. In the center of the crater lay an island of rock with a castle atop it; a small rope bridge spanned the gap, over a river of lava. "Glacies," the swordsman caught the girl's attention. "I'm going to stay out here with Ignis. I don't think you'd want him near a fire-breathing dragon. Am I right?"

"Yes, please watch over him." She turned; Donkey and Shrek were already halfway across the bridge.

Hikari clung to Pith as they, carefully crossed the bridge. Blaze strode ahead of them, swinging her arms nonchalantly. "You're so calm, Blaze. How do you do that? Oh yea, fire doesn't affect you; if you fall, you have nothing to worry about."

"I may be fireproof," the pyro shrugged. "But, I'm not lava-proof. I'm just composed."

"I think this is the first time in my life I've ever seen you composed, sis."

Blaze stopped, turning to glare at her older brother. "I wouldn't make me mad if I was you. I'm liable to get angry and possibly set this bridge on fire."

Everyone, including Shrek and Donkey froze at these words. "You wouldn't do that, w-would you?"

"Well, as long as my brother doesn't make me mad I won't."

Yuyake turned to the other pyro and yelled. "Brim! Don't say a word until we're off this bridge!" They all hurried the rest of the way across the bridge, eager to be off of the rickety thing.

"So where is this fire-breathing pain-in-the-neck anyway?" the animal huffed.

"Inside, waiting for us to rescue her."

"Shrek," Justin closed his eyes. "He was talking about the dragon…"

The group entered the ruined castle. "Are any of you afraid…?"

"No…"

"Not really."

"But…"

"Shhh!"

Donkey shuddered as he noticed a skeleton. "Oh, good. Me neither. 'Cause there's nothin' wrong with bein' afraid. Fear's a sensible response to an unfamiliar situation. Unfamiliar situation, I might add. With a dragon that breathes fire and eats knights and breathes fire, it sure doesn't mean you're a coward if you're a little scared. I sure as heck ain't no coward. I know that."

"Donkey, two things, ok?" Patria sighed. "Shut… up. Now go over there and see if you can find any stairs. No, forget that. Shrek, why don't you find the princess and we'll handle the dragon and make sure that Donkey stays out of trouble."

The ogre nodded and put a helmet on his head that covered his face. "Sounds good. Now don't get roasted alive." With that, he walked away.

Patria grinned and took off to the group's right. "And where does she think she's going?"

"To find the dragon… of course."

The group followed the red-head until she disappeared around a corner. "Patria! Where are you going!?" Her brother ran after her but paused the moment he came around the corner, as did the others; Donkey just took one look and fled. The girl stood beside the forelegs of a large, red dragon.

"What the heck are you doing…?" Yuyake hissed.

"Just saying hi to my new friend…" she leaned back and looked up before continuing. "Miss. Dragon. Oh, don't worry, we're not like those other knights that have come here. She doesn't know what to make of us… yet." A sinister smirk spread across her face as her Keyblade appeared in her hand.

Glacies held up her hands. "Patria… don't do what I think you're going to do…"

"Do what… this…" With one swift motion, the point of her Keyblade drove into the dragon's right foreleg. The dragon roared in anger and anguish.

"RUN FOR IT!" Everyone took off down the corridor with the beast charging after them. "Patria! Are you trying to get us KILLED!?"

Sora's daughter grinned. "Aw come on! Don't you like the adventure and excitement!?"

"NOT IF IT GETS US KILLED!" Pith growled at his twin. The girl only responded by grabbing his hand and dragging him behind a pillar. The others followed her example and jumped behind pillars just as the dragon let out a blast of flame from her mouth. "And what exactly was your plan, sis!? Care to share?"

"I just had to get her to breathe fire; now all we need is for Blaze to take her out."

"Me!?" The female pyro glared, before it dawned on her. "Of course!"

She moved to step out, but her brother grabbed her arm. "Blaze! You know that'll require full use of your powers. If you do that, it could…"

"I know, but I can handle it." Blaze waited until the fire stopped before stepping out into the middle of the corridor. The dragon cocked her head, obviously, she wasn't expecting one of them to come out into the open. The girl held out a finger and gestured for the dragon to 'bring it on'.

The dragon took this as a sign of mockery and blew a huge burst of flame at the girl. Blaze allowed the flames to engulf her but, instead of blowing past her, the fire swirled around the girl. The monster stopped her burst of fire and stared, confused at what was happening. The swirling flames parted to reveal Blaze, hair like fire and eyes alight.

"Oh no…" her brother gasped.

The female pyro held out a hand, sharply, and all the fire around her shot out towards the dragon. The fire blasted the creature back; the beast recovered her footing and decided that the group was too much trouble. She lumbered off down another corridor.

The fire, instead of dissipating, flew back around and surrounded Blaze once more. "Oh no… it's happened!" Brimstone ran out from behind the pillar. "SIS!" The girl showed no sign that she even recognized her own brother.

"What the heck is going on Brim?"

"She's lost control of her powers! It happens when her powers are used too strongly." The older pyro glared. "This wouldn't have happened if SOMEONE hadn't provoked the dragon!"

"I didn't know this would happen!" Patria argued. "A certain SOMEONE never mentioned to any of us that his sister could go NUCLEAR!"

"If you'd known, would it have mattered!? You don't care about anyone's safety! All you care about is filling your daily adrenaline quota!"

"That's what you think!" the older twin growled. "I wouldn't have messed with that dragon if I didn't know we could beat it! I had no idea this would happen!"

Glacies stepped in. "We can argue more about this later. Right now, we need to help Blaze. Brim, how do we calm your sister down?"

"The fastest way to get her back is to knock her out, but if we mess up she'll just get angry and try to kill us."

Yuyake glared at the other boy. "You know, I have to agree with Patria on one thing. We all had the right to know we were traveling around with a walking bomb."

"We'll talk about this later! Everyone, spread out and find an opening. We have to find a way to knock her out."

Ryô approached his childhood friend, hands held out calmly before him. "Blaze, it's me… Ry. Please, calm down. We're your friends and I know you'd never hurt us. Please, calm down." The girl only flicked her hand towards him, unleashing a wave of fire at her old friend.

The pyrokenetic girl simply blasted fire at everyone around her. "We haven't done anything yet! Why is she attacking!?"

"It's not Blaze. Her powers are in control now; they know we want to stop them, so they're trying to make sure we don't. To them, we're a threat."

Yuyake watched as the flames danced about them. He moved inside the fire, jumping around to avoid getting burned. He reacted swiftly; doing parkor since he was six, really helped him in combat. The raven-haired boy summoned Perfect Relief as he dove through a break in the wall of of fire. As the girl was distracted by the others, Yuyake slammed the handle of his Keyblade on the back of her head.

Blaze fell to the ground, unconscious.

Her brother ran to the girl's side and sighed in relief. "She's just fine…" Everyone froze as they heard the roar of the dragon and the screams of Shrek, Donkey, and a woman. "Yuyake, can you carry her? We might need another fire-wielder against that dragon."

They all took off, Yuyake carrying the red-haired girl on his shoulders. They soon spotted the ogre, carrying Donkey and a auburn-haired woman in a green dress. "There you are!? I thought you were going to handle the dragon!"

"Well we did until one of our people exploded!"

Shrek noticed Blaze before spotting the dragon behind them. "RUN!"

"It wants to kill us!"

"Actually," Donkey interrupted, "It wants to mate with me."

"TMI!" As they crossed the bridge to escape the castle, Pith turned to the only standing pyro. "Brim! Burn the bridge behind us!"

The oldest boy ran his hands along the ropes and they instantly lit up. "Move it folks, or you're gonna be in lava soup!" All of them hurried to the other side and over the volcanic ridge. As they slid down the outer volcanic ridge, they could see Sasuke and Ignis.

The man came running up, holding the toddler. "Is everyone alright?"

"Blaze is down but not out."

"What happened?" He looked around at the others.

"Why don't you ask your goddaughter…"

"Or you could ask Blaze's secret-keeping older brother…"

"Break it up!" Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "We'll talk about this later…" He glanced over at the woman in green. "So you're Princess Fiona, I'm glad you're safe. I'm glad you're all safe."

Fiona smiled, but turned to Shrek, who still had a helmet covering his head. Her eyes lit up with joy. "You did it! You rescued me! You're amazing. You're- you're wonderful. You're… a little unorthodox I'll admit. But thy deed is great, and thy heart is pure. I am eternally in your debt." Donkey and Patria both cleared their throats. "And where would a brave knight be without his noble steed and his fellow knights?"

"I hope you all heard that!" The animal raised a hoof. "She called me a noble steed. She thinks I'm a steed."

The princess clasped her hands as she looked at Shrek. "The battle is won. You may remove your helmet, good Sir Knight."

"Uh, no…"

"Why not?"

"Um," Pith cut in. "I must beg an apology, my lady. For this brave knight of which you speak easily gets, what you might call, helmet hair. He is of such noble standards, that he would not dare be caught in front of such a lovely woman."

The group looked between one another. "Where did Pith learn to talk like that?"

"His theater group…"

The princess smiled at the young man's charm and wording. "I understand, but I would'st look upon the face of my rescuer."

"No, no, you wouldn't- 'st."

"But how will you kiss me?" Fiona cocked her head.

"What?" the ogre looked at Donkey and the others. "That wasn't in the job description."

"Maybe it's a perk."

"No, it's destiny." Princess Fiona seemed confused. "Oh, you must know how it goes. A princess locked in a tower and beset by a dragon is rescued by a brave knight, and then they share true love's first kiss."

"With Shrek!?"

"You think that Shrek is your true love!?"

The princess blinked in confusion. "Well, yes."

Everyone, save Sasuke, Glacies, Ignis, and Blaze, who was just awakening, laughed. "You think Shrek is your true love!"

"What's so funny?"

The ogre took a deep breath to quell his laughter. "Let's just say I'm not your type, okay?

"Of course, you are. You're my rescuer. Now-now remove your helmet." Fiona glared.

"Look, I really don't think this is a good idea."

"Just take off the helmet."

"I'm not going to."

"Take it off."

"No!"

"Now!"

"Okay! Easy." Shrek sighed. "As you command. Your Highness." He slowly removed the helmet, showing his green face.

The princess took a step back. "You-you're a-an ogre."

"Oh, you were expecting Prince Charming."

"Well, yes, actually." She swallowed. "Oh, no. This is all wrong. You're not supposed to be an ogre. Please tell me one of you boys is my prince." She gasped as they shook their heads.

Shrek crossed his arms. "Princess, I was sent to rescue you by Lord Farquaad, okay? He is the one who wants to marry you."

"Then why didn't he come to rescue me?"

"Good question." Patria said smartly, "Why don't you ask him that when you meet him?"

"But…" Fiona stammered, "I have to be rescued by my true love, not by some ogre and his-his pet and some urchins."

"Well, so much for noble steed."

The princess crossed her arms. "I'm sorry, but your job is not my problem. You can tell Lord Farquaad that if he wants to rescue me properly, I'll be waiting for him right here." She plopped down on a rock.

"My lady," Sasuke approached, holding little Ignis. "I do apologize. I may not have been inside the castle, due to the fact that I was making sure this little fella here was safe, but from what's I'm getting, you expect your rescue to go just like it does in stories?" She nodded. "Well, wouldn't you expect a warrior's story to be one where a warrior left his home to seek adventure?" She nodded. "Well, that didn't happen. My world was stripped away from me and everything I love was lost. I had to fight to get back home even though I had no family and nothing to go back to. Now, I am strong and have a new and good life. Let me tell you, the greatest stories are nothing like the books tell. "

"I have been waiting twenty years for a perfect rescue and I'm not going to give up on it!"

Sasuke moved to speak again, but Shrek stepped forward. "Hey! I'm no one's messenger boy, all right? I'm a delivery boy." He picked up the woman and slung her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"You wouldn't dare! Put me down!"

"Well," Patria smirked. "That's one way to do it. Let's go guys."

Everyone shrugged and followed the ogre as the princess continued to struggle. "Put me down, or you will suffer the consequences! This is not dignified! Put me down!"

An hour had passed and Fiona, now calm, hung limply from Shrek's arm. Glacies, Xally, and Justin kept an eye on little Ignis as the boy walked around. Brim carried his sister on his back; she was conscious but still weak. Sasuke stood in the back with Yuyake and Pith, who both explained what happened in the castle. Brim and Patria weren't speaking to each other.

Sasuke sighed. "I'll talk to them tonight. Let's just get Fiona to Lord Farquaad."

There was a squeak as Shrek dropped Fiona to the ground. "Hey! The sooner we get on Duloc the better."

"You're gonna love it there, Princess," Donkey giggled. "It's beautiful!"

"And what of my groom-to-be? Lord Fargqaad? What's he like?"

The ogre bit his lip. "Let me put it this way, Princess. Men of Farquaad's stature are in… short supply." He and Donkey began laughing.

"I don't know. There are those who think little of him."

"Stop it. Stop it, both of you." Fiona huffed. "You're just jealous you can never measure up to a great ruler like Lord Farquaad."

"Yea, well, maybe you're right, Princess. But I'll let you do the 'measuring' when you see him tomorrow."

The princess looked up at the setting sun. "Tomorrow? It'll take that long? Shouldn't we stop to make camp?"

"No," the ogre shook his head. "That'll take longer. We can keep going."

"Shrek, I think we need to stop for the night. We have a toddler in our midst and I need to talk to some of these kids here." Sasuke crossed his arms.

Shrek grunted. "We need to get there as soon as possible. The shrimp can sleep in someone's arms and you can talk on the way there."

"I need to find somewhere to camp now!" Fiona yelled. Everyone scooted away from her.

As Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey set up a place, in a cave, for Fiona to sleep, Sasuke took Brim and Blaze away from the group and sat down with them.

"Do you really think this is a good idea, Mr. Kazekiri?" Brimstone asked. "I mean, you won't be around to help us with our problems after this. Shouldn't we work it out on our own?"

"No. Since I'm here now, I can help you in any way I can. Now, I heard what happened earlier. First thing: we're not going to talk about Patria right now; I'll speak with her later. So, you two didn't tell anyone about this; I knew about your powers, but I figured you two would've told them about this. The only reason I didn't say anything to them about it was I trusted you two to tell them."

Blaze huffed. "And tell them that they're traveling with a short-fused bomb… no way. I thought, as long as I could keep my powers under control, they never had to know."

"That's all it boils down to," the man sighed. "…Trust. you should have told them from the start. You may not know them that well yet, but at least they could've known they could trust you. Now, they have no reason to. You've broken their trust before you truly earned it. Now, they have no reason to give either of you their trust."

"Don't blame us! Patria went all reckless and got that dragon ticked at us."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Look, I know Patria was wrong to put all of you in danger, but some of her actions were done out of ignorance. Today might have gone differently and a lot smoother, should you two have told the others about Blaze's powers. Do you two understand?"

"Yes sir…"

"Good, now send Patria over here." The man waited as the two went back to the others and sent Sora's daughter his way. "Patria, take a seat."

She plopped down on a rock and grumbled. "Oh my gosh, I know what you're gonna say. I've heard it all before."

"Patria Kumo…"

"Oh my gosh! You're not my dad!"

"I may not be your real father, but I am your godfather." The swordsman narrowed his eyes. "And you do understand, if we can't find your parents, or something happens to them, you and your brother become my responsibility. I'm trying to take care of you…" He took a deep breath. "Patria, your brother told me what happened, and I had to agree, you put everyone in danger."

"Look," the girl growled, "I didn't know about Blaze or I wouldn't have done it like that."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "So, you're saying you still would've done it, just in a different way?"

"Well yea, we could've taken that thing and I know it! If Aunt Aqua and a single prince could beat Maleficent as a dragon, and my dad beat her in that form with only three others. We could beat that dragon easy!I just didn't know about Blaze."

"That's not the point, Patria." He huffed. "You deliberately put the rest of your team in danger. The other's look to you and you're not honoring that position."

"Why would they look to me?" The girl rolled her eyes. "I'm a reckless person who's nothing but trouble; they all agree on that."

Sasuke gave her a gentle smile and placed a hand on her shoulder. "They look to you because you are Sora's daughter and, in some ways, you are like him." The girl opened her mouth to rebuttal but he held up a hand. "Yes they look to your brother too, but you act more like Sora. He may not have had the temper you do, though he could get very angry if provoked, but he does share the same impulsiveness, courage, competitiveness, and leadership capabilities that you have."

"I do…?"

"Yes," he nodded. "I think we both know how you can be; You act and speak without thinking, you're very brave, you try to be the best at everything, and you are certainly a leader." She gave him a skeptical look on that last point. "You don't believe me…? Look at what happened today; you did a stupid thing and it was a ridiculous plan. Everyone knew that, but they still followed it. Even Blaze, who knew that she would, most likely, lose control of her powers, followed your plan. That shows that you're a leader; you just have to lead people in the right direction and not into danger."

Patria folded her arms and huffed. "I'm sorry I can't be the person that everyone wants me to be. I'm not going to be this great leader like Dad was!" Her voice rose to almost a yell. "I'll never be like him because I can't! I can never be like him or Mom!"

"Patria…" He reached out a hand to her, but she slapped it away.

"JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Sasuke jumped back, eyes wide in shock, as the girl stormed away. "Th-that couldn't have been… I need to tell Master Ansem about this."

The next morning everyone woke up to the smell of fire and something cooking. Fiona sat, leaning of a fire, cooking eggs. She set them out in front of everyone. "What's all this for?"

"You know, we all kind of got off to a bad start yesterday. I wanted to make it up to you. I mean, after all, you did rescue me."

"Thank you Miss. Fiona!" Ignis clapped his hands and dug in.

"Well, eat up. We've got a big day ahead of us."

Everyone walked through the woods in a companionable silence. Said silence broke when Shrek let out a loud belch.

"Shrek!"

"What?" The ogre shrugged. "It's a compliment. Better out than in, I always say."

"That's no way to behave in front of a princess."

Suddenly, Fiona belched, much to the surprise of everyone else. "Thanks."

"She's as nasty as you are." Then, Patria belched. "And so is she…"

"You know, you're not exactly what I expected."

"Well," the princess smirked. "Maybe you shouldn't judge people before you get to know them." She strode forward, humming away.

Suddenly, a bunch of men swung down the from the trees, grabbed all the girls in the group, and pulled them up to the higher branches.

"La liberte! Hey!" One clad in green yelled.

"Guys!"

Patria pulled away from the man who grabbed her. "Get your hands off me!" She looked around at all of the girls, who were pulling away from the men who grabbed them. "I wouldn't mess with that one." Patria pointed at Xally. "Her boyfriend's a gladiator."

"Not my boyfriend…"

"What are you doing?" Fiona pulled away from the one in green.

"Be still, mon cherie," he grinned, "For I am your savior! And I am rescuing you from this green… beast"

"Hey! That's my princess! Go find your own!" Shrek growled.

"And my sister!"

The man waved a hand. "Please, monster, children! Can't you see I'm a little busy here?"

"Look pal," the princess narrowed her eyes. "I don't know who you think you are!"

He bowed. "Oh! Of course! Oh, how rude. Please, let me introduce myself. Oh, Merry Men!"

A group of men burst from the bushes and began singing, as an accordion played:

"Ta, dah, dah, dah, whoo."

"I steal from the rich and give to the needy."

"He takes a wee percentage…"

"But I'm not greedy. I rescue pretty damsels, man, I'm good."

"What a guy, Monsieur Hood."

"Break it down. I like an honest fight and a saucy little maid…"

"What he's basically saying is he like to get…"

"Paid! So, when an ogre in the bush garbs a lady by the tush. That's bad."

"That's bad."

"When a beauty's with a beast it makes me awfully mad."

"He's mad, he's really, really mad."

"I'll take my blade and ram it through your heart, keep your eyes on me, boys 'cause I'm about to start…"

As they sang, Fiona grabbed a vine and swung down, knocking the man over. "Man, that was annoying!"

"You said it, sister!"

The Merry Men were not as thrilled. "Oh, you little-" They shot an arrow at her, bu she dodged and it bounced off a tree. Everyone ducked. The group watched in shock as the princess proceeded to beat up every one of the merry men.

The men lay on the ground, moaning as Fiona walked over their unconscious bodies. The girls all climbed down from the trees. The princess smiled. "Uh, shall we?"

"Hold the phone!" the ogre went after her. "Oh! Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on now. Where did that come from?"

"What?"

Brimstone blinked suddenly. "You know what! Back there. That was amazing! Where did you learn that?"

"Well," she laughed somewhat. "When one lives alone, uh, one has to learn these things in case there's a… There's an arrow in your butt!"

"What!" Everyone began stifling their laughter as they noticed the arrow sticking out of Shrek's backside. "Oh, would you look at that?" His hand went to pull out the arrow but, he flinched with a pang of pain.

Patria held both hands up. "You're pulling it out, Princess, since it's your fault it's in there."

"What's wrong?" Donkey trotted up them.

"Shrek's hurt."

"Shrek's hurt… Shrek's hurt? Oh, no, Shrek's gonna die!"

The ogre rolled his eyes. "Donkey, I'm ok…"

"You can't do this to me, Shrek. I'm too young for you to die. Keep your legs elevated! Turn your head and cough. Does anyone know the Heimli…"

"Shut up!" Blaze knocked the animal over the head. "You know, why don't we all go find some… blue flowers to… help with the pain. We can let Fiona handle the arrow. They all followed her and the animal away from Fiona and Shrek.

"What was the blue flower thing all about, sis?"

"Isn't it obvious!?" Xally giggled. "To let Fiona and Shrek have some alone time."

Almost everyone smirked at the thought of that. The group wandered around for five minutes, with Donkey actually looking for the blue flowers. "Donkey," Pith smiled. "The flower thing was made up. We should head back; Fiona's probably got the arrow out by now."

As they came back to where the two were, all saw Fiona lying atop Shrek.

"So," Yuyake raised an eyebrow. "Are we interrupting anything?"

"Nothing happened! We were just, uh…"

Blaze laughed. "You know, I let you two be alone out of kindness but, if you wanted some more alone time, all you had to do was ask."

"Oh come on!" Shrek huffed. "That's the last thing on my mind. The princess here was just…" he yelped as said princess yanked the arrow out of his behind. "UGH!" His glare turned to Fiona. "Ow!"

Donkey noticed a little blood coming from the wound, and he fainted. Patria kicked his unconscious body . "Sissy…"

As they continued their trek back townads Duloc, they all noticed how strange the princess really was. She caught bugs in a spider web, caught some bugs, and liked her finders as if they were a treat. She also blew up a snake like it was a balloon animal.

The sun began to drop down towards the horizon as they approached Duloc; they paused by a rundown windmill. Sasuke, carrying a sleeping Ignis on his back, smiled. "There it is, Princess. Your future awaits you."

"That's Duloc."

"Yea, I know," Donkey sighed. "You know, Shrek thinks Lord Farquaad's compensating for something, which I think means he has a really…" Justin cut him off by stuffing grass into the animal's mouth.

"Uh, yea, I guess we better move."

"But Shrek," the princess interrupted. "I'm worried about Donkey."

"What?"

"I mean, look at him. He doesn't look so good." Fiona insisted.

"What are you talking about. I'm fine."

Fiona crossed her arms. "That's what they all say, and then next thing you know, You're on your back. Dead."

Shrek seemed to catch on to what she was doing. "You know, she's right. You look awful. Do you want to sit down?"

"Uh, you know, I'll make you some tea."

Donkey stiffened and looked around nervously. "I didn't want to say nothin', but I got this twinge in my neck, and when I turn my head like this, look…" He turned his head and it fell sideways. "Ow! See?"

"Who's hungry!?" Shrek cut in. "I'll go find us some food."

"FOOD!" Ignis cried, sleepily.

"I'll make the fire!"

The group sat around the campfire as the sun neared the horizon. Shrek had cooked some kind of meat and almost everyone was eating and enjoying it. "Mm," Fiona smiled. "This is good. This is really good. What is it?"

"Uh, weed rat. Rotisserie style."

Glacies froze and reached over, pulling the meat away from her baby brother before he could bite into it. "How about we get you some fruit instead…"

"No kidding," Fiona asked. "Well this is delicious!" She and the ogre kept eating, while everyone else, lost their appetites.

"Well, they're also great in stews. Now, I don't mean to brag, but I make a mean weed rat stew."

The princess looked down at her cooked rat. "I guess I'll be dining a little differently tomorrow night."

"Maybe…" the ogre said hopefully, "you can come visit me in the swamp sometime. I'll cook all kinds of stuff for you: swamp toad soup, fish eye tar-tare, you name it."

"I'd like that…"

"Uh Princess." Shrek scratched the back of his head.

The woman gave a gentle smile. "Yes, Shrek…"

Everyone gave the two of them a sly look as the princess and ogre stared at one another. The green creature opened his mouth to say something. "I, um, I was wondering… are you… Are you gonna eat that?"

Pith smiled and closed his eyes. "For the sun may set on this great day, but the air of romance will stay. For while they gaze into eyes, they see the truth that holds no lies."

"What was that?"

"That was very good, Pith." Sasuke smiled. "Did you come up with that?"

The boy grinned. "I came up with it for a play I'm writing. I thought it fit the moment."

"Wait! Do you mean it's sunset!" Fiona jumped to her feet. "Oh, I… I mean… It's late, it's very late."

"Huh?"

Donkey gave the princess a grin. "Wait a minute. I see what's going on here. You're afraid of the dark."

"Oh, yes, I'm terrified. You know, I better go inside."

Donkey nodded. "Don't feel bad, Princess. I used to be afraid of the dark too, until… no wait, I'm still afraid of the dark."

"Goodnight!" She ran into the windmill and closed the door, swiftly.

"You know, it's really kind of funny that Shrek is falling for Fiona." Xally giggled.

"It's sick…" Patria mumbled. The entire group talked quietly about the ogre and princess like the gossiping girls from Patria's school. Eventually, she got up and headed for the windmill. She heard two voices talking.

"By day one way, by night another. This shall be the norm… until you find true love's kiss… and then take love's true form." Patria heard Fiona say.

Donkey spoke as well. "Ah, that's beautiful. I didn't know you wrote poetry."

"It's a spell." Fiona said. Patria slid the door open and peaked inside; her eyes widened as she saw Fiona, except for she was now an ogre. "When I was a little girl, a witch cast a spell on me. Every night I become this. This horrible ugly beast. I was placed in a tower to await the day my true love would rescue me. That's why I have to marry Lord Farquaad tomorrow before the sun sets and he sees me like this."

Patria saw Shrek approaching the windmill and decided it was time for her to make an exit.

The next morning, the group awoke to the sound of trumpet fanfare. Glacies pulled her brother close as guards surrounded them all. One man, in royal garb, sat atop a horse; one could only assume that he was Lord Farquaad.

Farquaad grinned. "Princess Fiona."

"As promised." Shrek strode up to him. "Now hand it over."

"Very well, ogre. The deed to your swamp, cleared out, as agreed. Take it and go before I change my mind." Shrek took a paper from the man's hand. Forgive me, princess, for startling you, but you startled me, for I have never seen such a radiant beauty before. I'm Lord Farquaad."

The princess straightened herself up as the man got off his horse. "Oh, no, no. Forgive me, my lord, for I was just saying a short… farewell" After getting off his horse, Lord Farquaad revealed to be only three feet tall; not much taller than Ignis.

"Short is right…"

"I guess that huge castle was compensating for something."

"Oh that is so sweet," the lord said mockingly. "You don't have to waste good manners on the ogre. It's not like it has feelings."

Fiona glared at said ogre before agreeing. "No… IT doesn't."

Everyone regarded that comment with disbelief and confusion. Blaze crossed her arms at the little man. "Oh, and I suppose we don't have feelings either. After all we did risk our butts to get her out of that stupid castle."

"Yes, yes, you did well… now. Princess Fiona, beautiful, fair, flawless, Fiona." The ruler began as he grabbed the woman's hand. "I ask your hand in marriage. Will you be the perfect bride for the perfect groom?"

"Lord Farquaad, I accept. Nothing would make me…"

"Excellent!" the short man cut in. "I'll start the plans. For tomorrow, we wed."

Fiona's eyes grew wide. "No! I mean, uh, why wait? Let's get married today, before the sun sets."

"Oh, anxious, are you?" Farquaad grinned. "You're right. The sooner, the better. There's so much to do! There's the caterer, the cake, the band, the guest list. Captain, round up some guests, starting with them!" He pointed at the group of Keybearers and warriors. He and Fiona were put on his horse.

"Fare-thee-well, ogre." They rode off towards Duloc, with the guards escorting, at the end of spear-points, led the group towards town.

"Looks like we're going to a wedding."

"I don't do weddings…" Patria muttered.

"The fact that we, like everyone else were brought here against our will." Sasuke crossed his arms. "Now, am I the only one who thinks this wedding isn't right?"

"You're not…"

Brim sighed. "It should be Shrek she's marrying, not this butt."

"I think we can all agree on that."

Patria sighed. "You guys know nothing…"

"Wait," Pith leaned forward and looked at his twin. "What do you know that we don't?"

"I'm not telling…" the older twin mocked in a sing-song voice.

The others were about to press her further, but they were shushed as one of the guards held up a sign that said 'Revered Silence'. Everything within Patria wanted to yell, just to go against the sign, but her godfather gave her a look.

The priest stood before Fiona and Lord Farquaad, his hands clasped together. "People of Duloc, we gather here today to bear witness to the union…"

"Um…" Fiona looked at the sun, nervously; only Patria noticed this.

"…of our new king…" the priest continued.

"Excuse me," the bride cut in, glancing to the sun. "Could we just skip ahead to the 'I do's'?"

Farquaad chuckled and motioned for the priest to do as she said. "Go on."

Patria leaned back and suddenly saw the silhouette of donkey appearing against the stain glass window behind them. "This is going to be interesting."

"And so, by the power vested in me, I pronounce you husband and wife, king and queen…"

"I OBJECT!" Everyone turned around to see Shrek burst in the door.

The group stood up and followed Shrek to the alter. Fiona gasped as he came her way. "Shrek?"

The groom huffed in annoyance. "Oh, now what does he want?"

"Hi, everyone." The ogre looked at the traumatized crowd. "Having a good time, are ya? I love Duloc, first of all. Very clean."

"What are you doing here?"

Farquaad rolled his eyes. "Really, it's rude enough being alive when no one wants you, but showing up uninvited to a wedding…"

"Fiona! I need to talk to you." Shrek went up to the woman.

"Oh, now you wanna talk?" Fiona huffed. "It's a little late for that, so if you'll excuse me…"

Patria finally got annoyed with this. "Look here, Prissy Princess, you can't marry him."

"And why not?"

"Well, for starters, I don't think he really gives a crap about you." The older twin crossed her arms. "He's just marrying you so he can be king. If that's love, then why would anyone want it?"

Farquaad feigned shock. "OUTRAGEOUS! Fiona, don't listen to her!"

"He's not your true love!" Shrek yelled.

"And what do you know about true love!?"

The ogre averted his eyes. "Well, I… uh… I mean…"

"Oh, this is precious." Lord Farquaad placed his hands over his heart. "The ogre has fallen in love with the princess! Oh, good lord." He began laughing and the guard held up a prompt card for the crowd to laugh as well. "An ogre and a princess!"

"Shrek is this true?"

Xally cried out. "Of course it is! We all could see it!"

"Who cares?" Farquaad waved dismissively. "It's preposterous! Fiona, my love, we're but a kiss away from our 'happily ever after'. Now kiss me!" He puckered up, but Fiona pulled back and looked at the setting sun.

"'By day one way, by night another.'" The bride looked at Shrek, and almost relieved look in her eyes. "I wanted to show you before." As the sun set, a glowing cloud swirled around her and vanished to reveal that she was now an ogre.

"WHAT!?" Brimstone jumped back.

Patria smirked. "Didn't know she did that, did ya?"

"Well-I… that actually explains a lot…" Sasuke whistled.

Shrek nodded. "You said it, Sasuke."

"Ugh! It's disgusting!" Lord Farquaad drew back. "Guards! Guards! I order you to get that out of my sight now! Get them! Get them both!"

The group leapt up on the alter and drew out their weapons. "Not if we have anything to say about it!"

"Oh but you don't…" the short man clapped his hand. "Oh Griffy!" Suddenly the window behind them smashed in and a large Griffin flew through.

"Ignis, go to Fiona!" Glacies placed her brother on the ground and he tottered over to the female ogre.

The griffin snapped at them, making the group jump back. Sasuke took a deep breath. "Blaze, Brim, try and get behind it. Nothing scares something off like it's tail being on fire. Everyone else, keep it's attention on us."

"You got it!" Yuyake ran in, leaping over the monster's beak and slamming down both of his Keyblades on it's head.

Justin and Xally aimed their blades at the wings, trying to cripple it.

Pith ran in for a good slash across the lower throat, followed by Glacies and Patria.

Ryô however stood back He refused to fight it. All he did was cast Aero spells to herd the griffin away when it tried to attack the others.

Suddenly, the griffin screeched loudly; it's tail feathers were covered in fire. It panicked and charged for the church doors. As it leapt over Sasuke, the man swung his sword at a wide arc and slashed it across the belly. The monster screeched and fell to the ground.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" They all turned to see guards around Shrek and Fiona; Farquaad had a smirk decorating his features. He pointed behind him.

"NO IGNIS!" Glacies gasped.

The toddler struggled in the grip on one of the guards. "G'ace! Help!"

"Farquaad!" Sasuke strode towards the small man. "Let the kid go!"

"How about no. Now you all put down your weapons or he gets to decorate the end of a sword." As they did so, the guards subdued them. The small man grabbed a crown nearby. "All this hocus-pocus alters nothing. This marriage is binding, and that makes me king! See? See?"

"NO!"

The new king grinned at Shrek. "I'll make you regret the day we me. I'll see you drawn and quartered! You'll beg for death to save you!" He turned his attention to Fiona. "And as for you, my wife, I'll have you locked back in that tower for the rest of your days! I'm king! Oh, and as for you sword-swinging troublemakers, I'll see you all hanged for high treason against me!" Shrek pulled away from the guards holding him and whistled. "I WILL HAVE ORDER! I will have perfection! I will have…"

The window over the church doors cracked and the wall broke in. Donkey sat on the back of the same dragon from Fiona's tower. The dragon leaned over and ate Lord Farquaad. Donkey yelled. "All right. Nobody move. I got a dragon here, and I'm not afraid to use it. I'm a donkey on the edge!"

The dragon burped and Farquaad's crown flew out of her mouth and clattered to the ground. Yuyake smirked. "Celebrity marriages. They never last."

The guards released everyone; Glacies scooped up her baby brother, happily. Xally went over to the male ogre and gave him a shove. "Go on, Shrek."

The two ogres looked at one another. "Uh, Fiona…"

"Yes, Shrek?"

"I-I love you."

"Really?"

"Really, really."

"I love you too…" Shrek smiled and pulled Fiona into a kiss. Fiona pulled away as magic surrounded her, lifting her into the air.

As the magic lowered her back to the ground Shrek ran to her side. "Fiona? Fiona. Are you all right?"

"Well, yes." She looked herself over only to see that she was still an ogre. "But I don't understand. I'm supposed to be beautiful."

"But you ARE beautiful." Shrek pulled her into his arms and they shared another kiss.

Patria turned away to see, where the griffin broke through the window, a Keyhole appeared. She withdrew the lock piece and smiled. "One step closer…"

Ansem the Wise looked up as Sasuke entered his study. "So, how was being back in the field?"

"Quite interesting." He sat down. "Actually, I need to speak with you about Patria. I'm concerned about her."

"What do you mea…"

"YOU IDIOT PACIFIST!"

The two men walked into the main lab. Patria glared down Ryô. "Would you just listen to me?"

"No way!" the older twin growled. "You need to get it through your thick skull that diplomacy won't always work. Do you really think you could've walked up to Xehanort and talked him out of recreating the χ-blade? And how about whoever took our parents; you think you could talk them into giving them back. No! Some people cannot be reasoned with!" She grabbed him by the front of his shirt. "And if you don't believe that, next time we face someone, and you try to talk them down, I won't save you if they try to kill you. It'll be your own stupid fault!" Throwing the boy to the ground, she stormed out.

Isa, who stood nearby, looked to Even. "Are we certain that she is the daughter of Sora and Kairi?"

"What happened?" Ansem looked to Pith.

"Well, Brim and Tria were arguing about something that went on in that world. Then, Ry started talking about, 'if we hadn't fought at all, things would've worked out better', and Tria just lost it."

"My lord," Sasuke motioned to his leader. They left the room. "This is what I wanted to speak with you about. I just felt it again."

"Felt what?"

"Two night ago, Patria got angry at me and, like just now, I felt an immense darkness coming from her. And by immense, I mean, I've never felt a more potent darkness inside a person." He looked down. "I don't know if we should let her continue traveling."

Ansem sighed. "The fact that this is Patria, we would have to keep her under lock and key to make sure she didn't run off on her own. It's probably safer to just ask her brother to keep and eye on her and tell us if things get out of hand."

"Ok…"

Glacies ruffled her sleeping brother's hair as she stared out at the moon. "Oh Mom, Dad, where are you?"

Suddenly, a dark corridor opened to her right; the girl jumped to her feet and summoned Hoarfrost. A figure in dark clothes, a black, hooded cloak covered his face. "Who are you?" The figure held out a small package to her. Glacies took it and unwrapped it to find a small, creme-filled pastry. "Wait… are you…?"

"You figured it out."

"What are you doing here?"

The man looked out the window, at the sky. "I'm going to borrow Ryô for three days. His pacifist ideals are something your group needs, but there is an extreme side that he's taken to. So, I'm going to get him out of it. Otherwise, he's going to get himself killed and if you kids are going to succeed, you are going to need him alive."

"I knew it! I knew you cared about them… even about Ventus."

"Let's get one thing straight. I DO NOT care about them; I'm only doing this because now MY neck is on the line too." He turned back to the dark corridor. "Don't leave this world; I'll have him back after three days."

Glacies gave a little smile. "You'll have him back in one piece, right?"

"Oh I won't hurt him too much," he went to the corridor. "He's my godson after all…"

I hope you guys enjoyed the Shrek world!

Please review!

As the group tries to rest before going back out, two more assassins appear. Which stirs up the, already, tense atmosphere. In…

Radiant Garden.

As a Good Father

In our lives, we are faced with choices. We can choose to do good or to do wrong.

As a child, have you ever done something and your parents let you so you can learn from the consequences of your actions? That's how life it, we choose wrong and we face the consequences.

Sometimes, we ask God to help us, when we do something wrong, to get us out of the trouble we got ourselves into. God is our father, and he always answers our pleas; however, sometimes we forget that 'no' is an answer too.

If we do not learn from our mistakes, we will be prone to repeat them. God allows us to learn from our mistakes.

In the Old Testament, the people of Israel did evil and they had to learn from the consequences. Sadly, many times, they continued to repeat them even after the consequences.

Isaiah 27:8 says "By warfare and exile you contend with her…"

God loves you and that's why, as a good father, he allows you to learn from your mistakes, so you will not repeat them.