Terra growled as he tried to stay calm. At least the darkness within him was under control. To one side, Riku was pacing frantically. At least the boy wasn't yelling or trying to open up a portal of darkness for the moment. He was inconsolable in the face of his separation from his best friend. If Terra weren't so fond of Riku, he'd regret having handed the boy a keyblade right now.

On his other side, the duck who called himself Donald was peering into the gray distance. Terra doubted it would do them much good, but at least it was harmless, unlike Riku's earlier actions. Terra sighed. Where were Aqua and Ven? He was worried about them. And Aqua would probably know what to do. Aqua. Terra pulled out the wayfinder his friend had given him so long ago. What would she do if she were here?

Well, first off, she'd comfort Riku. Turning, Terra approached the boy. It was disconcerting, walking in this gray emptiness, since distance did not exist and it took him more steps to reach the boy then he would have expected. He rested a hand on Riku's shoulder, putting a temporary halt to the boy's pacing.

"Don't worry, Riku," he said. "I'm sure they're all right. If we just believe in them, they'll- er- uh-"

"They'll what, Terra?" Riku snapped back. Oh boy. Terra had accidentally set him off again. "You don't know Sora like I do. He's my best friend, but he's an idiot. Without me to keep him in check, he's hopeless. He's probably off somewhere, having a grand old time goofing off, not even realizing this is serious. Or worse, he'll have fallen into the darkness again. Without me there to dive after him, what if Xehanort resurrects him as another darkness? What will we do then, huh? And Kairi is a princess of heart. They'll be going right after her."

"Xehanort is gone. Probably. You saw what happened."

"Yeah, we got our asses handed to us."

"But we're still here, and we can still fight and-"

"Pardon me if I'm a little skeptical of the fighting strength of a guy who spent more than a decade trapped within his heart. And me? By myself I can't face the darkness. That's why I was supposed to stick with Sora. Yeesh. And that stupid duck over there never casts any spells that'll help. You're lucky if he even remembers to heal you."

"Hey! Who you callin' stupid!" Donald yelled, waddle-stalking over to them. By the time he reached them, Riku had lost his steam. Terra remained silent, mostly because he didn't think he could argue with what Riku had said. True, if by some chance they happened upon one of the darknesses, it was likely they would fall. Except the duck. The duck would die.

Donald panted as he tried to regain his breath and his dignity. Apparently it had taken him quite a bit of effort to travel over to them. Terra looked down at the wayfinder. Aqua had promised it would help him find his way. Perhaps this was the time to let it lead them.

"I think we should try and follow this," he said, holding the charm up.

"Hey, I think Kairi has one of those. I think I saw it once."

"It's a wayfinder. It's a charm to guide you. It also represents the connection between me and my friends. Aqua and Ven that is. Y- you guys are my friends too." Great. That wasn't awkward at all Terra thought.

"So how does it work?" Riku asked. "Do we throw it in the air and see which way it lands, or make a ritual sacrifice to it?" Terra looked over at Riku to make sure he was indeed joking. The boy had a small half smile on his face. If Riku could make an attempt to tease them, then that meant he had successfully calmed down. Terra felt his shoulders relax.

"No, nothing like that," he said smiling back. "We just need to think of our friends and it will help us know." I think he didn't add.

He held out the wayfinder, and Riku put his hand on it. Donald put his wing on top of Riku's hand.

"Just to be safe, we should probably try to think of the same person," Terra told them.

"Sora," both Donald and Riku chorused.

"While I'd like to agree with you, Sora shares a heart with too many people. It might be confusing. Plus I don't know him all that well. Maybe King Mickey would be better. We all know him and I don't think we have to worry about his heart being in multiple people or anything like that."

Donald and Riku exchanged a look, then shrugged.

"You're probably right," Riku said with a sigh. "I'm more worried about Sora than Mickey, but it would be a good idea to find the king. He can probably help us find Sora faster."

The three of them shut their eyes and thought of Mickey. Terra found himself remembering the last time he'd seen the king.

The heartless were almost all gone. There were just a few darksides left. Terra charged onward, heading towards the nearest one. In the corner of his eyes, he saw Ventus supergliding ahead and Aqua's magic zipping forward, ready to take on two more of the darksides.

Darksides were no pushovers, but they'd all had lots of practice recently, what with all the fighting they'd done. Besides, Aqua had spent an endless age fighting them in the deepest darkness, and Ven had both raw talent and a quick learning curve to help him. He'd also been watching through Sora's eyes, just as Terra had been watching through his own eyes while his body was ruled by Xehanort. They dispatched them easily. Terra turned to his new darkside target, but some instinct caused him to leap to the side.

Bullets peppered the space where up until a moment ago he had been. Xigbar. Terra ground his teeth. Of his three friends, he was the least suited to fighting Xigbar. He looked to the side to see that Aqua and Ven had a challenger of their own: Saix. While his friends were both nimble, one hit from Saix would half kill them, and one hit from Saix often led to many more. Terra had to help them.

He started towards them only to be stopped by more shots from Xigbar. He'd have to take out the man first. The last time they'd fought, he'd only won using the power of darkness. The last time they'd fought, the man had merely been Braig, and hadn't been as powerful.

Well I've gotten stronger too, Terra thought, and surged forward. He slashed with his keyblade, and hit-

The empty space where Xigbar had been. Terra had forgot the man could teleport.

"Reflega!" Someone yelled, and a shield formed around Terra, protecting him from the bullets that would have torn into him. A mouse came hurtling through the air to land next to him.

"Thanks Mickey. I've got this. Help Aqua and Ven."

"But Terra, are you sure?" the king asked.

"No need to worry, your majesty. I will be helping Terra," a newcomer stated calmly.

"Master Eraqus?" Terra gasped.