After Ventus came back without the three young wielders, the guardians that were still at the tower started a search. Thinking, perhaps they’d woken early and decided to explore. But every place they’d searched came up empty. 

Terra, after looping back to the dining and kitchen area for the second time, decided to check the upper levels once more only to find them just as empty as the others. 

Terra sighed and approached the windows in the study. The grounds that he could see, though not much, were just as barren. He scratched his head as he turned to head back down. 

Only to stop short as he noticed the state of the desk. Drawers left open and a few papers scattered to the floor. 

“Find anything?” Terra’s attention was drawn back to the doorway as Mickey entered. 

“No kids. But the Master’s desk is a mess.” He told the small King, waving him over to see for himself. Mickey took a moment, looking into the open drawers with furrowed brows. Terra leaned in closer but didn’t  know what he’d be looking for, so he let Mickey do the searching. He was the one who knew Master Yen Sid the most, after all. 

When Mickey got to the bottom drawer, he shifted the papers in it around before gasping. He then quickly started opening the still closed drawers and searched through them. “Oh no.” He said when he’d looked through the last one. Terra coming closer, gesturing for the King to continue when he looked up at him. “We’ve gotta tell the others!” He started running for the door. 

“Wait! Tell them what?” Terra asked, following after him. 

“They’ve gone off world!” Mickey didn’t stop, and he didn’t elaborate. Terra could only follow him back down to the others. 

After their introductions, Mister Rabbit excused himself from the group saying he was expected at a meeting with the Queen. Leaving the two boys and Alice in the garden wondering how they should go about looking for the missing Xehanort. 

“We could try visiting Mr. Hatter.” Alice suggested. “We’d be able to search the forest along the way.”

Yen Sid and Eraqus shared a look. They had no other ideas, and Alice knew a lot more about this place than either of the boys did. Having a guide through the forest would be nice. Eraqus nodded with a smile to his friend before turning back to the girl. “Sounds like a plan! Would you mind leading the way, Alice?” 

The girl breaks into a smile, clasping her hands in front of her as she bounced on her feet “Why, of course!” She said excitedly. Her enthusiasm infectious as Eraqus’ smile widened. The normally impassive Yen Sid also affected, a small twitch of his lips as he and Eraqus followed the excited girl into the forest. 

They didn’t have to walk long for the boys to realize just how thankful they were to have Alice there to guide them. The single path that led into the forest quickly branched off into many meandering paths that winded every which way through the trees. 

Despite the extremely unhelpful signs posted all around, Alice seemed to know where she was going, so the boys followed her, listening to the stories she told them of fantastical creatures such as ‘mome raths’ and ‘borogoves’ as well as a talking cat that she’d met once. Yen Sid was particularly fascinated, asking her more about the creatures and seeming disappointed when she couldn’t tell him much. Much to Eraqus’ amusement. 

“So tell me,” Alice began after it seemed Yen Sid had exhausted his own questions. “This friend of yours, what is he like?”

“Maddening.” Yen Sid said in a tired tone causing Eraqus to laugh. Soon joined by a soft giggle from Alice too. 

“Aww, Sid’s grumpy.” Eraqus pulled him close with an arm over his shoulders, needling his shorter friend with a noogie as he jerked from the touch.

“Ack!” The brunette protested. “Get off me!” He pushed his smiling friend away and readjusting his coat. “It is his fault we got sent here, anyway!” he grumbled.

“Aw c’mon! It’s an adventure! Lighten up!” 

“At least he would fit right in!” Alice said, giggling into her hand. “Most everyone is mad here.” 

“He’s not all that bad. Just super curious and gets distracted easy.” Eraqus said, actually trying to answer her original question. Didn’t want to give her any false impressions about his friend before she got a chance to meet him. “We just met last year and we go to school together now.”

“Yea, and you don’t have to share a dorm with him.”

“Heh, that’s true. What, does he keep you up by studying? I’d thought that would be you, little prodigy.” Yen Sid was a year younger than he and Xehanort. His proficiency with magic letting him excel above the others in his year, allowing him to study with the older wielders.

“Hah! Wouldn’t Xehanort be the true prodigy? Dropping in out of nowhere and suddenly rising to the top of the class. Soaks in knowledge like a sponge but is always thirsty for more.” 

“That sounds like a compliment to me~” Eraqus teased. 

“You three must be close.” Alice says as they resume their walk. She listened intently as Eraqus continued talking about their missing friend, Xehanort. But his stories were interrupted as Yen Sid yelped from behind them. 

Having been knocked onto the ground, Yen Sid quickly got back up and summoned his keyblade. Eraqus following suit as he traced his friend's gaze toward the culprit. A squirming, shadow-like creature was there, barely distinguishable from the dark shadows of the underbrush. There was rustling in the bushes around them then, as numerous pairs of bright yellow eyes focused on their little group. Eraqus and Yen Sid readied their keyblades, taking places on either side of the defenseless Alice. 

“So these are the heartless..” 

“The darkness…” Eraqus added. He raised his blade into a block as one of the creatures pounced at him. Slicing it in two while it was stunned only for two more to take its place. He slashed at them, watching as the defeated ones dissipate into smoke. 

“Thunder!” He heard Yen Sid call. The spell lighting up the small area around them and taking out a majority of the enemies. With a few more cuts and slashes into the remaining creatures, the keyblade wielders took a final look around before deeming the threat taken care of. 

“Are you alright?” Eraqus asked Alice.

“Indeed I am. Twas only a bit startled at first, worry not.” She dusted off her skirt and smiled at them. “You carry weapons like Sora’s.” she observed. 

“You know Sora?” Yen Sid asked. They knew from the stories the night before that Sora and his friends had visited numerous worlds. But what were the odds that they’d be sent to one of the very ones he’d been to before? Let alone meeting someone who knew him. 

“Oh yes, He helped me once before.” She said simply. “I ought to have guessed that you knew him as well. It’s not often we have visitors here, you know.” 

“I see. Well, we shouldn’t stand still for long then, don’t want to be sitting ducks for those Heartless.” 

“Oh, of course! And, thank you two for protecting me.” Alice took a few slow steps backwards, starting to get moving again. “We’re not far from Mr. Hatter’s, now.”

“Only doing our duty, Miss Alice.” Eraqus made a show of bowing, smiling wide at Alice’s sweet laughter.

Yen Sid knocked Eraqus on the head as he walked past him. “What a charmer.” he snickered. They laughed together as they followed Alice down the path. Hopefully it wouldn’t be long now before they find Xehanort and can figure out how to get back to the tower.