Chapter 69: Third Sign

The group have been out of the Endless territory for as least four days and Hikari hasn't once left her room. Hikari would only come out of her room just to get food before going back in the room. Kairi was the only one that was allow to see Hikari since Zidane was still resting his broken leg, she was still angry with Sora for leaving her brother behind and…according to Kairi, Hikari didn't 'want to seem weak' in front of Brian. Sora seems to be in the same state as Hikari only that no one knows why he was being angry. Kairi had tried to talk to him but eventually gave up as he wouldn't answer the door. Brian and Kairi were the only ones that seem to be acting their normal selves, only for the depressing vibe in the ship to affect them too.

The tone for the acoustic guitar echoed through the western theme gummi ship as the Aversion Endless played what was on his mind. Brian was currently in the cockpit, playing the guitar that he managed to find in the closet while checking where the auto-pilot was leading them. Jiminy hopped out of Brian's brown bag and jumped on the dashboard to look on Brian's concentrated face on the tune that he was playing. Jiminy watched curiously as Brian stopped playing the tune and wrote in his little blue notebook that he kept with him. "Something on your mind, Brian?" Jiminy asked him.

Brian sighed before looking at the cricket, "I don't know, Jiminy." He said," There's something that keeps crossing my mind every now and again. It makes no sense." Brian relaxed the guitar in his lap while looking at the cricket. "If the sky falls, so does Destiny itself. Have any ideas?" Brian asked him.

Jiminy stood there for a minute in thought, "Sorry Brian, I don't seem to get what it means." Jiminy hopped onto Brian's shoulder, "Don't worry. It will come to you when the time is right."

"Well what ever it is, I hope I get the answer to this riddle before it's too late." Jiminy nodded in agreement before hopping off of Brian and back in the bag.

Brian decided to put the questions about the riddles away for now before returning to playing the guitar. After playing for a while, the thoughts of the discovery of being an Endless flashed through his mind. It seem that Hikari was back to stage one with trusting him since leaving her brother behind and Sora only gives him evil glares for reasons unknown, the only one that seems to not judge him by his claw is Kairi. Kairi has been the only one that hasn't pushed him aside and that though made Brian slightly happier.

The tune of the guitar turned dark as the thoughts of his father came to mind. He knew that the Colonel wasn't his real father but he wonders why he was angry at his real father, only the thoughts of his death and before the crash makes his decisions. A thought of what Daniel and the others treated Brian the first time they met him crossed his mind. With those thoughts in mind; words began to play along with the tune that the guitar made…

You don't know how it feels; to be outside the crowd

You don't know what its like; to be left out

You don't know how it feels; to be your own best friend

On the outside looking in…

Brian halted his playing for a minute, confused on where those lyrics had come from. He moved his infected claw away from the strings and rested it from his heart. Did it…Did it come from here?? Brian thought.

"That's a nice song, Brian."

"WOAH!" Brian jumped out of his skin from the sudden voice, making him fall off his chair and dropping the guitar. He lifted his head off the wooden floor to see Kairi giggling at his fallen state. Brian couldn't help but smile; there was something about Kairi that seems familiar in his heart. "God damn it, Kairi. Were you trying to make me jump?" Brian questioned. Brian pushed himself up and balanced himself before picking up the guitar and placing it on the side. Brian wondered how he couldn't hear Kairi coming when the cockpit has a set of stairs.

"Maybe…" Kairi giggled before taking a seat in the other seat. Her expression turned serious again as she looked back at Brian, "The song was kind of a downer, don't you think?"

"Yeah. It sounds nice though." Brian through about the lyrics again, "Maybe the lyrics express the loneliness that we're feeling at the moment." Kairi looked at him with confusion, "I mean, I was push aside for being an Endless, Hikari feels that no one understands her, Zidane can't leave his room so he's alone in there…" Brian chuckled slightly, "If Zidane was in the room, he'll say that no girl would go for a guy with a broken leg." Kairi shook her head in amusement. "Sora is being…well…er…can I swear about him?" He asked Kairi.

"No, you can't swear about him but I see your point." Kairi glared at him.

"Okay, okay." Brian raised his hands in defence, "Don't hurt me with the glare, anything but the glare." The two started to laugh slightly from a minute before they both calmed down. "How's Hikari doing?" Brian asked her with concern as he placed his hands down back on the arm rest.

"She's still upset. She's stop crying which is good but you can tell that she wants to break down only that the will in her heart won't let her." Kairi told him

"I don't blame her. I think I would do the same if I saw someone who I though was dead and then fail to save them for the second time." Brian took a deep breath, "I wanna help but I guess since Storm was turned into an Endless, she might not want to see me at the moment."

"Just give it time, Brian. She'll let you in again." Kairi assured him.

"Yeah…" Brian sighed. Brian looked out of the window to see that the auto-pilot was leading them to a world in the distance. He guessed that it would take another day before reaching the world. As soon as they were done there; he will be able to take control of the gummi main systems, which he can use to head to Little Devon where the others are hopefully waiting. Brian carried on looking out into space where thousands stars shone together with a purple aura around it. Brian dimmed the lights down in the cockpit so that the purple light that was coming from the galaxy would shine in the cockpit beautifully. "What a beautiful sight…" Brian said in awed, not realising that he had said it out loud.

"Huh?" Brian looked at Kairi and pointed at the galaxy that was carrying millions of worlds within it. As soon as Kairi saw this, a smile appeared on her face, "It's lovely." She awed as well.

Brian chuckled before looking at Kairi, "You know, I consider this as a perfect sight as I'm with the prefect girl." He said warmly at her. Kairi smirked and raised her eye-brow, believing that he was flirting again. "I know what you're thinking but look…" Brian pointed at the galaxy again, "It's as brilliant as a sunset."

Kairi returned Brian's comment from before with a loving smile, "Thank you, Brian." Kairi looked back at the galaxy, "I just wish I could share this with Sora…" Kairi realised what she had said and turned to Brian to see his expression was understandable. "Not that you're not good, Brian. It's just…"

"It's fine." Brian smiled. "You care about him. I understand that." Kairi nodded her head as confirming his comment, "But at least I'm the next best thing, right?" Brian smiled at her. Kairi giggled at the sight of his grin before walking over to Brian and wrapped her arms around him from behind. Brian was surprised to get a hug; normally he would give her a hug. Brian placed his claw on one of her arms, his best attempt to hug her back as the two continued to look at the violet galaxy.

BOWBOWBOW

Sora sat in the shadows of the bridge as the lights that Brian had dimmed down had affected the bridge too. Brian and Kairi were unaware that Sora could hear everything that they were saying and it seems to Sora that Brian and Kairi seem to be acting a bit too nice to each other. Sora's anger began to rise towards Brian as the thoughts of them two together and the thought of Brian taking Kairi away to the Colonel would just kill him inside. Sora looked down at his claw as it started to twitch; he has been twitching even since coming to the ship.

Sora turned his sight to the staircase, where the cockpit was and remained silent as he hear someone appear, "Oh God Damn it." Someone cursed in the shadows, "Kairi! Can you turn the lights back on? It turned the bridge lights off too." Sora knew for a fact that Brian was currently in the bridge with him. Sora remained on the sofa, quiet as possible, as he listened to Brian's mumbling. Sora looked at Brian with a glare JUST ask the lights were switched back on and went Brian was looking in Sora's direction. The sudden appearance of Sora made Brian jump backwards for the surprise, making him grab his chest. "Oh god...What's with you and Kairi giving me a heart attack!" Brian stated.

Sora carried on glaring at Brian as he rose from the brown leather sofa. Brian seemed to notice that Sora hadn't even tried to wash the white paint out of his spiky locks. His clothes seemed to be fixed but the shiner that Hikari had given him a couple of days ago still showed. "I need to tell you something." Sora darkly informed him.

Brian started to feel uncomfortable from the vibe that Sora had brought in the room. "Err...sure Sor..." Brian's replied was cut off when Sora hooked him with his right arm, sending Brian to the floor. Brian groaned in pain as he held his chin where a huge cut was formed. "AHH! SORA! WHAT THE HELL?!?"

Sora continued to glare at him as he summoned Ultima weapon and pointed it at Brian's neck. Brian gulped at how close the keyblade was to his neck, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't send you where the Heartless are." Sora said deadly.

Brian looked at the point of Ultima weapon before looking up at Sora. Sora didn't seem to notice that Brian's claw was free. Brian quickly formed a fire spell and struck at Sora. Sora quickly reflected the spell with the keyblade, allowing Brian to get up and summon his own weapon. "You need me to guild you." Brian pointed out the most oblivious thing since he knew about Endless and the world's items.

"Guild us through what?! Death!" Sora raged, "I'm not gonna stand around to watch you betray us."

"Betray you?" Brian was even more confused then before, "What are you talking about?? I would never betray you guys."

"You've been trying to take Kairi away from us since day one." Brian didn't notice Sora's claw flashing brightly or twitching. "You may be able to fool everyone else but I know what you're really up to."

"Sora, why would I want to take Kairi away? You're making no sense."

"Don't play dumb with me, Brian. I already know about your secret training sessions and trying to convince her that I'm the bad guy."

"Ohh. Now I see what's going on." Brian realised what this was all about, angered by Sora assumptions. "You're just jealous that I'm able to be there for Kairi and help her out like a true friend should while you're just too busy killing every Heartless or Unbirth you see."

"WHAT?!?"

"Heck! The way you've been treating her, I'm surprised that she's even friends with-"Brian felt a strong current of electricity pulse through his body, hurting him greatly. Sora soon realised him and watched him knell to the ground. Small sparks of electric would reflex off of Brian's body as he sparks would try to find a way to escape. Brian slowly looked up at Sora as he breathed heavily from the shock attack, "How-ahh---did you—find out?" Brian breathed, referring to the training.

"About the same time when you decided to kiss Kairi." Sora growled.

"Then that means-"Brian pulled the pieces together, "You were the one that caused the wave to send me flying into the stone wall." Brian pushed himself up with his staff, "But, how could you have heard us when you was on top of the cliff?"

"That's not what's important." Sora pushed the important fact away, "What's important is that you've been a problem from the start." Sora started to step towards Brian with his weapon in hand.

"Me? The only problem here is you." Brian shot back as he placed his staff in the defensive position as his staff changed to his blue-energized shield. "Everyone hates what you have become, including Kairi. You've been nothing but caring about yourself ever since we hit African Depths."

"Oh! And you don't do that?!" Sora shot back.

"True, I can be self-centred." Brian admitted. "But I don't threaten anyone that comes over to me when they just want to see if I'm alright."

"Name one time when I done that!" Sora demanded.

"You done it to Kairi on numerous occasions and now she knows that something is wrong." Both of them fell to silence as Sora took this time to hang his head while grabbing his claw that continued to twitch, hurt and glow. Brian took a deep breath before disposing of his defensive stand, turning his staff back to normal. "I bet you don't even care about Kairi." Sora looked up at Brian and looked as if he was going to kill anyone soon. "Why did you even bring her?"

"You're making it sound like you don't even want her here!" Sora yelled at him, "Tell me one thing, Brian. Do you like Kairi?" Sora demanded. Brian looked at Sora, looking at him with an expression to drop the question. "TELL ME!!"

"Why should I? It's not like you're going to admit to her that you love her anytime soon." Brian yelled.

"THAT'S BECAUSE I DON'T!!!" Sora shouted at him with anger, his claw bright white. Brian was wide eyed at this, Sora didn't why though. "Why does everyone think that I'm in love with that worthless princess?"

"Because you've admitted to me on Notre Dame." Brian said to him

"To get you to shut up!" Sora replied.

"What about at Ohana, when you said that you loved her over the com?" Brian questioned, flicking his eyes behind Sora every now and again.

"Just a slip of words." Sora said coldly.

"Well, what about…" Brian began to search through his pockets for something when a sharp pain went through his head as he continued to listen to Sora.

"It doesn't matter what you say, Brian. I. DON'T CARE." Sora told him, the comment seemed familiar to the Endless but that wasn't the situation at the moment. "Kairi has been the problem since day one. If she stayed at Density Island like me and Riku originally wanted her to, we would have avoided being teamed up with scum like you." Sora gritted his teeth with anger as he held onto his keyblade tightly while Brian looked at him with his emotion of hatred.

"You're a real idiot." Brian simply said while shaking his head at him.

"And why is that?" Sora questioned.

"Because the 'Worthless Princess' is standing right behind you."

Sora's eyes widened at the sound of the voice and slowly began to turn around to see none other than Kairi standing right behind him. Sora could see Kairi's eyes were watering as she held back her tears and her face was red from holding her anger as well. Sora gasped at how upset Kairi was and disposed of his weapon. He forgot about Brian for the moment as he tried to step towards Kairi only for her to step away from him. "Kairi…"

"How can you say that?!" Kairi's anger was released as tears started to fall down her face. "The way that you said that, it would make it seem that you hate me!" Sora didn't response to the comment, making Kairi even angrier with him. "What I want to know is what Brian asked, why did you bring me along if you don't have any faith in me!" Kairi glared at the Keyblade Master for the answer.

"Because I didn't---" Sora's claw began to flash and Kairi noticed that Sora's eyes suddenly flashed white before turning back into his cold blue eyes. "Because I didn't want to go around the worlds again looking for you when you could easily get captured by the Colonel!"

"The Colonel?" Brian questioned, "What has he got to do with—" Brian looked at Sora in shock as an image of someone else flashed through his mind, changing Sora's appearance before blacking out.

"Brian!" Kairi pushed Sora out of the way to get to Brian, seeing if he was alright.

Sora crashed into the wall and glared at Kairi with anger and disbelief, "I don't believe this." Sora muttered to himself. He walked over to Kairi and stood behind her. He could tell that Kairi knew that he was there since she held her breathe, waiting for Sora to speak. Sora kneeled down so that his face was near Kairi's eye and said to her, "As soon as we reach Little Devon, you and your new lover can get off." Sora stood up and prepared to walk out when a light formed barrier blocked his way.

Sora groaned before facing Kairi and to see that she had summoned Oathkeeper. Her eyes reflected his angered expression as tears slowly fell down her face again. "What have you done to him?" Kairi said quietly to him.

"What are you—"

"SORA! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH SORA???" Kairi shouted at him as she aimed her weapon at him.

"I'm right here." Sora failed to talk softly to her.

"No you're not!" Kairi yelled as she aimed Oathkeeper at Sora's neck, making him flinch a bit. "Sora wouldn't have called me 'worthless' or come to me if he was having problems with me hanging around with Brian. Also, Sora wouldn't be covered with jealousy."

"I'M NOT JEALOUS!!" Sora shouted at her, summoning Ultima and struck Oathkeeper out of Kairi's hand. Both of them watched Oathkeeper skid across the floor with the charm close by. The Oathkeeper span across the floor before halting against the wall. Sora then looked back at her, "You don't trust me with details like Ventus or training. You go behind my back to Endless scum. You replace me in your heart with Brian. How can I trust you when you keep so many secrets from me?!" Sora said darkly to her.

"I'm sorry that I kept that from you." She said, "But there's no need to call me worthless when you know that I'm not."

"Fine. You're not worthless." Sora took back. "You're a distraction, Kairi! A distraction that could get me killed." Sora turned around and destroyed the light barrier, making it scatter and reflect sources of light through the bridge. Sora turned his head back to see that Kairi still had watering eyes as she stood and stared back at Sora in disbelief. Sora then said to her coldly, "You're just a damsel in distress. Nothing more." Before heading to his room and slamming the door behind him.

Kairi continued to stare at the spot where Sora was in disbelief with the words that he had said to her repeating in her head. With blurred vision, Kairi walked over to Oathkeeper and picked up the Keyblade. She looked at her lucky charm, making her even more upset and angry. She yelled in frustration as she snapped the charm off of her Keyblade, changing it back to its original form. She placed the charm into her belt loop before heading to her room, preventing herself to cry.

Since both the Keyblade Master and the Princess of Heart were too busy with their emotions, they both forgot about a certain red-head unconscious on the floor.

Kingdommad