Chapter 150: Sorrow

The Aversion Endless' eyes shot open to find him in a blank room, completely empty, completely alone. He could only groan at this. He must have blacked out from the pain that Nikolai was applying to his infected claw. Looking down at his garments, he noticed that he was in the clothes that he wore when he travelled with his master to the Resistance up until when he had gone on the Recon mission, red scarf, golden armguard, and the works. He looked around the white emptiness that surrounded him, finding something familiar to it. "How can nothing be familiar?" He muttered.

"It's because this is where you've always found me."

Brian didn't turn around to the source of the voice. He didn't need to. He frowned as he kept himself from turning around to look at her. "Are you here to torture me, Aiddie?" He questioned, sounding dark in his voice.

"What do you mean?" She questioned, her voice echoed in in the empty space.

Brian sighed at this, shaking his head as thoughts rushed through his head. "You're not real." He spoke sadly.

"I'm not here physically." She corrected. "It doesn't mean I'm not with you or Nick."

Brian shot around at this. "Then where were you?!" He demanded, making sure that he didn't look upset in front of her.

Aiddie smiled slightly as she answered, "The World of White." She answered as she walked towards him. "A world I was once trapped in, broken away from reality, unable to interact…..unable to talk." She looked up at him, grabbing his claw as she did. "Y-you remember right?"

Brian nodded. He remembered all too well. The World of White as Aiddie called it, was the Realm between Reality and Dream, a place that most people visit if life gets too much for them, allowing the person to escape into their dreams and imagination. Not for Aiddie though, her mind and heart was trapped between reality and dream, her world remained white, remained the same. Nothing could harm her because everything was the same, nothing would change. "You thought you were trapped because you were…..uhh…you know…" Brian trailed on.

"Because I am autistic." She spoke.

Brian nodded to this. To think when he had first met Aiddie, she could only communicate in sign language and would only talk to the Captain Riku, only being simple and short sentences. She could watch some perform magic for a minimum of half an hour and completely master the technique of that spell and learn new fighting techniques within minutes, she was near top of the class in every lesson.

Everyone thought that she was a liability though while she grew up in the resistance. She hadn't talked hardly when she was younger, only repeating a selection of words while personating the teacher within the class, shouting every word, as well as not understanding the concept of danger. Also, if she was annoyed with someone, and this was proven as Brian himself had upset her, she was repeat everyone sentence that you would speak just to annoy you. Whenever she was uncomfortable, she would tap her foot on the floor to a beat, along to a song in her mind.

"But…" Aiddie spoke up, draining Brian out of his thoughts. "Now, the World of White is my safe haven." She explained. "While my body is trapped in the dark, my being is here. Where it's safe."

Brian looked away at this. "I couldn't save you." He spoke with sadness in his voice. "I was supposed to protect you and now you're trapped here again." He sighed, "It's because I couldn't save you that Nikolai is corrupted."

"This day was coming." Aiddie reminded him. "You told me that yourself. The fact that he had avoided to change for so long is as close to a miracle as we can get."

Brian sighed at this. "He had fought for so long….only to—" He didn't like the fact. There was no way to cure Nikolai without knowing the item that his heart wants most; it was the same case for Storm. He has no choice but to try and set his heart free.

"You will free him." Aiddie told him, only to wear a concerned look on her face as Brian turned to look at her. "But I have a question for you…..what are you going to do once you get upstairs?"

Brian looked away at this. He knew exactly what he was going to do, the only thing he can do as well as the very thing he knew he had to do. Brian looked back at Aiddie, ready to answer, when a spiteful of pain rushed through his body as his surroundings changed in a flash of light. He was back in the icy room where he was fighting Nikolai, with said Endless crushing his claw with his own.

"You think I'm going to let you blackout?!" Nikolai raged as he forced his claw on his opponent with more force. "You shall die within this world!"

"No-Not today!" Brian gritted, trying to keep conscious as he dug the points of his claw into his, creating bursts of fire from his fingertips. He watched Nikolai's cold expression turn somewhat confused until the sight of pain was clear in his eyes. With a gasp, he let go of Brian's shadowed claw, allowing Brian to summon his staff once more and aim it towards his chest. "LOST HEART!" From close contact, the blast of fire struck Nikolai hard, making him smash through most of the ice that he had created on the floor, releasing some of the crumbled pictures in the ice.

With a spare hand, Brian grabbed a picture that was floating down towards him. As he grabbed it, he noticed that it was an old crayon picture, draw mainly with blue, of what looked like Nikolai and Aiddie when they were young. The Aversion Endless breathed deeply as he was remained of his white mage friend, he wished there was a way to get her out of the world of white.

"The memory now was like the picture was then…." The Sorrow Endless pushed himself up from the ground, glaring at him darkly. "When the paper's crumbled up, it can't be perfect again." He growled.

"You think I wasn't trying to save you?!" Brian stepped forward, being careful not to crush the picture in his hand; he didn't want to enrage his friend any more than he had. "I had no control over my memory loss! You knew where I was yet you were the one that kept your distance." Brian dropped the letter from his hand as he held his staff tightly, feeling his anger getting to him. He glared at his cold friend, watching him ready himself with his gunblade in hand. "I'm gonna keep my promise!" He announced, making Nikolai look at him in confusion. "You and Aiddie will see a brighter future! You will!"

Nikolai eyes widened at the speed that had filled Brian as he dashed towards him with staff in hand, he countered the speed with his gunblade. With every strike that he countered, he looked up at Brian to see that his eyes has changed to violet instead of his natural blue colour. "Your eyes…." With a burst of power, Nikolai forged an ice shield from his frozen claw and bashed Brian away from him. "What happened to your eyes?"

Brian sighed angrily at this. His anger was getting to him, more than usual, he couldn't remember how to control the hate and despair that rested inside him. He looked around to catch the frozen girl in sight once more. "Same thing as our memory with-Jun!" He growled, trying to control the fired claw as he began to feel another attack come up.

"Jun…." Nikolai looked at the frozen girl, confusion on his face.

"She died before she was supposed to and now our abilities have changed because of this—" Brian quickly concluded, having little memory of Jun left. He bared no memories of her from his original time but the memory of her in Land of the Dragons and his thoughts during that time stay. Could he just about remember her because of living a new set of memories that the memory of Jun rests on a different chain to of his memory of her in the future?

"NO!" Nikolai shot back towards him, his expression returning dark. "Our abilities changed by your broken promise."

"How can a broken promise make us forget about the times we had spent controlling our abilities?" Brian questioned. Exampling Nikolai at the same time, looking for a weak spot.

Nikolai huffed as he brushed his frozen claw through his white hair as he said, "Those times don't exist anymore." He slammed his claw into the icy ground, glowing from inside the ice.

Before Brian could act, pillars of ice shot from below him, striking him upwards. He pushed himself off one of the pillars and began jumping from pillar to pillar until he was lost of Nikolai's sight. As soon as he was in the right position, he dived from a great height and slammed into Nikolai, slamming his staff into his icy chest. With his strike, the chest cracked slightly but not completely. As Brian struggled to make another strike as spikes formed out of said chest, forcing him off Nikolai. Damn it! Brian cursed as he watched Nikolai restored himself as the crack disappeared.

He growled at this. He can't balance him if the icy chest is in the way. He needs to try and get Nikolai to come out of his outburst mode; if he could do that, the icy infection that cover his friend to make a slight retreat to his arm, leaving him vulnerable to balance. The only problem with the plan was that he will have to summon the keyblade, something he didn't want to do. It was bad enough that Riku has seen him and Kairi wield the same keyblade but so the events coming up, he didn't want to wield the weapon just yet.

Nikolai charged towards while Brian was in thought, slamming him with his claw at to knock the Endless on the ground. He pointed the gunblade at him, smirking slightly as his weapon began to make a clicking noise.

Brian's eyes grew with panic. He was familiar to the clicking noise. His claw covered in flame as he slammed his claw into the side of the blade, moving when it was aiming, allowing it to miss an ice needle shot by an inch of Brian's side. With a quick sigh of relief, he rolled out of Nikolai's reach as he stood up to his feet and yelled in rage as he pointed his staff at him….only no staff rested in his hands. "This isn't right…." He muttered suspiciously to himself.

"Looking for this?" Nikolai smirked as he held the 'Staff of Myth' at Brian, having disposed of his own weapon to hold the staff. He raised the weapon in front of him, only to realise that the weapon was being held by duct tape. "Seriously?" He looked at Brian in disbelief. "You couldn't mend a stick!" He commented.

Brian growled at the comment, only for something to catch his eye. Nikolai's mockery comment had decreased the ice armour that covered his chest, where his heart rests. 'Sorrow is Nikolai's Emotion. Sorrow normally makes a person guarded—' Brian quickly reminded himself. If the ice armour is adjusting, it means that Nikolai isn't feeling as sorrow from the comment. If Brian can get Nikolai to continually mock him, the Endless will drop out of his outburst form and he will be able to balance him.

The Aversion Endless looked back at the Sorrow Endless with a cocky expression. "That stick is better than any weapon you've ever had." He told him. This is the only plan he had left. With Nikolai's outburst powers, he stood little to no chance without aid or falling closely into his virus again and those opinions were either unavailable or out of option.

Nikolai huffed at this. "A broken stick is not better than a sword." He told him.

"It's better than a frozen sword." Brian shot back, chuckling slightly. He knows that the Nikolai he knows rest inside, he just needed to get him out. This task was going to take a while, he just have to make sure not to say anything offence or upset him in anyway.

BOWBOWBOW

The Little Devon leader, feeling revived, battled his way through the Unbirth as he made through the gummi docks. He needed to claim the area back so that Kyle can get the citizens to safety. There was one thing he had to discover while fighting back the horde, something that didn't add up. He shouldn't have been able to be cured from the virus, it didn't make any sense. If his father always had this ability, why hadn't he cured his fellow members? Why did he go down the path that he did if he could have helped? It's too late to ask his father now but if he was to find the Colonel or Abroc from this time, he will know the answers.

As he slashed through the enemies, he found Max on the floor within the docks. "MAX!" He rushed into the dock area, looking around to see that most of their ships have been damaged or set on fire, unable for use. He ran over to the two fighters and shot Devon's Soul in the air. "Curaga!" He shouted, slightly healing the two of them. "Hang on Max! We're gonna get this area back."

"You think you can just waltz you way in here?" A familiar voice echoed in the docks as within the shadows, the younger Abroc revealed himself. "You don't stand a chance against us!" He smiled, his claw glowing rapidly. He looked to be a couple of years older than Daniel's age, looking exactly the same as his future self. Abroc hasn't changed over the years after all.

Daniel huffed at this at first, only to hear cries of pain coming from his communicator, the voices of his family, his friends, everyone dying. "You think you can scare me?" Daniel smirked at the younger Abroc, shocking the young Fear Endless. "You are nothing compared to me." He said darkly. He knows what Abroc would be like from this time, he would be the coward. Avoiding fights whenever he can as his virus was still trying to get him to face his fears. With having his claw just removed, Abroc's ability didn't affect him much like the others; he knows for a fact that this will freak Abroc out. "I am death!" He continued, attempting to scare the younger Abroc.

Abroc whimpered slightly but managed to keep his cool as he looked at Daniel. "Y-you can't scare me…." He spoke shakily, grabbing hold on his weapon tightly. "YOU CAN'T!" With rage, he shot his claw toward. "Disarm!"

"Reflect!" With quick movement, Abroc's spell bounced from Daniel's protective shield and struck right back at him, causing him to lose his weapons. Daniel rushed his way towards him and punched the Fear Endless in the face, knocking him to the ground. "Well, that was easy." He quickly commented before lifting Abroc up by his armour and holding him up in the air. "Where's Devil?" He asked him.

"Looking for the Princess…" Abroc groaned.

The Little Devon huffed slightly at this. He could be anyway and saving his people was the aim. He didn't have time to search for him. "Fine! You can answer my questions!" Daniel threw Abroc to the ground and pointed his keyblade to his chest. He wasn't going to balance him but he knew that Abroc wouldn't take any risks. "Is there a way for an Endless to cure another Endless?" He asked.

Abroc raised an eyebrow at this. "What do you mean?" He was confused by what Daniel meant.

"Would it be possible for an Endless to use their powers to cure an Endless of their virus all together?" He rewrote his question.

"There is one way…" Abroc said in thought. "Me and David had searched for the answer while we were trying to cure ourselves at the time, so that we could return to our lives." Abroc continued on, "You see, David had a family and a village to lead—"

"Abroc!" Daniel brought his attention back, seeing as he was beginning to yammer on about his past life, at least he knows why his father had disappeared a little while after gaining the virus.

"-Sorry. The only way is to be connected to each other." Abroc answered.

"Connected how?" Daniel asked him.

"Family connection…" Abroc told him. "You have to be related in some way and since Endless can't physically reproduce, the only way for Endless to be cured of the virus is if their sibling or spouse had the virus as well and they had to give their heart's energy to the person that wanted to be cured. The other person that gave their heart's energy away would fade away due to their deed." He explained.

Daniel stepped away from Abroc, allowing him to get up on his feet as he took all of the information in. His father had given away the last of his strength in his heart to rid him of the virus.

"It's very specific thought, each Endless have to be at the same stage. Normal Endless cannot cure Heart-Struck Endless, they would just give them their ability. Heart-Stuck Endless would just kill them both if they done it. Broken and Neutral Endless cannot perform the act at all." Abroc told him.

"What about Normal curing a Neutral?" Daniel asked.

Abroc thought about it. "That would properly be the only acceptation…..if the Normal Endless was on the verge of losing their heart."

Daniel shot around with keyblade in hand, making Abroc flinch, only to smile. "If you help me stop this attack that Devil had started, will you like to be cured?" He offered.

BOWBOWBOW

Nikolai growled with annoyance as looked at Brian with stupidity. "For the last time, no matter how much you try and convince me, your stupid duct tape mended is not a weapon that will change destiny itself…you are confusing those similar traits with the keyblade." He told him, his patience wearing thin.

Brian smirked at the comment, Nikolai's chest was near enough unguarded now, just a little more and he can balance Nikolai and head upstairs to help his friends. "You never know, a weapon can become legend from the wielder's actions." He told him. He chuckled slightly only to grasp in pain. He looked at his gloved claw, only to see that he was fading again. "Not again…." He muttered. He looked back Nikolai, ignoring the pain, only to scream in pain as he felt his staff forged through his shoulder blade. His yells silenced as the blade of the 'Forgotten Promise' was held to his throat, one wrong move and it will be the end of him.

Nikolai shook his head at his friend. "You're right there." He spoke. "Sometimes, it's the people that wield the weapon that make it legendary. It's what gives it their unique name." He kicked his friend back, making the staff push through him again as he crashed to the floor. "That useless weapon will not help you, Brian." He raised his blade only his chest. "It's time to get rid of you." He spoke darkly.

"You don't want to do this…" Brian tried to convince him. "Think of everything that we have been though. Try and remember!" Brian groaned. "Fight back!" He growled as he felt his angry built up inside, only for part of him to click. He sighed as he looked away from the Endless ready to end him. "I'm sorry, Nick. Just do it quick."

The Sorrow Endless looked down at his opponent in surprise and shock. "You're giving up?" When he didn't receive a response, he stepped away and slammed his weapon into the ground. "You can't be depressed! That's my purpose." He complained.

Brian pushed himself up, breathing heavily from the staff in him. "I'm sorry that I didn't keep my promise. My promise to save you and Aiddie, to keep Aiddie safe. There is only one thing I can do. One that will save you and Aiddie."

"Which is-" Nikolai gasped as a stuck of pain hit him, a beam of light coming from Brian as he held the keyblade in his hands. "Keyblade…" He whispered before dropping to the ground.

With endurance, Brian pushed himself off the ground and forced the staff out of his chest. He could only look at his weapon sadly before throwing the weapon on the floor. He looked down at his friend sadly before speaking, "To be saved and live without me."

A/N: This chapter took a little longer than I thought. Man, fights are not my best. But there is always good news, KH3 has gone in development! YAY! Check the video out on youtube! Now on to the next chapter, where we will finally get back to Kairi, Donald and Goofy!

Name: Nikolai
Emotion: Sorrow
Ability: Ice
Theme: Forgotten by Linkin Park