Ansem Report 10

The sheer magnitude of my revelation has kept me up every night for days. It burns in my brain, the same thoughts over and over, in different forms and words each time. Emblazened golden against a starry expanse I see them, words upon words, hour after hour, each different thought overwriting the others but all with the same theme. That maginificent thought. I have tried to put my thoughts onto the pages of this journal again and again and ripped them out again and again. But finally, finally, I have seized on the core of the truth I seek to record. There, the ink still drying on the page the elusive truth sits, taunting me with its simplicity.

Just as people have hearts, so do worlds. The same can be said of stars in the night sky. And deep within each world lies a door to its heart. The Heartless desire those hearts. Born out of darkness in people's hearts, they seek to return to a greater heart.

I stare at the words, willing them to reform one more time, to deny their truth. They are motionless on their page. No changing now. Just the words, bright and shining against the dark canvas of my mind. The shifting moire of the shadows that seem to consume my thoughts cannot touch this. The clarity with which I feel this revelation is startling, shocking even after so much doubt and torment. I set my pen carefully to the page again to confirm my truth.

Yes that's it. The Heartless come from people's hearts, as does the darkness. Is the core of the world's heart the world of the Heartless? I will pursue the answer there and become all knowing.

My obsession... my one true desire... my only purpose in life is understanding this truth. And obtaining the power that comes from it. Power. Knowledge. One and the same in so many ways, ways that my predecessors could not understand. That they did not possess the heart to truly seek. Heart. I chuckle dryly in the waning hours of the night. The one thing they did not have was the one thing they failed to obtain. That I would obtain. The necessary actions crystallized in my mind even as my hand reached for my pen one last time.

My path is set. I shall seek out the wielder of the Keyblade, and the princesses. My body is too frail for such a journey, but I must do this. I will cast it off and plunge into the depths of darkness.

I sign my assumed name with a flourish and throw the pen aside. No more words are needed. I had signed the contract sealing my fate. I would pay any price demanded, make any sacrifice needed. My own body would be the cost for sating my hunger. And I would pay it. And gladly sacrifice a thousand million others if needed. No cost is too high.

For a moment I feel a cracking sound in my mind; a hint, tiny and glinting, of uncertainty. Was this truly my only way? Was this prize worth the cost I was about to pay? Once I set foot on this path there was no turning back. No changing the inevitable future. I would reach for the darkness with both hands open and my gaze focused. There would be no redemption for me should I fall. No hope of return.

The chink sealed silently, and the whispering twilight of my thoughts became again an incomprehensible whole. Yes. No doubts. No regrets. No hesitation. No weakness. Only complete dedication to my cause. Here was my prize. Here was my heart. I wonder for a moment if the future reader of this journal will understand what transpired in this moment, but dismiss the thought as futile speculation. More important thoughts of how I would accomplish my goal were already threading silver lines through my mind, connecting and weaving the fabric of my new reality into a cloak I would cover my new body in. An uninvited shudder of anticipation raced down my spine before I sheathed myself in icy determination. Only one thing left for me to do.

Now.

Time to die.