Hello readers, and welcome back!

I have to give myself major credit here, because I finished typing this chapter in one day (took me four hours though, whew). It's the biggest by far (over 4000 words without the author's note!), and half of it was written in the span of the last four hour. Now I can finally get some of the summer work I've been meaning to do out of the way! xD

Okay, BIG thing to realize before you start reading. This is the chapter where I reveal a LOT of stuff, so it might be good to take a second and do a little rereading. No, you won't find out who the Raven is (yet), but you're going to learn a bit about the pre-asylum days of the Mansion.
For those of you unaware of it, this is a videogame fanfiction. I have taken characters that already exist and crafted an original story behind them. I do HEAVILY allude to this in this chapter, so if you're confused about characters, it's ok. I'm happy to clarify any questions you may have. However, more will be explained in later chapters, so you might want to hold tight for a bit and see if your question gets answered.

Now, on to the chapter. Don't forget to leave a review (I love those things), and favorite/follow if you would be ever so kind. Enjoy this new chapter, and read on!

*Nintendo owns all*

Chapter 10: The Journal of Dr. Main

"David."

A hissed whisper failed to awaken David from his slumbering, sprawled position on his cot. He had gone to his room after finding the key left by Gann, knowing that the best time to act would be during the night, when less people would be awake to his investigation. Having a few hours before the sun set and the patients were herded back to their rooms, he retreated to his own room to write and reflect on his plan. It was fairly obvious that he had tried to write, with his notebook open on his chest and his glasses arranged crookedly on the bridge of his nose, but sleep had overtaken him with the swiftness of a bird of prey.

For the first time since his arrival at the Mansion, David Kojima did not dream. His mind was merely a dark and yawning hole, a curtain of nothingness that separated the line between being awake and being asleep. No scenes of violence crashed through his head, no screams or musical bursts of gunfire rang in his ears- there was only silence. It was a peaceful way to exist, but the void he found himself in was as delicate as a silvery spider web. Perhaps it was due to the lack of thought that occupied his mind that he jolted out of sleep with a surprised curse, as a pencil sailed across the room and beaned him on the temple.

"Jeez, you could sleep through a bomb, couldn't you?"

David groaned and massaged the sore muscles in the back of his neck, but froze as he realized that a figure stood in his room. It was dark outside, and the little moonlight that shone in the room could not pierce the shadows that hid the intruder...but the voice was familiar. Upon realizing who it was, he had to wonder if he was still dreaming. "...Sam?"

The figure chuckled, but refused to come closer to the light. "You sound surprised. Who did you think it was- Gann?"

"He's been in here before, so I wouldn't be surprised," David muttered, then shook his head in confusion. "Wait, how'd you get in here? I thought Miles..."

His unfinished words seemed to be already said in the silence that followed, allowing Sam's shadowy figure to shift uncomfortably. "He did. They threw me in my cell a few hours after he...dealt with me. Then Gann came and unlocked my door a few minutes ago, and told me you got the key."

"What did he do? Miles, I mean."

"You don't want to know," she fired back bluntly. "Trust me, you don't want to know. He knows how to cause pain...but don't worry about me. I've been through worse."

The last sentence was uttered softly to herself, but David heard them and swallowed nervously. "You probably should know Main talked to me. He...he told me about you."

"What do you mean?"

"He talked about...how you had a family, and what you did to them. Why you're apparently here."

In an instant, David went from sitting up on his bed to being slammed against the wall, held in place by the weight of an arm against his throat. His head reeled from the impact of the wall against his skull, and he nearly blacked out in shock. Sam's face loomed close to his, her eyes filled with feral anger, while a patchwork of bruises and angry red cuts across her cheeks held David's attention. He didn't dare look her in the eyes as she hissed, "So he told you about 'Adam'. Well, did you believe him? Do you think he's right- do you think I could do such an awful thing to a husband and a child?"

He forced himself to meet her gaze, and as he did, he realized something. Hidden away under the layers of anger in her eyes was another emotion: fear. Sam had clung to the belief that she wasn't insane, wasn't a murderer, and she couldn't accept anything that would destroy that belief. It would put all her struggles and defiance to waste if she learned Main was right after all this time. All the patients wanted Main to be wrong, but David knew that the tales the Master spun held grains of truth. Even if they had never committed the crimes Main and Gann had mentioned before, it felt as though the crimes could be committed by the people in the Mansion. "I think you could," he finally wheezed as he tore away his gaze. "I think any of us here could do something like that."

Sam didn't respond, but moved away from the reporter and hovered near the edge of his cot, half in light, and half in shadow. He looked down at him with a shaken expression, and if she was hurt by his comment, she did a fantastic job of hiding it. "I know I could," she whispered in shock, "but I swear, I never did. I've seen death, seen people I know and love die in front of me, but I swear; I swear to you, I never killed them."

"I believe you."

The woman let her thoughts settle in silence, and then turned to a more important thought on her mind. "There's only one way to prove it though- we have to go to the third floor."

"We?"

"Yeah, I'm coming with you. It would suck if something bad happened to you up there."

David gave Sam an amused glare. "I think you just admitted you secretly care."

"I did not! It would just be a waste if you ended up breaking your neck after all this time."

"Fine, fine, I think it's time we go see what's up there." He rose to go to the door, but paused as a question surfaced in his mind. "One last question though: how did you get into my room if the door was locked?"

Sam rolled her eyes and pulled out a small, flat key from her pajama sleeve and held it up, allowing the moonlight to illuminate it and turn it to a silvery sight. "You didn't think Gann was the only member of the Court, did you?"

A few minutes later the two found themselves at the library door, which loomed ominously and cast dark shadows onto them. They had no trouble sneaking down the stairs to the entrance hall, for the regular patrol of nurses and doctors were unexpectedly absent. This struck David as unusual, but Sam had reckoned that Main perceived the threat of the Raven to be gone. Something about that theory didn't seem to add up, but David pushed the thoughts to the side as he slipped the key from Dr. Soloro into the lock.

"You ready for this?"

"David, I was born ready. Open it up."

"Okay, here we go."

The reporter turned the key carefully until he heard a small click sound, then pushed open one of the doors. It groaned as if to warn him of the punishment for trespassing, but he paid it no heed as both he and Sam walked inside and shut the door behind them, sealing themselves in the room.

The library was a massive room, perhaps the biggest in the entire Mansion, and covered in book-filled stone shelves that stretched all the way to the curved ceiling. Old rolling ladders reached to the ceiling as well, allowing for the books on the top level of shelving to be reached. A single wall of windows let moonlight bathe the parquet floors, illuminating the fine layer of dust that had gathered on nearly every object. Even the large mahogany table and red plush chairs and couches orbiting it were covered in dust, having not been disturbed for some time. Everything was still and silent, like a tomb of an ancient king that time had forgotten, but the magnificence of the old library had not faded with disuse.

"Wow." David's single word echoed in the room as he walked over to a shelf and ran a finger over the old leather volumes in wonder. "This place is amazing. I can't believe Main wouldn't want anyone to come in here- I could spend years just trying to read all these books!"

His companion was less impressed. "It's very pretty, but there's just one problem."

"What?"

"I don't see any third floor."

She was right: there was no visible way to get to another floor of the Mansion, let alone any indication that another floor existed. "No...no, there has to be a way to the third floor! Maybe it's hidden, maybe we just need to look harder." Eyeing the books, he suggested, "Maybe it's behind one of the shelves."

"Oh, that's original. Especially because there are hundreds of shelves here."

"Just look around and see if there's anything that strikes you as suspicious."

She didn't press him further, but inside David's chest his heart pounded in a frantic rhythm. There had to be an entrance to the third floor somewhere- he couldn't have come all this way for nothing!

As he examined the titles of the books surrounding him, he noticed that most of them were ones he had never heard of before, with strange titles such as The History of Hyrule, Giovanni: The Legacy of a Madman, and A Study of Zebes. Other books were written in languages or letters that were meaningless and unrecognizable to him. There were even a few rolled up scrolls tucked away on the shelves. What kind of strange library was this?

After a couple of minutes of fruitless searching, David's fingers alighted on a small, well-worn leather book with its title emblazoned in gold lettering across its spine: The Journal of Dr. Main. The simple words sent a jolt through David, who held his breath as he attempted to pull it from the shelf, only for it to stop with a quiet click.

Suddenly there was the dull grinding sound of stone moving on stone, and a yelp from Sam on one of the library ladders, as a section of shelf she was examining began to move. As David watched, it slowly moved backwards and behind another shelf, exposing a dark alcove that had been behind it. "A secret passage," David muttered, and then said aloud, "Look Sam, it's behind one of the shelves."

"Shut up, David!" Sam shook her head as she regained her balance and stepped from the ladder to the alcove in a single fluid move. "Come on, let's check it out."

David needed no further encouragement as he hurried and climbed up the rickety ladder, brimming with anticipation. Here the answers to all his questions lay in wait, ready to be uncovered...or so he hoped.

He reached the alcove to find Sam waiting for him with a flashlight in hand. "I found it on the ground in here," she explained as she handed the flashlight off to him and jerked a thumb behind her. "It doesn't look very big, and it's not much of a third floor. More like some weird secret attic."

"Still, it's something Main wanted to keep hidden, and now we get to see why." David shone the light around the small stone room, illuminating dusty files cabinets, and cardboard boxes of papers and folders. Sam was right- it didn't look like much- but he knew whatever was her was important. "We don't have much time, so we have to act fast. You look in the file cabinets for anything of interest, and I'll take a look at all these papers."

"Sounds like a plan."

Placing the flashlight upright on the floor, David settled down in front of one of the boxes and lifted it up, finding it surprisingly light. Its contents shifted a bit, exposing a small brown book at the bottom of the box. A feeling of familiarity overcame David, and he realized it looked identical to the 'journal' he had found downstairs. Lifting it from the box, he made out the faded gold lettering and realized this book with yellowed pages was the apparent journal of Dr. Main himself. "Sam, I think I found his journal."

"Whose, Main? Read it then- I think these cabinets have patient files, so I'll look at these."

Nodding, David blew off the dust from the front cover, and coughed slightly as he opened the journal to the first page and began to read...

Day One

Today was a peaceful day. Once it was rare to have such peace here, for years ago an evil force darkened our world, turning light to darkness and corrupting even the most powerful and pure-hearted of souls. However, the great evil was defeated by a gathering of warriors from many lands, who journeyed from far and wide to fight the evil and restore light to all corners of the universe. My younger brother and I were powerful beings, nearly powerful enough to stop this evil, but we were no match for his dark power- it wasn't until the great warriors arrived that we were able to defeat the evil force. Afterwards, I helped to create a small world, a bridge between universes, where these heroes could gather and train together as one group.

Nevertheless, I admit, I grow restless, as does my brother. Here in the world we have created, we have the power of gods...but even that is tiring after a while. What use are our powers when there is nothing to use them for? I should be grateful that we are at peace, but instead I find myself yearning for something new. Perhaps soon I will find something to satisfy me.

Day Five

I have finally found something of interest!

Earlier today, while I sat in my library, I reflected on how the universes are made up of multitudes of worlds, all existing in harmony with one another. This made me wonder: if my brother and I have immense power in this world, what sort of power would we possess in another? I asked my brother this question, but like always his simple mind seemed not to comprehend the idea I was forming in my own mind. There must be another world out there, one filled with power beyond our wildest imagination! However, it must take immense power to be able to reach it- I must investigate how I might be able to achieve such a feat.

Day Ten

Success has finally come to me- the secret was within me all along!

You see, in order to help the warriors in my world, I bestowed orbs infused with my own power, which allowed the warriors to achieve attacks that are normally impossible. If I harness the power of these orbs, I will be able to create a way to the other universe I am sure is out there somewhere. Already I have started building a device under the Mansion we all reside in that will take me and my brother to this other universe, and when we are ready we will leave this world. The warriors can manage on their own.

Day Twenty

I am so very close to completing the device to another world, but I needed one last element: the core of a star. In our- no, my- world, stars are something that only powerful beings such as myself can handle, but they are hard to come by due to their volatile nature. Luckily, today someone who happens to work with the very item I need came to the Mansion, and agreed to give me the material I need. She seemed highly dubious of the lie I told- that I needed the star to create more powerful training weapons- but I know she will not question it. It is not in her nature to challenge such things.

One of the warriors- perhaps the strongest of all of them- seems to know I'm up to something. I keep seeing him giving my brother and I knowing looks, and I find him sometimes watching me. Perhaps he wishes to see what we are up to, but I no longer care- I just am excited to go to another universe and experience all it has to offer.

Day Twenty One

No time to write. Tonight we leave the Mansion. The machine is finally complete.

Day One, New World

I never thought I would use this journal again, but something terrible has happened.

Last night my brother and I fired up the machine, ready to leave our world behind. Yet, something went wrong- so, so wrong. We could see the world in front of us, ready to be visited, but then everything around us began to shake. There was a loud noise not unlike a scream, and I felt myself be...pulled. That is the only way to describe the feeling, and I have never felt it before. It was as if my very essence was yanked out of me and shoved in backwards. The force of it knocked me out, and when I came to, I felt...different. I looked down at myself and suddenly screamed.

I was human.

This world, the one we thought held power for us, has reduced my brother and I to human forms. It gives us a dull buzzing in our minds, as our godlike powers were not meant to inhabit such delicate bodies. Yet, that is not the worst part. The machine did more than transport us- it transported the entire Mansion and all of its inhabitants, including the woman who gave me the star and a person she traveled with. Everyone is in shock, and I told them the reason for us being here is because of an accident. I will not tell them what truly happened to us. For now, the mission has become find a way to get home.

One of our own is lost- the warrior who has been staring at me in suspicion. I thought I saw him outside the chamber where we keep the machine, but he has not been seen anywhere in the Mansion. Brother believes he has been knocked from space and time somehow, and could reappear at any moment or at a future time, but brother is crazy. The warrior will show up soon.

Day Forty-Five, New World

Adjusting to this new world is very hard. Many of the warriors came from worlds where they were not human, but here they have become humanoid. It has shaken many of them, and they wish to return home. I investigated the machine, and while it is in working order, it will not turn on nor work. I have no idea why. Brother still believes it's due to the missing warrior, but I laugh at him. After all, he is crazy.

Something odd is happening to brother and me. Our human bodies were at first strange and disgusting, but now I find it a delight to walk around the perimeter of the Mansion, which has become an island in a sea. I can see a mainland from here, but there doesn't appear to be much there. However, today I thought of an odd thing: I remembered brother and I going to school in our human bodies. We never went to a school, but the memory was so clear it felt as though we had. I was very confused and told brother, who said he too had been having memories that he knew he had never experienced before. I believe it to be a side effect of traveling to this new world, and I think it will fade over time.

Day Sixty Three

Time is behaving strangely here. It feels as though it has become frozen, for I see the trees on the mainland changing colors, but here everything remains cold and barren. My body is becoming stranger- today, when I went to use my power to pick up a pen to write in this journal (as I always do), I was struck with immense pain. It made me unable to do anything for an hour at least, and scared me. Me, a god, afraid of myself! How ridiculous it sounds...but this world is strange and cruel. I think it has corrupted my powers, and is turning them against me with memories that are not my own.

The memories are getting worse, and I am nowhere closer to finding a cure. Brother and I have begun to argue more over what to do. I am beginning to think our only option is to remain here.

Day One Hundred and Two

Today I must regretfully report that brother has died.

We had been fighting more and more as of late, and the dual memories that fill our head are proving it difficult to function. Our bodies have become morphed into weird forms due to the amount of power in them, and it hurts to do many actions both with and without our power.

Today while on our daily walk, brother and I argued over getting home, and he howled that I was giving up. He could no longer live with two lives in his mind, and to my horror he threw himself over the cliffside, where I watched his body hit the rocks and slide into the ocean. Had he been in his original form, he would have survived, but here we are mortal...and now alone.

The warriors all gathered for his funeral. They seemed to like him, even if he was crazy. I still have not seen the missing warrior yet. Perhaps he is dead like brother.

Goodbye Crazy. I miss you. I'm sorry.

Day ?

Pain. it EverYwhere. CanNOT SLEEP or eAt or WalK WItHout cANe. FeeL OLd. HaRd to Wright wel. Trie mor tomoro.

Da ?

Neeed powar. MuST FiNd wai too go on. CaNNOT dye now. WilL Not b liek Brother. I Am a god I am Master hand I will livE.

Day ?

I have created a drug for myself, one that keeps me docile and prevents me from having two memories in my mind. Today I have come up with a plan. I will lead this Mansion, but I will do so as someone other than myself. Master Hand is dead. Today I am Dr. Main.

Already I have begun to administer my drug to the warriors here, and I have given some to some of the lesser warriors. They will become part of my plan. The warriors will lose their old memories the longer they take the drug. In a few years they will forget that they had any lives outside of these walls.

I will make this a place Crazy would be proud of. It will be a prison of sorts, for I will make the warriors doubt their lives. I will wipe their old lives from their minds and give them memories I have created. The drugs will allow them to keep thinking the memories I want them to think. I have reduced them to nothing more than murderers and insane beings. It does not make me sad- on the contrary, I enjoy toying with their minds.

I am in control.

Year ?

Today I allowed the Mansion to become an insane asylum. It has deteriorated over the years, but is still in a livable condition. The people on the mainland fear us. Good. It makes me feel good to know I have control.

Everyone is now fully drugged. Even the woman who gave me the ill-fated star now works under me. I with my brother could see the mansion of smashed minds I have created.

Year ?

There was a rebellion today. A group of patients had stopped taking their drugs and rebelled against me. I killed all but their leader, and used a method I had been perfecting to brainwash him to my side. Now he works as a cook, and believes the false memories I gave him.

The memories...it seems as though by crossing here, the force of two worlds split our minds and gave us two lives: the one we lived in the old world, and the life we could have lived had we been born in this world.

Of one thing, I am sure. We are not from this world. We are not meant to be in this world. But I am in control in this world, and I intend to never leave. The only way to leave would be to use the machine, but it will not work. I could use it to merge our two worlds together, but that could be cataclysmic, kill us all- and end my fun.

No, I intend to stay in control. But if the one warrior ever returns, I will know. I still have my powers, and I will know if he returns with us to this world.

And when he does return I will make sure he never leaves.

I am Dr. Main. This is my Mansion now. I am in control.

David read the last line with shaking hands, as the silence that surrounded his final words devoured him. Sam was frozen in shock, her face pale and with an expression of terror he had never seen before. "Oh my God," she whispered, tears welling in her eyes. "I was right. I knew it. I am Samus Aran."

"Then who am I?" David clutched and rose to his feet, as he rubbed his forehead. "We have to warn Gann- I think Main might do something drastic now that I'm here. We have to warn the Court and tell them they were right. Hurry, we don't have much time."

The reporter picked up the flashlight from the floor, and turned back to Sam- and that was when an icy white hand clutched at his shoulder from behind. "Hello, Mr. Kojima."

David turned as Sam screamed, looked into eyes the color of blood, and felt himself be hit into the back void of unconsciousness once more.