17

Writer's Note:

Before someone complains, I realize Maleficient would likely have found Aurora first, but I have to say I have not seen one second of Sleeping Beauty, so I would be hard pressed to describe anything from it an outside observer could describe. I am really not a Disney fan, especially not of the classics. I could only make it seem believable this way, and that's not even that good as is.

DiZ

Yesterday was strange, this Vexen had arrived on this world, just like I did. Today I invited him and my two assosiates over for an introduction. However, I had been so excited the night before, I had barely slept. Now I was paying for it by sleeping in the afternoon.

"They are called 'The Princesses of Heart', seven maidens, each possessing a powerful heart. I have solved part of the problem with an experiment. I altered a young girl you see, and sent her off, her and her shadow. We can locate her easily. However we must wait and see, she will need to age before her heart can mature and be of use to us."

"Very well, we can focus on finding six others, in fact, I believe one may be on..."

My eyes snapped open. These dreams came less frequently. I think I knew what they were too. I don't think Ansem has totally severed his connection with me. I was basically observing his current actions like I was still there. As he grew accustomed to his new state, I recieved less and less from him, and being least independent while sleeping, Ansem's bind on my body was stronger at those times. But as his control and comfort with his new body-less state, he no longer needed me, and was letting me go.

There was a knock on my door. It was Vexen and my other assosiates, they had met up outside, introductions had been made, and they said we could get straight to business.

Vexen began by telling us about who Ansem was, who I had been. And if his darkness had won him over, how he used to be as well. He spoke of the first tests on Heartless. On his study area, the light and darkness balance. He said there was none. From what he could decipher, only darkness remained in the Heartless. He also told us of Ansem's synthetic Heartless, how they were stronger, faster, better. He also told us while the synthetic Heartless were all darkness, they did not possess as much as a natural Heartless. Only the ones he called 'Shadows', 'Ancients' and 'Darksides' were natural, only they could survive in the "heart of all worlds", whatever that was, Vexen admitted even he didn't know, only that Ansem had mentioned it once or twice.

"Well," said Vexen, "if you truly are a part of Ansem, does that mean he used the darkness as a source of power?"

"Yes," I answered, "I don't know how he did it, but that was how he was able to seperate himself from me."

"But how do we do it?" said an assosiate of mine.

"Good question," said Vexen. He looked to me, "Do you think those memories you have of Ansem might show you the way?"

"I'm not sure..." I said, putting my hand to my chin, "but I will scour them all, for any sign of it."

We spent a good hour or two discussing the differences between light and dark with Vexen. His knowledge was truly admirable. And why not, he had spent the better part of a year studying those differences. I found my brain quite full at the end of the night.

That night, I decided to search those memories as I had promised. I found it, to my surprise, sort of. Ansem had unlocked his talents by desire. One thing, something, that one's heart desired the most. The need had to be great, strong, or it would not work. If one opened their heart to light, or darkness, whatever the case may be, it could be used to achieve that goal. Ansem had not realized it, but in his search to understand the darkness, he had done this, by "asking" the darkness to help him discover it. When that happened, he unlocked his latent powers for darkness. At the time, Ansem was still a sage of light, and his talents for darkness were few, and poor. I skipped ahead a few months, and saw that his darkness had grown the entire time, under his very nose, but he did not realize it.

The progression may have been too slow, or, more frightening, Ansem had chosen to ignore it. I couldn't tell exactly, such as it was with these "pre-memories" as I had named them, sometimes they offered great insight, sometimes a casual observation. Either way, he continued to expand the dark parts of his heart, which lied to him. He thought the darkness was still blurred by a fine line, that one could not entirely see it. So he made his decision to become darkness, rather than look from afar.

At this moment I too had a desire. A desire to understand, much like Ansem. However I was not willing to sacrifice my soul for it, for I lacked a heart, the soul seemed to me the enxt logical item darkness would take. At the same token, I did not want to give my soul to the light either, that could alienate me from the darkness, I did not want that. I wanted the understanding, and the powers of both light and darkness.

After all, my heart was gone, the darkness and light couldn't take me that way, not like Ansem. Heh, I mused to myself, I can see where Ansem went wrong, and here I am, almost all too willing to make those same mistakes. We are not such different people after all.

Although I think, this desire was greater. I wanted to be different. I wanted to be myself. Not Ansem, not Ansem's shadow, but DiZ. This, more than my understanding, was what I feel I desired more. I closed my eyes, as if I could glance within myself. Not Ansem, I thought, I am DiZ, I am me. I felt strange, a funny feeling flowed through me. I opened my eyes, though true, my right eye gave me the only sight I had.

I was somewhere else. On a world that I did not recognize. A great castle stood on the horizon, and it's soldiers were pouring out. I saw a young girl, she was in rags, with a pumpkin, and a few animals. I also saw Heartless. They were swarming yet another world. To destroy it most likely. Soldiers battled the Heartless, but to no avail, most of them fell under the tide of them, and became Shadows themselves. The Heartless ran right past me, I didn't know whether to be relieved or insulted. Oh, right, Vexen said they were drawn to darkness in the heart. No heart meant the Heartless probably couldn't even see me, at least not as a living being, let alone a threat. They cornered the girl with the pumpkin, and stopped. Two beings materialized from the darkness. Portals for travel of some kind. One was an old woman, the other wore a brown robe. Servants of darkness, I could see it right away. But the brown robed being...intrigued me.

"Well, is she one of them?" the old woman asked.

"Yes Maleficient, good work. We have found a Princess. I didn't think we would find one so quickly." The voice...my voice...Ansem. So it was true, he was a being of darkness. I had found proof for Vexen, though I admit I was worried how he would handle it.

If Ansem saw me I realized I could be in grave danger. I focused my thoughts, trying to get myself back to my home. I felt the same feeling, less intense this time though. I opened my eyes, and I was back where I belonged. I should ask the others to come again quickly, they would need to know about this. So I turned in, and went to sleep.

"What about that boy you said might yield to darkness?"