"So, what's it like?" Brandon asked. "Being a Nobody, I mean."
"How do you think you'd feel without a heart, Brandon?"
"Well, I think I'd feel awful."
"Wrong."
"Wrong? What do you mean, wrong? How could you not feel awful?"
"It's worse than simply feeling sad, Brandon. When you lose your heart, you aren't able to feel anything. Nothing at all. It's a feeling more hopeless than the deepest despair you've ever felt in your life. It's a horrible hollow feeling that eats away at you until you go mad."
Brandon frowned. "That's terrible. How can you go on like that for so long?"
Xanthas sighed and looked out the window in his room. "It's not easy. Every day you wonder whether it's worth even getting up, knowing that there will be no joy in your life. You can't feel fear, but that's not worth the price of losing all other feeling."
"So…what are you gonna do? How do you know it'll all be okay?"
Xanthas turned to Brandon. "Brandon, look outside. Tell me what you see."
Brandon looked out his window. "I see twinkling stars."
Xanthas almost smiled. "Exactly."
"What?"
"The stars are twinkling, Brandon."
Brandon looked confused. "So?"
"This is SPACE, Brandon. Stars don't twinkle. Twinkling is an illusion of stars caused by atmospheric interference of planets. We're on a ship. There's no atmospheric interference here."
"Wait…if they're not twinkling…"
"Use your head, Brandon."
"If they're not twinkling, that means they're going out?"
"Yes."
"And if the stars are going out…then the worlds…"
Xanthas finished the thought for him. "Are disappearing. One by one."
"I'm sorry if I have to say that doesn't sound like something that would carry much hope."
Xanthas laughed. "Perhaps not for the people living on the worlds. But worlds are more stable than people realize. There are ways of getting a world back. The important thing right now is what this means for me."
"What are you talking about?"
Xanthas gestured toward the window emphatically. "I don't know where my heart is right now, but I'm looking for it. It's a shrinking world, Brandon. The boundaries are getting ever smaller with each world gone. I had a strong heart. That's why I'm a Nobody now. That's why I kept all my memories of my life. My heart will survive. The fewer places I have to look…the easier it will be to find it."
Brandon looked skeptical. "So you're in this for yourself?"
Had he a heart, Xanthas would have been angry at that statement. "Brandon, you know nothing. I do this because I want to be able to love the love of my life again. I want to be able to breathe free air, to feel joy. Do you love someone, Brandon? Enough that you'd give anything, even your life, for them?"
Brandon staggered back. "Well, I…"
"Don't stutter. There's nothing to be gained from hiding your emotions, Brandon. No comfort to be had in forgetting them. In the end, they're one of the things you have in this world that you can't afford to lose. If you have no heart, then you are lost."
"…Yes. There is a woman that I love."
"Good. And I suppose you're looking for her now? She's lost somewhere, waiting for you to find her?"
"….Yes."
"Well, I know where my love is. What I don't know is where the thing I need to feel it is. This isn't just for me, Brandon, it's for her too. So call me what you wish, but NEVER assume I'm selfish."
"But what about all the people on those worlds that are disappearing? What about them?"
"As I said before, Brandon, there are ways of getting worlds back. Once I have my heart, I can help to put the pieces back together."
Suddenly, out of the shadow of the hallway, Fox appeared. "So that's your story, is it, my friend?" He smiled at Xanthas. "How very noble."
"Although I would appreciate the comment if I had a heart, I believe that my life is not your affair."
"For one who cannot feel, you're very bitter, you know that? But no matter. I can see you guys don't mean any harm."
Fox deactivated the rooms' lockdown. "You're free to go however you please."
Brandon stopped. "No, I don't think we'll go yet. You guys said you needed help beating the Heartless, didn't you?"
"No. I said we were fighting them, but we can do that on our own."
Xanthas, inspired by Brandon's sudden outburst, said, "That wasn't an offer. We're going to help, whether you want us to or not."
Fox smiled. "All right, but you'll need ships."
