Darkness.

All around, in a place devoid of any meaning. I drifted endlessly, how long I could not tell. Just who was I…? What was I?

A song…. Yes, that's it…. Something about a song, something about…about …

And then there was something, a feeling of awakening. I slowly opened my eyes and gazed at the stormy, dark blue sky. Water floated all around me, it was icy cold and calm. Just where was I? What was I doing here? I felt weakness and my eyelids began to drop. What was my purpose?

When again I awoke, I was in a tiny boat, no bigger then I was. I had a cloth blanket on me, and I felt slightly dried off. I quickly sat up, looking at my surroundings. There was a dock, completely deserted, stretching out for a seemingly endless distance. I hopped out of the boat and landed on the dock.

Where the hell was I?

I walked forwards, completely confused. There was a tiny cabin up ahead, and beyond that a colossal building…perhaps a castle. My head ached…there was something about a castle, but I couldn't remember. I continued walking, but all of a sudden, I sensed something around me. These creatures…! They crawled out of the ocean up onto the side of the dock. Filthy…their bodies were slimy and coated with kelp, and they definitely did not look friendly. I reached back and grabbed my sword. A sword…? I examined it in my hand. There was something about a sword…about this sword….

No time for that! The creatures lurched forwards; raising their claws to strike- I lashed out with my sword and cleaved one right in half. I quickly killed the rest of them, cutting right through their slimy bodies. I kneeled down, panting. Had I used a sword before? How long had ago it been? "O-oh!" I heard a voice in the distance. It was a girl…she ran towards me from the cabin. She stopped when she reached me. "You're awake!" She seemed incredibly young, perhaps no older than sixteen. She had long black hair, on top of which she wore a light green bandana. She had a pale, thin face, arm and legs. Her eyes were big and dark blue. "Um…I was going to let you stay in my cabin…but there's no bed, you see." She turned towards the large castle up ahead. "Besides, my house is in the city"-

"Who are you?"

She turned towards me again, a look of curiosity on her face.

"Um...My name's Victoria. By the way, you're not from around here, are you? I found you floating in the ocean, and pulled you ashore…" I shook my head and frowned. "I-I…."

"What's your name?"

N-name…?

"Um…I…Uh…."

My... name...

Who was I?

She laughed. "It's okay, you probably don't trust me enough to tell me." Sorrow seemed to appear in her eyes. "After all, it has only been a week since the war…"

I scratched my head. War…there was something about that, too….I just couldn't remember...

"Well anyway, why don't you come back with me to the city? I doubt there's anything to be done here at the dock. Besides those ocean demons…"

I shrugged. "Sure."

I guess I had nothing better to do, but...

"Um, hey Victoria..."

"Yes?"

"Just what is this place...?"

She laughed. "You can't be serious." She saw the look of confusion on my face. "Oh, you really don't know?" I shook my head 'no'. "This is the Wave, the capital of The Rhythm Kingdom. I guess...I guess you were on your way here, weren't you? But then...but then your ship must've crashed...the oceans' waves haven't been to friendly lately..."

I sighed. No, it wasn't that…

"...Yeah. Well, why don't we go back to the city?"

"Oh, sure! Um, follow me."

We were nearly at the cities entrance when it happened. My head seemed like it was splitting apart…

I grabbed my head in agony. "Ugh!" Victoria ran towards me. "A-are you all right?"

Replica! Foolish replica! Words raced through my mind. Lorelei…key….

"Ahhh!!!" I lurched forwards in pain. "H-hey!" Victoria grabbed my shoulder. I breathed deeply for a while until I finally felt better. I stood up and faced Victoria, who looked at me with worry. "I'm fine..sorry to worry you." Victoria frowned. "N-No… Headaches like those have been showing up all over the city lately. After the war…after the war a whole bunch of people began getting them. I think it's better if we go see the doctor…"

I scratched my forehead. "O-okay, I guess."

Just what did it all mean? Lorelei…key…Replica? I just couldn't remember.

Later on I was sitting in a small clinic, with a thermometer in my mouth. The doctor, who was a rather thin man in a long, white suite grabbed it and examined it. "Well, it looks like you're fine."

"Oh thanks goodness," Victoria breathed a sigh of relief.

"You see, if you're temperature had been higher than normal," the doctor explained, "I would've highly recommended for you to check into the hospital. There's been a deadly virus going around lately."

I scratched my forehead again and sighed. "Well, thanks." I stood up and got up to leave. "Just a second." I turned to face him. "W-what is it, doctor?" Victoria held up her hands up to her chest.

"Well, Victoria, your friend here"- he turned toward me- "let's just say I think it would be better if you took him to go see emperor Claudio. See, since he's not from around here," he frowned, "it's better if the emperor sees him…just to make sure he's not a Rhyme spy…"

Rhyme…?

"D-Doctor!" He turned towards Victoria. "Hey, I'm not trying to accuse him of anything. It's just that times are crazy and all now after the war." He glanced at me. "We just want to make sure he's not an enemy of The Rhythm Kingdom." Victoria sighed. "Okay, fine." I shrugged and followed her out the door. Me, a spy? Well, I guess it could be possible, I just couldn't remember a thing...

The streets of the city were lined with people hurrying about their daily business. Everywhere large buildings stood, stretching out into the sky. The castle was equally big, its' walls were made of stone and we had to cross a bridge just to reach it. "I-I'm sorry about what the doctor said, it's just..." "I-It's okay", I said, "I understand that you guys probably are going through hard times right now..."

What about the hard times I was going through?

Victoria smiled slightly. "Thanks." The gaurds at the castle held halberds fiercly in their hands. "Yes, what is it?" Victoria kneeled down. "We wish to see the emperor, please." One of the gaurds sighed. "Don't we all? After this damn war, that's all we've been getting. People just want to force their problems onto the emperor."

"I-I'm sorry," Victoria said.

The gaurds moved and allowed us to past.

Thoughts raced through my mind. This place…there definitely something about it…

The walls were decorated with pictures of nobles and red banners. There was a large staircase which we walked up to get to the throne room.

"Here we are," Victoria said, opening the door.

I stared across the room. The walls and floor were white, and gaurds stood all around. I stared across at the emperor, who sat in a throne on the far side of the room. "Victoria!" He seemed young for an emperor, no older than perhaps twenty. "Your majesty," Victoria said, bowing down. The emperor laughed. "Come on, stop with this 'your majesty' talk. Your father and I were good friends, after all."

Victoria blushed. "R-right, sorry. Um..." she looked at me. "I brought a friend to come see you, uh..."

The emperor stared at me with great intrest. "Oh, what's your name?"

My... name...?

"Uh...Ahhh!!!"

There it was again, the headache!

"H-hey!" Victoria ran towards me.

Foolish replica L...

You betrayed me, A...

Damnit!

"Oh no..." Victoria placed her hand on my shoulder.

I remembered something...someone ...someone with the same face as mine. I leaned forwards and threw up all over the carpet on the floor. The emperor got out of his chair and walked towards me.

"I don't know! I don't know..."

He placed his hand on my other shoulder. "It's okay." He turned towards Victoria. "Your friends here, take him to Verse." Victoria frowned. "Why?"

The emperor scratched his chin. "Hey," he turned towards me, "you can't remember anything, right?" I shook my head. "Hm.." He helped me get to my feet. "Victoria, take him to the cathedral in Verse to get his Score read."

Score...

"O-okay." She grabbed my shoulder and allowed me to lean on her. "Just be careful..."

I walked with Victoria to her house, a small, one floor building next to a lake. So many thoughts...so much confusion. "Hey, Victoria..."

"Y-Yes?"

"Do...do you mind if I sit alone for a while outside? I just..."

"Oh, sure," Victoria said smiling, "Um, we'll leave tomorrow, so just make you get plenty of rest." I scratched my back and walked over to the edge of the lake. Victoria stepped into the front door of her house.

Who was I? Why couldn't I remember anything?

I sat staring across at the sunset and the city lights on the other side of the lake. After a while, Victoria came and sat next to me. "I...I now know why you didn't tell me your name. It wasn't because you didn't trust me, it was because you couldn't remember." I sat silently. "I kind of understand how you feel. I lost both of my parents in the war. Although they were honored as heroes afterwards, I felt so lost..." She wiped her eyes with her hand. "After all, losing your family, that's..." I nodded. "Yeah...I can't remember my family, or anything at all." She placed a hand on my shoulder. "But the Score can help." I glanced at her.

The Score...

"What is the Score, exactly?" I asked. Victoria laughed. "Well, I don't exactly know how it works, but what I do know is-" she leaned forwards to whisper in my ear- "It can tell you the future." My eyes opened with surprise for a while, but then I laughed. "Oh, come on, that can't be true." "Well, it is!"

"The future," I laughed, "well, have you ever gotten yours read?"

Victoria frowned. "N-no, their aren't any Score readers in the city, but others have gotten their readings, and they all said-"

"That their readings came true, right?" I gazed up at the sky. "Well, let's hope our readings do come true."

The next day, after we had packed away several items in our backpacks, we set out.

Who was I? Maybe I'd find out with the help of the Score.