A/N: Meh...I hope this is good. At least, to some extent. I have been planning this for years...okay, no, really for months...okay, okay...weeks. I've been planning this for weeks, but I've only started writing on Thursday. Talk about commitment...but I've only really been INTO .hack since December or so. I'll probably fail at grasping the characters, but, hey, different writers have different styles, right? All I need is some information and practice... Anyways, here's the prolouge...please enjoy!

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(7 yrs. ago)

Darkness...he could not see or hear anything beyond the cold reign of darkness in which he was trapped in. He was barely aware of his own existence, with only scraps of memory and sight he was allowed to have and see. But even in this emptiness, he could still think, to some extent.

Where...am I?

Am I...alive?

WHO...am I?

Those and many more thoughts and questions echoed throughout the darkness, unanswered. What could he remember? A woman's voice...very angry. At him? What did he do? He couldn't remember, and the more he tried to remember, the more distant the memory became.

Soon, he didn't know how long, the darkness began to fade away, and he soon heard a voice that he wasn't sure he remembered or not from before. "Sora...?" The voice was soft and quiet, almost angelic...but who--? "Sora...? It's time to wake up, Sora." Sora...was that him?

Soon, another voice, even quieter, also began calling out to him. "Ryou? Ryou, are you awake?" As the darkness continued to fade, he could feel himself slipping away from the place he was trapped in. He felt that so much had happened to him in just a short amount of time, but he couldn't recall anything now.

"It's time to wake up and live again..." the quiet angelic voice from before told him before his mind gently slipped out from out of The World.

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He could feel his eyes open, slowly. Above him were fluorescent lights, dully shining down on him. He tried to move his head around, but felt it was very heavy, as if water had been soaked into it. A human silhouette dimmed the lights, and as his eyes became more focused, he could see that it was a young woman.

The nurse smiled down at him. "Well, Ryou? How are you feeling?" Ryou suddenly realized that the second voice that called out to him was this lady. He opened his mouth to speak, but the words came croaked from long disuse. The nurse nodded, understanding. "I had one of the nurses get a cup of water for you. Then we'll talk." Lying down, Ryou could only nod slowly.

When the plastic cup had been delivered to him, he tried speaking once more. " 'Ryou'...?"

The nurse nodded. "Yes. Ryou Misaki."

"What's that?" The young boy asked.

The nurse's eyes widened in surprise, "Why, that's your name, sweetie."

"My name?"

"Yes...don't you remember?"

Ryou slowly began looking around the hospital room he was in. "What happened?"

The nurse gulped slowly, never leaving her gaze on Ryou's face. "You had an accident, I think, when they brought you here. At least, that's what the report said...I haven't even begun working here until just last month--" She stopped in mid-sentence. "You do know where you are, right?"

"Of course."

"Where are we then?"

"The hospital, obviously," Ryou answered.

"Do you remember what happened before the accident?"

"Oh..." Ryou closed his eyes, concentrating on his memory. "Not really," he finally answered after a few minutes. "All I remember is playing on the computer when my parents were out, then having a massive headache all of a sudden...then nothing. And then I woke up here, and here we are."

The nurse gulped and inhaled deeply. "Ryou, do you remember what you were playing?"

Ryou's look of concentration returned. "Ummm...I think it was some fighting game. I don't remember. Why?"

The nurse bit her lip nervously, then forced a smile on her face when she saw Ryou glancing at her nervously. "Oh, nothing, I was just a bit curious. I'm a bit of a gamer myself."

"Where are my parents?" Ryou suddenly asked.

The nurse's eyes suddenly became distant for a split second, trying to remember. "I believe, last time I heard, they were in the waiting room." She smiled again and continued speaking. "You know, Ryou, when we saw that you were showing signs of regaining consciousness, the doctors and nurses were ecstatic and called your parents right away. Now that you're awake, they can come by and see you soon. Your mother was especially worried..." Ryou slowly nodded. He felt his eyelids become heavy and slowly covering his eyes once more. Before he was able to drift to sleep minutes later, however, he could hear the nurse talking to someone. "...and so while I was talking to him, he didn't even seem to recall very well of who he was and what happened. Do you suppose it could be amnesia...?"

"Amnesia? From a game?" The doctor whom she was speaking with sounded shocked, if anything. "This is one of many cases..."

"Should we tell his parents?"

"Yes, they should know. But make sure no one tells Ryou. It would probably be best if he should never learn what happened to him all those months here, and let him return to a normal childhood..." The words made Ryou even sleepier, and soon fell fast asleep, a peaceful sleep for the first time in months. The doctor and young nurse left, never realizing that Ryou had eavesdropped on their conversation about him.

One last thought crosses his mind right before the deep, peaceful sleep: Will I ever remember...what happened to me then?