A/N: The use of the name 'Efreeti' instead of 'Ifriti' is deliberate in this chapter, since Cultra misspelled it in the last chapter and now Efreeti/Ifriti does not remember his original name.

I love that you guys took well to Efreeti. :') You make my nerd heart happy.

Also, there is now a Spanish translation of Lethe in the works. The translator is Balderouge and the translation can be found on the website Amor-yaoi. I would post a link, but y'all know how bad FFN is about links... the translation is under the same title, however. Please check it out!

Chapter 21

Efreeti opened his eyes.

He was laying flat on his back on his mattress. Slowly, his head rolled to the side. His room had a tiny window, perched high up on the concrete wall. Through it he could see a melancholic sky.

Something felt different. Wrong.

Slowly he sat up. His entire body protested in aches and soreness. Dully, he ran his hand along his arm, finding burns and scars beneath his touch.

There was a mirror poised in his room; Efreeti slid off the bed and slowly wandered towards it.

The closer he got to his image, the greater his incredulity grew.

The image in the mirror…. Was that really him?

Thick locks of dark hair descended past his shoulders, his body was large in stature yet lean. Most frightening were the blazing red eyes that stood out harshly against his dark skin.

None of this… felt familiar.

Despite his bewilderment, he couldn't recall what he may have looked like before. He couldn't conjure any face that he identified as his own, as if he was the mind, but his body was something he only wore, something that wasn't him. Unease crawled through his veins.

"Efreeti?"

He turned. The person standing in the doorway, that was his supervisor, Cultra. He knew this intuitively, and in fact felt an intense surge of subservience to this person who obviously knew more than he.

The sensation was disorienting, and felt just as unfamiliar as his face.

His response, however, was quick, "Yes, ma'am."

A satisfied smile curled at Cultra's lips. "Good. I see you've settled in."

"Yes, ma'am."

She surveyed him up and down. "Have you discovered any new abilities?"

"Abilities?"

"Control over fire? Unusual strength?"

"I… no…"

The supervisor sighed and shook her head. "Well, it was unlikely to begin with. You seem to have weak conformation. But Nightmare will find use for you, just like all the other failures."

Nightmare. Images flashed before Efreeti's eyes; an imposing stature, gleaming yellow eyes, a wild grin, a deep, powerful voice. "I've met him," Efreeti realized out loud.

The supervisor snorted. "That's your programming talking, Efreeti. We give every employee background information on Nightmare so you know who's employing you. But trust me, you've never met him. Like you would get that honor!"

"Oh." That explained his spotty memory on the encounter, at least.

Cultra smirked. "I've never met the guy myself. You're not the only sucker."

So his belief that he had met Nightmare came from… the programming.

"You put memories in my head?" Efreeti asked, although the concept didn't feel too strange. Of course they did. That was what Holy Nightmare did, and it was all for a good purpose.

"In a way."

"Who was I before?"

"Efreeti. The same person." Cultra finished taking her notes on the computer and tucked it away. "The less you think about who you may have been, the better. It won't do you any good, and you won't remember. We removed portions of your hippocampus. It's a common procedure here, and will sever all memories prior to your arrival at Holy Nightmare and induction as a demon beast. It's best you forget about anything else."

"Oh," Efreeti said helplessly.

Cultra tugged another, even tinier-looking computer out of her pocket and began to fiddle with it.

"Did I volunteer?" Efreeti asked.

"Mm?"

"For these experiments. Did I volunteer? Did I want to serve Nightmare?"

"Sure. Stick out your hand."

Efreeti obediently held out his right hand.

"Other one," she corrected, and tugged his left hand forward.

In two quick motions, she had the second computer device strapped around his wrist. A screen, perhaps two inches tall and four inches wide, was attached to the strap in easy viewing range for Efreeti.

"This is your disc," she told him. "It stays in constant communication with the tracking device we've implanted in your body. If the two are more than ten feet apart for a period of three minutes, or if the disc is in any way damaged, I will be notified immediately. You have thirteen days to return to base here. On failure to return, we will send an unmanned vessel out to retrieve a report from you. In the instance of an unsatisfactory report, you will be terminated. Otherwise, the vessel will escort you back to the base. Is that clear?"

"Hold on, I have a tracking device?"

"Don't lose this," Cultra demanded sternly. "You lose it, you wreck it, and nine times outta ten, we have to kill you."

Efreeti unconsciously held the device closer to his body, as if the very breath of his supervisor would ruin it.

"Good," she said. "Since you have demonstrated below average physical capabilities, we're assigning you to reconnaissance. You've been programmed with a chip that significantly increases the speed at which you learn languages. You will be sent to various planets, blend in with the native life, and learn their defenses, military strategy – anything you can."

"Uh, okay… could you explain all that again?"

Cultra rolled her eyes. "Just follow me."

He trailed at her heels as they entered the hall.

Weird, that all the doors along this hall looked the same, and all were dead-bolted into place….

But it shouldn't be weird – after all, he volunteered for this and obviously this was some place he'd been staying at. He just… couldn't remember volunteering.

That seemed like a pretty important thing to forget.

Efreeti was in the middle of contemplating what else important he might have forgotten when Cultra halted him before a large unmarked door.

"The hangar," she told him before throwing open the door.

Immediately, a rush of cold, charnel air washed over his face. His eyes adjusted to the room and his blood ran cold.

Something was at the center of the room –a creature at once alien and monstrous, squatting on three legs and glaring with metallic, reflective eyes.

Hold on…

An aircraft. A ship. Of course! He knew what ships were. Somehow. Efreeti let out a light laugh and clutched his chest. "Oh man… that st-"

"This ship is property of Holy Nightmare," Cultra cut in as they strode towards it. "It's yours now, which basically means we pay for it and we repair it and you better not get a single speck of dust on it. You crash it and survive, and you won't be alive much longer. You hear me? You bring this back spotless."

"H-hold on, what? Bring it –"

"Back, kid. Are you deaf?"

"I'm taking – this out?"

"You heard me."

"I – I don't know how to fly!"

"You took a five month training course," Cultra said frankly. "You just don't remember it."

"Wh-what?"

Cultra sighed. "I can't believe it's my job to walk all you newbies through this. I keep telling them, maybe it isn't so bad to keep some memories, but noo…." She shook her head. "Whatever. Look just, you guys are supposed to come outta training and hit the ground running. Get in the cockpit."

Efreeti knew exactly what she spoke of despite his certainty that he'd never heard that word before in his life, and within seconds he was situated in the front seat of the plane. He felt unsettled, encased by a cold, emotionless hunk of metal.

"Am I going somewhere?" he asked. "Am I flying myself somewhere?"

"Popstar," Cultra said, tapping at her computer. "There, now I've put your assignment onto your disc – that will give you the coordinates and brief you on the mission. Most assignments, you'll be assessing a planet's defenses. This one is a bit different. Bit useless, if you ask me."

Efreeti gaped as his disc's screen filled with blocky green letters. And then data appeared on his screen: Efreeti squinted at it. "Hoshi no…. Kirby of the Stars?"

"Correct. Good to see your translation systems are functional."

"What is Kirby of the Stars?"

His supervisor scowled. "A waste of time, if you ask me, but Nightmare has exponentially increased the number of demon beasts searching for him, so there you have it. He's on everyone's disc, but most don't worry about it. A trillion of us and no one's seen hide nor hair. Far as I'm concerned, he's a legend."

"Then why…?"

"You can look him up later. Apparently some intel indicated he might be on that planet, so whatever, now we're sending another good reconnaissance employee out on a wild goose chase. I don't make the rules."

"Are you sure I know how to do this? I don't remember training…" Efreeti said uneasily.

"Soldier, turn your ship on."

The words sparked something – Efreeti adjusted the fuel selector valve to draw from both engines, pressed the carburetor heat plunger in, switched on the master switch, twisted the primer to atomize fuel into the engine's two cylinders, flicked three buttons to prepare for interstellar flight, and lastly, twisted the ignition key to set the engine rumbling.

Efreeti's hands fell to the wheel. "I don't remember training," he said blankly.

Cultra smirked. "I don't get tired of that shocked look. All right. Here's your assignment." She swiped her screen; coordinates and instructions appeared on Efreeti's disk.

"You can read all about what you gotta do, and then input those coordinates into the ship.

"Yeah," Efreeti agreed dazedly.

"Great. See ya later, kid."

Space was scary.

Lonely.

Gazing at the infinite stars, Efreeti thought of how small he was, how insignificant. A tiny dot drifting amongst giants.

His chest ached, and he felt that he had forgotten something – something very important. Something that was supposed to make him feel… not alone.

But try as he might, he could never figure out what it was.

As the hours pressed on, and he drew closer to Popstar, Efreeti sang to himself.

The words didn't make sense to him, being in a language not programmed on his disc, but they felt familiar on his tongue. It was a lulling song; even if he couldn't remember where he had learned it, or why he knew it, it brought him peace.

Maybe some day he would learn where he had heard it.

It was nighttime on Popstar. Three days Efreeti had spent on this planet, and he had decided it was nearly as lonely as space. He hadn't seen hind nor hair of a single human being, certainly not one named Kirby.

Dusk had fallen, shrouding the forest in deep blackness, and Efreeti lit a fire to warm his bones.

His supplies, which had been provided in the back of the ship, would last him a month on the surface of Popstar, which both seemed like an enormous amount of time to spend on a foreign, lonely place, and also seemed like hardly enough time to explore an entire planet.

Already Efreeti was beginning to feel that his search was futile, just as Cultra had suspected, and he wished to return to the fortress earlier rather than later.

Perhaps Kirby really was nothing but a legend, and this whole search was pointless. It would have been better to get a mission that fell more in line with what Nightmare needed in the war, rather than chasing a fairy-tale. Although he couldn't remember volunteering, he worked for Nightmare now, and it seemed that he ought to be as useful as possible to the man, rather than meandering around distant planets.

Efreeti sighed and gazed meekly into the flames, which danced in his red eyes. He stretched out his hands and watched how they caged the fire.

It seemed that he had been assigned the loneliest job.

Then again, what did he know about lonely? He'd spent long days alone in his room, hadn't he? It was sort of unclear, but he didn't remember much interaction beyond routine tests and training sessions.

So why would he feel lonely? He had always been alone.

His brow furrowed deeper.

Did he know people before Holy Nightmare? Had he had a friend? Family?

That last thought made him feel cold despite the flames. Family. Maybe. But from where? Did they know that he was going to forget them? Did they support Nightmare's cause, too?

Something about these thoughts unsettled Efreeti, and he stood to walk them off.

Maybe reading again about this legend Kirby would help him get his mind off everything else.

Tapping his disk, he brought up the information log on this odd fairy-tale person.

The warrior prophesized to face Zero Two in the 4th Era of the Sol is Kirby of the Stars, considered the successor of the Universe's last Star-Warrior, Galacta Knight. It is believed that Kirby of the Stars was discovered in the fortress of Holy Nightmare, but smuggled to an unknown surrounding star system by a recalcitrant demon beast. Little information survives about the Star Warrior and some sources believe he has perished. It is widely agreed, however, that Kirby of the Stars possesses white wings and blonde hair, much as his predecessor did. If discovered, inform higher authority immediately.

Efreeti felt even more confused than when he had started, much like the first time he'd read Kirby's tragically short entry.

Prophesized? By whom? And what demon beast would ever disobey Nightmare's commands? Anyway, wouldn't it be easy to track down someone who had white wings?

No wonder Cultra had called Kirby a legend. The whole basis of his legend was flawed, couldn't be true.

Maybe it had been inspired by the GSA, who were, as Efreeti was certain he could remember, silly dreamers with little grounding in reality.

Nodding to himself, he stoked the fire. All he had to do was amble around this planet for a bit more, prove that there was no evidence to this Kirby character, and then he could return home.

Crack.

Efreeti froze.

That hadn't been the fire. Sounded like a branch, somewhere deeper in the woods.

Now that he focused, he in fact realized that there was low murmur pervading the air, distant and yet undeniable.

His brow furrowed. It sounded like a hum, getting louder, louder…

No…. not a hum. Feet. Dozens of feet. Drawing closer.

A knife slid from his sheath; he held it in a steady hand, his eyes roving through the trees. Nightmare's work had left him with superior night vision, this he knew intuitively. Even so, the hulking shapes of brush and tree obscured his vision from whatever walked in the dark.

Quietly, Efreeti backed away from the fire, which would only betray his location. He slipped away into the darkness, cautious to roll his feet and avoid branches or leaves.

He was tempted to call out, but he had no idea what monsters, what creatures, might hunt in the woods. This was an unfamiliar forest, an unfamiliar planet, and anything could lurk here.

Licking his lips, Efreeti huddled beside a tree and listened.

His heartbeat thudded in his ears.

The great rising shuffling, like thousands of feet trampling brush underfoot. Efreeti tensed, his hand sweaty on his knife. He sure hoped he would remember how to fight, if it came down to it. There was no telling. He didn't know what his body knew and his mind didn't.

The shuffling grew louder, louder; Efreeti inversely huddled smaller and smaller against the tree trunk. At this point the mass must have neared his camp – quickly Efreeti tried to recall if he had left anything of importance there. But no, the only thing of his that held any importance now was the disc attached to his wrist.

Voices began to carry over the wind, the foremost one firm and feminine,

"… still burning, they can't have been gone long…"

So they found his fire.

A second voice, "you don't think it's a demon, do you, miss?"

Efreeti gripped his knife tighter. And they had heard about demon beasts, then.

"There's no way to tell. Keep moving."

Twig and leaf bent and broke beneath their approaching steps.

By the sound of them, they were much too great a force of people to take at once. As his supervisor had said, fighting wasn't his forte, right?

Efreeti glanced desperately left and right. If he couldn't fight, perhaps he could escape… his ship was only three or four miles away, if he ran for it….

Yes, that was his best bet. Nodding in resolve, Efreeti ducked low to the damp sweet-smelling earth and quietly, oh so quietly, began to crawl northward.

Perhaps after he reached his ship, he could fly up and examine the area from –

"Excuse me."

His stomach dropped. He paused, mid-crawl. Slowly, slowly, his eyes curved up.

A warrior stood there, sword at her hip, face scarred but eyes kind. "Are you a demon?" she asked, and it was surprisingly curious rather than hostile.

A sympathizer of Nightmare?

Clearing his throat, Efreeti stood awkwardly. Deny it? Admit it? Not all planets favored Nightmare's rule, but she didn't seem afraid or hateful of him…

"My name is Efreeti," he said instead.

She smiled. "I'm Fumu. Maybe you can help us."

A/N: This is random and ultimately has no bearing on the story as a whole, but… who caught on to the fact that Marx fed Kirby human flesh back in Leech?