Banjay

　　In the previous summer, a young human named Banjay successfully completed the Royal Guard`s Combat Education And Practical Application Course (or CEPAC, for those in the know). All his life, Banjay aspired to be in the Guard, just like his father, and his father`s father, and on down the family tree. His family threw him a party to celebrate his achievement, with a portrait of his dad at the head of the table. Were he alive to see his son that day, he would have been so proud.

　　At the start of the next week, Banjay reported to his first duty assignment at the evidence locker on Barker Street. His guardsmen-in-arms assured him it was an easy gig. Criminals would always pose a threat, given the nature of what the locker stored, but security was usually quite heavy, and one would have to be a fool to attempt to steal from the King. With the Du閚 threat growing, however, the Guard had to reinforce their nighttime defenses atop the Wall, leaving the morning shifts elsewhere in the city vulnerable. Banjay was still a fresh face, as fresh as it got - he didn`t even wear an insignia - so of course they gave him the warehouse assignment. Nothing ever really happened there, and they needed their seasoned guards to actually defend the city.

　　Passing the CEPAC was just the beginning of any guardsman`s career. Banjay had his heart set on Intelligence and Reconnaissance, but to get there, he had to prove himself worthy and capable - and prove himself, he did. He arrived ten minutes early for every shift, without fail, and he never left his post unless given explicit authorization from his superior. He followed orders unquestioningly and executed them flawlessly. He always stood at attention and never once broke their morning formation, even when the formation consisted of only a handful of other guards, and even when the other guards were goofing off.

　　But the day the Widow plundered Barker Street, for Banjay, everything changed.

　　The thing was, he never could remember exactly what had happened. He had visited the latrine at some point during his shift, which his superior confirmed they had authorized, and from there, oblivion. They found him sitting on the ground with his weapon drawn and a glazed look in his eyes, but that was the best anyone could tell him. After a thorough investigation, the Guard deduced that it must have been the Widow`s magic at play, or perhaps the Widow`s accomplice, but Banjay`s superiors made it clear to all that what happened to Banjay was to remain strictly classified. He never could provide a description of the suspect. The Widow had punched a hole in that part of his brain.

　　Still, they lauded Banjay as a hero. His weapon had been drawn, a clear display of bravery despite having faced down the criminal alone. They promoted him without hesitation, held a ceremony in his honor, and gave him a week of paid leave to recover from the event. But Banjay never quite recovered. He started to forget even more. He came home from the market one day to find a total stranger sitting in his chair - his wife, as it turned out, but he`d forgotten that she existed, much less that he`d ever married. After it happened enough times, they nailed a sign to his door that read: you are married to the woman inside her name is Wisteria`, and he eventually managed to retain the fact. But his memory problems effected him everywhere he went. He forgot how to navigate the city, and suddenly, always-early Banjay was turning up late for duty. Some days, he couldn`t remember the intricacies of his armor, and he`d wind up with his scabbard on the wrong side, or his chainmail over his tunic. For a while, he`d even forgotten his own name. Some days were worse than others, and just because he forgot something one day didn`t mean he wouldn`t remember the next. Still, it wasn`t long before his Command took notice. After weeks of inconsistency with no marked improvement, Banjay was relieved from duty. It was an honorable discharge - the Guard weren`t so heartless as to fault him for it - but he was discharged nonetheless. His father would have been devastated.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

　　For weeks, Banjay mourned his career in the Guard, ruined before it could truly begin, snuffed out by some damn criminal he couldn`t even remember. Some days he would get up and get ready for duty, only for Wisteria to stop him and remind him that he couldn`t serve anymore, and each time it happened was as gutting as the last. He had to nail a sign to the inside of the door that read: you cant be in the guard no more`, and eventually he retained the fact. He never did recover from the heartbreak of it all.

　　Banjay`s plight reached far up the ranks, for he was well-liked by the Guard - as equally as the Widow was despised. Eventually, King Benewick himself had heard his story, and it moved his heart (or so the card said). Thus, the Royal Family formally invited Banjay to the 77th Annual Royal Art Gala to be a guest of honor. Banjay and Wisteria were elated. Far from affluent, neither one had ever had the opportunity to attend such a grand event, and after all they`d been through that year, it was the outing they needed to keep from succumbing to despair.

　　So, Banjay wore his parade dress uniform, and Wisteria wore her nicest evening gown, and their smiles lit up the whole Gala. Truly nobody there could appreciate the affair as deeply as those two could. They got to meet the King and Queen privately, who gave Banjay their most heartfelt gratitude, and even bequeathed to him a medal - a Purple Star, a reward of the highest regard, reserved only for those who suffered greatly in their service to the Royal Family, and whose brave actions were deserving of exaltation. After toasts, cheers and tears, Banjay and Wisteria returned to the ballroom to enjoy the rest of the Gala, perusing every booth to see the finest art that Iridan had to offer&

　　Then he stumbled upon the forest elf`s booth.

　　The memory of that day assaulted him. He lived it in frightening detail, from the moment he spotted the criminal to the moment he lost his mind, all in the length of a breath. He watched the man`s pupils expand and drill a hole into his own. He felt the same excruciating pain from when the thunderclap knocked him back. He watched the fabric of his memories get torn apart all over again. As he laid his eyes upon the forest elf, even with that blindfold on, Banjay remembered him clearly. That foul magic echoed in his head:

　　Y O U N E V E R S A W M E

　　And the Widow`s illusion broke, for Banjay had seen him again.