The Bedel of forgetting Captain's face was a strange, disorienting burden for Kael. He knew the man existed. He knew he was called "Captain" and was the leader of the sanctuary. He knew the sound of his voice. But the visual memory, the specific set of features that made up Captain's face – it was simply gone, a blank space in his mind's eye whenever he tried to recall it.
This created awkward, tense moments in the sanctuary. Whenever Captain was present in the main chamber, Kael would look at him, seeing a figure he knew was important, but feeling a disturbing lack of recognition. He would rely on Elara.
"That's Captain," Elara would murmur, gently, placing a hand on his arm.
Kael would nod, the name clicking with the figure before him, but the visual void remained. He could see Captain's form, his build, his movements, but the face was a blur. It was a terrifying reminder of the Bedel's insidious, targeted nature. It could steal not just abstract concepts, but specific, personal connections.
Elara became even more crucial to Kael's daily life. She wasn't just his caretaker and protector; she was his link to navigating the social landscape of the sanctuary, his memory externalized. She would subtly identify people for him, remind him of interactions, fill in the blanks left by the Bedel.
She also tried to help him adapt to this specific loss. "Captain has a scar here," she would say, pointing to her own cheek, showing him a way to identify the leader even without recognizing his face. "And his voice is deep." She looked for other markers, trying to build a new framework of recognition for Kael within his fragmented memory.
Captain, for his part, seemed to grapple with the personal nature of this Bedel. Kael's inability to recognize him was a clear, painful demonstration of the Bedel's power. He would watch Kael, his expression grim, sometimes a flicker of something akin to hurt in his eyes, quickly masked by his usual stoicism.
He didn't avoid Kael entirely. He would sometimes approach, his voice low and measured. "Child," he would say. Kael would know it was him, the Captain.
"Captain," Kael would respond, his voice raspy. He would look at Captain's face, the blankness frustrating him, but he would focus on the sound of the voice, the presence.
Captain would ask him simple questions. How he was feeling (a question Kael struggled to answer due to the sensation Bedel). If Elara was helping him. He was observing, trying to understand the extent of the damage, the reality of the Bedel's claim.
Gus, of course, saw this new Bedel as further proof of Kael's cursed nature. He would watch Kael's confused glances towards Captain, his reliance on Elara, with a look of grim satisfaction. "See?" he would mutter to other survivors. "It eats him. Forgets the leader. What happens when it forgets the sanctuary? Forgets us?" His words fueled the fear and mistrust among the less resilient survivors.
Elara would stand against this, fiercely defending Kael, explaining (as best she could) the nature of the Bedel, framing it as a terrible price paid, not a malevolent act.
The water shortage remained a constant pressure, a grim backdrop to the personal drama unfolding around Kael. The need for a solution, any solution, hung heavy in the air.
The chapter ends with Kael navigating the sanctuary with the new Bedel of forgetting Captain's face, his dependence on Elara deepening, Captain cautiously observing him, and Gus's hostility growing, highlighting the ongoing personal and social challenges Kael faces within the survivor group.