The Banisher

Once upon a time there was a selfish, evil queen who ruled the entire northern half of the world. Despite anything she did, no one dared oppose her, for she had the last of an almost extinct race of people bound to her service.

The one under her control knew what few people in that world knew: this was nothing more than a story. The queen knew this as well, and she also knew that other stories and worlds existed out there.

The person under her command was simply known as The Banisher. With a single word from the queen, they removed people from their story and placed them into a different one. They could live there, but it was not their story.

They could never become a part of the story they landed in. They would never meet or influence the main characters, they could do nothing but lead an ordinary, simple life of anonymity.

And so the evil queen, at a whim or in real distress, would banish people left and right. For years upon years she did as she pleased, becoming lonelier and seeing less and less people around her. The queen's irritability grew until one day, in a fit of rage, she turned on her Banisher, "You are banished from this story!"

The Banisher did not protest. It merely smiled from beneath its cowl, "I have been waiting for this day to come."

The queen was shocked. She felt her skin crawl, glancing nervously away from her servant who never before had so much as grinned in her presence, "Why?"

"There is something you have never understood about me. We don't just banish, we can summon, but that is not all. We can always become a part of the main story, even if we leave it. No matter where you planned to banish me I will prevail."

It dipped its head down in a mock bow before her trembling figure, "No longer do I serve you, evil queen. Spend what is left of your days in your empty kingdom until you go mad of the loneliness or are overthrown."

With that, the black cape it always wore wrapped around itself and it disappeared into the darkness of the night, never again to be seen in that story.

The queen sank to her knees, wrapping her arms around herself, and looked around her. It was quiet, so quiet and still. Rising, she ran about the castle and even out into the streets. She ran and searched until her feet bled but she did not find a single person. Only stray animals ever crossed her path. Sinking to her knees she let out a cry of grief. What had she done? "No, I don't like this silence, this emptiness, what can I do to bring them back?"

A voice came, one that she knew deep in her bones but had never heard before, "Bring back everyone you have banished unjustly. Only then will your precious Banisher return. Or, perhaps, it is the other way around."

The queen looked around her in confusion to see where the voice was coming from, "Who are you? Show yourself!"

A good natured chuckle answered her from seemingly nowhere, "Can't really, pity that. You see, I am this story's author. Yes! I've decided: find your Banisher and then I'll let all your people return. I think that'll be easier for you."

"But, I don't know where the Banisher is or which story it chose to jump to! And I am an old woman now! How can I possibly travel around different stories to find it?"

The voice was silent for a moment as it pondered her words, "I think I can help you, but you will personally never find the Banisher. One of your decendants will."

The queen shook her head as tears slipped down her face, "I have no surviving children, they all perished in their youth."

"Not so, I let one of your children survive."

The queen raised her head in disbelief, "How?"

"One of your maids, aware you that you were a tyrant and ever quick to banish anyone who crossed your path, staged your youngest's death. She hid her and shipped her away to the southern country where you have no power. She is alive and well still."

The queen stood, wiping away the tears from her eyes, "My little Ania, thank goodness."

"Well let's see, shall I let her find you a Banisher? The Banishers aren't all gone you know. And you're going to have to find a Banisher to catch your Banisher. Well, I'm out of here, peace. Oh! And I'd head to the south country if I were you, for you are the only human left in the entire northern kingdom."

With that the voice was gone, and as she had nothing better to do, she obeyed it. The queen reached the southern kingdom and years later met her youngest daughter, Ania.

Let's jump in there. Ah yes, it's a good place to start a story; just let me get a drink and we'll start. Hmm, I wonder what would happen if I... And which story did my dear Banisher run off to? I wonder, I'll have to do a little research apparently, they never did like to go easy on me. Ooh I just had the funniest idea! What if someone was banished to The Three Little Pigs story? Oh, what a lark! But, I should probably shut up before you lose interest in this story and wander onto the next one...