Amulet

The Merchant
One day, a poor merchant was stocking the shelves of his store, when he happened across a small amulet. He couldn't remember seeing it before, and it was beautifully crafted, much more so than the other items in his shop, which were mostly thrown-together pieces of furniture, covered in a decade's worth of dust.

The merchant took the amulet, taking care to make sure that it didn't fall apart, but found that it was in perfect condition. The amulet had a golden setting, with various designs inscribed around the edges, and a silver chain, with delicately intertwined links. At its center was a large, ruby-red gemstone, masterfully cut into the shape of a star.

It must be worth a fortune!  He thought.

But before he could fathom a suitable price, or wonder how this extremely valuable piece of jewelry had ended up in his decaying shop, he began to hear whispering.

Just whispering, at first, it was not coming from any direction, not speaking any intelligible language, just a distinct sound of muffled speech. Slowly, the whispering grew louder, and more pronounced, until the merchant very clearly heard the words:

 WE SHALL GRANT YOU YOUR HEART'S GREATEST DESIRES

The merchant was astounded. However, being a cautious type, having been told many stories of witches and curses as a child, he was weary to hold on to such an abnormal artifact.

Suddenly in his mind he began to see visions of himself, sitting on the king's throne, thousands of gold coins around him, and he immediately shouted out:

 I wish I was the richest man in the kingdom!

As soon as the words had left his mouth, the amulet grew warm. Words thundered in his mind:

 YOUR WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED

He looked around, and saw no throne, no riches, not even a single coin. He was simply sitting in his old, dusty shop. He began to curse the amulet for deceiving him, then it occurred to him that his fortune might be outside. Anxiously, he set down the amulet, opened the front door, and stepped outside.

He was stunned, what had just a moment ago been the town square was now nothing but a few dilapidated shacks, little more than Lean-tos, inhabited by malnourished and distended husks, some of whom he recognized as his fellow townsfolk.

On the hill overlooking the town, where the castle once stood, was a ruinous crater, a small firepit sitting where the once-grand inner keep had loomed over the town.

Horrified at what he had seen, the merchant retreated into his shop. The merchant realized that amulet was not where he had left it, and began frantically searching his shop. He could hear the groaning of an angry mob outside, people beating on the walls of his house, demanding he share his good fortune with them.

He took one of his chairs and barricaded the door, but being flimsily made, it was quickly knocked down. A mob of hungry and poor villagers flooded in, and the merchant was trampled in the chaos.

This is the story of the merchant. His greed was his undoing.

The Nobleman
One day, a young man was reading in his study. This man was of noble birth, the firstborn son of a very wealthy plantation owner. His father had been preparing him to take over the family business from an early age, and seeing as his father's health had been failing, the man felt he would likely be taking his place soon.

The man heard his father call him from down the hall, and rushed to his bedside. His father asked him to fetch a bottle of wine from the cellar. Feeling that this was servant's work, but willing to do so if only to please his father, the man headed to the cellar.

After finding a suitable vintage, the man was heading upstairs when he heard shouting coming from his father's room. He rushed in and saw a slave, standing over the bloody corpse of his father. Enraged, he withdrew his pistol and attempted to shoot him, but the pistol misfired, and the killer quickly escaped.

The man, fueled by grief and rage, vowed that he would hunt down and kill the man responsible for his father's death. No matter the cost.

After years of searching, there was no success, he had spent his fortune hunting the man, the majority of his slaves had fled,  and his family had deserted him. All that he had left was his pistol, and a jewelry box he had stolen from his mother shortly after being estranged.

Wandering alone and unsuccessful, the years of failed searches had not dampened the man's hatred, if anything, they had amplified it, his entire existence was consumed with the destruction of the one he hated.

He traveled north, hoping to find the man in the free states. He began giving away bits of jewelry to anyone who could tell him the man's whereabouts, mostly just tricksters looking to take advantage of his delusions. After some time he had nothing left, save his pistol, and the box itself.

Cursing everyone who had hampered him in his mission, he smashed the box on the ground, and began weeping over his failiure. Out of the corner of his eye, however, he saw a glint of light come from the splintered remains of the box, he retrieved from the debris, a small piece of jewelry, an amulet.

He took this as a sign of hope that all was not yet lost, and was just about to offer it in exchange for help when he heard the words:

WE SHALL GRANT YOU YOUR HEART'S GREATEST DESIRES

Not knowing or caring where the whispering was coming from, the man shouted:

I want to kill the man who murdered my father!

The amulet began to glow, and immediately the man put it on, and stood up. He walked to a nearby house, kicked down the door, and stepped inside, he saw his quarry, fear permeating his very existence. The man raised his pistol, and did not misfire.

Before his target hit the floor, he heard the icy words:

 YOUR WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED

Even this, however, did not quench the man's rage. He was still angry, angry at his family for deserting him, angry at the people who had cheated him, and most of all, angry at the man who he had been hunting, the man who now lay in a pool of his own blood in front of him.

He grasped the amulet in his hand and said: I want to kill all of my enemies.

The man started with the slave's family, all of the members of his own family,  then the rest of his escaped slaves,. He murdered people he couldn't even remember. When his last enemy lay dead in front of him,  his anger abated.

He realized what he had done. He had murdered hundreds of people, many of whom he did not even recognize, he had killed his own family, dozens of women and children, merely to satisfy his own sadistic rage.

Now he was angry again, but this time, it was at himself. He realized that the person who was truly to blame for all of the misfortune in his life, was himself. He drew his pistol, put it to his temple, and fired.

As light faded into darkness, he faintly heard:

YOUR WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED

This is the story of the nobleman. His hatred was his demise.

The End
One day, a man was helping the poor at a local soup kitchen. This man was a philanthropist by nature, and a rich philanthropist by inheritance. He would often spend entire days simply helping those who needed it. Everything from buying a poor family a hot meal, to helping a child get his frisbee down from a tree.

Due to his kind and helpful nature, he had a very good reputation with the people in his area. He had been awarded many accolades for his charitable actions, but would always humbly state that he was simply doing the right thing.

Now at this soup kitchen, the man was serving a family of four, when a little old lady approached the serving area, she told him that he deserved a reward for all of his good deeds. He told her that he did not, but she insisted, and offered him a small amulet. He examined it, and realizing that it was most likely very expensive, he offered it back to the old lady, but found that she had gone. Confused, he put the amulet in his pocket, and resumed serving the family.

After finishing his day of volunteering at the soup kitchen, the man headed home, on the way, he decided to take a closer look at the amulet the old lady had given him. He was astounded at just how beautiful it actually was.

In the center was a large, star-cut diamond, a shade of bluish-silver that just so happened to be his favorite color. Around the diamond was an exquisite gold filigree, and an intricately designed setting.

Around the edges of the amulet, the man noticed a small lettering, upon closer examination he found it to be in various languages, using various alphabets. He was versed in a variety of different languages, but could not find any that he was familiar with. Then, he noticed one phrase:

AB AETERNO

He thought the phrase romantic, and decided he would give it to his wife, seeing as their anniversary was the next day.

Upon arriving at home, he found the police waiting for him. Worriedly, he asked them what was wrong. They told him that his wife had gotten in a car accident, and in order to keep her alive, the doctor had to put her into a coma.

The man immediately drove to the hospital, and demanded that he see his wife. Sure enough, there she was. The man wept over his wife, she was lying in the emergency room, in what may have been her deathbed, had he not decided to take out the amulet once more.

He began hearing a faint humming, separate from the heartbeat monitor, slowly the words formed in his mind:

 WE SHALL GRANT YOU YOUR HEART'S GREATEST DESIRES

The man, as rational a person as he may have been, saw this is an answered prayer, and asked the amulet to bring his wife out of the coma.

 YOUR WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED

Immediately, she awoke. The man and his wife returned home, much to the astonishment of the doctors. They enjoyed their anniversary together, and proceeded with life as normal.

Overjoyed at having been reunited with his wife, the man recalled that it was the amulet that had healed her. He realized that he could use this power to help other people, as well, so he set out to fix the world's problems. The man used the amulet to heal the sick, help the poor, and feed the hungry. People would come from far and wide to receive the healing offered by the man.

Over time, however, he began to feel the power of the amulet failing, worried that he might lose his ability to help others, he began thinking of ways he extend the life of the amulet.

The obvious answer came to him:

I wish for an unlimited number of wishes.

YOUR WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED

The man felt a sharp pain in his forehead, it was an agonizing pain, more so than he had ever felt before, eventually, the pain grew so intense, that the man lost consciousness.

He awoke, several hours later, feeling his head to make sure that he hadn't cracked his skull, but found that he was unscathed.

 Physically unscathed that is. While he felt no injury had been done to his body, he felt that his mind had been compromised. He could  feel thoughts slowly forming in the deepest parts of his brain. He began seeing visions of thefts, murders, massacres, genocides, famines, epidemics. Even worse, he began hoping these things would happen. He began wishing that these things would happen.

Slowly, every evil desire ever held by a human mind entered his own. And then, thoughts far darker than any a mortal could ever concieve began appearing.

He remembered that he himself was somehow responsible for this, and cursed his own good nature. He wished  had been consumed by fleeting hatred, he wished his mind had been consumed by petty greed. For now, his was consumed by something much worse. Hatred and greed are merely emanations of what had now polluted his consciousness....

Pure Evil.

Struggling to retain sanity with countless evil thoughts pouring into his fractured mind, he was just barely able to take the amulet in his hand, and whisper.

''I wish.... for all of these things to happen.''

This is the story of Amulet. Their purpose is our destruction.