[No, adventurer. Death is only passing for your kind. What awaits you is something far worse than death.]
A deep, dark voice echoes inside my mind. I look around and somehow the world has lost its color. I feel like time has stopped - no one in the crowd is moving. I look up and see the massive daemon grinning evilly down upon me. This must be his voice.
[Yes. This is my voice.]
What?!? Did it just read my mind?
[Yes. And at the moment, only yours, unlucky soul. The prize of true calamity must be chosen from the heart of the cursed. Hence it gives me a lifetime in a moment to see into your soul and understand your motivations.]
My memories begin to flash through my mind. The orchard job, dying in the fields, dying in town, dying in the forest, meeting Miyoko, unwillingness to choose a weapon. Walking home from the grocery store down the street and waving at the homeless man who lives downtown.
Wait - those are memories from real life. This isn't just stuff that's happening in the game. How can this daemon read thoughts about my life? I start to get actually scared.
[There we go. Hahaha. That's the taste of fear. That's what I am looking for. For some reason you adventurers seem to have no fear. I want to know why...]
More of my memories flash. Pieces from my childhood. Traveling with family. My job. Getting the game gear with my little brother and my best friend. Advertisements about Dungeon Quest.
[Hmmmmm... that makes sense. You see this world as transient. Fleeting. Immaterial and without meaning. Only your other world is truth. If something terrible happens here, you can retreat to another world where this one does not touch.]
[In that case, poisoning is too benign. Summoning a greater calamity would lead to my undoing. And anything that seems truly disastrous to the audience might eliminate my chance for further curses...]
More memories. Dying and losing my clothes over and over and over again. Meeting Madame Velzza.
[What?]
The memories stop flashing.
[You've met Velzza the Lucky? Here, in this carnival?]
I'm still in shock. My real memories. This game somehow got access to my *real* memories. And now it's going to curse me using those as fuel?!?
[I've decided, little one. You've been touched by one Fate. Why not bring another's hand to play? I'm gonna enjoy watching this one.]
The world gains color, sound returns, and the black wheel beside me has changed. Now, the red, ragged script reads "Karmic Ring of Strength."
Thunder claps and the crowd roars.
[May we meet again, unlucky one.]
The daemon shrinks to a tiny genie once again, the sky clears, and the wheel has turned back to wood.
And within moments the next person is spinning.
---
I think I'm still in a daze.
I look down and see, on my right ring finger, a black metal ring with cursive red script.
I pull up my status screen.
>>
Name: Gabe
Proficiency: None
Level: 0
HP: 10
MP: 5
STR: 0
AGI: 0
DEX: 0
END: 0
INT: 0
WIS: 0
CHA: 0
PER: 0
Inventory: Karmic Ring of Strength (bound)
>>
I don't notice anything different except for my new ring. I try to pull it off. It doesn't move from the spot on my finger. I can rotate it to see the text, but it won't come off.
I walk off the stage and Koji is there, along with a crowd of people I've never met before.
"What was that, bro? What's a karmic ring of strength? That was crazy!" It's apparent that everyone there wants to know what exactly happened on the stage.
"The daemon stopped time. It probably only seemed like it took a moment for you, but I was up there for what felt like 5, maybe 10 minutes? He read my mind and all my memories. Like my *real* memories."
Koji's eyes go wide.
"What? H-how can they do that?"
"I have literally no idea. But it happened, and it was terrifying. He watched my memories from home and my memories here, and said that death would be too easy. Poisoning not good enough. So he chose this ring."
"What does it do?"
"I have no idea. I don't have any kind of appraisal skill. It just says this:"
I flip my status screen toward him. He looks at it.
"Yeah it doesn't say anything. Let me see the ring."
"I can't take it off. But it has something written on it."
He looks at the ring and turns it on my finger.
"Yeah I can't read it."
"Neither can I."
"I was soooooooo excited. I honestly thought you were gonna get the staff of the gardener or something epic."
"Yeah and instead I got cursed by a daemon who can read my actual mind. Which means that it might even know my passwords. Wow. Am I supposed to change all my passwords now? My social security number? What do you even do in a situation like this?"
"I have no idea bro. I've never heard of something like this."
"Yeah. Well... Yeah."
Someone pushes into the group around me that's been closely listening.
"I saw the curse you got. I've heard of karma - it's possible that the mage or the fortune-teller would know more."
Me: "Let's go check it out then."
The mage isn't available. The line to talk to him is far too long. The guy directs us down a pathway but I start to protest, "But Madame Velzza's tent is back that way..."
Koji looks at me and shakes his head. "We couldn't find her tent remember? I'm guessing she isn't the fortune teller this guy is talking about."
---
A couple more turns, and there's a small purple tent. Larger than the one used by Madame Velzza, but similar in color and style. We walk inside.
The inside feels familiar. There's a crystal ball, a deck of cards, a cot and a dresser along the side of the tent. It occurs to me that this tent has sleeping quarters. I don't remember seeing a cot in Madame Velzza's tent... maybe she sleeps sitting in her position on the cushion? Sitting behind the crystal ball is a small old woman with white, wiry hair. Her eyes are closed.
The stranger comes inside the tent with us. I guess he can listen. He brought us here, right?
"How can I help you?"
I decide to speak. "What can you tell us about karma?"
"Interested in the Fates you are? Come closer, and I will tell you."
The old woman waves her hand over the crystal ball. The lights dim, and the ball glows, showing the story as she speaks.
"Long ago, not long after the gods made our world, the Queen of the Fates appeared. No one knows where she came from, or why she came. Only that she was the ruler of a tiny kingdom far to the north. And she ruled with an iron fist. She was all-knowing... but her knowledge came with flaws. She did not know the strengths and weaknesses of humanity. Her decrees were simple and harsh, and her only face was that of punishment.
But the Queen was not cruel. Only simple in her understanding. And, for some reason unknown, even though she did not understand customs and people, she wanted to learn. So she turned to others. A little girl. An old woman. A heroic warrior. She herself could not leave her throne, so she sent a few trusted advisors to visit the world and tell her of its stories. And so they did, traveling across the world, doing great deeds and interacting with many people before returning to their Queen.
These, adventurer, were the Fates. The council of 9 who surrounded the Queen of the Fates, traveled the world, and brought back their tales of greatness. Each was ultimate in her skill. In a feat of strength, no one could beat Heracle the Strong. Nor outlast Mathilda the Great. There was Issara the Quick. Daphne the Nimble. Gladys the Sharp. Egrycilda the Wise. Alexa the Loud. Delpha the Seeing. And Velzza the Lucky.
Over time, the kingdom of the Queen of the Fates grew. And so did she. Her rules and decrees became more complex, less demanding, more humane. She sometimes rewarded her subjects.
Centuries passed, and eventually the territory of the Queen of the Fates covered the entire world.
And then something happened.
An expanding, decaying darkness began in the far outreaches of the land. It consumed all it touched, leaving nothing behind. Not just barren land, but truly nothing. Where was once a village would now be completely gone - one crossroads connected to the next with no space between. The scourge crawled across the land, leaving no survivors and destroying everything. The people fled before it to the royal city, but many were overtaken in their flight.
A shining shield surrounded the inner walls of her city, but no decrees went forth from the Queen. The Fates disappeared. And the land was consumed until the only thing left was the royal city. And then that, too, fell to the scourge. It surrounded the shielded inner city and even crept up and blotted out the sky.
And then it was gone.
Everything was gone but the few who survived, lost and confused in the ruins of a city was no more.
And then, from the highest tower, the Queen of the Fates appeared. She, who never left her throne, stood in radiance atop her castle, and reached forth her hands. From them billowed great clouds of golden dust... and before that dust, the nothingness fell. The dust formed grass and trees, earth and sky, creatures and bugs and birds and monsters. People of all shapes and sizes and types, who brought with them stories and culture and traditions never before seen. It formed tiny towns and great cities, including this one, and it continued to expand. The world grew far larger than it had ever been, until the saying went abroad - you could travel a lifetime and never see the ends of the world.
And then the Fates returned. While they continued traveling the land, each also took up residence somewhere in the world, offering blessings to those able to complete epic tasks. Unimaginable strength for those who are already strong. Wisdom for the wise. Speed for the quick."
"Those who spurn the Fates sometimes find them appearing before them. And those who anger a Fate are cursed."
"Cursed? How so?"
"Perhaps not so much a curse, as a withdrawal. Each Fate has full control over an aspect of the soul. All strength comes from Heracle... so when you are strong, it is she who has given that strength. Please her, and your strength will increase. Anger her enough, and she may completely withdraw her blessing. And once she does, your strength will slowly fade away."
"You asked about karma, adventurer. When someone has been touched by a Fate, they are blessed or cursed. Those blessed with unearthly powers receive the karmic blessing. Those fated to lose strength, or wisdom, or grace, receive a karmic curse."
"So what about this ring then?"
I show the woman my ring.
"If you would remove it, perhaps I could read the script more clearly."
"I can't remove the ring. It's bound."
"Bound?!? Give me your hand, young man."
The old woman twists my arm as she looks at the ring over and over again.
"Where did you get this ring?"
"The mage booth has a daemon with a wheel. I spun the wheel and got the magic curse chest. It's called a karmic ring of strength."
"The script is simply a name - Heracles. If it is what I think it is, this ring is an embodiment of the karmic curse - one that will cause you to become truly weak over time."
"What does *bound* mean?"
"I do not know, adventurer. I have heard of cursed items that cannot be removed except with a blessing, but an item bound seems different. If it is a karmic curse, then it may never disappear. The touch of the Fates lasts even beyond death."
"Can you reverse a karmic curse?"
"Reverse a curse by a Fate? I think it would be impossible. Only that same Fate's touch could have that power."
"So what should I do?"
"You could live as you can. Being cursed by the Fates is rare, but there are stories of heroes, blessed by one Fate and cursed by another, who continue on to accomplish greatness. Those who are weak may still be wise, and those who are slow may still be strong. In your case, your strength will not fail completely - only diminish greatly."
"And to remove the curse?"
"Seek out Heracle the Strong. In a land far to the South, she presides over the stadium at Gladius, an arena on the side of a living volcano where the strongest fight to show their strength. Only the strong can receive her blessing."
"Thank you."
"You are welcome, young man. It's not often that someone asks about the old stories. Now, would you like to have your fortune told? I may be an old woman, but this is how I stay alive."
---
3 fortunes (and 60 copper - I pay 40 and Koji pays 20 since the *kind* man who brought us to the fortune teller expected payment of some kind) later, we walk out of the fortune teller's tent. The *fortunes* were more like fortune cookies - the fortune teller asked us questions, pulled cards, looked into her crystal ball, and then issued one line.
Mine was "do not be afraid to follow your heart."
Koji's was "chase everything, and you will catch nothing"