Reversal

The difference between an enchanted item and a cursed one is often one of perspective. Not discounting the truly cursed items that drive the holder insane or afflict with a deadly disease anyone that touches them. Those exist, but they make up less than two percent of all items currently labeled as cursed.

Miriam held the silver ring up to the light. It was the more common kind of cursed item. Someone had decided at some point that its power was twisted in some way and labeled it cursed.

She set the ring down on the counter, careful not to speak while holding it. “Tell me what you want for it, miss Tabita,” she said to the wizened old gnome woman behind the counter.

Tabita brushed her white curls out of her eyes, which sparkled their bright blue. “I’m sure you know what you’re doing, sweetie, but are you sure you want this one?” She pointed at a narrow band of gold in the display. “That’s a wish ring, you know. Special price for you.”

Miriam shook her head. “No thanks, too dangerous. This is the one I want.”

“Too dangerous? And this one isn’t?” Tabita shook her head. “If you’re sure, eight thousand.”

Miriam whistled. “That’s steep. Five.”

“Seven and a half, that’s coming way down for you.”

“I can go six.”

Tabita frowned. “Seven. I can’t really go lower than that.”

“How about we split the difference,” Miriam said. “Six and a half.”

Tabita’s brows knitted. “Tell you what, throw in a growler of the Dwarven ale you picked up last week, and we’ll make that deal.”

Miriam extended her hand for Tabita to shake. “Done.”

After running her credit card, Tabita said, “I’ll hold this for you here. You bring the growler and it’s a done deal.”

#

One fewer $300 growler of Dwarven ale in her pantry, and a cursed ring sealed in a cloth-lined, leather pouch in her pocket, Miriam set out for home. Once home, she set the pouch in her safe and locked it up tight.

Knowing how the ring worked, she sat up most of the night and planned how to best use it. She could use its effect on someone else, or herself. If she planned carefully, she could do both at the same time.

She spent a restless night, imagining scenarios where she used the ring to ruin a few, select people’s day. No. Not falling down that rabbit hole.

When she finally fell asleep in the wee morning hours, she’d hatched a plan. It would help her, and someone else that deserved it, far more than she.

#

The atmosphere in the office was glum. Everyone there knew that Elastic Front Business Services was struggling, having lost several of their largest clients to their larger competitor, Exeter Global. The sales team was having yet another motivation meeting, before getting on the phones and trying to drum up business.

As the HR director, Miriam spent a good deal of time one-on-one with Edria, the lithe, pale elf that owned the business. The state of the business obviously weighed heavily on her.

“Hey, Edie, what do you say we go for a walk?”

“Sure. I need to clear my head.”

They walked through the downtown corridor, Edria being candid with Miriam. “If we don’t get a lot of new business this week, we may have to shut down. It’ll suck for our existing customers, but if we can’t even keep the lights on, we can’t continue servicing them, either.”

They stopped in a convenience store, where Miriam bought a SuperLotto ticket, with numbers chosen at random by the machine. The chance of winning was one in three hundred million. It could be considered true, within reason, that she did not have the winning ticket. She also bought them both coffee and motioned Edria to sit with her on the bench outside the store.

“I have something,” Miriam said, “but I don’t know how much it will help. If you want to try it, I’m willing.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a ring that eats fear,” she lied. “But it only works once a year.” That part was true.

“How does it work?”

“I’m hoping we can both use it at the same time,” she said. “So, we’ll hold the ring, and on the count of three we both say out loud our biggest fear. Not like phobias, or anything, but concrete things.”

“Like having to close the business?” Edria asked.

“Exactly,” she said, “but more direct and concrete. Like, say, ‘We won’t get the clients we need this week to keep the business open’. Something like that.”

“Sounds silly, but I’m game.”

Miriam removed the ring from its pouch and held it in her palm. Edria placed her hand over Miriam’s, so they held the ring jointly. Miriam counted, “One…two…three.”

They spoke at the same time. “We’re not going to get the new business we need to keep my dream alive,” Edria said, while Miriam said, “This is not the sole, jackpot-winning ticket for the SuperLotto drawing tonight.”

Edria laughed and let go of Miriam’s hand. “That’s your big fear?”

Miriam carefully wrapped the ring and placed it, in its pouch, in her pocket. “Hey,” she said, “I’ve got a great job with a great boss, and I have faith in your dream. You watch. We’ll make it through this week, and then you’ll see your dream bloom.”

“I’m glad you have so much faith in me,” Edria said. “It didn’t seem to eat the fear, though. I’m still scared.”

“Maybe it takes time,” Miriam said. “Ready to go back?”

The scene when they entered the office was far more upbeat than the morning, and hectic. Salespeople were busy on the phones, and it looked like the support team was helping them answer all the calls.

Miriam smiled. “I’ll be in my office if you need me, Edie.”

Edria nodded and entered the sales area. She waited for one of the execs to finish their call, then asked, “What’s going on?”

The huge orc, his ochre skin offset by a dark grey suit and overly bleached tusks smiled. “Everyone’s leaving Exeter Global,” he said. “The former CEO just got a ten-year sentence for tax evasion, and the new CEO just got picked up in a scandal.”

“What kind of scandal?” she asked.

“Not really sure. Something to do with a trip to the Cayman Islands, an underage intern, and forty-million dollars of missing capital.”

The phones continued to ring, every line lit up. Edria shrugged. “We’ll take it. I’ll get out of your hair so you can handle the calls.” She raised her voice so everyone in the office could hear. “Anything you need to me to jump in on, just ring my line, I’ll step in where I can. And no grandfather deals for the clients who left and are coming back. They could afford Exeter; they can pay us full price for not being faithful.”

The day ended when Edria switched the phone lines over to the automated answering service. A running tally of new business had been scrawled on one the dry-erase boards in the sales area. New business totaling over two million in annual recurring revenue in one day.

“You’re going to be busy,” she said to Miriam. “We’ll need to hire more sales support, IT, and account managers ASAP.”

“Already on it,” she said. “I just need to know the open head count and the calls will go out.”

“That wasn’t a fear-eater ring, was it?”

“No,” Miriam said. “It’s a ring of reversal.”

“Isn’t that cursed? Are we going to be cursed for this?”

“It’s not like that,” Miriam said. “During its active phase, any reasonably true statement is made false.”

“Well, at least the name makes sense. And the curse?”

“No curse, just an enchantment. If someone gave you a ring, and you said something like, ‘I have everything I’ve ever wanted,’ and then suddenly didn’t, you would consider the ring cursed, right?”

Edria nodded. “Yeah, of course.”

“If, instead, you got the ring and said, ‘I don’t have enough business to keep my dream alive,’ and then suddenly, you do, would you still consider it to be cursed, or just enchanted?”

Edria considered. “Well, enchanted, I guess. As long as there are no strings attached.”

“None. I’ve been tracking this ring down for ten years now. It’s called the ring of reversal, or the ring of ill fortune, depending on who’s talking about it.” Miriam smiled. “I prefer the ring of reversal, myself. I still don’t know if it worked for both of us. It only has one use per year, but I’m exceedingly glad it worked for you.”

“We should go find out.” Edria held the door for Miriam. “We’ll go to the sports bar on Fourth for dinner. The lotto numbers always show up there. My treat, unless you actually win.”

#

As they left the bar laughing, Edria said, “Thanks for dinner and drinks. Does this mean I have to find a new HR director?”

Miriam put her arm around the small elf. “Not any time soon,” she said. “I may be 940 million dollars richer, but if I didn’t work, I don’t know what I’d do with my time.”