The Emerald Truth

Pious was a young boy who enjoyed spending his lazy summer afternoons exploring the myriad of caves outside his home city. Solo splelunking was certainly a dangerous hobby for one at his age, especially in his era, but Pious was the third son of his family, so his father saw no harm in letting him go.

As it so happened, one day as Pious was down in the caverns, the earth began to quake violently, and stench of sulfur gave no doubt that all hell was about to break loose. But it was not demons that crawls forth from the opening chasms to the dark bowels of the world, but instead was brilliant beam of emerald light. Curious, the wide-eyed youth clambered down into illuminated cragged cracks and found himself in a jade chamber of smooth and sprawling stone set about surrounding a sizeable and sumptuous gem at its center. Pious was enthralled by the sight of the gem's beauty, and could not help but wander over, locked gaze and in a daze. Without a thought, he took the gem into his hands and stared deep into his own emerald reflection. Yet no sooner had he blinked than the chamber began to rumble once more, and the boy scrambled his way up the cavern wall, desperately clinging to his prize. Despite the weight of the gem slowing him down, Pious barely managed to escape in time before the wounded earth sealed away its scar, and he brought forth the gem into the sun's light, where it shone even more brilliantly than before.

At first, as young Pious was making his preparations to return to his home in the city, he thought that perhaps he should try to hide the gem beneath his clothes, but alas, it shone so brightly that its luminance plainly bled through. Instead, Pious decided that he would proudly display the stone in hand as he toted it through the marble streets. Unfortunately, this proved to be rather foolhardy; indeed, all heads turned towards Pious as he strode through the city streets. Even so, Pious steeled himself with pride, and flaunted the gemstone as others watched with eyes of envy.

As Pious entered into the central plaza of the merchant district, a wave of awe quickly swept across the vendors. The pettiest of peddlers and the most magnificent magnates alike were overwhelmed by the emerald radiance, and none dared approach, that is except for one, a traveling merchant with a bedazzled wagon full of exotic sweets. "Boy," he shouted, "Boy, I must have that stone. In exchange I will give you my entire carriage of candies." Pious was hesitant at first, but the merchant continued to implore, "Please, I have spent my whole life wandering this world and collecting the finest confectionaries from every realm, but I must return home soon and cannot possibly hope to peddle away all my wealth, but with that emerald I could return posthaste. Please lad," he beseeched. Young as he was, Pious knew that rare stones could be worth more than candied gemstone treats, but even so, he would be getting a full carriage worth, and he thought perhaps that quantity could the emerald's quality. Furthermore, the merchant seemed so desperate that Pious could not help but take pity upon him, and so, with some reluctance he accepted. The merchant thanked Pious profusely and handed him the reigns to the carriage's twin steeds and then hurried off into the crowd of onlookers.

A pang of doubt ached in Pious's mind, but it soon dissipated as he climbed atop the carriage and sat upon its velvet throne. With pride renewed, he urged the steeds onward towards his home to show off to his father and boast before his elder brothers. To his delight, his father was proud, and appraised the carriage's worth to be at least one thousand gold. His ordinarily indifferent father pledged to teach young Pious how to peddle his new goods so that he could one day become a great merchant in his own right. For once, it was Pious who made his siblings jealous for their father's attention, and he relished in their ire as his father taught him the subtle secrets of trade.

Before long, Pious was venturing off to the merchants quarters all on his own to peddle his sweet and delicate wares to the fine yet ever-gluttonous masses. He used the exotic recipes left behind by the wandering confectionist to replenish his supplies whenever they ran low, and it was not long before Pious had established a reputation for himself. Indeed, Pious's ears were keen to the many whispers about how marvelous it was for one as young as him to be such a successful entrepreneur. These hushed praises filled Pious was a deep sense of self-satisfaction, but one day, he happened to hear something different. An unfamiliar figure returned to one of these quiet admirers, "Oh yeah, I heard the boy was scammed. He traded away an ancient artifact for that candy shop of his, and the merchant who got him made away a millionaire." Upon hearing this, Pious's sense of pride shattered in an instant. Rumors such as these spread like wildfire throughout the merchant district, and each word these cynics uttered further eroded the remains of Pious's self-esteem.

Dark rumination and umbral brood led Pious pondered about how now he had to spend his Summer days at work in his shop instead of carelessly exploring the caves, and how the merchant made off ten times wealthier than himself without the need to spend another days worth of peddling again. Gradually, With the reflection of the emerald blazing in his eyes, Pious became engulfed in the malice brewing within his heart, and he silently resolved that one day he would seek vengeance.

Of course, one should never be so gullible as to take the mumblings of strangers at their face. The truth was that the candy man had barely set foot outside the city gates before being set upon by a pack of demons seeking to reclaim what's theirs. The allure of musing about what could have been can eliminate potential in even the great, though for Pious, it allowed him to enter into a new world of sinister possibilities.