Kristin stood utterly quiet and motionless in front of the desk. Her vision was fixed upon a small gold amulet. Inside her mind, Kristin was on the verge of panicking. Her outstretched hand clearly showed her the situation she was in.

Kristin had come to the office of Dr. Kanell, the archeologist she was currently studying under. She was excited because she had just been chosen to accompany Dr. Kanell on an actual expedition. Upon getting the news, Kristin rushed to Dr. Kanell's office. There was so much she wanted to talk about and so much she wanted to ask. However, when she arrived, she found the office empty.

Kristin took a seat and waited. Half an hour passed and there was still no sign of Dr. Kanell. The door had been open and the desk lamp was still on, so Kristin figured that Dr. Kanell couldn't have left for the night. With nothing else to do, Kristin looked around the office. The walls were filled with pictures from Dr. Kanell's travels. Many of the pictures showed her with various artifacts. The variety was amazing. There had to be pictures from every continent except Antarctica. Kristin wondered where the upcoming expedition would take them.

Once she had finished looking over the pictures on the wall, an odd shine caught Kristin's eye. It had come from Dr. Kanell's desk. Kristin turned her attention to what appeared to be a golden amulet. It glittered brightly under the light of Dr. Kanell's lamp. There seemed to be two emeralds embedded in the gold. Kristin was surprised to find an artifact sitting on the desk. Usually, things like this ended up in a museum.

Kristin moved her hand forward but stopped herself. She wanted to examine it but figured that she better not pick it up. If this was actually an artifact from Dr. Kanell's research, there was no telling how old and fragile it was. Thus, she stared at it intently instead. She placed her hand on the desk next to it as she leaned over to get a look. Kristin was amazed by how shiny this likely-very-old object was. The embedded emeralds seemed to light up the longer Kristin looked at them.

Suddenly, the two emeralds glowed in an unnatural way. A startled Kristin was only able to lift her hand a centimeter off the desk before she found herself unable to move. Her whole body became locked in place. It even seemed like her breathing was slowing down despite her shock. All the while, the glow from the emeralds grew brighter.

Kristin barely had time to take in the loss of her mobility, before she noticed her right hand, which was still in her field of vision, had become pale. All color seemed to drain from her skin. Her hand looked less alive with each passing second, and Kristin could only assume that this was happening to her whole body. Was the glow from the amulet causing this? What was it doing to her?

The glow from the amulet's emeralds subsided as suddenly as it began. Kristin was left to stand by the desk. Her body was so still, it felt unnatural. She couldn't even feel herself breathe. However, her mind was perfectly clear, so she was pretty sure she wasn't dead. With nothing else she could do, Kristin looked at her pale hand that was locked in place in front of her. It had a light gray color, no longer resembling any human skin color. In fact, it no longer looked like flesh and blood at all.

The more Kristin looked at her hand, the more stone-like it appeared. The rocky texture of her skin combined with her inability to move led Kristin to the unbelievable conclusion that she had been turned to stone. How could something like this be possible? Kristin had only heard of something like this happening in myths. If she really was a statue, how could she still see and think? Kristin frantically tried to figure out how this could have happened. That's when her attention snapped back to the amulet.

Kristin's field of vision was lock in place. She could only see what was currently in front of her face. To the left of her petrified hand, Kristin could see the amulet still sitting on the desk. That strange glow that came from its emeralds was the only culprit Kristin could connect to her situation. Unable to turn her head away from it, Kristin was shocked at the details she now noticed about it. The two emeralds embedded in the gold appeared to be eyes. Engraved into the amulet was the likeness of a woman with snakes where her hair should be.

"Medusa...." Kristin thought as it all clicked in her mind. Somehow this amulet had the petrifying power of the mythical being.

"Does Dr. Kanell know about this?" Kristin thought. Surely, Dr. Kanell would notice the statue that was now in her office, but then what? How would she know that the statue was really her student? If she did, would she know of any way to change Kristin back? Given the extent of Dr. Kanell's knowledge, Kristin thought there was a good chance that the archeology professor would be aware if any of the artifacts she encountered had supernatural powers. If she had been aware of the amulet's powers though, why leave it where someone could trigger it? Had Dr. Kanell meant for Kristin to become a statue?

Kristin was being driven into a highly anxious state by the utter stillness of her body. All she could think about were bad possibilities. If Dr. Kanell didn't know that the statue by her desk was Kristin, she would probably end up displayed somewhere. If Dr. Kanell knew about the amulet's petrifying effect, but didn't know how to reverse it, then Kristin was looking at a long time trapped like this, maybe even forever. There was also the possibility that Dr. Kanell had meant for this to happen. Kristin didn't want to think about that possibility, but if Dr. Kanell had known about the amulet's effect, there would be no other reason to leave it where Kristin could trigger it. If that was the case, what was she planning to do to Kristin now. Stuck as a statue, Kristin could do nothing but worry about the reason for her predicament and what would happen next.

Meanwhile, Dr. Kanell approached her office. She stopped when she was about fifteen feet away from the door. Through the open door, she could see a statue standing in front of her desk. A mischievous smile crossed her face. It looked like everything had gone as planned. Now, she would see if Kristin was fit to study the kind of objects her research focused on.

Dr. Kanell knew from experience that there was magic in the world. It was quite possible to encounter it on her expeditions. As a result, she puts anyone who might accompany her through a test. Any prospective assistants would have to find out magic exist somehow, both to understand what they'll be studying and to be alert for any potential dangers. They wouldn't likely believe her if she simply told them about it, so she liked to give them a first-hand experience.

That's where the amulet came in. Anyone who stared at the emeralds that made up the eyes of the gorgon for five seconds would be turned to stone. Dr. Kanell like to see how her students would react to finding out the hard way that magic is real before allowing any of them to accompany her on any expedition. Compared to other objects she had dealt with, the amulet's magic was relatively harmless. The petrifying effect would wear off after two hours. The affected person would be back to normal, provided that person has enough sense to look away from the amulet before another five seconds pass.

That amulet was the very first magical item Dr. Kanell had discovered. She knew how lucky she was that the amulet's effects were temporary. Otherwise, she would likely still be a statue in the ruin where she had found it. It was a lesson she wanted anyone who worked with her to learn. There were plenty of objects that were much more dangerous. It's better that they find out from an object with a temporary effect.

It was always interesting to see what the students' reactions would be. Most of them were shocked by the experience but keep their curiosity and begin questioning Dr. Kanell about any other magic she had encountered. Others were scared off by the experience. There were even some that seemed to love being petrified. She wasn't sure what it was, but there had been more than one request to try out the amulet again. It would only be another half hour before Dr. Kanell would find out what Kristin's reaction would be. Hopefully her curiosity would be nurtured by Dr. Kanell's surprise.