"It's okay," Amethyst promised her. "This is what you asked for. To be free from the heartache." She handed Tenshi the glass and waited for her to take a sip. Then she ran a well-manicured finger across Tenshi's cheek and down her neck, sending a shiver through Tenshi's whole body. Tenshi responded by taking another nervous gulp of the wine. "I have just the thing for that." She looked up at Jasper and without changing her sickeningly sweet tone of voice, requested, "Jaspy, could you bring me the necklace from off the dresser, please?"
Jasper tried to cling to his trust of Amethyst, praying that she knew what she was doing. He didn't see how giving one of their enemies a necklace was going to help them, but Amethyst must have a plan. Certainly, she wouldn't be here seducing Tenshi before his eyes without a reason. No, he had to trust her.
"Here," he said as he handed Amethyst the stone, trying not to notice the way she was caressing Tenshi.
She smiled reassuringly at him and then turned her attention back to Tenshi. She dangled the deep purple stone on the end of the necklace before her. "This is all you need," she explained to Tenshi.
Even in her current state, Tenshi knew that this was a bad idea. Once again she began to rise, and once again Amethyst stopped her. "Ano, I- I should go." Not that she could really fight them if they refused her. Hell, she couldn't even fight her own feelings as Amethyst seduced her.
Luckily for her, Amethyst was still in a generous mood. "But, Tenshi! This is enchanted to do exactly what you want. It will take away all the pain that you're feeling right now. Isn't that what you came for? Isn't that what you desired?"
Tenshi nodded, unsure of what to do. That was what she wanted right this second more than anything. Her brief fling with Amethyst had made her forget her anguish for few bewildering moments, but now it was coming back harder than ever, this time combined with guilt. If all she had to do was put on a simple necklace�.
She lowered her head so that Amethyst could put it around her neck and clasp it in the back. Her heart beating wildly, Tenshi looked at Amethyst. "It's not working," she whispered.
"Give it a second," Amethyst assured her.
Tenshi clasped her hands to her heart, over the necklace. A few seconds later the pain actually did seem to subside. She began to cry in relief as her heart began to numb.
Jasper took a step towards her, but was blocked by Amethyst's arm. "Is she okay?" he asked, genuinely concerned.
"She'll be fine," Amethyst told him.
Sure enough, her tears dried up, but Tenshi was far from fine as her eyes soon deadened.
"What did you do to her?" Jasper wanted to know. He wouldn't pretend to like the girl who had just entered with his lover, but it had always been in his nature to console those who were distressed. So it was disconcerting to see someone "comforted" with these seemingly terrible results.
Amethyst shrugged. "I did what she asked. I numbed her heart. She's not feeling any pain right now. She's not really feeling anything."
Jasper was surprised by the coldness of her words. "D- did you kill her?"
"No! But what would you care if I did. She's our enemy, remember?!" Off his look, she sighed and said, "She's in a state where she doesn't really care about anything, except what we tell her to. So, for example, if we tell her to kill the brat that killed Carni, she will. If we tell her to go jump off a cliff, she will. But if something distressing happens around her, she probably won't react to it at all, unless it gets in the way of what we told her to do."
"Is it reversible?"
"Jaspy, you'd think you just joined the team! It's not like Carni and I didn't use these on other planets before."
"I never saw you use one," he responded quietly, as he fingered his own necklace, distractedly. "It just seems wrong."
She blinked, unused to his disapproval. "I'm sorry, but it's one of the ways we've always used to beat Senshi on other planets. And where did you think all our servants came from?" She tried to shrug it off as nothing, to relieve his unnecessary anxiety. "Sure, it's reversible if someone takes off the necklace. And there were a couple of people who broke free of its influence, when some emotion was too strong to keep suppressed. But we're talking extremely powerful stuff here. I mean, she was completely heartbroken, guilt-ridden, confused� and it still worked."
Jasper still was worried about it. Amethyst felt horrible about his reaction and tried to make him feel better. "Please, Jaspy, it's not that bad. Don't be mad at me!" she pouted. "How is it different from trying to get Jian-wa to join our team?"
"There's a big difference! That was dependent on him choosing us. We didn't have to manipulate his mind. Hell, I was probably gonna let him go if he didn't side with us, since he's not really a threat. But I just don't feel right about turning someone into a robot for our side. I mean, sure, in a fight, I'd probably kill her. But we aren't fighting now. She was in our apartment crying! And I can't ignore that she didn't really choose to be on our side."
Amethyst looked at Tenshi. "Tenshi, you want to be on our team, don't you?" She knew just how to ask to get the answer she wanted.
"Hai," Tenshi agreed immediately.
Amethyst flashed a victorious smile at Jasper, but he wasn't won over with this demonstration. Her smile turned upside down as she realized that he wasn't going to be that easily persuaded. Tears filled her eyes as she flung her arms around him. "Please, Jaspy! Forgive me, but I just want revenge for Carni. Please let me do it just this one last time, then I'll throw the dumb thing out. You'll let me do that right?"
He sighed. "Okay, just this once. Because it's so important to you." He wiped away the tear on her cheek. "But then promise you'll never use it again."
She smiled gratefully and gave him a short kiss. "Thank you. I love you."
