Antharia was sat in her living room, as she was most days, reading a book on the American Civil War, for no reason other than boredom. She looks up at the clock on her wall. It was 6:45, about the time that Maria usually got-

"HEY ANTHARIA, LOOK WHAT I GOT!"

The door burst open with a sudden slam, and the short, adorably curvy form of Maria walked through. She was wearing her usual work outfit, a skirt, leggings, and a nice dress shirt, and held her purse as usual. However, she also had a plastic bag in her other hand, which was being held aloft like a grand trophy.

"Maria. We have neighbors. You shouldn't yell like that."

"Okay, okay, you have a point. BUT I-" She cut herself off as she started yelling, lowering her voice. "But I got something really neat. You're gonna love it!"

Antharia sighed, taking her bookmark and setting it in between the pages she was reading, and set the book down on the arm of her chair. "Alright then love, what is it?"

Maria had a massive grin on her face. She reached into the plastic bag, and pulled out a collar. It was made of brown leather, with a black metal clasp, and looked extremely high quality. However, the part of its design that really stood out wasn't the craftsmanship, it was the white gemstone set into part of the leather, surrounded by a small ring of metal.

"The human who owned that thrift store clearly didn't know what he had. I mean just look at this!"

Maria was a Mantarian, a race of people that were made more of solid magic than of matter. Antharia was, in stark contrast, an elf. Tall, thin, and with a sharp chin, she looked elegant and wise to most people. The only person who regularly broke her serious facade was of course, her girlfriend.

"I assume it has magic on it? I can't see it like you can, darling."

"Yes it has magic, dummy! And a lot of it too! The guy sold it to me for just a few gold, thinking it was just a silly little accessory."

"Well, that's certainly interesting. What does it do?"

"I have no clue!"

Antharia stood up, walking across the room and kneeling down to take a closer look at the artifact. It looked normal to her elven eyes. Unlike Maria, she couldn't actually see the magical aura. However, she definitely felt something. A sort of pull, that most arcane objects have. The gemstone almost seemed to flicker blue for a second, but she blinked and it had returned to its normal white.

"Interesting. I suppose it'd be best to test it. I doubt it's very-"

In one swift motion, Maria wrapped the collar around her girlfriend's neck, and shut the clasp. It seemed to tighten slightly, fitting perfectly to the slim neck it was latched around. The gemstone glimmered in the artificial light, then began to glow slightly, a brilliant blue.

"Oh wow, neat! It's glowing! Do you feel anything, Antharia?"

However, Antharia did not respond. She simply stayed perfectly still, in her kneeling position, staring forward as if frozen in time. Her eyes looked out of focus, and her eyelids were drooping a bit, as if she was feeling particularly tired. The only movement in her entire body was her steady, slow breathing, and an occasional blink. Maria waved her hand in front of her face.

"Sugarplum? Honey? You there?"

She gave her a moment to respond, but Antharia simply continued to stare forward, the dazed look in her eyes refusing to shift.

"Come on, wake up, dummy."

As if a switch was flipped, Antharia blinked a few times and stood up, towering over her much shorter partner. "Hi. Hello. What just happened?" She reached up to scratch her neck, surprised to find leather instead of bare skin.

"I tested it on you. And I think I know what it does. Sleep!"

And just like that, the switch was flipped off, the elf's muscles relaxed and eyes unfocused.

"Antharia, kneel."

The words echoed in the entranced woman's head. Kneel. Kneel. Kneel. It was all she could think, all she was. She was on the ground before her brain could have processed it, not that there was a brain there in the first place. Funnily enough, even like this she was almost at eye level with her girlfriend, who reached behind her and took the collar off. The gemstone lost its colour, and Antharia slowly began to stir.

"Maria... Did you just mind control me?"

She smiled wide. "Apparently, yea! We're gonna need to try it out a few more times just to be sure that's how it works, of course..."

"For scientific purposes."

"Exactly."