She's seen the artwork. Who hasn't? Luna in her guise as the Lover, beautiful and terrible, always in full battle armor -

Gleam had only thought she contained Luna's banked fury. That was a mere ember.

Luna is glorious, and she stands between Elathea and Gleam, expression unforgiving, her unfolded rage and love drowning out both Essence storms. She's tall, made larger by her starry armor, and she carries no weapon.

She doesn't need one.

Elathea stays on the ground where she landed, shivering.

And Gleam collapses into a sobbing mess behind Luna's protection.

Luna steps forward, slowly. Comes to stand over Elathea.

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

She shakes her head, more discomposed than Gleam or Luna has ever seen.

"-Nothing. I- I... I don't know. I don't know what happened to me."

"You don't know? That's it?" Something in her shifts -

Gleam scrambles for her mind. "Luna, stop," she commands as she rises to a crouch.

She pauses, face shadowed.

"...It was like... something had lit a fuse inside me, and once it burned through-"

"The possibility of deescalation just- failed to occur. Like the concept didn't exist."

Gleam's eyes go a bit wide.

Angry goddess can stand there being angry, but Gleam's going to dart around her to hug her wife.

"Like a madness," she murmurs, "That wouldn't let us go."

(She steps back, a little.)

Elathea's still on the ground.

"Yeah. Something like that."

Gleam's never minded dirt.

"...But - your mind's clear, now?" she asks, voice small and scared even though she doesn't want it to be.

"It seems to be."

She starts shaking, overwhelmed by the - everything - crashing through her.

"Apologize," she says, voice distant from herself. "I want you to - apologize."

"I'm sorry, Gleam. I'm so, so sorry for- everything. For missing the ceremony, for hurting you, for- for what I said."

That brings her snapping back into her body - and she starts crying again. "I'm sorry, too," she says. "I - I didn't mean to attack you, I just - panicked - and didn't - see you, in my mind."

Hug and crying.

Her mind won't - work. There's things - she needs - there's responsibilities - her thoughts collide - her emotions are drowning her, strong and completely out of control - each new wave different, overwhelming, unidentifiable -

The only emotion she can put a full name to is terror. There's no threat. (Isn't there?) Not anymore. The fear, though -

"The collar," she gasps out between shakes, "I - need it off - "

Elathea scrabbles for it- it clicks- she pulls it off and tosses it aside.

More shaking, and she presses her face into Elathea's shoulder. "I - don't know what's - something's wrong - "

Everything is going to be terrible, there's threats, the world's out to get her, every twitch is enraging - she wants to laugh, cry, scream, there's doom on the horizon -

"I know. I know."

Luna frowns, tilting her head - and steps forward, places a hand on Gleam's shoulder -

And her Essence storm cuts out.

Her emotions trip and tumble over each other.

Gleam makes a little, confused noise.

"What was that?"