Central Park was bathed in light as people filtered in. Security lined the area, but they were largely unnecessary - those who truly wished to see the gods could pass through Chang'e's barrier unharmed, and those who had ulterior motives were held back by the forcefield. Many vendors had gotten through, and were selling all manner of merch. There were plenty of stuffed jade rabbits being held by the guests. Shirts displaying icons of the gods were being worn all over the crowd - harps and bunnies on moons and stars inside a sun. Some people even had trumpets for Gabriel, who had clearly become famous even without making a true appearance.
He was there at the concert, present but hidden, watching everything and tweeting it out to the world. He was the messenger, and it was his duty to let the fans know of the pantheon.
"The crowd is getting huge! Everyone better get here quick if you wanna see the #pantheon! #CentralPark #Recurrence Bragi ChangE ZorjaU"
It got a thousand retweets almost immediately.
Gabriel knew that Bragi and Zorja would only be doing opening acts, but this? This was his opening act. His word was all-encompassing. The power to spread his voice across the internet so quickly and so easily. Any message, be it one of hope or wonder or a simple thank you, could reach the intended recipient in the blink of an eye. He never paid attention to those things before his awakening, but now he saw them as the true divinity.
Rachel exited her taxi with Quinn and Sam right behind her. Artie and Blaine were in the cab behind them. Sam quickly scanned the area until he spotted his ex waving to them. "Over here!" Brittany called over the general hubbub of the other fans. Her friends made their way through the crowd to stand next to her. "OMG guys, this is so exciting!" Brittany squealed. "I've always dreamed that Kurt would be a rockstar or wizard, but now he's both! It's so magical."
"That is definitely one way to put it," Blaine said with a grin. "Did Santana make it to town?" he asked.
Brittany waved her hand absently. "She's around here somewhere. She's gonna try to find us after the thing."
"Speaking of the thing, we should try and get a good spot," Quinn said, glancing through the orb to the huge audience within. "Fuck me, that's like half the city's youth in there. And then some."
It was a good thing they got there when they did, as the line was so slow that they only had five minutes until the opening acts went onstage. While Sam led the charge to the front of the audience, Rachel hung back. "I'll meet you guys there!" she called. "I gotta run to the little girl's room!"
"Okay! I'll try to save room for you," Quinn called back.
All three of them had performed in public before, and this was nothing new. But it was no less exciting.
Zorja was fanning herself and breathing deeply. "We're so close! This is so hype!" She was glowing (literally) with excitement, and the jade bunnies around her feet flopped around to match her joy. She peaked outside the curtain to see the crowd getting pumped up, and managed to glimpse her friends in the front row. "They're here!" she shouted, and gave a little wave. Artie spotted it and pointed her out to the others, who waved back.
"Okay Zorja, keep it cool," Bragi said softly. "Save some for your performance." He was still writing things down inches notebook, though by now the script had morphed into an indecipherable dialect of ancient Nordic Runes. There were just so many stories, and so little time to tell them. But there was one he had already put aside for tonight, one that he wanted to tell everyone who was listening because he was sure that they'd appreciate it. He didn't need to rehearse - none of them did. Their songs (or whatever they were) came to them through the void and entered their hearts automatically. It seemed so easy sometimes.
Chang'e entered the backstage area in a flourish. Her outfit hadn't changed, but she looked regenerated and ready to perform. Those who were keeping watch out back would have noticed that three minutes before showtime a young woman floated up to the top of the sphere and seemed to be soaking the moonlight in, relaxing in it like one would a bath after a hard workday. The goddess bent down and held a hand out to her rabbits, which flocked to her. "Hello, my darlings. Are you ready to go onstage with momma?" She smiled at them, and they squeaked in reply.
The concert organizer walked in, and the three deities turned to look at him. He didn't glance up from his clipboard. "Alright kids, only a few moments until showtime. Bragi, you're up first, then Zorja." He pronounced the name with a hard J, causing her to scowl a bit. "And then Chang'e, you're the big act and you'll go up after them. Everybody ready?" They all nodded in agreement. "Great. Break a leg!"
Nobody really paid attention to the girl in the tan and black suit who was humming a No Doubt song under her breath.
Rachel stepped out of her port-a-potty and took a big breath of fresh air. The concert may have been heavenly but the rest facilities certainly weren't. You'd think with a performance this major somebody would have realized that there'd be thousands of people needing to relieve themselves.
She began speed walking to the concert stage, were the lights were growing brighter. She could hear somebody in the distance start speaking into a microphone. "Central Park…are you ready for the divine?" A cheer rippled across the crowd, and Rachel picked up her pace. Thank goodness I wore flats, otherwise I'd be tripping all over myself. She ducked out of the way as somebody ran past her, and she nearly collided into somebody else.
"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry," she muttered to the woman. She was an old woman, far from the demographic attending the event tonight, dressed in extremely vintage clothing - like, circa the 19th century. "Are…are you okay?" she asked cautiously.
The woman stared at her intently, then nodded. "Yes. Yes, I'm fine. That was my fault, young lady." She turned to walk away. "Do enjoy the concert."
Rachel stared after the woman as she left. There was something immensely interesting about her. To the point were she could practically feel it emanating from the woman. It was here eyes. There was something different about them -
Falling. Something had sent her flailing towards the ground. And just before she hit, an arm dove around her back.
"Oh shit, there you are."
She looked up at Puck, who practically body slammed her and would have nearly drove her into the ground had he not caught her in time. He helped her to her feet. "Sorry, I was panicking because I couldn't find you guys and my phone died, and then I wasn't watching were I was going -"
"It's fine, Puck. Let's get going." Rachel took off again, Puck hot on her heels babbling something about how hyped he was for this thing. She nodded, but she couldn't help but look over her shoulder towards were the old woman had left. She couldn't see her, but she was certain that the lady was still watching her. Watching everything there.
Bragi went first.
His voice told a story about nostalgia and memory and revival. About a band of friends brought together by fate and led on a wild trip across the world, spreading art and hope wherever they went. Their lives were the things of legend, and their lovers went on to found societies and clubs and teams that changed the world. The band set foot in a town and played for all too see, and even though some of its members perished in the process, they always did so with style and grace. The music they made brought the world together, ever so briefly, and nobody paid mind to the fates they were given. They were divine. They were loved. They died. And it was worth it.
Zorja Utrennnjaja went second.
Her voice told no story at all, except for the now. Any narrative she held was only for the day, but the day was all that one needed. A single day could let you confess your love. A single day could let you repair a burned bridge. A single day gave you time enough to hold your friends, your family, yourself just a little closer and just a little longer. When the sun was in the sky, anything could happen. It chased off not just the things that hid in darkness but the darkness inside oneself, leaving room only for the positive. The gates will close, as they always do, but so long as you had done what you wanted and were proud of it then there was nothing to fear.
Chang'e went next.
Her voice filled the park. It was liquid silver. She was the main attraction, and she had time to let it build. The park filled with her light with each cosmic syllable uttered, surrounding those in attendance and permeating their bodies and minds. It was a melancholy, but one that everyone should feel at least once in your lives. A tranquility of the soul that manifests when the darkness is seen, and it is recorded, and it is accepted into your life. Then it began to grow. It the melancholy stretched thinner and thinner and the souls of the crowd grew higher and higher, glowing in the moonlight.
(the moon which had once matched the bubble around the concert but now grew brighter as the shield grew weaker and its powered flowed back into its mistress to be distributed into the crowd and judging those who would seek to cause trouble irrelevant in this beautiful night)
Then it snapped, leaving eternity in its wake. A life that never ended, that filled itself up and never drained, only growing lighter, brighter, and more beautiful with each passing second. Your journey will never have to end. Your gates will never have to close. Your life is a cycle that always comes back to you.
The crowd was going wild. The opening acts had done their jobs perfectly, preparing the crowd for the two phases of Chang'e's number. The audience wept, they screamed, they begged for more and received it. Blaine could feel it as he lost himself in the music, and even when his vision went blurry and he was crashing into Quinn he kept on dancing. Brittany and Artie were screaming her names (divine and mortal) and stretching their hands towards her. Puck had fallen on his knees and was weeping with joy. And Sam? Who fucking knows where Sam was. Even as Rachel waved her arms around her, feeling the energy flow off of Chang'e into her, into everyone, and back again, she could tell that things were getting a tad out of control. She'd been to concerts before and knew how rowdy people could get, but she was suddenly recalling horror stories she'd heard about when things became too much.
Things were becoming too much.
The audience surged towards the stage, startling the rabbits dancing around the goddess' feet. People screamed in the back, not out of joy but out of surprise. Security had failed and the bubble had failed, and the protestors who had been lining the streets now mingled with those who had come for the show. And though the energy remained, it was no longer under Chang'e's control. In a few moments the concert had become a riot.
The woman in the suit smiled and began to weave her hands through the air. "Sorry I'm not home right now," she sang softly, and a pair of protestors tripped over each other's feet. "I'm walking into spiderwebs." One of the spotlights went out with as burst, and those thrust into the darkness shouted in surprise. "Leave a message and I'll call you back." Several people collapsed when they found that their shoelaces had spontaneously been tied together.
Rachel and her friends had been standing as a group, but now suddenly she couldn't see any of them. Her mind seemed to be cycling through every emotion she'd ever felt and she had the sickening feeling that it was not doing it of its own volition. Everyone else around her seemed to be gripped in a lunatic panic, running around like chickens with their heads cut off and feeling from a danger that may or may not be there. Glimpses of both protestors and security guards appeared to her between the bodies rushing around her, some of them panicking like the others and some of them actively fighting with the audience. People had started to clamber onto the stage and Bragi and Zorja were immediately beside their compatriot, shouting hexes and throwing up blinding lights to protect her. She saw Quinn and instinctively grabbed her arm, pulling the girl towards her and moving the two of them away from the crowd. Somehow Blaine and Puck appeared next to her. They made their way to the East of the stage in the hopes that there would be less rioting there.
The concert had lasted an hour before the riot began, and the riot itself lasted another half hour before the cops could intervene and start stabilizing the situation. Brittany and Artie came from the other side of the park, as they had been forced that way when the crowd surged. "Sam!" Blaine called out. "Has anybody seen Sam?"
"Up here," came Chang'e's voice. The group looked up and saw that their friend had been one of those who climbed onto the stage. He had passed out, and Chang'e rested his head in her lap. "I think my song really got to him." She stroked his head cautiously, and he groaned. Zorja walked over and examined him.
"Hmm…meh, he'll be fine." She stood up straight. "That was fun except for the end part."
"Yeah, that's gonna be the story all over the news alright," Bragi snarked. "'Pantheon Causes Pagan Riot in Central Park, Deport Them Immediately'." He rolled his eyes.
Rachel frowned. "I can't believe those pricks were able to get in." She crossed her arms. "I'm sorry about this guys. You guys deserved a better concert than this. Especially you Chang'e." Chang'e smiled at the remark. "I liked your song, I wish you could have finished it."
The goddess carefully put Sam's head down, then floated to her friend. "Don't worry Rachel. There's always next time."
"Yeah, well, next time might be sooner than you think," a female voice called out. It was smooth and warm and laced with a bucket sass, but when he group looked around they couldn't see the owner anywhere.
"Santana?" Brittany asked carefully.
"Up here."
The group looked up at Santana as she descended from the scaffolding of the stage, a single silken thread hanging from her fingertip. She was dressed in a tan suit covered in intricate spiderweb designs, and a ruby spider-shaped choker sparkled from her neck.
"Holy crap, Santana's one too," Quinn murmured.
Santana raised an eyebrow at the remark. "Oh come on Quinn, is that any way to great your Auntie Nancy?"
Author's Note: Once again, we return. This chapter is huge.
Ok, first things firsts, WicDiv #11 was amazing and horrible and I was a wreck and I read it in my friends car and they thought they might have to pull over so I could hyperventilate safely. Also, due to the events of that issue, I've had to tweak a few things I was planning. My ultimate goal for this whole thing hasn't changed, and in fact I think it'll work better because I feel like the comic is headed in a different direction (I thought I was so smart and predicted the endgame of the comic but HAHA nope). However I will say that this fic isn't going to include the world building that occurred in issue #11 or likely anything introduced after.
But hey! If you're only reading this for Glee then I guess you're at an advantage because you don't have to worry about that stuff. But you should. Go read WicDiv.
Also Anansi has landed. That's cool. And another god's coming in the next chapter. No big hints except that they've got swagger. Finally, and I'm just pointing this out because I'm afraid some people might miss it, but there is a hidden second meaning in this chapter title. You probably spotted it right away though and I'm likely just overestimating my abilities of subtelty.