The Day The Sky Caught Fire (one-shot, prequel to Angeles)
They belonged together. The Gods had said so themselves.
They were meant for each other, Finn and Quinntus (later, she would drop the last syllable of her name, as if she wanted to get rid of everything her past represented). But Finn knew. He knew in his heart they were meant to be. Aphrodite herself said they were created in the image of perfection. Finn was young and powerful, and it was in his destiny to become one of the greatest Gods Ancient Greece would ever know.
They were meant to be, the eldest Gods had promised him as much. He had believed them.
The trouble was, Quinn hadn’t been so easily convinced.
They had a different philosophy on life. Finn believed the power belonged to him by right. They were there to be used. They were there to remind humanity there was a certain order in life, and that order was meant to be respected. There was a reason the world belonged to Gods and not to humans.
There was a reason, too, the other Gods were meant to respect him. He was the son of one of the Titans. The older Gods had seen what happened that day, they still remembered how easily the Gods were defeated - how quickly he could bring them to their place, once he actually got full control of his powers.
But it wasn’t just his heritage. Or his powers. His very body was perfect, molded into the ideal build. He was strong. He was powerful. Finn Hudson would never know life as anything other than a God. All that was missing for him was Quinn.
She was different than the other Gods. Quieter almost, a little more secluded. She kept to herself, for the most part, just drifting around Mount Olympus. It was there, and it was familiar, and those seemed like good enough reasons for her not to leave.
The other Gods didn’t trust her, though. They had memories, too.
Finn was powerful, but it was Quinntus who held the fate of the Gods in her hands. They had seen the darkness swirling around in her eyes when she was created, and it was only the soul she was cursed with that kept her in line with the other Gods.
The older Gods knew better than to believe Quinn’s silence was merely her being lost in her thoughts. It was more like she was constantly shimmering on the edge of destruction. It wasn’t passivity that kept her on Mount Olympus. It was simply the fact no one had found the trigger that would bring the Gods to their knees. It was only a matter of time before they all fell.
The Gods had written that, too.
& & &
Aphrodite watched as Finn and Quinn sat next to each other. To the untrained eye, they looked like they were in love, but she knew better. She knew Finn felt much more strongly for the blonde, that it was the worse type of love: tragic, doomed, and capable of destruction. It needed to be amended.
“Those two worry me,” she said quietly as she turned to the God next to her. Will scoffed, his gaze fixed on something below them.
“Give him time,” he responded. “Finn will grow into his powers. He’s still discovering them, it will just take a little time. Things will turn out our way. They always do.”
“You think he’s stronger than she is?” She asked.
“I think he has physical strength,” he answered. “And you’ve seen what was written. He’s capable of such… great heights. He’s the one that if uncontrolled, will unleash the destruction.”
“Indeed,” she nodded, but Will could tell by the way her jaw was clenched that she wasn’t convinced.
“You don’t believe me,” he sighed. Aphrodite didn’t say anything for a moment. They stayed like that for a while, waiting for each other to put their thoughts into words.
“Quinntus is the one who concerns me the most,” Aphrodite eventually told him. “She has the type of power whose full effect you don’t realize until you are on your knees, begging for your life.”
“She really does worry you.” He was surprised.
“You have to find a way to control her,” she insisted. “Otherwise she could do unspeakable damage to this kingdom. We have too much at stake for her to destroy it.”
“No,” Will eventually said, shaking his head. “It won’t be her. Finn is the stronger one between the two of them. He’s the one the prophecy was talking about.”
“That may be,” Aphrodite agreed as she got up and started walking away. After a second, though, she turned and looked back at him. “But who do you think influences him?”
Will nodded in acknowledgement, then turned his attention back to the vision beneath him.
“Humans,” he muttered in his disdain. “Maybe I should unleash Quinntus on you, after all. It might help elevate her state of constant boredom. You really do make excellent pets, as long as you’re kept in line.”
& & &
Shelby found Rachel sitting by herself by the lake.
“I’ve been looking for you,” she said quietly. Rachel looked up in surprise.
“I’m sorry, Mother,” she confessed. “Time simply got away from me. I didn’t mean to worry you.”
“What are you doing here?” The older muse asked. Rachel didn’t answer immediately, just continued to look at something on the other side of the lake. Her mother followed the line of sight and saw the two young Gods, Finn and Quinn.
“You can sense their power from here,” Rachel said, almost in wonder. She tilted her head slightly as she continued to watch them. “It just sits there, just beneath the surface for both of them.”
“You can see that?” Shelby asked, alarmed. Rachel wasn’t supposed to be that advanced. It was a gift that could get her killed, if others found out about it. If the Gods felt too threatened by it.
“What do you think of them?” Rachel turned to her mother. There it was, that underlying desperation of approval, of wanting to know if she mattered, if there was such a thing as making a difference in the world.
“They’re Gods,” Shelby answered softly.
“Tell me about them,” her daughter requested quietly, turning her attention back to the two Gods.
“The others are afraid of them,” the older muse said. “They’re capable of such greatness, of such destruction, that the other Gods don’t know where they stand, and that frightens them. They could change the world just as easily as they could end it, but nobody knows which way it could go.”
“Finn believes in forever,” she continued. But then she stopped, unsure of how to continue.
“What about Quinn?” Rachel asked. Shelby didn’t say anything, just continued to watch the two Gods.
“Quinntus believes in a different type of forever.”
She didn’t know quite how to explain to Rachel that yes, she knew that this God was beautiful - her body was molded to perfection, and there was a reason for that. But Quinntus was also meant to be tragic; something that beautiful wasn’t meant for all eternity, it was meant to destroy. The Gods had wanted to create perfection, but they had created their own downfall as well.
“She’s very pretty,” Rachel commented, oblivious to her mother’s internal torment. “I’ve never seen anything so pretty.”
“Yes,” Shelby said quietly, “but she’s also doomed.”
& & &
Will circled around him, his eyes blazing with fury.
“Did you really think you could get away with it?” He snarled at the young God. “Did you think you could just give your gift to the humans and we wouldn’t know?”
“Please,” Mike begged. “Please, I’ll do anything, please don’t hurt me…”
“Stop begging,” Aphrodite growled, “you’re a God, not a human.”
“You think you can just give them fire,” Will continued as if the interruptions hadn’t taken place. “You think you can give them the answers they are looking for. Such arrogance. Do you not understand we are the answers they need?”
Something in Will’s speech sparked a defiance in the young God. His eyes darkened with undisguised contempt.
“They have a right to know,” Mike defended. “They have a right to discover what rightfully belongs to them! Shelby is right, the humans should be in control of their own thoughts!”
Half a second later, Will’s hand was around the man’s throat.
“No,” Will whispered, very quietly, very dangerously. “Your gifts do not belong to the humans. They are rightfully ours, my dear Michael. Do not confuse who gave you those gifts.”
He glanced back at the young God who defied him. “Your first mistake, Prometheus,” he said, using Mike’s original name, “was assuming I wouldn’t find out. Your second was not fleeing when I did.”
He turned to Aphrodite. “Send a message to the other Gods,” he said, his voice suddenly void of any emotion. “Chain him to the rock. Make an example out of him. I hate to do this, but sometimes the Gods just need to be reminded of the order of things.”
& & &
They took Rachel’s mother away from her.
“You want the mortals to have the gift of the Gods?” They had snarled as they took Shelby away. “Then go live among them!”
And just like that, they took her mother away, and now she was all alone. She didn’t know what to do anymore. She was lost, and alone, and confused. The lake was the only place where she could find peace of mind, the only place where the tears would fall into water and the only thing she could think of was she was giving back the life that had been taken away from her.
Rachel could hear Quinntus approaching, but she didn’t even look up. She just continued to look at the lake. Eventually Quinn stepped closer, and her reflection stopped right next to Rachel’s. Neither of them said anything, they just sat next to each other.
“They took my mother away from me,” Rachel said quietly to Quinn.
The blonde didn’t say anything at first, just shuffled closer to the muse. She was warm, Rachel realized. Her body was warm and it was the first contact she had with someone since her mother was taken away from her.
“Why?” Quinn asked quietly. “Did she do something bad?”
Had she? Rachel wasn’t sure. Her mother wasn’t a bad person, she was certain of it. She just wanted to help the humans, to give them the tools to realize their own potential. It was no different than what the Gods did for each other, so why was her mother being punished for it?
“No,” Rachel eventually answered. “She actually did something good, and now the Gods, well, Will actually, they were worried they wouldn’t be able to control her anymore. So they sent her away. They took my mother away from me and now I have no one.”
Quinn fell silent again. She kept her head down, just watching the muse through the reflection in the water. She was still confused by these emotions inside of her, this sudden desire to protect someone other than herself. Still looking at the reflection, she moved her hand, and slipped her fingers between Rachel’s.
“You can have me, if you want,” Quinn said softly. “That way you won’t have to be alone.”
“But you don’t even know me,” Rachel stuttered. “Why are you doing this?”
“You don’t know me either,” Quinn smiled. “Maybe that’s the point.”
& & &
Aphrodite scoffed, watching the scene develop from afar.
“Is this going to become an issue?” She asked Will, who simply shrugged in response.
“She’s just a muse,” he responded. “What’s the worse that could happen?”
Aphrodite simply shook her head in response. Will may have forgotten, but she hadn’t. They had the exact same thought when Shelby originally became Michael’s muse, and look where that got them. It was dangerous. Gods and muses were supposed to be kept apart for a reason. Gods were powerful, yes, but who controls their thoughts? Who whispers the words they need to hear?
Humans prayed to the Gods, but it was the muses who influence their prayers. Left unattended, the friendship between Quinntus and this new muse - Rachel, if she remembered correctly - could prove to be very dangerous.
Will had made the mistake once before of underestimating the power of a muse. She wasn’t going to let that happen again.
& & &
Their friendship grew stronger over time.
Aphrodite heard the whispers from the Gods, about how this muse, this young adolescent was slowly taking over Quinntus’ mind. They whispered that the control of the Gods wasn’t as strong as it used to be, not if a muse could so easily influence one of the most powerful Gods they had ever seen. They murmured in hushed whispers that maybe the prophecy was true, after all.
It scared Aphrodite.
She could see it, too, the way Quinntus was slowly slipping away from Finn. He never was that good at reading her, keeping her interested in him, but under the influence of the muse, she was growing more and more distant.
It was a dangerous friendship, between Quinntus and the muse - Rachel, if the rumors proved to be correct. Because Quinntus was young and impressionable, and who knows the sort of damage the muse could do if she pushed the wrong sort of ideas in the blonde’s head?
It was dangerous, too, for another reason Aphrodite didn’t really want to consider. Because there was the potential that this friendship could develop into something more. It was one thing for Quinntus to listen to the muse because she considered her as a friend.
Listening to the muse because she considered her a lover? The thought was unbearable and terrifying. It was dangerous. Gods weren’t supposed to feel love, they weren’t supposed to fall victim to blind passion. And with the right words, the right touches, the muse could do that.
The muse could bring down an entire kingdom without realizing it.
Aphrodite shook her head. She wouldn’t let that happen. She would make sure of that.
& & &
Aphrodite found the muse sitting by the lake. The young girl didn’t look up as the girl approached; instead, she just watched the wind lick at the surface of the water. For a long time neither of them said anything.
“You’re the one who sent my mother away,” Rachel eventually said. Her tone was void of emotion. She spoke softly, too soft for it to be anything more than a statement of fact.
“Yes,” Aphrodite nodded. “I did.”
The girl looked so sad up close, the Goddess realized. And she wondered if that was why Quinntus was so drawn toward this muse, because it was in their nature to be drawn to tragedy and nothing is as appealing as someone whose world is falling apart in front of their eyes.
“She wasn’t wrong, you know,” Rachel defended, and finally, there was a hint of passion in her voice, but it was almost masked by the complete lack of emotion on her face.
Aphrodite didn’t say anything, just let her continue. Sometimes she thought it was better to let people speak. One could understand their weaknesses better that way.
“But you aren’t here to talk about my mother, are you?” Rachel asked. “You’re here because of Quinn.”
“She concerns me,” Aphrodite acknowledged. “She listens to you, and I find that worrying. You could push any thought you wanted into her mind, and she wouldn’t fight it. She would probably embrace it, if your friendship is anything like I think it is.”
“I would never manipulate her thoughts!” Rachel turned to her, appalled. “My mother always believed in the concept of free will and you as Gods have no right to take that away from anybody! You accuse the humans of unfounded arrogance but they are only following your own examples!”
Aphrodite shook her head, a bitter smile on her face.
“The thing is, you don’t see how she looks at you, do you?” She asked. Rachel stared back, her eyes wide with confusion. “You don’t see it at all, but I do. I see exactly how Quinntus looks at you.”
She leant towards and put her lips next to Rachel’s ear. “You accuse us of unfounded arrogance,” she whispered harshly, her words laced with disdain and venom. “But you’re the one who will end up destroying the entire kingdom because you refuse to see what is happening in front of you.”
Aphrodite got up, but before she left, she turned to look at Rachel. The muse was staring back into the water, her jaw clenched with frustration.
“We took your mother away from you, Rachel,” Aphrodite reminded her. “Don’t make us take another thing you love away from you.”
& & &
“It’s nothing to be worried about, Aphrodite,” Will sighed. “I mean, look at her. Look at Quinntus.”
“She’s a beautiful creature,” Aphrodite acknowledged. Will smiled in agreement.
“That’s exactly my point,” Will said. “It’s in human nature to destroy things they consider to be beautiful. Humans are nothing if not predictable in that sense. Let this relationship of theirs run its course. It won’t last. Rachel is a muse, after all. We both know what happens to them.”
& & &
Quinn hesitated, watching Rachel at the lake. She knew the muse was aware of her presence - somehow, she always knew when the blonde was around - but this was the first time that Rachel seemed to want to be alone.
Why wasn’t Rachel happy? Quinn frowned, wanting to understand. It was strange, feeling compassion for another being, and it was something she was still struggling with.
She didn’t know what she was supposed to be feeling; all she knew was that Rachel made her feel. A contradiction of terms, and it frightened her, it really did. It meant that she was no longer the one in control; that she was forced to be submissive to the will of someone else, and Aphrodite had always said that Gods were meant to be superior to everything else.
Aphrodite had told her a lot of things, actually, like how Finn would give anything to be the one Quinn thought of, or how he would treat her right, or how he’s the only one who would ever truly understand her and there were all these implications; Quinn just didn’t know what they meant.
Such as, if Finn was the only one who could really understand her, where did that leave Rachel? Because for Quinn, Rachel would just know what she was thinking, and it was nothing to do with her abilities as a muse, it was more that she just took the time to listen to her…
Aphrodite kept insisting that she was meant for Finn, but what if the Gods had gotten it wrong?
“Do you believe in love, Quinntus?” Rachel asked softly, breaking Quinn’s inner monologue. She didn’t look up, just continued to look at the lake, watching the light dance across the water.
“I don’t know what love is,” Quinn answered. She hesitated, biting her lip. She wasn’t used to this insecurity, either. She was supposed to be calm, in control, but around Rachel she was usually anything but.
“I’d like to know, though,” she continued.
Rachel didn’t say anything to that, just continued to stare into the lake, and there was suddenly a spark of jealousy in Quinn, and perhaps for the first time she wanted to take control of the lake, anything just to get Rachel to look at her instead.
“Sometimes I think you’re the lucky one, you know,” Rachel confessed, and there was a hint of something in her voice, something like disappointment, and Quinn jerked back as if burnt. “You don’t know what love is, so you’ll never get hurt.”
Quinn stared at her, confused. She didn’t understand anymore. Why was Rachel acting like this?
Rachel exhaled sharply, and her features were so - cold. She reached out and touched the brunette’s hand. She flinched in response but didn’t pull her hand away. It was something, at least.
“I won’t hurt you,” Quinn promised. Rachel didn’t turn her head, just continued to watch the lake, but a ghost of a smile flickered on her face.
The two of them continued to sit there, watching the light flirt with the reflection on her lake, holding hands as they tried to understand that sometimes fate was meant to be cheated.
“Do you think love is doomed?” Quinn asked, curious.
“I think it’s in our nature to destroy things we love in order to protect them,” Rachel explained. “So I guess certain types of love can be doomed, you know, because you love them so much that you’ll destroy them to make sure nothing happens to them. I know it seems like a bit of a contradiction, but… I guess that’s the way love works, sometimes.”
“What about us?” Quinn insisted. “Do you think our love is doomed?”
“I don’t know,” the muse said, very quietly. “I don’t know if anything of this was planned.”
“I think this love belongs to us,” Quinn argued, and there was a spark of something in those hazel eyes, and Rachel thought the blonde had never looked more perfect. “I’d rather be doomed with you than live forever and never know what it’s like to feel.”
& & &
Finn could smell the muse all over Quinn. It sparked a fury in him he didn’t know he was capable of feeling. He fumed silently, pacing around the room, but he was careful not to wake her.
Quinn was meant to be with him, the Gods had promised that. It had been engraved in stone, their fate had been sealed. And now this muse wandered into Quinn’s life, putting all these feelings into her, manipulating her mind into believing she could defy her own destiny? Their fate was written for a reason.
And then the muse had the nerve to imply that the Gods were the ones who repeatedly fell victim to arrogance? How dare she, he snarled to himself.
Overcome with frustration, he threw lightning around him. Bent on destruction, he just wanted to punish - he wasn’t sure who, exactly. He wanted to punish that muse for slowly taking Quinntus a little more away from him each day, he wanted to hurt Quinntus for not loving him the way the prophecies said she would; he wanted to demand why Aphrodite had made these promises when he was starting to believe more and more they were all lies.
He was being manipulated, and he didn’t know who to believe anymore. He just wanted Quinntus back, his beautiful dangerous Goddess whose mind had once been blissfully unaware of emotions.
He threw another lightning bolt down, the frustration continuing to get the better of him. He stopped suddenly, turning his head to the side in an effort to hear better only to shake his head.
He thought he had heard the Gods whisper that the winds were changing, but he didn’t know what that meant. It probably wasn’t important.
& & &
“You don’t seem to understand the gravity of the situation,” Aphrodite snarled at Will. “This is becoming much more serious than either of us anticipated.”
“Maybe it’s being blown out of proportion,” Will offered.
“Blown out of proportion?” She repeated. “Will, don’t be ridiculous. Quinntus is slipping out of our grasp and you know it. We need to find a way to control her before it gets completely out of hand.”
“It won’t,” Will shrugged. “If the muse is anything like her mother we have absolutely nothing to worry about.”
“If she’s anything like her mother we have everything to worry about,” Aphrodite hissed. “Shelby was powerful but this muse? She’s even more influential than her mother is. Shelby was able to control Michael, but you and I both know he doesn’t even begin to compare to Quinn.”
“She’s a muse,” Will repeated. “I promise you, it’s not a cause for concern.”
“It’s not a cause for concern now because that muse hasn’t tapped into her head,” she growled. “Honestly Will, what has to happen for you to take notice? Does Quinntus have to overthrow the kingdom for you to understand how much of a threat this muse is to our plans?”
“Let’s wait and see,” he offered as a compromise. “If you’re still concerned in a day or two, we can revisit the situation. For now, just be patient.”
“Patience is the same as arrogance, Will,” Aphrodite reminded him. “Both will get you killed.”
& & &
“Let’s go hunting,” Finn said to Puck. “I’m bored and I need to let off some steam. Let’s go.”
It was a simple request. But the frustration from earlier, the lingering bitterness of the muse’s scent all over Quinn, remained in his mind. He wasn’t hunting for the sake of working off his frustrations; he was hunting because he wanted to hurt, to kill. He was ruthless in his execution, and Puck was actually struggling to keep up with his pace.
“Do you want to tell me what this is actually about?” Puck asked, panting with the effort. “Or have you just developed a newfound appreciation for hunting?”
Finn clenched his jaw. He didn’t want to talk, didn’t want to feel the hurt and jealousy, didn’t want to acknowledge that the one the Gods had promised would always be by his side was falling into the arms of someone else - a muse at that.
He loved Quinn first, didn’t that count for anything? He had never looked at anyone the way he looked at Quinn, and he suspected he never would look at anyone else the same way, either. And then this muse pretty much stumbled into Quinn’s life and she started looking at the muse instead of him and none of this was fair.
Quinn was meant to be with him, not the muse. The Gods had said so themselves. It had been written by them. The words existed, they were meant for each other. They had been created for each other. Who was this muse to interfere with those plans?
Finn stopped by the lake, waiting for Puck catch up with him. They sat next to each other, neither of them saying anything. Silence only strengthened their friendship.
“I can fucking smell her on her,” Finn eventually sighed. “I don’t know if she doesn’t know that, or the other option, that she does know but she doesn’t care. I don’t know which is worse.”
Puck didn’t respond, just glanced at him from the corner of his eye before watching the lake again.
“I loved her first,” he continued. “And that used to be enough for both of us. I know I love her more than she loves me but it never used to matter, until now.”
“What changed?” Puck asked.
“Quinn loved me on principle,” he told his friend. “She thought it was love because she had never known anything else. But then the muse came along and now she’s feeling all these things and none of them are for me.”
“I’ve always known that Quinn was doomed,” Finn said as he got up to walk away, “but I always thought we’d be doomed together.”
& & &
Aphrodite was pacing, again. Will didn’t look up from his place, but continued to count her steps in his mind. One step, another, stop, sigh, repeat. Over and over again. It was familiar, and consistent, and in light of the events going on, he needed that touch of comfort.
“I told you this could happen,” Aphrodite sighed, but there was no hint of malice, no bitterness. Just concern.
“I know,” Will muttered. “We both saw the signs but I just didn’t want to believe. I just didn’t. How could this happen?”
“You know what bothers me the most?” Aphrodite asked. “It’s the fact that, that damn muse hasn’t touched her mind, once. She hasn’t manipulated her thoughts at all. Quinn is alone in her mind, and yet that wretched muse is all she thinks about. Quite frankly it’s sickening.”
“You mean her mind is clear?” Will’s head jerked up, and the horror on his face almost made Aphrodite laugh. She would have, too, if it weren’t for the implications of it all.
“It’s sickening,” she repeats. “Honestly I think things would be simpler if the muse was manipulating her thoughts, at least then we’d know what to expect. This is new, for everyone involved. We just don’t know what is going to happen. We don’t know what Quinntus is going to do anymore, what she’s capable of.”
“Maybe,” Will acknowledged. “We might not know. But we have someone who does.” He turned, looked at Aphrodite. “I want to know how this is going to end. Bring the prophet.”
& & &
The prophet’s name was Sue Sylvester. She had been the first one to ever defy Will, to refuse to kneel in front of him and declare him superior to others. As punishment for her act of rebellion, he had stripped her of her immortality. She would keep the gift of foresight, of premonition, but her immortality was taken away from her.
She never forgave him for that.
In some ways, the bitterness actually worked for her. It sharpened her mind, allowed her to see what was happening around her, visions the other Gods couldn’t even begin to comprehend. It had taken her some time to understand what the dreams meant, how to interpret them through the resentment flowing through her veins, but now, she could switch the dreams on and off whenever she so desired.
All she wanted to see right now, though, was Will’s downfall.
“William,” she sneered as she approached him. ”I see you haven’t changed at all.” She glanced at Aphrodite. “Time has not been particularly kind to you, either.”
“Enough.” Will said, and his tone was harsh enough that Sue fell silent. He gave her a small smile as a reward.
“What can I do for you?” She asked, her tone filled with bitterness and resentment. It was practically rolling off her in waves.
“We seem to have a bit of a problem,” Will answered. He got up from where he had been sitting and started pacing. “You’re well aware of the prophecy, I’m sure. I mean you’re the one who practically wrote it, after all. However there seems to be a bit of a glitch, now, and I’m sure you can understand why that is a bit of a concern to us.”
“You’re concerned about Quinn,” Sue noted. She titled her head, watching Will more closely. “She’s stronger than you, you know. Both her and Finn are. You wouldn’t be able to defeat them if they rebelled against you.”
“I want to know what kind of power she holds,” Will snapped.
Sue shook her head.
“I don’t see that kind of future,” she said.
A second later, Will has his hand wrapped around her throat. His eyes flashed with anger as he slowly tightened his grip.
“You will see whatever kind of future I tell you to see,” he snarled. “Do I make myself clear?” Sue nodded, and he released his grip.
“She’s not after your throne, if that’s what you are asking,” Sue said passively, her hand trying to soothe her throat.
“It’s not,” Will said brusquely. “I just want to know what it is I should be concerned about. Quinntus is slipping from my grasp and I just need to understand how much of a threat this is.”
“Do you even know what’s going on out there?” Sue asked. “Have you even bothered to look? It’s not Quinn you should be afraid of, Will. It’s not even the Gods. They aren’t the ones who will bring down your kingdom. It won’t be Quinntus who will overthrow you.”
“Then who will?” Will demanded.
Sue smiled bitterly.
“She will,” she said, pointing at a drawing of Rachel.
& & &
Sometimes - not often, but sometimes - Rachel liked to just watch Quinn as she moved. There was a hidden darkness to the blonde, a type of danger that so often rhymed with addiction, that she knew she should be afraid. It was the type of darkness that promised the end of the world, the type of darkness referred to in the prophecy.
She had never wanted so badly to believe the prophet was wrong.
Yes, Quinn was powerful, and yes, that type of darkness could overthrow the kingdom. But couldn’t Sue see that the darkness in Quinn was simply because she was so broken? She embraced the darkness because she had been told since she was young that it was a part of her, but by insisting so much on the darkness the other Gods had neglected to mention the God.
Rachel saw it, not just because she was a muse, but because she had taken the time to get to know Quinn. She saw how those hazel eyes would soften when she looked at the very population she was destined to destroy. She saw that lingering gaze of interest, of curiosity…
Quinn was capable just as easily of saving the world, but the appeal of tragedies is in the ending.
Was that why she was so drawn to Quinn? Rachel wondered. Because she knew how doomed this relationship was doing to be, knew what was going to happen to both of them if the other Gods even suspected this friendship was beginning to become something more, and yet, neither of them stayed away.
They brought something out in each other. She knew she was probably the one who knew that Quinn was capable of good, just as she knew that Quinn was probably the only one who saw the hidden darkness in Rachel but accepted it, didn’t try to change it.
Yes, in many ways they were terrible for each other, but that was also why they worked so well. It was why it felt so right when Quinn’s fingers grazed hers because it just implied that things happened for a reason, but for once, they could interpret that situation however they wanted.
Or, the other implication - that they could write their own fate, as long as they were together. The odds were against them, and there was a piece of stone with their fates engrained on it and neither outcome was particularly positive. But the prophecy insisted they would always be alone, so really, what could they accomplish if they stayed together?
“What are you thinking about?” Quinn asked, as she approached the muse.
“Destiny,” Rachel answered. “And how lovely it would be if one day, we could write our own destiny. Imagine this whole other world, Quinn, where our fate is not scribbled on a piece of stone by a person who doesn’t understand us.”
Quinn looked off into the distance. There it was, that familiar, distant faraway look, as if she was looking into a vision only she could interpret.
“It sounds lovely,” Quinn said softly, “but I don’t think the world you speak of exists.”
“Then let’s create it!” Rachel encouraged. “We can do that, together, surely we must be able to. We can create our own little world and it will be just the two of us and nothing bad will have ever happened. That place has to exist, and even if it doesn’t, we can create it, Quinn, don’t you believe me?”
“I believe in you,” she answered quietly. “But I also believe that isn’t always going to be enough.”
“We can fight,” the muse argued. “I’ll always fight for you, I believe in you, Quinn. I believe in us, and that faith is stronger than anything else, I promise. They can take everything else away from me but I’ll still always believe in you.”
Quinn turned her attention away from Rachel, and there was something in the hazel eyes that actually frightened the muse.
“It won’t be your faith they’ll take from you,” Quinn told her. “What you do or do not believe in doesn’t threaten them in the slightest. It’s your memories they’ll want. After all, you can’t believe in something if you don’t remember it.”
The hidden vulnerability in Quinn’s eyes was heartbreaking.
Green with flakes of gold. The metaphor had never seemed so fitting. There were so many emotions, feelings, just lingering under the surface. It was so dark and a little dangerous and Rachel had honestly never been so in love with the blonde as she was right then.
“I’ll never forget you,” she promised.
Quinn leaned over and let her lips brush over Rachel’s.
“They won’t give you a choice.”
& & &
Finn hadn’t even been looking for them when he found them.
He had just been pacing, and there was that energy inside of him he couldn’t shake of, and he just went to blow off some steam, he really had. He was just pacing and throwing lightening around and he wasn’t even looking for them.
It was the wind, he justified to himself later. It was the sound of the wind that made him look up. That was the only reason he had moved, because the wind was beginning to interfere with the lightning strikes, and he just wanted to see what was making the wind pick up and -
There they were.
Quinn didn’t even realize he was there, at first, and that made it even worse. She just kept kissing the muse and even from where he was standing he could see how desperate and needy those kisses were and it made him fall to his knees.
For a brief moment, he thought he was going to be sick. Maybe it was just his presence, maybe it was the sound of him falling to his knees, but whatever it was, was enough for the muse to open her eyes.
Quinn didn’t even realize something was wrong. She completely ignored the fact Rachel had stopped kissing back and instead reached up to pull her closer. Rachel stayed completely still, her eyes wide with fear.
Filled with hurt and rage, Finn responded the only way he knew how. A lightning bolt flew very, very close to where Rachel’s head was.
For the next three seconds, the world stood completely still.
When Quinn’s eyes finally found Finn, the hazel had disappeared completely replaced by a shimmering gold. Instead of representing nobility, Quinn was the perfect image of controlled rage.
Finn didn’t back down. He continued to glare at her, his jaw clenched, his entire body braced for conflict. In his right hand, a lightning bolt was shining with power he hadn’t yet released.
“Don’t,” Quinn said, very calmly, very softly, as if they were discussing something completely mundane.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do!” He snapped at her. The lightning bolt grew brighter in his hand, desperate to be released.
“Put the bolt away,” Quinn continued in a soft voice. “Put it down, Finn, I’m not going to ask again.”
“I just have one question for you,” Finn responded. “How certain are you that you can get to me before the bolt hits her?”
“It’s me you want,” the blonde pleaded. “You are angry at me, not at her. Leave her be. I’m the one you want to hurt.”
“Oh, Quinntus,” he smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Why do you think I’m aiming for her?”
“Do you really think she could love you?” He provoked. Quinn closed her eyes, trying to keep her emotions under control. “You’ve seen what the prophecy says, Quinn. You and I both know how this turns out.” He paused, tilting his head towards Rachel. “We both know what happens to the muse in all of this, for that matter.”
“Quinn?” Rachel asked, her voice filled with insecurities. “What do you mean, what happens to me?”
“You mean she hasn’t told you?” Finn laughed. “Oh, Quinntus, you really are tragic.” He stepped closer to Rachel, ignoring Quinn’s growl and the way her eyes darken to an unfamiliar shade of black. “The prophecy might not end particularly well for her, but it’s even worse for you, you know.”
“Don’t.” Quinn repeated, her voice dangerously low. Finn ignored the warning again and took another step forward.
His eyes widened with shock as he found himself once again on his knees in front of them. Quinn was watching him, her face completely impassive even though she was tightened her hold around his neck. He knew it was her, it had to be, but what he couldn’t understand was how she was managing to do it from a distance.
“What are you doing?” Rachel gasped. “Quinn, stop it, you’re hurting him. Quinn, stop it. What are you doing?” The muse was frantically trying to pull Quinn away but the blonde was completely ignoring her, her eyes focused on Finn as he gasped desperately for breath.
Something flashed across Quinn’s face as she took a step back, releasing her hold on Finn. For a moment, the two Gods just stared at each other, horror mirrored on both their faces.
“What’s happening to me?” Quinn asked, her voice suddenly vulnerable.
“The prophecy,” Finn said quietly, still kneeling on the ground, looking up at her. “It’s coming true. That’s what’s happening to you.”
“I have to go,” Quinn said.
Finn stared at the spot where she had just been.
“Is she coming back?” Rachel asked cautiously. She didn’t know how to act around him, not when moments before he had just threatened to kill her, not when Quinn just ran away for reasons unexplained.
“I don’t know,” Finn answered. “I don’t know where she went.”
& & &
Sue Sylvester had seen it in her visions. She had seen it all happen, from Shelby’s desire to help Mike wanting to give the gift of fire back to the humans, to Rachel’s increasing attraction towards Quinn, to Quinn drifting away from Finn. She had even seen the wind that would distract Finn long enough to go look for the source, which in turn would lead to his discovery of Quinn’s affair.
She had seen it all happen. A prophet knows the future before it happens.
“Hello, Quinntus,” Sue said softly as the blonde entered the room. “I was wondering when you’d come and see me.”
“You have to save her.”
Quinn’s voice was quiet, broken. This was what the Gods had failed to see, had dismissed on the grounds of their own arrogance. It wasn’t that Quinn didn’t feel at all; she felt too much and that had proven to be too much for her to handle. Gods weren’t built for empathy, and by falling in love with the muse, her feelings for Rachel were slowly destroying her.
The greatest love the blonde had ever known was their own downfall.
“You have to save her,” Quinn repeated softly, as if the words physically hurt her as they left her body. “You’re the only one who can stop this, please, just save her.”
“Oh Quinntus,” Sue said, and she could barely contain the glee in her voice. “The future has already been written, there’s nothing I can do about it now; surely you know that by now.”
“Please,” Quinn begged, and Sue turned around to hide the smile on her face. The most powerful of Gods was standing before her, begging for salvation. There was little the older woman wouldn’t have given to see Will’s face this very instance.
“I’m sorry, that’s not how this works…” She trailed off when she saw the look on the blonde’s face. And that was when she realized, she had been wanting the wrong thing all along.
“Then again I’m sure we can come up with some sort of understanding,” she said, offering a small smile.
“I can’t offer you immortality,” Quinn whispered. “You know that, I can give you anything you want except for that, Will is the only one who can make you immortal again. Just please, whatever you want from me you can have, but just save Rachel from me, please.”
“Oh, Quinn, surely you must know of something that’s worth more than immortality?” Sue asked as she stood in front of the younger blonde. She reached up and trailed her hand across Quinn’s face, then dropped it to right above Quinn’s heart. “Something like… your soul, perhaps?”
Quinn closed her eyes as she weighed her options.
Her soul in exchange for saving Rachel’s life. Her soul in exchange for erasing every memory the brunette had of her. Forgetting Quinn would be the only thing that would keep Rachel safe. Without a soul, Quinn’s darkness would be unleashed, tarnishing everyone who came into contact with her.
She would never see the brunette again, but at least the brunette would be alive.
It had never really been a decision for her.
“Take it,” Quinn said, staring at the floor. “Take it, and in exchange, Rachel stays safe.”
“As you wish.” Sue smiled, pressing her hand down on Quinn’s chest. Hazel eyes flashed with surprise and the blonde took a step back, her breathing becoming more and more shallow as all that was good about her left her body.
The last thing Quinn saw before she lost consciousness was Sue Sylvester looking down on her, her face completely void of expression.
& & &
Rachel sat on the rock, watching the lake. The water was completely silent, but for once, the solitude wasn’t offering her any peace of mind. It was as if everything was being wiped clean but the artist had suddenly become afraid of his own canvas.
She didn’t even look up when she heard Finn come crashing through the woods. He stopped next to her. She could hear him panting but he didn’t move any closer, didn’t say anything, just stood there watching the lake with her.
“What did you make her do?” Finn cried. That got her attention.
“I don’t even know where she is!” Rachel snapped. “All I know is that she’s gone and I just want her to come back!”
Tears suddenly filled Finn’s eyes, and Rachel froze in alarm. She had seen the God overcome with anger, passion, hurt, confidence, but she had never, ever seen him display such overwhelming vulnerability.
“She gave up her soul for you,” he sobbed. “You took away everything that was good about her! She’ll never be Quinntus again, and it’s all because she fell in love with you! Why couldn’t you just stay away from her?”
He glared at her through his tears.
“You accuse us of arrogance,” he continued, sniffing. “But she was the selfless one between the two of you. She gave up her soul for you, and you fell in love with her. You destroyed her. You made her go away!”
Perhaps they had both loved Quinn but in different ways, Rachel thought to herself. Finn loved Quinn because a long time ago, a prophet had seen into the future and written on a piece of stone that two Gods were meant for each other but a love so powerful could only be doomed. It was easy to love someone when your feelings were being dictated by others.
And then there was what she was feeling for Quinn. There was the fear as she discovered something new. Falling in love hadn’t been planned. She had been told over and over again - sometimes by her own mother - just how tragic Quinn really was, and maybe that was the point. Maybe she had fallen in love with Quinn precisely because the blonde was so doomed, and the appeal of a tragedy is sometimes in the ending.
“We loved her in different ways,” Rachel said eventually, still watching the lake.
“Maybe,” Finn sighed as he climbed onto the rock and sat next to Rachel. “But she still loved you the most, you know.”
& & &
She could hear the voices but didn’t open her eyes. One of the voices was Sue Sylvester, she could identify that much, but the other voice wasn’t familiar. She listened closer but those were the only two voices she could hear.
“Will she be ok?” The voice asked.
“You found her, didn’t you?” Sue answered. “Stay together, and the two of you, well you’ll be just fine.”
“What’s her name?” The voice pressed.
“Quinn,” Sue said. There was a pause as Sue moved closer to the voice. There were hushed murmurs and then the voice moved towards Quinn and sat down next to her.
She had never met the voice, didn’t even want to open her eyes, but there was an element of comfort, of familiarity about the voice. They both felt broken, but maybe together, it felt that they could start to rebuild themselves. They were both missing something - her name lingered, what was it? - but being with the voice made it a little more bearable.
“You’re capable of doing great things together,” Sue told her. “Great things. But look out for each other, ok? Things won’t always be easy for the two of you. You’ll argue a lot and will probably want to kill each other as well but staying together is the only way you two will stay alive.”
“Oh, Santana, one more thing,” Sue added as she left the room. “Beware of the color blue.”
& & &
Athens, 44 B.C.
It hadn’t really been a decision. When she had been offered her the chance to become mortal again, she had taken it. Now, she walked along the streets of Athens. There were murmurs of an uprising beginning to take place in Rome but she was content here, in the city who had fallen in love with philosophy and who was still so in love with the stars.
Rachel was so lost in her own thoughts she didn’t see the other girl until it was too late. The stranger stumbled slightly from the force of the impact. When they regained their balance, they looked at each other.
Her features were almost angelic, but there was something beneath them, a trace of darkness. Rachel frowned. She had seen something similar, once, but she didn’t remember. But the memory lingered, whispering words to her subconscious that she didn’t understand.
“She still remembers you,” the stranger said, looking at her through brown eyes.
“I’m sorry?” Rachel stuttered, suddenly confused.
“The girl. She hasn’t forgotten how she felt about you,” the stranger continued.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rachel defended. The brunette titled her head and there was something so familiar about the gesture. She frowned, trying to grasp at the forgotten memory but it stayed out of reach.
“She hasn’t forgotten how she felt about you,” the stranger repeated. “She might not remember you or your name but she remembers how she felt about you.” She took a step back and started to walk away.
“You won’t understand this, since you’re a human now, but the prophets were wrong,” the stranger said before she disappeared into the crowd.
Sue watched the scene evolve from several hundred feet away. She glanced up and saw the sun beginning to set. It was if the sky had caught fire.
“Interesting,” Sue said to herself.
Disclaimers:
- Don't own Glee and am in no way affiliated with the show nor the actors
- Special thanks to Erika, who probably thought I was bluffing when I said the final version was about 8,500 words but edited it anyway. And played along with plot discussions and drunken ramblings about character development.
- The story stands on its own, but it also serves as backstory/prequel to Angeles
- Using Aphrodite was a little bit due to artistic licensing, and is in no way an accurate representation of the character.
They were meant for each other, Finn and Quinntus (later, she would drop the last syllable of her name, as if she wanted to get rid of everything her past represented). But Finn knew. He knew in his heart they were meant to be. Aphrodite herself said they were created in the image of perfection. Finn was young and powerful, and it was in his destiny to become one of the greatest Gods Ancient Greece would ever know.
They were meant to be, the eldest Gods had promised him as much. He had believed them.
The trouble was, Quinn hadn’t been so easily convinced.
They had a different philosophy on life. Finn believed the power belonged to him by right. They were there to be used. They were there to remind humanity there was a certain order in life, and that order was meant to be respected. There was a reason the world belonged to Gods and not to humans.
There was a reason, too, the other Gods were meant to respect him. He was the son of one of the Titans. The older Gods had seen what happened that day, they still remembered how easily the Gods were defeated - how quickly he could bring them to their place, once he actually got full control of his powers.
But it wasn’t just his heritage. Or his powers. His very body was perfect, molded into the ideal build. He was strong. He was powerful. Finn Hudson would never know life as anything other than a God. All that was missing for him was Quinn.
She was different than the other Gods. Quieter almost, a little more secluded. She kept to herself, for the most part, just drifting around Mount Olympus. It was there, and it was familiar, and those seemed like good enough reasons for her not to leave.
The other Gods didn’t trust her, though. They had memories, too.
Finn was powerful, but it was Quinntus who held the fate of the Gods in her hands. They had seen the darkness swirling around in her eyes when she was created, and it was only the soul she was cursed with that kept her in line with the other Gods.
The older Gods knew better than to believe Quinn’s silence was merely her being lost in her thoughts. It was more like she was constantly shimmering on the edge of destruction. It wasn’t passivity that kept her on Mount Olympus. It was simply the fact no one had found the trigger that would bring the Gods to their knees. It was only a matter of time before they all fell.
The Gods had written that, too.
& & &
Aphrodite watched as Finn and Quinn sat next to each other. To the untrained eye, they looked like they were in love, but she knew better. She knew Finn felt much more strongly for the blonde, that it was the worse type of love: tragic, doomed, and capable of destruction. It needed to be amended.
“Those two worry me,” she said quietly as she turned to the God next to her. Will scoffed, his gaze fixed on something below them.
“Give him time,” he responded. “Finn will grow into his powers. He’s still discovering them, it will just take a little time. Things will turn out our way. They always do.”
“You think he’s stronger than she is?” She asked.
“I think he has physical strength,” he answered. “And you’ve seen what was written. He’s capable of such… great heights. He’s the one that if uncontrolled, will unleash the destruction.”
“Indeed,” she nodded, but Will could tell by the way her jaw was clenched that she wasn’t convinced.
“You don’t believe me,” he sighed. Aphrodite didn’t say anything for a moment. They stayed like that for a while, waiting for each other to put their thoughts into words.
“Quinntus is the one who concerns me the most,” Aphrodite eventually told him. “She has the type of power whose full effect you don’t realize until you are on your knees, begging for your life.”
“She really does worry you.” He was surprised.
“You have to find a way to control her,” she insisted. “Otherwise she could do unspeakable damage to this kingdom. We have too much at stake for her to destroy it.”
“No,” Will eventually said, shaking his head. “It won’t be her. Finn is the stronger one between the two of them. He’s the one the prophecy was talking about.”
“That may be,” Aphrodite agreed as she got up and started walking away. After a second, though, she turned and looked back at him. “But who do you think influences him?”
Will nodded in acknowledgement, then turned his attention back to the vision beneath him.
“Humans,” he muttered in his disdain. “Maybe I should unleash Quinntus on you, after all. It might help elevate her state of constant boredom. You really do make excellent pets, as long as you’re kept in line.”
& & &
Shelby found Rachel sitting by herself by the lake.
“I’ve been looking for you,” she said quietly. Rachel looked up in surprise.
“I’m sorry, Mother,” she confessed. “Time simply got away from me. I didn’t mean to worry you.”
“What are you doing here?” The older muse asked. Rachel didn’t answer immediately, just continued to look at something on the other side of the lake. Her mother followed the line of sight and saw the two young Gods, Finn and Quinn.
“You can sense their power from here,” Rachel said, almost in wonder. She tilted her head slightly as she continued to watch them. “It just sits there, just beneath the surface for both of them.”
“You can see that?” Shelby asked, alarmed. Rachel wasn’t supposed to be that advanced. It was a gift that could get her killed, if others found out about it. If the Gods felt too threatened by it.
“What do you think of them?” Rachel turned to her mother. There it was, that underlying desperation of approval, of wanting to know if she mattered, if there was such a thing as making a difference in the world.
“They’re Gods,” Shelby answered softly.
“Tell me about them,” her daughter requested quietly, turning her attention back to the two Gods.
“The others are afraid of them,” the older muse said. “They’re capable of such greatness, of such destruction, that the other Gods don’t know where they stand, and that frightens them. They could change the world just as easily as they could end it, but nobody knows which way it could go.”
“Finn believes in forever,” she continued. But then she stopped, unsure of how to continue.
“What about Quinn?” Rachel asked. Shelby didn’t say anything, just continued to watch the two Gods.
“Quinntus believes in a different type of forever.”
She didn’t know quite how to explain to Rachel that yes, she knew that this God was beautiful - her body was molded to perfection, and there was a reason for that. But Quinntus was also meant to be tragic; something that beautiful wasn’t meant for all eternity, it was meant to destroy. The Gods had wanted to create perfection, but they had created their own downfall as well.
“She’s very pretty,” Rachel commented, oblivious to her mother’s internal torment. “I’ve never seen anything so pretty.”
“Yes,” Shelby said quietly, “but she’s also doomed.”
& & &
Will circled around him, his eyes blazing with fury.
“Did you really think you could get away with it?” He snarled at the young God. “Did you think you could just give your gift to the humans and we wouldn’t know?”
“Please,” Mike begged. “Please, I’ll do anything, please don’t hurt me…”
“Stop begging,” Aphrodite growled, “you’re a God, not a human.”
“You think you can just give them fire,” Will continued as if the interruptions hadn’t taken place. “You think you can give them the answers they are looking for. Such arrogance. Do you not understand we are the answers they need?”
Something in Will’s speech sparked a defiance in the young God. His eyes darkened with undisguised contempt.
“They have a right to know,” Mike defended. “They have a right to discover what rightfully belongs to them! Shelby is right, the humans should be in control of their own thoughts!”
Half a second later, Will’s hand was around the man’s throat.
“No,” Will whispered, very quietly, very dangerously. “Your gifts do not belong to the humans. They are rightfully ours, my dear Michael. Do not confuse who gave you those gifts.”
He glanced back at the young God who defied him. “Your first mistake, Prometheus,” he said, using Mike’s original name, “was assuming I wouldn’t find out. Your second was not fleeing when I did.”
He turned to Aphrodite. “Send a message to the other Gods,” he said, his voice suddenly void of any emotion. “Chain him to the rock. Make an example out of him. I hate to do this, but sometimes the Gods just need to be reminded of the order of things.”
& & &
They took Rachel’s mother away from her.
“You want the mortals to have the gift of the Gods?” They had snarled as they took Shelby away. “Then go live among them!”
And just like that, they took her mother away, and now she was all alone. She didn’t know what to do anymore. She was lost, and alone, and confused. The lake was the only place where she could find peace of mind, the only place where the tears would fall into water and the only thing she could think of was she was giving back the life that had been taken away from her.
Rachel could hear Quinntus approaching, but she didn’t even look up. She just continued to look at the lake. Eventually Quinn stepped closer, and her reflection stopped right next to Rachel’s. Neither of them said anything, they just sat next to each other.
“They took my mother away from me,” Rachel said quietly to Quinn.
The blonde didn’t say anything at first, just shuffled closer to the muse. She was warm, Rachel realized. Her body was warm and it was the first contact she had with someone since her mother was taken away from her.
“Why?” Quinn asked quietly. “Did she do something bad?”
Had she? Rachel wasn’t sure. Her mother wasn’t a bad person, she was certain of it. She just wanted to help the humans, to give them the tools to realize their own potential. It was no different than what the Gods did for each other, so why was her mother being punished for it?
“No,” Rachel eventually answered. “She actually did something good, and now the Gods, well, Will actually, they were worried they wouldn’t be able to control her anymore. So they sent her away. They took my mother away from me and now I have no one.”
Quinn fell silent again. She kept her head down, just watching the muse through the reflection in the water. She was still confused by these emotions inside of her, this sudden desire to protect someone other than herself. Still looking at the reflection, she moved her hand, and slipped her fingers between Rachel’s.
“You can have me, if you want,” Quinn said softly. “That way you won’t have to be alone.”
“But you don’t even know me,” Rachel stuttered. “Why are you doing this?”
“You don’t know me either,” Quinn smiled. “Maybe that’s the point.”
& & &
Aphrodite scoffed, watching the scene develop from afar.
“Is this going to become an issue?” She asked Will, who simply shrugged in response.
“She’s just a muse,” he responded. “What’s the worse that could happen?”
Aphrodite simply shook her head in response. Will may have forgotten, but she hadn’t. They had the exact same thought when Shelby originally became Michael’s muse, and look where that got them. It was dangerous. Gods and muses were supposed to be kept apart for a reason. Gods were powerful, yes, but who controls their thoughts? Who whispers the words they need to hear?
Humans prayed to the Gods, but it was the muses who influence their prayers. Left unattended, the friendship between Quinntus and this new muse - Rachel, if she remembered correctly - could prove to be very dangerous.
Will had made the mistake once before of underestimating the power of a muse. She wasn’t going to let that happen again.
& & &
Their friendship grew stronger over time.
Aphrodite heard the whispers from the Gods, about how this muse, this young adolescent was slowly taking over Quinntus’ mind. They whispered that the control of the Gods wasn’t as strong as it used to be, not if a muse could so easily influence one of the most powerful Gods they had ever seen. They murmured in hushed whispers that maybe the prophecy was true, after all.
It scared Aphrodite.
She could see it, too, the way Quinntus was slowly slipping away from Finn. He never was that good at reading her, keeping her interested in him, but under the influence of the muse, she was growing more and more distant.
It was a dangerous friendship, between Quinntus and the muse - Rachel, if the rumors proved to be correct. Because Quinntus was young and impressionable, and who knows the sort of damage the muse could do if she pushed the wrong sort of ideas in the blonde’s head?
It was dangerous, too, for another reason Aphrodite didn’t really want to consider. Because there was the potential that this friendship could develop into something more. It was one thing for Quinntus to listen to the muse because she considered her as a friend.
Listening to the muse because she considered her a lover? The thought was unbearable and terrifying. It was dangerous. Gods weren’t supposed to feel love, they weren’t supposed to fall victim to blind passion. And with the right words, the right touches, the muse could do that.
The muse could bring down an entire kingdom without realizing it.
Aphrodite shook her head. She wouldn’t let that happen. She would make sure of that.
& & &
Aphrodite found the muse sitting by the lake. The young girl didn’t look up as the girl approached; instead, she just watched the wind lick at the surface of the water. For a long time neither of them said anything.
“You’re the one who sent my mother away,” Rachel eventually said. Her tone was void of emotion. She spoke softly, too soft for it to be anything more than a statement of fact.
“Yes,” Aphrodite nodded. “I did.”
The girl looked so sad up close, the Goddess realized. And she wondered if that was why Quinntus was so drawn toward this muse, because it was in their nature to be drawn to tragedy and nothing is as appealing as someone whose world is falling apart in front of their eyes.
“She wasn’t wrong, you know,” Rachel defended, and finally, there was a hint of passion in her voice, but it was almost masked by the complete lack of emotion on her face.
Aphrodite didn’t say anything, just let her continue. Sometimes she thought it was better to let people speak. One could understand their weaknesses better that way.
“But you aren’t here to talk about my mother, are you?” Rachel asked. “You’re here because of Quinn.”
“She concerns me,” Aphrodite acknowledged. “She listens to you, and I find that worrying. You could push any thought you wanted into her mind, and she wouldn’t fight it. She would probably embrace it, if your friendship is anything like I think it is.”
“I would never manipulate her thoughts!” Rachel turned to her, appalled. “My mother always believed in the concept of free will and you as Gods have no right to take that away from anybody! You accuse the humans of unfounded arrogance but they are only following your own examples!”
Aphrodite shook her head, a bitter smile on her face.
“The thing is, you don’t see how she looks at you, do you?” She asked. Rachel stared back, her eyes wide with confusion. “You don’t see it at all, but I do. I see exactly how Quinntus looks at you.”
She leant towards and put her lips next to Rachel’s ear. “You accuse us of unfounded arrogance,” she whispered harshly, her words laced with disdain and venom. “But you’re the one who will end up destroying the entire kingdom because you refuse to see what is happening in front of you.”
Aphrodite got up, but before she left, she turned to look at Rachel. The muse was staring back into the water, her jaw clenched with frustration.
“We took your mother away from you, Rachel,” Aphrodite reminded her. “Don’t make us take another thing you love away from you.”
& & &
“It’s nothing to be worried about, Aphrodite,” Will sighed. “I mean, look at her. Look at Quinntus.”
“She’s a beautiful creature,” Aphrodite acknowledged. Will smiled in agreement.
“That’s exactly my point,” Will said. “It’s in human nature to destroy things they consider to be beautiful. Humans are nothing if not predictable in that sense. Let this relationship of theirs run its course. It won’t last. Rachel is a muse, after all. We both know what happens to them.”
& & &
Quinn hesitated, watching Rachel at the lake. She knew the muse was aware of her presence - somehow, she always knew when the blonde was around - but this was the first time that Rachel seemed to want to be alone.
Why wasn’t Rachel happy? Quinn frowned, wanting to understand. It was strange, feeling compassion for another being, and it was something she was still struggling with.
She didn’t know what she was supposed to be feeling; all she knew was that Rachel made her feel. A contradiction of terms, and it frightened her, it really did. It meant that she was no longer the one in control; that she was forced to be submissive to the will of someone else, and Aphrodite had always said that Gods were meant to be superior to everything else.
Aphrodite had told her a lot of things, actually, like how Finn would give anything to be the one Quinn thought of, or how he would treat her right, or how he’s the only one who would ever truly understand her and there were all these implications; Quinn just didn’t know what they meant.
Such as, if Finn was the only one who could really understand her, where did that leave Rachel? Because for Quinn, Rachel would just know what she was thinking, and it was nothing to do with her abilities as a muse, it was more that she just took the time to listen to her…
Aphrodite kept insisting that she was meant for Finn, but what if the Gods had gotten it wrong?
“Do you believe in love, Quinntus?” Rachel asked softly, breaking Quinn’s inner monologue. She didn’t look up, just continued to look at the lake, watching the light dance across the water.
“I don’t know what love is,” Quinn answered. She hesitated, biting her lip. She wasn’t used to this insecurity, either. She was supposed to be calm, in control, but around Rachel she was usually anything but.
“I’d like to know, though,” she continued.
Rachel didn’t say anything to that, just continued to stare into the lake, and there was suddenly a spark of jealousy in Quinn, and perhaps for the first time she wanted to take control of the lake, anything just to get Rachel to look at her instead.
“Sometimes I think you’re the lucky one, you know,” Rachel confessed, and there was a hint of something in her voice, something like disappointment, and Quinn jerked back as if burnt. “You don’t know what love is, so you’ll never get hurt.”
Quinn stared at her, confused. She didn’t understand anymore. Why was Rachel acting like this?
Rachel exhaled sharply, and her features were so - cold. She reached out and touched the brunette’s hand. She flinched in response but didn’t pull her hand away. It was something, at least.
“I won’t hurt you,” Quinn promised. Rachel didn’t turn her head, just continued to watch the lake, but a ghost of a smile flickered on her face.
The two of them continued to sit there, watching the light flirt with the reflection on her lake, holding hands as they tried to understand that sometimes fate was meant to be cheated.
“Do you think love is doomed?” Quinn asked, curious.
“I think it’s in our nature to destroy things we love in order to protect them,” Rachel explained. “So I guess certain types of love can be doomed, you know, because you love them so much that you’ll destroy them to make sure nothing happens to them. I know it seems like a bit of a contradiction, but… I guess that’s the way love works, sometimes.”
“What about us?” Quinn insisted. “Do you think our love is doomed?”
“I don’t know,” the muse said, very quietly. “I don’t know if anything of this was planned.”
“I think this love belongs to us,” Quinn argued, and there was a spark of something in those hazel eyes, and Rachel thought the blonde had never looked more perfect. “I’d rather be doomed with you than live forever and never know what it’s like to feel.”
& & &
Finn could smell the muse all over Quinn. It sparked a fury in him he didn’t know he was capable of feeling. He fumed silently, pacing around the room, but he was careful not to wake her.
Quinn was meant to be with him, the Gods had promised that. It had been engraved in stone, their fate had been sealed. And now this muse wandered into Quinn’s life, putting all these feelings into her, manipulating her mind into believing she could defy her own destiny? Their fate was written for a reason.
And then the muse had the nerve to imply that the Gods were the ones who repeatedly fell victim to arrogance? How dare she, he snarled to himself.
Overcome with frustration, he threw lightning around him. Bent on destruction, he just wanted to punish - he wasn’t sure who, exactly. He wanted to punish that muse for slowly taking Quinntus a little more away from him each day, he wanted to hurt Quinntus for not loving him the way the prophecies said she would; he wanted to demand why Aphrodite had made these promises when he was starting to believe more and more they were all lies.
He was being manipulated, and he didn’t know who to believe anymore. He just wanted Quinntus back, his beautiful dangerous Goddess whose mind had once been blissfully unaware of emotions.
He threw another lightning bolt down, the frustration continuing to get the better of him. He stopped suddenly, turning his head to the side in an effort to hear better only to shake his head.
He thought he had heard the Gods whisper that the winds were changing, but he didn’t know what that meant. It probably wasn’t important.
& & &
“You don’t seem to understand the gravity of the situation,” Aphrodite snarled at Will. “This is becoming much more serious than either of us anticipated.”
“Maybe it’s being blown out of proportion,” Will offered.
“Blown out of proportion?” She repeated. “Will, don’t be ridiculous. Quinntus is slipping out of our grasp and you know it. We need to find a way to control her before it gets completely out of hand.”
“It won’t,” Will shrugged. “If the muse is anything like her mother we have absolutely nothing to worry about.”
“If she’s anything like her mother we have everything to worry about,” Aphrodite hissed. “Shelby was powerful but this muse? She’s even more influential than her mother is. Shelby was able to control Michael, but you and I both know he doesn’t even begin to compare to Quinn.”
“She’s a muse,” Will repeated. “I promise you, it’s not a cause for concern.”
“It’s not a cause for concern now because that muse hasn’t tapped into her head,” she growled. “Honestly Will, what has to happen for you to take notice? Does Quinntus have to overthrow the kingdom for you to understand how much of a threat this muse is to our plans?”
“Let’s wait and see,” he offered as a compromise. “If you’re still concerned in a day or two, we can revisit the situation. For now, just be patient.”
“Patience is the same as arrogance, Will,” Aphrodite reminded him. “Both will get you killed.”
& & &
“Let’s go hunting,” Finn said to Puck. “I’m bored and I need to let off some steam. Let’s go.”
It was a simple request. But the frustration from earlier, the lingering bitterness of the muse’s scent all over Quinn, remained in his mind. He wasn’t hunting for the sake of working off his frustrations; he was hunting because he wanted to hurt, to kill. He was ruthless in his execution, and Puck was actually struggling to keep up with his pace.
“Do you want to tell me what this is actually about?” Puck asked, panting with the effort. “Or have you just developed a newfound appreciation for hunting?”
Finn clenched his jaw. He didn’t want to talk, didn’t want to feel the hurt and jealousy, didn’t want to acknowledge that the one the Gods had promised would always be by his side was falling into the arms of someone else - a muse at that.
He loved Quinn first, didn’t that count for anything? He had never looked at anyone the way he looked at Quinn, and he suspected he never would look at anyone else the same way, either. And then this muse pretty much stumbled into Quinn’s life and she started looking at the muse instead of him and none of this was fair.
Quinn was meant to be with him, not the muse. The Gods had said so themselves. It had been written by them. The words existed, they were meant for each other. They had been created for each other. Who was this muse to interfere with those plans?
Finn stopped by the lake, waiting for Puck catch up with him. They sat next to each other, neither of them saying anything. Silence only strengthened their friendship.
“I can fucking smell her on her,” Finn eventually sighed. “I don’t know if she doesn’t know that, or the other option, that she does know but she doesn’t care. I don’t know which is worse.”
Puck didn’t respond, just glanced at him from the corner of his eye before watching the lake again.
“I loved her first,” he continued. “And that used to be enough for both of us. I know I love her more than she loves me but it never used to matter, until now.”
“What changed?” Puck asked.
“Quinn loved me on principle,” he told his friend. “She thought it was love because she had never known anything else. But then the muse came along and now she’s feeling all these things and none of them are for me.”
“I’ve always known that Quinn was doomed,” Finn said as he got up to walk away, “but I always thought we’d be doomed together.”
& & &
Aphrodite was pacing, again. Will didn’t look up from his place, but continued to count her steps in his mind. One step, another, stop, sigh, repeat. Over and over again. It was familiar, and consistent, and in light of the events going on, he needed that touch of comfort.
“I told you this could happen,” Aphrodite sighed, but there was no hint of malice, no bitterness. Just concern.
“I know,” Will muttered. “We both saw the signs but I just didn’t want to believe. I just didn’t. How could this happen?”
“You know what bothers me the most?” Aphrodite asked. “It’s the fact that, that damn muse hasn’t touched her mind, once. She hasn’t manipulated her thoughts at all. Quinn is alone in her mind, and yet that wretched muse is all she thinks about. Quite frankly it’s sickening.”
“You mean her mind is clear?” Will’s head jerked up, and the horror on his face almost made Aphrodite laugh. She would have, too, if it weren’t for the implications of it all.
“It’s sickening,” she repeats. “Honestly I think things would be simpler if the muse was manipulating her thoughts, at least then we’d know what to expect. This is new, for everyone involved. We just don’t know what is going to happen. We don’t know what Quinntus is going to do anymore, what she’s capable of.”
“Maybe,” Will acknowledged. “We might not know. But we have someone who does.” He turned, looked at Aphrodite. “I want to know how this is going to end. Bring the prophet.”
& & &
The prophet’s name was Sue Sylvester. She had been the first one to ever defy Will, to refuse to kneel in front of him and declare him superior to others. As punishment for her act of rebellion, he had stripped her of her immortality. She would keep the gift of foresight, of premonition, but her immortality was taken away from her.
She never forgave him for that.
In some ways, the bitterness actually worked for her. It sharpened her mind, allowed her to see what was happening around her, visions the other Gods couldn’t even begin to comprehend. It had taken her some time to understand what the dreams meant, how to interpret them through the resentment flowing through her veins, but now, she could switch the dreams on and off whenever she so desired.
All she wanted to see right now, though, was Will’s downfall.
“William,” she sneered as she approached him. ”I see you haven’t changed at all.” She glanced at Aphrodite. “Time has not been particularly kind to you, either.”
“Enough.” Will said, and his tone was harsh enough that Sue fell silent. He gave her a small smile as a reward.
“What can I do for you?” She asked, her tone filled with bitterness and resentment. It was practically rolling off her in waves.
“We seem to have a bit of a problem,” Will answered. He got up from where he had been sitting and started pacing. “You’re well aware of the prophecy, I’m sure. I mean you’re the one who practically wrote it, after all. However there seems to be a bit of a glitch, now, and I’m sure you can understand why that is a bit of a concern to us.”
“You’re concerned about Quinn,” Sue noted. She titled her head, watching Will more closely. “She’s stronger than you, you know. Both her and Finn are. You wouldn’t be able to defeat them if they rebelled against you.”
“I want to know what kind of power she holds,” Will snapped.
Sue shook her head.
“I don’t see that kind of future,” she said.
A second later, Will has his hand wrapped around her throat. His eyes flashed with anger as he slowly tightened his grip.
“You will see whatever kind of future I tell you to see,” he snarled. “Do I make myself clear?” Sue nodded, and he released his grip.
“She’s not after your throne, if that’s what you are asking,” Sue said passively, her hand trying to soothe her throat.
“It’s not,” Will said brusquely. “I just want to know what it is I should be concerned about. Quinntus is slipping from my grasp and I just need to understand how much of a threat this is.”
“Do you even know what’s going on out there?” Sue asked. “Have you even bothered to look? It’s not Quinn you should be afraid of, Will. It’s not even the Gods. They aren’t the ones who will bring down your kingdom. It won’t be Quinntus who will overthrow you.”
“Then who will?” Will demanded.
Sue smiled bitterly.
“She will,” she said, pointing at a drawing of Rachel.
& & &
Sometimes - not often, but sometimes - Rachel liked to just watch Quinn as she moved. There was a hidden darkness to the blonde, a type of danger that so often rhymed with addiction, that she knew she should be afraid. It was the type of darkness that promised the end of the world, the type of darkness referred to in the prophecy.
She had never wanted so badly to believe the prophet was wrong.
Yes, Quinn was powerful, and yes, that type of darkness could overthrow the kingdom. But couldn’t Sue see that the darkness in Quinn was simply because she was so broken? She embraced the darkness because she had been told since she was young that it was a part of her, but by insisting so much on the darkness the other Gods had neglected to mention the God.
Rachel saw it, not just because she was a muse, but because she had taken the time to get to know Quinn. She saw how those hazel eyes would soften when she looked at the very population she was destined to destroy. She saw that lingering gaze of interest, of curiosity…
Quinn was capable just as easily of saving the world, but the appeal of tragedies is in the ending.
Was that why she was so drawn to Quinn? Rachel wondered. Because she knew how doomed this relationship was doing to be, knew what was going to happen to both of them if the other Gods even suspected this friendship was beginning to become something more, and yet, neither of them stayed away.
They brought something out in each other. She knew she was probably the one who knew that Quinn was capable of good, just as she knew that Quinn was probably the only one who saw the hidden darkness in Rachel but accepted it, didn’t try to change it.
Yes, in many ways they were terrible for each other, but that was also why they worked so well. It was why it felt so right when Quinn’s fingers grazed hers because it just implied that things happened for a reason, but for once, they could interpret that situation however they wanted.
Or, the other implication - that they could write their own fate, as long as they were together. The odds were against them, and there was a piece of stone with their fates engrained on it and neither outcome was particularly positive. But the prophecy insisted they would always be alone, so really, what could they accomplish if they stayed together?
“What are you thinking about?” Quinn asked, as she approached the muse.
“Destiny,” Rachel answered. “And how lovely it would be if one day, we could write our own destiny. Imagine this whole other world, Quinn, where our fate is not scribbled on a piece of stone by a person who doesn’t understand us.”
Quinn looked off into the distance. There it was, that familiar, distant faraway look, as if she was looking into a vision only she could interpret.
“It sounds lovely,” Quinn said softly, “but I don’t think the world you speak of exists.”
“Then let’s create it!” Rachel encouraged. “We can do that, together, surely we must be able to. We can create our own little world and it will be just the two of us and nothing bad will have ever happened. That place has to exist, and even if it doesn’t, we can create it, Quinn, don’t you believe me?”
“I believe in you,” she answered quietly. “But I also believe that isn’t always going to be enough.”
“We can fight,” the muse argued. “I’ll always fight for you, I believe in you, Quinn. I believe in us, and that faith is stronger than anything else, I promise. They can take everything else away from me but I’ll still always believe in you.”
Quinn turned her attention away from Rachel, and there was something in the hazel eyes that actually frightened the muse.
“It won’t be your faith they’ll take from you,” Quinn told her. “What you do or do not believe in doesn’t threaten them in the slightest. It’s your memories they’ll want. After all, you can’t believe in something if you don’t remember it.”
The hidden vulnerability in Quinn’s eyes was heartbreaking.
Green with flakes of gold. The metaphor had never seemed so fitting. There were so many emotions, feelings, just lingering under the surface. It was so dark and a little dangerous and Rachel had honestly never been so in love with the blonde as she was right then.
“I’ll never forget you,” she promised.
Quinn leaned over and let her lips brush over Rachel’s.
“They won’t give you a choice.”
& & &
Finn hadn’t even been looking for them when he found them.
He had just been pacing, and there was that energy inside of him he couldn’t shake of, and he just went to blow off some steam, he really had. He was just pacing and throwing lightening around and he wasn’t even looking for them.
It was the wind, he justified to himself later. It was the sound of the wind that made him look up. That was the only reason he had moved, because the wind was beginning to interfere with the lightning strikes, and he just wanted to see what was making the wind pick up and -
There they were.
Quinn didn’t even realize he was there, at first, and that made it even worse. She just kept kissing the muse and even from where he was standing he could see how desperate and needy those kisses were and it made him fall to his knees.
For a brief moment, he thought he was going to be sick. Maybe it was just his presence, maybe it was the sound of him falling to his knees, but whatever it was, was enough for the muse to open her eyes.
Quinn didn’t even realize something was wrong. She completely ignored the fact Rachel had stopped kissing back and instead reached up to pull her closer. Rachel stayed completely still, her eyes wide with fear.
Filled with hurt and rage, Finn responded the only way he knew how. A lightning bolt flew very, very close to where Rachel’s head was.
For the next three seconds, the world stood completely still.
When Quinn’s eyes finally found Finn, the hazel had disappeared completely replaced by a shimmering gold. Instead of representing nobility, Quinn was the perfect image of controlled rage.
Finn didn’t back down. He continued to glare at her, his jaw clenched, his entire body braced for conflict. In his right hand, a lightning bolt was shining with power he hadn’t yet released.
“Don’t,” Quinn said, very calmly, very softly, as if they were discussing something completely mundane.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do!” He snapped at her. The lightning bolt grew brighter in his hand, desperate to be released.
“Put the bolt away,” Quinn continued in a soft voice. “Put it down, Finn, I’m not going to ask again.”
“I just have one question for you,” Finn responded. “How certain are you that you can get to me before the bolt hits her?”
“It’s me you want,” the blonde pleaded. “You are angry at me, not at her. Leave her be. I’m the one you want to hurt.”
“Oh, Quinntus,” he smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Why do you think I’m aiming for her?”
“Do you really think she could love you?” He provoked. Quinn closed her eyes, trying to keep her emotions under control. “You’ve seen what the prophecy says, Quinn. You and I both know how this turns out.” He paused, tilting his head towards Rachel. “We both know what happens to the muse in all of this, for that matter.”
“Quinn?” Rachel asked, her voice filled with insecurities. “What do you mean, what happens to me?”
“You mean she hasn’t told you?” Finn laughed. “Oh, Quinntus, you really are tragic.” He stepped closer to Rachel, ignoring Quinn’s growl and the way her eyes darken to an unfamiliar shade of black. “The prophecy might not end particularly well for her, but it’s even worse for you, you know.”
“Don’t.” Quinn repeated, her voice dangerously low. Finn ignored the warning again and took another step forward.
His eyes widened with shock as he found himself once again on his knees in front of them. Quinn was watching him, her face completely impassive even though she was tightened her hold around his neck. He knew it was her, it had to be, but what he couldn’t understand was how she was managing to do it from a distance.
“What are you doing?” Rachel gasped. “Quinn, stop it, you’re hurting him. Quinn, stop it. What are you doing?” The muse was frantically trying to pull Quinn away but the blonde was completely ignoring her, her eyes focused on Finn as he gasped desperately for breath.
Something flashed across Quinn’s face as she took a step back, releasing her hold on Finn. For a moment, the two Gods just stared at each other, horror mirrored on both their faces.
“What’s happening to me?” Quinn asked, her voice suddenly vulnerable.
“The prophecy,” Finn said quietly, still kneeling on the ground, looking up at her. “It’s coming true. That’s what’s happening to you.”
“I have to go,” Quinn said.
Finn stared at the spot where she had just been.
“Is she coming back?” Rachel asked cautiously. She didn’t know how to act around him, not when moments before he had just threatened to kill her, not when Quinn just ran away for reasons unexplained.
“I don’t know,” Finn answered. “I don’t know where she went.”
& & &
Sue Sylvester had seen it in her visions. She had seen it all happen, from Shelby’s desire to help Mike wanting to give the gift of fire back to the humans, to Rachel’s increasing attraction towards Quinn, to Quinn drifting away from Finn. She had even seen the wind that would distract Finn long enough to go look for the source, which in turn would lead to his discovery of Quinn’s affair.
She had seen it all happen. A prophet knows the future before it happens.
“Hello, Quinntus,” Sue said softly as the blonde entered the room. “I was wondering when you’d come and see me.”
“You have to save her.”
Quinn’s voice was quiet, broken. This was what the Gods had failed to see, had dismissed on the grounds of their own arrogance. It wasn’t that Quinn didn’t feel at all; she felt too much and that had proven to be too much for her to handle. Gods weren’t built for empathy, and by falling in love with the muse, her feelings for Rachel were slowly destroying her.
The greatest love the blonde had ever known was their own downfall.
“You have to save her,” Quinn repeated softly, as if the words physically hurt her as they left her body. “You’re the only one who can stop this, please, just save her.”
“Oh Quinntus,” Sue said, and she could barely contain the glee in her voice. “The future has already been written, there’s nothing I can do about it now; surely you know that by now.”
“Please,” Quinn begged, and Sue turned around to hide the smile on her face. The most powerful of Gods was standing before her, begging for salvation. There was little the older woman wouldn’t have given to see Will’s face this very instance.
“I’m sorry, that’s not how this works…” She trailed off when she saw the look on the blonde’s face. And that was when she realized, she had been wanting the wrong thing all along.
“Then again I’m sure we can come up with some sort of understanding,” she said, offering a small smile.
“I can’t offer you immortality,” Quinn whispered. “You know that, I can give you anything you want except for that, Will is the only one who can make you immortal again. Just please, whatever you want from me you can have, but just save Rachel from me, please.”
“Oh, Quinn, surely you must know of something that’s worth more than immortality?” Sue asked as she stood in front of the younger blonde. She reached up and trailed her hand across Quinn’s face, then dropped it to right above Quinn’s heart. “Something like… your soul, perhaps?”
Quinn closed her eyes as she weighed her options.
Her soul in exchange for saving Rachel’s life. Her soul in exchange for erasing every memory the brunette had of her. Forgetting Quinn would be the only thing that would keep Rachel safe. Without a soul, Quinn’s darkness would be unleashed, tarnishing everyone who came into contact with her.
She would never see the brunette again, but at least the brunette would be alive.
It had never really been a decision for her.
“Take it,” Quinn said, staring at the floor. “Take it, and in exchange, Rachel stays safe.”
“As you wish.” Sue smiled, pressing her hand down on Quinn’s chest. Hazel eyes flashed with surprise and the blonde took a step back, her breathing becoming more and more shallow as all that was good about her left her body.
The last thing Quinn saw before she lost consciousness was Sue Sylvester looking down on her, her face completely void of expression.
& & &
Rachel sat on the rock, watching the lake. The water was completely silent, but for once, the solitude wasn’t offering her any peace of mind. It was as if everything was being wiped clean but the artist had suddenly become afraid of his own canvas.
She didn’t even look up when she heard Finn come crashing through the woods. He stopped next to her. She could hear him panting but he didn’t move any closer, didn’t say anything, just stood there watching the lake with her.
“What did you make her do?” Finn cried. That got her attention.
“I don’t even know where she is!” Rachel snapped. “All I know is that she’s gone and I just want her to come back!”
Tears suddenly filled Finn’s eyes, and Rachel froze in alarm. She had seen the God overcome with anger, passion, hurt, confidence, but she had never, ever seen him display such overwhelming vulnerability.
“She gave up her soul for you,” he sobbed. “You took away everything that was good about her! She’ll never be Quinntus again, and it’s all because she fell in love with you! Why couldn’t you just stay away from her?”
He glared at her through his tears.
“You accuse us of arrogance,” he continued, sniffing. “But she was the selfless one between the two of you. She gave up her soul for you, and you fell in love with her. You destroyed her. You made her go away!”
Perhaps they had both loved Quinn but in different ways, Rachel thought to herself. Finn loved Quinn because a long time ago, a prophet had seen into the future and written on a piece of stone that two Gods were meant for each other but a love so powerful could only be doomed. It was easy to love someone when your feelings were being dictated by others.
And then there was what she was feeling for Quinn. There was the fear as she discovered something new. Falling in love hadn’t been planned. She had been told over and over again - sometimes by her own mother - just how tragic Quinn really was, and maybe that was the point. Maybe she had fallen in love with Quinn precisely because the blonde was so doomed, and the appeal of a tragedy is sometimes in the ending.
“We loved her in different ways,” Rachel said eventually, still watching the lake.
“Maybe,” Finn sighed as he climbed onto the rock and sat next to Rachel. “But she still loved you the most, you know.”
& & &
She could hear the voices but didn’t open her eyes. One of the voices was Sue Sylvester, she could identify that much, but the other voice wasn’t familiar. She listened closer but those were the only two voices she could hear.
“Will she be ok?” The voice asked.
“You found her, didn’t you?” Sue answered. “Stay together, and the two of you, well you’ll be just fine.”
“What’s her name?” The voice pressed.
“Quinn,” Sue said. There was a pause as Sue moved closer to the voice. There were hushed murmurs and then the voice moved towards Quinn and sat down next to her.
She had never met the voice, didn’t even want to open her eyes, but there was an element of comfort, of familiarity about the voice. They both felt broken, but maybe together, it felt that they could start to rebuild themselves. They were both missing something - her name lingered, what was it? - but being with the voice made it a little more bearable.
“You’re capable of doing great things together,” Sue told her. “Great things. But look out for each other, ok? Things won’t always be easy for the two of you. You’ll argue a lot and will probably want to kill each other as well but staying together is the only way you two will stay alive.”
“Oh, Santana, one more thing,” Sue added as she left the room. “Beware of the color blue.”
& & &
Athens, 44 B.C.
It hadn’t really been a decision. When she had been offered her the chance to become mortal again, she had taken it. Now, she walked along the streets of Athens. There were murmurs of an uprising beginning to take place in Rome but she was content here, in the city who had fallen in love with philosophy and who was still so in love with the stars.
Rachel was so lost in her own thoughts she didn’t see the other girl until it was too late. The stranger stumbled slightly from the force of the impact. When they regained their balance, they looked at each other.
Her features were almost angelic, but there was something beneath them, a trace of darkness. Rachel frowned. She had seen something similar, once, but she didn’t remember. But the memory lingered, whispering words to her subconscious that she didn’t understand.
“She still remembers you,” the stranger said, looking at her through brown eyes.
“I’m sorry?” Rachel stuttered, suddenly confused.
“The girl. She hasn’t forgotten how she felt about you,” the stranger continued.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rachel defended. The brunette titled her head and there was something so familiar about the gesture. She frowned, trying to grasp at the forgotten memory but it stayed out of reach.
“She hasn’t forgotten how she felt about you,” the stranger repeated. “She might not remember you or your name but she remembers how she felt about you.” She took a step back and started to walk away.
“You won’t understand this, since you’re a human now, but the prophets were wrong,” the stranger said before she disappeared into the crowd.
Sue watched the scene evolve from several hundred feet away. She glanced up and saw the sun beginning to set. It was if the sky had caught fire.
“Interesting,” Sue said to herself.
Disclaimers:
- Don't own Glee and am in no way affiliated with the show nor the actors
- Special thanks to Erika, who probably thought I was bluffing when I said the final version was about 8,500 words but edited it anyway. And played along with plot discussions and drunken ramblings about character development.
- The story stands on its own, but it also serves as backstory/prequel to Angeles
- Using Aphrodite was a little bit due to artistic licensing, and is in no way an accurate representation of the character.