VIII.
Pomegranates
Seconds turned into minutes, but Megatron felt like an eternity had passed. The water made no sound as it passes by them, as if not wanting to disturb the warlord. His broken and battered body ached, but it was no match for the ache that wracked his spark. It grabs him and threatens to swallow him alive.
Darkness seemed to close in on him, but the Decepticon leader didn't mind. He loved it, if anything.
It reminds him of her optics.
As the silence rolled on as Megatron sat down slowly with his human in hand as he rested it atop his knee. He propped his remaining fixed digit in a reclined position, so her small body was sitting up as if she was only sleeping. At least in this stature she didn't seem to be gone—despite the coldness of her body.
Rigor Mortis would set in soon and if it does, he wanted her to look as if she was in slumber.
Because if he didn't set her like this, he knew he would really loose it.
His mind wanders in the distant warm past—filled with her voice, smiles, and adoring looks; her, in general. Her small touches lingers across his form, like a ghost that haunts him. It was driving him insane. The body of the warlord begs him to rest, to go into stasis lock with all the energon he had lost and the pain that seemed to flail him alive.
Was this Primus' punishment all along?
To have him, Megatron, experience this feeling, this feeling that has him drunk off his pedes, and have him addicted to it? Addicted to her? And then just rip her out of his grasps the moment he shows his vulnerability to this femme? To add insult to injury, not only does Primus had him falling for Persephone, she was the very species he was disgusted of—humans.
Is this what their almighty creator did in His spare time?
"Even with no intention to hurt, those around me continue to suffer. I continue obliterate everything I yearned to preserve," Megatron said slowly, pretending that she was listening. "Finding the Allspark, restoring my home, destroying Prime... those were all I ever wanted. However, even then, I fail to obtain those things. And now, look at me, femme... look at what I've been reduced too."
The warlord looks away in shame, he couldn't face her... not like this. Not when her corp-body... not when her body was about to rot.
A lump forms in his throat, Primus he didn't know what to do without her.
He was helpless.
"I... I had everything any cybertronian in their right processor could ever want. Back then, I was 'Lord High Protector'. Placed there by my very friend who had became a Prime, but it wasn't... enough. He snarled, glaring at his past actions. "I wanted to be the Prime—I should have been Prime. The people whom I've fought for continued to suffer and Optimus didn't want to abolish the caste system, saying that it is of help to our species. So, with the pursue of freedom for my kind and for the position of Prime, I waged war across Cybertron."
His optic lowers, glancing at her. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that she was only sleeping, that the events that played out earlier were but a nightmare. But the coldness of her form and how deathly pale she had become had slapped him—telling him it was real.
"I do it out of both goodness and greed, but alas I have succumbed to greed. In my greed, not only did I lost my closest friends, my people, my home... I also lost you," Megatron utters so lowly, scared that his voice would crack and force him to cry once more. "Perhaps, I thought, if I had everything under my rule, Cybertron would have been brought back to its former glory, like the Golden Age once again. No oppression and unruly systems. People free to be what they wanted to be. War was my answer and others followed me."
He ex-vented. How? How did she crawl her way up into his spark like an insect and snatched it? The warlord didn't know, but despite all of the twrrible things he did, the human femme... was there for him.
"Perhaps, it's because I have lost everything that I wanted to obtain. I am no longer 'Lord High Protector'. I am reduced to a pitiful state, once more." Megatron says. "I have nothing else left to rule but my own life. Ever since I have been... defeated, I merely wait for death. Every lunar and solar cycle, I lay and wait for my systems to shut off. I often give the energons I've gathered to the sparklings... Oh Primus, the sparkling-" He sobs, couldn't contain it anymore as he wept again.
The sparklings, they would wonder for their carrier. He told them that he would return once he was with her, what now? How will he explain to them that their carrier was gone?
Dead.
Sobs shakes his form as he screamed into the night, the heavens paying no mind to the anguish of an alien. It was as if when Persep-she died, the human femme had drag every life from his surroundings with her to the grave. The silence was maddening, even for him and the slightly stiffened body in his servo wasn't comforting or helping at all.
"That day... when I found you, I do not know why I wanted to save you. Perhaps, if I had let you be 'someone else's burden' as you would have put it, you wouldn't have perished. I may have never met you, yes, but that is much more better to save the both of us... to save me the sparkache," Megatron stopped again, and nudged her hair a little with a light claw, brushing it out of her face. "But perhaps you came to me for a reason; perhaps, in a way, that is why you were placed here. Could it be that what I harbour for you had been set in stone even before the both of us have come into existence?"
He cradles her face with the digit in the servo that held her.
"I... dare not tell you this thought, that you and I's paths were meant to intertwine... for I was embarrassed of it myself," Megatron admitted. "I know... that you are not meant to be mine. You are supposed to be Prime's, but I cannot help but feel this way for you. I do not want this, but there are things that a superior being, such as myself, cannot control."
He wanted one thing and one thing only.
Her—Persephone.
He sighed. "I... do not see the reason to function since you have left, femme." The warlord said. "Let me... join you. I beg of you, don't leave me. Take me with you or let me follow."
The seams of his chassis armour glows a dim blue. It runs along his chassis in beams as it parted to open, exposing his spark. Megatron sighed, as if he was relieved, ready to do what he was about to do. He knew it would be the least he could do, and maybe the only thing he could now.
Gently, with his only remaining and functioning servo, he cradles her form close to his spark. Tendrils of wisps pours out of his chassis, reaching out to her form and enveloping it. He felt bad for leaving the sparklings behind. However, at this point, she was... the only thing in his processor.
He felt strings attached to her. Not strings but chains as his body threatened to shut off completely. Despite that, Megatron sighed in content. When cybertronians bond with each other, it is highly dangerous because the moment one of the bonded pair dies, the living one would immediately follow or would slowly die.
So, the moment their spark bond is established, he will swiftly die, seeing as she herself was dead. The thought of seeing her smile again made his spark pulse and glow a bit brighter. If he looked into the darkness long enough, he was sure that he was looking at her optics.
He just wanted to be with her again.
"You, Persephone Villamora, human of Earth from a different dimension have... captured my spark. I am here to make you my sparkmate and to permanently tie my life source with yours," Megatron bowed his helm, closing his optic as he recited the oath that binds cybertronians together, albeit modified. "Through sorrow, happiness and in anguish, you shall have a piece of my spark. In preservation of Primus Himself, no force, not even death, can ever sever our bond. I, Megatronous of Cybertron, hereby bind my spark and life source to you, Persephone Villamora of Earth, and shall share my spark; a heavy yet precious burden. I cannot possess you for you belong to yourself and I cannot command you for you are a free being, but I shall serve you in those ways which you require and the energon that passes through my digits shall fill all that you will ever need in this life. If you are to laugh, hurt or weep, I shall feel the same. Yet if I carry the same, you shall not feel mine, unless you have accepted this bond willingly. If I am to be hurt or left to join the Allspark, you shall not take the same. However, if you were to perish, I shall follow in your path. May the Allspark drain my very being and snuff out my spark if I break my oath and I shall tell no strangers of our grievances. I am yours as your are mine and beyond this, I shall honour and cherish you through this life, and into the next."
The luminosity his spark had produced had disappeared when it retracted back to his chassis, a soft glow emits from her frame and then fades away softly.
Thus, he was returned back into the darkness.
The Decepticon stared, waiting for something to happen—anything to happen. The silence drags on, as he watched her intensely. But nothing seemed to have changed. He blinked, huffing in confusion.
Did it work?
Was it all for nothing?
Perhaps his species was not meant for spark splits and life bonds with humans. Tears spills from his optic as he had come to the realization that, perhaps, Primus would deny him this... little comfort. He doesn't know what to do anymore. Was death so much to ask just so he can see her-
And then he felt it.
Fatigue eats away at his form at an alarming speed, as he held her closer. He looks up, the stars were barely visible or is it just his vision failing him? It wasn't long before he crashed to his side, his body failing to keep him up. His spark wasn't in pain anymore. Megatron holds her cold body close to him.
He needed her to be close.
There were things Megatron wanted to give her. Things he wanted her to see and experience, to show her what the world has to offer for a femme as magnificent as her. What a shame he couldn't give that to her. He didn't even realize that she was already slipping through his digits the moment they had crossed each other's paths.
In the next life, he vows to reunite with her and vows that he will... lavish her with everything she will want.
Whatever it is that her spark desires.
His digit weakly cradles her and softly jolts I surprise when he realized that she had grown stiff. Her whole body was stiff and he didn't dare try to force her joints in fear he would dislocate them. Rigor mortis had set in, but that's alright. He will join her soon.
Megatron would see her again.
Death looms over him. He wonders if it sneers at him as the warlord stubbornly chooses to perish. It did not hesitate to take her, so why does it not take him as swiftly as well? Why is that?
He was weak and tired. Oh so tired and all he wanted to do was slip into recharge. His entire body was weighing him down despite already laying on the ground. A sigh of relief escaping his dermas.
Perhaps this was his processor's way of comforting him because Megatron could've sworn he was seeing her figure, reaching out to him.
"My love," He utters for that is all his audio box can muster with how weak he was feeling right now. "I shall join you..." He wanted to say "once more" but he had lost all the energy that he can muster.
To him, it didn't matter where she was sent, as long as he is brought to her. He was content on being beside her. As long as they were both together. That would be enough.
Darkness closes in, but he does not fear it for it remind him of those beady optics his human had. He welcomes death. He allows himself to be welcomed in her grasps once again.
Megatron closes his optics, the last time he shall ever open them as he slips into stasis.
He felt warm, the kind his human femme makes him feel. There was a fuzzy feeling that settles in his chassis. It was comforting. Oh how he wants to stay in it forever.
Megatron can sense a light and he growls at the disturbance.
It was annoying.
His digit brushes over something warm and soft. A human rumbled out of his chassis as he sighed. A breeze blows past him gently. It was as if it had blown harder, it would have sent him flying.
There was something that grows in his chest, it makes him melt—all putty-like. A smile spreads across his face. The feeling in itself makes the warlord giddy. His spark hums in his chassis and realized something.
This weren't his feelings.
Optics snapped wide open as he moved to sit, his body jumps as he gathered himself to sit. A gentle breeze blows again, the soft sound of running water can be heard in the background. The sun peeks beneath the horizon. The colors of raven had all but faded into the distance behind him as sapphire emerges in the middle and clashes with pink and hints of both red and orange.
It was Twilight again.
Megatron could have sworn the grass beneath them were short, when did it grow so long? His body was still a mess and definitely damaged, he doubts his body would heal again. Why was he here? Why was he alive and not with her?
He was supposed to be in the embrace of Persephone.
He looks down and a sob claws out of his throat but it passed his dermas as a whimper. The human femme in question was curled up in his servo, but something was amiss. There was that tell-tale look of a peaceful slumber evident on her face. Her skin wasn't deathly pale anymore, they appeared more lively and healthy. The fur on her helm had became curly once again, it wasn't dry or frizzy unlike before—it suited her.
His optic wonders to her chest.
It rises slowly and goes back down. It repeats again and the movement mesmerized him. She was alive? Persephone was alive!
How?
Shouldn't he have joined her in the afterlife? Why was she... alive? She's breathing slowly, but nonetheless breathing and alive.
She was okay.
Megatron didn't understand why he wasn't dead and wondering the well with the Allspark with her, wondering why she was alive instead. However, it didn't matter. Not now. All that made sense was that she was here again.
He pulls her close, a smile of relief blooms on his face. His thumb grazes her cheek, it was warm. Something he realized that it meant that she was alive.
"Primus, you're alive," He murmured in relief, weeping in joy and happiness as his spark sings and he could feel her organic spark beat as well. "You're alive."
Persephone's eyes flutters open, looking at him with an unreadable look.
When she blinked once.
Twice.
Thrice.
Then her optics turns purple as she blinked them once more. It glowed with such intensity. The rich velvet field of lilac encircled a star and she smiles ominously at him as she raised her servo. Megatron then notices her digits, the tips cackling with purple electricity, as she hovers it to his digit. The moment she touched him, it stings him briefly making him jolt.
A surge of energy runs throughout his body.
It had washed away whatever fatigue was left in his poor and battered form. It was as if, if his spark was still mulling over whether to join the well of the Allspark that is, had been rooted back into his body. Megatron looks to her for answers and as if she has the answer to them, she smirks teasingly.
As if she was saying to the warlord in a sweet way " Now, now, don't leave me".
He could've sworn he heard her voice. Only because he knew a voice with such a playful tone yet endearing touch to it could only belong to her. But she didn't move her mouth to speak.
How?
Those blazing optics, if he looked closely, he could see electricity cackling at the edge of her optics every now and then like lighting that briefly shows itself in thunder-clouded skies. They turn from a series of lavender that wrapped around a burning ball of gas and it reverts back to those endless raven pool—so dark that the only way to describe it was an abyss.
The look on her face was still unreadable, but the warlord felt a sense of satisfaction within him—from her. Persephone closed her optics as she snuggled on his thumb and sighed contently, a serene smile on her face. She had slipped into recharge. He cradles her in his servos.
Servos?
He noticed that his arm, the one that had been ripped out, was there.
Megatron had noticed that his body was also fixed. It was like the first time she had healed him. All the scratches and damage he had acquired in eons of being and participating in war had all but disappeared. Like moss had overgrown an area, his armour seemed much more stronger than before and he noticed there were hints of purple for his tertiary color.
Once he recovered from his initial shock, he moved to stand, gentle to not disturb the slumbering creature in his servo. The Earth star was rising and soon it will be morning. "Let us... go home," Megatron said to her, but it was mostly to himself since she was asleep.
The day seemed brighter and the warlord can hear the faint chirps of birds as they wake up from their slumber.
He transformed into his seeker's alt-mode, noticing the difference of his form. It was like her touch had enhanced him in a way because he felt stronger as life coursed in his being. She was asleep and travelling through uneven terrain would wake her. Persephone needed rest, that's for sure and so she laid asleep on the cockpit.
He made sure that she was safely fasten before he flew.
As he wondered the clouds back to where the sparklings are, he wondered what had happened. A dread of uneasiness settles in his abdomen. He was nervous. What happened to Persephone?
He pushed the thought away for it didn't matter
They were bonded and he would help her should she need it.
— ixi —
They had all returned to their base in America. There were no threats to their base in Africa, not any more that is. Prime made sure of that. Let Megatron bleed out to death, he wouldn't last long. The last mercy Optimus would give him.
A week had passed since then.
A week that the Prime had locked himself in his private chambers.
Optimus stared at his servo. The very servo that had hurt her. He had been staring at it for several hours. Her death, Persephone, was on his servos.
The Prime didn't know her completely. He just knew who she was and something in him seemed to flip, wanting to take her everywhere with him. Optimus didn't know what to do, especially after finding out who she was. This Persephone was supposed to be his sparkmate.
She bore the mark of the Prime, after all.
However, despite the title that Primus had placed upon her, he has yet to bind his spark to her. He has yet to get to know her. She caught his attention, simply because she was an organic that was "destined" to be with him. Other than that and all the information they had dug up on her, Optimus doesn't know much about the human femme, so why?
Why did her death had such an impact on him?
In all honesty, he didn't think he'd find it. By the Allspark, he hoped that he would never find it—never discover it or for it to never occur to him. Because for Optimus, there was one femme in his spark that he cherished the most.
Elita One.
Even before he was a Prime, back when he was merely a clerk in the Iacon Hall of Records, when he was only Orion Pax and she was Ariel. The moment they met, everyone around them knew that they were, as the humans would put it, soulmates. Through his weal and woe, Ariel had always supported him. And through the love they both had for each other, they achieved everything.
And then when Ariel had all been gone, reborn as Elita One. His memories as Orion Pax was hazy, the Matrix of Leadership had seemed to lock away his memories as they appear to him as murky fleeting moments. However, his spark recognised Elita One as the object of his affections.
And he remembered when he met Elita, it was so clear that she was the only one for him. The both of them knew it, right away.
Their love for each other was strong. It was so strong that when he barely remembered his friends, Optimus remembered her. And just like that, their love grew for each other. Their story spread throughout the faction. How their love was the only thing that resonated in his memories, it even rumoured that she bore the mark of the Prime.
Seeing as she was the Female Autobot Commander, Optimus could barely protect her as she threw herself into the battlefield. Their ranks in the faction didn't help either. They had to be careful around each other under the optics of many seeing as there might be a spy in the midst. They had to portray that they had grown apart, that the love between them had all but dissipated.
Obviously, word spread around like wild fire.
However, each would sneak into each others chambers, with the help of their closest and trusted friends, of course.
It was an experience the both of them enjoyed, the thrill of getting caught as they showed their love and vulnerability to each other in secrecy. It was for the best. Elita really didn't want to hide her relationship with him, but Optimus insisted.
He couldn't risk her life. If the Decepticons were to confirm that they are indeed together and used her against him, Elita would be in danger. Perhaps, hiding it was for the best—for the sake of her safety, as well. For the Prime, he placed Elita One above all else.
The war would end, Optimus thought.
It should end in a few years, give or take. Then, only then, will he and Elita would sparkbond. That was their agreement, for the safety of one another. If one were to sparkbond in the midst of war, the other would follow them to the well of the Allspark.
An instinct that their creator had built them with.
However, the war didn't end. If anything, it got worst. Resources started to deplete, both sides losing their comrades, having to avoid and survive through the Rust Plague, stripping Cybertron of its resources and more. And as the years went on, things got more difficult—they were faced with more challenges. And it wasn't long before Elita had decided to end things.
He begged her to stay.
Try to remember what they had at the beginning.
"After the war, we can continue where we left off." Was what she said. Just like that, their nightly rendezvous had came to a halt. Optimus was left with no choice but to carry on. The Autobots needed him, after all. However, when he retired to his chambers, he would weep.
And then the unthinkable happened, the kind that the Prime had dreaded. Elita One perished upon the servos of Shockwave while in the midst of battle. They really did drifted apart or rather Elita had drifted away from him, but even so, her death took a toll on him.
At first, he didn't believe it. Chromia and Arcee confirmed her death, seeing as the siblings had a link and Elita's had been severed. Saying that they had both witnessed her gory demise.
It got so bad that Jazz had to take over for a while. It was Ironhide and Ratchet that had to pull him out of his misery and smacking some sense into him. They were in a war and moping wouldn't help.
Not only that, he was a Prime.
The people depended on him.
The room was dark, the only light that emitted was from a hologram that he had activated. A portrait of Elita smiled at him, something she had given him when she first had to leave his side to be stationed on Praxus.
His optics wanders to her, before he looked away in shame. She should've bore the mark. Not this human. It's probably the Prime's consciousness that screamed at him.
That was the only logical thing to explain the fact that this human femme's death had torn him more than the death of his lover.
The guilt eats away at his spark. He had locked himself in his chambers, for at least a few days now. The femme's, Persephone's, words echoed in his processor.
"You have become the most important being to me now... the most important being ever. You have overwhelmingly bewitched me. Mesmerized my very soul by your existence alone. Your voice is sin to my ears and I am sent to Heaven when you held me in your servos and look at me with such tenderness. Words cannot comprehend how much I adore and love you, Megatronous."
It sent his spark in a spiral of jealousy that she would say them to someone else, especially to the Decepticon warlord. Optimus knew that it wasn't his business what went on between the femme and former friend, he didn't really want know or care. However, the mark placed on her was forcing him to feel a certain type of way.
He didn't want this.
He never asked for any of this.
It was law, an order of Primus even, that the person who bore the mark must be the Prime's only. The Imprint had occurred the moment her tiny human servos grazed his.
Optimus buried his face in his servos, rubbing them as if to rid away the stress that plagued him. He really tried to stop, he really did. However, it was too late. The Prime couldn't stop his swing.
And a human paid the price.
Not just a human—his supposed sparkmate.
His love for the late Commander and the mark that forced love down his throat for the human that bore the imprint fought each other. It tore him apart and Optimus felt like he was being torn into bits and pieces mercilessly.
But what was the Optimus's love for Elita compared to the instincts that Primus placed on a Prime?
He wondered if this was what Primus did in His past time to earn a few laughs and giggles at the expense of His creations. Optimus turned to Elita's portrait and sighed as he went to turn it off, plunging him into darkness. There were things he needed to let go and Elita One was one of them.
The Prime ex-vented.
A knock on his door pulls him out of his thoughts. He walks towards it, hand hovered over the button before deciding to open it. To his surprise it was Ironhide and Ratchet, holding some High-grade energon cubes. None of them said a word for a moment.
"I know you're really fond of humans and that the accident that occurred to you about a week ago took its toll on you," Ironhide was the first to speak, gesturing the many cubes in his arms with his helm. "So me and Ratch decided to cheer you up."
"I have no plans on taking care of the both of you when you two get shit-faced," Ratchet said, glancing at the two. "So, we'll drink together. You may not remember it, but we used to drink a lot when you were Orion Pax. Courtesy of Ironhide, of course."
The Weapon Specialist glared at him. "Hey!... Yeah that's actually true." Ironhide sighed.
Optimus turned on the lights to his chambers. "And I assume you attempting to make me feel better would be by overcharging ourselves?" The Prime asked.
Ratchet shrugged. "Why not? We barely have time to unwind, we might as well wake up with a hangover." The Medic answered. "And if you're worried about hangovers, the medbay is always open."
"Not when the medic themselves is dead," Ironhide snorted.
"I may not believe in Primus, but I hope you do so that you can have a peaceful afterlife," Ratchet grins at the black bot.
Optimus watched them bicker as he looked away. His optics wanders to the cube in his digits. His thoughts were drifting away back to her—to Persephone. He hated it, how he felt for her. That thought alone almost made him scrunch up his face.
Even if he wanted to, he couldn't help it.
In a span of mere seconds, she had replaced Elita in his spark. This Persephone had became his biggest priority, the one person he wanted to protect more than anyone in the universe, and the body he wanted to fall asleep next to every night or wake up beside every morning. And because of his carelessness he would get to do none of that with her.
She was the one person who held his spark in her tiny little, organic hands.
His human, as foreign as that sounded.
His sparkmate.
The Prime sighed, downing his energon and then another and another. He had kept his and Elita's relationship. He will not make the same mistake again. Not to this human femme. "I have to tell you both something about that human," Optimus said, stopping the bicker between the two bots. Primus grant him strength.
"That femme... Persephone. She has the mark of the Prime."
— ixi —
The softness of the material beneath her had her snuggling to her pillow. It was cold and the covers soothed the goose bumps that wracked her body. She buried her face underneath the blanket. Persephone sighed, the sound of loud running water lulling her in her sleep.
It was blissful.
She felt a hand graze her cheek. It felt like leather against her yet soft touch had her leaning into it. Persephone stirs in her sleep. Her heart flutters at the gentleness of the hand.
She lets it trail from her cheek as it travelled to her head and petting her. A sigh escapes her lips. She would be lying if she said it doesn't make her melt. Then, she realized something.
Wasn't she... the only human with Megatron?
Her body bolts up, the covers flying. Covers? Persephone noticed that she was... in a bed. Inside a cave, the opening blocked by a water fall.
Where was she?
And when the hell did she get a bed? The mattress was soft and firm as she tested how it felt if she bounced on them. It was perfect, something that would aid her if she ever decided to jump on the bed. The frame was made out of wood, furnished but it was obvious that it had been used.
Persephone was confused, but focused her attention on whatever spooked her awake.
Whoever had grazed her cheek had disappeared as she looked around wildly. Like a phantom that had frightened her. She told herself that it was nothing, that it was simply in her mind. However, Persephone knew than to wave it off because how can you specifically imagine a hand covered in leather touching your face... tenderly?
It didn't made sense.
As she shifted in the bed she was on, she let her feet dangle. How did she get here? There were supplies at the other end, the familiar wooden crates catching her attention.
Then the previous events hit her like a ton of bricks.
Those hauntingly beautiful optics, glaring at the Prime for hurting the warlord before running away, and having to dive in front of Megatron in hopes of stopping Optimus from hurting him—because surely, he wouldn't hit a human. Not intentionally, at least. Persephone looks down on herself, she still wore the same clothes she did that day.
So it wasn't a dream, she thought to herself.
Her hands gather the fabric of her oversized shirt and pulling them up to look at her torso. There was... no bruise or whatsoever where she had initially took the hit. Her fingers let goes of the shirt and ghosts over at her side.
It doesn't hurt.
Shouldn't she be hurt after that incident?
All Persephone could remember was the panic and helplessness she felt when the Autobots attacked him. Then blacking out because she was thrown and before that she was allowed to say "goodbye" to Megatron and was plucked by the Prime when her arm got bur—
Her eyes turns to her arm that supposedly had burned due to energon exposure. There were no signs of any damage as well. There should have been because it couldn't have been an imagination her mind had conjured. Pain was present and it hurt so bad that it was impossible to forget it.
Her hand and arm were charred.
She still recalled what it felt like. The energon had been removed from her arm, yes, but by the time she had shook it off it had already burnt her limb. Her arm was darkened and red, the sight itself had bile creep at her throat. It was terrifying.
So, to see her skin and tissues safely intact had baffled the young woman. "What the fuck?" Persephone mutters as she examined it again.
She stares at it for a long time, blinking several times to see if what she was seeing was real. Her other finger traces the arm. It was the same skin texture as before. She tears her gaze from her limb and looked around the cave.
Persephone noticed the opening of the cave, blocked by some sort of waterfall. The ground she stood upon was elevated since it was dry and there were little splashes on the edge. Her eyes catches a familiar set of cubes that glowed a soft pink.
She walks over, picking up the cube. It was a little big, but definitely enough for the sparklings to pick up. Her eyes widened in realization. There were other cybertronians here, as well.
Is it Autobot or Decepticon? God she hoped it wasn't Prime.
Is it Autobot or Decepticon? God she hoped it wasn't Prime. Persephone didn't know what to do of she did. She remembers how vividly those optics of his seemed to darken and it was... attractive?
Attractive and terrifying.
It somehow settled a fear in her. To, at least, never cross him. Despite how gentle he seemed to her, she was, in a way, afraid of him. Setting the uneasiness away, Persephone ran a finger through her hair but her fingers caught through her hair.
She realized her hair had returned to its lively curls, but how? Persephone didn't have any hair products around to use and at this point she didn't care. Call her vain, but she had missed the curls she possessed ever since she got here. Burying her face in her hair, inhaling the scent.
It had a sweet floral scent to it.
That's strange. Persephone is sure that Megatron never brought her any shampoo that smelled like this. He did give her shampoos, the kind that helped her hair because of its curly state, but it mostly had a citrus or vanilla scent. And the young woman doubts that whoever had found her actually bathed her.
"Megatron?" She called out, but there was no answer.
Where is Megatron?
His absence was disturbing her, she was used to having him around.
There were loud footsteps coming from outside. Her head turned to the thundering sounds as they drew near. Panicked, she dashes to the bed where she originally woke up and the footsteps seemed to pick up speed. She dove to the bed, covering herself with the blanket and letting her hair fly onto the mattress and closed her eyes as she lay on her side.
The sound of water hitting metal harshly came in a fleeting moment as the booming footsteps steps into the cave. It stops somewhere near her. She dare not open her eyes. Persephone took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, hoping to come off as sleeping.
There was a chirping sound, followed by a whirr.
"Coven, please get off your brother. He yields." The familiar voice of the warlord echoed throughout the cave in a hushed tone. "And absolutely do not wake your mother. She is in need of well-deserved recharge."
Megatron's presence comforted her.
Persephone feigned groan as she faced them. Slowly, she fluttered her eyes open like others would and squinting with her brows furrowed. A yawn actually passes through her lips and took the time to stretch her body. His footsteps drew near.
She slowly got up, rubbing her eyes to sell the idea that had only woken up. "W-what?" She groggily mustered, making sure not to open her eyes properly.
"Easy now," She heard him say, a metal digit touching her cheek. "You must still be exhausted. Refrain from exhausting yourself more, Persephone." She leans into his touch and chuckled.
"What happened?" Persephone asked, eyes closed as her arms wrapped around his digit. Strange. She could've sworn his digits weren't that big. There was a moment of silence before she heard him again.
"That damn Prime had knocked you out into stasis-lock," Megatron growled above her. "Fortunately, you... didn't acquire any injuries." He coughed, the equivalent of a cough for them that is, as she felt his other digit petting her head.
"How long was I out?"
"You were in stasis-lock for a month and as your superior, I order you to rest."
She rips herself away from his digit, looking at him to respond. The words die in her throat as her jaw hang from the sight before her. He seemed bigger and taller. He was monstrous looking.
He had a rather long and flat head, hence the nickname "bucket head". However, Megatron now had spikes, no, horns protruding from his helm. There were added several spikes to his knees, forearms, shoulders, chassis and helm His fingers also became longer and much more sharp. The warlord resembled the Transformers Prime version, when Unicron had taken over his body.
However, instead of rusts on his body, there were none. Megatron's body was clean and it was bulkier, not to mention the additional purple colors here and there. The warlord looked so terrifying. It would send anyone in their right mind to run off.
Persephone covers her mouth as she bit her lip.
Holy fucking shit, he's hot as fuck!, She thought.
Eyes trailed and memorized each and every single inch of him. He moves his helm lower, to look at her properly and she noticed that he was sitting down with his legs crossed. Her heart beats in her chest furiously. If this was an anime, she would probably have died from the blood loss she had from having a nose bleed.
The taste of iron makes itself known on her tongue, but she couldn't stop. She tried to control her breathing, taking in slow deep breaths to calm herself. Her face was so warm that she thought it would burn off. The things she would do to be railed by him.
Weeks and days without any sexual relief had easily made her horny, so, at this point, Persephone didn't mind getting split in half because of him.
This magnificent creature. The very dangerous gladiator of Kaon was before her. And he was... dangerously handsome. A thought that Persephone would gladly be crucified for.
For the love of anything holy, if anyone ever knew of her feelings, she will be crucified. However, Persephone knew that having sex with him would be impossible, but that didn't stop her from fantasising about him. No, ma'am, sir.
She normally didn't have such lewd thoughts, but this new... image of him. It sort of like awoken something in her, something primal. And with it came the familiar itch she hoped he'd scratch, but that's impossible.
She crossed her leg over the other, hoping the little friction she caused could somewhat satiate her thirst.
He coughed as he averted his gaze from hers, his cheeks seemed to darken. Shit, at this point, Persephone might as well ride his face. God at this point with how hot he looks, she really just wanted to fuck him at this point. He had been haunting her dreams and this was the last straw.
"W-what... um.. I... uh... Nice-nice upgrade?" She stuttered and immediately regretting it. She sounded stupid and Persephone just wanted the ground to swallow her. "I... I mean, you look good! What happened?" She smiled, hoping to not come off as awkward.
God just end her misery.
"You do not remember how I got this?" Megatron asked, glancing at her as his cheeks had darken more. She shook her head. Her Horniness aside, she was curious as to how.
"I... do not know, as well. I had lost consciousness after I had retreated a sage distance away from the battlefield and awoke to this," He answered as he gestured to himself. "Perhaps, this was a blessing from Primus. Although, I do not know why, but I am thankful. This way I will be able to protect you and our sparklings."
She tore her gaze away from his figure. Guilt creeps over her, holding her still. If only she hadn't insisted on being left behind. If only Persephone had gone with him, he wouldn't have gone through such a painful encounter. He did that so she wouldn't be taken.
And all because of her that he got hurt.
"Megatron... I'm sorry," Persephone said, wrapping her arms around her. "I'm sorry that you had to go through all of that because your medic wanted to... do something stupid." Her thoughts dance over the words she said, thinking that it was Megatron behind her.
The Prime was different as well. He resembled the model they used on the movie Bumblebee and Transformers Prime. Holy fuck, she didn't know what verse she was, but since Cemetery Wind existed then it meant Bayverse was the closest option. Even tho the cybertronian models matched both G1 and TFP.
Being scooped in his grasps snapped her out of her thoughts. The warlord looked down at her, smiling gently. "You are not just my medic, Persephone. You are... my friend." Megatron replied looking away. "And I would go through all of that again if it meant it ensured your safety."
She smiled and hugged his thumb. "Thank you, but still. If it weren't for me, we could've avoided being discovered by them." Persephone insisted shamefully.
If only she hadn't stayed behind, Megatron wouldn't have gotten injured beyond recognition. The image she recalled made her shiver. For god's sake, his face was smashed! He lost a limb and he was bleeding everywhere. The warlord would have died and he would have been finished had she not been knocked out.
If Primus did exist—and it seems that he does from the miracle before her—He saved Megatron from dying. She silently thanked the alien god. Thankful that, even though he wasn't hers, He had returned him to her alive.
The both of them didn't see it coming.
Persephone knew she had not fault, but the guilt ate away her insides. He was brutally beaten up—on the edge of dying. She could have helped him. Save him, even!
But how?
If only she could have prevented that from happening.
"Refrain from blaming yourself," He cooed as he pets her. "The scout had seen us. It was only a matter of time before those Autobots found us. I knew I should've shot him." For a moment, Persephone remained silent as she grimaced.
"... Why didn't you?"
"The sparklings are at that stage where their processors are allowing their memory to strengthen."
This time it was Megatron who was silent for a moment. "And also because I fear that the image might hunt you," The warlord added. "I... I do not want you to fear me, Persephone."
She lets go of his thumb, looking at him silently. "You don't scare me," Persephone smiled. "You never have."
He laughs softly. It was a gentle sound and it seemed hushed. As if he was confiding a secret to her. Her heart flutters at how intimate the situation felt.
"I am glad to hear that." Megatron said, caressing her cheek. And like she did before, she leans into his touch.
In his servos, in his presence is where Persephone felt safe the most. How ironic that the safest and comforting place she felt the most was at the hands of a tyrant. The very tyrant that wanted to enslave her species and had committed a lot of war crimes. Her mother would be disappointed with her choices.
But what does it matter?
Since when did love became rational? Her feelings for the warlord intensified as if his actions fanned the flames—which he did. The little crush she felt for Optimus had grown small.
It wasn't gone. It was just... there.
It was easy to manage.
Her affection for both of them had started when she was at such a young age. However, no one had to know. As a grown woman, she didn't expect to live out the fantasy she dreamt of.
Yet here she was.
The sparklings chirr and click, their little servos reaching out to her. Megatron crouches and slowly lowered her, she dangles her feet once she was on proper height with the little cybertronians. Starfire and Blackfire had tears in their yellow optics as the two glued themselves to her lap and she comes at them.
There armour was yet to develop, but she can tell apart who is who. Starfire, the one in her left, seemed to have been crying, with both her brows turning upwards. Blackfire, on the other hand, stood to the right of her twin with her brows furrowed, concern and confusion was scribbled on her face.
She puts their head, smiling at them. Persephone kissed their foreheads, earning noises of happiness from the twins. A chuckle leaves her lips but she gasped as Coven shoves them and asked for her turn. The young woman heard Megatron behind her make strange noises.
She looks at him with a raised brow, confused.
"I use my people's language when I speak to them, that way, they would learn the tongues their planet and their ancestors had used to communicate." Megatron said, answering her confusion.
"I want to learn as well, but I doubt my voice box would allow me to make such sounds without damaging it," Persephone giggled but snapped her attention to the sparklings as Ares pushed his forehead underneath her hand.
Just like that, she showers him with affection. It wasn't long before the other three had shoved their way to her attention and she had to softly tell them not to do such things to avoid hurting each other. They may not understand her yet, but it was alright. The happiness in her chest swelled after finally being reunited with the children and with Megatron.
Having them around was a comforting for her.
Persephone sighed. She would have to tell him what she feels another time. It should give her some time what to properly say to him. However, another part of her didn't want to tell him.
She didn't want to ruin what they both have already. The young woman didn't want to feel greedy. It was just a silly little crush, what harm would it do if she told him? Then again, he might change his views on her.
He might, and knowing him that he will, react negatively.
What if her confession to him would make the warlord distant to her? She was an organic as it is, if she told him what she felt he would be disgusted at the thought. Perhaps it was better that the Autobots did showed up, that way whatever friendship she had acquired with Megatron wouldn't be ruined.
She kept up the smile, the look of happiness, evident on her face as she pushed the sadness away.
Oblivious to the warlord behind her who felt confused as to why her little organic spark seem to sink.
End of Chapter VIII