This is the first story I've written in...it feels like forever. Anyway, hope you enjoy!
Trigger warning: there are references to su*cide and de*th in several parts of the story. Nothing graphic or anything, but just in case!
The first thing she saw was a light. A bright, beautiful, vivid violet light. Its aura was cold, yet somehow, she felt great comfort in its presence: her first thought, her first perceiving of the world she would soon be born into. It pulsed and breathed like the heartbeat of a living thing, sucking in and exhaling out.
The light danced in a circle, spiraling waves pirouetting through empty space. Its motions grew, faster and more urgent, moving to a tighter formation. There was feeling – a feeling of gravity, of strength, of solid form…
And our main character was born.
"…That's it?" a voice scoffed.
She stood still, comprehending the sudden change in setting. The memories of creation were fading, replaced by the new surroundings she began to take in. Everything shared the familiar violet haze; the walls were dark and grey, but lengths of violet wires crept up the walls like glow-in-the-dark vines. She turned in a full circle, fascinated by this beautiful, glowing cave.
She stopped self-consciously when she noticed a figure watching her, slumped over and seemingly annoyed. She was waiting for a response when a deep voice reverberated throughout the space:
"That 'it' is going to help you. You'd be wise to respect her."
"Why? It's the newbie, not—GAH!" The bot collapsed on his knees, clutching his middle-section and wheezing in pain.
She lowered her right arm, although she hadn't recalled moving it in the first place. Blue-violet energy licked at her fingertips before dissipating as she lowered her servo.
"What…was that?!" the injured bot gasped, staggering back to standing.
"That is what happens when you combine the powers of Primus and Unicron," the voice responded.
The bot watched as she lowered her servo, but her face looked just as surprised as his.
"Sideways, this is your new companion. And might I add, your only companion."
"You stole a portion of the Allspark…for this?! You combined your powers with that of Primus' to create a single bot? Think of what you could do with an army as powerful as that – her – up against Primus?!"
"I had you steal only a small portion of the Allspark, so it is likely to go unnoticed for a short time. That was only enough to birth one fully-sentient bot. I sacrificed a large portion of my power to single-handedly create the most powerful being in the universe."
"Why didn't you just give all that power to yourself?"
"I am the Anti-Spark. If I were to absorb even part of the Allspark, I would surely be destroyed. But a new bot – born with the potential for the All- or Anti-Spark – could wield either or both powers. Hence your companion was born."
Sideways stared with contempt at the small bot across from him, still clutching his injuries. Although she was fully sentient, the dark energon used to forge her gave Unicron the power to control her – hence why she had attacked him and seemed surprised.
"Sideways, rest and prepare for battle. Take her with you."
Sideways sighed and waved for the young bot to follow him. He barely heard her soft footsteps run to catch up with him.
They turned down a few corridors before they came to a wide, open space. The walls were still dark but much more illuminated here.
The young bot stepped into the room after Sideways, turning her helm to take in everything but careful to avoid his condescending gaze. The room was mostly empty, with some junk scattered here and there. It wasn't much different from the other rooms they had crossed through, except for a giant tinted window offering an expansive view of the space outside. She stepped up to the window, peering outside.
She was lost in thought, gazing out at the stars. She went up on her tiptoes to peer out farther but accidentally bumped her head on the glass. She stepped back, startled and embarrassed, before looking back out at the stars again.
Sideways couldn't help but chuckle to himself. She was such a young, awkward little bot, still getting used to her surroundings. Her armor was a lovely shade of blue violet with light-blue accents – a representation of her strange origins. Her frame was similar to that of Solus Prime's, but Sideways supposed that made sense, as in Cybertronian time she wouldn't be much younger than her.
She risked a glance back at her companion, optics wide with embarrassment. Sideways stepped up to the window beside her.
"You know, it's not actually a window," he said, peering out with her.
She didn't respond right away. Although she was technically a newborn, she had been forged instead of sparked, meaning she didn't go through the normal phases of growth of most sparklings. Sideways knew she should be able to speak perfectly well. He was starting to doubt his reasoning when she seemed to decide it was okay to speak and asked, "Then what is it?"
Sideways smirked triumphantly. "It's an optic. Unicron's, to be exact."
"Is that—"
"The one who was yelling at us? Yep."
"Yelling at you, you mean."
She sounded dead serious even as she insulted him. Sideways turned to look at her, surprised to find her smirking back. He scoffed and looked back out the window.
"We're inside Unicron?" she asked.
"Yeah. He's a big bot. Powerful, too."
She continued to gaze outside as she talked. "Why are we here?"
"We were created by Unicron. I mean, you were; I wasn't quite brought here the same way you were."
"You were talking about it before. How…strange I am. How unusual."
He felt a tad sorry for insulting her earlier. She hadn't asked to be brought here, and she probably had no idea of the life she was going to be living. He thought again of how she shot him with no warning earlier, how surprised she looked even as the power left her fingertips. She would be nothing but a tool to Unicron – his ultimate weapon in securing ultimate power and destroying Cybertron. She would figure that out soon enough, though; in the meantime, the least he could do was answer her questions.
"Unicron had me steal a portion of the Allspark, tiny as I could manage. It's what allows Primus to create life. Unicron used it with his power to create you. He couldn't create anything sentient, otherwise."
"If Unicron sent you to retrieve the portion of the Allspark, then how did you get here?"
It was kind of a personal question, but she wouldn't know that. He was probably the only other sentient being she would ever be around, anyway; it couldn't do any harm to tell her, he supposed.
"I came from the Allspark like any other bot. Several others were with me. We traveled the galaxies to look for valuable resources. We stopped on this one planet and settled down to mine for a while. Before we could finish, Unicron came along. He swallowed the little planet almost whole, and all the bots on it but me and someone else. We held on to the edge of his mouth for dear life, watching the others get crushed to bits under us. He told me if I let my friend go, he would make sure I would survive. I did it without hesitating. Saw him fall, heard him scream, watched his armor go crunch. Didn't really faze me. He told me he was in need of a servant, rebuilt me, gave me some dark energon, and told me I would survive as long as I obeyed him. And I have. Not a bad gig, really."
The young bot regarded him with a horrified expression. She remained that way for several seconds, before shaking herself off and turning back to the window. She watched the stars blur slowly by, then asked another question.
"Did…Primus give you your designation, then?"
"Yep. Guess I am a little twisted, aren't I?" She stared straight at him. "That was a joke," he quickly clarified.
"Mm-hmm. Primus didn't give me a designation, then?"
"I don't think he knows you exist."
"What about Unicron?"
"I don't think he cares."
"What am I supposed to call myself, then? What are you supposed to call me?"
Sideways watched out of Unicron's optic again. The first thing she had really done was gaze at the stars, but before that…
"There was a really bright light when you were sparked. What about Sona?"
"It seems kind of short."
"You can make something else up later."
"Alright, then – Sona."