The Diego Diaries: Home Sweet Home (dd8 28)
=0=In the maze
Luna swept up from the porch to cross the yard. Halting before Gaia who smiled at her, she looked upward. "Mama, are you going to be alright?"
Gaia caressed the child's face, then nodded. "I am. I'm getting much better." She continued on, paused before the two bots, then glanced at Sol. "I see they came." She looked at them. "Welcome, Megatronus and Optimus." She limped over to the porch and lowered herself to sit on the steps. Luna joined her.
Everyone sat, then it was silent a moment.
"We were talking about how you aren't appreciated enough, Gaia," Sol said.
Gaia grinned slightly. "You can't expect true understanding from such young individuals. They mean well in their hearts but its getting better, much better. They're waking up at last."
"That's a lot of unrest. When my people lived on Mars, they were peaceful and respectful." The lady spirit of Mars sat back in her chair. "They were much more aware of how things work. I'm interested, Megatronus, in you in all your dimensional incarnations. In this one, yours, you're a good enlightened mech. In yours, Optimus Prime, he's the apocalypse. What do you think about that, Megatronus?"
Everyone stared at him as he gathered his thoughts. "I am sorrowed to know that it is that way. No one has the right to decide the life path of another. We are rebuilding from a very dark place." He glanced at Optimus. "My friend has an even harder task. But we work together to do our best for our people and our situations."
"Until all are one," Sol said. "We stars shed our light on both of you, giving you the chance to live as you choose. It's interesting to have a perspective on every dimension that we all exist in. Did you know there are dimensions where neither of you exist and the outcomes of that missing element were catastrophic. Both dimensional empires were obliterated from the forces that did not have you as leavening elements."
"What about this dimension?" Megatronus asked. "What do you foresee, if anything, for our people?"
"You would have to ask The Powers for that information. We are the platform whereupon you do your dances," Sol said, then he waved his arm and the whole picture disappeared.
They were now floating in darkness, then light blitzed on. Around them spun creation, the universes and galaxies. It was astonishingly beautiful, the space around them warm and the silence almost physical. There should have been sound, the roars and gyrations of the expanse, but there wasn't.
Megatronus looked around, then turned toward Prime. "I am standing on firmness but nothing is there."
"It often is that way. I have been here many times," Optimus replied.
"They spoke to us, the spirits of planets that I assume are in your solar system, the one for Mars," Megatronus said.
Optimus nodded. "I do not know why They came rather than something more pointed toward you."
"They have."
Both spun around to see two bright shining individuals standing side-by-side. They were tall, though not much more than the two of them were and beautiful. They were Primus and The Matrix which Optimus knew from other encounters. Even though it was clear that Megatronus didn't know that, their energy was evident. It was the higher vibration of The Great Ones.
"May I ask who you are?" Megatronus said.
"I am Primus and this is my companion, my … heart, if you will. You call that facet of me The Matrix," the mech said with a deep voice.
Megatronus looked shocked a moment, then glanced around. "I would kneel, Lord Primus, but I appear to be at a loss here."
Primus grinned slightly. "Do not worry about that." He glanced at Optimus who bowed. "I am pleased to see you both work together to do what is needed now that things are in disarray."
"It is a source of pleasure and some sentimentality to me that we do," Optimus said.
"Yes," Primus replied. "You were once comrades and friends in your own dimensional plane before things took a dark turn."
"What would you have for me to do, Lord Primus? I am your servant." Megatronus bowed.
"You are doing what I will, Megatronus. I am well pleased," Primus said.
Megatronus looked pleased and relieved at the same time. "I was a shopkeeper. A hardware store was my domain. I did not expect this to happen and I work to ensure the greatest possible good for all."
"Then you have met your challenge," Primus said. "I am pleased that you have found common ground and dare I say, friendship? Having a friendship in such a lonely position is a good thing. One must never be too alone. I can tell you from personal experience that it does not advance the spirit when one is utterly alone."
Megatronus moved closer. "Then what may we do to assist You?"
The Matrix grinned. "You already do that. Some fine orn you will live in accord, both Primus Incarnate as Cybertron and you. But it won't be soon."
"I am going to be moving you, Lord Primus, to a safer space. I fear your wandering untethered to any star to give You light and comfort," Optimus said.
Primus nodded. "I know. I have given you My word that you will not make the decision alone."
Optimus looked relieved, then bowed his helm. "Thank you."
"You are welcome," Primus said, then he glanced at Megatronus. "This is your first festival as Prime. You came here seeking the good for all. I am giving you My appreciation because you have accomplished that and will continue to do so. Your friendship with Optimus who has My favor will help you through the moments when you falter. We chose you, Megatron, because you are worthy, good and decent. You care about The People and you care about Me. All is well in My processor about you and your ability to do this work. All you have to do is believe it yourself."
He glanced at Prime. "That is a hard lesson for the good Primes to feel and learn. The others had no problem believing that they were gods themselves. They created chaos and now you have to fix that. I do believe that both of you will do that."
"Why did those planets come to us, Lord Primus? What lessons should we derive from their presence?" Megatronus asked.
"They are the platforms upon which you act out your places, even as I am the one for you. We are here to help you learn and they sought to reassure you about it. We want to help and protect you, Our children, as you journey through your life. But the bigger lesson here is what do you feel about Us? We are all one. All things that exist have consciousness. All of them. Even the molecules in the air and water. Some do not remember that they do because their vibration is low but most do. What you must learn to do is love each other. Value each other. Allow each other to be who you are.
"There is no template from which you all spring. You are as individual as snowflakes. You are also that perfect. No one no matter how hard your life was, how broken your body or mind is, no matter what you do, no one stands outside of My love and that of The One. Nothing can divide you from Me but you. But even then, its all illusion. You cannot exist without the connection to The One and you are never alone. Ever. The Matrix lives with both of you, Optimus and Megatronus, to ensure that We, you and I, are never sundered. We are one. We are unity for Our people and through that unity We bring our people forward.
"This is your first festival, Megatronus. You are uncertain what you should do and whether you can do it. You can. The planets and star let you know that even as great as they are, you are also their equal. There is no hierarchy. Believe in and trust yourself. It is a failing that you believe it takes more than you have to be a Prime. It takes love, patience, intelligence, decency and courage. Both of you have that in abundance. I am well pleased with both of you."
With that, Primus faded from view.
The Matrix watched him, then glanced at both. "You are doing fine. Trust," he said, then faded away Himself.
As He did they were back in the Temple standing in front of the Well and Allspark. It was silent a moment, then Megatronus turned to Optimus. "Is it always like this?"
Optimus nodded. "They deal in metaphor and sometimes are very cryptic. They were direct this time. They want to ensure that you understand that you were not chosen to be Prime randomly. You were chosen because you are a Prime."
Megatronus stared at Optimus, then nodded. "As are you, brother."
Optimus gripped Megatronus's servo, then glanced at the door on the first floor across the great room. "Are you ready for the Blessings? I can feel it building." He glanced at the Allspark and Well which began to seethe with light and energy. "Let us go. You have to conclude the Solemnities." He hesitated. "If that is your practice."
Megatronus smiled. "It is. Come," he said, then both walked to the stairs, climbed them, then walked across the giant space to the door. They passed through it side-by-side, then walked to the edge of the platform. Mechs and femmes stood in deep silence as far as the optic could see in all directions.
Megatronus glanced at Optimus, then the crowd. "The Solemnities are concluded."
That was when the Blessing of The One burst upward in a solar flare of light before reaching the apex of Its power. It fell in all directions and encompassed the area and world, then solar system almost at once, the system that hosted Cybertron and the Inner Empire.
It was as warm and loving inside the light as Megatronus had ever felt. He thought of his family nearby and could feel their energy back. Then It was gone. A sigh of disappointment roared out, then the Blessing of Primus burst into being, encompassing everyone at one time. It didn't shoot out of the Well but appeared all around them all at once.
Optimus stood in the warmth and loving embrace and felt Prowl reach him with the same. He pulsed it back then It, too, was gone. The sunlight of this, a Cybertron tethered to its home star felt good as he stared upward at the blue sky above. Then he glanced at Megatronus who had tapped his spark chamber cover. It slid open, then a pillar of light from The Matrix shot upward and outward covering everyone with beauty, love and unity.
It was warm and gentle, a joyous extension of a joyous mechanism and spirit. Then It, too, was gone. Everyone stood in silence, the vast multitudes. Then it began. "UNTIL ALL ARE ONE! UNTIL ALL ARE ONE! UNTIL ALL ARE ONE!"
They were swept upward, held in a sense of joy and unity that was remarkable even for Prime and Prowl. Chanting the creed beside his alternate alter ego, Prowl of Praxus lent his voice to that of his alternate doppelganger. For his part, Alternative Prowl of Praxus forgot his sorrows and gave in to the love all around him.
When the two Primes walked down the stairs for the processional back to the Residence, it was a different atmosphere altogether. Mechs and femmes ran out to touch Megatronus and some of them touched Optimus. There was clapping and cheers. The tension of the crowd toward the doppelganger of their worst nightmare had changed to happiness from the blessings and reflection during the waiting. Whether it would last longer was unknown. Alternative Optimus Prime had been a brutal beast.
They made their way to the Residence, stood side-by-side together at the gate entrance to wave to the crowd before leading everyone into the building for a reception. It would be a point of diversion that in this dimensional plane there was no fasting to be had. That in the end was a good thing for Prowl and Prime. The food that was laid on by the chefs of The Residence was phenomenal.
=0=TBC 11-30-2020 12-01-2020