Return of the Heir Chapter 13

"Well if then you won't answer then I'll assume you are a thief and there is only one way to end trespassers." The mech raised his staff, lightening arching from the gem, and brought it down upon the white mech's helm.

Novaton's frame froze, without conscious thought dark blue servos shot forward; catching the staff before it connected with his helm. The mage before him kept pressing forward, blue lightning arching ever closer to his frame. "Wait" Novaton shouted as his servo fumbled with his satchel. The mage apparently didn't hear him or didn't want to hear him. A dark blue servo grasped what it was looking forward while not breaking optic to optic contact with the other powerful mech. Bringing the neckless Solarflare gave him forward, the movement evidently caught the attention of the mage. Fierce blue optics turned to look at him with such intensity, that the white mech felt his spark quiver.

"Where did you get that?"

Novaton swallowed hard, "I was told to show you this."

The mage looked at Novaton, back to the neckless and back again. Lowering his staff, for now at least, "If that is the case then why didn't you show it to me before?"

"I panicked and you apparently didn't seem inclined to give me a chance to speak until now."

"Point taken, but still, who gave you that pendent?"

"A friend of mine, said you might know him. A mech by the name of Solarflare."

Time seemed to freeze around them as the unknown mech's optics widened in shock. His face softened slightly before returning to it a stoic expression. "So, it's true. You have returned."

"Who; returned where?"

The unknown mech tapped his staff on the floor of the dungeon and the cell door in front of Novaton opened, "Follow me."

The white and blue mech stood where he was not sure if he wanted to follow the mysterious mech. A thousand thoughts ran through his processor, 'who is this mech and what does he want with me?

The other mech turned to see the young mech not moving, "Unless you rather stay in the dungeon instead?" He saw the younger quickly run towards him and stopped beside the cloaked mech. "I thought as much."

Following the mech through the dark passageways of the castle with only the mage's staff as their light source, Novaton began to wonder what made him change his mind about following this mech. As they passed through the halls, Novaton admired the artwork of the dark vaulted ceilings, for what he could see, and how much time it must have taken to carve them into the alloy. The weapons adorning the walls, looked like they could be used to defend one's self if the need arose. Unknowingly and unintentionally, he ran into the mech in front of him, knocking him forward and almost dropping his staff. "Sorry about that."

The mage brushed himself off and looked back at the white mech, "It is quite alright; just next time please pay attention as if this gem breaks, we won't have any light source and I doubt you are used to seeing in the dark."

"That, I will concede to you and since we meet, you have yet to give me your designation?"

The unknown mech bowed his helm and smiled, "It's about time that you started asking the right questions, my name is Terminus and I have been with the royal family of Kaon since before you were born; Prince Megatron, Son of Lord Megazarak and Lady Ironstar, Lost Heir to the Kaon Throne."

Novaton reeled from that name, it wasn't his, nor will it ever be. "I told Solarflare already and I'll tell you now, my name is Novaton. That is what I have been told in the beginning and it shall remain that way until I offline."

Terminus frowned at the mechling in front of him and shook his head, he was acting like his sire when he was at that age when his parents just offlined from the plague that nearly wiped them all out. "Young mech, I was there when you were born and watched as your sire set you down the Radon just as Solarflare did. Your sire was spark broken with what he had to do and he was never the same again after that."

The white and blue mech still didn't want to believe anything, but with the way this mech addressed him maybe at least one might be telling the truth. "If you say I am who I am, then why did my sire not come after me when everything was over?"

"As Solarflare no doubt told you, Iacon forces still surrounded the city making it to dangerous for you to return to your sire; but since you have returned it is time for you take your rightful place."

"Terminus; if you say that I am the rightful heir to the throne, then why did I end up in the dungeons when I found those pieces of royal regalia?"

The red and black mech with hints of silver chuckled and looked at Novaton "That I am afraid was my fault. When you reached for them I thought you would be just another thief looking to loot the castle, but it turns out I was wrong."

"But… what a nanoklik, you mean if you are responsible for me almost falling to my death, then you must have been behind everything else that happened to me when I first entered the castle?"

"Yes, it was all me. You think I have this staff just for show; I have learned enough so that I could kill you and make everyone else think it was natural causes" Terminus replied; smirking at the way Novaton flinched. "Now then, there is much to do in so little time. Follow me Novaton."

"How do you know my name when I didn't even tell you?"

"Young mech, there are things in this world that I know about and can do that very few bots are aware about and understand."

As they walked down the halls, Novaton was starting to feel a little panicked at the possible power that coursed through Terminus. His processor was failing to comprehend at the thought that two different mechs had told him that he was the lost heir of Kaon and that his creators were the former rulers of Kaon. Though one thought hadn't occurred to him until now, "Why are there no fires to light the castle and why does the city look like it was abandoned from the outside?"

Terminus sighed, he knew this question was coming and how to answer it would more than likely determine weather Novaton stayed or ran. "Novaton what I am about to tell you will make the difference weather you finally accept your fate or not accept it at all." The mage tapped his staff on the ground and twin columns of flames arched from the red gem and up the wall.

Novaton watched as the flames ran along the wall and to the ceiling, illuminating a tapestry. "What is this" the white mech asked as he ran his servo over the delicate fabric?

The older mech smiled and then frowned, "This is the true story of the lost heir of Kaon. Each of these pictures tell a part of the tale and all of it is centered here in the middle; around your family, around you."

Novaton saw what appeared to be a tall purple and silver mech wearing the dark purple cape he saw earlier. Next to him was a light-tan colored femme with black and red highlights holding a small silver, black and red sparkling who looked like the purple mech. A dark blue servo reached out to touch the little sparkling and felt his spark quiver. Flashes played before his optics of a blurry figure with spiked armor and a strong, yet kind voice humming played in his audios. He pulled his servo away as if had been burned, "What just happened?"

"Your spark just remembered who you truly are and now what is it telling you?"

The younger mech paused, listening within himself and a voice saying 'It is time'; "So, Solarflare was telling me the truth?"

"Yes, but there is something else that you should know. Your sire, the late Lord Megazarak left something behind that I have kept hidden as I was sworn to do." Terminus didn't know how to really explain this, "There is an ancient power that if done correctly, can prevent certain things from happening." Novaton looked at him with confused optics, but the old mech could telling his processor must have been opened. "When Megazarak was on his death bed, he asked me to place a spark spell over the kingdom."

"What is a spark spell exactly?"

"It is an ancient form of protection that a mech or femme can leave behind for a limited amount of time before it wear's off. Which brings me back to what I was saying earlier; Megazarak left a part of his spark behind as a protective measure to ensure no one would take the throne that rightfully belonged to you."

Novaton felt as if his processor might fry any nanoklik, "You mean to tell me that my sire is still here?"

"Not in the way you are thinking; you see the spark spell he left behind was only to protect the throne, but it came at a cost…" Terminus sighed, it had been twenty stellar-cycles since the late king first asked him to do this "… When he asked me to complete the task, I went to the Temple of Primus and the Thirteen to speak with our Patron Prime. Asking for his help, I learned of what to say and that a price must be paid if the heir wasn't to return."

"So, what was this spell exactly?"

"It happened shortly after you left that the king fell ill from grief and soon his spark grew weak. Our healers did their best to help him, but in the end the damage to his broken spark was too great. With his dying breath he held my servo and said to me… 'When the sun sets upon my last breath, let the brazens grow cold and darkness fall forever until the light from twin suns bring back the dawn.' Honoring his request, at the moment Hadeen set the spell was cast and the clouds covered the sky never allowing Hadeen to shine her radiant light upon us again.

Novaton felt his spark breaking, he couldn't believe that his sire would do such a thing to his own people, but then again like he knew Solarflare would do anything to protect his family, like his true sire did when he sent him down the Radon. "If that is true, then what was the cost that you mentioned earlier?"

"The price that is meant to be paid is that if the true heir doesn't return by the next full moon on their twenty-first creation day, then the darkness would truly remain forever with no hope of redemption. That is why you need to believe in what your dreams have and what your spark is telling you now, because if you don't…" Terminus didn't want to think about the rest.

The white mech's spark was in a state of panic; for the second time didn't know who to believe. One mech who had raised him since day one, for intents and purposes, and a mech he just met were telling him the same thing, that he was the lost heir of Kaon. Time seemed to freeze within Novaton, when before his optics, a blazing figure appeared before him; a silhouette of a dark grey, black and red mech that moved with him. When its optics opened, blazing red pitfire spilled forth; Novaton spoke to the figure who replied with silence. The figure held its servo out, apparently waiting for Novaton to respond.

When dark blue met black, pain exploded within Novaton. It felt as if he was on fire and that his armor was melting off his protoform. He looked down but only saw his own armor still on person. The figure finally spoke with a deep baritone voice, a voice that sounded a lot like Novaton's own, "You are more than you think, what you just felt is what is to come if you accept. You are who they say you are, I have existed within you since you where born. You can set me free, if you remember this name, 'Novatron'." Moments later blackness overtook his vision.

Novaton woke to Terminus staring over him with a worried expression. The white mech saw that he was no longer standing in the hallway he was before, instead he was in a berth. "Where am I?"

"You gave me a fright for starters and I had to carry you in here. Which by the way is my personal chambers; where I also tend to my patients in the room next door."

The younger mech looked around and saw that the shelves were lined with containers and bottle of all shapes and sizes. Some of the things he saw within them made him want to purge. "Alright then; what happened to me?"

"You dropped like a newborn zaphorse, which I still can't explain really; mind telling me about it?"

"All I remember is a figure that said he was me, but I can only set him free if I accept who I truly am and remember this name, Novatron; who are they?"

Terminus smiled, "That is one of the questions I have been waiting to hear; just not worded as I hoped it would be." The mage set a book down in front of him; a large, thick book with the same symbol that he saw on his pendant and the cape pin "I give you the History of the Kaonite Royal Family."