I don't own Transformers or the Riordanverse; they belong to their owners.

Also this chapter contains several instances of canon dialogue from the book Lost Hero. All credit to that dialogue goes to the original writer, Rick Riordan.

Chapter 21: I Have a Heart to Heart with My Mom.

After the incident with Midas, I told Leo and Jason about the dreams I'd been having about my dad being kidnapped. I was so worried they'd see me as a traitor or a spy, so it was a real relief when they were totally understanding about the situation.

We ended up finding Thalia and the rest of the Hunters of Artemis soon afterward. She and Jason had a pretty nice reunion.

What was not nice was meeting Aeolus in his castle. Guy was a little crazy, if you know what I mean.

Luckily, we got some help from his assistant, Mellie. She was pretty cool, if a bit flighty; then again, she was an air-nature spirit.

The whole mess with Aeolus ended with us being jetted across the sky after finding out where my dad was; the experience of being pushed through the sky was so intense I blacked out.

While I was out, I dreamed I was with my dad and Thundercracker. Last year, Dad was considering selling Grandpa Tom's old cabin, so me and Thundercracker came along to help. I wasn't sure who would want to buy a run-down cabin, but Dad insisted.

We ended up camping outside of it, looking at the stars.

It was weird; it was the most normal thing me and dad had done in a long time, and we were sharing the moment with a giant alien robot, and he didn't feel out of place at all.

"Grandpa Tom used to say those Greek patterns are a bunch of bull." Dad laughed, and he told us a story about how they were "actually" creatures with glowing fur and how one day some hunters caught them by accident, so they were forced to release them into the sky.

"Your father sounds like a good man," Thundercracker said wistfully.

"The best..." Dad said sadly, "Did you know he was the one who named Piper?"

"He was?" Thundercracker asked.

Dad nodded, and he told Thundercracker the story he told me when I had gotten teased for sharing a name with an airplane. That even when I was a baby, I had a powerful voice. Grandpa Tom suggested the name Piper because of that and said that I would learn all the Cherokee songs; I would end up being the best musician in the family.

I felt a pang of guilt. I hadn't exactly gotten around to learning any songs, let alone Cherokee songs, quite yet.

We talked a bit more after that. It was a nice talk.

"...You're not really gonna sell this place are you?" I guessed after a while.

Dad sighed, "No. No, I'm probably not."

The dream shifted; Thundercracker and Dad were gone, and I was no longer on the grass outside the cabin but on top of the roof of it. I was still lying down and looking at the stars. Someone different was beside me, though.

"It's a nice night tonight," Jason said.

"The best," I murmured happily as I took his hand in mine.

We just sat there, interlocked together.

"You wanna dance?" I asked.

"On a rooftop?" Jason laughed, "With no music? Sounds dangerous."

"I'm a dangerous girl."

"That, I can believe."

We stood up, hand in hand, and slow danced for a bit before he took me in his arms and kissed me...

"Oooo. Seems we have a crush, do we?"

I swerved around and saw a woman standing before me. The woman was gorgeous—shoulder-length hair, a graceful neck, perfect features, and a nice figure contained in jeans and a snow-white top.

"Mom," I said quietly.

"Hello, Piper," Aphrodite said. "It's good to finally meet you in person."

The environment around us shifted, and we found ourselves back in Medea's old department store. The one me, Jason, and Leo had blown up.

"Care to spend some mother-daughter time together?" Aphrodite-Mom asked, "I love a good shopping spree."

I shuffled my feet nervously. "I, um, I don't really do fashion." I muttered.

"Nonsense! There's something for everyone!" Mom insisted, and she guided me around the store looking at clothes.

"Is there a reason you're talking to me?" I finally asked.

"Well, if anyone asks, I was never here. Zeus and his dumb lockdown..." she muttered. "I'm sorry to pull you out of that other dream; that Jason boy seems quite nice."

I gave a soft smile, "Yeah, he is.".

We talked a little about what we had discovered on our quest. That the doors of death had opened, and someone was pulling the worst of the worst back into the world of the living.

Eventually, I had to pull the topic back to something else: "...Dad thought you were perfect." I said, my voice quavering, "He never got over you."

Mom's gaze became distant. "Yes... Tristan was one of a kind. Funny, handsome, charming, and yet he had so much sadness inside."

"Could we not talk about him in the past tense?"

"Oh, you know what I mean," Mom said as she inspected another dress. "But I am sorry, Piper. It's always hard for me to leave my lovers..." she said sadly. "It's one of the great paradoxes of being the goddess of love."

"Paradox?" I asked.

"It's in my nature to love, to fall in love, and to love with my heart," Aphrodite explained, "but as a goddess, it's also in my nature to leave and move on..."

"Oh..." I said. I couldn't imagine what that was like.

"I'm sorry I left you alone, Piper, but if Tristan realized who I was—"

"Wait, he didn't know you were a goddess?"

"Of course not!" Mom sounded a little offended. "I wouldn't do that to him. For most mortals, the truth is too hard to accept. Ask your friend Jason; his mother was destroyed when she fell in love with Zeus!"

Mom sighed, "No child; it was much better he think that I was a mortal woman who left him with no explanation. Better a bittersweet memory than an unobtainable goddess..."

She took something off the shelf and handed it to me. "This is one of Medea's kinder mixtures; it erases only recent memories."

"Wait. Do you want me to use this on Dad?" I asked.

Mom nodded.

"Why?"

"Your father isn't ready, Piper." Mom explained, "Your father fears he's shut off an important part of himself. He's denied the ancient stories of the past, and he fears they are real at the same time."

I remembered what Dad had told me and Thundercracker during our studies on Greek mythology: "They're fun to tell and read about Thundercracker," he said, "but if I really believed in them, I don't think I could sleep at night. I'd just be looking for someone to blame."

"And now he's found out the worst possible way..." I finished, I could only imagine the torture that giant must have put him through.

"Yes," Mom said. "One day he will be ready. To be able to accept the truth. But for now, he should get some relief."

"I understand." I finished sadly, pocketing the mixture.

Aphrodite went back to looking through clothes. "Thundercracker was right, you know, you have a strong will."

"Thanks..." I murmured.

"I've never been given much credit among the gods. They see me as conceited and shallow, and perhaps I am!" She ended her statement with a laugh.

"Some of your kids sure are," I noted.

"True, true, but love and beauty come in different forms. Some just make the mistake of thinking material beauty is the only one that matters..." Mom looked sad again. "That's the mistake another daughter of mine made several years ago."

I wondered who that daughter was, but Mom kept talking.

"The point I'm making, Piper, is that love is the most powerful motivator in the world. It spurs mortals to greatness; the noblest and bravest acts are done out of love."

"Like Helen starting the Trojan War?"

"I still get flak for that..."Mom muttered, "But Paris and Helen made a cute couple. I'm glad you found Katopris, by the way."

"Love is powerful, Piper." She continued, "It can even bring the gods to their knees... I told this to my son Aeneas when he fled Troy."

"And he became the forebearer of Rome," I finished.

Aphrodite gave me a smile, "Exactly. But do you know another aspect of love that's admirable?" she asked.

I shook my head.

"It can change a heart; it can redeem."

I stared off into space when I heard that.

"You're talking about Thundercracker, aren't you?" I asked.

"He's not the same bot he was when he first met your father, Piper." Mom told me, "Granted, he was already different from most Decepticons, but before, he was content to just do things without question. Accept the bottom line of his orders, no matter what. He had doubts, but he knew to push them aside. You helped him open his mind and be more willing to question what he was being told to do."

"But...he's been a part of so much bad." I pointed out.

"So have I." Mom admitted.

"Oh, yeah," I muttered.

"Piper, one of the things you learn when you're the age I am is that the longer you live, the more complicated life and morality can be." Mom explained, "And some of the Transformers are far older than we are."

That was kind of surreal to think about, honestly.

"You two make a good pairing." Mom said, "The prophecy called you the Dove, I guess that makes him the Hawk. I knew I made a good choice bringing you three together."

My head jolted up when I heard that, and my eyes widened. "You—you're the reason I met Thundercracker!?"

Mom nodded. "I saw him one day in San Francisco, and I decided to give him a little nudge in the right direction. One staged accident on set, and your father had a new friend."

"But...why him?" I asked, "Why a Decepticon!? Why not an Autobot!?"

"Well, for one, he was a huge fan of your dad's work." Mom laughed, "And he was so much like you and Tristan. Alone in his own world, not sure of who he was. I had a feeling you three needed each other, and I was right."

My eyes started watering. "Then... I was wrong." I cried, "I shouldn't have blown up at him; I shouldn't have pushed him away..."

Mom leaned down and placed her arms on my shoulders to comfort me. "No, Piper," she said. "You had a right to be angry; he kept the truth from you for far too long. All families fight, all families make mistakes, and all families get angry at each other. There's no shame in that."

I sniffed, "When this is over, I need to apologize to him." I muttered.

Mom looked sad when I said that. "Apologize. That's not a word we Olympians use often," she muttered wistfully.

I rubbed my eyes. "Thanks." I said. I didn't need to say what for.

We talked a bit more after that about the enemy we were about to face. Not just the giant Enceladus but his mother Gaea.

It couldn't last forever, though.

"Farewell, my child." Mom said, "Stay strong, find your own path, and please enjoy the clothes I picked out for you."

"What clothes?" I asked.

Before mom could answer, I woke up.

I woke up at a table at a sidewalk cafe. I could tell by the sights around me that I was back in California. When I looked down at myself, I sighed, "Mom!" I shouted.

Somehow she had changed me, Leo, Jason, and Coach Hedge's clothes while we were asleep. Leo was in a pair of suspenders, Jason was back in his purple T-shirt he'd been wearing when we first met him, Hedge was in a Zoot suit of all things, and I was in a turquoise dress I had seen in me and Mom's "Shopping Spree," as well as a snowboarding jacket.

No. Not just a snowboarding jacket; it was my old one that I had been wearing right before I got claimed. Aphrodite had given it back to me.

Maybe Mom wasn't so bad after all.

I ended up shouting louder than I meant to and woke everyone else up.

After sorting out the current state we were in, it was time to get down to business.

It was time to rescue my dad.

From Aeolus, we had learned dad was being held captive at Mount Diablo, so that's where we were headed.

We finally found the clearing where Enceladus was keeping Dad; it was a forested depression about the size of a football field, and various construction equipment was scattered around the area.

In the middle of the clearing sat a purple bonfire, and right next to it was a stake with someone tied up to it.

"Dad," I sobbed.

Even though I was hidden far away, I could tell Dad was in bad shape. He looked half-dead.

For the first time in my life, I wished I was in one of his stupid movies. I wished this was some heroic action scene where I'd help Dad break free and he'd single-handedly take on the bad guys as the music swelled.

I also got a glimpse of what would be our main villain for the evening, Enceladus. He was a muscled man about the size of Thundercracker with reptile legs.

"So what's the plan?" Jason asked.

"We fight him!" Hedge suggested, "Four of us and one of him!"

"Did you miss the fact he's as big as a Transformer?" Leo asked.

"Okay," Hedge said. "Then you, me, and Jason distract him, and Piper frees her dad."

"I hate to say it, but Hedge is right," Jason said. "A distraction would be the best chance you have here, Piper."

I nodded and snuck off to the side as Jason Leo and Hedge went to attack the giant directly.

"Let the movie star go, you big ugly cupcake!" Shouted Hedge as he charged, "Or I'll plant my hoof right up your-"

"Coach!" Jason said as he flipped his coin into its javelin form, "Shut up."

Enceladus laughed; he seemed pleased we had shown up. He brought out his flagpole-sized spear and moved toward his attackers.

I looked away; I needed to focus on getting to my dad before I got spotted. I could hear my friends fighting for their lives, and it took everything I had not to look up and join the battle.

Just as I was about to reach Dad, a voice sent chills down my spine.

"I see you, Piper McLean!" Enceladus shouted. He opened his mouth and breathed fire in my direction. I barely managed to dodge out of the way.

I gazed into the terrible eyes of the monster who had kidnapped my dad. "Crap," I muttered.

"Don't worry, Piper, I will let him go." Enceladus said calmly, "As was the terms we laid out in your dreams, all you have to do is swear your loyalty to me."

"Forget it!" I shouted, "You'll never take away the people I love!". I meant it too. I hadn't come all this way to join the bad guys.

Enceladus sighed, "I'm so disappointed; you could have been so useful to us. But I guess we have to do this the hard way." He snapped his fingers, and out of the forest, a bunch of ogres with six arms each came out.

"What are those things!?" Leo asked who, by this point, was standing by a nearby bulldozer.

"Gegenees," I answered as I drew my dagger, "otherwise known as Earthborn. Six armed giants who fought the first Jason..."

"Yes indeed," Enceladus said, "and not only are they good with construction equipment-"

"Vroom vroom!" One of them bellowed as if it was some kind of chant.

"Yes, that..." Enceladus said, "They also have a score to settle with heroes. Especially anyone named Jason."

"Oh boy..." muttered Jason.

"Tear them apart!" Enceladus shouted.

Everything happened at once after that: Jason charged Enceladus, Leo bolted for a nearby forest harvester, I ran for my dad, and Hedge... had been knocked out during the initial fight with Enceladus. Go figure.

I was about to reach Dad when an Earthborn popped up right before me. Several others began to surround me.

I stabbed one in the chest with my dagger and watched it dissolve into mud. I tried to get to Dad, but the Earthborn kept swarming me. I couldn't get close enough.

One of the Earthborn grabbed me by the neck and started choking me out. I tried to fight him off, but it was getting harder and harder to breathe. Everything started to go black.

This is it... I thought I failed. I'm sorry, Dad...

That's when a massive boom erupted all around us. All the Earthborn screamed in pain and were knocked backward. Even Enceladus seemed taken aback because he covered his ears and grimaced. "What is this!?" he howled.

The Earthborn holding me released their grip, prompting me to swiftly kick them forward before plunging my dagger into their gut.

I looked around; I'd heard that boom before. I heard the thud of something big landing behind me and looked up.

"Thundercracker!?"

"Flying Vroom Vroom?" An Earthborn asked.

This is another chapter where I feel a little guilty because I skimped out on the canon stuff. Like I said back in Chapter 16, I don't want to just repeat what the original novel said too much, and I want to focus more on the new stuff involving Piper and Thundercracker. I hope you all understand.