Annabeth

I approached Soundwave after his twins scared the daylights out of me, wanting to ask him something.

"Hey, Soundwave?"

"Greetings, Annabeth Chase."

"Would you follow me?"

"Affirmative."

I walked down to the Cave of the Oracle, hoping Rachel had got my message. I'll admit, it felt weird to be leading a giant alien robot from another universe, but oh well.

I decided to strike up a conversation with him, considering it would be a bit of a walk to the Cave.

"So... Soundwave. What kind of music do you like to play? I'm guessing it's rock, right?"

"Negative. I primarily play 80's metal."

"Oh, you like stuff from the 80s?"

"Affirmative, as that was the time I and the other cybertronians came back online while on Earth."

"Wait, 'came back online'? What do you mean by that?"

"We had landed on my universe's Earth in the prehistoric era, however the crash knocked all of us offline. A volcanic eruption in the 80s brought the ship, and us, back online."

"Oh, okay. Did you guys particularly like the 80s culture?"

"Not many Decepticons took interest in Earth culture. I was one of the few who did."

"Wait, what's a Decepticon?"

"The Deceticons is the faction I am part of."

"Okay, and I take it they don't much care for Earth culture?"

"Negative. The main three who actively took interest in human culture are myself, Knockout, and Thundercracker. I took interest in Earth music, Knockout became an enthusiast of human automobiles, and Thundercracker admired human pop culture."

"Oh, that's nice."

We continued walking, but it didn't take us long to hit a snag in our trip; Soundwave couldn't fit through the forest without knocking over a few trees. I personally didn't want to upset the dryads, and I'm pretty sure Soundwave understood this, as he stopped at the edge of the forest.

"I cannot go further without causing considerable damage to the forest."

"Yeah, I know. Can you, I don't know, transform into something... smaller?"

"Negative, as my alternate mode is an automobile, however..."

A voice behind said, "I can do this."

I twirled around to face the sudden voice. I saw a young man, about 20 or so, standing behind me. He was tall, and wore a blue jacket with a black shirt underneath, along with grey jeans and blue sneakers. I looked up at his face, and almost immediately noticed he wore a silver face mask and a red visor. Then, I noticed his hair was blue, and he was very pale.

I was about to draw my weapon when he said, "Do not be alarmed. This is merely my holomatter projection."

"What the- holomatter projection? What's a holomatter projection?" I asked, turning around to look at Soundwave.

He simply answered, "A holomatter projection is simply a projection of solid-light, used to mimic forms we are unable to properly assume."

"Wow, okay. That's kinda impressive. Anyways, just, follow me."

"Affirmative."

With his holomatter form making going through the forest much more convenient, it wasn't that difficult to get to the Cave. Once there, Soundwave immediately went to pull the curtain open for me, motioning for me to go in first. I'll admit, it was kinda surprising to have him regard me so highly, but I appreciated his politeness nonetheless.

I walked in, Soundwave following close behind. There, I saw the sight I wanted: Rachel mulling over scrolls.

"Hey, Rachel." I called out.

She quickly turned around and smiled upon seeing me. She greeted, "'Sup Annabeth?"

"I'm doing good. Thanks for asking."

"That's nice. So, you wanted me to meet the alien, right?"

"Yep. Rachel, meet Soundwave."

Rachel looked around, and seemed confused. "And.. where is he? 'Cause all I'm seeing is you and some guy, and you said there'd be a giant robot."

"Rachel, you are looking at the giant robot. He's the guy in blue."

Rachel seemed a bit caught off guard, finally regarding Soundwave's holomatter form. "Wait, this is the giant robot? Wow, either you're throwing the term 'giant' at any guy taller than you, because he honestly stands about a head taller than everyone in camp, or he can really compress."

Soundwave interjected, "Technically, this is only a projection of my conscious in an artificial holomatter form."

"And... that means?"

"It's like a hologram, but physical." I explained.

"Oh, okay. Anyways, you guys wanted to talk?"

"Yes. I wanted to ask if the Oracle gave you any insight into the Dreamer, if any. I want to help Soundwave figure out who it is."

"Okay. I think it'd be smart for Soundwave to list what he knows, then I can talk about anything I may know. So, big guy, what do you know about the Dreamer?"

"My predecessor told me few things about them. Mainly, that they are very strange, and would be easy to recognize once I saw them."

"And, he meant?" Rachel inquired.

"He did not really describe them much, only that they will be able to help me find out my past."

"He didn't tell you anything?" I asked.

"Unfortunately, he did not. I apologize."

"Oh, don't. Not your fault he didn't tell you anything."

"Affirmative. Thank you for your time, Rachel Elizabeth Dare."

"No problem, blue guy. See you around, Annabeth."

I got up to walk to the exit, turning around to respond, but I ended up tripping on something.

"See you, Rache- agh!"

Rachel checked on me, "Annabeth, are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. What the Hades did I trip on?"

"This." Soundwave answered, holding up what looked like a sheathed knife.

"What is that?" I asked as Soundwave handed the knife to me.

I turned it around in my hand to see it from all sides. It looked old, and I mean really old. But it didn't look like anything I had ever seen before. I couldn't pinpoint for the life of me where it cane from.

It was also big. The handle looked normal in Soundwave's hand, but that was because his holomatter form was tall. In my hand, it looked oversized.

The handle was wrapped in leather, and it had a golden pommel. I unsheathed the knife to find a large blade, about the size of a plate. The blade was etched with strange markings that glowed green for some reason. The gold on the handle extended up the blade, which slightly curled back.

I was turning it around when the pommel popped open. Inside was a glowing green stone. I took it out to examine it, and the blade stopped glowing when I removed it. I could clearly tell it was magic, but had no idea what it did.

I placed the stone back into the pommel and closed it, the green glow returning to the blade. I put the sheath on, hung it from my hip, and decided to ask Chiron about it.

"Huh, strange. I spend almost all of my time here yet never noticed that. I wonder where it came from."

"Regardless of the origin of the weapon, I can use my scanners on my actual body to try to identify it."

"Well, anyways, let's go back. It's almost time for dinner."

"Affirmative. Farewell, Rachel."

"Bye, waveman."

I walked over to the exit, making sure to watch my step, and Soundwave pulled the curtain open for me. Walking back through the forest, when we got to where Soundwave's actual body was, the holomatter projection shimmered and dispersed. At the same time, Soundwave, in his actual body, resumed walking by me. That was when we heard the monsters.