Merry Christmas, everyone! Here's my early present to all of you guys!

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

Chapter 40: The Song Of The Sirens.

Several Days Later...

Sunstreaker groaned as he flew the Ark-27 across the Indian Ocean. He looked out the front window and saw nothing but water, water, and more water.

"We've been traveling for a day and still no sign of land," he moaned.

"It seems Captain Nemo did a good job picking an isolated location to build the Nautilus," Nightprowler noted. He and some of the other Autobots were on the bridge with Sunstreaker. The only ones absent were Hot Rod and Hound, who were spending time with Luke, Annabeth, and Thalia in their quarters. Apparently they were watching something called a "cartoon" named "The Last Airbender."

"Any updates, Ratchet?" Prowl asked.

"No," said Ratchet, who was currently on monitor duty. "Nothing but miles and miles of ocean, and nothing remarkable on the sea floor."

Optimus sighed. He seemed just as sick of the water as Sunstreaker was. "If I'd known we would be seeing this much water, I would have called in Seaspray," he murmured.

"What's he got that I don't?" Sideswipe asked who was spinning absent-mindedly on a nearby chair.

"How about more skill in the water than you?" Chromia pointed out.

"Yeah, but I'm better on the land."Sideswipe bragged, "That immediately makes me more qualified."

Ratchet turned and sat from the monitor to get a drink. "Everyone works better in different environments, Sideswipe…" he reminded him.

"There is one thing I'm better at," Sideswipe said.

"Yeah? What?" asked Ratchet as he prepared himself a drink of liquid energon from the nearby dispenser.

"You'll see," Sideswipe smirked.

Ratchet took a sip of his energon but the second the liquid hit his mouth, he spat it out and started coughing.

Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Chromia started laughing. Nightprowler and Prowl just stood there uncertain, and Optimus rushed over to Ratchet. "Ratchet? Are you okay!?" he asked, putting a hand on his friend's back.

Ratchet coughed a bit more before giving an angry glare at Sideswipe. "Did you spike the energon dispenser with rust!?" he accused

"Maybe," said Sideswipe teasingly.

Optimus crossed his arms and gave a stern look at the young bot. "Well, Sideswipe, just for that, you get overnight piloting duties."

"Hah!" laughed Sunstreaker. "Thanks, Sideswipe, you did me a solid."

Sideswipe for his part shrugged. "Totally worth it."

"Yep," Optimus muttered to himself. "Definitely should have called in Seaspray."

Sideswipe was beginning to rethink his claim that it had been "totally worth it" that night. While everyone else was nice and cozy in their recharge slabs (or, in their human friends cases, their beds), he was awake piloting the ship through nothing but miles and miles of water.

It was one of the most boring jobs he'd ever had.

"I wonder what it was like before I got here," Sideswipe muttered to himself. "Did it always get this boring? Aw, great. Swipe now you're talking to yourself."

Just then something started beeping on the monitor. Sideswipe turned to look at what the Ark-27's scanners were picking up. It looked like a decently sized island.

"Finally some land." Sideswipe thought to himself, relieved. "I don't think Prime will mind if I take a quick look there."

As the ship got closer, Sideswipe could see more and more of the island. Jagged rocks surrounded it.

"Dang," muttered Sideswipe. "I'll just fly over–"

Just then Sideswipe heard it. A beautiful, almost ethereal noise.

"Sideswipe..." the noise said. It sounded like the most wonderful song in the world

"Huh? Wha?" Sideswipe asked befuddled.

"Come on, Sideswipe, come here..." the voice called. "We're waiting for you."

Sideswipe looked out the window. The jagged rocks were gone. Instead, he saw Cybertron. It was all restored to its old self. He saw all his friends back home; he saw Sunstreaker!

Wait. No That didn't make sense. Sunstreaker was here, on the ship he couldn't be–

"Sideswipe, come on! You did it!" Sunstreaker called.

"I did!?" asked Sideswipe.

"You kept us all happy through the worst times! And because of that, we beat the Decepticons, we got the Allspark back, and saved Cybertron!"

All logical thinking vanished from Sidewipe's brain as he smiled the biggest smile ever. "I did?!" he asked.

"Now come on!" called Sunstreaker. "We're having a party! And you're the guest of honor!"

"I'm coming, Sunstreaker!" Sideswipe called back. "I'm coming!"

He pushed the ship's controls forward.

And then there was a massive CRASHing sound.

All the Autobots were jolted up from their recharge slabs as the crash reverberated across the ship. Hound jumped up; the impact caused Hot Rod to fall off his, and Chromia leaped up and grabbed her gun.

Similar Annabeth, Thalia and Luke were woken up by the massive impact. The three sat up from their sleeping bags.

"URG…" Annabeth groaned. "What's going on? Are the Decepticons attacking us again?"

"No, I don't think so…" muttered Thalia.

"Let's go see what's going on." Luke said.

The three sat up and found the other Autobots gathering in the hallway. They all looked super confused.

"URG," groaned Sunstreaker. "Who woke me up from my beauty recharge!?" he asked angrily as he clenched his fist.

"No idea," said Ratchet.

"Mhmm.. excuse me?, fellow Autobots?" Nightprowler spoke up nervously. He pointed at the floor; there was a massive rock jetting through the metal floor.

"What the!? How did?" Wondered Hound.

"We must have crashed." Hot Rod guessed.

"That doesn't make sense," said Optimus. "Sideswipe may be a bit immature but he'd never..." he trailed off when he saw Prowl. The white Autobot hadn't said a word and was staring blankly off into the distance.

"Prowl? Prowl!?" asked Chromia. "What's wrong!?"

"Yes, Prowl, answer us!" said Optimus

Prowl didn't answer; he just looked toward where the front of the ship was looking mesmerized.

"Do you guys hear that?" Asked Annabeth, rubbing her ears.

"Yeah, the song?" asked Ratchet. "What about–"

"Sideburn..." said Prowl in a voice that was wistful and full of hope.

Hot Rod looked in the direction Prowl was looking "Bluestreak?" he asked.

Ratchet suddenly got the same expression. "..Quickswitch?"

Thalia heard the noise too, and she started staring. "...Mom? Dad? Jason?" she asked.

Hound was about to ask who Jason was when he heard the noise and started staring too. "...What offer?" he asked

Luke's eyes widened. "Oh no!" he cried. "Everyone, cover your ears!" He quickly brought his hands to his ears and covered them.

"We don't...URG... have ears, Luke," Optimus said, but he said it awkwardly as if he were trying to fight off the noise himself.

"Then do whatever it is that you do to stop hearing things!" Luke shouted.

"RIGHT!" Optimus said, and he and Nightprowler quickly shut off their audio receptors. Annabeth covered her ears, but it was too late for everyone else, as they all started walking towards the front of the ship, excited and eager.

"Where are you going!?" asked Nightprowler.

No one seemed to hear them.

"STOP!" cried Optimus. He rushed forward and tried the bot closest to him, Hot Rod.

When Optimus's hand touched Hot Rod's shoulder for just a brief moment, the scenery around him changed. The halls of the Ark-27 vanished and were replaced by a familiar sight.

Cybertron.

Optimus looked and saw the Cybertornian City State of Praxus standing tall. He saw Bluestreak and several other natives of the city-state smiling and gesturing for Hot Rod to come.

And then it vanished in an instant; Optimus found himself inside the Ark-27 again. Hot Rod tossed Optimus's shoulder off of him and glared angrily at his leader.

Then he brought out his gun and shot Optimus.

It didn't hurt too much, but Optimus was so shocked by what Hot Rod just did that he staggered backward.

Hot Rod said something, but Optimus couldn't hear it, but from his mouth movements he could tell what Hot Rod had said to him.

"Don't stop me!"

"What's happening!?" asked Nightprowler as he watched everyone run off, but no one heard him.

Luke ran back into his chambers and grabbed some earbuds and a phone for extreme emergencies. He put the earbuds in his ears and played the loudest song he could think of. He grabbed another pair of earbuds and another phone and handed them to Annabeth

Annabeth still wasn't sure what was going on, but she followed Luke's lead, putting the earbuds Luke offered in and putting on a loud song.

Optimus and Nightprowler meanwhile followed the others to where they were going. It ended up being the bridge of the Ark-27. It had a huge hole in its window that Hound was currently jumping out of; Sunstreaker, Chromia, and Ratchet followed suit.

"What are you doing!?" Optimus demanded, but no one seemed to hear him. He could only watch as Ratchet went out the window. Before Hot Rod jumped out, he lifted up Thalia in his hand. The two were smiling the biggest smiles ever.

"Thalia, come back!" cried Luke as he ran in with Annabeth, but Thalia looked back at him with joyful tears in her eyes.

"Goodbye Luke, goodbye Annabeth... thanks for everything," she said. Then Hot Rod put her on his shoulder and they prepared to jump out.

"NO!" yelled Nightprowler. He leaped forward and pulled out his sword, stabbing Hot Rod in the back.

Hot Rod screamed in pain, and Thalia hit the floor. She looked at Annabeth and Luke who were racing over to her.

"What are you doing!?" Thalia screamed. Her tears of joy were replaced with tears of sadness. "I thought you were my friends!"

Annabeth brought out her knife and raced over to Thalia. She tried to jab her knife into Thalia's jacket, but Thalia grabbed Annabeth by the throat with an enraged expression.

"YOU WON'T TAKE THEM AWAY FROM ME AGAIN!" Thalia screamed. She squeezed, trying to strangle Annabeth.

Annabeth gasped and wheezed as Thalia's hand tightened around her throat.

"Thalia, stop!" yelled Luke. He raced over to Thalia and started working to pull the two apart. Thalia had an ironclad grip though.

"Sorry, Thalia," Luke muttered. He took his sword and scraped Thalia's leg. Thalia screamed in pain and released Annabeth from her grip. Then Luke conked her on the head with the butt of his sword, dazing her.

After finally breaking free from Thalia's grasp, Annabeth let out a deep breath and quickly rushed to her friend. Seizing the opportunity while Thalia was still dazed, she grabbed some spare rope that was lying nearby and, along with Luke, hurriedly tied her up.

Thalia cried and screamed. "NO! PLEASE!" she begged. Tears streamed from her eyes.

Luke's heart broke when he saw how sad and angry Thalia looked, but he knew they had no choice. "We're sorry, Thalia, but we're trying to help you!" Luke said.

"I HATE YOU!" screamed Thalia.

Annabeth huffed as she finished tying Thalia. "Thalia, what's gotten into–". The second she placed her hand on Thalia to hold her by the shoulder, she saw it.

She saw Olympus, shining and proud. She saw Zeus on his throne, but the throne next to him was occupied not by Hera but by a different woman. Somehow Annabeth knew this was Beryl Grace, Thalia's mom. There was someone else there, a blond boy a little younger than Thalia who was smiling.

By them was an empty throne, perfect for Thalia's size.

After the vision ended, Annabeth had an astonished expression on her face. She looked around and saw Optimus and Nightprowler restraining Hot Rod and doing something to the back of his head. Annabeth guessed they were turning off his audio receptors.

Once they finished, Hot Rod was still for a moment. Then his expression shifted, and he looked heartbroken. He whimpered, and Annabeth could tell if he could cry, his eyes would be pouring buckets.

Luke gestured to the window. Optimus nodded, and the five raced to the window, where they finally got a good view of what was happening.

Somehow, their ship had crashed onto some jagged rocks in front of a large tropical island. On the cliffs on the sides of the islands were vulture like beasts with the faces of women.

"Sirens…" Luke muttered even though he knew Optimus, Nightprowler and Hot Rod couldn't hear him.

Right now in the ocean, the other Autobots were swimming over to the island...

Optimus looked at Hot Rod, who still looked utterly devastated. He pointed at Hot Rod, then he pointed at Thalia, who was still tied up and crying on the floor.

Ordinary, Hot Rod would have wanted to help save the other, but this time he nodded. He knew Thalia needed him right now.

Optimus picked up Luke and Annabeth and placed them on his shoulders, and then he and Nightprowler moved to go out the window to try and stop the rest of the team. Hot Rod moved over to Thalia and sat down next to her.

He put a comforting arm around his friend. "It's okay Thalia," he assured. "It's gonna be okay."

And even though right now her heart was breaking and she desperately wanted to break out of these bonds to see her family again, Thalia was surprised that Hot Rod's words did feel comforting right now...

Optimus and Nightprowler walked out of the hole in the Ark-27 slowly and carefully. They watched as Ratchet, Hound, Sunstreaker, Chromia, and Prowl swam right towards the island, either dodging or barreling through the rocks.

Nightprowler focused. He raised his arm up, and a bridge of rock rose from the ocean floor. He then gestured for Optimus to go first.

Optimus made a wordless gesture to Luke and Annabeth to hang on before jumping onto the improvised bridge, with Annabeth, Luke, and Nightprowler following Optimus's lead and jumped on as well.

As they walked down the bridge following their companions, Optimus looked right at the mysterious bird creatures. As he looked at them, their heads and faces seemed to shift. Some took on the appearance of Elita One; others took the form of Ironhide, Ultra Magnus, or Jazz.

But the face they projected that haunted Optimus the most was Megatron's. But it wasn't the face of his arch-enemy; it was the face of the young gladiator he had found in the pits of Kaon who needed purpose in life…

"No," bemoaned Optimus as he swam forward. "What is this?"

Luke might have said something, but Optimus, of course didn't hear.

As they got closer, the bird women started looking apprehensive at the fact four people weren't under their spell.

The first of the hypnotized Autobots to hit the shores of the island's beach was Prowl. He got up on the shores of the beach and smiled the biggest smile ever…

And then one of the birdwomen swooped down and, with her talons out, flew straight towards Prowl.

Optimus thought fast. He brought out his ion rifle and fired it straight at the bird woman, heading straight for Prowl

The second the shot hit the creature, she was vaporized into gold dust in an instant.

All at once, everything seemed to stop. The bird women stopped singing and fell deathly silent.

The hyponotized Autobots froze just as they reached the shore. They all looked around with confused and heartbroken expressions.

"Wha..what?" muttered Chromia.

"Where…where…" stammered Ratchet "Where'd Quickswitch go?"

Prowl's heartbroken expression turned to anger. His fist clenched. "WHO DID THIS!?" he demanded, angrier than anyone had ever seen him.

The bird women let out a horrible screech, and they all flew towards the Autobots with gusto, their talons ready to kill.

"OH NO!" cried Sunstreaker. He bought out his rifle and started shooting.

Optimus, Nightprowler, Luke, and Annabeth raced toward the shores. "Autobots! Attack!" ordered Optimus as he fired more shots at the birds.

Despite the shock they'd just gone through, everyone leaped into action instantly. Nightprowler transformed into his snow leopard mode and pounced into action. He grabbed one of the bird women by the neck with his teeth. He bit down, and the woman vanished into a pile of gold dust.

Prowl let out a scream of pain and anguish and brought out his sword. The booster jets on his backwing doors ignited, and he flew in the air, slashing at the monsters.

As one of the women came at her, Chromia thought fast and punched her in the wing. "What in Primus's name are these things!?" she asked.

Luke grunted as he slashed his sword at one of the women as it headed towards him. "They're called Sirens!" he explained. "They lure sailors to their deaths by singing about what they want most!"

"Yeah, and they're also really nasty in a fight!" Annabeth said as she stabbed one that came right for her.

Hound shot one of the siren's out of the air before one landed on him. "I think we can see—" just then the siren that landed on him grabbed his optic by the talons and ripped it out. "THAT!" Hound screamed in pain.

"Hang on!" Ratchet shouted. He brought out one of his surgical knives and stabbed the siren in the back, dissolving it.

The Autobots kept fighting the creatures and it wasn't long before the flock started to thin.

"Keep it up!" Optimus commanded, "We've almost got—" He was interrupted by a SCREECH as one of the sirens lept right on his back and started clawing at it. Optimus was about to reach back and throw her off when Prowl flew over and sliced the siren in half.

"Thank you, Prowl," said Optimus.

Prowl said nothing. He just glared and looked angrily around the beach. "Where's the next one?" he asked, scowling.

"I think that's it, Prowl," said Chromia, looking around. The beach was deathly silent. The only sounds were the sounds of the waves crashing nearby.

"Too bad," muttered Prowl.

Annabeth gulped and looked at her friend. "Prowl, are you okay?" she asked.

"No," said Prowl crossly.

"Oh scrap!" Sunstreaker exclaimed. "Where's Sideswipe!?"

"Over here!" called a voice. It came from one of the openings on the cliff and sounded very weak.

Sunstreaker had a look of terror on his face and rushed over to the cliff and climbed up it as fast as a spider monkey. When he got to the opening, he found Sideswipe, his right arm, and left leg were ripped clean off, and he had several wounds in his chest.

"Stupid vultures ripped right into me." Sideswipe muttered. "I didn't even know it was happening because of..." he shuddered in horror.

"Hang on, bro," assured Sunstreaker. "We'll get out out of here…"

The Ark-27 was still crashed on the rocks, and the Autobots were gonna need to do quite a bit of work to make sure the ship was ready to start traveling again.

No one was in the mood yet. For now, everyone was in Ratchet's medical lab, tending to their injuries or sitting down and pacing anxiously. They all looked heartbroken and exhausted.

Thalia was out of the ropes by now, and she was crying silent tears. Hot Rod sat right next to her as Ratchet looked over the stab wound that Nightprowler had given him.

"I apologize for that…" Nightprowler said as he leaned against the nearby wall.

"Nah, it's cool," Hot Rod said blankly. "I deserved it for shooting Optimus... sorry about that boss bot."

"It is okay, Hot Rod." Optimus said understanding but tired. "You were not in the right mindset.

Thalia sniffed.

"So... are we gonna talk about it?" Sunstreaker asked as he helped Sideswipe put himself back together.

A moment of silence hung in the air.

"Yeah maybe… maybe it would help if we talked about it." Chromia agreed.

Hound as he sat back, waiting for his turn to get a new eye, let out a sigh. "I saw Earth; the war was over; I could finally settle down. Luke was inviting me to live at his mom's place with him…"

Luke looked over confused. "But…my mom's crazy…"

"Yeah, but I didn't want her to be..." Hound pointed out.

Luke paused and blushed. Part of Hound's greatest desire was for him.

"I saw Praxus." Hot Rod said mournfully. "It was rebuilt... shining, and I did it; I saved it. Bluestreak had his home city again, and it was because of me.

"What's Praxus?" asked Annabeth.

"My home city." Prowl said bitterly as he leaned on one of the tables in Ratchet's lab with Chromia on the other side with him. "It got firebombed and destroyed by the Decepticons... thousands died."

"What does that have to do with you, Hot Rod?" Annabeth asked.

Hot Rod closed his eyes and winced. "Because the day it got firebombed was the day I was having the time of my life in a championship race in my home city of Nyon," he explained as his voice broke.

"Oh, Hot Rod..." said Thalia.

"I joined the Autobots the next day…" Hot Rod added quietly

"I saw Sideburn," Prowl said. "He was alive. He was alive. It was him." As Prowl talked, his voice rose higher and higher, and he sounded more and more frustrated. "He was alive. And I beat Bludgeon and... GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Prowl screamed as he slammed his fists on the table and smashed some medical equipment.

"Prowl! I needed that!" Ratchet exclaimed.

Prowl didn't apologize. He just stood there, glaring angrily.

Annabeth turned to Thalia. "Thalia…who was the blond kid?" she asked.

Thalia was shaken out of her stupor and looked at Annabeth. "What blond kid?" she asked.

"The blond kid next to your parents on Olympus..." Annabeth asked.

Thalia blushed. "You...you saw that?" she asked.

"Yeah, I did," said Annabeth. "Who was he?"

Thalia looked away. "I don't wanna talk about it," she muttered.

"Is his name Jason?" Asked Annabeth. "You mentioned that name earlier."

Thalia froze.

Luke walked up to her. "Are you keeping something from us, Thalia?" he asked.

"I don't wanna talk about it." Thalia repeated.

"It's okay, Thalia." Luke said. "We're here for you."

"Thanks…" Thalia said but she didn't smile.

No one did. They all just sat there in misery.

"So um…" Sideswipe muttered. He sat up and pointed up at the sky. "I think we all learned an important lesson here," he declared.

"What's that?" asked Annabeth.

"Never punish me again.' Sideswipe said. "From this point forward. I suggest that I, Sideswipe, be exempt from all–"

"No," said Optimus, trying to be stern but failing because he couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm being serious!" Sideswipe said in a tone that indicated he wasn't being serious at all. "So many problems would be solved if we just let me get away with being a stupid jokster!"

Everyone started giggling, except for Prowl, who did smile a bit.

"I should be allowed to shoot energon pies at anyone, whenever I want, with no consequence!" Sideswipe added as he strained to keep a straight face. "After all! I fail to see how getting a good meal is a punishable offense."

"How about the time you slammed one into my face when I was helping Wheeljack test out his new invention?" asked Hot Rod, giggling uncontrollably.

"Ah, that base needed a back door anyway." Sideswipe argued.

"Wait what!?" asked Thalia with laughing disbelief.

"I know!" Hot Rod laughed. "You should have seen the look on Ironhide's face!"

"You know, Sideswipe's got a point, guys." Ratchet added. "He does make a good energon pie."

By this point, everyone besides Prowl couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out into laughter, and even he couldn't help but smile a bit at the whole thing. The harrowing experience momentarily forgotten about, as everyone just let themselves have this moment.

So much like the Orthus from earlier, I like to think there are multiple islands of the Sirens in my world. The one in the Sea of Monsters is just the most well-known one.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to leave a review! And Merry Christmas!