The Power Within - Transformers Prime (2)

Chapter Nine

~~

  "Where are you hiding, little goddess? Hiding behind your Prime? He cannot save you now. You will belong to us, it is only a matter of time. We will get our revenge on the goddess who wronged us. We will get out revenge on you!"

  Hands reached towards me-

  Closing in on me-

  "Enough!"

  I gasped, sitting up straight, and noticed the scene around me was moving, causing me to panic slightly.

  "Amanda, are you alright?" Optimus' concerned voice filled my ears and it all came back to me. 

  We're driving. Optimus was taking me to that place he talked about in the morning. I finished my homework and must have dozed off.

  Taking a deep breath, I calmed myself down and took a drink out of my water bottle before replying. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

  "What happened?" he didn't sound convinced.

  I shook my head. "It was nothing. I just..."

  "Had another nightmare?"

  "A little one." I chewed on my lip and told the Prime what had happened. He did say anything for a long moment, his engine being the only sound, which made me blurt, "What are you thinking about?"

  "I feared this would happen." He said, not really answering my question.

  "Optimus, what are you talking about?"

  Another pause. "Cleona had many enemies, most of which were banished from Cybertron eons ago and cast out across the universe, but I fear they may have awakened with the rising of Unicron."

  "How is that even possible? Unicron is here, those other guys are all over the place."

  "Unicron is the personification of chaos, his near awakening would have been felt by those who worship him almost the way you felt it, though far less painful. Then, not long after this, Cleona chose you to be her champion and her powers were reawakened. All of this activity attracts attention, the wanted and unwanted. It would seem whoever is sending you these dreams is the unwanted and is attempting to locate you."

  That's not good.

  "What do we do?" I asked.

  "There is not much we can do." He admitted. "At the moment you are still safe and not found by the creatures of chaos searching for you. But, once they do come, they will not harm you, Amanda. Not while I still function."

  I looked out the window, watching the rolling hills and trees go by. "Thank you, Optimus." I said, my tone low.

  He didn't reply but I knew he heard me. At this point we had been driving for two hours, making me wonder why we didn't just ground bridge to the place. When I asked Optimus this, he said it was because the location was not even to be seen by the other Autobots, which made me even more unsure about the place. But I trusted his judgement, so we kept driving for another ten minutes before he turned off the side road and onto a dirt path surrounded by massive trees even taller than the Prime himself. I clutched the door handle to keep me in my seat as we bumped along the unpaved road, only stopping once we came across a small river. I climbed out and Optimus transformed, his head barely reaching the top branches of the trees around us.

  I scanned the area, taking in the sights. The river in front of my feet wasn't very wide, just the length of three strides, and beyond that was a massive boulder that was half Optimus' size. I turned around, looking up at the Prime.

  "Why'd we just spend two hours driving out here for?" I asked. "There are lots of nice, nature-y places around Jasper."

  He shook his head. "Take a walk around. You will see why this place is different."

  I made a face, which got an amused smile in return, so I turned back to the area in front of me. The water in the river rushed by as I found rocks in it to use as stepping stones to avoid getting my pants wet, and I hopped across the rocks.

  Sure this place is nice, but why here?

  "There is more to be seen, my dear."

  Cleona?

  Without realizing it, I had walked forward and was now standing directly in front of the boulder. As if some other force was compelling me to do so, I reached out and placed my hand on the rough surface. Once I did, I felt a tug at my powers and the area around my hand lit up silver before a rumbling noise filled my ears. I stumbled back as the surface of the boulder slid down, revealing a passageway big enough for even Optimus to fit in comfortably. The passageway was dark and ramp-like, leading down into the earth. I looked back at Optimus, unsure.

  "Is this-?" I started.

  "Yes." He nodded. "I will follow you."

  Biting my lip again, I walked into the passageway, hearing Optimus behind me as we descended farther and farther from the surface. The sunlight was soon replaced by a faint, blue glow from the walls as we went deeper into the passage. Finally, I spotted a brighter light at the end of the passage and hurried forward to see where it lead to. Once I got to the end, I gasped, unable to grasp what I was seeing in front of me.

  Optimus stepped forward, walking to stand right beside me. "Welcome to the Atheneum of Cleona."