[Amanda]
"And that is time," Mr. Carlyle said. "Pencils down, and pass your papers up. Congrats on finishing your last high school exams, folks."
I let out a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding as I passed my exam booklet up to the front. From the desk across the aisle from me, Finn shot me a small, triumphant smile, making me shake my head. Of course he was smiling, he was acing calculus without an effort, while I had slaved over the formulas all of last night. I grabbed my supplies, shoving them into my satchel before grabbing my water bottle and standing to meet him.
"Well?" He asked as we walked out of the classroom.
"I saw the first question and wanted to cry," I admitted, and he gave me a surprised look, which made me laugh. "But the rest of it was fine. I'm so glad we went over the review last night though, or else I would have absolutely failed."
He smiled, lacing his fingers idly through mine. "The exam was pretty much the review, just different numbers. Besides, it wasn't too bad. I thought Carlyle was going to throw some curveballs, since we pissed him off last week."
"Wasn't too bad?" I gawked. "Easy for you to say, Einstein."
That got me a laugh and we walked out into the sunny midday, the heat at its finest. I groaned, shielding my eyes from the sun.
"I think this calls for a pool day," I declared. "Summer rest and relaxation officially starts today."
Finn smirked. "Is your pool even prepped for the season?"
"My pool is always prepped," I grinned and we made our way to the parking lot, where my Audi R8 was parked. I pulled out the keys and tossed them to Finn, who barely caught them as shock covered his expression, making me laugh. "What? You love Audis, so here's my graduation present for you; You get to drive."
His jaw dropped. "You're letting me drive your R8?"
"If you keep gaping, a fly will land in your mouth." I laughed.
The shock on his face passed, replaced by pure glee, and he scooped me into a quick kiss before climbing into the driver's seat. Shaking my head with a smile on my face, I got into the passenger side, tossing my satchel into the back. I leaned over and poked his cheek as he started the car.
"You're like a kid, you know that right?" I said, and he shrugged, still smiling.
"Hey, if it means I get to drive the Audi..."
I laughed again, thankful for moments like this that made me forget all my troubles. If only they could last forever...
~~~
Later that night, I sat on the couch in my living room, the fireplace on and a book from Cleona's atheneum in my hands. I'd been going through the books down there whenever I had the time, knowing that there were centuries of wisdom hiding in those pages. I'd read about Cybertron's mythology, which was mostly about the gods and goddesses, about how Cybertronian life worked, and I'd now begun to read about the old Champions of Cleona. There were hundreds of them, and they were documented in two different ways. First through the eyes of their scribe (which was something I was still learning about), and second through a general description that was collected in a single book. I was trying to power through the general book, since I didn't know exactly which champions I needed to focus on to learn the most.
The book was pretty massive, since each champion had a two page spread and there were hundreds of champions in total. Many of them had very brief descriptions, and I could see it was because they were killed shortly after becoming Cleona's champion, so they didn't exactly get a chance to do much. Others had extensive descriptions that barely fit on their pages.
Rubbing my eyes, I put the book down onto my lap and took a sip of tea, which had gone cold by now. The mansion was silent, the occasional whir of the database in the basement being the only sound. I took a deep, shaky breath and got the urge to go sit on my front porch. I'd been fighting urges like that all year, forgetting that Optimus wouldn't be standing on guard outside.
"What am I even doing?" I groaned, breaking my own silence. Truthfully, I didn't know. But I refused to stress myself even more over it. So I put my book aside, sunk low into the couch, closed my eyes and tried to sleep.
Unfortunately, I couldn't escape my dreams the same way I could escape my stress.
"Disgusting, how they revived that old simpleton," A Cybertronian- a femme- said, her voice echoing in the darkness. "It was so much easier to channel the chaos without his presence. And now there's his pathetic goddess as well."
"They are no match for us, Tempest," Another femme, but this one's voice sent violent chills down my spine. "My darling nemesis chose a human child as her champion." She laughed, causing me to flinch. "She has always been blinded by fate, now is no exception."
"Yet the fates foretold that this champion would be the most powerful."
"Please! You believe the prophecies of the fates, who they themselves are of myth and legend? I am a goddess, I am the goddess, and I do not hide behind myths to spread my influence, unlike those fates. Even Cleona knew there was only so much one could achieve through legends- why do you think she joined the Great War in the first place? Because the Prime begged?"
"Regardless, the fates have never been wrong. What's to stop them from being wrong this time?"
"You."
The scene shifted, and I wasn't standing in the darkness anymore. I was on Cybertron, but not the one I had visited lately. I stood in the middle of a battlefield, which was frozen mid battle. Bullets hung still midair, the blasts from explosions were unmoving, and Cybertronians around me were locked in position. I didn't recognize anyone, because their faces and bodies were almost blurred, as though I wasn't supposed to see who they were. I spun around, trying to find someone- anyone- I knew to help me out.
Then I saw the only Cybertronian who was crystal clear in my eyes. Optimus, in his pre-beast hunter form, stood in the middle of the battlefield, not frozen like the rest of the Cybertronians. He seemed to be deep in thought, as though lost in the memory, and didn't see me at all. His eyes were fixed on the horizon in front of him, glancing around at the violence surrounding us as sadness filled his expression.
"He comes here often," A familiar voice made me whirl around to see Cleona standing behind me. She was as beautiful as ever, a silver beacon in the fighting.
"Where am I?" I demanded. "Why is Optimus the only one who can move? What's going on?"
She cocked her head to the side, looking at me quizzingly. "Did you not wish to see your Prime, my dear?"
I frowned, looking over my shoulder at the sad Prime. "I did. But why here, when it obviously bothers him?"
"As I said," the goddess took a step towards me, making me fight the urge to step back. "He comes here often. He revisits his past battles, though I do not know why."
"You should," I shook my head, narrowing my eyes at her. "You've known Optimus for a long time. You should know exactly why."
She gave me a small smile. "I know you care for him, my dear, but you must let him go. I give you my word, he is where he wants to be."
"I can't just let him go."
"You have lost much, as I have. But holding on to the past will only hinder your ability to benefit the future. Cybertronians live long lives, but even they must fall, Primes included."
I shook my head, turning away from her to look at Optimus again. "I won't. That's not how I work. Not anymore."
"Then you have found your balance?" I didn't reply, so she continued. "Ah, so you are lost."
"Stop it," I snapped, not caring that it was a goddess I was talking to.
I didn't even notice her move until she was right next to me, her hand hovering over my shoulder. I fought the urge to flinch away. Then she reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, as though to soothe me.
"You do not know your purpose, my dear, but that does not mean that you are lost. It simply means that you are waiting for your next mission. Optimus used to face the same struggle every time he did not have a battle to fight. Rest assured, you will face challenges in the very near future, ones that will push you to become more."
I spun around. "What do you-" But before I could finish, everything was suddenly in motion again. For a split second, I was lost in the chaos as bullets flew by me and explosions scattered Cybertronians, the noise so loud it hurt. Then, massive blasts of golden dust filled the entire battlefield, making me lose sight of Optimus completely. The gold dust filled my lungs, making it impossible for me to breath. Coughing violently, I fell to my knees, unable to breathe or see anything. As darkness began to form at the edges of my eyesight, I willed my powers to surround me and block out the gold dust. The silver battled with the gold for a moment before silver coated my body. I channeled my powers across the battlefield, sweeping away the gold dust only to find that the field was barren.
"What-" I could barely form words, my eyes darting around to find something, anything, remaining from the battle.
"Ah, the chaos and war," A new voice, the one that I'd heard in the first part of my dream, said. "You know, I feed on it, little champion. It makes me stronger. While you pathetically worship truth and justice, two concepts that are subject to judgement, I embody principles that are present throughout the cosmos. You are weak, little goddess, and my champion will devour you the way she did your successors. She is coming for you, little goddess. She is coming."
I gasped, bolting upright. My chest rose and fell rapidly, making it almost impossible for me to actually breathe for a moment until I calmed down enough to get a hold of myself. I dropped my head into my hands. Nightmares like that had been haunting me a lot recently, but I'd never seen Optimus in them. That fact jarred my nerves, making me even more uneasy. Still, as usual, I had a seriously bad feeling that was just getting worse and worse.