Chapter Text
Attention! Prima Prime has married Zeta Prime. May Primus bless this union and all of Cybertron.
The first and last of the Primes, united by the sacred rites of the conjux, to restore to the planet some of the peace and stability that had been taken from them by death and betrayal.
The tragedy began a cycle after the destruction of the Quintessons, when Megatronus Prime, once considered the strongest, became corrupted by his lust for power. In a fit of pure rage, he attempted to assassinate Zeta Prime to regain the leadership matrix.
He should have been publicly executed for his crimes. Still, due to the young Prime's great affection for Megatronus and Prima's furious intervention, he was stripped of his title and exiled to the surface, abandoned in the darkest and most deserted part of the planet. Without Energon, he soon died.
Prima almost went mad at losing his beloved, so he took the High Guard to bring Megatronus back, not caring that he was also considered a traitor. But Zeta wasn't willing to lose anyone else, no matter the cost.
—You've lost your mind— Solus slammed her servo directly into the Prime's faceplate
—You can't do this, Zeta.
-Do you think I would consider this option if it wasn't necessary?
Solus held Zeta's chest, denting the metal between her fingers.
—Explain to me how washing his processor is our best option.
-Because he loves him! He doesn't care what he's done to me, his spark belongs to Megatronus, don't you see how dangerous that is? He tried to escape, the High Guard had left driven by his orders, and Cybertron is divided and defenseless! This is no time for us to be weak, let alone fighting among ourselves!
Zeta looked at her indifferently, though inside he was trying to hold back a sea of tears that wanted to come out. Solus couldn't hold his gaze, so she turned away to address her other companions, who had decided not to participate in their little quarrel. They were all hurt by the betrayal, but their emotions were insignificant compared to the general feeling of their people. Solus was tired of holding back like this.
—You don't want to argue? Fine, let's do this like the civilized bots we are. All in favor of frying Prima's brains, raise your servo, all against, keep it down.
The room fell into an overwhelming silence. Whenever they made decisions together, it was always for the common good, not to decide about one of them. It was suffocating.
Zeta was the first to raise his servo, and after him many more rose, the spark of Solus Prime pressed hard in her chamber, and she felt her tanks churning.
Seven votes in favor and only four against. Solus left the site, followed by Alpha Trion and Alchemist Prime. The identity of the other Prime who voted with them was never revealed.
A few hours later the group prepared for the surgery. The shadow play was not a sophisticated procedure. Being a relatively new technique, only a few bots knew how to execute it, and the risks were too high. There was a huge possibility of damaging the essential elements of the processor, things as the optical receptors or the sensitivity of the extremities.
—Prima has already given his consent, it will be done whether you like it or not.
—Save your words Quintus— The Primes were behind a glass wall watching Prima go into stasis and the doctors working, they were supposed to be there to oversee the procedure and make sure no one tried to sabotage it, but to Solus, it tasted like pure waste.
—Consent? Don't make me laugh, he's a bot who just lost his twin spark, he's practically in mourning. He's not thinking clearly.
—His mind is clear enough to know what's best for Cybertron— Zeta appeared, interrupting the conversation, to which Solus responded with a frown and a half turn toward the exit.
—Where are you going?
—I will not stand by and watch my friend's wires get crossed and mutilated. I'm moving my things into his bedroom, I'll be the one taking care of him when this madness is over.
—I think that's an excellent idea," Quintus said, trying to ease the tension.
—I didn't ask for your opinion. This is going to happen whether you like it or not.
She slammed the door to the medical wing, only to collapse behind it. She wanted to stay and hold Prima's servo, but she couldn't bear to see him torn apart like that. She didn't want to imagine what Zeta must have said to him to get him to agree, but she could imagine that it was easy to manipulate him in his vulnerable state. She also wondered why Prima hadn't told her, they were best friends and she never realized Prima's love for Megatronus, how could Zeta have known?
—My lady— a familiar voice called out to her
—Sentinel— she wiped the few drops that covered her faceplates
—What's wrong?
—We have a problem
Remnants of the Quintesson army had managed to gather and escape to Luna 2 and were preparing to take revenge for their fallen comrades. With no Guard, the Primes had to take the problem into their servos.
—I'll be back Prima, I promise— Solus left a kiss on his friend's head, who would remain in stasis for at least another three days while his processor reset —We'll bake cookies together and you can tell me what happened
—Solus. It's about time—
Standing by the door, Zeta remained stoic in the face of Solus' attitude, someone had to be the voice of reason in this situation and not be carried away by vain sentimentalism.
—I heard you, Zeta. You said he would be fine.
—Sentinel and I will take care of him. It's my way of showing you I take responsibility for my actions.
The blue and gold attendant entered the room, bringing with him some Energon cubes, which he placed on the service table, where he took a seat -I will not move from here, my lady and I will let you know as soon as he wakes up. I swear on my spark.
—Thank you, Sentinel, knowing you are here makes me feel more at ease.
—Let's go now.
— As soon as I get back, you'll never go near him again. Never
Solus glared at Zeta and left, ready to board the ship that would take them to their small moon, asking Primus to watch over their journey and lead them to victory. Cybertron, Prima, and herself had to live in peace. She would not let her spark die before they achieved that.
Time passed and Prima finally woke up, but no one on the Primes' ship received any transmissions.
—You woke up...— Zeta felt as if a huge stone he had been carrying on his back had finally disappeared, releasing the tension he felt and letting him breathe.
Prima was too disoriented, he felt a terrible pain all over his body and his helmet was too heavy.
—What happened? Where am I? The Quintessons, they…
—Calm down, calm down. It's over, we won the battle, is that your last memory?
Prima tried to open his memory files, but it hurt. An electric spark ran through him from his helmet to his lower half, and a frightening white noise flooded his ear canals. It sounded like static from a failed transmission, but he couldn't tell.
—Zeta, what happened?— the white noise was fading but he still heard a silent beep in the back of his mind.
—You received a direct hit on your hull. Thanks to Primus it didn't damage any important circuits, but we narrowly saved you.
Zeta was stroking Prima's helmet, maybe looking for some dent or crack he hadn't noticed, but everything was in order. Now he just hoped that the files were gone, or he would repeat the process as many times as necessary.
—What about the others? Don't tell me they're gone.
—No. No, don't worry, except for you, all twelve of us Primes have come out of the war against the Quintessons safe and sound.
—Where are they?
Zeta sighed and looked away, seeking Sentinel's help, but remembered that his beloved assistant was still stuck in the communications room.
—On Luna 2. Capturing the remnants of the enemy army, the High Guard went with them, I volunteered to stay here and look after you. It won't be long before they come back
Prima kept trying to open his files, but it was as if there was nothing there, and his continued insistence only made his pain worse. If he couldn't access his memories, he would have to keep asking to find out what had happened. No matter how stupid he felt.
—Zeta, how long was I in stasis?
—A cycle and a half.
—That's why I feel so bad.....
His partner said nothing, he just got up and covered Prima with another blanket, not knowing what else to do.
—I'm going to get a doctor, I'll be right back.
Being alone made Prima feel strange. Not from lack of mobility, not even from the frustration of not being able to access his memory; his spark told him that something was wrong, that he had to go, but he didn't know why. Thinking of all the time he had been offline, the pain he had surely caused his friends, he needed to see them soon. Only they would bring clarity to his chaotic mind, only they would help him heal, for there was nothing stronger than the love of his family.
For his pain, the doctors told him it was treatable, they just had to rearrange some wires and inject him with a treatment, but it would take time to get rid of the discomfort, he had to try to do his normal activities even if it weighed on him. Prima didn't worry about that, he knew he would recover before the others returned. Or at least that was the way it was supposed to be.
Three cycles passed and there was no news of the others. Prima spent his days in sadness and uncertainty. He had tried to negotiate with Zeta to go out and look for them, but he always got the same answer: "I don't want to lose you. I've already lost them. We have no idea what they found on Luna 2, and I never want to know”.
So the older Prime would end up locked in the Great Hall of Records, reading stories about him and his friends, or accompanying Sentinel to the Communications Room, trying to locate any signal, no matter how small.
When he felt too overwhelmed, he would train in the outer fields to get some air; despite his pain, his fighting skills and grace in attack were still intact. It was the only time he felt connected to himself, fighting became an art, a dance that brought him a nostalgic sense of comfort.
One day, a strange creature flew across the training ground until it landed on Prima's sword, leaning against a wall. The creature had wings and a long beak; it reminded him a bit of his beloved Onix, so he approached it to get a better look; at first, the creature tried to flee, but when he showed it had no bad intentions, it let down its guard and let her touch it. Prima marveled at the little creature, and from then on it became his winged friend, helping him learn about what was happening outside.
His days seemed to light up with the presence of the creature, but the darkness was far from leaving Prime's life.
One night, his winged friend brought him a strange object; it looked like one of those crystal flowers that Sentinel brought him daily to decorate his room only this one, it seemed, was organic. Its petals were not shiny and stiff, but soft and quite fragile, Prima could also perceive a certain smell coming from it; it was fresh, sweet and he loved it. Just as he was about to express his gratitude by caressing his friend's head, he fled at full speed when heavy metallic footsteps were heard in the distance.
It was Zeta, who looked devastated. Not only because of the way he was walking, his optics were opaque and full of tears and his whole body was trembling as if he was going to fall apart. Prima dropped the flower to help Zeta who took him in his arms to hug him, letting more tears fall on Prima's shoulder.
—Zeta, what's wrong?
—Our friends. Oh, Prima. I don't know how to tell you this- the crying wouldn't stop and the revelation came from Zeta's lips in a faint whisper —They're dead.
Sentinel had managed to reconnect with old satellites, able to transmit horrifying information. They found the ship turned into space junk and the surface of the Moon was devastated by an explosion. There were no survivors. Prima felt as if a million swords were piercing him and he had to use all his willpower not to collapse on Zeta and make them both fall.
Dead. Their entire family, their friends. His entire world was gone. Ever since they had lost contact with their ship she had imagined the worst, but now that her nightmares had come true she could do nothing but cry.
—No Zeta, please don't say that,— he didn't want to accept it —If this is all a bad dream, I want to wake up already
And that's how the last two cycles had felt, like a lucid dream where reality was distorted; where Prima did not feel in control of her own body or her environment and this loss had only reminded her how vulnerable they were. They had all the power of Primus at their disposal, but in the end, they were just ordinary bots who could love and die.
From that day on, Prima became an empty shell of what it once was, an armor that walked and talked but its spark did not beat.
After the half-cycle of mournful celebrations, Prima was never seen outside the tower again. Every day, he greeted citizens from his balcony and appeared alongside Zeta on official broadcasts, but he no longer transformed, traveled through Iacon, or surfaced. He did not feel worthy to enjoy the gifts and space their creator had bestowed upon them when he had no one to share them with. Zeta was not an option, he had taken refuge in his work and it was rare to see him in the tower, Sentinel was good company but he was quite busy now that the responsibility of 12 had been left at 3 and, there was no way Prima was going out accompanied by the vehicons who were now cybertron's guard. They were only programmed to follow orders, it was like flying next to a lifeless piece of metal and Prima needed to feel the warmth of another life.
He did not spend the nights in his dormitory, every day he stayed in the room of one of his companions, trying to feel something of their essence, at least the signature of the energon that should still be there. At first, it was comforting, but as time went by they became cold places where he felt nothing but dread, he could almost hear their voices in his processor calling him from the Well of Sparks, so he just stopped by every day to clean them, it was very convenient that there was a thirteenth room designated for cleaning tools so he didn't have to ask for help. This routine helped to stabilize his mood and gave him something to do besides paperwork and official business. But he was still alone.
He had been alone for many star cycles, being the only one, but he had the Matrix, he had Primus and his celestial voice that gave him comfort as well as a carrier for his little sparkling one. But when the others arrived, everything took on a different meaning, the sky and the surface lit up with new colors and sounds he had never heard before, and now he was left with only that horrible static that refused to go away. Perhaps that was why he did not resist Zeta's proposal.
—You know I would not consider this option unless it was necessary. I no longer listen to Primus, I can feel the matrix in agony. Prima, only you and I can solve this.
They were in Zeta's room, sitting side by side on the huge bed with soft blankets and elaborate decorations. That night Zeta had invited Prima for dinner and a walk it had been liberating to switch to his alternate mode after so long, and Zeta had been quite sweet with him, keeping up with him, creating new maneuvers as if they were dancing. Prima had that nostalgic feeling again, something in his spark that turned on him, and Zeta used it to move forward with him.
—Prima, I've always found you quite attractive— Zeta moved closer to Prima and lifted her chin- It's been hard to hide for so many cycles, but now we're alone...
—No, now we're together. And I think I might like it.
Prima kissed Zeta, then they just let themselves go. Prima, who craved physical contact so much, ignored the warnings in his processor, even the oppressive feeling swirling in his spark, to enjoy feeling loved after so long. And Zeta knew how to touch him so well, to worship him with every move and every word that made everything else disappear.
There were several intense days and nights, full of passion and romance. And finally, one morning, they were already announcing their union and gathering the priests to prepare the conjux ceremony. Prima received another visit from her bird friend, hoping that he would be happy for him, she told him what had happened and gave him the great news, but far from rejoicing, the creature only backed away scared to fly away and not return for a long time.
From the depths of Cybertron, a roar was heard. It was never known if it was a call from Primus or something more sinister. There were bots who do not remember hearing it and others swore that it was a sign of the coming of Unicron, but, with such an important wedding to prepare, they preferred not to give it importance.
With the last two Primes, united in conjux and the promise of a worthy heir, Cybertron could finally have peace.