Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kaon, Cybertron. circa 2013. 

“Master! You're alive!”

“Indeed.”

Your new battle armor will take things to the next level, my liege. Together we will reunite all Decepticons and once again grind Cybertron under your mighty heel!”

“No!”

“What? Why?”

“Because I now know the true meaning of oppression...and have thus lost my taste for inflicting it.”

“Uh… you've clearly been traumatized, master. A good power-down and a stroll around the smelting pit will put you back in touch with your inner warlord.”

“Enough! The Decepticons are no more, and that is final.”

The words rattled around Megatron’s processor as he flew through the ruins of Cybertron. As he watched the well of allsparks glow in the distance, he knew that the autoboots had succeeded in their own goal of reviving their home planet. But he would not stand alongside them in their victory. He couldn’t. He would never rule the Decepticons again, that much was true. Standing alongside those autoboots and former friend, making merry for the war’s end? Impossible. And frankly… he knew he didn’t have much time left.

Unicron’s possession of him and everything his already broken body had endured, it had left him basically a living corpse. He could feel his spark flicking, fading. Megatron flew until he could fly no longer, and landed right outside of Kaon, the former Deception capital. He transformed, and took only a few steps before he collapsed, clutching his chest, trying to take intakes and failing. He could feel the final little flutters of his spark as it began to give out like a flickering candle.

Megatron had felt death before—or at least, he thought he had. The chaos of war, the final, searing pain, the silence that followed. Yet here he was, dying on the grounds he had once conquered all those millennia ago. Back then he had truly believed he was above all others, and after the dark energon had infused his systems, he believed he was above even death. But now, as his optics faded in light and closed one final time, he allowed death to find him. He had accepted it. Embraced it.

It was here, at his former sight of glory, unbeknownst to his comrades or his enemies, that the spark of Megatron the Warlord, Megatronus the Gladiator and D-16 the miner was extinguished.

Yet now, he awoke.

Not in the ruins of Cybertron, nor the abyss of the Pits of Kaon he was doomed to join, but in a vast, featureless expanse of white. No sky. No ground. Just light, stretching in all directions. His body felt whole, yet unrecognizable. He flexed his fingers, watching servos move with unfamiliar smoothness. This was no resurrection by Decepticon science.

“Welcome, Megatron.” A voice rang through the dense emptiness. Megatron craned his neck in all directions he could, his optics racing back and forth, trying to find the origin of this voice, proof he wasn’t alone. Then, he saw it.

A strange being, neither Cybertronian nor organic, shifting like liquid metal yet standing firm. Its form was incomprehensible, as though its very existence refused to settle into something mortal optics could process. “Who are you?” He snarled, preparing his weapon should this faceless creature become a threat.

“I am all that has been, and all that will be. But you mortals do enjoy assigning identities, don’t you? You may call me… Saga. And do lower your weapon, dear. It will do you no good here.” The voice was neither male nor female, neither harsh nor kind. It simply was. Megatron growled, but founded himself at the mercy of a being he did not understand, and lowered his arm cannon. “I had believed I had perished.”

The being seemed to look into his very soul with no eyes. “You did. Today was your death day.” He clenched his fists. "Then why am I here? Why am I not rotting in the Pit for my sins?"

The entity that called itself Saga took a step closer, or perhaps it merely willed itself forward. "Because you may have given up oppression, but you still have not earned redemption. However… you are not beyond it. I rarely offer this chance, but I offer it to you now."

Megatron scoffed. "Redemption? Do you dare to mock me, specter? I am Megatron! I have led armies, crushed worlds beneath my heel. My name alone has shaken the cosmos. I do not seek forgiveness." "Forgiveness is not what I offer."

The space around them rippled, and suddenly, Megatron saw visions—cities crumbling under Decepticon rule, sparks snuffed out by his own hand, planets left barren. Faces of Autobots, Decepticons, neutrals alike, all victims of his ambition. And Optimus. Orion. His comrade, his brother in arms. His first real friend. For the first time in millennia, he felt something unfamiliar. Not pride. Not rage. But a weight upon his spark, heavier than any wound.

"I give you a choice, Megatron," Saga intoned. "There is a realm far beyond your own, known by it’s residents as Remmant. It is a realm ruled by darkness and monsters. You will become a protector of that realm. You already have the skills and mind of a warrior. Learn the ways of their own, and through this you will earn the unbinding of your chains.”

“…. And I will simply arrive in this realm? Will they not ask questions of who I am, where I came from?”

“It is not that simple. I cannot let you keep this body, for it is just your soul that will be sent to this realm, nothing else. You will be reborn into a new body, the body… of a human.”

"A HUMAN? A weak, puny fleshling? You would be a fool to gift me such an existence.”

“Perhaps I would be. The autobots who once stood before me did not think the same.”

Megatron stopped dead in the tracks of his tirade. “… There were autobots here before?”

“Yes. I believe their names were… Elita-1 and Cliffjumper, yes."

Megatron remembered that name. How could he forget?" "Elita-1. I-"

"You should remember that name. You're the one who killed her."

"... I did. I... It was something I believed I had to do. But... why offer them this chance of redemption? They did not need it."

Saga gave a soft laugh. "It was not for redemption that I offered them this. It was to finish what they started." A large wooden door, inscribed with the religious symbols of the universe, including his own, appeared behind him. "I offer this chance to you as well, but only once. If you choose it, then just step through that door, and accept a new life and new purpose. If you do not take it, you will be sent to the Pits of Kaon as you were meant to. But you are so much more than that. Enter this realm, not as a conqueror, but as one who seeks to mend what he has broken. Or remain forever lost in what could have been."

A second chance. Megatron's optics dimmed as he processed the weight of the offer. He had spent his existence believing strength was the only truth, that power alone shaped destiny. But power had led him here, to this void, alone.

A long silence passed.

Then, for the first time, Megatron bowed his head.

"I accept."

“Very well. You may enter.” Megatron turned to face the door. There was no door handle, but as he pressed his servo to it, the door opened, revealing sparkly glowing light.

“Megatron.” He looked back at Saga. “You will only have this one chance. I implore you to not squander it.” Saga’s form then faded, and did not speak again. Megatron then stepped through the doorway, and the world around him dissolved, light collapsing into darkness.

50 miles outside of Feldspar, Vacuo, Remmant. Circa May 2nd, 38 years after the Great War.

“- And it’s a boy! You have a son! Praise to the Brothers!”

From that darkness Megatron found himself engulfed in blinding light, and surrounded by sweltering heat, yet cold still penetrated his wet skin.

Wait, skin?

His limbs flailed helplessly, unable to control their movements to the full extent. He… he was human. And a very weak one, at that.

“He’s not crying? Cielo, why isn’t he crying?”

“He’s alright, he’s breathing and alert. Not all newborns cry.”

His vision was blurry and cross eyed, unable to see as hands grabbed him, cleaned him, and wrapped him tightly in a sort of fabric. “Here you go, Danae. Congratulations to the both of you.” Megatron was placed against the heaving chest of what could only be, from what little he knew about this species, a human female. Unsteady arms came up over him and pushed him slightly higher. He grunted in protest and opened his eyes, to find not only his vision clearer and more focused, but to be face to face with the female holding him.

She looked ragged, her caramel colored skin drenched with sweat and strands of grey streaked dark hair sticking to her forehead. Her eyes, moss green with golden flecks, locked onto his and were filled with what Megatron could only call indescribable joy. “Hello there, my little one. I’m your mother.” The woman’s voice was soft and tender, almost meant to calm his panic.

Mother? Yes… she must have been the carrier of his new vessel, his new body. It all made sense now. He had quite literally been reborn, as a human infant. Another face, one sharper and more masculine, appeared in his line of vision, a male human. This one had a similar skin tone to the female, had long greying black hair that hung loose around his shoulders and dark serious eyes that reminded the former warlord of the deepest vacuum of space. The male pressed his lips to the female’s forehead. “You did wonderfully, my love. You’ve given me a healthy son, the firstborn of this tribe in 25 years. I cannot thank you enough.”

The female scoffed. “You can thank me by never getting me knocked up again, Kai.” She said, but with a smile, hiding humor behind her frustrated words. Danae brought her eyes back to gaze upon her miracle newborn but noticed something odd. “His eyes.” Kai looked at his wife. “Yes, what about his eyes?”

“They… They’re purple. No one in our family has purple eyes.”

Kai chuckled. “It’s unique, just like the rest of him.”

The first once he heard, gravely and elderly, spoke again. “What will you name him? I know you’d like to give his name at the ceremony, but I find it’s best to choose one now.”

The two new parents looked at each other, then down at their quiet, curious newborn. Kai then looked over at the midwife, Cielo, as she gathered her things and prepared to leave the new family alone to bond.

“We’ve already chosen, Cielo. We only had one name for a boy. We shall call him Levi, after my grandfather. Levi Bodhi Sable.”

“He would be proud. It’s a name befitting a future warrior. I shall inform the others of his arrival, and of Danae's condition.” Cielo then left the tent. Danae held her baby close, the beating of her human spark lulling him to sleep.

And for the first time, the newly named Levi felt something else other than anger, hurt, or confusion as he drifted off.

He felt hope.

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Unclaimed territory, Vacuo, circa July 19th, 1151.

Levi sat at the edge of the tribe’s boarders, watching the blurry horizon. A sandstorm could be seen in the distance, but it was still some distance away. No need to get to shelter quite yet. He brushed a hand through his dark hair and stood up, grabbing the bow and arrow his mother had gifted him for his 13^th birthday before making his way back to the centre of the camp, much larger than it had been before.

Perhaps realizing the danger of having a tribe with so few new children born and most of the adults now too old to conceive anymore, Cain had formed an agreement with the tribe of the former settlement Basalt, Aldrich, to travel together when Lixue was barely 6 months old. The idea was to create safety in numbers, and that eventually they could marry off their children to truly unite the tribes. Enid, as the Pyro’s youngest unmarried adult, was married off to Aldrich’s son and the union produced 2 babies, Luna and Amara, which was good for the tribe, Levi supposed. The problem was that there was now a total of 12 children in the tribe, and most of those children were older, which had led to bullying. It was a good thing Levi was never their target.

Lixue on the other hand…

Lixue stood out in a way that made her an easy target. Her skin was as pale as the moon against the sun-darkened tribe, and her hair was so devoid of color it looked white. The only color on her was her eyes- still a bright, burning violet. His parents had been concerned but Naomi had assured them it wasn’t dangerous. Albinism, she had called it. It was uncommon, but Lixue would grow to live a normal life. Most of the adults understood this. But Cain and the children did not. Cain always glared at Lixue and would often claim her at fault for various problems. It was clear he saw her as just as much as a threat to the tribe’s well being as he did Levi. The other children whispered, called her names, laughed at how her skin burned too easily, how her eyes reflected the light strangely and how her poor vison made her stumble and trip quite often. Lixue did not take it quietly. The soul of Starscream was still keen to fight back, as sharp-tongued and relentless as a desert wind.

But she was still only 8. She was small, too small, and words only did so much. It was when the teasing turned rough, when shoves became kicks, when her defiance wasn’t enough to stop the others that Levi, as much as he despised it, had to step in to defend her. As he came closer, he could hear the high pitched screech of Lixue and the mocking laughter of the other children. He turned the corner to find two older children from the Basalt tribe, Claret and Alban, teasing Lixue. “Look at me when I’m talking to you, freak! Oh that’s right, you can’t!” Alban laughed, backing Lixue into a corner. Lixue’s nostrils flared. “You’d better leave, or I’ll make you regret coming over here! You can’t mock me! You don’t know who I am!”

Yep, that was the Starscream in her.

Claret smirked and got closer, towering over Lixue and shoving her farther into the corner. “And what are you gonna do about it?”

“Well, I’m going to have to do something if you don’t scram.” Levi said as he stepped out of the shadows. “Or do I have to tell Aldrich that you’ve been harassing a child for no reason?”

Alban grinned. “Oh, it’s not for no reason. She broke my wooden sword.”

“BECAUSE YOU WERE GOING TO HIT ME WITH IT.” Lixue screeched.

“I’m serious. I will make you leave, even if I must by force. It’s not like I’m afraid of getting grounded. Leave her alone.”

Claret grabbed Alban by the shoulder. “Let’s go Alban, he’s not worth it.” “Oh what, I’m supposed to be scared of you? You’re as much of a freak as your sister is. Cain is right, you two don’t belong her-” Alban barely got the next sentence out before he was decked in the face. “OW!” He landed in the sand and scrambled upward, clutching his bruised cheek.  “Go. Away. Or I’ll punch you so hard it’ll take you a month to get back up again.” Levi growled. Alban quickly got up and ran off, Claret following.

Levi looked at Lixue. “Stay out of trouble.” That was all he muttered as he dusted sand off his knuckles. “I don’t need your protection.” she glared at him. “Evidently you do. Don’t make me have to break his teeth next time.” Lixue huffed and walked away.

She resented not being strong enough to take them on, and she resented Levi for treating her like a burden. But most of all, she resented being human. She hadn’t adjusted to it like her former master had. She was an angry child, always lashing out and often getting in trouble, hence why Levi was always the one to throw the first punch on her behalf. He knew if she ever threw a punch, she wouldn’t stop. Levi was always trying to keep Lixue from returning to her inner darkness, and this led to much infighting between the two. They fought all the time—over food, over space in the tent, over the smallest slights. Lixue bit and scratched, Levi shoved and taunted. Their mother said they were like fire and wind, never at rest.

***

As the sandstorm winds howled outside that night, the fire crackled in the center of the tent, casting long, flickering shadows along it’s walls. Inside, Levi and Lixue were in the middle of a fierce argument, their voices rising as they bickered over Lixue’s favorite toy.

“GIVE IT BACK, ITS MINE!” Lixue howled as she tugged the rag doll out of Levi’s hands.

“You’re acting like a child!”

“I AM A CHILD, THEREFORE I WILL ACT LIKE ONE IF I SO PLEASE!”

Kai, who was usually quiet and contemplative, shot them a brief look of warning. “You two better settle down before you’re both grounded. You’re still not off the hook for this afternoon, Levi.” Levi sighed and held up his hands in defeat. “Fine, take it. I don’t care.” Lixue pressed the doll to her chest and huffed. Kai groaned. “Why can’t you two just get along? You fight like you’re mortal enemies.”

Oh he has no idea.

“It’s one thing when you two are fighting, but hitting another child? Levi, we raised you better than that. Even if you were defending Lixue, violence should always be your last option, not your first. Are we clear?”“… Yes sir. Sorry sir.” Levi sighed. Kai placed a hand on his shoulder. “Your great grandfather and your grandfather both fought in the Great War so you wouldn’t have to. Don’t cause more strife in the tribe then is needed. If you have another conflict- either of you- you come to me first. Understood?" Levi and Lixue both responded. “Yes sir.”

Danae smiled softly and placed a hand in the air, signaling for quiet. "Alright, you two," she said, her voice warm but firm. "How about I tell you a story? It’s almost time for bed anyway.” Levi, still a bit too stubborn to admit defeat, crossed his arms. "I’m too old for stories. Besides, they’re just make-believe fairytales." Lixue, looking to get away from the sternness of her father, looked up at her mother eagerly. "I want to hear a story!" She exclaimed, clambering into Danae’s lap.

Danae chuckled softly at the contrast between her children, but she saw the glint of curiosity in Levi's eyes as well, even if he tried to hide it. She smiled, settling down with them near the fire. "Very well," Danae said, her tone growing more mysterious. "This is a tale that’s been passed on for many years. This is the story of the Girl in the Tower.”

“Gee, I wonder where the girl is.” Lixue rolled her eyes.

“Shh.” Levi shushed her. “Mom, keep going.”

“I thought you said you were too old for stories.” Danae teased. Levi shrugged. “I am, but… I like this one.”

“Alright then. Once upon a time, long ago, there was a king and his queen. Together they ruled a mighty kingdom, and they were happy, even more so when the queen learned she was expecting a baby. A daughter was born, a princess, but the queen died in childbirth, and the king, wrought with loss, declared he would never lose his child. So he locked her away in a tower, far above the ground and away from prying eyes. As the princess grew up, she would beg her father to allow her to leave and would question why only she was to stay in the tower. But the king refused. The princess realized the king did not love her as a daughter, but as a prized possession he feared would be stolen.”

“… Well I think the king’s a idiot.” Danae laughed, ruffling her daughter’s hair. Lixue tried to pull her hand off to no avail. “On that, you and I agree my daughter.”

As Danae continued telling the story, Levi and Lixue listened intently. Levi had an interest in the myths and legends of this world. After all, Cybertron’s own stories had contained a hint of truth.

How much of this legend was real?

“Many tried to save the princess after reading her story. Many tried… many died, unable to defend themselves from the king’s army, and his power.” “So -” Lixue yawned, rubbing her eyes. “What happened next?” Levi smirked, glancing at Lixue. "You’d better finish the story mom, Lixue looks like she’s gonna fall asleep any second.”

“No I’m not!”

Danae ignored Levi’s comment, weaving the story forward. "One day, a brave new challenger came. One armed with his own powers, which he used to defeat the king and his army. He climbed the tower, unlocked her door, and both he and the princess used their magic to escape. The princess told him because he had saved her, he would have her father’s land, his riches, and her hand in marriage, just as she had promised. The brave challenger claimed he had only wanted to right a terrible wrong, and that the princess, in the end, had rescued herself. The princess asked the challenger where he would like to go. And he told her, ‘anywhere you like. You are the one who has yet to see the world’."

Lixue had since fallen asleep, her grip on the rag doll loosened. Danae kissed her forehead. “And they lived happily ever after.” She lifted her off the ground and bent down to kiss Levi on the forehead as well. “I’ll put your sister to bed. You get to sleep before midnight, Levi.”

“I will mom.” Levi looked outside. The sandstorm had since died down, revealing clear skies and their broken moon. “Father?”

“Yes, my son?”

“Happy endings aren’t real, are they? It’s just something they use to wrap up simple stories. Real life is far more complicated than that, isn’t it?”

“Well,” Kai said, stretching and walking over to sit next to his son, looking at the moon. “the way I see it, happy endings are what you make. I’ve already had plenty of happily ever afters- meeting your mother, you and your sister being born, the expansion of the tribe. Many good, wonderful things have happened. But my story’s still being written Levi. Do I believe in happy endings? I do. But I also believe it’s up to you to write that ending yourself. I’ll go put out the fire, then we’ll go to bed.” As Kai walked away, Levi didn’t take his eyes off the moon and bright twinkling stars. Megatron’s story was over, and it had hardly ended with a happy ending. But he had a second chance now, he and Starscream both. New books, full of empty pages. Their stories were far from finished. After all, they were still children. Someday they would grow up and do great things, meet great people, and protect their world from the evil that lurked within it.

Levi would make sure they had a happy ending this time.

Chapter Text

Unclaimed territory, Vacuo, circa August 7th, 1151.

The sun hung low over Vacuo, its golden light spilling across the vast desert as the evening air carried the scent of spice and sand. The encampment bustled with excitement, the people gathering in celebration of those who had come of age, 13 years exactly. It was a time-honored tradition, marking the transition from childhood to the threshold of adulthood, and had become so much more meaningful with this new generation. They would go through the ceremony, and then through a ‘graduation’ of sorts where they would go on their first hunt. Levi stood among the rabble of youngsters eager to make their parents proud.

Dressed in ceremonial garb—a tunic of deep crimson trimmed with black—Levi kept his expression calm, though his fingers curled into the fabric at his sides. He felt the weight of expectation pressing down on him, the unspoken acknowledgment of who he was to become lingering just beneath the surface. His parents stood close. Kai’s warm, steady presence anchoring him, while Danae’s sharp eyes scanned the crowd, as if daring anyone to cause trouble. Lixue stood beside them her pale hands clutching the edge of Kai’s sleeve as she craned her neck to watch.

One by one, the names of the initiates were called. Each child stepped forward to be recognized by the elders, who anointed their foreheads with sacred dust and spoke words of blessing.

“Ollie Galen.” Ollie turned back to look at her father with her bright silver eyes and grinned. Gage’s own eyes blinked away the tears.

“Faloan Grey.” Faloan happily skipped up to the elders but shrunk when he looked up only to see disappointment on Cain’s face, his ears folding in shame.

 Levi held his breath as his turn arrived.

“Levi Sable.”

Cain's voice rang out, clear and unwavering. He stepped forward, his bare feet stirring the sand. The elders- Aldrich, Cain, and Naomi- regarded him solemnly. Naomi dipped her fingers into a small bowl of fine ochre dust and pressed it gently to his brow.

“Levi Sable, son of Kai and Danae Sable,” she intoned. “You stand at the edge of manhood, where strength is tested and wisdom must take root. May you walk with purpose and wield your power with honor.” The crowd murmured their approval, a quiet but powerful affirmation. Levi exhaled slowly, feeling the dust settle on his skin like a brand, warm and grounding. As he stepped back to where his family stood, his mother’s grin nearly splitting her face and his father's face glowing with pride. "Congratulations, my son." Kai drew him into a hug, one he did not resist. He huffed a quiet laugh, shaking his head, but he felt lighter somehow, as if he had taken a step forward in a way he hadn’t realized he needed. The night would be long, and it wasn’t over yet. Before they could partake in the feasting, music, and the celebration- they must hunt.

***

The desert wind howled against the dunes, carrying with it the distant echoes of animals stirring in the twilight. Levi stood at the edge of the encampment, his fingers flexing around the hilt of his hunting knife, his bow strapped to his back. "Nervous?" Danae’s voice was steady, with the kind of confidence that had weathered countless hunts before this one. Levi turned to his mother and saw the glimmer of pride in her gaze. "No," Levi answered, though his pulse betrayed him. He had spent the last few years training, learning to track, to fight, to think like a hunter. But training and reality were two different things.

Lixue stood next to her mother, her small hands clasped behind her back. "Be careful," she murmured. "You might think you're big and strong, but the Grimm are bigger and stronger." Levi smirked, ruffling her snow white hair. She squawked and ducked away from his touch. “Don’t touch my hair!”

“Aww, you care about me.”

“I do not! That is a false accusation!”

Danae chuckled. “Your sister merely jests. Of course she cares, we all do… just stay safe out there.”

"I’ll be fine. You’ll be with me after all.”

A call came from the group of hunters gathering at the edge of camp. It was time. Levi straightened, inhaling deeply as he and Danae stepped forward to join them. Ollie, Faloan, and the other 8 initiates stood with their mentors—older warriors who had proven themselves time and time again, Danae chief among them. The moon rose over the dunes, casting everything in shades of silver and shadow. Danae pressed a hand against Levi’s cheek. "You’ve earned this, Levi. Trust yourself, and trust the desert." He nodded, and followed the hunters into the night.

***

The desert wind howled over the shifting dunes, kicking up streams of sand that shimmered under the pale glow of the moon. Levi crouched low, his breath steady, his muscles coiled like a spring. His fingers gripped the string of the bow, knuckles tense as he studied the patterns in the sand before him. A mole crab had been here recently. A big one, no less. Its tracks—deep furrows where its many legs had dragged across the dunes—wove in erratic circles, a testament to the creature’s burrowing instincts. Levi narrowed his eyes. If he was patient, it would surface again soon. His heartbeat thundered in his ears, not from fear, but from the thrill of the hunt. This was his rite of passage, proof that he could survive on his own in this harsh world. The others were spread out across the dunes, each seeking their own prey. Some would return victorious, others empty-handed, but all would be changed. Tonight, he would prove himself.

A flicker of movement to his right caught his eye. Sand shifting unnaturally, rising in a ripple, then sinking back down. He inhaled deeply, adjusting his stance. He had to be fast. A single mistake, and the mole crab would vanish beneath the surface, forcing him into a grueling chase across the dunes.

The sand erupted.

Chitinous claws burst forth, followed by the glistening, armored bulk of the mole crab. Its beady black eyes gleamed under the moonlight, its mandibles clicking in warning. Levi lunged, firing his first arrow. It struck true, piercing the soft joint between the creature’s carapace and one of its legs. The mole crab let out a screeching hiss, thrashing wildly, its claws snapping dangerously close to his face. He wrenched the arrow free, rolling to the side just as the creature lashed out. Sand exploded around them, and Levi felt its weight shift, preparing to burrow again.

No.

He wouldn’t let it escape.

The shell- he needed to get on top of it.

With a sharp cry, he launched himself on top of the mole crab. The creature screeched, thrashing and bucking like an unruly horse refusing its rider. Levi just barely steadied himself before he set his bow with another arrow and fired directly at its shell. The shell cracked, allowing Levi to quickly grab the end and plunge the arrow further into the gap between. The tip punched through, sinking deep into the heart of the mole crab. The mole crab convulsed, its movements growing sluggish before finally stilling. Levi stayed there, breath coming in ragged gasps, hands shaking from exertion. Only then did the realization settle in.

He had done it. He had made his first kill.

Straightening, Levi wiped sweat and sand from his brow before sliding off the back of the fallen beast. He heard voices nearby and called out. “Mother! Mother! I got one, I got one!” The desert wind howled once more, carrying the sound of his victory into the night. Danae and two other hunters, Mato and Duncan, ran around a dune to see Levi standing beside the deceased mole crab. Danae gasped loudly and ran over without abandon to hug her son tightly. Levi just let her.

He had grown to like her hugs.

“Oh Levi, I am so proud of you! You’ve practiced your skills well. You will be an excellent hunter someday."

Levi felt that burning pride in his core. As Megatron, he had always been prideful, but there was something about his mother’s pride that was different. She wasn’t saying this because she was afraid of him or intimidated by him.

It was because she was purely, wholeheartedly, proud of her son.

His chest tightened, and his cheeks burned. “Thank you, mother.”

***

Levi crouched low beside the carcass of the mole crab, its chitinous shell glistening under the pale glow of the shattered moon. Danae stood a few paces away, her gaze sharp as she kept watch for any signs of movement. With a steadying breath, Levi tightened his grip on the hunting knife and pressed it against the tough hide of the mole crab’s underbelly. The creature had been a formidable opponent, but he had felled it with precision and patience. Now, all that remained was to harvest its meat and shell—trophies of his success. The blade scraped against the thick exoskeleton before finally biting in. Levi worked carefully, his movements deliberate, but in his eagerness-

 He pressed too hard.

The knife slipped, and a sharp sting bloomed across his palm. He sucked in a breath, watching as blood welled from the gash before dripping onto the mole crab’s exposed flesh. He pulled his hand away, clasping it to his chest as the blood soaked his ceremonial tunic. He needed to clean and dress this first before he continued. Danae had medical things with her. He turned to call for her before he felt-

No.

It couldn’t be.

But the burning in his veins couldn’t be anything else.

And then he heard it.

A low, wet gurgle rattled from the carcass as its limbs twitched unnaturally. Levi’s breath hitched as he scrambled back, watching in horror as the mole crab convulsed, its body jerking in violent spasms. Its eye sockets—vacant just moments ago—glowed with an eerie violet light. The wounds he had inflicted knit together in grotesque, uneven patches of necrotic flesh.

As the cold dread in his stomach grew, Levi was beginning to realize why he and Lixue had purple eyes when no one else in the tribe did, why no one else in their family did.

It wasn’t a quirk or a unique feature.

Dark Energon.

It had been coursing through his systems for years after he initially took it in, and he knew Starscream had taken it in as well to resurrect Skyquake from his grave. He had never questioned where it had gone when he had been reborn.

Maybe he should have.

Chapter Text

Unclaimed territory, Vacuo, circa August 7th, 1151.

Levi’s heartbeat thundered in his ears, his mouth dry, his stomach twisting with nausea and terror as the undead creature lumbered towards him. He knew what he had to do, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t move. Suddenly he felt himself flying, his face full of sand. He scrambled to his knees to see his mother, her weapon already drawn. “Levi, get back!” she barked, but the warning came too late as the creature swiped at her with a massive claw. Danae missed it ripping her open by an inch.

“No, No! Mother, no, I can stop it!”

He got up and fired an arrow at the mole crab, not to hurt it, but to get its attention away from his mother. “You want me, come and get me!”

“Levi! LEVI! WHAT ARE YOU FUCKING DOING?! COME BACK HERE! LEVI!”

The mole crab let out a distorted screech, its movements jerky and unnatural. The reanimated husk lunged at Levi with renewed aggression, its cracked mandibles snapping hungrily. He barely managed to roll out of the way, heart pounding as the undead beast turned toward him, violet energy pulsing through its grotesque frame. Suddenly the sand shifted once more-

And the mole crab buried underneath. Levi felt the rumbling under his feet. He looked up at the direction it was moving and paled. It was heading directly towards the encampment. He knew there was only one thing left to do now. Run. Get to the encampment and kill this thing before it hurt anyone, or worse, brought the Grimm. So he ran. He ran like death itself was following him. The wind picked up, sending stinging sand into his eyes, but he kept running. Finally he could see the lights of the encampment on the horizon. He was almost there-

And then, the real danger arrived. The distant howls of Grimm echoed through the desert, growing closer with alarming speed. The taint of dark energy was like a beacon, drawing them in droves. The sand trembled beneath them as shadowy figures emerged from the dunes. A deathstalker’s massive silhouette loomed in the distance, its pincers clicking eagerly.

Oh no.

Levi finally came to the edge of the camp, but he was too late. The creature swept its giant claws along the tents, the cloth ripping in half and exposing two scared children inside. Levi ran with the last burst of energy in him, and with a desperate yell, landed on top of the mole crab. Go for the spark. Go for the spark. Levi fired a arrow directly into the center of the mole crab’s chest, just as he had before. It fell heavy onto the sand and twitched before falling silent. He looked up, his face dripping with sweat and his eyes wild. The tribe all looked afraid- both of the creature’s demonic rebirth, and how easily he had stopped it. He wished he could explain what had happened. But that would mean telling them what he really was. So he said nothing.

“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!” Cain bellowed, eyes glowering on Levi. “What have you brought to this village?” “I-I didn’t. I-“ “Do you not hear the Grimm, you foolish boy? You’ve doomed us. All hunters, to your stations! We will push them back!” With a screech, the horde of Grimm swept down upon the tribe’s encampment. Screams filled the air as warriors fought desperately to defend their home. Levi gritted his teeth and turned to join the fight, but Kai caught his arm. “Stay with Lixue!” he ordered. “Father, I can help-“

“Go with your sister now! That is an order, son! Your mother and I will fight, but you two must survive!” his voice left no room for argument. “Protect your sister.”

Frustration burned inside him, but Levi obeyed, running toward where Lixue stood, her wide eyes filled with fear. He pulled her behind a collapsed tent, shielding her as chaos erupted around them. “What did you do?” she hissed in his ear. “I… The dark Energon… it’s followed us here.” He could only watch in horror as the battle raged. The Grimm overwhelmed the defenders. In the midst of it all, Kai and the other adults fought valiantly, holding their ground against the relentless onslaught. Danae arrived, also ragged from her run across the desert, but she joined them in their defense against the Grimm.

And then— Their defenses broke. The Grimm mowed the first line of fighters down easily. Levi stole a look around the corner of their hiding place-

Only to see his mother, weakened from the constant onslaught, meet her end at the barb of a sulfur fish. “DANAE!” Kai’s scream rang out as he fought to reach her, but a deathstalker’s stinger struck true, ending his fight before he could make it to her side.

“No-” Levi started forward, but he stopped himself. Lixue was still there, trembling against him. He couldn’t let her see. He couldn’t let this be her last memory of them. Swallowing his grief, he turned and pressed Lixue’s face into his chest, shielding her from the carnage. “Don’t look,” he whispered, his voice shaking. “Just keep your eyes closed.” Tears burned in his eyes, but he forced himself to stay strong. He had to protect her. He had to survive. It was the last thing his father had asked of him. He would do it until his final days. Because now, they were all they had left.

***

The torches cast long, jagged shadows across the gathering, their flickering light barely holding back the night. Levi stood in the center of it all, his fingers clenched into fists at his sides. Lixue huddled beside him, her small hands gripping his cloak as if she could anchor herself there, as if this was all some terrible nightmare she would wake from. It wasn’t.

"You've brought ruin upon us!" Cain pointed a gnarled finger at them, spit flying from his lips. "The attack came because of you! The deaths—because of you!"

Levi’s stomach churned with rage. “We didn’t do anything!” he snapped. “You think we wanted this?!”

“Lies! Everywhere you go, disaster follows. We lost 11. 11! We have only just begun to rebuild our numbers, and you have single handily destroyed that goal with your witchcraft! It’s a curse— you are a curse!”

“You think we’re cursed?” His voice cracked like a whip, raw and furious. “You’re the ones who stood back and let our parents die! You could have fought with them, but you and the others hid like the cowards you are! You let them die, and now you’re blaming us because you’re too weak to admit it was your failure, not ours!”

The crowd exploded into shouts.

“Disrespectful little—”

“—should’ve never let them stay—”

“They’ll bring more death upon us!”

“Enough.” Cain’s voice cut through the chaos like a knife. The crowd fell silent, though the tension crackled like a coming storm. He turned his gaze on Levi, and there was no anger in it—only cold finality. “You are exiled.”

“They are children!” Gage’s voice, sharp and defiant. Levi turned to see him step forward, jaw tight with fury. “You would exile them? Send them to die?”

“They were marked from birth,” Cain countered. His tone was cold, unshakable. “The omens have always been there. Evil lingers in the boy, and treachery in the girl. We should have seen it sooner.”

“Cain, I believe if we let cooler heads prevail, we will-“

“Aldrich, if you know what’s good for you, you will stay silent!”

Levi’s faint glimmer of hope faded as Aldrich went silent, no longer willing to defend them if it meant incurring Cain’s wrath. Cain glared at the two children. “You will leave this territory, and you must never return. If you do, you will not be met with mercy.”

Levi deeply inhaled, clenching his fists. Then he looked up. “Farewell then, Cain. You’ll regret this.”

Levi grabbed at Lixue’s hand. She yelped as she was pulled, heels digging into the sand. As he walked through the crowds, he saw the angry, distrustful eyes of all he had grown up with. Even the other children sneered. Naomi wouldn’t even look at him. His stomach twisted and his heart was heavy, but he kept walking.

As he pulled Lixue farther and farther away from the tribe they had known their entire human lives, the air got colder. Levi turned back after several feet, to find they had walked so far he could barely see it over the dunes. A heavy silence settled over them, broken only by the wind howling across the barren land beyond. The warmth of the village fires flickered in the distance, but they would never feel that warmth again. His eyes burned, and he let go of Lixue’s hand to rub at them to alleviate the irritation. His hand came away wet, and now his cheeks were wet too.

He was crying.

Lixue looked at him with deep anger. “This is all your fault.” Levi quickly wiped his face with his sleeve. “I-I know.”

"Where...where do we go?" Levi swallowed down the lump in his throat. He couldn't let her see his fear.

“We keep moving,” he said, voice steel despite the storm inside him. She hesitated, but when he reached for her hand, she grasped it tight. Together, they walked into the unknown.

Chapter Text

City Centre, Vacuo, Summer 1151

“That’s it?”

“You got a problem with that?”

Levi huffed in frustration, pushing the pile of arrowheads and sandstones towards the gruff merchant at the trading stall. “I spent hours collecting these. They’ve got to be worth more than 15 lien.”

“Yeah, but they’re not.” The merchant grunted, staring down with a weathered face and piercing eyes that seemed to judge every item in his stall with the practiced eye of someone who’d seen it all. Levi could feel his blood pressure beginning to spike, infuriated with the man’s callous attitude. He and Lixue had been walking for 3 days, stopping every night to hide out under dunes, avoiding Grimm and bandits. Their bodies were covered in dust, and Levi’s ceremonial tunic was now stained red. Levi had spent those evenings seeking out old arrowheads and smooth sandstones, items he had seen Danae and Kai trade, items he had assumed could get them enough lien for their final destination: The kingdom of Vale.

Apparently, he was grossly misinformed on exactly how much these items could pay for. A bag of rice, canned milk and meat: no problem. Airship tickets: considerably a bigger expense.

“Sir… please. I need the money. My sister and I have to get to Vale, we can’t stay here anymore.”

“So, Vacuo isn’t good enough for you, huh?”

OK, don’t murder him. You are above murder. That’s something Megatron would do. You’re better than him.

Levi clenched his fists, but hissed in pain and released the pressure on his wound. He had bandaged it best he could, but he was no medic, and he could tell it wasn’t healing properly.

Levi took a deep breath and ran his non infected hand through his hair. “How much do I need for the cheapest tickets?”

“You need two?”

“Yes sir. For two children.”

“…. No grown ups with you?”

“No sir.”

“Well… for two child tickets, that’s gonna run you at least 50.”

50 lien. Not to mention they would need extra funds for food once they got there, at least until he could find work. They would need close to 100 lien to even survive.

There was only one thing Levi had in his possession that could go for even close to 100 lien.

He stood before the aging merchant's stall, his hands trembling both in apprehension and pain as he clutched his mother’s hunting bow. His heart felt heavy, each beat a reminder of what he was about to do. He turned around to see Lixue leaning against a wall, looking extremely bored yet tired. Levi’s jaw clenched, the weight of the guilt pressing against him. He knew this wasn’t just about money—it was about survival. About getting to Vale, where they could escape the harshness of Vacuo and find a new life, away from the painful memories of their parents and the tribe that had cast them out.

He swallowed his pride and his guilt before taking the bow off his back and holding it up to the merchant. The merchant glanced at Levi and the bow, raising an eyebrow. “That’s a fine piece of craftsmanship,” the merchant said, his tone more a statement than a compliment. “What’s a boy like you doing with something like this?” Levi held the bow out, the polished wood catching the light. It had been a gift, a testament to his growth, and was a reminder of his mother’s unconditional love. It felt like a betrayal to offer it up, but the alternative was worse. He needed the money. “It was my mother’s. I’ll trade it to you.” Levi said, his voice cold and determined.

The merchant didn’t hesitate. He reached out and took the bow, inspecting it closely, his fingers tracing the delicate carvings along the length of the wood. “Good craftsmanship indeed,” he muttered, before looking back at Levi. “But good things come at a cost, boy.” Levi swallowed hard; his throat dry. “I know. How much?” The merchant nodded slowly, weighing the boy's words. After a long, uncomfortable silence, he gave a small, resigned shrug.

“Adding in what you’ve already put on the table, I’d say… 115 lien total.” he offered, his voice as flat as the desert surrounding them. Levi’s chest tightened. It was just barely enough. But it was all he could get, and at this point, it was all they had.

“Deal.”

The merchant handed over the lien with a smirk, as if he knew he had won this exchange. Levi took them, his fingers closing around the cards. They may have been made of lightweight plastic, but the weight of them felt more oppressive than the desert sun. He walked over to Lixue, and silently gestured to her to follow him. Lixue said nothing as they walked away, but he could feel her eyes on him, a silent question hanging between them. “I did what I had to do,” Levi muttered, though he wasn’t sure if he was speaking to her or to himself.

The bow, his mother’s last gift to him, was gone. And in its place was a handful of lien—lien that would carry them to a new life, a life that promised nothing but uncertainty. But it was all they had now, and Levi was determined to make it count. He and Lixue walked a distance further until they reached the airship port. They walked into the dilapidated building and towards a clerk sitting at a desk stacked with forms. Levi cleared his throat to get the clerk’s attention, and the clerk’s head jerked up, almost surprised to see a teenager standing in front of him. “How can I help you?” Levi put a handful of lien down on the clerk’s desk. “Can this get us to Vale?” He asked. The clerk counted the lien before looking back up through large cokebottle glasees. “That will get you two economy seats." “…. Thank you.” Levi traded the lien for the tickets and turned to Lixue. “OK. Let’s go find our airship.”

“Running away won’t solve anything.” She scoffed. Levi inhaled deeply through his nose before turning to his smirking sibling. “I’m not running away. I’m… taking initiative. Vale has more options for us. I can find a job, and we’ll get you in school, and-"

“I’m not going to school.”

“Yes you are.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No!”

“Ye- Lixue. You may be a adult in your mind, but to everyone else, you’re a child. And children go to school and… I mean, Primus, you can’t even read basic English. If we're going to live the rest of our lives here, we need to adapt."

“…. Frag you.”

“C’mon. We don’t want to miss our flight.”

***

The hum of the airship’s engines filled the cabin, a steady vibration beneath Levi’s feet as he sat by the window, staring out at the endless sky. Lixue sat slumped beside him, having fallen asleep moments after they’d taken off. She was smart to take advantage of the time to rest, but Levi couldn’t sleep. It was the first time either of them had been on an airship. The feeling of weightlessness as they ascended was almost too much to process having not felt it for so long. The golden dunes stretched for miles, fading into a hazy horizon. Vacuo was the only home they had ever known, and now, they were leaving it behind-forever. Levi tightened his grip on the handful of lien in his pocket. It wasn’t much, but it was enough. Enough to get them to Vale, enough to give them a future. That was all that mattered.

Chapter Text

City Centre, Vale, Summer 1151

Levi and Lixue sat facing a narrow alleyway, their backs pressed against the rough wall as they watched the people bustle past them, either avoiding looking at them entirely or giving them a pitying gaze and continuing on their way. The city of Vale was truly something to behold— it was full of energy, noise, and life. But for all its beauty, it had no place for him or Lixue.

When they had arrived, he was confident that they would easily be able to accrue funds for food, perhaps some short term housing while Lixue went to school and he found work. What Levi hadn’t understood at the time was that places like Vale didn’t see children as just smaller adults. There were laws in place, laws detrimental to their predicament.

Levi had tried—really tried—to find work. He’d gone to the docks, offering to help with cargo, but no one would hire him, even for menial tasks. He’d wandered through the marketplace, hoping someone needed an extra hand, but the shopkeepers barely spared him a glance. As he was under the legal age, he couldn’t even be considered old enough to enroll Lixue into any of the schools or even to pay for a boarding room. His plans for them ground to a halt. And so, each day blurred into the next. Walking the streets. Searching for work. Failing. He tried and failed as the amount of lien that they had dwindled away into nothing. They had been there for nearly a month, and were now resigned to living on the streets.

The nights were the worst. They huddled in quiet alleyways or beneath the cover of abandoned buildings, Lixue curled up against him for warmth. The city was colder than the desert had ever been, the stone streets unforgiving. Levi stayed awake most nights, listening to the distant sounds of Vale, his body stiff and aching from hunger, his mind racing with thoughts of what to do next. What little lien they had left, they spent on food. It was never much, but Levi always made sure Lixue ate first. If nothing was left afterwards- he could handle it. He’d gone without before, and it was better for Lixue to not go to bed hungry, especially now.

She had developed a strange affliction, her body abnormally warm and yet shivering at the same time. He wasn’t well either. His hand injury had worsened, and now it was a angry red, discolored around the wound and leaking pus. He also felt the strange warmth and chills in additon to the pain. He wasn’t sure what was wrong with either of them, but he knew they wouldn’t last much longer like this.

Lixue sat beside him, hunched over a piece of bread in her hands. She ate slowly, nibbling at it, as if trying to make it last. Levi could see the hesitation in her eyes, the way she glanced at him as if she knew he wasn’t eating. “You.. you should have some,” she murmured, offering him half. Levi forced a grin, shaking his head. “I’m not that hungry.” She frowned, unconvinced. “You’re a fool to not feed yourself. You know as well as I do these feeble bodies can’t survive without sustenance.” “Well forgive me for not wanting you to starve.” He snapped. Lixue looked taken aback before she recovered her smirk. “Well what changed?”

“…. I did. I meant it when I said I wanted to be… better. Better than who I was before. I didn’t ask for you to be my sister, but if keeping you alive and safe is part of what makes me better than Megatron, then that’s what I’m going to do.” Lixue opened her mouth to retort but started coughing instead. When the fit subsided, she lay back against the wall, her face clearly reflecting her illness. “What good is trying to be a good person if we die here? What was the point of even being reborn?”

Levi looked out at the horizon of the sinking sun against that dark line separating the ocean from the sky. “I don’t know…” His body throbbed with pain and hunger. Lixue was right. What had been the point of Saga bringing them back if they were doomed to die orphans in a filthy alleyway?

“…. Lixue. Can I ask you something?”

“… Very well.”

“… How did you die?”

“You’ve never asked me that before.”

“I’ll admit I didn’t care very much. But…. I’d like to know, if you can tell me.”

Lixue sighed softly. “I tried using the dark star saber to gain ultimate power.”

“Of course you did.”

“Well, I would have succeeded if it wasn’t for Bumblebee and his ragtag team of mistfits! They beat the slag out of me, and…. I never woke up again.”

“…. It wasn’t a honorable death. Neither was mine.”

“What even happened to you? Sure, Unicron had your body as a vessel, but you were alive. You-“

“Lixue, I was a corpse being piloted by a demonic deity bent on destroying our planet. When I regained control, I barely had enough strength to fly away. I died in Kaon, and if I’m lucky, they never found my body.”

Lixue mumbled something under her breath. “What was that?” Levi asked. Lixue huffed. “I said… I’m sorry. For… everything. If I’m gonna die here, I might as well finally admit I was backstabbing, lying pain in the aft. OK? I’m fragging sorry.” Levi just stared at her. Starscream? Apologizing? He never thought he’d live to see the day he’d see a real “Im sorry” from any form of Starscream.

“…. I’m sorry too." He whispered. "Maybe you wouldn’t have been a backstabbing pain in the aft if I hadn’t beaten you senseless all the time.” Lixue coughed again, this time relaxing against Levi’s arm when she had to force herself to stop coughing just to catch a breath. He wrapped his arm around her. She didn’t push him away. Her eyes closed. His did as well. Maybe just a short rest….

The clicking of hooves on cobblestone echoed through the alley, and Levi awoke suddenly and tensed, shifting to shield Lixue. A figure stepped into the dim light of the streetlamp—a man, tall and broad, with goat hooves for feet, dark red hair and piercing hazel eyes that swept over them, lingering on Lixue’s frail form. “Kid,” the faunus man said, voice rough but not unkind, with a thick accent Levi couldn't place. “You two aren’t going to last out here.” Levi’s throat tightened. “I know,” he admitted, barely above a whisper.

The man crouched down, his heavy coat shifting with the movement. “My name’s Hugo. Hugo Bronze. I run a fishing business at the harbor. You look like you could use some food.” He nodded toward Lixue. “And she needs food. Medicine too by the looks of it.”

Levi’s first instinct was to refuse. “I don’t need charity.” He could figure this out. He had to. But Lixue coughed, her whole body shaking with the effort, and whatever stubborn pride he had left crumbled. He met Hugo’s gaze, searching for any sign of pity, of condescension. He found none.

“… Fine. But whatever help you offer, I won’t take it without earning my keep.” Levi asked. Hugo thought for a moment. “Well, I have been looking for a apprentice to help me out on my boat. You work, you earn your keep. In return, you get food and a place to stay.” Levi hesitated only a moment longer before nodding. Because Lixue needed him, and this was the only chance they had.

Maybe, finally, luck was on their side.

Chapter Text

The Docks, Vale, Spring 1155, 4 years later

“Levi! Levi, up and at ‘em! We gotta get this catch in early, it’s Sunday! The market will be busy, good day for sales!”

Levi yawned as he sat up, rubbing his eyes with one hand as he threw off the covers with the other. His bare feet touched the cold wooden floor, waking him up further than Hugo’s calls had. His eyes drifted over to the opposite side of the small room. Lixue, now 12, lay sprawled on her own bed, her mouth wide open as she snored, drool running down her chin. A open book on aviation engineering lay open on her chest. Levi simply rolled his eyes. “She stays up too late these days.” He muttered. No matter. It was already 4:30. She could afford to sleep in until Hugo’s wife Victoria woke her up for their weekly homeschool sessions. Levi however, had work to do.

Levi hadn’t known what to expect when Hugo had led them through the winding streets to the small shack near the harbor, but stepping through that door had changed both their lives for the better. Victoria, a short and plump woman with dark curls pulled back into a loose braid and goat ears adorned with earrings, had dropped everything when the two orphans walked in the door. “Oh, by the Brothers… Hugo, bring them inside. Oh, they’re burning up. I can bring down their fevers, but that hand will need to be seen by a doctor-“

“No.” Levi had said, clutching the hand to his chest. “I’ll be OK. Just… please help my sister. She needs it more than I do.”

Victoria and Hugo had immediately brought the children blankets, warm fish stew, and bitter medicine Levi and Lixue forced themselves to swallow. Levi barely remembered that night, but he remembered feeling warmth in his heart for the first time since that night with the mole crab. " So, kid. You gonna tell us how you two ended up on the streets?” Levi stiffened, his grip tightening on the spoon. He knew this was coming. People didn’t just take in strays without asking questions. Victoria reached over, placing a gentle hand on his arm. “You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to,” she said softly. “But we’d like to understand.”

Levi hesitated. It wasn’t an easy story to tell. “…We’re from Vacuo,” he started, his voice low. “We were part of a tribe.” He swallowed. “Until the attack.” V ictoria frowned. “Grimm?” Levi nodded. “They attacked our camp. Killed—” His voice caught, and he clenched his jaw, forcing himself to keep going. “Our parents didn’t make it.” Victoria let out a soft gasp, her eyes misting. Hugo exhaled through his nose, silent but listening. Levi took a shaky breath. “After that… the tribe started saying we were cursed. That it was our fault. So they exiled us.” He forced a dry, humorless chuckle. “Didn’t even give us a chance to prove otherwise. We made it to Vale, at least. I thought I could find work, but no one wants to hire a kid.” His fingers curled into a fist. “So I did what I had to. I made sure Lixue ate. I kept her warm. But…” His voice dropped. “It wasn’t enough.”

Hugo leaned back in his chair, his sharp gaze meeting Levi’s. “You got dealt a bad hand, kid,” he said simply. “But you didn’t give up. You kept fighting.”

Levi finished brushing his teeth in the dim lamplight and leaned over the basin to spit before rinsing and splashing his face with cold water. When he looked back up, he was almost startled. He hadn’t taken the time to really look at himself, always busy with the classwork Victoria assigned him or the long days on Hugo’s tiny fishing boat. But now- he was seeing how much he had changed. His lanky teen body was now defined with muscle and broad shoulders, his face defined with a square jaw. It was jarring, how much he looked like Kai. It shouldn’t have been a surprise, after all, Kai was his father and this is how human genetics worked. But still… He still thought about them. How they would have never allowed Cain to banish them, and would have likely joined them if Cain hadn’t backed down. Deep down, Levi still blamed himself. The dark Energon in his blood had caused his parent’s death, caused their exile, caused-

Levi stopped himself as he lifted his left arm. The glinting metal and quietly whirring mechanics inside should have felt like the end of the world. But it wasn’t. He couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of once again having a metal appendage. So fucking ironic. He pulled on a sweater, jeans, and boots before running downstairs to meet Hugo downstairs.

The infection in his hand had worsened despite Hugo and Victoria’s efforts to help. He knew what his blood could do, he couldn’t risk it hurting the people who helped them out of kindness alone. His fever spiked, and two days later, he had been found unconscious on the floor. Hugo had rushed him to Vale General Hospital, but the damage was too extensive. The infection was far worse than initially thought, having traveled up his arm.

The entire limb had to go.

When he had opened his eyes after the surgery, everything felt strange. A phantom ache pulsed where his left arm used to be, but it was replaced by something new—something familiar. The cybernetic prosthetic was basic, serving for functionality over flashiness. The sensors were connected to a chip inserted into his brain stem, to that his brain could recognize the movements of the limb. He had privately panicked over what damage his blood had caused, but if anything strange had happened during the surgery, no one ever mentioned it.

The shrill calls of seagulls was a strange comfort to Levi as he pulled in another net of wriggling shiny fish. He pulled each one from the pile, placed it on the wooden board, cut off the head and slit its stomach to remove the slimy organs the way Hugo had taught him, and tossed it into the container. When they returned to shore, the dock crew would help them package and transport the fish to the weekend farmers market and the shops, where they would be sold to hungry customers. Hugo would get paid each week, and that money paid for upkeep on the boat and supplies, as well as their own food and necessities.

Hugo came up from the boat, carrying a metal box and pausing to clap Levi on the back. “You’ve got a good rhythm, Levi. Wouldn’t be surprised if you could run this boat yourself one day.” Levi gave a modest shrug, brushing sweat from his brow with his organic hand. “Wouldn’t mind it. It’s honest work.” Hugo nodded, then gestured to the sheltered part of the boat. “Take a break, eat something.”

The two of them sat there, eating the blueberry muffins and boiled eggs Victoria had packed the night before like she always did, drinking hot coffee from a themos. Hugo watched the sun rise over the horizon, the other fishing boats and large cargo ships in the distance. “You know something? The way you move, how fast you learn… You’ve got more in you than fishing.” Levi looked over, curious. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, have you ever thought about becoming a huntsman?”

Levi blinked, the muffin in his hand inches from his mouth before he lowered it into his lap. The idea felt so far removed from the life he knew—so far from hauling nets, gutting fish and fixing boats. But as Hugo said the words, something stirred in his chest. A flicker of a dream he’d never dared voice. “You’ve come a long way since I found you two, Levi. You work harder than most grown men, and you’ve learned fast.” “I didn’t have much choice.”

“That’s exactly why I think you should consider applying. You're almost 17.” Levi looked away, fingers flexing absently on his prosthetic. “Hugo, I haven’t gone to a prep school. Never had training or tutors. Beacon, Shade, Haven, Atlas—I could never get in.” “You might,” Hugo replied, his tone even. “If you give yourself the chance. You’ve already proven more than most applicants ever will. And I know for a fact you’ve got the heart for it.”

Levi swallowed hard. The idea felt too big—too far out of reach. If he was Megatron, he’d sweep the competition. Hell, he wouldn’t even need to apply.

But he wasn’t Megatron anymore.

“What if I fail?” he muttered. Hugo stepped forward and placed a firm hand on his shoulder. “Then you fail. But at least you tried. And I think... I know you'll surprise them.” Levi stared out over the water, the wind tugging gently at his hair. The sea always looked endless to him—like the future. Vast. Unknown. A little terrifying.

But maybe, just maybe, it was time to start chasing something bigger.

“…Alright,” he said at last. “I’ll try.”