Yeah this kind of breaks how setting works. It just doesn't make sense.
DUNE-A False Haerach-1(SI into brother of Irulan)
- Thread starter Drkest
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Yeah this kind of breaks how setting works. It just doesn't make sense.
Chapter 37-Another Kanli!
Chapter 37
CHANI KYNES
Chani felt her consciousness return to her as she found her face splattered on the sand, and she tried to remember just how she had gotten in this position. And as her memory cleared up, like the fog in her vision, alarm bells rang out in her head as she remembered the last words spoken to her by Pau—no, that thing.
It had called itself her son, and the very thought of this whole scenario made her headache, for she could barely make much sense of what was going on. Chani knew of the dangers of the awakening trial and what it meant. She had been warned by Inzal that the trial could cost Paul his sense of self, and yet when he had first woken up, she had not been able to see much difference.
It had still felt like Paul in a way, in the flesh and the warmth. And yet, by his own words, he was anything but. And now it was upto her to warn Inzal about this, and so she struggled to her feet and began to make her way through the caverns before she reached the mouth of the cave only for her path to be blocked by three of the Sayyadina apprentices.
"I am afraid we cannot let you go," one of them spoke as they blocked the entrance to the cave, and the way her eyes were dazed spoke to her how she was probably under the influence of the Voice.
"Get out of my way," she said as another stepped forward and took something out of her hand, revealing it to her.
"We have destroyed your special mobility gear. There is no way you can make it back to the city. Please, Lady Chani, do not make it hard for us," and her eyes widened as she reached for her back and belt and realized that the ODM gear had been taken off of her.
And as growled as she sifted through her pockets to catalog just what she had. The people three girls in front of her had been her friends once. They had played together once, and now, watching them standing against her did not make her feel good.
"Do not make me do this," she said as she reached into her pocket and took out a dagger, and to her dismay, two of them stepped forward as well, forming a wall in her path.
"I am afraid we have no choice. We have been commanded by the chosen one, the Mahdi, and we shall do our part in helping him," and so she lowered herself as she spun the dagger in her hand and took a deep breath.
"Then you leave me no choice..." and with that, she rushed forward and engaged all three in combat, and though she was outnumbered and the three of them were rather well trained, their skills were no match for herself individually.
.
.
The fight lasted for minutes, and Chani used all her knowledge to carve a way for herself out of the cave, and now she stood at the edge of the cliff, huffing as the three apprentices lay down on the ground grunting in pain.
"It is over. Without your equipment, there is no way that you will be able to make it back to the city in time," one of them shouted at her. Chani's eyes narrowed as she took a deep breath.
"Our lord already took the ornithopter away, and without that, it will take you hours to make it to the city," she continued, and Chani began to step back as a loud growl shook the entire cavern and the sands infront of them began to shift.
"Inzal's equipment is useful, but it is not the only way to travel through the desert," she mocked as she reached into her belt and took out the two riding hooks and saw the eyes of the apprentices widen as a massive sand worm tussled out of the sand and roared. As it passed by the cave system, she broke into a stride as she swung her hooks at it and felt them take hold before she pulled on them and jumped with a shout.
"ARGH!"
And so, she felt her feet land on the thick skin of the shai-hudud as it roared in agony and pain as she pulled on the hooks and turned its direction as sand stormed all around her, and yet she held on for dear life even as her arms screamed in agony.
"I am coming."
And so, hours later, she would reach the city, tired and broken, and yet as she entered, she would turn on the guards.
"Chani?" the guard recognized her, as he rushed towards her as she nearly collapsed to her feet.
"What happened to you?" he questioned as she turned towards him.
"Take me to the castle. Now!"
0000
INZAL KAZAB CORRINO
Something was wrong. Very wrong. When Paul had left with Chani to undergo the ascension trial, it had been a gamble. Inzal had been tracking both of them ever since their departure, and yet it was also true that a Haderach had the power to disrupt his senses for some time. It was similar to how Paul could not look into the Guild Navigators, and how they escaped his visions, he had a similar problem with Paul.
And yet, when Paul's signature had not vanished and continued to register on to his senses normally, he had thought that nothing had been wrong, but now the more he stared at the young man in front of him, the more his senses screamed at him that something was wrong.
The duel against Feyd-Rautha had been interesting—no, the more accurate word would be unemotional. Paul had a personal grudge against the Harkonnen Baron-na, the Harkonnens had crippled his father and nearly ended his whole family; he had expected more emotion from him; he should be enraged and angry. Yet he was not.
Paul, if he even was that, was impassive and apathetic, and cruel as he fought with the white-skinned Feyd-Rautha and killed him. And with every passing second, as Chani did not appear through those gates, Inzal felt trepidatious as he feared the future that lay ahead.
And then it happened in an instant. Both Paul and Feyd were locked in a contest of strength when suddenly Paul's knife slipped from his hand before he reached for it with his other hand and plunged it into Feyd-Rautha's heart.
"NOOOO!" he heard the Baron scream as he slipped form his chair and tumbled to the ground, while many more in the Hall gasped as Feyd-Rautha grunted in pain.
"GURGH!" and he watched as the Baron-na collapsed to the ground, and yet Paul held his body gently lowering it to the ground as his eyes met Inzal's.
"Something is wrong," both Irulan and Lady Jessica caught on as well, as Inzal's fingers thrummed on the throne as Paul rose up from the ground as the lifeless body of Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen lay there on his feet.
"YEAH!" the Atreides camp cheered at the victory, with Gurney Halleck and Duncan Idaho jumping in joy at the victory though the same could not be said of him, or Irulan, or even Lady Jessica for that matter.
The herald stepped forward.
"The kanli stands decided. Feyd-Rautha and the Harkonnen have failed in their challenge. The Atredies stand victorious!" he announced, and the Atreides camp cheered as Paul continued to stare at him.
"Speak, Atreides as the victor. What recompense you demand!" the herald asked, and the whole court became quiet.
"My name is Paul Atreides, son of Leto Atreides," and the way he said those words was as if he was reading a book or a story. The pride, the love Paul had for his family name, was nowhere to be seen, giving Inzal a picture of just what he was witnessing.
"And yet that is not my full name," he shouted, and the murmurs began to fill the Hall.
"My full name is Paul Muadib Atreides-Harkonnen," he announced as he raised his dagger into the air, as Lady Jessica gasped at those words.
Muadib, and that name told him his fear had been right: This was not Paul. Yet this was not the possession as well. No, this was something in between, something a lot more dangerous. In the lines and personalities inherited by Paul through the ascension trial, there was one that stood up as the strongest, belonging to a person who had ruled the Empire for a million years.
The unborn son of Paul and Chani, the boy whose deeds would have the world rename his title and call him as the God Emperor.
"How?" she whispered, for she knew that he was indeed telling the truth.
Inzal's eyes moved towards the Baron and the old Reverend Mother, and she saw that she was smirking at him as if taunting him, and his fist balled up. He had made a grave mistake in his arrogance. One that was going to cost him.
"Through my mother, I carry in my veins the Harkonnen blood and claim myself as the Baron-na of the Harkonnen clan," he announced as he lowered his hand, and stepped over Feyd-Rutha's lifeless body, and walked up to the throne.
"And now as the Baron-Na of the Harkonnen clan..." he began as the doors to the throne room stuck open, and he watched as a beat-up Chani rushed into the room and screamed.
"NOOO!" and yet her words came too late, as Paul continued.
"I call for kanli against House Corrino and the Padishah Emperor Inzal Kazab Corrino, for his crimes against House Corrino."
"Paul!" Lady Jessica rose from her seat as the whole throne room gasped at those words.
"What are you doing? Do you have..." She tried to speak up but was cut short by a loud scream from the side.
"I, as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, endorse this challenge and name the boy as my heir." the Baron spoke up, smiling wildly. Lady Jessica's face paled at those words.
"Your grace. I apologize on my son's behalf," Lady Jessica began as she turned to face him and bowed her head.
"Let me talk to him, and I hope that you can forgive him for his transgr..." and yet Inzal knew that it was all useless as he rose up from his seat.
"Are you certain of this, Paul Muadib Atreides-Harkonnen," he called out his name as he had.
"I am," Inzal said, reaching for the small knife hidden in his side. Slipping it into his hand, he threw it, and it blurred across the Hall before it landed in the Baron's neck.
The hulking giant of a man grabbed his neck, and blood showered out as both his carotids were cut open. He gurgled blood as he slid down the platform and rolled down.
THUD!
His weight broke the boundary, and his body fell to the ground as blood began to spread around him.
"You..mo.." he tried to speak but couldn't, for his vocal cords were cut as well, as Inzal turned his head.
"Your life was forfeit the second Feyd-Rautha lost the kanli. Your time is over, Baron," and with that, he turned towards Paul.
"Am I wrong?" he asked the boy, who shook his head.
"The Crown has done me a favor. I was about to do just that," he replied as both of them looked into each other's eyes.
"I Inzal Kazab Corrino as the Padishah Emperor and the representative of the Corrino family. I accept the challenge of kanli."
0000
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CHANI KYNES
Chani felt her consciousness return to her as she found her face splattered on the sand, and she tried to remember just how she had gotten in this position. And as her memory cleared up, like the fog in her vision, alarm bells rang out in her head as she remembered the last words spoken to her by Pau—no, that thing.
It had called itself her son, and the very thought of this whole scenario made her headache, for she could barely make much sense of what was going on. Chani knew of the dangers of the awakening trial and what it meant. She had been warned by Inzal that the trial could cost Paul his sense of self, and yet when he had first woken up, she had not been able to see much difference.
It had still felt like Paul in a way, in the flesh and the warmth. And yet, by his own words, he was anything but. And now it was upto her to warn Inzal about this, and so she struggled to her feet and began to make her way through the caverns before she reached the mouth of the cave only for her path to be blocked by three of the Sayyadina apprentices.
"I am afraid we cannot let you go," one of them spoke as they blocked the entrance to the cave, and the way her eyes were dazed spoke to her how she was probably under the influence of the Voice.
"Get out of my way," she said as another stepped forward and took something out of her hand, revealing it to her.
"We have destroyed your special mobility gear. There is no way you can make it back to the city. Please, Lady Chani, do not make it hard for us," and her eyes widened as she reached for her back and belt and realized that the ODM gear had been taken off of her.
And as growled as she sifted through her pockets to catalog just what she had. The people three girls in front of her had been her friends once. They had played together once, and now, watching them standing against her did not make her feel good.
"Do not make me do this," she said as she reached into her pocket and took out a dagger, and to her dismay, two of them stepped forward as well, forming a wall in her path.
"I am afraid we have no choice. We have been commanded by the chosen one, the Mahdi, and we shall do our part in helping him," and so she lowered herself as she spun the dagger in her hand and took a deep breath.
"Then you leave me no choice..." and with that, she rushed forward and engaged all three in combat, and though she was outnumbered and the three of them were rather well trained, their skills were no match for herself individually.
.
.
The fight lasted for minutes, and Chani used all her knowledge to carve a way for herself out of the cave, and now she stood at the edge of the cliff, huffing as the three apprentices lay down on the ground grunting in pain.
"It is over. Without your equipment, there is no way that you will be able to make it back to the city in time," one of them shouted at her. Chani's eyes narrowed as she took a deep breath.
"Our lord already took the ornithopter away, and without that, it will take you hours to make it to the city," she continued, and Chani began to step back as a loud growl shook the entire cavern and the sands infront of them began to shift.
"Inzal's equipment is useful, but it is not the only way to travel through the desert," she mocked as she reached into her belt and took out the two riding hooks and saw the eyes of the apprentices widen as a massive sand worm tussled out of the sand and roared. As it passed by the cave system, she broke into a stride as she swung her hooks at it and felt them take hold before she pulled on them and jumped with a shout.
"ARGH!"
And so, she felt her feet land on the thick skin of the shai-hudud as it roared in agony and pain as she pulled on the hooks and turned its direction as sand stormed all around her, and yet she held on for dear life even as her arms screamed in agony.
"I am coming."
And so, hours later, she would reach the city, tired and broken, and yet as she entered, she would turn on the guards.
"Chani?" the guard recognized her, as he rushed towards her as she nearly collapsed to her feet.
"What happened to you?" he questioned as she turned towards him.
"Take me to the castle. Now!"
0000
INZAL KAZAB CORRINO
Something was wrong. Very wrong. When Paul had left with Chani to undergo the ascension trial, it had been a gamble. Inzal had been tracking both of them ever since their departure, and yet it was also true that a Haderach had the power to disrupt his senses for some time. It was similar to how Paul could not look into the Guild Navigators, and how they escaped his visions, he had a similar problem with Paul.
And yet, when Paul's signature had not vanished and continued to register on to his senses normally, he had thought that nothing had been wrong, but now the more he stared at the young man in front of him, the more his senses screamed at him that something was wrong.
The duel against Feyd-Rautha had been interesting—no, the more accurate word would be unemotional. Paul had a personal grudge against the Harkonnen Baron-na, the Harkonnens had crippled his father and nearly ended his whole family; he had expected more emotion from him; he should be enraged and angry. Yet he was not.
Paul, if he even was that, was impassive and apathetic, and cruel as he fought with the white-skinned Feyd-Rautha and killed him. And with every passing second, as Chani did not appear through those gates, Inzal felt trepidatious as he feared the future that lay ahead.
And then it happened in an instant. Both Paul and Feyd were locked in a contest of strength when suddenly Paul's knife slipped from his hand before he reached for it with his other hand and plunged it into Feyd-Rautha's heart.
"NOOOO!" he heard the Baron scream as he slipped form his chair and tumbled to the ground, while many more in the Hall gasped as Feyd-Rautha grunted in pain.
"GURGH!" and he watched as the Baron-na collapsed to the ground, and yet Paul held his body gently lowering it to the ground as his eyes met Inzal's.
"Something is wrong," both Irulan and Lady Jessica caught on as well, as Inzal's fingers thrummed on the throne as Paul rose up from the ground as the lifeless body of Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen lay there on his feet.
"YEAH!" the Atreides camp cheered at the victory, with Gurney Halleck and Duncan Idaho jumping in joy at the victory though the same could not be said of him, or Irulan, or even Lady Jessica for that matter.
The herald stepped forward.
"The kanli stands decided. Feyd-Rautha and the Harkonnen have failed in their challenge. The Atredies stand victorious!" he announced, and the Atreides camp cheered as Paul continued to stare at him.
"Speak, Atreides as the victor. What recompense you demand!" the herald asked, and the whole court became quiet.
"My name is Paul Atreides, son of Leto Atreides," and the way he said those words was as if he was reading a book or a story. The pride, the love Paul had for his family name, was nowhere to be seen, giving Inzal a picture of just what he was witnessing.
"And yet that is not my full name," he shouted, and the murmurs began to fill the Hall.
"My full name is Paul Muadib Atreides-Harkonnen," he announced as he raised his dagger into the air, as Lady Jessica gasped at those words.
Muadib, and that name told him his fear had been right: This was not Paul. Yet this was not the possession as well. No, this was something in between, something a lot more dangerous. In the lines and personalities inherited by Paul through the ascension trial, there was one that stood up as the strongest, belonging to a person who had ruled the Empire for a million years.
The unborn son of Paul and Chani, the boy whose deeds would have the world rename his title and call him as the God Emperor.
"How?" she whispered, for she knew that he was indeed telling the truth.
Inzal's eyes moved towards the Baron and the old Reverend Mother, and she saw that she was smirking at him as if taunting him, and his fist balled up. He had made a grave mistake in his arrogance. One that was going to cost him.
"Through my mother, I carry in my veins the Harkonnen blood and claim myself as the Baron-na of the Harkonnen clan," he announced as he lowered his hand, and stepped over Feyd-Rutha's lifeless body, and walked up to the throne.
"And now as the Baron-Na of the Harkonnen clan..." he began as the doors to the throne room stuck open, and he watched as a beat-up Chani rushed into the room and screamed.
"NOOO!" and yet her words came too late, as Paul continued.
"I call for kanli against House Corrino and the Padishah Emperor Inzal Kazab Corrino, for his crimes against House Corrino."
"Paul!" Lady Jessica rose from her seat as the whole throne room gasped at those words.
"What are you doing? Do you have..." She tried to speak up but was cut short by a loud scream from the side.
"I, as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, endorse this challenge and name the boy as my heir." the Baron spoke up, smiling wildly. Lady Jessica's face paled at those words.
"Your grace. I apologize on my son's behalf," Lady Jessica began as she turned to face him and bowed her head.
"Let me talk to him, and I hope that you can forgive him for his transgr..." and yet Inzal knew that it was all useless as he rose up from his seat.
"Are you certain of this, Paul Muadib Atreides-Harkonnen," he called out his name as he had.
"I am," Inzal said, reaching for the small knife hidden in his side. Slipping it into his hand, he threw it, and it blurred across the Hall before it landed in the Baron's neck.
The hulking giant of a man grabbed his neck, and blood showered out as both his carotids were cut open. He gurgled blood as he slid down the platform and rolled down.
THUD!
His weight broke the boundary, and his body fell to the ground as blood began to spread around him.
"You..mo.." he tried to speak but couldn't, for his vocal cords were cut as well, as Inzal turned his head.
"Your life was forfeit the second Feyd-Rautha lost the kanli. Your time is over, Baron," and with that, he turned towards Paul.
"Am I wrong?" he asked the boy, who shook his head.
"The Crown has done me a favor. I was about to do just that," he replied as both of them looked into each other's eyes.
"I Inzal Kazab Corrino as the Padishah Emperor and the representative of the Corrino family. I accept the challenge of kanli."
0000
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Chapter 38-The Undestined!
Chapter 38
INZAL KAZAB CORRINO
After accepting the challenge of kanli, Inzal found himself in his solar with most of his closest aides alongside him as Lady Jessica hounded her son for answers.
"What is the meaning of this, Paul?" she shouted and screamed. The boy in question simply sat there, unbothered by the ruckus around him, staring Inzal in the eye.
"Why would you do such a thing?" she shouted, and when received no answer.
"WHY? ANSWER ME DAMNIT! ANSWER ME!" she screamed, and yet there was no answer, only silence.
Chani had been quiet ever since her arrival, only looking at Paul with a resigned and complicated expression.
When Paul refused to budge, he saw Jessica turn towards her.
"And you. You knew of his lineage, of how he was the Harkonnen heir," she asked, and he raised a brow.
"I had my suspicions," he answered, not hiding the truth from her.
"You need to change your mind, deny Paul this madness that he seeks. I shall have him imprisoned for insanity and take back the challenge," she argued, trying to make sense, but there was no way such a thing would even work.
"Leave us," he ordered and saw everyone in the room perk up at his words.
"Bu..."
"I said leave us," he repeated, looking at Lady Jessica sternly, and her lips thinned as she huffed and began to walk out of the room, everyone else soon followed suit, leaving him alone with Paul—or more exactly, the stranger now inhabiting his body.
Inzal leaned back as he looked him in the eye, as he broke the silence.
"When I had Paul undergo the ritual, I was not really expecting you to show up, Leto?" he taunted, testing out his own hypothesis about just who was it that had overpowered Paul to take control of his body.
And he saw Paul's lips turn up slightly as the boy nodded.
"I should have known that you would figure out my identity," the boy spoke in Paul's face. And that had been his miscalculation. When making his plans, Inzal had accounted for mostly the past, ignoring the future that was no longer set to happen.
And yet he had forgotten that it had been Paul's blood that had given birth to a boy who would go in to change the entire galaxy, ruling over it after Paul for thousands of years. His name is enshrined in history as the God Emperor.
"Though I am surprised by your actions, Leto. Why do you stand against me, stand against your own liberation and happiness? Afterall, my actions have only liberated you and your father from the accursed burden you thought fate had levied onto you," he added. And a great burden it was, the burden of foresight and hindsight rolled into one. The ability to perceive the future and the calamity that lay hidden in it.
It had driven them both into solitude, depriving them both of their humanity and a chance at happiness.
"You have done an admirable job, indeed. But you do not understand the things you are meddling with," Paul answered, and there was an inflection in his voice, one that made it more rusty and ancient.
"So, you still seek the Golden Path?" Inzal asked, and Paul's eyes widened for a second.
"You know of that too," he was surprised by his knowledge.
"As I told your father, I know much more than you think," he answered cryptically.
And Paul was quiet for some time as he continued to stare at him.
"Know this, Inzal, that I bear you or your kin no ill will. You have helped my own blood a lot, saved thousands of lives, and altered the fate of many, but I must stop you not for a desire of the throne but for the sake of humanity," he lectured, making Inzal scoff.
Humanity was such an abstract concept. What was good for humanity? This human obsession with the proverbial greater good was deeply rooted in the Bene Gesserit propaganda and was something that Inzal hated.
"And who gave you the right to decide what is best for humanity?" Inzal asked sharply and saw Paul's eyes widen as he failed to comprehend his question.
"You know as well as anyone, the truth of what I am, of what a Kwisatz Haderach is, and what I can see. Humanity can only ever survive if we take the Golden Pat..."
"And who is to say that this Golden Path is indeed this salvation you seek? Who can verify the truth of your future sight?" Inzal challenged angrily, his own fists balling up.
"The Kwisatz Had..."
"IS NOT A GOD!" Inzal roared and saw Paul shrink back slightly. He may be the Kwisatz Haderach, but Inzal was not without power as well. He had spent a lot more on this planet, using his powers and pushing them to the limits.
"He is a human born with some special powers, nothing much. And I refuse to believe that the future is so set in stone that all the blood, sweat, and tears of people all over the world are meaningless," Inzal challenged.
"I see. You are like those heretics. You do not believe me," Paul began, and Inzal leaned back.
"I refuse to believe in fate. I believe I am the carver of my own destiny. You think that the Golden Path is the only way for humanity to survive? I say bull shit!" Inzal answered.
"You are wrong," Paul voiced out sharply, and he shrugged.
"Then so be it. I would much rather die being the master of my own fate than to be a sheep collared around by a so-called prophet," Inzal spoke with finality, showcasing his own intentions.
"Then our paths are set. I shall meet you in the ring then," Paul said as he stood up and began to move towards the door.
"Tell me one thing," Inzal called out and saw him stop as he pulled on the door.
"Did your powers show you your victory as well?" Inzal asked and saw Paul's eyes narrow.
"They did not. But that does not mean I will lose," the God Emperor replied as he looked him in the eye.
"After all, you forget that I have thousands of years of experience, something which you cannot replicate," he replied.
"And yet you were not so human, for most of them, were you?" Inzal answered and wet his lips.
"I will prove to you that your visions are false. That we are the masters of our own fate."
0000
IRULAN CORRINO
The kanli challenge from Paul had taken everyone by surprise, and now the ramifications of it were becoming clearer by the day. Inzal's alliance with the Atreides was strong, and he had literally saved them and their House from extinction. Paul Atreides had no reason to go against Inzal or their House, and that is why the whole kanli thing unsettled everyone coming out of the blue.
And though Inzal himself looked no different than before, there were signs of anger and frustration there. She and Lady Jessica had spent quite a bit of time arguing over this whole affair as she accused the Duchess of being a party in all this, of being a conniving back-stabbing bastard standing against everything House Atreides stood for.
"It was a mistake," Inzal spoke as he shook his head, his voice emotional and filled with rage.
"It was," she agreed, knowing full well what he was referring to.
"And now this one mistake could unravel everything," her brother snarled as he smashed his fist on the table.
She told him, thinking his actions were wrong, "You should not have accepted Kali's challenge."
"You could still declare it all false and pull back. Lady Jessica, as the truth sayer, could nullify the whole thing using an obscure law and have Paul declared unfit," she argued, knowing that the Atreides Duchess was wroth over all this as well.
But Inzal shook his head with a sigh.
"That would not have worked. Not against him," he spoke, and there was a bit of reverence in his tone as he mentioned him.
"The fact that he chose to challenge me openly speaks of a level of respect and understanding for the sacrifices I have made. He could have simply stood by and acted along and plotted against me through more subtle means, but he did not. This is the cleanest way to end things, and in some ways, is the most just way he could have offered me," he said, and her eyes narrowed.
"And who exactly is this he you speak of? We discussed Paul's ascension before, and you assured me that there was none in his line before him that could exert their influence on him. You seemed rather certain that Paul would be able to stand against the shadows of his ancestors, but now we all know that you were wrong," she added and saw him nod.
"Yes, I was wrong. Though not entirely," he said as he spun around in his chair and faced her, his blue eyes gazing into her own.
"When I allowed Paul to undergo the ascension, I did account for all of his ancestors and had good reason to believe that he would triumph over them all. And I was right; Paul did triumph over them," he said, and she frowned.
"But this is not Paul. You admitted just now. Even earlier, you called him by another name," she mentioned, recalling the name he had used.
"Leto, you called him," she mentioned with a frown, the name of the unconscious Duke.
"I was not wrong because no one from Paul's ancestors could stand up to him. But the only thing I failed at was accounting for those in Paul's lineage yet to be born," and his answer had her still as she tried to understand the implication of those words.
And when she did, her eyes widened, and she gulped down, haunted by the truth of it all.
"You mean to say..." and Inzal nodded.
"Indeed, this Leto, Leto the second as he was named, is not one of Paul's ancestors. No, he is the son that would have been born to him and Chani Kynes of the Fremen nearly a decade from today," and she shook her head.
"But that is impossible," she gasped out as she tried to wrap her head around all this.
"I believed so as well. A Kwisatz Haderach is supposed to be the amalgamation of his genetic memories, and that includes only one's ancestors and not their offspring. And yet I was wrong, and now we are faced with this dilemma," he sighed at those words, missing her point.
"I understand that, but you are skipping over another rather important detail," and at that, she narrowed her eyes at him.
"How do you know so much of him if he was born in the future?" she asked, and she saw him still for a second. Her question unsettled him, she could tell, as she saw him drum his fingers on the table.
In the end, he gave a long sigh and leaned back in his chair as silence hung in the room. His eyes gazed into her own as he slowly opened his mouth.
"Because when I was first born into this world, becoming me in our mother's womb, I was born with another set of memories," he answered, the words stilling her.
"Memories?" she questioned, and he nodded.
"Indeed, memories riddled with the past, present, and the future of this galaxy," and as she heard those words, her eyes widened.
"Yet in my memories, there was one major difference between the reality we live in today and the world I saw in my memories," he elaborated as he gave her a forlorn smile.
"In that world, Inzal Kazab Corrino did not exist."
0000
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INZAL KAZAB CORRINO
After accepting the challenge of kanli, Inzal found himself in his solar with most of his closest aides alongside him as Lady Jessica hounded her son for answers.
"What is the meaning of this, Paul?" she shouted and screamed. The boy in question simply sat there, unbothered by the ruckus around him, staring Inzal in the eye.
"Why would you do such a thing?" she shouted, and when received no answer.
"WHY? ANSWER ME DAMNIT! ANSWER ME!" she screamed, and yet there was no answer, only silence.
Chani had been quiet ever since her arrival, only looking at Paul with a resigned and complicated expression.
When Paul refused to budge, he saw Jessica turn towards her.
"And you. You knew of his lineage, of how he was the Harkonnen heir," she asked, and he raised a brow.
"I had my suspicions," he answered, not hiding the truth from her.
"You need to change your mind, deny Paul this madness that he seeks. I shall have him imprisoned for insanity and take back the challenge," she argued, trying to make sense, but there was no way such a thing would even work.
"Leave us," he ordered and saw everyone in the room perk up at his words.
"Bu..."
"I said leave us," he repeated, looking at Lady Jessica sternly, and her lips thinned as she huffed and began to walk out of the room, everyone else soon followed suit, leaving him alone with Paul—or more exactly, the stranger now inhabiting his body.
Inzal leaned back as he looked him in the eye, as he broke the silence.
"When I had Paul undergo the ritual, I was not really expecting you to show up, Leto?" he taunted, testing out his own hypothesis about just who was it that had overpowered Paul to take control of his body.
And he saw Paul's lips turn up slightly as the boy nodded.
"I should have known that you would figure out my identity," the boy spoke in Paul's face. And that had been his miscalculation. When making his plans, Inzal had accounted for mostly the past, ignoring the future that was no longer set to happen.
And yet he had forgotten that it had been Paul's blood that had given birth to a boy who would go in to change the entire galaxy, ruling over it after Paul for thousands of years. His name is enshrined in history as the God Emperor.
"Though I am surprised by your actions, Leto. Why do you stand against me, stand against your own liberation and happiness? Afterall, my actions have only liberated you and your father from the accursed burden you thought fate had levied onto you," he added. And a great burden it was, the burden of foresight and hindsight rolled into one. The ability to perceive the future and the calamity that lay hidden in it.
It had driven them both into solitude, depriving them both of their humanity and a chance at happiness.
"You have done an admirable job, indeed. But you do not understand the things you are meddling with," Paul answered, and there was an inflection in his voice, one that made it more rusty and ancient.
"So, you still seek the Golden Path?" Inzal asked, and Paul's eyes widened for a second.
"You know of that too," he was surprised by his knowledge.
"As I told your father, I know much more than you think," he answered cryptically.
And Paul was quiet for some time as he continued to stare at him.
"Know this, Inzal, that I bear you or your kin no ill will. You have helped my own blood a lot, saved thousands of lives, and altered the fate of many, but I must stop you not for a desire of the throne but for the sake of humanity," he lectured, making Inzal scoff.
Humanity was such an abstract concept. What was good for humanity? This human obsession with the proverbial greater good was deeply rooted in the Bene Gesserit propaganda and was something that Inzal hated.
"And who gave you the right to decide what is best for humanity?" Inzal asked sharply and saw Paul's eyes widen as he failed to comprehend his question.
"You know as well as anyone, the truth of what I am, of what a Kwisatz Haderach is, and what I can see. Humanity can only ever survive if we take the Golden Pat..."
"And who is to say that this Golden Path is indeed this salvation you seek? Who can verify the truth of your future sight?" Inzal challenged angrily, his own fists balling up.
"The Kwisatz Had..."
"IS NOT A GOD!" Inzal roared and saw Paul shrink back slightly. He may be the Kwisatz Haderach, but Inzal was not without power as well. He had spent a lot more on this planet, using his powers and pushing them to the limits.
"He is a human born with some special powers, nothing much. And I refuse to believe that the future is so set in stone that all the blood, sweat, and tears of people all over the world are meaningless," Inzal challenged.
"I see. You are like those heretics. You do not believe me," Paul began, and Inzal leaned back.
"I refuse to believe in fate. I believe I am the carver of my own destiny. You think that the Golden Path is the only way for humanity to survive? I say bull shit!" Inzal answered.
"You are wrong," Paul voiced out sharply, and he shrugged.
"Then so be it. I would much rather die being the master of my own fate than to be a sheep collared around by a so-called prophet," Inzal spoke with finality, showcasing his own intentions.
"Then our paths are set. I shall meet you in the ring then," Paul said as he stood up and began to move towards the door.
"Tell me one thing," Inzal called out and saw him stop as he pulled on the door.
"Did your powers show you your victory as well?" Inzal asked and saw Paul's eyes narrow.
"They did not. But that does not mean I will lose," the God Emperor replied as he looked him in the eye.
"After all, you forget that I have thousands of years of experience, something which you cannot replicate," he replied.
"And yet you were not so human, for most of them, were you?" Inzal answered and wet his lips.
"I will prove to you that your visions are false. That we are the masters of our own fate."
0000
IRULAN CORRINO
The kanli challenge from Paul had taken everyone by surprise, and now the ramifications of it were becoming clearer by the day. Inzal's alliance with the Atreides was strong, and he had literally saved them and their House from extinction. Paul Atreides had no reason to go against Inzal or their House, and that is why the whole kanli thing unsettled everyone coming out of the blue.
And though Inzal himself looked no different than before, there were signs of anger and frustration there. She and Lady Jessica had spent quite a bit of time arguing over this whole affair as she accused the Duchess of being a party in all this, of being a conniving back-stabbing bastard standing against everything House Atreides stood for.
"It was a mistake," Inzal spoke as he shook his head, his voice emotional and filled with rage.
"It was," she agreed, knowing full well what he was referring to.
"And now this one mistake could unravel everything," her brother snarled as he smashed his fist on the table.
She told him, thinking his actions were wrong, "You should not have accepted Kali's challenge."
"You could still declare it all false and pull back. Lady Jessica, as the truth sayer, could nullify the whole thing using an obscure law and have Paul declared unfit," she argued, knowing that the Atreides Duchess was wroth over all this as well.
But Inzal shook his head with a sigh.
"That would not have worked. Not against him," he spoke, and there was a bit of reverence in his tone as he mentioned him.
"The fact that he chose to challenge me openly speaks of a level of respect and understanding for the sacrifices I have made. He could have simply stood by and acted along and plotted against me through more subtle means, but he did not. This is the cleanest way to end things, and in some ways, is the most just way he could have offered me," he said, and her eyes narrowed.
"And who exactly is this he you speak of? We discussed Paul's ascension before, and you assured me that there was none in his line before him that could exert their influence on him. You seemed rather certain that Paul would be able to stand against the shadows of his ancestors, but now we all know that you were wrong," she added and saw him nod.
"Yes, I was wrong. Though not entirely," he said as he spun around in his chair and faced her, his blue eyes gazing into her own.
"When I allowed Paul to undergo the ascension, I did account for all of his ancestors and had good reason to believe that he would triumph over them all. And I was right; Paul did triumph over them," he said, and she frowned.
"But this is not Paul. You admitted just now. Even earlier, you called him by another name," she mentioned, recalling the name he had used.
"Leto, you called him," she mentioned with a frown, the name of the unconscious Duke.
"I was not wrong because no one from Paul's ancestors could stand up to him. But the only thing I failed at was accounting for those in Paul's lineage yet to be born," and his answer had her still as she tried to understand the implication of those words.
And when she did, her eyes widened, and she gulped down, haunted by the truth of it all.
"You mean to say..." and Inzal nodded.
"Indeed, this Leto, Leto the second as he was named, is not one of Paul's ancestors. No, he is the son that would have been born to him and Chani Kynes of the Fremen nearly a decade from today," and she shook her head.
"But that is impossible," she gasped out as she tried to wrap her head around all this.
"I believed so as well. A Kwisatz Haderach is supposed to be the amalgamation of his genetic memories, and that includes only one's ancestors and not their offspring. And yet I was wrong, and now we are faced with this dilemma," he sighed at those words, missing her point.
"I understand that, but you are skipping over another rather important detail," and at that, she narrowed her eyes at him.
"How do you know so much of him if he was born in the future?" she asked, and she saw him still for a second. Her question unsettled him, she could tell, as she saw him drum his fingers on the table.
In the end, he gave a long sigh and leaned back in his chair as silence hung in the room. His eyes gazed into her own as he slowly opened his mouth.
"Because when I was first born into this world, becoming me in our mother's womb, I was born with another set of memories," he answered, the words stilling her.
"Memories?" she questioned, and he nodded.
"Indeed, memories riddled with the past, present, and the future of this galaxy," and as she heard those words, her eyes widened.
"Yet in my memories, there was one major difference between the reality we live in today and the world I saw in my memories," he elaborated as he gave her a forlorn smile.
"In that world, Inzal Kazab Corrino did not exist."
0000
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- Location
- England
Who the heck is Kali?
Chapter 39-A Lover's Prayer! A Mother's Plea!
Chapter 39
CHANI KYNES
The kanji challenge by Paul—or whomever he truly was—caused a major ruckus everywhere. The Fremen were wroth at the Atreides men and women, deeming Paul's actions a great betrayal, and already rifts had begun to appear within the Fremen-Atreides alliance that had toppled the Emperor and Harkonnens.
All this was exaggerated by the fact that despite a day passing, neither Paul nor Inzal had addressed their respective people. Both of them secluded themselves in their room and solar, respectively, with Paul taking no guest at all.
Things were tough for her as well. Chani's relationship with the Atreides heir was known to all in the Fremen, and the actions of Paul had cast a shadow on her as well, with many calling her a traitor and a turncoat, believing her to be Paul's co-conspirator in all this.
Those accusations clawed at her, and many of her acquaintances and friends turned on her as the Fremen saw their hard-fought freedom hijacked once more by an outsider—an outsider they had provided shelter for in their time of need, saving them from mass extinction.
And all this had brought her here, to the outside of Paul's room. A place where none were allowed. None except her. Not that she would let a simple no stop her. She had spent hours thinking about the words that had come out of Paul's mouth when he had first woken up, the title he had used for her, the way he had described her, described her familiarity with a 'Ghanima,' a name rather close to her.
She remembered barely a whisper of his name, which had severe implications about just who was it that inhabited Paul's body. Today, she would have her answers. And so, she entered the room, one that was often reserved for the heir, and it was just as Paul had left it.
And there in the center of the room sat Paul—no, he. Leto, as he had called himself. Cross-legged with his eyes closed, deep in meditation.
And as she stepped forward, the door closed behind her.
"I knew you would come," he said, his tone similar to Paul's but different. He opened his eyes and looked at her. There was curiosity and affection in that gaze, as he motioned for her to sit down as well.
"I suppose you are here for answers," he asked, and she nodded and sat down on the floor opposite him. Her eyes were still focused on him, and her gaze picked up the subtle differences between this newcomer and her lover with every passing second.
"I am," she replied, and he nodded and became quiet as if waiting for her to voice them out. There were a thousand questions whirling in her mind about his motive, about what he had done with Paul, and yet they all mattered little, at least until she knew just who she was talking to.
"Who are you? You are not Paul. You have his face, his voice, his body, but you are not my Paul, are you?" she asked and saw him smile.
"I am not," he did not deny her words.
"My real name is Leto Atreides the Second, and I am the son of the Padishah Emperor Paul-Muadib Atreides and you," he replied, confirming her suspicion that the whisper she remembered was not false. That he had indeed called her mother.
"You lie," she retorted even though in her heart she knew it to be true.
"I have no reason to lie to you. You can have a truth sayer come and scrutinize my words, but on my honor, I promise you this that I will not lie to you," he said, and her fists balled up as she tried to make sense of what he was saying.
"You are my son. Mine and Paul's, a Paul who was Emperor? But Paul is not the Emperor, and we have no son!" she asked, and he nodded.
"You are right. But I was not born today or even in the tomorrows that are set to come. In a way, I was born nearly a decade from today to you and Emperor Paul Atreides in a different timeline," he answered.
"So, you are from the future?" she asked, and he shook his head.
"Partly. I am from the future in a different timeline," and at her perplexed state, he sifted his hand through his hair and began slowly.
"The truth is that my existence is a mystery even to myself. I do not know how I came to be, but I do know why. And it was to save humanity, and that is what I shall do," he answered resolutely.
"Save humanity from what?" she asked.
"Extinction," he answered, and she scoffed at his words, believing them to be an exaggeration. But his grave expression told her otherwise, that he was entirely serious.
"You cannot be serious," she scoffed, and he shook his head.
"I am afraid I am serious. The current direction in which humanity is headed could end in its absolute demise, and only I can prevent that. Only I am capable of carrying that burden," he began.
"I do not believe you," she replied.
"But Inzal does," he answered, making her head snap towards him as he replied impassively.
"He knows what I talk about. Knows of who I am. What I am. He can tell you that I speak nothing but the truth, or at least what I believe it to be," he replied.
"Where is Paul?" she asked, and he was quiet for a second.
"He is inside me. He is powerful, much powerful, but he is no match for me. No one shall stand in my way. I shall save humanity as is my destiny," and the slight shift in his eyes made her eyes widen as her fists balled up.
"Paul may have failed, but I will not," she began as she stood up, her mind already made.
"I will stop you, whoever you are, and bring back Paul. No matter what it takes," she snarled as she stood up.
"No one can deny fate," he replied cryptically.
"I believe in making my own fate," and with those parting words and as she was about to leave, he called out from behind.
"You are just like her," and she stilled at those words.
"Or rather, I think I should say she was just like you," he continued, his tone much softer and regretful.
"Ghanima, my twin sister. There was a time when she thought she could stop me as well. In a way, she was the only one capable of doing it, being my other half, and yet even she failed. And so will you."
0000
INZAL KAZAB CORRINO
It had been quite some time since Inzal had gone into a deep meditation trying to process a person's personality, intentions, and actions. Yet he knew that if he was to defeat Leto II, the self-proclaimed God Emperor, he needed to pull out all of his cards.
Now, after spending much time alone, he had some answers about Leto's actions. Leto could have tried to maintain his cover as Paul, something which would have been rather difficult given that Paul was in love with Chani, and Leto could not reciprocate or act on those feelings, hence making it clear to him that this was not Paul.
In a way, his act of trying to use Chani as a measure of Paul's ascension had acted as he had intended to, with Chani acting as a litmus test for him to measure Paul's control over his own actions.
This kanli was a gamble by Leto, one that was necessary in many ways because without it, he would have no way to sit on the throne and control the galaxy as he had once did. He had made a high-stakes gamble, and now he had to respond in kind.
But first, he had to deal with this. Since the morning, Chani had been insisting on meeting with him. He was aware of the backlash she was facing from the Fremen and how many were calling her a backstabber.
Yet he had already made a mistake and was being very cautious, so he had postponed meeting her. But he could no longer push it forward.
"Nominate me for the fight," Chani cut in, much to his surprise.
"What?" he asked again as she resolutely reiterated.
"I said, nominate me for the kanli. I shall fight in your stead," she offered, and he was taken aback by her words. But the determination in her eyes told him that this was not an emotional decision but one she seemed to have made after much thought.
"Is this because of what the people are saying about you?" he asked, and she shook her head.
"No, it's not. I do not care about it," she said as she looked down, thinking about her next words.
"You know who he is. The one who resides inside Paul," she asked him as she looked into his eyes, and he nodded.
"I do," he did not deny it.
"So he really is my son," she asked, and he nodded, and at that, she bit her lip.
"Then let me fight him. He claims to be my son, claims to love me. I am a good fighter, but even if I was not, I doubt he would have it in him to kill his own mother," she argued, and he understood her point. And if it was anyone else, then that argument could have worked.
But this was not a regular human. This was a person who had ruled over a galaxy for a million years and done so with an Iron Fist. He was not a boy. No he was the God Emperor.
"You are a strong fighter, Chani. Better than most, but you underestimate Leto," he began.
"He is not a good fighter, and one could argue he is the best given his vast experience. And the argument that he would not have it in him to kill you, his mother. Well, I am afraid that does not hold as much weight as you may think in his case," he told her softly and saw her get frustrated.
"Why? Just who is he? And how do you even know so much about him?" she asked, and he sighed as he leaned back, thinking of just what he could say to her.
"The how is something I will answer later, but as for who Leto the second is I can tell you a bit, for even I know little about him," he began and she nodded.
"Then tell me what you can..."
And with a resigned sigh, he began.
"Leto II was the Emperor who would inherit the throne and would rule the Empire for thousands of years. The history books would give him names because of his actions. The most prominent one was the God-Emperor...." He began with that as he told her as much as he could about the boy who would sacrifice it all for a glimmer of perceived hope, resigning himself to the cruellest fate one could as he tried to save humanity.
.
.
It continued for an hour, and when it ended, Chani became quiet, processing what he had told her. After nearly half an hour of silence, she spoke up.
"Then let me make a proposal."
0000
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CHANI KYNES
The kanji challenge by Paul—or whomever he truly was—caused a major ruckus everywhere. The Fremen were wroth at the Atreides men and women, deeming Paul's actions a great betrayal, and already rifts had begun to appear within the Fremen-Atreides alliance that had toppled the Emperor and Harkonnens.
All this was exaggerated by the fact that despite a day passing, neither Paul nor Inzal had addressed their respective people. Both of them secluded themselves in their room and solar, respectively, with Paul taking no guest at all.
Things were tough for her as well. Chani's relationship with the Atreides heir was known to all in the Fremen, and the actions of Paul had cast a shadow on her as well, with many calling her a traitor and a turncoat, believing her to be Paul's co-conspirator in all this.
Those accusations clawed at her, and many of her acquaintances and friends turned on her as the Fremen saw their hard-fought freedom hijacked once more by an outsider—an outsider they had provided shelter for in their time of need, saving them from mass extinction.
And all this had brought her here, to the outside of Paul's room. A place where none were allowed. None except her. Not that she would let a simple no stop her. She had spent hours thinking about the words that had come out of Paul's mouth when he had first woken up, the title he had used for her, the way he had described her, described her familiarity with a 'Ghanima,' a name rather close to her.
She remembered barely a whisper of his name, which had severe implications about just who was it that inhabited Paul's body. Today, she would have her answers. And so, she entered the room, one that was often reserved for the heir, and it was just as Paul had left it.
And there in the center of the room sat Paul—no, he. Leto, as he had called himself. Cross-legged with his eyes closed, deep in meditation.
And as she stepped forward, the door closed behind her.
"I knew you would come," he said, his tone similar to Paul's but different. He opened his eyes and looked at her. There was curiosity and affection in that gaze, as he motioned for her to sit down as well.
"I suppose you are here for answers," he asked, and she nodded and sat down on the floor opposite him. Her eyes were still focused on him, and her gaze picked up the subtle differences between this newcomer and her lover with every passing second.
"I am," she replied, and he nodded and became quiet as if waiting for her to voice them out. There were a thousand questions whirling in her mind about his motive, about what he had done with Paul, and yet they all mattered little, at least until she knew just who she was talking to.
"Who are you? You are not Paul. You have his face, his voice, his body, but you are not my Paul, are you?" she asked and saw him smile.
"I am not," he did not deny her words.
"My real name is Leto Atreides the Second, and I am the son of the Padishah Emperor Paul-Muadib Atreides and you," he replied, confirming her suspicion that the whisper she remembered was not false. That he had indeed called her mother.
"You lie," she retorted even though in her heart she knew it to be true.
"I have no reason to lie to you. You can have a truth sayer come and scrutinize my words, but on my honor, I promise you this that I will not lie to you," he said, and her fists balled up as she tried to make sense of what he was saying.
"You are my son. Mine and Paul's, a Paul who was Emperor? But Paul is not the Emperor, and we have no son!" she asked, and he nodded.
"You are right. But I was not born today or even in the tomorrows that are set to come. In a way, I was born nearly a decade from today to you and Emperor Paul Atreides in a different timeline," he answered.
"So, you are from the future?" she asked, and he shook his head.
"Partly. I am from the future in a different timeline," and at her perplexed state, he sifted his hand through his hair and began slowly.
"The truth is that my existence is a mystery even to myself. I do not know how I came to be, but I do know why. And it was to save humanity, and that is what I shall do," he answered resolutely.
"Save humanity from what?" she asked.
"Extinction," he answered, and she scoffed at his words, believing them to be an exaggeration. But his grave expression told her otherwise, that he was entirely serious.
"You cannot be serious," she scoffed, and he shook his head.
"I am afraid I am serious. The current direction in which humanity is headed could end in its absolute demise, and only I can prevent that. Only I am capable of carrying that burden," he began.
"I do not believe you," she replied.
"But Inzal does," he answered, making her head snap towards him as he replied impassively.
"He knows what I talk about. Knows of who I am. What I am. He can tell you that I speak nothing but the truth, or at least what I believe it to be," he replied.
"Where is Paul?" she asked, and he was quiet for a second.
"He is inside me. He is powerful, much powerful, but he is no match for me. No one shall stand in my way. I shall save humanity as is my destiny," and the slight shift in his eyes made her eyes widen as her fists balled up.
"Paul may have failed, but I will not," she began as she stood up, her mind already made.
"I will stop you, whoever you are, and bring back Paul. No matter what it takes," she snarled as she stood up.
"No one can deny fate," he replied cryptically.
"I believe in making my own fate," and with those parting words and as she was about to leave, he called out from behind.
"You are just like her," and she stilled at those words.
"Or rather, I think I should say she was just like you," he continued, his tone much softer and regretful.
"Ghanima, my twin sister. There was a time when she thought she could stop me as well. In a way, she was the only one capable of doing it, being my other half, and yet even she failed. And so will you."
0000
INZAL KAZAB CORRINO
It had been quite some time since Inzal had gone into a deep meditation trying to process a person's personality, intentions, and actions. Yet he knew that if he was to defeat Leto II, the self-proclaimed God Emperor, he needed to pull out all of his cards.
Now, after spending much time alone, he had some answers about Leto's actions. Leto could have tried to maintain his cover as Paul, something which would have been rather difficult given that Paul was in love with Chani, and Leto could not reciprocate or act on those feelings, hence making it clear to him that this was not Paul.
In a way, his act of trying to use Chani as a measure of Paul's ascension had acted as he had intended to, with Chani acting as a litmus test for him to measure Paul's control over his own actions.
This kanli was a gamble by Leto, one that was necessary in many ways because without it, he would have no way to sit on the throne and control the galaxy as he had once did. He had made a high-stakes gamble, and now he had to respond in kind.
But first, he had to deal with this. Since the morning, Chani had been insisting on meeting with him. He was aware of the backlash she was facing from the Fremen and how many were calling her a backstabber.
Yet he had already made a mistake and was being very cautious, so he had postponed meeting her. But he could no longer push it forward.
"Nominate me for the fight," Chani cut in, much to his surprise.
"What?" he asked again as she resolutely reiterated.
"I said, nominate me for the kanli. I shall fight in your stead," she offered, and he was taken aback by her words. But the determination in her eyes told him that this was not an emotional decision but one she seemed to have made after much thought.
"Is this because of what the people are saying about you?" he asked, and she shook her head.
"No, it's not. I do not care about it," she said as she looked down, thinking about her next words.
"You know who he is. The one who resides inside Paul," she asked him as she looked into his eyes, and he nodded.
"I do," he did not deny it.
"So he really is my son," she asked, and he nodded, and at that, she bit her lip.
"Then let me fight him. He claims to be my son, claims to love me. I am a good fighter, but even if I was not, I doubt he would have it in him to kill his own mother," she argued, and he understood her point. And if it was anyone else, then that argument could have worked.
But this was not a regular human. This was a person who had ruled over a galaxy for a million years and done so with an Iron Fist. He was not a boy. No he was the God Emperor.
"You are a strong fighter, Chani. Better than most, but you underestimate Leto," he began.
"He is not a good fighter, and one could argue he is the best given his vast experience. And the argument that he would not have it in him to kill you, his mother. Well, I am afraid that does not hold as much weight as you may think in his case," he told her softly and saw her get frustrated.
"Why? Just who is he? And how do you even know so much about him?" she asked, and he sighed as he leaned back, thinking of just what he could say to her.
"The how is something I will answer later, but as for who Leto the second is I can tell you a bit, for even I know little about him," he began and she nodded.
"Then tell me what you can..."
And with a resigned sigh, he began.
"Leto II was the Emperor who would inherit the throne and would rule the Empire for thousands of years. The history books would give him names because of his actions. The most prominent one was the God-Emperor...." He began with that as he told her as much as he could about the boy who would sacrifice it all for a glimmer of perceived hope, resigning himself to the cruellest fate one could as he tried to save humanity.
.
.
It continued for an hour, and when it ended, Chani became quiet, processing what he had told her. After nearly half an hour of silence, she spoke up.
"Then let me make a proposal."
0000
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- Location
- England
Tell me that was deliberate.
clonezero
Is it a bad thing if my t read list keeps growing?
I honestly believe the author is just pulling your leg for a while now.
Actually no. Its damned auto correct. It damn well makes kanli into kanji everytime. EVery freaking time
Chapter 40-May Thy Knife Chip and Shatter!
Chapter 40
LADY JESSICA ATREIDES
When word had first come that the Emperor wished for House Atreides to relocate to Arrakis, she knew that their future was over. It was a death sentence, and she had advised Leto to rebuff the Emperor's command and escape into the vast galaxy.
And yet he had denied her that, choosing to walk into the trap knowing that they could all die. And when all hope had seemed lost, one person had emerged as a beacon of hope in their darkest time.
Inzal Kazab Corrino, Anirul's wayward son, had appeared out of nowhere and had saved them all for literally nothing. The boy could have wrung the dry, taken advantage of their desperate condition, or even let them be bait for the Harkonnens and the Saradukar, yet he had helped them out, saving them and treating them as equals as he made to usurp his own father.
Their alliance may have seemed equal to many, but she knew that it was anything but that, and now House Atreides had broken that alliance. And they were being shunned for it, the Atreides honor lost and decimated because of the actions of her own son—no, grandson, one who was not even born yet.
"You cannot accept the kanli," she began as she looked Inzal in the eye.
"I will claim otherwise, exercise my powers as the Lady of House Atreides, and have the challenge withdrawn," she offered, clinging to straws in desperation.
"You and I both know that such a thing is not possible. Paul issued the challenge using his title as the Baron-na of House Harkonnen rather than heir Atreides. You have little to no jurisdiction," he replied softly, and she bit her lip.
"He is my son!" she roared, and Inzal shook his head.
"That changes nothing," he said as he leaned back.
"There has to be a way. You have always figured out a way to beat the odds, do it again. Just once more, but you cannot accept the challenge," she reiterated, and he sighed.
"But I already have," he said rather forcefully, quieting her. She had tried to talk Paul out of it, to make Paul or whoever was controlling him see the truth, but it had never worked.
After their initial meeting, Paul refused to see anyone, even herself. She was told that he had met Chnai Kynes for a few minutes and then recused himself into his quarters, waiting for Inzal to set the time and terms of the kanji.
As the challenged, it fell on Inzal to determine the terms and time of the kanli. Though there was the stipulation that both the terms and timeline must be of a reasonable nature, it was up to a truth sayer to determine what was suitable or not.
"Then delay it for a hundred years," she offered seriously. Although agreeing to this would probably result in her removal as the truth-sayer, that did not matter to her.
"I will rule in your favor and deem it reasonable," she offered and Inzal sighed as he leaned forward, putting his hands on the table.
"This kanli will have Lady Jessica, you must accept that. There is nothing you can do to prevent it," he said sharply and she bit her lip.
"Then don't fight yourself. Send Gurney, or Duncan, or m..." so that their House may recover some of its honor.
"That is enough," he said.
"I have made up my mind. And the time and the terms I have chosen are as follo..."
0000
SHISHAKLI
The Fremen had been a mess ever since Paul's challenge of kanli. They all felt betrayed and let down, for they had housed the Atreides, nursed them, and bled for them. And now the Atreides were trying to take away their freedom, something they had clawed away with their own hands.
Inzal had been quiet about the whole ordeal, remaining cooped up in his solar, after the challenge, asking her to keep the lid down until he made a sense of what their next step would be.
Shishakli herself was devastated by the whole thing, knowing from Chani how the person inside Paul—the one who had issued the challenge—was not really the Atreides heir, but someone called Leto the second, Paul's son from the future that may never happen.
It was all too convoluted, and Shishakli had spent the last day putting out fires, resolving multiple fights between Atredies men and the Fremen, many of whom were now openly calling for a 'jihad' to rid themselves of the traitorous curs of the Atreides.
And though those voices were weak for now because every Fremen had their sights set on Inzal, their leader, she knew that they would get stronger with time. The Fremen have sacrificed much for this freedom, and they would not give it up just because of the traditions of an Imperium that treated them like slaves.
They will fight. To the last man if they had to.
As she looked at Inzal, who sat there in his solar, looking softly at her, she realized that this might be the last time she saw that face.
"So, you have made up your mind," she asked, and he nodded.
"I have. The terms have been set. The Kanli shall happen in seclusion, with one arbiter and one observer from each side," he said, and she closed her eyes as she steeled her heart.
"I shall be..."
"Irulan shall act as my observer," he cut in as if reading her thoughts. She was hurt by that choice, though a part of her had expected that. A part of her had known that he would not let her see him like that, and her eyes narrowed.
"Why? Why do you deny me even this," she asked tiredly and softly, pleading for him to change his mind as he rose from his seat and plopped down on the table infront of her. He held her hands as he replied.
"Because this is my mistake. And I do not wish to see you, or any of the Fremen, suffer for it," he said, and she bit her lip.
"You and I are one now, and we have been for a long time now. So your mistake is mine own, so let me stand there beside you in this fight," she pleaded, and he smiled at her.
"I am sorry, but there is something much more important for you to do," and at that, she saw him reach for his hand as he took off a ring and pushed it towards her.
She frowned as she saw the insignia on it. A shai-hulud, a sandworm coiled around a pair of wings.
"What is this?" she asked.
"The insignia for the Dutchy of Arrakis," he answered, making her eyes widen as the implication behind that dawned on her.
"As the Naib of the Naibs, I nominate you as the Duchess of Arrakis," he finished; her heart leaped in her chest as she looked him in the eye.
"You are preparing for your death," she gasped out, the words making her mouth dry and her heart scrunch up.
She looked him in the eye, hoping that he would reassure her and deny her accusation, yet as silence reigned on between them, no such rebuttal came.
"No," she shook her head as she thrust the ring back in his hand.
"I don't care! Screw the Imperium and the kanli!" she roared as she rose from her seat.
"You will not die! NO! The Fremen will stand by you! We will have the Imperium on its knees!" she roared, already making plans in her mind.
"Shi..." he tried to speak up, but she was not listening.
"The Saradukar, they will follow you as well. We can use the atomics here to destroy the fleet and then use the ships we have to run a perimet..."
"Shishakli," Inzal spoke out a bit forcefully as he gripped her hands rather forcefully, making her look into his eyes.
"Listen to me," he said as he put his hands around her face.
"There is no other way," he said, and she understood that. She did, yet that did not make it any less painful.
"Don't die. I beg you. Just win..." she said as she sobbed. He nodded, hugged her, and rubbed her back.
"I will. I promise."
0000
And so, two weeks later, Paul and Inzal found themselves in a part of the desert, with nothing but sand all around them as five people gathered there to decide the fate of the Imperium.
Inzal walked forward, clad in his full armored still-suit, a mask covering the lower half of his face. Paul stepped forward, clad in his own still suit. Lady Jessica, the arbiter, stepped forward.
Irulan Corrino and Chani Kynes stood behind the woman as the observers from each side.
"You have made quite a mess for me," Paul spoke as he and Inzal looked each other in the eye.
"Making Arrakis a duchy and handing it to someone else. I never would have thought of something like that," he commented, and Inzal raised a brow.
"I did not want to make things too easy for you. Though I doubt it will matter much after all. After all, I have no plan of losing to you," he said as he reached into his back and took out his daggers.
"We will see about that," Paul said as he took out his own dagger. They both took their stances and raised their daggers to their foreheads, uttering the ominous words.
"May thy knife chip and shatter..."
"May thy knife chip and shatter..."
And in that moment, Inzal Kazab Corrino closed his eyes, and even Paul felt it as the world rippled to his senses, though he was not the only one.
People felt it all over Arrakis, and even beyond it, the world rippled as the shield surrounding Arrakis came down. When Inzal opened his eyes again, they glistened a bright blue, unlike any time before. Paul felt the whole world's eyes were set on him as Inzal smiled.
"Let's begin!"
And with that, he blurred as the sound of metal clashing against metal shook the clearing.
0000
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LADY JESSICA ATREIDES
When word had first come that the Emperor wished for House Atreides to relocate to Arrakis, she knew that their future was over. It was a death sentence, and she had advised Leto to rebuff the Emperor's command and escape into the vast galaxy.
And yet he had denied her that, choosing to walk into the trap knowing that they could all die. And when all hope had seemed lost, one person had emerged as a beacon of hope in their darkest time.
Inzal Kazab Corrino, Anirul's wayward son, had appeared out of nowhere and had saved them all for literally nothing. The boy could have wrung the dry, taken advantage of their desperate condition, or even let them be bait for the Harkonnens and the Saradukar, yet he had helped them out, saving them and treating them as equals as he made to usurp his own father.
Their alliance may have seemed equal to many, but she knew that it was anything but that, and now House Atreides had broken that alliance. And they were being shunned for it, the Atreides honor lost and decimated because of the actions of her own son—no, grandson, one who was not even born yet.
"You cannot accept the kanli," she began as she looked Inzal in the eye.
"I will claim otherwise, exercise my powers as the Lady of House Atreides, and have the challenge withdrawn," she offered, clinging to straws in desperation.
"You and I both know that such a thing is not possible. Paul issued the challenge using his title as the Baron-na of House Harkonnen rather than heir Atreides. You have little to no jurisdiction," he replied softly, and she bit her lip.
"He is my son!" she roared, and Inzal shook his head.
"That changes nothing," he said as he leaned back.
"There has to be a way. You have always figured out a way to beat the odds, do it again. Just once more, but you cannot accept the challenge," she reiterated, and he sighed.
"But I already have," he said rather forcefully, quieting her. She had tried to talk Paul out of it, to make Paul or whoever was controlling him see the truth, but it had never worked.
After their initial meeting, Paul refused to see anyone, even herself. She was told that he had met Chnai Kynes for a few minutes and then recused himself into his quarters, waiting for Inzal to set the time and terms of the kanji.
As the challenged, it fell on Inzal to determine the terms and time of the kanli. Though there was the stipulation that both the terms and timeline must be of a reasonable nature, it was up to a truth sayer to determine what was suitable or not.
"Then delay it for a hundred years," she offered seriously. Although agreeing to this would probably result in her removal as the truth-sayer, that did not matter to her.
"I will rule in your favor and deem it reasonable," she offered and Inzal sighed as he leaned forward, putting his hands on the table.
"This kanli will have Lady Jessica, you must accept that. There is nothing you can do to prevent it," he said sharply and she bit her lip.
"Then don't fight yourself. Send Gurney, or Duncan, or m..." so that their House may recover some of its honor.
"That is enough," he said.
"I have made up my mind. And the time and the terms I have chosen are as follo..."
0000
SHISHAKLI
The Fremen had been a mess ever since Paul's challenge of kanli. They all felt betrayed and let down, for they had housed the Atreides, nursed them, and bled for them. And now the Atreides were trying to take away their freedom, something they had clawed away with their own hands.
Inzal had been quiet about the whole ordeal, remaining cooped up in his solar, after the challenge, asking her to keep the lid down until he made a sense of what their next step would be.
Shishakli herself was devastated by the whole thing, knowing from Chani how the person inside Paul—the one who had issued the challenge—was not really the Atreides heir, but someone called Leto the second, Paul's son from the future that may never happen.
It was all too convoluted, and Shishakli had spent the last day putting out fires, resolving multiple fights between Atredies men and the Fremen, many of whom were now openly calling for a 'jihad' to rid themselves of the traitorous curs of the Atreides.
And though those voices were weak for now because every Fremen had their sights set on Inzal, their leader, she knew that they would get stronger with time. The Fremen have sacrificed much for this freedom, and they would not give it up just because of the traditions of an Imperium that treated them like slaves.
They will fight. To the last man if they had to.
As she looked at Inzal, who sat there in his solar, looking softly at her, she realized that this might be the last time she saw that face.
"So, you have made up your mind," she asked, and he nodded.
"I have. The terms have been set. The Kanli shall happen in seclusion, with one arbiter and one observer from each side," he said, and she closed her eyes as she steeled her heart.
"I shall be..."
"Irulan shall act as my observer," he cut in as if reading her thoughts. She was hurt by that choice, though a part of her had expected that. A part of her had known that he would not let her see him like that, and her eyes narrowed.
"Why? Why do you deny me even this," she asked tiredly and softly, pleading for him to change his mind as he rose from his seat and plopped down on the table infront of her. He held her hands as he replied.
"Because this is my mistake. And I do not wish to see you, or any of the Fremen, suffer for it," he said, and she bit her lip.
"You and I are one now, and we have been for a long time now. So your mistake is mine own, so let me stand there beside you in this fight," she pleaded, and he smiled at her.
"I am sorry, but there is something much more important for you to do," and at that, she saw him reach for his hand as he took off a ring and pushed it towards her.
She frowned as she saw the insignia on it. A shai-hulud, a sandworm coiled around a pair of wings.
"What is this?" she asked.
"The insignia for the Dutchy of Arrakis," he answered, making her eyes widen as the implication behind that dawned on her.
"As the Naib of the Naibs, I nominate you as the Duchess of Arrakis," he finished; her heart leaped in her chest as she looked him in the eye.
"You are preparing for your death," she gasped out, the words making her mouth dry and her heart scrunch up.
She looked him in the eye, hoping that he would reassure her and deny her accusation, yet as silence reigned on between them, no such rebuttal came.
"No," she shook her head as she thrust the ring back in his hand.
"I don't care! Screw the Imperium and the kanli!" she roared as she rose from her seat.
"You will not die! NO! The Fremen will stand by you! We will have the Imperium on its knees!" she roared, already making plans in her mind.
"Shi..." he tried to speak up, but she was not listening.
"The Saradukar, they will follow you as well. We can use the atomics here to destroy the fleet and then use the ships we have to run a perimet..."
"Shishakli," Inzal spoke out a bit forcefully as he gripped her hands rather forcefully, making her look into his eyes.
"Listen to me," he said as he put his hands around her face.
"There is no other way," he said, and she understood that. She did, yet that did not make it any less painful.
"Don't die. I beg you. Just win..." she said as she sobbed. He nodded, hugged her, and rubbed her back.
"I will. I promise."
0000
And so, two weeks later, Paul and Inzal found themselves in a part of the desert, with nothing but sand all around them as five people gathered there to decide the fate of the Imperium.
Inzal walked forward, clad in his full armored still-suit, a mask covering the lower half of his face. Paul stepped forward, clad in his own still suit. Lady Jessica, the arbiter, stepped forward.
Irulan Corrino and Chani Kynes stood behind the woman as the observers from each side.
"You have made quite a mess for me," Paul spoke as he and Inzal looked each other in the eye.
"Making Arrakis a duchy and handing it to someone else. I never would have thought of something like that," he commented, and Inzal raised a brow.
"I did not want to make things too easy for you. Though I doubt it will matter much after all. After all, I have no plan of losing to you," he said as he reached into his back and took out his daggers.
"We will see about that," Paul said as he took out his own dagger. They both took their stances and raised their daggers to their foreheads, uttering the ominous words.
"May thy knife chip and shatter..."
"May thy knife chip and shatter..."
And in that moment, Inzal Kazab Corrino closed his eyes, and even Paul felt it as the world rippled to his senses, though he was not the only one.
People felt it all over Arrakis, and even beyond it, the world rippled as the shield surrounding Arrakis came down. When Inzal opened his eyes again, they glistened a bright blue, unlike any time before. Paul felt the whole world's eyes were set on him as Inzal smiled.
"Let's begin!"
And with that, he blurred as the sound of metal clashing against metal shook the clearing.
0000
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- Location
- England
So, does it turn kanly into kanji as well?
It does.it actually doesSo, does it turn kanly into kanji as well?
Chapter 41-The Screams of Love!
Chapter 41
GAIUS HELEN MOHAIM
The Order of the Bene Gesserit was amongst the two institutions that could trace back their existence to the Butlerian Jihad. As a Revered Mother, she was the custodian of all that knowledge and information. The whole order looked to her for guidance, so it was up to her to save the order from the existential threat they faced.
Initially when their plan to eradicate the Atredies line had gone haywire, she had thought it to be the work of Jessica or her brood. But as things progressed, she began to suspect the involvement of a third party, and then later on, they became aware of the Emperor's long-lost son, Inzal.
An Abomination in more ways than one, the boy was a sign of defiance and indulgence, a mistake that she would never have her order repeat. But she had to give it the boy, he had truly outsmarted everyone in the Galaxy, bringing the whole galaxy to heel.
And she was more than aware of his thoughts about her specific order and knew that there was no chance of reconciliation here. If it was Paul then perhaps they could use and depend on Jessica's influence on her son, to make the child more receptive to their order's directions.
Irulan was one person they could have used, but her usability was hampered by the betrayal she faced. The naive girl had never really understood the big picture and had allied herself against them and joined her brother, a brother who detested their order.
But no, Inzal Kazab Corrino bore them no reverence. He would slaughter them all, and if he were to settle down on the throne, he would destroy thousands and thousands of years of work and tradition.
And then, using herself and her position as the Emperor's truth sayer, she had made a gamble, one last gamble to completely change the game. It was a long shot, one that was more a prayer than a proper move.
And yet, it had worked. And now, they had a chance at survival. Even though such a chance had come at the steep cost of her own life.
"So, you are his little lover," she began as she saw the girl sitting opposite to her. She had heard of her, a Fremen warrior who was revered by all, her position second only to Inzal.
Shishakli had been her name, and now that very girl sat opposite to her. Her brown face and dark curls gave her an exotic look, and her eyes, as she looked at her, seemed dead as if looking at a corpse.
"I knew you would come for me," she began, and the girl began.
"Does Inzal know you are here?" she asked, and yet the girl remained quiet.
"It doesn't matter whether he is here or not. You have done enough damage. It is time for you to go," she replied, and Gaius Helen Mohaim nodded.
"Do you think you and your people could face the wrath of the Lisan-Al-Gaib after you kill me? He will seek answers, the Lisan-Al-Gaib we made, I made," she began warning her of the consequences of her actions.
And for some reason, the girl's lips turned up at her words.
"You have no idea about what you have done?" the girl asked her with a chuckle, and she did not know, but she was surprised.
"You have no idea what you have unleashed upon this world, especially your order," she began, and her words sent a chill down her spine, yet she did not show it.
"Inzal maybe cruel, but he is reasonable. Despite what it may seem he has a heart of gold. You may think that because of the grudge between you and him, he would have destroyed the order, but you couldn't be more wrong. You think that this Kwisatz Haderach is your salvation," and the girl began to chuckle at that as each of her laughs made her heartbeat frantically.
"But you couldn't be more wrong. The beast that you have summoned is unlike anything you have ever seen. And he bears a grudge against your order that goes beyond anything you can comprehend. He wouldn't care if I killed you or even your whole order for that matter," the girl named Shishakli began warning her, and her brows arched as she reached down and spoke up again.
"Tell me everything," she commanded using the Voice, and the girl perked up at that. Yet her eyes remained sharp and glinted in the light as she wet her lips.
"That doesn't work on me," the girl answered, showing her resistance to the Voice.
And then suddenly, she felt it. The whole world shifted. She did not know what, but something had changed, and she felt a shiver run down her spine as she saw the raven-haired girl's eyes glisten.
"It's begun," she said, standing up from her seat and reaching for a dagger from her belt. Gaius Helen Mohaim looked at it impassively, her heart racing as she looked the girl in the eyes.
"Tell me what you meant. What has begun?" she asked again, and the girl raised a brow.
"After all, what would it matter? I am a dying woman," she said softly as the girl walked towards her, and in an instant, the girl vanished from her sight only to appear right behind her. As she felt pain in her chest and looked down and found a dagger lodged in her heart, and as her vision darkened she heard a whisper.
"Why tell a dying man the future?"
0000
INZAL KAZAB CORRINO
Ever since Inzal had awakened his powers, he had been watching all of the galaxy or at least monitoring it in some capacity. Hence, his senses had been put into overdrive, allowing him to see beyond the boundaries of their planet and far into the galaxy as he plotted and planned.
And then recently he was forced to set up the shield around Arrakis, and it was a constant effort to keep it up, to protect the planet from the enemies waiting for them outside.
And so, in years, the least expensive his sight had ever gotten was observing the whole of Arrakis, and usually, he saw much more than that.
And yet now all that burden was gone, the burden of being the all-seer lifted off of his shoulders as he focused his prowess into the clearing ahead of him, and he had never felt so exhilarating.
He could feel it, see it, all of it. From the simplest movement of a particle of sand to the sound of heartbeats and blood pumping, he could see everything.
As he saw Paul's eyes widen, he smiled, knowing that Leto could feel his gaze. Feel his all-seeing presence, which had taken over the entire clearing.
"I am coming," and with that, he blurred as he appeared right infront of Paul and swung his blade at his neck, and yet Paul was not going to make it easy. He parried his strike, making it go right past his face while he tried to push the other blade into his chest, an effort which Inzal thwarted easily as he pushed his blade to the side, his eyes not from Paul's face as he kicked his leg making the boy wince in pain.
And again, he tried to end it, yet Paul avoided the attack and retaliated with a kick of his own, pushing Inzal back.
He watched as Paul got back to his feet.
"Those powers of yours. They truly are interesting," he remarked, and Inzal smirked.
"A Kwisatz Haderach can look through time and space, which divides one's focus. Even if you are a Mentat or trained in the ways of the sisterhood, there is truly a limit to what one can process. And yet mine own let me see through only space, making me half a true Haderach," he added as he wiped away the sweat from his forehead.
"And yet you have mastered them to a level unimaginable for normal mortals," he commented, and Inzal raised a brow.
"But you aren't really a normal mortal now, are you," and with that, he appeared infront of him as their blades clashed against one another, sending sparks flying, and he saw Paul's own eyes glistening, and many a time it was only through the sheer perfection of his powers he was able to parry Paul's strikes, which shifted and changed midst a swing as if reacting to his movements even before he made them.
Right now, Inzal's full power was focused on the boy infront of him. His all-seeing ability compressed into this small body, processing every muscle twitch, every heartbeat, every breath as he parried each of his strikes.
CLANK. CLANK. CLANK.
Their blades were a blur, each strike threatening to end the battle as they exhausted each other of their stamina, as Inzal felt a prick on his cheek as a blade cut his skin, and so he grit his teeth as he tried to retaliate, raising his focus as he felt his blade slash across Paul's arm, and then so forth, they cut each other, growing more and more wild with every passing second, when suddenly he felt it.
Paul could overwhelm him. He was losing; it was a minute difference, and yet, in that moment, he knew that if he persisted in this, he would fail. So, taking a gamble, Inzal parried a strike hard and pushed himself back, creating distance between them.
"So you felt it too," Paul spoke as he rubbed off the blood from one of the cuts on his cheeks.
"You abandoned space," Inzal reasoned out, and he nodded.
"I followed your example. I could never hope to defeat you when it came to seeing through space. So, I gave that up, and though I cannot see far into the future as a virtue of you being a Haderach, I need a few seconds," he said as he raised his hands once more.
"And I can see it now. Your defeat," he finished, and Inzal's heart raced as he felt it, the fear of defeat in his bones, and yet more than that his heart brimmed with excitement. He had not been pushed like this since he first entered the city of Arrakis to free Jamis and the others.
He wet his lips and tasted the mixture of blood and sweat dripping down his face as he smiled.
"Oh, you truly are a monster, Leto," he began as he stood up and saw Paul raise a brow.
"So, give up, and I shall make your end as painless as possible," he offered, and Inzal smirked.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that," and then he clapped, and Paul must have felt it too as he looked up at the sky at the robots that had gathered there as shields began to descend down, and form an octagon around them.
"When it comes to hand to hand combat we are both equal. But everyone knows where my true strength lies," Inzal began as walls surrounded. In the two weeks, it had taken him some tweaks to modify the shields used and calibrate them to form this structure.
And now, as he clicked a switch on his belt he felt the pull of the planet weaken on him as he jumped rather easily.
"Its time to end this," and so using all his strength he jumped forward and blurred past Paul Atreides, who barely ducked in time to avoid his strike, and yet Inzal raced past him as his feet landed on the shield wall opposite to him, as he used it as a platform to jump back at Paul, and as Paul tried to defend himself, he threw a pocket knife at him distracting him and so forth.
BOOM!
BOOM!
Inzal jumped back and forth, using the shields to increase his speed as he blurred past Paul faster than his senses could process his presence.
And as he cut his tendons, his ligaments, he saw him lose an arm, and then a leg, and then his other leg, and so forth until he could use nothing but one arm as blood dripped from his whole body.
Inzal then landed infront of him, his own body a mess as he stared Paul in the eye as he raised his blade.
"I win," and swung it only for it to be blocked by something else.
CLANK!
"What do you think you are doing, Chani," he questioned as he saw her standing infront of him.
She pushed him back as she turned towards Paul and raised the dagger once more.
"What I should have done in the first place," and he watched as she swung it, and yet it was not aimed at Paul.
No. It was aimed at her own neck.
"NOOOOOO!" Inzal screamed as he saw it race towards her neck, and then all he could do was watch as a shower of blood covered the whole area.
0000
Read ahead and support me on Patreon. Help me write this and other such stories, by becoming a Patron. It would be pretty awesome of you and would mean a lot to me.
www.Patreon.com/Drkest
PS: Just read about the death of Maggie Smith! RIP! You will be missed Professor McGonagall!
"Piertotum Locomotor!"
GAIUS HELEN MOHAIM
The Order of the Bene Gesserit was amongst the two institutions that could trace back their existence to the Butlerian Jihad. As a Revered Mother, she was the custodian of all that knowledge and information. The whole order looked to her for guidance, so it was up to her to save the order from the existential threat they faced.
Initially when their plan to eradicate the Atredies line had gone haywire, she had thought it to be the work of Jessica or her brood. But as things progressed, she began to suspect the involvement of a third party, and then later on, they became aware of the Emperor's long-lost son, Inzal.
An Abomination in more ways than one, the boy was a sign of defiance and indulgence, a mistake that she would never have her order repeat. But she had to give it the boy, he had truly outsmarted everyone in the Galaxy, bringing the whole galaxy to heel.
And she was more than aware of his thoughts about her specific order and knew that there was no chance of reconciliation here. If it was Paul then perhaps they could use and depend on Jessica's influence on her son, to make the child more receptive to their order's directions.
Irulan was one person they could have used, but her usability was hampered by the betrayal she faced. The naive girl had never really understood the big picture and had allied herself against them and joined her brother, a brother who detested their order.
But no, Inzal Kazab Corrino bore them no reverence. He would slaughter them all, and if he were to settle down on the throne, he would destroy thousands and thousands of years of work and tradition.
And then, using herself and her position as the Emperor's truth sayer, she had made a gamble, one last gamble to completely change the game. It was a long shot, one that was more a prayer than a proper move.
And yet, it had worked. And now, they had a chance at survival. Even though such a chance had come at the steep cost of her own life.
"So, you are his little lover," she began as she saw the girl sitting opposite to her. She had heard of her, a Fremen warrior who was revered by all, her position second only to Inzal.
Shishakli had been her name, and now that very girl sat opposite to her. Her brown face and dark curls gave her an exotic look, and her eyes, as she looked at her, seemed dead as if looking at a corpse.
"I knew you would come for me," she began, and the girl began.
"Does Inzal know you are here?" she asked, and yet the girl remained quiet.
"It doesn't matter whether he is here or not. You have done enough damage. It is time for you to go," she replied, and Gaius Helen Mohaim nodded.
"Do you think you and your people could face the wrath of the Lisan-Al-Gaib after you kill me? He will seek answers, the Lisan-Al-Gaib we made, I made," she began warning her of the consequences of her actions.
And for some reason, the girl's lips turned up at her words.
"You have no idea about what you have done?" the girl asked her with a chuckle, and she did not know, but she was surprised.
"You have no idea what you have unleashed upon this world, especially your order," she began, and her words sent a chill down her spine, yet she did not show it.
"Inzal maybe cruel, but he is reasonable. Despite what it may seem he has a heart of gold. You may think that because of the grudge between you and him, he would have destroyed the order, but you couldn't be more wrong. You think that this Kwisatz Haderach is your salvation," and the girl began to chuckle at that as each of her laughs made her heartbeat frantically.
"But you couldn't be more wrong. The beast that you have summoned is unlike anything you have ever seen. And he bears a grudge against your order that goes beyond anything you can comprehend. He wouldn't care if I killed you or even your whole order for that matter," the girl named Shishakli began warning her, and her brows arched as she reached down and spoke up again.
"Tell me everything," she commanded using the Voice, and the girl perked up at that. Yet her eyes remained sharp and glinted in the light as she wet her lips.
"That doesn't work on me," the girl answered, showing her resistance to the Voice.
And then suddenly, she felt it. The whole world shifted. She did not know what, but something had changed, and she felt a shiver run down her spine as she saw the raven-haired girl's eyes glisten.
"It's begun," she said, standing up from her seat and reaching for a dagger from her belt. Gaius Helen Mohaim looked at it impassively, her heart racing as she looked the girl in the eyes.
"Tell me what you meant. What has begun?" she asked again, and the girl raised a brow.
"After all, what would it matter? I am a dying woman," she said softly as the girl walked towards her, and in an instant, the girl vanished from her sight only to appear right behind her. As she felt pain in her chest and looked down and found a dagger lodged in her heart, and as her vision darkened she heard a whisper.
"Why tell a dying man the future?"
0000
INZAL KAZAB CORRINO
Ever since Inzal had awakened his powers, he had been watching all of the galaxy or at least monitoring it in some capacity. Hence, his senses had been put into overdrive, allowing him to see beyond the boundaries of their planet and far into the galaxy as he plotted and planned.
And then recently he was forced to set up the shield around Arrakis, and it was a constant effort to keep it up, to protect the planet from the enemies waiting for them outside.
And so, in years, the least expensive his sight had ever gotten was observing the whole of Arrakis, and usually, he saw much more than that.
And yet now all that burden was gone, the burden of being the all-seer lifted off of his shoulders as he focused his prowess into the clearing ahead of him, and he had never felt so exhilarating.
He could feel it, see it, all of it. From the simplest movement of a particle of sand to the sound of heartbeats and blood pumping, he could see everything.
As he saw Paul's eyes widen, he smiled, knowing that Leto could feel his gaze. Feel his all-seeing presence, which had taken over the entire clearing.
"I am coming," and with that, he blurred as he appeared right infront of Paul and swung his blade at his neck, and yet Paul was not going to make it easy. He parried his strike, making it go right past his face while he tried to push the other blade into his chest, an effort which Inzal thwarted easily as he pushed his blade to the side, his eyes not from Paul's face as he kicked his leg making the boy wince in pain.
And again, he tried to end it, yet Paul avoided the attack and retaliated with a kick of his own, pushing Inzal back.
He watched as Paul got back to his feet.
"Those powers of yours. They truly are interesting," he remarked, and Inzal smirked.
"A Kwisatz Haderach can look through time and space, which divides one's focus. Even if you are a Mentat or trained in the ways of the sisterhood, there is truly a limit to what one can process. And yet mine own let me see through only space, making me half a true Haderach," he added as he wiped away the sweat from his forehead.
"And yet you have mastered them to a level unimaginable for normal mortals," he commented, and Inzal raised a brow.
"But you aren't really a normal mortal now, are you," and with that, he appeared infront of him as their blades clashed against one another, sending sparks flying, and he saw Paul's own eyes glistening, and many a time it was only through the sheer perfection of his powers he was able to parry Paul's strikes, which shifted and changed midst a swing as if reacting to his movements even before he made them.
Right now, Inzal's full power was focused on the boy infront of him. His all-seeing ability compressed into this small body, processing every muscle twitch, every heartbeat, every breath as he parried each of his strikes.
CLANK. CLANK. CLANK.
Their blades were a blur, each strike threatening to end the battle as they exhausted each other of their stamina, as Inzal felt a prick on his cheek as a blade cut his skin, and so he grit his teeth as he tried to retaliate, raising his focus as he felt his blade slash across Paul's arm, and then so forth, they cut each other, growing more and more wild with every passing second, when suddenly he felt it.
Paul could overwhelm him. He was losing; it was a minute difference, and yet, in that moment, he knew that if he persisted in this, he would fail. So, taking a gamble, Inzal parried a strike hard and pushed himself back, creating distance between them.
"So you felt it too," Paul spoke as he rubbed off the blood from one of the cuts on his cheeks.
"You abandoned space," Inzal reasoned out, and he nodded.
"I followed your example. I could never hope to defeat you when it came to seeing through space. So, I gave that up, and though I cannot see far into the future as a virtue of you being a Haderach, I need a few seconds," he said as he raised his hands once more.
"And I can see it now. Your defeat," he finished, and Inzal's heart raced as he felt it, the fear of defeat in his bones, and yet more than that his heart brimmed with excitement. He had not been pushed like this since he first entered the city of Arrakis to free Jamis and the others.
He wet his lips and tasted the mixture of blood and sweat dripping down his face as he smiled.
"Oh, you truly are a monster, Leto," he began as he stood up and saw Paul raise a brow.
"So, give up, and I shall make your end as painless as possible," he offered, and Inzal smirked.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that," and then he clapped, and Paul must have felt it too as he looked up at the sky at the robots that had gathered there as shields began to descend down, and form an octagon around them.
"When it comes to hand to hand combat we are both equal. But everyone knows where my true strength lies," Inzal began as walls surrounded. In the two weeks, it had taken him some tweaks to modify the shields used and calibrate them to form this structure.
And now, as he clicked a switch on his belt he felt the pull of the planet weaken on him as he jumped rather easily.
"Its time to end this," and so using all his strength he jumped forward and blurred past Paul Atreides, who barely ducked in time to avoid his strike, and yet Inzal raced past him as his feet landed on the shield wall opposite to him, as he used it as a platform to jump back at Paul, and as Paul tried to defend himself, he threw a pocket knife at him distracting him and so forth.
BOOM!
BOOM!
Inzal jumped back and forth, using the shields to increase his speed as he blurred past Paul faster than his senses could process his presence.
And as he cut his tendons, his ligaments, he saw him lose an arm, and then a leg, and then his other leg, and so forth until he could use nothing but one arm as blood dripped from his whole body.
Inzal then landed infront of him, his own body a mess as he stared Paul in the eye as he raised his blade.
"I win," and swung it only for it to be blocked by something else.
CLANK!
"What do you think you are doing, Chani," he questioned as he saw her standing infront of him.
She pushed him back as she turned towards Paul and raised the dagger once more.
"What I should have done in the first place," and he watched as she swung it, and yet it was not aimed at Paul.
No. It was aimed at her own neck.
"NOOOOOO!" Inzal screamed as he saw it race towards her neck, and then all he could do was watch as a shower of blood covered the whole area.
0000
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PS: Just read about the death of Maggie Smith! RIP! You will be missed Professor McGonagall!
"Piertotum Locomotor!"
So the major dramatic moment was Chani committing suicide?..... ok?..... is this somehow to try and get inner Paul to overpower Leto to take back control of his body? I'm sure Paul will love knowing that he was too weak to stop Leto, causing his love to murder herself to save him, so that he can maybe live with only an arm?....
This situation is probably caused by Paul being overwhelmed by his mind predicting a future Leto. This Leto can and would take over Paul and so he does. No Chani, no Leto, Paul breaks free.
Edit: Think of this Leto as a simulated personality that Paul's abilities have constructed so completely that it began acting as Leto would. Taking over Paul's mind kind of like what the Baron personality did to Alia.
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Chapter 42-The Return of Kwisatz Haderach!
Chapter 42
CHANI KYNES
Chani's mind had been a whirl ever since the kanli had been announced as she tried to come to terms with the implication of this great battle, only to realise that she could never.
She loved Paul, loved him for his smiles, his insecurities, his troubles, and his bravery, and though he was no longer himself—his body now controlled by a person who claimed to be their son, she understood this, Leto as well. She had spent days pouting over what she had learned of him from both himself and Inzal, and she was heart broken at his life.
A life of solitude and duty, ending in a tragedy. He was pitiful, and he was her son. She knew that on instinct, and yet she could not cheer for him. For while they may be her son and her lover, the person who stood opposite to them was their savior.
Inzal was like a brother to her, the one who had rescued thousands of her people, putting his own life in jeopardy. He had fought for them, dedicated his whole life to them, and she could not abandon him.
No matter the outcome of this fight, she was set to lose.
Unless she did the impossible. Paul's condition was much similar to the daughter of Lady Jessica, Alia. From what she had been able to gleam out, Paul was still alive, only held back by the raging personality of Leto.
The only way for her was to bring him back, and yet what could she do to bring him back? She had tried everything already, begging, pleading, and much more, yet all of it had little to no effect.
Leaving her with only one choice. As Inzal and Pa-Leto fought, she held her breath, prepared for the inevitable. The battle was an unimaginable display of inhuman prowess from both sides, making her realsied just how wide the gap between them and a normal person was.
Both Inzal and Leto were not normal humans, and they were gods, fighting while putting everything on the line and yet one would fall. And it would be Paul, unable to keep up with Inzal's speed, he would fail only for Inzal to stand up right over him as he raised his blade, his own body bleeding profusely from the various cuts littered all across it.
"I win," she heard him whisper, yet before his blade could pierce Paul's skin, she intervened, jumping across the desert as she took out her blade from the pocket in one swift motion and parried Inzal's strike.
She saw his eyes widen as he was pushed back, as she pushed himself in between him and Paul.
"CHANI!"
"CHANI!"
She heard both Irulan and Lady Jessica speak aghast at her display as Inzal's eyes narrowed.
"What do you think you are doing Chani?" he questioned, his tone threatening as his grip over his blade tightened and she bit her lip as she answered.
"What I should have done in the first place," and at that, she flipped the dagger in her hand and gripped it tightly as she looked towards Paul and smiled at him, and swung it.
Not at him.
But at her own neck, as two screams filled the clearing.
"NOOOO!"
"NOOOO!"
As she felt the knife cut through her skin, she felt a pain sear through her, yet the pain did not come from her neck. No, it came from her face.
0000
PAUL ATREIDES
Paul saw it. He, the actual Paul Atreides saw it. For too long he had been but a blip in the grand sea of consciousness that now traversed through his mind, too weak to overpower the grand sea of power and influence that was Leto.
And yet, in the two weeks since, he had begun to understand this boy of his, of the loneliness that gripped his heart. And yet he was powerless to do anything, and could only watch as Leto threatened to destroy everything he held dear.
And yet he could not do it anymore. Not as the love of his life was set to die infront of him.
He watched through Leto's—through his own eyes as Chani spun that dagger in her hand, as dread gripped his very soul. And not just his own, as Leto shook as well, as Chani turned to look at them, she looked into his eyes, as if not at Leto but him, knowing that he was watching this as she mouthed.
'Goodbye.' And swung that blade, and not at him. No, at herself, and in that moment, Paul ripped apart Leto's consciousness, decimated it as he pushed himself forward, breaking the chains that bound him as he roared.
"NOOOO!" and jumped forth, the pain from the injuries hit him first as he lunged at Chani, praying to any deity that would listen to let him stop her.
And yet his muscles screamed in agony, his tendons lay cut as he put his hand forward, and through a miracle, he was able to touch her hand, touch it as the blade was to pierce her neck, and though he could not stop it, he pushed it aside, as Chani's pain filled scream cut through the air.
"AGHHH!" and he fell down, his head hit the ground as he felt the ground for the first time in so long, as Chani's scream filled the air.
He twisted, forgetting about his own injuries, and stilled as he saw the blood-soaked dagger lying beside her, as a scarlet liquid seeped into the sand below, dying it all.
"No," he gasped out as he reached for her with shaky hands, tilted her body, and watched as she screamed in pain, yet the dagger had not cut her neck. But her face, and his heart lurched as he saw the gnash cutting right across her eyes, possibly making her blind.
"NOOO!" he screamed, as he held her in his arms, his hands caressing her face as he looked to the side at the those gathered around them.
"HELP HER! PLEASE I BEG YOU! HELPP HER!" he screamed, as he looked towards his mother and saw her eyes widen.
"Paul..." she gasped out as tears welled up in her eyes.
"Yes, it is me," he said as he turned towards Inzal.
"I beg you. I accept my defeat! Just help her! You can have anything you desire! ANYTHING! JUST HELP HER!" he pleaded, as suddenly a strange feeling lurched up from within, as he felt his mouth move on its own and yet the voice was not his own.
"You win Inzal Kazab Corrino! How could I hope to defeat you when I couldn't even defeat my father's love!" and he saw everyone's face stiffen at that voice.
"I beg you not to blame them for my misgivings! Save her! My Mother and I shall serve you in your purpose!" Leto finished, and then Paul felt his presence vanish as a complicated feeling filled his gut, yet he pushed it down, not having the heart to deal with it as of now.
For he had much greater concerns at the moment as he met Inzal's gaze.
The boy gave him a nod as he looked toward his sister, Princess Irulan, and asked her.
"Help her," he asked, and she nodded as she began to examine Chani's wound as he caressed her face.
"I am here now. Please forgive me! I am here," he said as he pushed back her hair and saw her reach for his face. A smile blossomed on his face.
"Is it really you?" she asked with a shaky and hoarse voice. He nodded as tears fell down his face.
"Yeah. It is me, Paul. So please hold on, my precious 'sihaya'," he pleaded as he kissed her hand and saw her wince as the Princess cleaned the wound.
"You took your sweet time, you damn 'muadib'," she complained and he nodded.
"I am sorry. But I am here now, and I promise that I will not leave you again. Never again," he promised as he looked towards the Princess, who had a grave expression on her face.
"Thankfully, the cut was clean. But I don't think I can save her eyes," she said as she looked at him, making him lose his heart as he realized the implication behind those words.
In Fremen culture, sight was held sacred. It was considered a gift, and for those who would lose their sight, life was considered over, and they would be given back to the desert.
And his heart stilled at those words.
"There has to be something? Maybe something Ixia..." he asked, yet Chani cut in.
"No, I will not have those monsters tamper with my body. I shall face what may come my way," she said as she smiled at him.
"I am just glad that I was able to save you, my love," she said as tears dripped down his eyes, and he had not missed how Inzal had been quite all this time looking at the skies.
"This was why I did not want to bring down the shields until I was done dealing with those damned bastards," he heard him mutter as he picked up his dagger and got into his stance as he felt around a dozen presences surround them.
"Facedancers," he realized, and Inzal nodded.
"Yeah. They were ready to infiltrate the second I dropped down the shields and were already here. And these are not the only ones. There are a few of them trying to secure a sample sandworm as well to take back to the Ixians so that they may make spice on their own," Inzal told him as Paul's lips thinned.
The Ixians and the Bene Tleilaxu were many things, but they were not foolish. They would have already realized that, unlike his father, they had nothing to blackmail Inzal with. And that if he were to ascend to the throne, he would probably go after them and try to curb their unchecked power.
'It was what he--Leto wanted to do. What he did, though at great cost to himself?'
He looked at the bloodied form of Inzal getting ready to face the facedancers, at the bleeding form of Chani in his lap, at the scared form of her mother as she looked around nervously as the face dancers surrounded them—and realized that he was responsible for all this.
That this all was caused by his stupidity. His actions had pushed them all into this.
And he also knew of the fate that awaited Chani now, as she had lost her eyesight.
And he had to do something. He had to. Otherwise, what good was he? Both as Paul Atreides and as the so-called Kwisatz Haderach.
And so, with his mind made up, he kissed Chani on the forehead as he pushed her head into the Princess's lap and spoke to her softly.
"Take care of her. I need to do something," and she had sweat running down her face as she treated Chani's injuries as he picked up the very knife she had struck herself with and stood up.
"They are all wearing earplugs to combat my use of the Voice," Inzal informed him with bitterness in his tone.
"They came prepared for me," he cursed, and Paul walked upto him.
"How long will it take for you to bring up the shields once more," he asked as Inzal frowned.
"Around five minutes. But I cannot do that while fighting these many face dancers while being injured. One or two was one thing, but there are a dozen of them here," Inzal complained.
"Then do it," he informed him. He took a deep breath and then let it out slowly as he pushed forth his senses. One thing that Leto's possession had taught him was how to use his powers as Kwisatz Haderach, and now, as he pushed them to the limits, he felt the world slow down as Inzal frowned.
Paul stepped forward, pushing all the pain and injuries to the back of his mind, focusing everything he had on the enemies that surrounded them. And unlike Inzal, who was a Haderach, they were not.
"They came prepared for you," he said to Inzal as he pulled up his mask and gripped his blade tightly.
"Not for me..."
And with that, he sprung forward while throwing a pocket knife to his side as a Face Dancer held his neck, as its body fell to the ground as he began a slaughterhouse.
.
.
.
.
And just as he plunged his knife into the neck of the last facedancer, he felt them—the shields around Arrakis went up again as a massive cheer erupted from all over the city, for this marked his victory.
He stood tall, as he stood there in the midst of a slaughter caked in blood from head to toe, as he turned towards Inzal, who stood infront of Chani and the rest, as two Face dancers lay dead infront of him.
"It's over. They are all trapped here now," Inzal said, and he nodded. With the shields up they had no way of escaping Inzal. They could hide away anywhere, and he would find them and kill them at his own leisure.
And with the power of the Imperium behind him, Paul knew that the Ixians and Bene Tleilaxu were about to learn the true meaning of the word fear.
"And now, what are we to do about you?" Inzal asked as he looked him in the eye.
"Do whatever you wish," he asked, and he saw his mother's trembling gaze shift towards Inzal, who continued to look at him with those blue eyes of his.
"What do you want, Paul?" he asked him, and his eyes landed on Chani.
"You know what I want," he said forlornly.
"Though with your victory confirmed. I doubt you can let me live," he said as he dropped down to his knees and let go of the knife as it clattered to the ground.
And Inzal walked up to him, his dagger in hand as he stood in front of him again.
"I thought of you as a brother, but it is a shame that I cannot let you live. Not as Leto, or as Paul..." and he watched as his mother evaded her gaze as Chani screamed and Lady Jessica both screamed.
"NOOO..." and he closed his own eyes as Inzal swung that blade.
SLASH!
So, of the five who had walked into the kanli, only four made it back, and, Inzal Kazab Corrino was proclaimed the Emperor once more as many mourned the loss of Paul Atreides.
0000
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Have an awesome day!
CHANI KYNES
Chani's mind had been a whirl ever since the kanli had been announced as she tried to come to terms with the implication of this great battle, only to realise that she could never.
She loved Paul, loved him for his smiles, his insecurities, his troubles, and his bravery, and though he was no longer himself—his body now controlled by a person who claimed to be their son, she understood this, Leto as well. She had spent days pouting over what she had learned of him from both himself and Inzal, and she was heart broken at his life.
A life of solitude and duty, ending in a tragedy. He was pitiful, and he was her son. She knew that on instinct, and yet she could not cheer for him. For while they may be her son and her lover, the person who stood opposite to them was their savior.
Inzal was like a brother to her, the one who had rescued thousands of her people, putting his own life in jeopardy. He had fought for them, dedicated his whole life to them, and she could not abandon him.
No matter the outcome of this fight, she was set to lose.
Unless she did the impossible. Paul's condition was much similar to the daughter of Lady Jessica, Alia. From what she had been able to gleam out, Paul was still alive, only held back by the raging personality of Leto.
The only way for her was to bring him back, and yet what could she do to bring him back? She had tried everything already, begging, pleading, and much more, yet all of it had little to no effect.
Leaving her with only one choice. As Inzal and Pa-Leto fought, she held her breath, prepared for the inevitable. The battle was an unimaginable display of inhuman prowess from both sides, making her realsied just how wide the gap between them and a normal person was.
Both Inzal and Leto were not normal humans, and they were gods, fighting while putting everything on the line and yet one would fall. And it would be Paul, unable to keep up with Inzal's speed, he would fail only for Inzal to stand up right over him as he raised his blade, his own body bleeding profusely from the various cuts littered all across it.
"I win," she heard him whisper, yet before his blade could pierce Paul's skin, she intervened, jumping across the desert as she took out her blade from the pocket in one swift motion and parried Inzal's strike.
She saw his eyes widen as he was pushed back, as she pushed himself in between him and Paul.
"CHANI!"
"CHANI!"
She heard both Irulan and Lady Jessica speak aghast at her display as Inzal's eyes narrowed.
"What do you think you are doing Chani?" he questioned, his tone threatening as his grip over his blade tightened and she bit her lip as she answered.
"What I should have done in the first place," and at that, she flipped the dagger in her hand and gripped it tightly as she looked towards Paul and smiled at him, and swung it.
Not at him.
But at her own neck, as two screams filled the clearing.
"NOOOO!"
"NOOOO!"
As she felt the knife cut through her skin, she felt a pain sear through her, yet the pain did not come from her neck. No, it came from her face.
0000
PAUL ATREIDES
Paul saw it. He, the actual Paul Atreides saw it. For too long he had been but a blip in the grand sea of consciousness that now traversed through his mind, too weak to overpower the grand sea of power and influence that was Leto.
And yet, in the two weeks since, he had begun to understand this boy of his, of the loneliness that gripped his heart. And yet he was powerless to do anything, and could only watch as Leto threatened to destroy everything he held dear.
And yet he could not do it anymore. Not as the love of his life was set to die infront of him.
He watched through Leto's—through his own eyes as Chani spun that dagger in her hand, as dread gripped his very soul. And not just his own, as Leto shook as well, as Chani turned to look at them, she looked into his eyes, as if not at Leto but him, knowing that he was watching this as she mouthed.
'Goodbye.' And swung that blade, and not at him. No, at herself, and in that moment, Paul ripped apart Leto's consciousness, decimated it as he pushed himself forward, breaking the chains that bound him as he roared.
"NOOOO!" and jumped forth, the pain from the injuries hit him first as he lunged at Chani, praying to any deity that would listen to let him stop her.
And yet his muscles screamed in agony, his tendons lay cut as he put his hand forward, and through a miracle, he was able to touch her hand, touch it as the blade was to pierce her neck, and though he could not stop it, he pushed it aside, as Chani's pain filled scream cut through the air.
"AGHHH!" and he fell down, his head hit the ground as he felt the ground for the first time in so long, as Chani's scream filled the air.
He twisted, forgetting about his own injuries, and stilled as he saw the blood-soaked dagger lying beside her, as a scarlet liquid seeped into the sand below, dying it all.
"No," he gasped out as he reached for her with shaky hands, tilted her body, and watched as she screamed in pain, yet the dagger had not cut her neck. But her face, and his heart lurched as he saw the gnash cutting right across her eyes, possibly making her blind.
"NOOO!" he screamed, as he held her in his arms, his hands caressing her face as he looked to the side at the those gathered around them.
"HELP HER! PLEASE I BEG YOU! HELPP HER!" he screamed, as he looked towards his mother and saw her eyes widen.
"Paul..." she gasped out as tears welled up in her eyes.
"Yes, it is me," he said as he turned towards Inzal.
"I beg you. I accept my defeat! Just help her! You can have anything you desire! ANYTHING! JUST HELP HER!" he pleaded, as suddenly a strange feeling lurched up from within, as he felt his mouth move on its own and yet the voice was not his own.
"You win Inzal Kazab Corrino! How could I hope to defeat you when I couldn't even defeat my father's love!" and he saw everyone's face stiffen at that voice.
"I beg you not to blame them for my misgivings! Save her! My Mother and I shall serve you in your purpose!" Leto finished, and then Paul felt his presence vanish as a complicated feeling filled his gut, yet he pushed it down, not having the heart to deal with it as of now.
For he had much greater concerns at the moment as he met Inzal's gaze.
The boy gave him a nod as he looked toward his sister, Princess Irulan, and asked her.
"Help her," he asked, and she nodded as she began to examine Chani's wound as he caressed her face.
"I am here now. Please forgive me! I am here," he said as he pushed back her hair and saw her reach for his face. A smile blossomed on his face.
"Is it really you?" she asked with a shaky and hoarse voice. He nodded as tears fell down his face.
"Yeah. It is me, Paul. So please hold on, my precious 'sihaya'," he pleaded as he kissed her hand and saw her wince as the Princess cleaned the wound.
"You took your sweet time, you damn 'muadib'," she complained and he nodded.
"I am sorry. But I am here now, and I promise that I will not leave you again. Never again," he promised as he looked towards the Princess, who had a grave expression on her face.
"Thankfully, the cut was clean. But I don't think I can save her eyes," she said as she looked at him, making him lose his heart as he realized the implication behind those words.
In Fremen culture, sight was held sacred. It was considered a gift, and for those who would lose their sight, life was considered over, and they would be given back to the desert.
And his heart stilled at those words.
"There has to be something? Maybe something Ixia..." he asked, yet Chani cut in.
"No, I will not have those monsters tamper with my body. I shall face what may come my way," she said as she smiled at him.
"I am just glad that I was able to save you, my love," she said as tears dripped down his eyes, and he had not missed how Inzal had been quite all this time looking at the skies.
"This was why I did not want to bring down the shields until I was done dealing with those damned bastards," he heard him mutter as he picked up his dagger and got into his stance as he felt around a dozen presences surround them.
"Facedancers," he realized, and Inzal nodded.
"Yeah. They were ready to infiltrate the second I dropped down the shields and were already here. And these are not the only ones. There are a few of them trying to secure a sample sandworm as well to take back to the Ixians so that they may make spice on their own," Inzal told him as Paul's lips thinned.
The Ixians and the Bene Tleilaxu were many things, but they were not foolish. They would have already realized that, unlike his father, they had nothing to blackmail Inzal with. And that if he were to ascend to the throne, he would probably go after them and try to curb their unchecked power.
'It was what he--Leto wanted to do. What he did, though at great cost to himself?'
He looked at the bloodied form of Inzal getting ready to face the facedancers, at the bleeding form of Chani in his lap, at the scared form of her mother as she looked around nervously as the face dancers surrounded them—and realized that he was responsible for all this.
That this all was caused by his stupidity. His actions had pushed them all into this.
And he also knew of the fate that awaited Chani now, as she had lost her eyesight.
And he had to do something. He had to. Otherwise, what good was he? Both as Paul Atreides and as the so-called Kwisatz Haderach.
And so, with his mind made up, he kissed Chani on the forehead as he pushed her head into the Princess's lap and spoke to her softly.
"Take care of her. I need to do something," and she had sweat running down her face as she treated Chani's injuries as he picked up the very knife she had struck herself with and stood up.
"They are all wearing earplugs to combat my use of the Voice," Inzal informed him with bitterness in his tone.
"They came prepared for me," he cursed, and Paul walked upto him.
"How long will it take for you to bring up the shields once more," he asked as Inzal frowned.
"Around five minutes. But I cannot do that while fighting these many face dancers while being injured. One or two was one thing, but there are a dozen of them here," Inzal complained.
"Then do it," he informed him. He took a deep breath and then let it out slowly as he pushed forth his senses. One thing that Leto's possession had taught him was how to use his powers as Kwisatz Haderach, and now, as he pushed them to the limits, he felt the world slow down as Inzal frowned.
Paul stepped forward, pushing all the pain and injuries to the back of his mind, focusing everything he had on the enemies that surrounded them. And unlike Inzal, who was a Haderach, they were not.
"They came prepared for you," he said to Inzal as he pulled up his mask and gripped his blade tightly.
"Not for me..."
And with that, he sprung forward while throwing a pocket knife to his side as a Face Dancer held his neck, as its body fell to the ground as he began a slaughterhouse.
.
.
.
.
And just as he plunged his knife into the neck of the last facedancer, he felt them—the shields around Arrakis went up again as a massive cheer erupted from all over the city, for this marked his victory.
He stood tall, as he stood there in the midst of a slaughter caked in blood from head to toe, as he turned towards Inzal, who stood infront of Chani and the rest, as two Face dancers lay dead infront of him.
"It's over. They are all trapped here now," Inzal said, and he nodded. With the shields up they had no way of escaping Inzal. They could hide away anywhere, and he would find them and kill them at his own leisure.
And with the power of the Imperium behind him, Paul knew that the Ixians and Bene Tleilaxu were about to learn the true meaning of the word fear.
"And now, what are we to do about you?" Inzal asked as he looked him in the eye.
"Do whatever you wish," he asked, and he saw his mother's trembling gaze shift towards Inzal, who continued to look at him with those blue eyes of his.
"What do you want, Paul?" he asked him, and his eyes landed on Chani.
"You know what I want," he said forlornly.
"Though with your victory confirmed. I doubt you can let me live," he said as he dropped down to his knees and let go of the knife as it clattered to the ground.
And Inzal walked up to him, his dagger in hand as he stood in front of him again.
"I thought of you as a brother, but it is a shame that I cannot let you live. Not as Leto, or as Paul..." and he watched as his mother evaded her gaze as Chani screamed and Lady Jessica both screamed.
"NOOO..." and he closed his own eyes as Inzal swung that blade.
SLASH!
So, of the five who had walked into the kanli, only four made it back, and, Inzal Kazab Corrino was proclaimed the Emperor once more as many mourned the loss of Paul Atreides.
0000
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CHapter 43-Heralds of War!
Chapter 43
SHISHAKLI
The Shields going down was the first to her that the battle had begun. Though many were surprised at the suddenness of the event, she was not and only stood there praying in her heart for Inzal's victory.
This information was known to only a select few because, in their enemy's hands, it could be valuable intelligence, allowing them to plan a quick excursion into the planet and take a worm, and so this had been kept under wraps, and so many began to panic at the suddenness of the shield's collapse and yet she assured them that this was normal, that the battle had begun.
The air in the castle was tense, as everyone waited with baited breaths, their eyes trained on the castle doors, as they waited for the victor to walk in. She had been a bit shocked when Inzal had not chosen her as her second, and yet he had explained that in the worst-case scenario, she must lead the Fremen in his place, lead them so that they may never be enslaved like before.
Minutes passed, while she simply stood there with eyes of hundred of Fremen warriors rooted to her back, for she was their leader, their Naib. Inzal's successor and the burden felt heavier than ever.
She was always well known as Inzal's second in command, his stand-in whenever he was not available, and yet it had always been him leading them, him taking the bold step, him putting his own life in jeopardy for their sake, and now it was her turn. Her burden to carry, and though she had held it for only a few days, it was not something she liked.
And then it happened. She felt it, the flick of power and energy, as she saw the characteristic blue envelop the skies once more, and her heart rose in delight as she saw the shield once more envelop the skies of Arrakis.
"YEAHH! "FREEEDOM!" "INZAAAAAL"
"KAZAAAB!"
The Saradukar joined in the cheer as well, as the Atreides guard lowered their faces in shame and guilt, for they were supposed to be a part of this victory, and yet their heir, their beloved Paul, had lost.
Shishakli herself nearly collapsed to the ground as she gasped and held her face, tears dripping down her eyes. She looked towards the throne room's gates, which were suddenly flung open.
BOOOM!
And the people parted, making way for the victor, for their Emperor, for Kazab, and yet as she saw his face, she stilled, and so did everyone in the throne room as a shush spread across the room.
For there he stood, the victor, the Emperor, the Kazab caked in blood from head-to-toe, his face devoid of any emotion as he looked forward, while in his arms lay the bloodied form of one Chani Kynes.
"Chani," she gasped as she saw her friend's unconscious form, the bandages covering her face as Inzal stepped into the room, walking towards the throne, the sound of his steps echoed through the Hall, while Lady Jessica and Princess Irulan followed behind him, the former sobbing lightly yet held her head high while, the Princess, white Dress was covered in blood as well.
Something had happened during the kanli.
They walked past them, and the people continued to kneel as the Emperor moved past them. She stood at the edge of the column of people, and Inzal strode past him as he rose the steps and walked towards his throne.
"The dispute stands resolved," Lady Jessica announced as she took her position as the truth sayer, and she could scarcely imagine what was going through her head standing there announcing the death of her own son.
"House Corrino stands victorious. All Hail Emperor Inzal Kazab Corrino," and yet none clapped, and all continued to kneel as he stood there, his blue eyes glistening as he looked at them all.
"Paul Atreides stood against me as an honorable opponent. He faced me with vigor and bravery as he looked me in the eye, and yet there are those who can no claim to his honor. Those who bask and thrive in treachery and wish to control the Imperium through the shadows," Inzal began as whispers began to thrum in the throne room.
"And as I stood victorious, they attacked me. Treachery and dishonor as their weapon, they attacked me in doves, thinking themselves better than me, for they knew, unlike my own father, they could not control me, and through me, the rest of the Imperium," Inzal began.
"And in that ambush, we suffered a loss," his voice grew softened at that as he looked at Chani.
"Despite the loss she had suffered, she stood by me and faced these aggressors and lost her own eyes in that battle," and she gasped as the implications of that dawned on her.
"And through her sacrifice, we managed to beat these aggressors, and now they shall face our wrath!" the Fremen roared with him, and so did the Saradukar as Inzal raised his fist.
"And now I name those traitors. The ones who have no honor, who attack in the dark and wish to replace me with a puppet of their own. I name the Ixians and the Bene Teilaxu as those traitors and declare war against them..." and there was a cheer as she saw his eyes shift towards the Bene Gesserit.
"...and all those who support them."
0000
INZAL KAZAB CORRINO
The declaration of war had galvanized the people. The Saradukar and the Fremen answered his call, and so did many other Houses as they learned of the treachery of the Face Dancers and Ixians, who were now facing the wrath of nearly all of the Imperium.
The Guild could do little to help them, for if they denied him, he would stop Spice shipments from destroying them while his own engineers worked on an alternative for Guild Navigators, not that they were helpless at the moment.
For a while the guild had navigators, he had himself and could do the task of a hundred or so navigators by himself, breaking their monopoly on Space Travel. The Bene Gesserit were flummoxed, their order's leading figure now dead and believed to be involved in a conspiracy to maim and murder the Emperor.
The order was trying to distance themselves from Gaius Helen Mohaim, trying to latch onto the coattails of Lady Jessica, as they sought survival even though he knew that they had no desire to see him on the throne. But they will fail, all of them.
The Ixians and the Bene Tleilaxu would be first though, already the Saradukar had begun their campaign, with Count Hasimir Fenring himself leading the attacks, the man wished to prove his loyalty to him, and there was no better opportunity than now.
And yet Inzal was not sitting in a war council, or resting for that matter. He was part-taking in a sacred Fremen ceremony, one where they entrusted their blind to the desert, damning them to death. It was cruel, and yet it was a tradition that he could not interfere with, not so easily.
And it was upto him and Shishakli to lead the blind man to the edge of the desert so that they may return to the very place where it had all begun.
"I am sorry," he said to Chani as he held her hand, and the girl smiled.
"Don't be. It is my choice, and I am content with it," she said as Shishakli sniffled beside her, unable to stop her tears as she saw her friend for the last time.
"Goodbye, Chani," Shishakli said and the girl nodded as she turned away from them, covering her head with the hood as she began to walk away, his gait strong and steady even without her eyes.
"Was this really necessary?" Shishakli asked him as they both stood there and watched Chani vanish into the covers of the sand, vanishing from their sight, yet she remained visible to him.
"It was her choice," he said as he wrapped his arm around her as he turned around.
"Let us go. We have a war to fight," and with that, they began to make their way back to the city, while he watched Chani vanish into the desert, alone at first only to be later joined by another figure, and his lips turned up as he entered the city, for he had an other war to fight, and a galaxy to conquer.
0000
And as Shishakli walked through the sand dunes of Arrakis, she felt it strange; the vision she had so relied on was now gone, and yet there was no sadness in her heart at her loss. None at all.
And as she traversed through the sand dunes, she began to feel more, more than she ever had before, she felt the direction of the wind through her hood, and the way the sand hit her face. She felt slops through the effort it took to take the next step, and yet even without her vision, there was no fear or trepidation in her gait as she walked.
And soon enough, she felt it, another presence beside her as fingers brushed past her hand at first before they joined her own, and she felt whole again.
"You are as beautiful as they day I first met you, my precious Sihaya," she heard that familiar voice.
"How can you tell," she joked as her lips quirked up.
"After all..." she said, turning towards the side. The action was instinctive, yet darkness greeted her as it would be for him.
"...you are just as blind as me, my little Muadib."
And so, the desert took what it birthed, and the galaxy was plunged into a war.
00000
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SHISHAKLI
The Shields going down was the first to her that the battle had begun. Though many were surprised at the suddenness of the event, she was not and only stood there praying in her heart for Inzal's victory.
This information was known to only a select few because, in their enemy's hands, it could be valuable intelligence, allowing them to plan a quick excursion into the planet and take a worm, and so this had been kept under wraps, and so many began to panic at the suddenness of the shield's collapse and yet she assured them that this was normal, that the battle had begun.
The air in the castle was tense, as everyone waited with baited breaths, their eyes trained on the castle doors, as they waited for the victor to walk in. She had been a bit shocked when Inzal had not chosen her as her second, and yet he had explained that in the worst-case scenario, she must lead the Fremen in his place, lead them so that they may never be enslaved like before.
Minutes passed, while she simply stood there with eyes of hundred of Fremen warriors rooted to her back, for she was their leader, their Naib. Inzal's successor and the burden felt heavier than ever.
She was always well known as Inzal's second in command, his stand-in whenever he was not available, and yet it had always been him leading them, him taking the bold step, him putting his own life in jeopardy for their sake, and now it was her turn. Her burden to carry, and though she had held it for only a few days, it was not something she liked.
And then it happened. She felt it, the flick of power and energy, as she saw the characteristic blue envelop the skies once more, and her heart rose in delight as she saw the shield once more envelop the skies of Arrakis.
"YEAHH! "FREEEDOM!" "INZAAAAAL"
"KAZAAAB!"
The Saradukar joined in the cheer as well, as the Atreides guard lowered their faces in shame and guilt, for they were supposed to be a part of this victory, and yet their heir, their beloved Paul, had lost.
Shishakli herself nearly collapsed to the ground as she gasped and held her face, tears dripping down her eyes. She looked towards the throne room's gates, which were suddenly flung open.
BOOOM!
And the people parted, making way for the victor, for their Emperor, for Kazab, and yet as she saw his face, she stilled, and so did everyone in the throne room as a shush spread across the room.
For there he stood, the victor, the Emperor, the Kazab caked in blood from head-to-toe, his face devoid of any emotion as he looked forward, while in his arms lay the bloodied form of one Chani Kynes.
"Chani," she gasped as she saw her friend's unconscious form, the bandages covering her face as Inzal stepped into the room, walking towards the throne, the sound of his steps echoed through the Hall, while Lady Jessica and Princess Irulan followed behind him, the former sobbing lightly yet held her head high while, the Princess, white Dress was covered in blood as well.
Something had happened during the kanli.
They walked past them, and the people continued to kneel as the Emperor moved past them. She stood at the edge of the column of people, and Inzal strode past him as he rose the steps and walked towards his throne.
"The dispute stands resolved," Lady Jessica announced as she took her position as the truth sayer, and she could scarcely imagine what was going through her head standing there announcing the death of her own son.
"House Corrino stands victorious. All Hail Emperor Inzal Kazab Corrino," and yet none clapped, and all continued to kneel as he stood there, his blue eyes glistening as he looked at them all.
"Paul Atreides stood against me as an honorable opponent. He faced me with vigor and bravery as he looked me in the eye, and yet there are those who can no claim to his honor. Those who bask and thrive in treachery and wish to control the Imperium through the shadows," Inzal began as whispers began to thrum in the throne room.
"And as I stood victorious, they attacked me. Treachery and dishonor as their weapon, they attacked me in doves, thinking themselves better than me, for they knew, unlike my own father, they could not control me, and through me, the rest of the Imperium," Inzal began.
"And in that ambush, we suffered a loss," his voice grew softened at that as he looked at Chani.
"Despite the loss she had suffered, she stood by me and faced these aggressors and lost her own eyes in that battle," and she gasped as the implications of that dawned on her.
"And through her sacrifice, we managed to beat these aggressors, and now they shall face our wrath!" the Fremen roared with him, and so did the Saradukar as Inzal raised his fist.
"And now I name those traitors. The ones who have no honor, who attack in the dark and wish to replace me with a puppet of their own. I name the Ixians and the Bene Teilaxu as those traitors and declare war against them..." and there was a cheer as she saw his eyes shift towards the Bene Gesserit.
"...and all those who support them."
0000
INZAL KAZAB CORRINO
The declaration of war had galvanized the people. The Saradukar and the Fremen answered his call, and so did many other Houses as they learned of the treachery of the Face Dancers and Ixians, who were now facing the wrath of nearly all of the Imperium.
The Guild could do little to help them, for if they denied him, he would stop Spice shipments from destroying them while his own engineers worked on an alternative for Guild Navigators, not that they were helpless at the moment.
For a while the guild had navigators, he had himself and could do the task of a hundred or so navigators by himself, breaking their monopoly on Space Travel. The Bene Gesserit were flummoxed, their order's leading figure now dead and believed to be involved in a conspiracy to maim and murder the Emperor.
The order was trying to distance themselves from Gaius Helen Mohaim, trying to latch onto the coattails of Lady Jessica, as they sought survival even though he knew that they had no desire to see him on the throne. But they will fail, all of them.
The Ixians and the Bene Tleilaxu would be first though, already the Saradukar had begun their campaign, with Count Hasimir Fenring himself leading the attacks, the man wished to prove his loyalty to him, and there was no better opportunity than now.
And yet Inzal was not sitting in a war council, or resting for that matter. He was part-taking in a sacred Fremen ceremony, one where they entrusted their blind to the desert, damning them to death. It was cruel, and yet it was a tradition that he could not interfere with, not so easily.
And it was upto him and Shishakli to lead the blind man to the edge of the desert so that they may return to the very place where it had all begun.
"I am sorry," he said to Chani as he held her hand, and the girl smiled.
"Don't be. It is my choice, and I am content with it," she said as Shishakli sniffled beside her, unable to stop her tears as she saw her friend for the last time.
"Goodbye, Chani," Shishakli said and the girl nodded as she turned away from them, covering her head with the hood as she began to walk away, his gait strong and steady even without her eyes.
"Was this really necessary?" Shishakli asked him as they both stood there and watched Chani vanish into the covers of the sand, vanishing from their sight, yet she remained visible to him.
"It was her choice," he said as he wrapped his arm around her as he turned around.
"Let us go. We have a war to fight," and with that, they began to make their way back to the city, while he watched Chani vanish into the desert, alone at first only to be later joined by another figure, and his lips turned up as he entered the city, for he had an other war to fight, and a galaxy to conquer.
0000
And as Shishakli walked through the sand dunes of Arrakis, she felt it strange; the vision she had so relied on was now gone, and yet there was no sadness in her heart at her loss. None at all.
And as she traversed through the sand dunes, she began to feel more, more than she ever had before, she felt the direction of the wind through her hood, and the way the sand hit her face. She felt slops through the effort it took to take the next step, and yet even without her vision, there was no fear or trepidation in her gait as she walked.
And soon enough, she felt it, another presence beside her as fingers brushed past her hand at first before they joined her own, and she felt whole again.
"You are as beautiful as they day I first met you, my precious Sihaya," she heard that familiar voice.
"How can you tell," she joked as her lips quirked up.
"After all..." she said, turning towards the side. The action was instinctive, yet darkness greeted her as it would be for him.
"...you are just as blind as me, my little Muadib."
And so, the desert took what it birthed, and the galaxy was plunged into a war.
00000
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- Location
- England
"droves".
Chapter 44-A Final Plea!
Chapter 44
~15 years Later~
LADY MARGOT FENRING
It had been fifteen years since Inzal Kazab Corrino had taken control of the Imperium inheriting his father's throne and taking absolute majority in the CHOAM company, and the Imperium, and ever since his ascension a great war had ravaged the galaxy.
The Emperor's rage against the conspirators who had tried to kill him had been uncoolable flame, and any and all interventions and attempts to dissuade him from absolute annihilation of the Ixians and Bene Tleilaxu had failed.
Armed with the power of the Saradukar, the Fremen, and an absolute monopoly on Spice production had allowed the Emperor to thwart time-tested and powerful institutions like the Been Tleilaxu and the Ixians. And though they had held on for fifteen years, with every passing day, it was becoming more and more evident that they could do so no longer and that soon enough, the war would end, and Bene Tleilaxu and the Ixians would cease to exist.
And with them any and all who could ever hope to stand against an emperor.
The Guild had tried to intervene, trying to use their monopoly as navigators to dissuade the Emperor, to settle down his rage, and yet rather than bowing down, the Emperor had retaliated, using his absolute majority in the Imperium to lift the ban on the manufacturing of Holter engines, engines that did not require the Guild's services as navigators.
There had been an uproar, and yet the Emperor was simply too powerful—and they could only watch as the guild's monopoly slowly crumbled. Any attempt on the part of the guild to help the Ixians and the Bene Tleilaxu would be seen by the Emperor, his powers allowing him to see beyond the Halls of his castle on Arrakis, where the Fremen now lived freely, with hundreds if not thousands of ships making regular trip to the planet to bring food and water, to the otherwise barren sandy hell hole.
And so, the Guild could scarcely overstep, for any action against the Emperor saw their supply of Spice lessened, as the Emperor began to make his own fleet, one which did not require the services of Navigators.
The Bene Gesserit were also helpless, and the order had lost all favor with the Great Houses because of the Great Kanli that had ended in the demise of one Paul Atreides, and with the last remnants of House Harkonnen also blaming them for their destruction, the Been Gesserit were now pariahs in a world which they once ruled from the shadows.
With each passing day the Royal House grew more powerful, and the world slipped away from their hands, and now it was a consensus that if things remained the same, all of them—The Bene Geserit, the Guild, the Bene Tleilaxu, the Ixians—each and every one of them would lose everything.
And that had brought her here, to Kaladan. To the place where it had all begun. The ancient and stories seat of House Atreides, the second most powerful House in the realm. Even after the betrayal of Paul Atreides, and his subsequent death, the relationship between House Corrino and House Atredies had remained steadfast, their alliance would continue to hold especially with the young Lady Alia taking control of the House from her mother a few years ago.
Alia Atredies, an abomination, a child born with memories of their ancestors. He shared origins with their Emperor, made them both kindred spirits, and she, unlike her mother, was a steadfast supporter of the Emperor. It was rumored that this was the reason she had ousted her as the Duchess, who was more agonistic to the Emperor's clear power grab.
And as her ship landed on the dreary planet, where it rained more than it did not, she was greeted by one Thufir Hwatt. The Duke's mentat had retired alongside the ex-Duchess Lady Jessica, who, alongside her paralysed husband, had taken residence in the ancient castle of House Atreides, one which had often acted as a vacation home for the stories noble House in the past.
The rumor, though, was that this was exile and that the young duchess had exiled her mother to this castle so that she could grab and hold onto all the power of Caladan.
"The Duchess welcomes Lady Fenring to Caladan," the portly man greeted her as a retinue of guards joined her. She greeted the man and was escorted inside, not missing the number of guards stationed in the castle. This gave more and more credence to the rumors that this was indeed an exile, that the abomination Alia Atreides had exiled her own mother to take control of the power of the Atreides clan.
"The Duchess is in the garden with the Duke. She will meet you there," the man told her as he led her to the garden.
"That will be fine," she replied with a smile, and soon enough, they were led to the garden, and there she saw them both. The Duke and Duchess of Caladan, a union unlike few in the Imperium, one rooted in love rather than politics.
Lady Jessica 's marriage with the Duke Leto had come as a surprise to many given that it was thought that the Duke would marry someone for political gain. Yet, he had married his lover of long elevating a concubine to the stature of Duchess, not that the Lady Jessica was not worthy of it.
No, she was the perfect candidate for few, and she could have led House Atreides as she had in the tumultuous times of the last two decades.
Duke Leto had many epithets to his name—The Red Duke, the Honorable Duke, and so forth. And now he had one more, one not so flattering. The Crippled Duke.
The Duke would wake up a year after Inzal Kazab Corrino ascended the throne, alive and yet crippled in the lower half of his body, and that is why even now he sat in a motorized wheelchair that drove slowly as Lady Jessica walked beside him, both of them seemingly rather content despite having lost much of the power and influence they had once wielded over the Imperium.
"Greetings, Duke and Duchess," she began as she was led towards them. Immediately, she saw the Duke's eyes shift, narrowing.
"Greetings to you as well, Lady Fenring," he said before he turned to his wife.
"I will leave now. Your guest is here," and with that, he moved away from them, leaving her alone with the Duchess. The Duke still held a grudge against her for the role she had played in conspiring against the House Atreides with the Harkonnens, and despite her requests, had refused to budge.
Thankfully, she had been able to convince the Duchess to meet with her after much effort.
"It seems that the Duke still holds his drudge against me and my family," she began, and the Duchess's lips shifted as she raised a brow.
"He does not hold a grudge against you personally, Lady Fenring. Moreso he holds one against the Order you have come to represent," she cut in sharply, speaking of how she already knew of the intention of her visit and what she represented.
Her visit was not a courtesy call. No, they were here to ask for her aid. If they were to stand a chance against House Corrino and the Emperor, they would need the aide of House Atreides, and the only ear sympathetic to their cause was her—the Lady Jessica.
They were led to a more secluded area of the garden with chairs and tables as the Duchess began.
"So, tell me what brings you to this secluded part of Caladan," Lady Jessica asked. She had aged since she had last seen her. Her hair remained thick and shining, yet now one could see the greying roots that seemed to only add to her beauty.
The Duchess could prolong her life and remain in her youth forever, yet she was aging, and it was by her own volition.
"I doubt that I can hide anything from you, a reverend Mother," she began. The woman smiled as she looked towards the sky.
"It has been quite some time since anyone has called me that," she replied, and it was to be noted that the woman infront of her was a Reverend Mother and had once been the Emperor's truthsayer.
"So, you must know why I am here," she added. The woman nodded as she picked up her cup of tea and sipped it.
"I am," she replied as she looked her in the eye.
"The Emperor grows stronger by the day. The Ixians and the Bene Tleilaxu cannot stand this much longer. And you think I can stay his hand," the Lady asked, and she nodded.
"The Bene Tleilaxu and the Ixians may have overstepped, but all those responsible for the attack on the Emperor are already dead, and yet his rage continues. Now, it is evident this is all but ruse to weaken any and all opposition to his rule. The Imperium cannot survive an absolute monarchy. You, of all people, know that better than anyone," and the Duchess shrugged.
"The Emperor has ruled sagely in his time, though. Most of the Houses are happy with him, especially now that many of them are free from the Guild's exuberant demands and fees," she added, and she bit her lip.
"And of all people, you must have some nerve to seek my aid," the Duchess cut in sharply.
"After all, was it not Bene Gesserit's intention to see me and my house dead? Were it not your very intentions that saw to the Death of my son!" the rage was palpable, and she had no answer, only remorse at the mistakes of the past.
"We have made mistakes in the past. But you are a part of the Sisterhood, and the only one we can turn to in this time of need," she pleaded. The woman did not budge, so she used the other thing she had been entrusted with.
"And to show our goodwill, we have brought you a gift," and at that she passed him a scroll, and the lady raised a brow.
"What is it?" she asked.
"My companions, when they learnt of my visit wished to send you a duke a present of their own," it was a peace offering, a bribe. The Ixians had devised a plan to give the Duke full function of his legs, allowing him a chance to run and walk again.
The Duchess looked it over, and there was none of the joy she had expected on her face as she placed it on the table before shaking her head.
"Leto will never trust in the Ixians or their little contraptions," and she bit her lip.
"You can have it all looked over by an Imperial Physician; the procedure can even be done in your own presence," she offered, and the woman shook her head.
"I am afraid that will not be possible," the woman replied.
"But you are the Duchess of Calada..."
"That title is more suited to Alia Atredies nowadays," she finally cut into her face, devoid of any emotion as she used that name.
"I am but simply Jessica, Lady Jessica," she added softly, and that confirmed the rumors then. This was indeed an exile, and the Duchess's own daughter had wrangled away the control of Caladan from her own mother and father at the directive of the King.
"And so, I am afraid I have little power to help you or your friends," she denied her and made her stand up, as Margot knew that she had to do something, that otherwise, they would all fail.
"You were the best of us," she cut in as she jumped to her feet.
"You are the closest to the Emperor, the only one who could temper his rage. Help us, my lady, Help the Imperium; otherwise, if things stand as they do, the Imperium as we know it will cease to exist," she pleaded, implored, begged, and the woman's fists balled up, and she saw her hesitate as she walked away.
"I am afraid I carry far less power than you think. I cannot help you," and leaving her heartbroken, the woman walked away until she stopped a few steps past her, slowing down as she continued in a whisper barely audible.
"I may not be able to help you, but I can point you towards someone who can," she began as she felt her heart race at those words.
"You will not find him here but on the planet where it all began, buried in its folktales and histories, hidden in a place of great tragedy and destruction. Only he can help you," Lady Jessica.
"Who?" she asked.
"He has no name and no face. He is a man as old as the Imperium, and is known only by his occupation..."
"...The Preacher."
0000
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~15 years Later~
LADY MARGOT FENRING
It had been fifteen years since Inzal Kazab Corrino had taken control of the Imperium inheriting his father's throne and taking absolute majority in the CHOAM company, and the Imperium, and ever since his ascension a great war had ravaged the galaxy.
The Emperor's rage against the conspirators who had tried to kill him had been uncoolable flame, and any and all interventions and attempts to dissuade him from absolute annihilation of the Ixians and Bene Tleilaxu had failed.
Armed with the power of the Saradukar, the Fremen, and an absolute monopoly on Spice production had allowed the Emperor to thwart time-tested and powerful institutions like the Been Tleilaxu and the Ixians. And though they had held on for fifteen years, with every passing day, it was becoming more and more evident that they could do so no longer and that soon enough, the war would end, and Bene Tleilaxu and the Ixians would cease to exist.
And with them any and all who could ever hope to stand against an emperor.
The Guild had tried to intervene, trying to use their monopoly as navigators to dissuade the Emperor, to settle down his rage, and yet rather than bowing down, the Emperor had retaliated, using his absolute majority in the Imperium to lift the ban on the manufacturing of Holter engines, engines that did not require the Guild's services as navigators.
There had been an uproar, and yet the Emperor was simply too powerful—and they could only watch as the guild's monopoly slowly crumbled. Any attempt on the part of the guild to help the Ixians and the Bene Tleilaxu would be seen by the Emperor, his powers allowing him to see beyond the Halls of his castle on Arrakis, where the Fremen now lived freely, with hundreds if not thousands of ships making regular trip to the planet to bring food and water, to the otherwise barren sandy hell hole.
And so, the Guild could scarcely overstep, for any action against the Emperor saw their supply of Spice lessened, as the Emperor began to make his own fleet, one which did not require the services of Navigators.
The Bene Gesserit were also helpless, and the order had lost all favor with the Great Houses because of the Great Kanli that had ended in the demise of one Paul Atreides, and with the last remnants of House Harkonnen also blaming them for their destruction, the Been Gesserit were now pariahs in a world which they once ruled from the shadows.
With each passing day the Royal House grew more powerful, and the world slipped away from their hands, and now it was a consensus that if things remained the same, all of them—The Bene Geserit, the Guild, the Bene Tleilaxu, the Ixians—each and every one of them would lose everything.
And that had brought her here, to Kaladan. To the place where it had all begun. The ancient and stories seat of House Atreides, the second most powerful House in the realm. Even after the betrayal of Paul Atreides, and his subsequent death, the relationship between House Corrino and House Atredies had remained steadfast, their alliance would continue to hold especially with the young Lady Alia taking control of the House from her mother a few years ago.
Alia Atredies, an abomination, a child born with memories of their ancestors. He shared origins with their Emperor, made them both kindred spirits, and she, unlike her mother, was a steadfast supporter of the Emperor. It was rumored that this was the reason she had ousted her as the Duchess, who was more agonistic to the Emperor's clear power grab.
And as her ship landed on the dreary planet, where it rained more than it did not, she was greeted by one Thufir Hwatt. The Duke's mentat had retired alongside the ex-Duchess Lady Jessica, who, alongside her paralysed husband, had taken residence in the ancient castle of House Atreides, one which had often acted as a vacation home for the stories noble House in the past.
The rumor, though, was that this was exile and that the young duchess had exiled her mother to this castle so that she could grab and hold onto all the power of Caladan.
"The Duchess welcomes Lady Fenring to Caladan," the portly man greeted her as a retinue of guards joined her. She greeted the man and was escorted inside, not missing the number of guards stationed in the castle. This gave more and more credence to the rumors that this was indeed an exile, that the abomination Alia Atreides had exiled her own mother to take control of the power of the Atreides clan.
"The Duchess is in the garden with the Duke. She will meet you there," the man told her as he led her to the garden.
"That will be fine," she replied with a smile, and soon enough, they were led to the garden, and there she saw them both. The Duke and Duchess of Caladan, a union unlike few in the Imperium, one rooted in love rather than politics.
Lady Jessica 's marriage with the Duke Leto had come as a surprise to many given that it was thought that the Duke would marry someone for political gain. Yet, he had married his lover of long elevating a concubine to the stature of Duchess, not that the Lady Jessica was not worthy of it.
No, she was the perfect candidate for few, and she could have led House Atreides as she had in the tumultuous times of the last two decades.
Duke Leto had many epithets to his name—The Red Duke, the Honorable Duke, and so forth. And now he had one more, one not so flattering. The Crippled Duke.
The Duke would wake up a year after Inzal Kazab Corrino ascended the throne, alive and yet crippled in the lower half of his body, and that is why even now he sat in a motorized wheelchair that drove slowly as Lady Jessica walked beside him, both of them seemingly rather content despite having lost much of the power and influence they had once wielded over the Imperium.
"Greetings, Duke and Duchess," she began as she was led towards them. Immediately, she saw the Duke's eyes shift, narrowing.
"Greetings to you as well, Lady Fenring," he said before he turned to his wife.
"I will leave now. Your guest is here," and with that, he moved away from them, leaving her alone with the Duchess. The Duke still held a grudge against her for the role she had played in conspiring against the House Atreides with the Harkonnens, and despite her requests, had refused to budge.
Thankfully, she had been able to convince the Duchess to meet with her after much effort.
"It seems that the Duke still holds his drudge against me and my family," she began, and the Duchess's lips shifted as she raised a brow.
"He does not hold a grudge against you personally, Lady Fenring. Moreso he holds one against the Order you have come to represent," she cut in sharply, speaking of how she already knew of the intention of her visit and what she represented.
Her visit was not a courtesy call. No, they were here to ask for her aid. If they were to stand a chance against House Corrino and the Emperor, they would need the aide of House Atreides, and the only ear sympathetic to their cause was her—the Lady Jessica.
They were led to a more secluded area of the garden with chairs and tables as the Duchess began.
"So, tell me what brings you to this secluded part of Caladan," Lady Jessica asked. She had aged since she had last seen her. Her hair remained thick and shining, yet now one could see the greying roots that seemed to only add to her beauty.
The Duchess could prolong her life and remain in her youth forever, yet she was aging, and it was by her own volition.
"I doubt that I can hide anything from you, a reverend Mother," she began. The woman smiled as she looked towards the sky.
"It has been quite some time since anyone has called me that," she replied, and it was to be noted that the woman infront of her was a Reverend Mother and had once been the Emperor's truthsayer.
"So, you must know why I am here," she added. The woman nodded as she picked up her cup of tea and sipped it.
"I am," she replied as she looked her in the eye.
"The Emperor grows stronger by the day. The Ixians and the Bene Tleilaxu cannot stand this much longer. And you think I can stay his hand," the Lady asked, and she nodded.
"The Bene Tleilaxu and the Ixians may have overstepped, but all those responsible for the attack on the Emperor are already dead, and yet his rage continues. Now, it is evident this is all but ruse to weaken any and all opposition to his rule. The Imperium cannot survive an absolute monarchy. You, of all people, know that better than anyone," and the Duchess shrugged.
"The Emperor has ruled sagely in his time, though. Most of the Houses are happy with him, especially now that many of them are free from the Guild's exuberant demands and fees," she added, and she bit her lip.
"And of all people, you must have some nerve to seek my aid," the Duchess cut in sharply.
"After all, was it not Bene Gesserit's intention to see me and my house dead? Were it not your very intentions that saw to the Death of my son!" the rage was palpable, and she had no answer, only remorse at the mistakes of the past.
"We have made mistakes in the past. But you are a part of the Sisterhood, and the only one we can turn to in this time of need," she pleaded. The woman did not budge, so she used the other thing she had been entrusted with.
"And to show our goodwill, we have brought you a gift," and at that she passed him a scroll, and the lady raised a brow.
"What is it?" she asked.
"My companions, when they learnt of my visit wished to send you a duke a present of their own," it was a peace offering, a bribe. The Ixians had devised a plan to give the Duke full function of his legs, allowing him a chance to run and walk again.
The Duchess looked it over, and there was none of the joy she had expected on her face as she placed it on the table before shaking her head.
"Leto will never trust in the Ixians or their little contraptions," and she bit her lip.
"You can have it all looked over by an Imperial Physician; the procedure can even be done in your own presence," she offered, and the woman shook her head.
"I am afraid that will not be possible," the woman replied.
"But you are the Duchess of Calada..."
"That title is more suited to Alia Atredies nowadays," she finally cut into her face, devoid of any emotion as she used that name.
"I am but simply Jessica, Lady Jessica," she added softly, and that confirmed the rumors then. This was indeed an exile, and the Duchess's own daughter had wrangled away the control of Caladan from her own mother and father at the directive of the King.
"And so, I am afraid I have little power to help you or your friends," she denied her and made her stand up, as Margot knew that she had to do something, that otherwise, they would all fail.
"You were the best of us," she cut in as she jumped to her feet.
"You are the closest to the Emperor, the only one who could temper his rage. Help us, my lady, Help the Imperium; otherwise, if things stand as they do, the Imperium as we know it will cease to exist," she pleaded, implored, begged, and the woman's fists balled up, and she saw her hesitate as she walked away.
"I am afraid I carry far less power than you think. I cannot help you," and leaving her heartbroken, the woman walked away until she stopped a few steps past her, slowing down as she continued in a whisper barely audible.
"I may not be able to help you, but I can point you towards someone who can," she began as she felt her heart race at those words.
"You will not find him here but on the planet where it all began, buried in its folktales and histories, hidden in a place of great tragedy and destruction. Only he can help you," Lady Jessica.
"Who?" she asked.
"He has no name and no face. He is a man as old as the Imperium, and is known only by his occupation..."
"...The Preacher."
0000
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- Location
- England
Should be "Bene". Although they are about to become Has-Been Tleilaxu.
Chapter 45-A World At War!
Chapter 45
ALIA ATREIDES
Life had changed much for Alia Atredies, and she had gone from being a second daughter to the heir of House Atredies. From being afraid and little to full grown girl, one who now sat in the seat of the Duke of Caladan ruling over the ancient seat of House Atredies, governing over these lands as her father and his forefathers did so before her.
To her, though, it felt as if she was not doing anything different, for she had ruled over these lands for centuries in her memories. In the last decade and a half, she had gotten used to all the memories inside her head and realized how to separate emotions from them and see them all as experiences so as not to let them overwhelm her too much.
And though she would never be a regular child, through Inzal's and her own efforts, she had been able to have the semblance of a normal life, something for which she was very thankful to their Emperor. And it was because of that, though she did not find the task of ruling and governing over Caladan hard, she found it boring and tedious, and Alia Atreides hated being bored.
And yet she had a role to play, a duty to perform, and she would do it, for her family. For Inzal.
She felt the doors to the solar open as her aide walked in, Gurney Halleck the war master of House Atreides walked in stoic as ever, his gaze piercing and steadfast as he saluted to her and passed her along a messenger scroll.
"This came from Summerhall," he informed her. That was the name of their vacation home—a castle deep into the alleys, one where members of their house would retire.
She unfurled it and began to skim over the message, and she raised a brow.
"So, she finally decided to visit her," she added as she closed the scroll and then, in an abhorrent display of strength, crushed it in her hands, scrunching the metal into a crap ball.
"Yes, Lady Margot Fenring has just departed from the castle after meeting with your mother, the Duc—"and he halted in his sentence as she narrowed her eyes.
"...The Lady Jessica," he corrected himself, not to break the cover they had built.
"They are finally growing desperate," she added, as she thought about the war raging in the galaxy around her as Inzal's forces tried to overwhelm the Ixians and the Bene Tleilaxu.
"Shall we inform the Emperor?" Gurney asked her, and she scoffed.
"We do not need to. Inzal would have learned of it even before you and I," and that was his power, the power to see beyond space.
"What are your instructions then, Duchess?" he asked, and she raised a brow, her mind racing as she jumped up from her chair.
"Arrange a ship for me. I want to go and meet Mother," she said gravely, and Gurney nodded.
"I will have it prepared, but there are reports from Duncan Idaho from the war front that you..." and she slapped it away.
"Tell Duncan to present them herself. His reports are too complicated for me to understand without his presence," she added curtly, and Gurney raised a brow. Her face with all the years and centuries of Bene Gesserit training did not betray any emotion as he continued.
"I could help you wit..."
"No," she cut in sharply.
"I wish for Duncan to present them herself," she added. She saw his lips turn up slightly, and the expression made her face flush as Gurney finally relented.
"I will have the message sent," he said, and she nodded, a smile erupting on her lips.
"There are other tasks still left for yo..."
"They will all come later. Arrange a ship for me. I want to leave for Summer Hall in an hour," and Gurney nodded and left the solar with a salute as she slumped on the table and sighed.
"Finally!"
0000
LADY MARGOT FENRING
After a rather disappointing trip to Caladan Lady Fenring found herself back in on Wallack Nine, where in deep ravines of the castle Wallach, she found herself surrounded by the leaders of the Rebellion, and yet they were all hidden in the shadows, each unaware of the other lest that one of them is caught the other's identities are not exposed.
Only one person knew of all their identities, and it was her. Entrusted with this great task, for they knew of both her loyalty to the cause and were assured that the Emperor would never make a move against her just because of the name she wore second.
Fenring. And the thought of her husband unsettled her. This had never really been a match made in love. It had been arrangement, advantageous to both, and yet their time together had been happy. But it was not meant to be, with Fenring turning to the Emepror's side they had become enemies.
And yet some of what they had lingered, for she knew that when they had each chosen their side, he had assured her that he had not asked the Emperor for anything for his service but a single favor. That when they emerge victorious, he spare her life.
To this day, she often thinks she has really chosen the right side, and many a time she does not really like the answer she arrived at.
"So, will the Atreides help us?" came the question from one of the four rebellion leaders—otherwise known as the Four Usul.
And she shook her head.
"The Atreides will not support our cause. The Lady Jessica may not like what has become of her House, but she bears us no love," and why would she? Not long ago, everyone here had tried to end her house, and later, they had involved her son in a plot of their own, one that had ended up killing him.
"She will not go against us, but she and House Atreides will not lend us any aid," and there was silence at her answer until a feminine voice cut in.
"I should have expected nothing less from that cur!" it raged as a thick, dreary voice continued.
"This was expected. Paul Atreides's death was a big blow for Lady Jessica, and she still blames us for it, even though the one she should blame is that accursed Emperor," and she was quiet as they continued.
"At this rate, we will lose. The Saradukar will overrun us in a month, and if one of us falls, the rest shall follow soon after," and that was true.
"That damned Emperor! When will his bloodlust cease? Has he not gathered enough power!" they raged and raved, and yet there was nothing they could do. And then she remembered her whisper, the last words she had left her with.
"There was one thing," she cut in, and the chatter died down in an instant.
"Before I left, she told me something—of someone that may be able to help us," she added as she gulped, and there was silence at that.
"Who?" came the inquiry, and she thought of her words.
"She did not give me a name but said that we would find him on Arrakis, hidden in folktales long forgotten and secrets long dead. She gave me an epithet that they call him 'the Preacher,'" she finished, and there was silence at those words.
"Arrakis," came the whisper, and that was the problem. Arrakis was the Emperor's stronghold. It was said that not a single bird flapped its wing on the desert planet without the Emperor knowing it.
To make a move against the emperor on Arrakis was praying for death itself, and yet death was coming for them all. All except her.
"Is there no choice?" someone asked.
"This could be our only hope," another added.
"But who will go to Arrakis? Who will walk into Lion's den," came the feminine voice, and she knew the answer to that already.
"Lady Fenring, we believe you are the only one who can," and she had known that.
"I will do as is needed of me," she replied with a bow.
"Yet the Emperor bears me no love. He will not allow me entry into Arrakis without reason, despite the name that I bear," she added. To reach Arrakis, one had to have the Emperor's permission. The whole planet was still covered by a wide planetary shield that made it impossible for anyone to enter it unauthorized.
Arrakis was a black hole to them. None of them could understand what went on there, and none of them or their allies would be granted entry to the planet.
"Indeed we need a reason for you to be granted permission," the femine voice added, and then the last of them spoke. One that had been quiet until then.
"If we can get you to Arrakis, could you locate this so-called 'Preacher' for us, Lady Fenring?" the voice was chilling and ominous as she nodded.
"I will," she answered resolutely, and then the fourth voice hummed before adding with finality.
"Then you will have your permission. Until then, make your preparations," and with that, she nodded as the fourth Pillar vanished.
"We must make preparations as well. If this Preacher can help us, we must also be ready." And with that, the meeting came to an end as she stood there wondering just how she would be granted that permission?
.
.
.
Back on Arrakis, the Padishah Emperor sat on his throne, his eyes closed as he saw more than any man should before. In his vision, a light vanished, marking the death of one individual, one he knew rather well.
Sometime later, his aide would walk into the room bearing a message, even though there was no need for it.
"Emperor, I bring grav..."
"I already know," the Emperor would cut in, opening his eyes. Those blue orbs glistened in the darkness of the night as he continued.
"Count Hasimir Fenring is dead."
"Indeed, Emperor," the man knelt his voice had reverence as he found himself seeing the Emperor's prowess for himself.
"Have his body returned to Arrakis, and send a message to his wife the Lady Margot Fenring. Estranged though they may be, but she is still his wife and must be allowed to say her goodbye," and the man nodded.
"As you wish, Emperor," and with that, he left as Inzal Kazab Corrino looked to the skies and sighed.
"And so, it begins once more!"
0000
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ALIA ATREIDES
Life had changed much for Alia Atredies, and she had gone from being a second daughter to the heir of House Atredies. From being afraid and little to full grown girl, one who now sat in the seat of the Duke of Caladan ruling over the ancient seat of House Atredies, governing over these lands as her father and his forefathers did so before her.
To her, though, it felt as if she was not doing anything different, for she had ruled over these lands for centuries in her memories. In the last decade and a half, she had gotten used to all the memories inside her head and realized how to separate emotions from them and see them all as experiences so as not to let them overwhelm her too much.
And though she would never be a regular child, through Inzal's and her own efforts, she had been able to have the semblance of a normal life, something for which she was very thankful to their Emperor. And it was because of that, though she did not find the task of ruling and governing over Caladan hard, she found it boring and tedious, and Alia Atreides hated being bored.
And yet she had a role to play, a duty to perform, and she would do it, for her family. For Inzal.
She felt the doors to the solar open as her aide walked in, Gurney Halleck the war master of House Atreides walked in stoic as ever, his gaze piercing and steadfast as he saluted to her and passed her along a messenger scroll.
"This came from Summerhall," he informed her. That was the name of their vacation home—a castle deep into the alleys, one where members of their house would retire.
She unfurled it and began to skim over the message, and she raised a brow.
"So, she finally decided to visit her," she added as she closed the scroll and then, in an abhorrent display of strength, crushed it in her hands, scrunching the metal into a crap ball.
"Yes, Lady Margot Fenring has just departed from the castle after meeting with your mother, the Duc—"and he halted in his sentence as she narrowed her eyes.
"...The Lady Jessica," he corrected himself, not to break the cover they had built.
"They are finally growing desperate," she added, as she thought about the war raging in the galaxy around her as Inzal's forces tried to overwhelm the Ixians and the Bene Tleilaxu.
"Shall we inform the Emperor?" Gurney asked her, and she scoffed.
"We do not need to. Inzal would have learned of it even before you and I," and that was his power, the power to see beyond space.
"What are your instructions then, Duchess?" he asked, and she raised a brow, her mind racing as she jumped up from her chair.
"Arrange a ship for me. I want to go and meet Mother," she said gravely, and Gurney nodded.
"I will have it prepared, but there are reports from Duncan Idaho from the war front that you..." and she slapped it away.
"Tell Duncan to present them herself. His reports are too complicated for me to understand without his presence," she added curtly, and Gurney raised a brow. Her face with all the years and centuries of Bene Gesserit training did not betray any emotion as he continued.
"I could help you wit..."
"No," she cut in sharply.
"I wish for Duncan to present them herself," she added. She saw his lips turn up slightly, and the expression made her face flush as Gurney finally relented.
"I will have the message sent," he said, and she nodded, a smile erupting on her lips.
"There are other tasks still left for yo..."
"They will all come later. Arrange a ship for me. I want to leave for Summer Hall in an hour," and Gurney nodded and left the solar with a salute as she slumped on the table and sighed.
"Finally!"
0000
LADY MARGOT FENRING
After a rather disappointing trip to Caladan Lady Fenring found herself back in on Wallack Nine, where in deep ravines of the castle Wallach, she found herself surrounded by the leaders of the Rebellion, and yet they were all hidden in the shadows, each unaware of the other lest that one of them is caught the other's identities are not exposed.
Only one person knew of all their identities, and it was her. Entrusted with this great task, for they knew of both her loyalty to the cause and were assured that the Emperor would never make a move against her just because of the name she wore second.
Fenring. And the thought of her husband unsettled her. This had never really been a match made in love. It had been arrangement, advantageous to both, and yet their time together had been happy. But it was not meant to be, with Fenring turning to the Emepror's side they had become enemies.
And yet some of what they had lingered, for she knew that when they had each chosen their side, he had assured her that he had not asked the Emperor for anything for his service but a single favor. That when they emerge victorious, he spare her life.
To this day, she often thinks she has really chosen the right side, and many a time she does not really like the answer she arrived at.
"So, will the Atreides help us?" came the question from one of the four rebellion leaders—otherwise known as the Four Usul.
And she shook her head.
"The Atreides will not support our cause. The Lady Jessica may not like what has become of her House, but she bears us no love," and why would she? Not long ago, everyone here had tried to end her house, and later, they had involved her son in a plot of their own, one that had ended up killing him.
"She will not go against us, but she and House Atreides will not lend us any aid," and there was silence at her answer until a feminine voice cut in.
"I should have expected nothing less from that cur!" it raged as a thick, dreary voice continued.
"This was expected. Paul Atreides's death was a big blow for Lady Jessica, and she still blames us for it, even though the one she should blame is that accursed Emperor," and she was quiet as they continued.
"At this rate, we will lose. The Saradukar will overrun us in a month, and if one of us falls, the rest shall follow soon after," and that was true.
"That damned Emperor! When will his bloodlust cease? Has he not gathered enough power!" they raged and raved, and yet there was nothing they could do. And then she remembered her whisper, the last words she had left her with.
"There was one thing," she cut in, and the chatter died down in an instant.
"Before I left, she told me something—of someone that may be able to help us," she added as she gulped, and there was silence at that.
"Who?" came the inquiry, and she thought of her words.
"She did not give me a name but said that we would find him on Arrakis, hidden in folktales long forgotten and secrets long dead. She gave me an epithet that they call him 'the Preacher,'" she finished, and there was silence at those words.
"Arrakis," came the whisper, and that was the problem. Arrakis was the Emperor's stronghold. It was said that not a single bird flapped its wing on the desert planet without the Emperor knowing it.
To make a move against the emperor on Arrakis was praying for death itself, and yet death was coming for them all. All except her.
"Is there no choice?" someone asked.
"This could be our only hope," another added.
"But who will go to Arrakis? Who will walk into Lion's den," came the feminine voice, and she knew the answer to that already.
"Lady Fenring, we believe you are the only one who can," and she had known that.
"I will do as is needed of me," she replied with a bow.
"Yet the Emperor bears me no love. He will not allow me entry into Arrakis without reason, despite the name that I bear," she added. To reach Arrakis, one had to have the Emperor's permission. The whole planet was still covered by a wide planetary shield that made it impossible for anyone to enter it unauthorized.
Arrakis was a black hole to them. None of them could understand what went on there, and none of them or their allies would be granted entry to the planet.
"Indeed we need a reason for you to be granted permission," the femine voice added, and then the last of them spoke. One that had been quiet until then.
"If we can get you to Arrakis, could you locate this so-called 'Preacher' for us, Lady Fenring?" the voice was chilling and ominous as she nodded.
"I will," she answered resolutely, and then the fourth voice hummed before adding with finality.
"Then you will have your permission. Until then, make your preparations," and with that, she nodded as the fourth Pillar vanished.
"We must make preparations as well. If this Preacher can help us, we must also be ready." And with that, the meeting came to an end as she stood there wondering just how she would be granted that permission?
.
.
.
Back on Arrakis, the Padishah Emperor sat on his throne, his eyes closed as he saw more than any man should before. In his vision, a light vanished, marking the death of one individual, one he knew rather well.
Sometime later, his aide would walk into the room bearing a message, even though there was no need for it.
"Emperor, I bring grav..."
"I already know," the Emperor would cut in, opening his eyes. Those blue orbs glistened in the darkness of the night as he continued.
"Count Hasimir Fenring is dead."
"Indeed, Emperor," the man knelt his voice had reverence as he found himself seeing the Emperor's prowess for himself.
"Have his body returned to Arrakis, and send a message to his wife the Lady Margot Fenring. Estranged though they may be, but she is still his wife and must be allowed to say her goodbye," and the man nodded.
"As you wish, Emperor," and with that, he left as Inzal Kazab Corrino looked to the skies and sighed.
"And so, it begins once more!"
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