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."
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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."
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