[Monday night]

[mind_over_metal]

[It's a dark October night in camp. All is quiet in the Cabin McAvoy.





Until a child starts screaming.]

Comments

[mind_over_metal]

That's amazing.

[goddamnemperor]

They are rather... extraordinary.

[mind_over_metal]

And you've got part of them?

*moving his hand to actually touch the worm-skin himself this time, rather than just have his hand held to it*

[goddamnemperor]

In a way. We share a life together.

[mind_over_metal]

How do you do that?

[goddamnemperor]

That... is a long story.

[mind_over_metal]

We've got all night.

[goddamnemperor]

That may not be enough.

[mind_over_metal]

So you can tell me part of it tonight. And then I'll come back tomorrow. Like Scheherazade and the Arabian Nights.

[goddamnemperor]

Very well! I do enjoy story-telling.

[mind_over_metal]

*pulls his legs up in front of him and rests his chin on his knees, grinning back at him*

[goddamnemperor]

[starts off, soft, hauntingly]

Far in the future, there was a planet named Dune. Filled with sand and dust and chaotic storms. Yet, this planet, so harsh and unforgiving, was the centre of the universe. For from it, came the spice. The spice helped people to see into the future... and created space travel.

[mind_over_metal]

Space travel?

[goddamnemperor]

Guildsmen. They navigate through planets using the Spice.

And then there was the Great Houses. Two of them, in particular. House Harkonnen and House Atreides. Their battle was to take place on Dune.

[mind_over_metal]

Why did they have to battle?

[goddamnemperor]

Kanly. Vendetta. Both Houses were dominated by an old feud. When Dune went to House Atreides, the Harkonnens plotted to take it away from them.

At that time, my father was fifteen years old. [he pauses, always finding it difficult to talk about him] He was starting to learn that he was special, that destiny had chosen him.

[mind_over_metal]

So he was like you?

[goddamnemperor]

He was and he wasn't.

House Atreides moved to Dune. But the Harkonnen plot had already begun to move, and my father, blessed with tragedy, lost his own father to the sands. He and his mother escaped and lived with the Fremen, the race of Dune.

[mind_over_metal]

Blessed with tragedy...?

[goddamnemperor]

If there was no such thing as tragedy, people cannot grow, young wali. It is a reality of all worlds.

He grew up with the Fremen, became one of them. Muad'dib, the mouse. He took leadership over them and conquered the Imperium. House Harkonnen was destroyed and my father, Paul Muad'dib became Emperor.

Now, my story will begin.

[mind_over_metal]

*hunkers down with anticipation, like when you know that your favourite character is about to make his entrance*

[goddamnemperor]

Our mother was sick. Over-saturated with spice. When she died, we were born. Not just born! We were aware. Every memory, every feeling, every thought that our ancestors ever had, became our heritage. We could talk before we even had teeth!

That being said, our father, devastated by grief, ran into the desert, leaving us with our aunt, who was... like us, who knows how it feels to be aware.

[mind_over_metal]

"We"?

[goddamnemperor]

Ah, yes. My sister, Ghanima. We were twins, set to take over the empire once we reached fifteen.

However, people plot. Conspiracies began to grow over my aunt's rule of Dune. Afraid and scared, she became... lost with herself.

[mind_over_metal]

Because she had all of the memories, too, right? Inside of her?