Chapter 13 Chapter Thirteen

"How can we be sure?" Ghanima asked. "It's very dangerous." "We've tried it before," Leto argued. "It might be different this time. If—" "This is the only road before us," Leto said, "and you agree that we cannot go the spice road." Ghanima sighed.She didn't like the back-and-forth, but she knew her brother had to.She also knew why she was worried.Just look at Alia to appreciate how dangerous the inner world can be. "What's wrong?" Leto asked. She sighed again. They sat cross-legged in a secret place of their own, a narrow opening leading from the cave to the cliff.Her parents used to sit on that cliff and watch the sun shine over the desert.It's two hours after dinner, and it's time for the twins to work on their bodies and minds.They chose to exercise their minds.

"If you won't help, I'll try it alone," Leto said. Ghanima looked away from him, at the black seal that sealed the opening.Leto was still looking out at the desert.All this time they had sometimes communicated with each other in an ancient language whose name no one knows now.The ancient language afforded absolute privacy to their thoughts, a barrier that no one else could penetrate.Not even Alia.Freed from the complexities of her inner world, Alia was cut off from the rest of her conscious memory and could only understand a few words now and then. Leto took a deep breath, smelling the unique smell of Freeman's cave, which lingered in the windless stone chamber for a long time.Here you can't hear the faint noise inside the cave, nor can you feel the humidity and stuffiness.It was a relief for both men to be without them.

"I agree that we need his guidance," Ghanima said, "but if we..." "Gani! We need more than guidance. We need protection." "Maybe there's no protection at all." She stared at her brother, meeting his gaze, like a wary carnivore.His eyes revealed his restless heart. "We must get rid of the magic way," Leto said.He uses a peculiar infinitive of that ancient language, a figure of speech that is unbiased in tone and intonation but flexible in its application. Ghanima correctly understood what he meant. "Mohw'pwium d'mi hish pash moh'm ka," she intoned.Capturing my soul means capturing a thousand souls.

"More than that," he retorted. "Knowing the danger, but you still insist on doing it." She uses a statement, not a question. "Wabun'k wabunat!" he said.Get up, wait! He felt that his choice was obvious and inevitable.It’s best to be proactive about making this choice.They must entwine the past and the present, and let them stretch into the future. "Muriyat." She whispered back.It can only be done with love. "Of course." He waved his hand in full agreement, "Then we'll negotiate with each other like our parents did."

Ghanima remained silent, as if something was choked in her throat.Instinctively she looked south toward the open desert.Under the setting sun, the sand dunes showed a light gray outline.It was in that direction that their father had walked into the desert for the last time. Leto looked down at the cave oasis below the cliff.Everything below was shrouded in gloom, but he knew the shape and color of the oasis: copper, gold, red, yellow, rust, and red flowers growing up to the rocks that surrounded the plantation. The embankment of the aqueduct.Beyond the rocks is a stinking mass of dead Arakan native vegetation, killed by these exotic plants and too much water.Now, this dead vegetation acts as a barrier against the desert.

Ghanima said, "I'm ready, let's get started." "Okay, don't worry about it!" he said, reaching out and grabbing her arm. "Gunny, sing that song. It'll relax me." Ganima leaned close to him, wrapping his left arm around his waist.She took two deep breaths, cleared her throat, and began quietly singing the song her mother used to sing for her father: Her voice wafts over the peaceful desert.Leto felt himself sinking, sinking—becoming his father, and his father's memory spread out like a blanket. For a brief moment, I must be Paul, he told himself, not with Ghanima but with my beloved Jani, whose wise counsel has saved us so many times.

In fear and calm, Ghanima had slipped into her mother's personal memory, just as she had expected, without any problems.For women, it's easier -- and more dangerous -- to do so. In a voice that suddenly became hoarse, Ganima said, "Look, dear!" The first moon had risen, and in the cold light they saw an orange arc of fire rising into the sky.The spaceship that brought Mrs. Jessica here is now full of spices and returning to the mother ship in orbit. At this moment, a burst of the deepest memory hit Leto, echoing in his mind like a loud bell.For a split second, he becomes another Leto—Jessica's Duke.He forced himself to put these memories aside, but he already felt the prick of love and pain.

I have to be Paul, he told himself. A switch happens, a frightening binary mutation takes place within the body.Leto felt himself a black screen, and his father the image projected on it.He felt his own body and his father's body at the same time, the difference between the two bodies rapidly narrowed, and his self seemed to be swallowed up at any time. "Help me, father," he murmured. The stage of sharp transformation is over.Now, his consciousness is that of another, and he stands aside as Leto's self, an observer. "My last vision has not yet come true," he said in Paul's voice. "You know what my visions are."

She touched his cheek with her right hand. "Did you go into the desert to seek death, my dear? Did you do so?" "Maybe I did. But that illusion...isn't that reason enough for me to keep living?" "Even to live as a blind man?" she asked. "Even if it means living as a blind man." "where do you want to go?" Trembling, he took a deep breath. "Jarkrutu." "Honey!" Tears rolled down her cheeks. "Muaddi as a hero must be completely destroyed," he said, "otherwise this child will not be able to lead us out of the chaos."

"The Golden Passage," she said, "is an ominous vision." "It's the only illusion possible." "Alia has failed, and then..." "A complete failure. You have seen her performance." "Your mother came back too late." She nodded, and Ganima's boyish face took on the expression of wise Ghani. "Aren't there any more visions? Perhaps—" "No, darling. Not yet. Peek into the future and return safely—something the boy can't do just yet." He let out a trembling breath again, and Leto, who was on the sidelines, could feel how much his father wished to live again and make decisions while he was alive...how he wished to change the wrong decisions he made in the past!

"Father!" Leto yelled, his voice echoing in his own head. The presence of his father in him gradually faded, which was a manifestation of a strong will, forcibly suppressing his impulses, letting go of the senses and muscles in his grasp. "Honey," Chani's voice whispered in his ear.The retreat slowed down, "What's wrong?" "Wait first," Leto said, and it was his own voice, restless.He continued, "Gani, you have to tell us, how can we... avoid making the same mistakes as Alia?" Paul inside answered him, the voice coming directly to his inner ear, intermittently, followed by long pauses. "There's no exact way. What you... see is... almost... what happened to... me." "But Aria..." "The damned baron has her under control!" Leto felt his throat dry, as if smoking. "Did he... control... me?" "He's inside you...but...I...we can't...sometimes we can...feel each other. But you..." "Can you read my thoughts?" Leto asked. "Do you know if he..." "I can feel your thoughts sometimes... but I... we only exist in... your consciousness. Your memory created us. It's dangerous... this extremely precise memory. Some of us... ...those who love power...those who seek power by any means...their memory will be more accurate." "Stronger?" Leto whispered. "More powerful." "I know your vision," Leto said. "Better make me you than let him control me." "No!" Leto nodded, knowing how much willpower his father needed to refuse his request.He also realized the consequences once his father failed to resist the temptation.Any form of mastery can turn the possessed into a demon.Realizing this, he felt a new strength, a heightened sense of physical sensitivity, and a deeper awareness of past mistakes—his own and his ancestors.Previously, the reason why this body was slower than it is now was because of his deep doubts: he didn't know if he had the potential to foresee the future.This, he understood now.For a moment, temptation and fear fought fiercely in his body.This flesh possesses the ability to transform spices into visions of the future.With spices, he can breathe the air of the future and tear the veil of time.He felt that it was difficult for him to get rid of this temptation, so he folded his hands together and entered the breath consciousness.His flesh repelled the temptation.His flesh holds the knowledge of Paul's blood: those who seek the future hope to win the gamble with tomorrow, but they find themselves in the quagmire of life, their every heartbeat and every cry of pain is known in advance .Paul's visions point to a way out of the quagmire, and though it's a precarious path, Leto knows he has no choice but to take it. "The reason why life is beautiful is that life will bring you unknown surprises at any time." He said. A gentle voice whispered in his ear: "Yes, how beautiful, I really don't want to give up such a beautiful life." Leto turned his head away.Ghanima's eyes gleamed in the bright moonlight, and all he saw was Gani watching him. "Mother," he said, "you must give up." "Oh, temptation!" she said, kissing him. He pushes her away. "Would you take your daughter's life?" he asked. "It's so simple... so simple," she said. Leto felt only fear rising inside him.He remembered how much willpower it took for the father self inside him to give up his physical body.Ghanima had just been like him, watching and listening, understanding what he needed to learn from his father.Could she be lost in that bystander's world, from which she could never escape? "I despise you, mother," he said. "Others don't despise me," she said, "be my lover." "If I do that...you know what you two will become," he said, "my father will despise you." "Never!" "I will!" The voice was completely out of his will and squeezed out directly from his throat.The voice carried the magic sound Dafa tone that Paul had learned from his Bee Geist mother. "Don't say that," she moaned. "I will despise you!" "No...don't say that." Leto touched his throat, feeling the muscles there belong to him again. "He will despise you. He will ignore you. He will go into the desert again." "no no……" She shook her head vigorously. "You must go, mother," he said. "No...no..." But the voice was no longer as firm as before.Leto looked into his sister's face.How contorted the muscles of her face were!The expression on her face kept changing with the struggle inside her. "Go," he whispered, "let's go." "No……" He grabbed her arm, feeling the twitch of her muscles and the twitch of her nerves.She struggled to break away from him, but he held her tighter and whispered, "Go... go..." Leto constantly berates himself for convincing Ghanima into this parental game.They had played this game many times before, but of late Ganima had been resisting.He realized that women were more vulnerable to internal aggression.Bee Geist's fear seemed to stem from this. Hours passed, and Ganima's body was still shaking and writhing in an internal struggle, but now, her sister's voice joined the fray.He heard her speaking to the image within, her voice full of supplication. "Mother... please—" she said, "Look at Alia! Do you want to be another Alia?" Finally, Ghanima leaned over him and whispered, "She accepts. She goes." He stroked her head: "Ganima, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I will never let you do this again. I was so selfish. Forgive me." "There's nothing to forgive," she gasped, as if she had exhausted herself too much. "We learned a lot, things we had to know." "Did she tell you a lot?" he said. "We'll share it later..." "No! Share now. You're right." "My golden channel?" "Yes, your damn golden channel!" "Logical analysis without key data is meaningless," he said, "but I..." "Grandmother came back to guide us, and, to see if we've been contaminated by..." "Duncan said that a long time ago. Nothing new—" "He figured it out," she agreed, her voice growing stronger.She left his arms and looked out at the peaceful desert before dawn.This battle...the knowledge consumed them all night.The guard behind the vapor seal must have explained it to a lot of people.Leto had ordered him not to let anyone bother them. "As we grow older, people always become more mature and smoother," Leto said, "and we have such a long-term memory accumulated in us, what can we learn from it?" "The universe we see is never the same universe, and the universe is never completely composed of objective matter." She said, "So, we can't see this grandmother as a pure grandmother." "That would be dangerous," he agreed, "but my problem is—" “There are things that are far more important to us than maturity and tact,” she said. “We have to set aside a part of our consciousness to observe events that we cannot foresee. It is for this … Mother That’s why she talked to me about Jessica a lot. When we finally got together in me, she talked a lot.” Ghanima sighed. "We know she's our grandmother," he said, "you spent hours with her yesterday, that's why..." "It's up to our hearts what we do with her, if we want to," Ganima said. "That's what my mother warned me over and over again. She quoted what my grandmother said, and—" Ghanima Touched his shoulder, "I also heard the voice of my grandmother, echoing in my body." "Be careful!" Leto said.The thought made him uncomfortable.Is there anything reliable in this world? "Most of the deadliest mistakes stem from ill-timed assumptions," Ghanima said. "That's what my mother used to say over and over again." "Pure bee gist language." "If...if Jessica returns to the Bee Geist Sorority at all..." "It's dangerous for us, very dangerous," he said. "We have the blood of Kwizaki Hadnaky—their male Bee Gist—in our veins." "They wouldn't give up on that pursuit," she said, "but they might give up on us. Grandma might be their tool." "There is another solution," he said. "Yes—the two of us—were married. But they also knew that inbreeding would cause a lot of trouble for that kind of pairing." "They must have discussed that." "Our grandmother was definitely involved. I don't like it." "I dont like it either." "However, in order to continue the bloodline, the royal family of the previous dynasty also did this. This is not the first time—" "It disgusts me," he said with a shudder. She felt his trembling and fell silent. "Power," he said. Because of their magical bond, she knew what he was thinking. "The power of Kvitzaki Hadnaci must be destroyed," she agreed. "If it's for them," he said. Just then, daylight descended on the desert below them.They feel the heat rise.The colors in the plantation below the cliff are particularly vivid.The light green leaves cast shadows on the ground.Early mornings in the dunes, the oasis is illuminated by the rays of the low silvery sun.Shaded by cliffs, the oasis is dotted with shades of gold and purple. Leto stood up and stretched. "Take the golden passage," Ghanima said, speaking to him as much as to herself.She knew that her father's last vision had merged with Leto's prophetic dreams, had merged with Leto's dreams. Something scrapes against the seal behind them, and behind the seal comes a voice. Leto shifted his tongue and said in the old tongue they used in private: "L'ii anihowr samis sm'kwi owr samit sut." This is the decision that spontaneously appeared in their consciousness.Literally: We'll accompany each other to the land of the dead, but only one will make it back alive to report back there. Ganima also stood up, and the two of them lifted the sealing strip together and returned to the cave. The guards rose and followed the twins to their quarters. This morning, the crowd in the cave separated in front of them in a different way than before, and they kept exchanging glances with the guards. Spending the night alone in the desert is a traditional ritual for the Fremen sages.All ummas go through similar vigils.Paul Muadhi experienced it...and Alia.Now it's the turn of the royal twins. Leto noticed the difference and told Ganima about it. "They don't know what decisions we made for them," she said. "They really don't know anything." He still said in the old private language: "This kind of thing must have a most fortunate beginning." Ghanima hesitated for a moment, sorted out her thoughts, and then said: "When the time comes, mourn for the brother and sister. It must be completely realistic, and even the tomb must be built. The heart must closely accompany the person who sleeps underground. , because maybe you will really sleep forever and never wake up." Ghanima hesitated for a moment, sorted out her thoughts, and then said: "When the time comes, mourn for the brother and sister. It must be completely realistic, and even the tomb must be built. The heart must closely accompany the person who sleeps underground. , because maybe you will really sleep forever and never wake up." In that ancient language, the passage expresses a very profound meaning through a pronoun-object separate from the infinitive.This grammar stipulates that the meaning of each phrase is determined by its position, and different positions have completely different meanings, but there are some subtle connections between these meanings. Part of what she meant was that they carried out Leto's plan at the risk of death, either simulated or real.As long as there is a slight change in the process, it is a real death, and it is really a so-called fake show.On the whole, this sentence has another meaning, which is an expectation for the survivors: the survivors must act.One wrong step would ruin the entire plan, making Leto's golden passage a dead end. "Well said," Leto agreed.He lifted the curtain, and the two walked into the front hall of the residence. Seeing them coming in, the servants in the room paused and stopped their work. The twins walked into the arched doorway that led to Lady Jessica's room. "Remember, you are not the judge of hell." Ganima reminded him. "I don't intend to be a judge either." Ghanima grabbed his arm and made him stop. "Aria darsaty haunusm'smow," she warned. Leto looked into his sister's eyes.She was right that there was something suspicious about Alia's behavior, and their grandmother was aware of it. "We, the Atreides family, have always had a tradition of daring and recklessness," he said. "Take whatever you want," she said. "That's it, or be a lowly petitioner to the throne of our Queen Regent," he said. "Alia will be glad we did." "But our plan..." She swallowed the rest of the sentence. Our plan, he thought, is now fully supported by her."I see our program as labor on the well," he said. Ghanima looked back at the vestibule they had just passed, smelling the characteristic morning smell.There is always a smell of the beginning of things in this smell.She liked Leto's words. Work on the well platform.It's a symbol.He sees their projects as menial farm work: fertilizing, irrigating, weeding, planting, pruning—but in Freeman's context, toil in the fields of this world is to work in another, except What is cultivated there is the field of the soul. Ghanima pondered her brother as she lingered inside the rocky porch.It became more and more obvious to her that his pursuit was divided into two levels: 1. He and his father had illusions about the golden passage; 2. Let her stop interfering and allow him to start an extremely dangerous operation according to their plan: Create new myths.She was terrified.Did he still have some vision in his heart that he didn't share with her?Does he see himself as a potential god leading the rebirth of mankind—seeing himself as God and humans as his people?The worship of Muad'di has gradually gone astray, partly because of Alia's mismanagement, and partly because of the unfettered militarized Church controlling the Fremen.Leto wants to bring it all back from the ashes. He was hiding something from me, she realized. She recalled the dream he had told her.The dream reality was so radiant that when awake he would wander dizzily for hours.He said that there was never any change in those dreams. "I stood on the sand under the bright yellow sun, but there was no sun in the sky. Then I realized that I was the sun. My light shone like a golden channel. When I realized this, I started from myself I turned around, expecting to see myself shining like the sun. But I'm not the sun; I'm just a scribble, like the kind kids draw, with crooked eyes, arms and legs like sticks ...I have a scepter in my left hand, and a real scepter--much more real in detail than the stick-like arm that holds it. The scepter moves, and I'm afraid. With it As I moved, I felt like I was slowly waking up, but I knew I was still dreaming. I realized that something was enveloping my skin—a piece of armor that moved as I moved. I saw Not the armor, but I could feel it. At this moment, the fear left me, for the armor gave me the strength of a thousand men." Ganima stared at Leto, and he tried to look away as he continued down the corridor leading to Jessica's room.But Ghanima refused. "This golden channel is probably no better than the others," she said. Leto looked at the rocky ground between them and felt Ganimar's suspicions growing. "I have to," he said. "Alia has become a demon, an evil spirit," she said. "The same thing could happen to us. It may even have happened, we just don't know it." "No," he met her gaze and shook his head, "because Alia resisted. The resistance empowered the life within her, overwhelming her own strength. We boldly search within ourselves, Seek out ancient languages ​​and lore. We have merged with the beings inside us. We don't resist; we live with them. That's what I learned from my father last night, and what I had to learn." "He didn't mention any of that in me." "You were listening to our mother's teachings, and this is us—" "I was almost lost." "Is she still that strong inside you?" His face was tight with tension. "Yeah...but now, I think she's protecting me with love. You did a great job arguing with her." Ganima said, recalling the image of her mother in her body, "Our mother, along with others, I exist, but she has been persuaded by you, so now I can safely follow her teachings. As for the others..." "Yes," he said, "I follow my father's advice, but I feel that I'm actually following the advice of my namesake grandfather. Perhaps having a name makes it easier for me to follow his advice." "Among the suggestions you accepted, did you go and talk to our grandmother about the golden passage?" Leto paused, waiting for a servant to pass by carrying Lady Jessica's breakfast tray.After the servants walked by, the strong smell of spices filled the air. "She lives both in ours and in her own," Leto said, "so her advice can be considered twice by us." "I can't," Ghanima protested, "I won't take such risks again." "Let me do it." "I think we can all admit that she's back in the sorority." "Yes. Bee Gist was the beginning of her life, she herself occupied the middle, and now Bee Gist is the end of her life. But remember, she also carries the Harkonnen family Her bloodline is closer to the Harkonnen family than ours, and she also has the same inner life experience as us." "But her experience is very shallow," Ghanima said. "You haven't answered my question yet." "I don't think I'll tell her about the Golden Passage." "I will." "Ganima!" "How many more people from the Atreides family will be raised and regarded as gods? No, we don't need it. What we need is humanity." "I've always subscribed to that opinion, remember?" "Yes." She took a deep breath and looked away. The servants in the antechamber peeped at them, and by the tone of their voices they were arguing, though they could not understand the archaic language they were speaking. "We have no choice," he said, "if we don't act, we might as well die with the sword." He used the language of the Fremen, which means "sprinkle our water in the tribal cisterns ". Ghanima looked at him again.She could only agree, but felt that she was in a trance.Both of them knew that no matter what they did, there would always be a day of reckoning in the future.The experience gained from the countless lives in the body strengthens this belief of Ganima, but using the experience of these lives is to strengthen their strength. Ghanima felt a deep fear.They lurk within her like a swarm of lurking demons. Except her mother.She once possessed Ghanima's body, but eventually gave it up.To this day, Ghanima can still feel the thrill of that internal struggle.If it wasn't for Leto's dissuasion, she might just be lost. Leto said his golden channel would lead them out of trouble.She knew that he was telling the truth, but maybe he was hiding something.He needs her creativity to enrich his plans. "Test us for sure," he said, knowing what she was worried about. "Not with spices." "Spices may also be used. Of course, magic tests will be conducted in the desert to see if we are deformed evil spirits." "You never mentioned the magic test!" she said reproachfully. "Is this part of your dream?" He wanted to swallow to moisten his throat, cursing his negligence. "yes." "In your dream, did we... fall into the devil's way?" "No." She pictured the test—the old Freeman's test, which usually ended in death.It appears there are more complications to the plan.This plan will let them walk on the steel rope, with the abyss on both sides, no matter which side they fall, no one will support them.Leto knew what she was thinking, and said, "Power attracts the mad. It always has. We must try to avoid the mad within us." "Are you sure we won't... fall into the devil's way?" "Not if we created the golden channel." Still skeptical, she said, "I will not conceive your child, Leto." He shook his head, suppressing the desire to confess in his heart, and said in royal formal terms in the ancient language: "My sister, I love you more than I love myself, but what you said is not my desire." "Very well. So, before we meet Grandma, let's discuss another approach. A knife in Alia's body might solve most of our problems." "If you believe it's possible, it's the same as believing in walking in the mud without leaving a mark," he said. "Besides, would Alia give anyone that chance?" "People are talking about Javid." "Is Duncan acting like a cuckold?" Ghanima shrugged. "We have to do it my way," he said. "Another way might not be so dirty." After hearing her answer, he knew that she had reassured her and agreed to his plan.He was delighted.But he found himself looking at his hands, suspecting that they were stained with unclean stains.