I'm just re-reading all the Dune books of Frank Herbert and then I remembered I wrote this crossover once. It's a pretty old snippet and I never finished the story but I think it can stand on its own.
Also, I have a massive writer block right now and I'm hoping it gets me writing again. Enjoy!
The story is now betaed, much Thanks to Senema for taking the time. All remaining mistakes are my own.
Lord Leto has an encounter that he hopes will relieve his boredom. Be careful what you wish for.
Lord Leto was in his crypt, he felt quite bored. So far the century had been extraordinarily peaceful, no major riots, no deviations to correct. Though he knew better, of course, he cherished the hope that he had the people's violent behaviour finally under control.
At the moment, he was waiting for his majordomo Alkor, who was supposed to present him with last week's reports and was actually late, which was quite unlike him. Lord Leto resisted the temptation to look into the future to find out why. No, he wanted to be surprised. During the 2,500 years of his rule, not only did the people suffer from the monotony, he had to endure this monotony too. And his was enhanced by his clairvoyance, as usual he felt sorry for himself.
At last, he heard the hurried footsteps of his majordomo.
Breathing quickly, Alkor stopped the prescribed distance in front of him and bowed in reverence. "Forgive my lateness, my lord."
"What was the reason?" Leto asked jovially.
"There was a strange incident at Crossway, a dry thunderstorm that was very limited in terms of space and time. The fish speakers found a corpse with its head cut off, and then arrested a second man nearby who tried to leave the scene of the crime in a hurry. As they searched him, they found a sword smeared with blood."
Lord Leto suddenly became interested. In the time of his rule headless bodies had been found before but they had never caught the killer. Which was more alarming, even he had no inkling, who the killers could be. "Let him be brought to me!"
"I have already arranged for that, my lord," Alkor replied, content to have anticipated his ruler's desire.
"Very good Alkor. Let me know when he arrives. He shall not be harmed."
"Yes, my lord!"
"You may go." Alkor bowed again and left, while Lord Leto brooded. He had often tried to anticipate these incidents with his future vision but for some reason he found it impossible. He who missed nothing else in this universe. A real mystery awaited him and he was glad that his boredom was over.
It took two days for the prisoner to reach Arrakis. As ordered, Alkor reported his arrival.
"Where is he now?"
"He's waiting outside the door, my lord. He's guarded by a whole troop of fish speakers." Alkor licked his lips and Leto noticed a certain tension in his faithful majordomo, which usually only he generated in his servants.
"What is it, Alkor?"
"I don't know, my lord, but there's something strange and unsettling about him. You shouldn't stay alone with him under any circumstances."
Leto looked at Alkor a bit surprised. It was almost as if he was afraid of the prisoner. Curious, Leto activated the lobby monitors. There was a squad of twenty fish speakers waiting, looking oddly nervous while the man they were guarding seemed to be serenity personified, in fact, he seemed bored. He was about 1.86m tall, with dark hair and very slim.
Lord Leto didn't notice anything special about him, at least nothing that explained this strange restlessness of his fish speakers. Perhaps he would feel more when the prisoner faced him. "Bring him in! I want to speak to him alone."
"But, my lord," Alkor protested, distraught.
"He's bound and unarmed, so there's no danger. A doctor examined him? There is nothing in him or on him that can harm me, right?"
"Yes, my lord!" Most reluctantly, Alkor went to the door and ordered the fish speakers to bring in their prisoner.
The fish speakers led the man to just short of where Lord Leto lay. After that they left and they seemed a little relieved about it. Lord Leto looked the man up and down, who returned the look in exactly the same way. An amused smile played around his lips.
"What is his name?" Lord Leto asked Alkor as if the man weren't there. His smile only got stronger after that.
"I don't know, Lord Leto. He has refused to tell us his name and so far we have found no clue as to his identity. It is as if he doesn't exists in our records."
"How unusual," murmured Lord Leto. "You may go too!"
"Yes, my lord." Alkor left.
Lord continued to stare in silence at the man, who was now looking around curiously.
"Nicely furnished," the prisoner was the first to speak. Of course, that was pure sarcasm, since there was nothing in the crypt except for a few seat cushions. He didn't seem afraid. Then he went to the pillows and sat down in all serenity. Despite his bonds, he revealed a feline agility. Leto was speechless at the man's impudence, which happened to him rarely and if so, then only for other reasons.
"Did I allow you to sit down?" Leto asked after recovering his composure.
The man grinned at him. "How rude. Why should I stand? Show some consideration for an old man like me."
Leto frowned in astonishment. He didn't understand this comment. The man was no more than 30 years old, and even if he used spice, he couldn't have been more than 100 years old.
"You don't look old," Leto said cautiously. In the meantime, he could feel old memories stirring inside him. Something about this man seemed to upset his ancestors and still Leto couldn't see him in his visions.
"You'll never be able to either, Leto. I'm outside of your vision of the future," the man told him confidentially. "And coming back to your comment, looks can be deceiving. You're the best proof of that." And with a malicious grin, the man looked him up and down, front to back.
Leto was still trying to digest his surprise that the man had known what was on his mind that at first he didn't notice the repeated disrespect.
"You're lucky my fish speakers aren't here. They've killed people for less," Leto said calmly.
"It must be tiring always letting others do your dirty work," the man replied, grinning. The threat didn't seem to bother him.
Leto was becoming increasingly unnerved. This man unbalanced him as he so often did with others and always seemed to be one-step ahead of him. The question was how he did it. He had the myriad lives within him to draw upon but even those couldn't help him.
"Of course they can't help you. At the end of the day, these experiences aren't yours, they're not connected, and they often fight each other. You can choose which ones you want to use and with normal people, you always have enough time to do so since you can see into the future. But with me you don't have any of those advantages. You have only your own knowledge to fall back on and you don't have enough life experience to keep up with me," explained the man, who watched him carefully. The grin had vanished from his lips on the last sentence.
"Who or what are you?" Leto was now feeling so insecure that he showed his feelings openly.
"Ask your past lives and start with Agamemnon. Some of the others should also know me, after that we can talk further. You wouldn't listen to me right now and what I have to say to you is important." The man leaned forward and the seriousness in his eyes only made his words more urgent. Then he stood up as effortlessly as he had sat down. The bonds didn't seem to affect him. "You can now call your fish speakers so they can take me back to my cell," the man said, his words almost sounding like an order.
Leto was already opening his mouth to obey the order when he remembered in time, who was actually the prisoner here.
"I won't let them take you away until I see so fit," Leto replied reprovingly. "You are my prisoner and will bend to my wishes."
The man sighed. "Always the same, how boring! Believe me, Leto, if your ancestors take you on a trip down memory lane, you won't have time for me anymore." He chuckled happily.
Things were happening in Leto's emotional world that he would never have thought possible. The stranger had outmanoeuvred him like no human before. The only one who could have done it was his sister Ghanima but she was long dead.
"What's your name?" Leto asked harshly. He was determined not to let this person upset him again. The man remained silent. He wasn't going to answer either, Leto realized, so he called in the fish speakers. "Take him to a cell. I will continue his interrogation later. I don't want to be disturbed until then."
A mocking grin flitted across the prisoner's lips again. Only when he was in front of the door did he stop again and turn to Leto. "My name is Methos!"
Then he left and Leto felt the past rising up inside him without being able to hold it back. The last thing on his mind before his ancestors took him on their journey was Methos knew this was going to happen, which was why he didn't answer right away.
Agamemnon's memories of Methos he saw first, he was one of his commanders in his campaign against Troy. In fact, he did most of the planning. Together with Odysseus, he was ultimately responsible for the victory over Troy.
But he was not the last. Methos had even met Harun al Raschid, the ancestor who was closest to him and many others. The experiences his ancestors had with him were extremely contradictory and different but they all had one thing in common. None of them had been a match for Methos, and now it seemed as if he wasn't either, despite being so incredibly far ahead of them.
Leto was so busy processing all these memories that it only gradually dawned on him what they meant. If all his ancestors knew Methos and it was always the same man, then he must be incredibly old. Older than him or any other being that lived in this galaxy. And so Leto got back to the one question: WHO OR WHAT WAS METHOS?
Leto lay in the crypt, shaken to the core. He didn't know what to think anymore. He had turned mankind's world view upside down but now it had happened to him too and he was fighting for his sanity.