Darkness...
And then.
Light.
The boy squinted as the bright light poured into his pupils.
Using his arm to cover his eyes, he got comfortable within the blanket.
His nose twitched.
A warm salty smell entered his nostrils.
Moving his arms, he rubbed his eyes and sat up groggily.
His eyes glanced around the room.
...
"This is not my room..." The boy muttered.
His eyebrow creased.
The boy swiftly threw away the blanket and glanced at his body.
He saw an unfamiliar night robe covering his body as he glanced at himself.
His own hands caught his attention.
Bringing it closer to his face.
"I don't remember being this pale," he muttered.
Glancing up, he found himself staring at a completely unfamiliar room.
Getting out of the rather large and comfortable bed, he walked towards a full length mirror.
"Is that... me?" he softly muttered, seeing the reflection that clearly did not belong to him.
The last thing he remembered was going to sleep in his rather cramped and rundown apartment, the memory of his grumbling stomach before he fell asleep still fresh in his mind.
"Why do I look so different?" He spoke.
"Last I remember was smashing a couple bottles of beer before hitting the hay," he muttered.
"Master Paul, have you awoken?" A male voice reached his ears.
Jack was completely confused.
After a minute of silence, he pulled himself out of his confusion and responded.
"Give me a moment," he said.
'My voice is so different,' he thought to himself.
'He said, Master Paul?' Jack pondered.
Glancing at his reflection in the mirror, he finally put two and two together.
"Did I die?... This isn't my body." Jack muttered after a moment of silence.
He realized that he was in a completely different body and place, something that should be impossible.
He stared at the mirror longer than necessary.
The face in it stared back with recognition he didn't feel.
At this moment, the door creaked open slightly.
"Master Paul, may I enter?" The same voice as earlier questioned.
"Yes, enter," Jack replied.
The door opened, and in stepped a refined-looking man wearing a butler uniform with a yellow floating orb besides him providing light.
"Master Paul, the Lord expects you to be present at the signing ceremony, standing by his side, to be held in two hours. Please get ready" the butler said with a courteous bow.
"Yes alright, thank you," Jack said causing the butler to nod and leave, the orb however, floated there, in place, providing a warm yellowish glow in the relatively dark room.
"Signing Ceremony?" Jack muttered, confused for a moment before, like a floodgate, memories that seemed to have been sealed before rushed into his mind.
Jack gritted his teeth as the sharp pain was pinging all over his brain.
Memory after memory, engraved into his mind.
A few moments later, Jack seemed to have snapped out of the pain, sweat rolled down his face, and his breathing was staggered.
"I am Paul Atreides, The Signing Ceremony is for... House Atreides to officially take over Arrakis" Jack murmured feeling a chill go down his spine.
The precariousness of his situation fully settled with him at this moment.
Standing up, he felt slightly dizzy as his mind was still reeling from the discovery. He began moving towards the window.
Pushing aside the curtains, he got a better view of the outside world.
A bright sky, with an almost crystal clear ocean, stretching as far as the eye could see.
His mind calmed down a little as he let out a sigh.
Opening the windows, he propped his head outside.
A gentle wind brushed past his face.
A sense of relief washed over him, the feeling of cramped suffocation leaving his body.
Taking a deep breath, the strong smell of salt brought by the ocean, and the warmth of the sun, mixing with the extremely minute salt particles, entered his nostrils.
His nose twitched as a sneeze escaped his mouth.
He rubbed his nose, never having experienced such a strong smell of the ocean due to living in the city his whole life.
Staring into the distance, his mind was in a much calmer state as he began to organise his thoughts a little, his memories replaying the grim events that would occur to Paul and overall the Dune Universe in the future.
"I don't want to end up walking the same path Paul did," Jack murmured, staring off into the vast ocean world that was Caladan.
Soon, he shut the window.
Observing the memories of Paul Atreides, Jack quickly navigated to the bathroom that was attached to his room.
Opening the door, he let out a sigh.
The bathroom alone was bigger than his apartment.
About 2 hours later, Paul was standing on the elevated platform facing the approaching Royal Enyoy.
Standing slightly behind Duke Leto and his ministers, Jack felt intimidated by this grand signing ceremony.
He felt out of place yet familiar with everything due to the influx of memories belonging to Paul Atreides.
But mainly, he felt regret standing here, he had tried to locate Duke Leto and convince him not to sign, but as if fate itself was playing a trick on him, he was not able to even get close to Duke Leto.
Jack knew that even if he had reached Duke Leto, there would have been no way to convince him not to sign.
This was merely a formal ceremony. The decision had already been made.
Even if Duke Leto refused, the backlash would be catastrophic.
But Jack believed that no matter the political consequences, at least his family would still be alive. That was why he tried.
"It felt like a game of cat and mouse," Jack grumbled standing on the podium, thinking back to how whenever he would track down Leto, either a minister would block him, or Duke Leto would be gone to another place.
Lady Jessica, who was standing beside Jack heard him grumbling, but she thought that he was just nervous facing such a large procession, so she uttered a few calming and supportive words to Jack.
Jack almost scoffed hearing Lady Jessica's support, but he controlled himself and only replied with a short "Yes, mother."
The Royal Envoy arrived in front of Duke Leto and unveiled the scroll containing the order of the King.