Petrichor| (Paul Atreides x Fem! Percy Jackson)

Chapter 9: Shifting Sands and Sacred Tests

Author's Note: Fair warning this chapter is very long (like double my normal length). Sorry about that!

    

        Paul Atreides was ready to go to Arrakis already.

He may have greatly disliked the idea at first. But the more nights he slept away from the shifting sands and the more dreams he had, the more he found himself yearning to sink his hands and feet into the warm sands of the desert planet. His body may have been grounded to the surface of Caladan, but his soul was already dancing through the sands of Arrakis; it had already taken flight from his body to seek its other half in the desert. Paul was not as angry as he was jealous of his own soul.

But there was a chance he could follow it before he was meant to, as slim as that chance may have been. This was why Paul found himself in the flight hangar, waiting for his friend and mentor to return from his test flight.

He could faintly hear the roar of the fighter craft as it skimmed the water on its way back to the hangar. Soon enough, the sleek aircraft expertly maneuvered its way into its landing position and touched down. The pilot of the craft swiftly exited and mentioned the looseness of the stabilizers when the maintenance crew asked, methodically removing his gear as he did so.

Paul walked towards his friend with purpose and a smile. "Duncan."

Duncan spotted him and made his way over. "My boy!" He said as went in for the hug, swinging Paul to the side as he continued walking to grab his tools. He kept his arm around Paul for a moment longer before releasing him. Duncan then removed his flight helmet and placed it next to his previously removed gloves on one of the hangar storage containers.

"So, you're going to Arrakis tomorrow... with the advance team?" Paul inquired, though he already knew it to be true.

Duncan answered as if it were obvious. "Yes I'm going to Arrakis tomorrow with the advance team."

"I'd like you to take me with you."

"You would?" Duncan asked. Paul nodded. "Well that's to bad. 'Cause no."

Paul knew it was a long shot, but he wouldn't give up just yet.

"Duncan."

Duncan was having none of it as he made his way over to the aircraft and pulled down a control panel. "Are you trying to get me court-martialed?" He pressed some buttons. "What's going on?"

"Can I trust you with something?" Paul knew he could.

"Always. You know that."

Paul hesitated for a moment. His dreams, while they mostly consisted of the girl, sometimes showed him visions of things he would rather not see. Visions of wars and death. He did not want to believe they were the future, but if he was dreaming of faces and people he had never met, then it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility.

"I've been having dreams. About Arrakis and the Fremen." His mind drifted to his most recent dreams about him chasing the ocean-eyed girl through the burning sands.

"Okay," Duncan encouraged, not quite sure where Paul was going with this. "So?"

"I saw you...with the Fremen." Paul remembered seeing Duncan in a still suit, crouching on a rock with the Fremen.

Duncan grinned in pride at this. "Ah. So I do find them. There you go. That's a good omen right there. Hey, maybe I'll bring you back that girl you're always dreaming about!"