The Cruel

Epilogue

The of Mara "The cruel" Atreides was used for thousands of years after her death. A group of Fremen parted ways from Paul's Empire and started a new one slowly. They called themselves the "Liberators".

Their main goal was to live and die like Mara. Like a true soldier. Taking apart other planets in the name of Mara.

Paul knew of this and knew that he could never stop the Liberators. There were too many Fremen that believed in Mara even after her death thousands of years later. But not enough to defeat him in his prime.

Paul had seen that future for her in every way. She would be remembered by everyone as a solider, not a person.

Paul had lived out how he wanted to. Everything that he had envisioned happened. Chani died in childbirth as he had envisioned. Paul fell out of love with Irulan, and she did with him.

Irulan was a mother to his children and Paul barely payed attention to them. He only cared more of being the Emperor and sharing his "visions".

After his assassin attempt, he was forced to be in the desert. A Fremen ritual that if a person can't see they are left to go into the desert to die.

Paul often found himself in a sand storm hearing his sister whispering. Her death would haunt him as long as he lived. He hated that yet that was his fault. He told his sister to go on that battlefield. He could only blame himself.

Once he had became a preacher instead, he would hear her name often amongst the crowd. He knew that even after her death, she was greater than him. And for that he would always be envious of her.

Lady Jessica lived out her days on Caladan. Visiting her daughter's grave every morning on her walk. Even when she fell ill, she still visited her daughter's grave. On the last days of her life, Lady Jessica told her servants that she could hear her daughter telling her that it's almost time for them to meet.

Lady Jessica knew that her and her daughter would meet in a place where they belonged. In a fiery pit of the depths of hell.

Irulan never got over Mara's death. Even decades later, Irulan would find herself telling stories to Paul and Chani's children. Telling them how Mara would have loved to meet them. She knows that not the truth as Mara would've hated to see Chani and Paul had kids.

Yet Irulan told those children differently. Irulan had made Mara sound like a great person. Leto II and Ghanima knew that their aunt was a murder and not a fun person to around. They heard talk about the tyrant their aunt was.

Alia had never talked about Mara anymore as she didn't see a need for it. She last talked about her on her funeral. After that day she made it seem like her sister never was real.

Stilgar had been loyal to Mara but couldn't be loyal enough to join the Liberators. Stilgar was loyal to Paul more and Paul would be grateful for that. But after Paul was sent to the desert, Stilgar had gave it thought. He decided it would be a good option to continue to stay on Paul's side. He never meddled with the Liberators even if he agreed with them.

Speaking of Liberators, they had a slogan. A quote that had been taken out of context from Mara's speak with Stilgar.

"Die and live like a soldier, not a man."

Every Liberator knows this by heart. Even more so, you can tell if they are a Liberator by their clothing. Every Liberator has the same clothes that Mara did. Even copied her mask. Down to the finest detail.

Duncan Idaho didn't even know who she was until he got his memory back. He would often stare at painting that the Liberators would paint on different buildings on planets across the galaxy.

Duncan would stare at it and would wonder if he could stop it all from happening if he was there. Could he have helped Mara if he was there? Is it his fault for not taking care of her? What about-

He couldn't think of those things as he had things to think about. The old man looked away from the painting. Disappointed was placed in his face every time Mara's name would be mentioned in any topic.

The name Mara Atreides would bring some men to feel glorious about the soldier and others would call it a myth.

A few thousands years later, Leto II would see that the name Mara Atreides was still around. He would often see how people would rally against others and would yell out "Mara!" That was a new way to say "I retaliate!"

He found it odd how his aunt was being labeled a woman who had all this power and yet was only 15 when she died. But no one ever looked at that. Why would they? They only cared for the soldier not the young girl who was put in battle.

The cruel. Savior. Messiah's knife. Emperor Paul's sister. The strongest. The true Atreides. The last soldier. The delight. The true Lisan Al Gaib.

That's all anyone would remember Mara would only remember her by the names they gave her. Not by her true name and for that the name Mara Atreides would live on till the end of time.