Chapter 22. The Revelation
22 July 1939, Ecrene, Romania
Anne woke up early, opened a bottle of wine, took it with her to the bathroom and took a long and soothing hot bath while sipping the delicious Romanian sweet white wine.
One hour later, a little dizzy, barefoot and wearing a loose bathrobe, she knocked on Mihai's door.
Anne: "It's me. May I come in?"
Mihai: "Sure. I was reading a book, waiting for you to finish your bath."
Anne entered Mihai's room and stopped awkwardly a couple of metres away from the bed, avoiding his gaze and fidgeting nervously with her big toes on the soft carpet.
Anne: "We have to talk, don't we..."
Mihai: "We do..."
Anne: "But I have something to do before that!"
Anne jumped on Mihai, pinning him to the bed, planted a long kiss on his lips then sat up, straddling his chest.
Anne: "I had to do this. I'm not sure you'd still love me after you hear what I'm about to tell you."
Mihai: "I'll love you no matter what. You know that."
Anne: "Oh, you're so sweet..."
"It's complicated... I have to start with the basics or you won't understand anything. So, bear with me for a moment as I'm going to get to the interesting bits soon enough..."
"This is not the only World there is. There are an infinity of Worlds out there. An infinity of Universes just like this one. Time is not linear, it's not like a thread, it's like a tree with a stem and branches. An infinity of branches and other infinities of branches on each branch and so on. Can you follow me?"
Mihai nodded but looked definitely puzzled.
Anne: "Each branching is caused by an event with two different outcomes, both of them coming true at the same time. The default outcome causes time to go on in the same branch, the opposite outcome causes time to split up into a child branch, thus giving birth to a new Universe."
Mihai: "Why? Why is this happening?"
Anne: "The Creator has a very powerful mind and He gets bored easily so He is continuosly creating new Universes for His own enjoyment. He likes to watch them unfold in so many different ways. It's His most beloved pastime."
Mihai: "The Creator? Do you mean God?"
Anne: "We call Him the
Creator. I am not sure whether He's really God or not. I mean, He's a bit different from what we imagine God to be. He is very powerful but not
omnipotent, He is very smart but not
omniscient and, while He is fair, He is surely not
omnibenevolent. Besides, He doesn't look in any way, He doesn't have a body, He's just light, permeating the whole place, the Paradise."
"The place we call Paradise is very large and quite boring as nothing ever happens there. It's probably not the same place you usually call Heaven but I really don't know anything about that, except that I got accepted there despite not being a very good person while I was alive. There may be some other places like Hell or even Purgatory but I haven't seen any of those so I can't say anything for certain."
Mihai: "If you've been to Paradise, that means that..."
Anne: "Yes, I died. A long time ago. But now I'm alive again, ain't I?... But please wait a little, we'll get there soon enough..."
"Good. So, where were we?... Yes. Because some of us, I mean the souls who inhabit the Paradise, are quite miserable there because of the boredom, and the Paradise is supposed to keep us happy, isn't it, the Creator makes a new Universe for us and sends us here."
"That's why I'm here. I was very bored and I asked the Creator to make a Universe for me to have some fun, that's all. The Creator was nice to me and He granted me my wish, so here I am. And, to make it more interesting, He helped me in my quest by making all my subjects loyal to us and to our beloved country. And He sent Elaine to keep an eye on me and give me a hand when I got myself in trouble."
Mihai: "So... we're living in a
branch now?"
Anne: "Yes! You got it! I knew I had a smart husband... Yes, when I arrived here, in Anne's body, the time just split in two. The main branch is that where I never appeared and this one is the child branch, my branch, my Universe, made and tailored purposefully for me. And we're all living in it now."
Mihai: "And what happened to that child? To the real Anne whom I never met?"
Anne: "She's fine. She's living in bliss in Paradise in my place for as long as I'm struggling here on Earth. When I finish my job, I'll go back home and I'll send her back here."
"And now about me... I am not from your World. I was born in a different World which branched from yours before my birth. Yes, it's complicated, I know... So, I was born on the 17th of November 1615 in Alba Iulia... Yes, that would make me 324 years old! I don't know, I mean I was born 324 years ago, my mind has functioned for 336 years, my current body is almost 16 and I lived 36 years back then. Yes, 336. I lived in Paradise until 1951. That's why I know about the war and everything."
"I am the granddaughter of Mihai Viteazul. My World branched from the Stem when Granddaddy was murdered in your World but escaped unharmed in mine. So, Granddaddy lived for another 40 years and made Romania a great and powerful Empire, streching from Pokuttya to Macedonia and from the Black Sea to the Adriatic. And with colonies in the Holy Land and other places."
"When Granddaddy died, I inherited the throne because my father predeceased Granddaddy. Because I was a natural born warrior just like Granddaddy, I went to war and conquered Greece, Croatia, Hungary and the Middle East all the way to Medina, while driving all the enemies out of Italy and Sarmatia which were our allies."
Mihai: "Sarmatia?"
Anne: "Poland-Lithuania, only even larger."
Mihai: "I'd like to hear a more detailed version of your history..."
Anne: "Sure. But later, because I'm really hungry now. You know what, I'll write it down and publish it as a work of historical fiction. Under a pseudonym, of course. But, before we have breakfast, let me finish this quickly..."
"So, I am
Iulia I, Empress of the Romanians, Basileus Autokrator of the Hellenes, Orientis Imperatrix, also called
Iulia the Warrior or
Iulia the Conqueror... Eventually, my luck failed me and I died heroically on the battlefield, while leading my faithful soldiers in battle. It was the 26th of November 1651 and I was only 36 years old. And now I'm back to make Romania even greater than it was in my World!"
"Any questions?... My dear, you look overwhelmed..."
Mihai: "If you lived to be 36 years old... that means that you have some experience... I mean, you are not like a fifteen years old... So, does that mean that we can make love?"
Anne (laughing): "My God, you are something, aren't you! The typical man. After everything I told you, the only thing you're thinking on is how to get in my pants!"
Mihai: "You're sitting on my chest. It's hard for me to think on the philosophical implications of multiple Universes when I feel your body on mine like this... I love you very much, Anne. I don't care that you lived and died three hundred years ago in another Universe. You're still my Anne..."
Anne: "Fine, we'll make love. But not right now. I told you I'm hungry. And, just for your information, I don't have any experience of that kind whatsoever. I died a virgin."
If you want to know more about Anne (Empress Iulia) and her very different World, you can read the timeline
Io Mihailŭ, Împĕratul Românilor.
