The Immortal Queen Tsubame: Ascension by H.D. Strozier Read Free Book Online Page A

definitely fight the hell back when someone messes with them,” Marcel replied.
    “I can agree with that.”
    “Of course you can. It’s the story of your life.”
    “Just how many wars and revolutions have you lived through?”
    “The American Civil War, Three World Wars, Vietnam. You name it. I was there—somewhere,” Marcel added.
    “Three World Wars?”
    “Oh. That’s right,” Marcel said. “I forgot you all haven’t even gotten to that point in time where that happened. If it’s even going to happen.”
    “Did you fight in any of them?”
    “Fight might not be the word, but certainly involved.”
    “How?”
    “Which war?”
    “What was World War III about?”
    Marcel laughed. “I knew you would ask me about the one war I can’t tell you anything about.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because that hasn’t happened in this timeline yet and we haven’t reached that point in this timeline yet so it might still happen. It’s dangerous enough that Tsubame brought us here to begin with, but telling you future events that could still happen isn’t wise.”
    MaLeila stopped walking, turning to look directly at Marcel as she said, “That can still happen? I thought we were from different timelines.”
    “We are.”
    “Okay. Forget the wars you’ve fought in. Tell me how alternate timelines work and how the same events can still happen in two different timelines.”
    Marcel nodded and went over to a vendor who had a pen and a receipt book. Marcel asked if he could borrow it and without waiting for an answer, nodded MaLeila over to the side of the vendor table.
    “Contrary to popular belief, not all timelines run parallel to each other,” Marcel said as he drew a line and then two lines from the top of it that went in different directions.  “They diverge.” Then he drew another line that came out from lower on the first line and eventual crossed with the line that forked from the first at the time. “They cross paths.” Marcel continued on the same line until he was tracing the line that forked from the left. “They even merge. All a culmination of the many different choices we all make, could have made, would have made, never will make, right down to simply deciding to meet someone’s eyes in the crowd or choosing where to get your coffee. All those choices make the difference.”
    “So in essence when a timeline runs parallel, the same things happen at the same time in each and at any point, they can diverge in another direction which creates the differences between them and causes them to go in another direction,” MaLeila stated.
    “Essentially and that’s based on the little Tsubame and I have learned about them. The universe has to keep her secrets of course,” Marcel chucked as he handed the vendor back his receipt book and pen.
    “What choice do you think made our timelines so different?” MaLeila asked.
    “Could have been anything. You know how many events that changed the course of history wouldn’t have happened if two people simply resisted the urge to sleep together. What do you think it was?”
    If MaLeila went by what Marcel had explained to her about timelines, at some point their timelines had run parallel, the same events happening the exact same way until someone made a different choice which caused a domino effect and the two timelines to go in different directions. And while she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was that made the differences, certainly the fact that Marcel escaped being sealed while Nika was sealed was a factor.
    “I don’t know,” MaLeila said. “But since you can’t tell me about any potential future wars, tell me about the Civil War.”

5
     
    In the end, after deciding the best way to get to Tsubame was to infiltrate the Russian army, only he and Bastet ended up going on the mission to find MaLeila. Irvin was whisked away by his mother to deal with the escalating fallout of their country leaving the European Union, especially with what was no