The campfire crackled and popped, sending embers flying into the evening sky. Hanging above the fire was a pot of stew being stirred gently by a young looking man. He was dressed in a simple brown shirt and pants. He appeared to be in his twenties, with golden hair and icy-blue eyes. After giving the stew a good stir he set his spoon on a rock beside the fire and sat back in his chair. The sun was starting to set and cast a deep crimson glow on the horizon. The tall boulders around him had long shadows stretching northwards.

What a rare sight this is, for the sun to set in the south... Not a lot of habitable planets with an orbit so out of place like this. He thought to himself, still a beautiful sight though.

After nearly six Standard Months, the sun was finally setting, giving the northern hemisphere of the planet a chance to cool off from the scorching heat it received. For the next few standard months the planet would have days as most planets do. But when the sun went onto the other side of the planet, this side would freeze.

The man glanced over to his right at his apprentice. She was about 300 yards away atop a small hill, where she has been sitting for the last few months, meditating. The only reason they came to this planet was so that he could teach her how to properly control her energies and will, and what better way to do that than force her to meditate in 800 degrees celsius? At first she struggled and couldn't maintain the circulation of energy, and her skin had started melting off. The man had had to step in to shield and heal her until she could compose herself again.

She's gotten the hang of it now...

He reached out with his will and sent a Thought to her. Kadari, you may come in now. The sun is setting. Even from here he could see her heave a sigh of relief.

As she walked into the camp, the man waved a hand at the pot.

"Have some stew," he said with a smile, "it's been simmering over the fire for just over 6 hours now"

Kadari gave a nod and served two bowls, one of which she handed to the man, and plopped down on a chair. They ate in relative silence, the only sounds came from the crackling fire and the sound of their spoons on their bowls. Kadari appeared to be deep in thought. At times it seemed as though she would speak only to resume eating quietly. When they finished, the man waved a hand and everything vanished. The bowls and spoons, the pot, and the stand it was hanging from, all gone like they never existed. He leaned back in his chair and watched the sun set. Of course, the sun wouldn't finish setting for another week, but he was glad to see it.

He glanced at Kadari, "beautiful isn't it?"

"Ah!" She jolted out of her thoughts, and blushed furiously in embarrassment at being caught off guard, "I'm sorry Lord Seth, I wasn't listening. What did you say?"

"The sunset... It's beautiful isn't it?" Seth repeated.

"Um... Yes I guess it is." She muttered, glancing at the sunset. “Lord Seth, why is it that after my training sessions you always have something for us to eat that you cooked yourself? Can’t you just create the food?”

"Hmm... You know, I've lived a very long time. I traveled through many worlds and there were many sorrows and trials. I have learned quite a bit in my life... Some say I learned everything..."

"Of course! You're the..." Kadari started but stopped when Seth waved dismissively. "Sorry...," She mumbled.

"One of the more important things that I have learned is that we need to enjoy the little things." Seth continued, "I cook simply because I enjoy doing so. I don’t like doing the dishes but a small thing like cooking a dinner once in a while brings me peace. We need to each find things we enjoy doing because if we don't then eventually we will break under the weights of duty." He turned and looked at her. "We may be always moving and doing important things, but remember to relax. Watch the sun set, listen to the crackling of the fire, look at the stars, stop and smell the flowers. Kadari... You are only 300 years old, you have a very, very long life ahead of you. In these last few decades you've been my disciple there is one thing I noticed. You think too much. Kadari, when you have questions, ask them. If you have doubts, seek the answer. If you love someone, tell them. If you make a mistake, correct it. The only thing worrying and overthinking does is make you more susceptible to despair and unable to see the good in your life." Seth paused and turned to watch the sunset and Kadari just stared at him. Tears started welling up in her eyes and suddenly dripped off of her cheek. The tears were not of anger or of pain, but because she had heard stories told about Seth, what he did, and what he went through to be where he is now...

"Lord Seth," she whispered, "how did you do it?" She wasn't able to keep the tremor out of her voice.

"... I'm guessing you're not asking how I made the stew?" he asked, already knowing the answer. She shook her head, glaring at the ground trying to stop the tears from flowing.

"No, I mean how did you come back? And why does everyone treat you like they do? You have given everything, and suffered more than anyone else!" She was shouting now, with hands balled into fists on her lap and tears flowing freely. "YOU HAVE DONE THE IMPOSSIBLE AND THEY IGNORE YOU OR HATE YOU!" Suddenly Seth was kneeling in front of her gently brushing away her tears with a white handkerchief. "... You deserve better than that Seth.” she whispered.

“Thank you, Kadari.” He whispered back, “though most would say I deserve worse...” he reached down and held her hands, “I’m not perfect Kadari, I have made plenty of mistakes. As I said, when you make a mistake, correct it... that’s what I’m still trying to do.” She started to protest but he shushed her with a finger to her lips. “My story is long and by the end of it, I fear that you may hate me as well... but will you hear it?”

“I will never hate you!” She said, “I want to hear.”

Seth kissed the back of her hand then stood, pulling her up with him. With a Thought, the chairs, bowls, and campfire all disappeared. “Alright,” he said, “let’s go somewhere better suited for this.”

He waved his hand and light burst out in front of him. A rainbow of colored lights spun faster and faster until the center opened, forming a corridor of spinning light. The corridor stretched out into infinity, endless... then the far end appeared, slamming into the near end with a burst of colored light.

It all happened so fast that Kadari barely had time to blink before the gateway had already formed. Despite all the time she had spent with Lord Seth, she still wasn’t used to the sudden clap sound of the gateway forming.

Stepping through to the other side, they arrived back onto the Plane of Mirador in front of the Aggregation of All Knowledge. The A.A.K. building was a massive construct of metal and glass and stone, with several wide towers stretching impossibly high. Statues and carvings and glowing runes of power decorated the sides of the building, while trees and flowers of all sorts decorated the surrounding gardens.

They walked down the road leading up to the grand entrance, passing by dozens of statues of the Gods of Knowledge that have helped build the massive library, and up the stairs and into the grand entrance hall. Marble floors engraved with lines of gold and mithril. Tall columns of pure diamond held a ceiling painted with scenes of the creation of Mirador.

At the far end of the hall was a titan-sized door with a large desk off to the side. Sitting at the desk was a pale, wide-eyed, young elven goddess staring right at Seth. With each step, the young goddess of learning somehow grew paler and paler. She was shaking like a newborn lamb, fear plain on her face.

Before they even walked halfway to the desk, the receptionist teleported away in a flash of purple light.

Seth sighed and walked behind the desk to access its built-in computer.

“Um...” Kadari said, staring at where the goddess had just been, “doesn’t she work for you?”

“Technically? Yes,” Seth chuckled, tapping on the floating hologram screen. “But she never expected me to come here in person. There’s a good chance she’s not coming back.”

With a final tap on the screen, the titan-sized door swung open silently, revealing the edges of the doorway which shimmered with purple light. On the other side was a large circular room.

They stepped through and let the door close behind them, which appeared, on this side, to be a regular sized door. If there was a ceiling to the room, Kadari couldn’t see it. The walls extended upward as far as the eye could see, but circling the walls was a gently sloped ramp. The ramp started just to the left of the door, spiraling clockwise, and only barely cleared the door they entered from. Along the wall was a single shelf of books that spiraled up with the ramp. Above and below that continuous row of white books, were shelves of various artifacts and relics and statues of people.

“Welcome to my tower of autobiographies,” Seth said, shrugging at his suddenly gaping apprentice.

“All of these books are your autobiographies?” Kadari asked, wide-eyed in shock.

Red tinged Seth’s cheeks. “I did say I was old...”

“Yeah, I knew that but... I guess I just never really thought... Just how old are you?”

“... Anyways,” he coughed, pulling her over to the beginning of the ramp, “If you want to know my story, then what better place than here?”

At the foot of the ramp was a life sized statue of a somewhat short woman, bearing a similar resemblance of Seth. Kadari found herself glancing from the statue to Seth and back again.

Seth nodded, “Yes, she’s my mother.” He lost his faint blush as he looked, remembering his mother, “she was a kind soul... she was always there to help.”

He cleared his throat and grabbed the first book off the shelf.

“Obviously, I’m not going to make you read all of these books, just the ones about the important bits... and these are Memory Books anyways, so it’ll just show you what happened. I added a few comments embedded here and there in the memories to help potential viewers understand what's going on.”

His grip tightened on the book and he swallowed before holding it out to her. Kadari reached for it, but Seth didn’t let go.

“Kadari... if you start this... once you see everything that I’ve done. What I’ve become...” He had to stop and swallow the lump in his throat again. “Even I can’t see how you’ll feel about me. In half of the futures I see, you hate me.” He trailed off, staring at the book in both of their hands.

Kadari gently laid a hand over Seth’s and lifted his hands away, taking the book from him. She clutched the book in one arm, her other hand gripping one of Seth’s.

“You seem to be forgetting something,” she said. Seth lifted his eyes to look into hers. “I already know what you have become.”

She led him over to one of the tables in the circular room and sat down, placing the book on the table in front of her. Seth sat down next to her and took a deep breath before reaching over and flipping the front cover open.

“Well...” Seth said, “My story begins as most stories do, on a dark and stormy night...”