The city was alive.
Children ran through the streets.
Merchants sold their goods.
The World Trees stretched across the sky.
And Kael Veyris walked peacefully through the capital.
No throne.
No royal guards.
No grand display of power.
Just Kael.
Then suddenly.
"Kael?"
Kael stopped walking.
The voice was familiar.
Very familiar.
He turned.
And smiled.
"Well."
"It's been a while."
Standing nearby was an old friend.
One of the few beings who had known Kael for ages beyond counting.
Long before countless legends were written.
Long before entire cosmologies rose and fell.
Long before people started calling him the Architect of Existence.
The friend laughed.
"You haven't changed."
Kael looked at himself.
"Pretty sure I have."
"A little."
Both laughed.
Far above.
The wives immediately noticed.
Ignisia raised an eyebrow.
"Who is that?"
Nyx looked carefully.
"A very old friend."
Genesisra smiled.
"Oh."
"One of those friends."
The others immediately understood.
Down below.
Kael and his friend sat at a small café.
Neither cared that countless citizens were secretly watching.
For hours they simply talked.
About old adventures.
About strange worlds.
About funny memories.
About mistakes.
About life.
For the first time in a long time.
Kael looked completely relaxed.
Eventually the friend leaned back.
"You know."
"There are entire civilizations trying to understand what you are."
Kael groaned.
"Oh no."
The friend laughed.
"Oh yes."
Nearby.
Several younger scholars immediately started listening.
The friend pointed toward Kael.
"You want to know why they fail?"
The scholars nodded.
The wives listened from afar.
Even Wukong opened one eye.
The friend smiled.
"Because every time someone creates a scale..."
He pointed at Kael.
"He's beyond it."
The scholars blinked.
"If you create a system."
"He's beyond it."
"If you create a framework."
"He's beyond it."
"If you create a narrative."
"He's beyond it."
"If you create a cosmology."
"He's beyond it."
"If you create a hierarchy."
"He's beyond it."
"If you create dimensions."
"He's beyond them."
"If you create concepts."
"He's beyond them."
"If you create the concept of transcendence."
"He's beyond that too."
The entire café became silent.
The friend continued.
"If tomorrow someone creates something that surpasses everything."
"He would already stand beyond it."
"If someone creates an entirely new form of existence."
"He's beyond it."
"If someone creates something beyond existence."
"He's beyond that too."
"If someone creates something beyond that."
The friend pointed toward Kael again.
"Guess where he is."
The scholars answered together.
"Beyond it."
"Correct."
Kael sighed.
"You make me sound ridiculous."
The friend immediately answered.
"You are ridiculous."
The café exploded with laughter.
Even Kael laughed.
Hours passed.
The sun slowly began to set.
The city became golden.
The streets became quieter.
And eventually the friend became serious.
"You know."
"For all the stories about you."
"For all the legends."
"For all the impossible things you've done."
Kael looked toward him.
The friend smiled.
"My favorite thing about you is that you're still you."
Silence followed.
A comfortable silence.
"What do you mean?"
Asked Kael.
The friend looked toward the city.
"The most powerful being imaginable."
"The one beyond narratives."
"The one beyond frameworks."
"The one beyond realities."
"The one beyond existence."
"The one beyond transcendence."
The friend smiled.
"And you're spending your day talking to an old friend in a café."
Kael laughed.
"Fair point."
Above them.
The wives smiled.
Genesisra closed her book.
Nyx looked toward the stars.
Lilith smiled warmly.
Ignisia crossed her arms.
Trying and failing not to smile.
The friend eventually stood.
"I should go."
Kael nodded.
"Take care."
"You too."
The friend turned to leave.
Then stopped.
"Oh."
Kael looked up.
"What?"
The friend grinned.
"Next time don't disappear for ten million years."
Kael blinked.
"That only happened once."
"It happened three times."
"Details."
The friend laughed as he walked away.
The city lights began to glow.
The Empire remained peaceful.
And Kael sat quietly for a moment.
Watching the people.
Watching the city.
Watching the life he had helped build.
Not as the Architect.
Not as the Origin.
Not as the being beyond all things.
Just as Kael.
And for once.
That was enough.