The man looked up. "Oh, hello, Jackson. You're here sooner than I thought," he said in a surprised yet calm voice.
I looked at the man standing before me.
He stood just over 6 feet tall with tanned skin. He had a kind-looking face and wore old-looking glasses. His long brown hair was kept in a braid, and his amethyst-colored eyes seemed to hold a depth that was almost otherworldly. He wore clothes that you would expect a librarian to wear in a fantasy novel.
His voice was kind yet stern, almost like a grandfather talking to his grandchildren.
"Hi, um… where am I, and who are you? God?" I asked.
The man laughed and said, "Before I answer any of your questions, why don't we go somewhere more comfortable so we can sit and talk, rather than standing here?"
"Um... okay, but can I get your name first?" I asked.
"Ah, right. You can call me Brakos. Now follow me, I know just the place," Brakos said with a smile.
We started walking through the aisles.
I could tell Brakos knew where he was going by the way he walked with confidence, never looking around. I didn’t even see any signs anywhere, so I had no idea how someone could navigate this place.
Eventually, we came across an open area apart from the shelves.
I still couldn’t see any walls, but in this place, I saw two leather chairs and a wooden fireplace, right in the middle of the library. The fireplace had wood burning, but I saw no chimney or way for the smoke to leave. Somehow, there was no smoke, even though it was burning wood.
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There was a soft wool carpet in this area, a coffee table with a few pastries on it, and a pitcher of cold water with glasses.
The scene was very bizarre, seeing a place set up like this, as though it were made for two people to talk comfortably.
The fire was burning, and pastries and water were prepared. It looked as if someone had just put this out only five minutes ago.
Brakos sat in one chair. Noticing me staring at the place, he said, "Please, take a seat. We have much to discuss, Jackson." After snapping out of my daze, I walked over and sat down.
Brakos continued, "Now, to answer your third question, no, I am not a god, nor any god or their servants for that matter. I am the Primordial Spirit of Time, Stories, and Knowledge. But as I have already told you, you can call me Brakos." He said this with a slight bow.
I looked at Brakos with surprise and confusion. "I'm sorry, Primordial Spirit of what?"
Brakos smiled. "One question at a time, please. I will answer them all in time. Now, as for where you are, this place has had many names throughout time. To name a few: The Akashic Records, The Nexus, The Collective Consciousness, The Crossroads, The Castle of Dreams. But for simplicity, just call it The Library."
"As for what The Library is, it is the one place in all of existence that contains all knowledge. From every person’s story to all written knowledge, from how to kill a god to becoming one, how to cook a meal from literal garbage so good that you start an intergalactic war, and how to easily pass your high school math exam. It is me in the true sense and is not me as I stand before you."
I looked at this man who just dropped a bombshell on my head and had to take a minute to process what I just heard. "Okay, so this place... is a library that contains all knowledge in the universe?"
I'm not going to ask about the crazy stuff yet, as that will probably be answered later on, I thought to myself.
"In all of existence," Brakos corrected. "A single universe is a small thing when compared to the multiverse."
And that answers the crazy part, and... wait?! "I'm sorry, multiverse?"
Brakos smiled. "Yes, the multiverse is real, and this library contains all the knowledge of every world out there, with a few exceptions."