My Harem Is Not What I Expected!

The cries of battle rang out around me amidst various explosions and the clashing of steel. Two forces fought for supremacy, and great titans wreaked havoc on their surroundings. Is it night or day? I can't tell. A mist of blood from the fallen weighed heavily in the air, and smoke from the surrounding fires blotted out the sky like a curtain of despair.

Where am I? What is this place?

I walked through the war-torn landscape and wreckage in search of survivors. I wasn't sure why I was doing this, and something unknown urged me to continue onwards. No matter who I encountered, it was impossible to interact as they could neither hear nor see me. It was as if I was a ghost, unable to do anything but silently observe.

Eventually, my wandering led me to one of the aforementioned titans. She looked a lot like a Lamia. Only her massive size and six sword-wielding arms made her look much more fearsome.

"Lady Marilith." Said a man kneeling before her. He looked human, but the speed at which he arrived suggested otherwise.

"You're back. What's the situation?"

"Though we have managed to injure them enough to force a retreat, each battle against the four kings has seen us suffer significant losses. At this rate, it's all but assured that we will be wiped out."

"What of the others?"

"Lord Serac is missing; Lady Arenea was heavily wounded and fled to safety with Lord Goliad, and Lady Treia hasn't returned from her mission yet."

"Dammit! where's Argus and Elizabeth? Why haven't they-" The conversation was cut short by the piercing cry of a beast in the skies above.

"That was Treia!"

As I listened to their conversation, a deathly shriek signaled a change of scenery. The world went white, and I found myself observing a different scene high above the scarred landscape. In this new place, a red-haired Dragonoid was facing off against a monstrous bird. He stood on the very air itself with his wings spread out. His cold eyes shone with a sense of cruelty, and he looked down on the creature as if they were nothing but an insect.

"After all the trouble you caused us, to think it would end how it started. To be betrayed by those you blindly trusted, how ironic." He said.

"It doesn't matter how it ends. What matters is that we stood against you to the end for the countless souls you corrupted." Though the beast's seemed incapable of speech and its mouth never moved, its voice was clearly heard. Almost as if resonating in my very mind.

"You weren't even able to accomplish the goal of your little infiltration, were you?"

". . ."

"Well, no matter," he said, raising his at the great bird before him.

"Blaze"

With a single emotionless word, a tidal wave of flames spread out from the palm of his hand and decimated everything to the southern edge of the continent. When the spell dissipated, there was nothing left of her but some ash that was carried away by the wind.

"So this is all the one known as 'Teleportation Calamity Treia' was capable of? Pathetic." He flew off after giving a final derisive remark, and the world warped around me again.

This time I found myself in a forest of towering trees, watching a man and a woman succumb to their injuries.

*cough* *cough*

"Argus, hang in there!"

"Elizabeth, I'm sorry. I had no idea of the betrayal my brethren had been plotting." His breathing was labored, and his body had suffered various wounds. Just speaking was enough to have him coughing up blood.

"Please, don't speak. There's still a chance I can save you, but you need to rest." She comforted him and stroked his hair gently as he rested his head on her lap.

"But I-" He started, but Elizabeth cut him off.

"Shh, it's not your fault. I was suspicious of their motives from the start, but no matter how hard I tried, no one would listen. It was my choice to join you in this fight."

The peace didn't last long, and the two were startled by a pillar of light descending in front of them. Elizabeth rested Argus' head on the ground and stood protectively in front of him with her weapon at the ready. The light slowly dimmed to reveal the distorted figured of a woman dragging herself across the ground.

"Treia?! Oh god, stay here. I'll go find help."

"No, Don't. I managed to escape at the last minute with a teleportation spell, but it seems I messed up. I can feel my body dying. I don't have much time left."

Indeed. Treia's body was already past her limits, and the only thing keeping her alive at this moment was sheer willpower. By all rights, she should have already died. Her body had been incinerated, and her arm, along with the bottom half of her leg, had disintegrated entirely after taking the brunt of the assault.

"Trei. .a"

"Argus. I see. So that's how it is."

"I want you two to take this." She said, Tanking out a glowing sphere of crystalized power from the charred remains of her clothes and handing it to Elizabeth.

"But this is. . ."

"I'm sure you will figure out what to do with it, so I'm entrusting it to your care."

Her wheezy breaths were getting longer and slower, and the light from her eyes slowly faded as she began to succumb to blindness. No longer able to see her surroundings, she called out to the two to utter her final words.

"The days we all spent together. . .were some of the happiest of my life. I'm sure. . .the other members of the first feel the same. You showed us nothing but kindness. . .even. . . as the world turned against us, and for that. . . I'll always be. . .grate. . .ful."

With a final labored breath, Treia passed away with a smile on her face.

*sob*

"Treeiiaa!"

Elizabeth mourned for the death of her friend, and Argus watched on in solemn silence. He closed his eyes for a few seconds and then gazed up at the forest canopy, resolved in what he had decided to do.

". . ."

"Elizabeth, do it."

"What are you. . ."

"We're going to use that spell."

"No, I won't do it!"

"Elizabeth"

"Please. Treia used the last of her strength to entrust this task to us. I intend to honor her death. Will you help me in the final moments?"

With tears streaming down her eyes, Elizabeth finally agreed. Argus reached for the blade at his side and used it to prop himself up before standing hand-in-hand with Elizabeth, the sphere of power resting on the ground in front of them.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" She asked one last time. Elizabeth didn't wait for an answer, though, as the look in Argus' eyes told her the answer, and after confirming his resolve, the two of them began chanting the spell. She knew that their journey would end if she went through with this, but she was determined to stand by him until the end.

With the blood of the body and the soul of the spirit.

We offer ourselves as the catalyst to alter destiny.

With this act, we sever the laws of fate to sunder this cursed power in two.

The blood binds it to the vessel.

The soul ensures it shall never return home, even in death.

With our existence as the price, we sign the contract.

Surge now! Life magic: Life Sacrifice!

A pure white light enveloped their bodies, gradually glowing brighter and brighter as the crystalized sphere of power rose from the ground and began spinning at high speed. The outer shell cracked, and the power was split in two before it flew off in different directions.

With their task now complete, the spell's cost began to set in, and Elizabeth and Argus' bodies began to disintegrate into particles of light. With not much time left between them, Argus took one last look at the woman who had stuck by him until the end.

"In the end, I'm glad it was you I chose to die beside." Elizabeth nodded in response, and the two shared a kiss before fading away.

The scene changed again, and the world collapsed around me until I was left in nothing but pitch-black darkness. A single point of light appeared, drawing me towards it. When I finally reached it, I was blinded by its brightness. I slowly opened my eyes again after shielding them to find myself awake in my bed.

"What was that? A dream?"

It felt much too real to be a dream, and I had a strong feeling in my gut that what I saw was important.

"What could it all mean?"

As I was thinking it over, I was pulled out of my thought by a knock on my door. After opening it, my mother walked in and sat at the edge of my bed with a worried expression.

"Stella, do you plan on holing yourself up in your room forever? It's already been a week since he left; you can't go on like this."

Ever since the boy I thought I was fated to be with left, my spirits have been down. I tried to be strong, but as soon as I came to terms with being alone, my heart sank, and I fell into a depression. My mother was worried seeing me like this and often came to try and cheer me up.

"Are you okay, dear? Your face looks pale."

". . ."

"Hey, mom. If I said I wanted to chase after him, would you let me?"