A dream. Or a nightmare?

I sat on my throne, deep within my dungeon. But something was weird. I didn’t feel the warm, wet pussies, and tight asses of my lower harem on my tentacles.

I looked around myself. There was nobody here, besides me. Impossible. There was never a shortage of harem girls to breed, it even continued as I slept. Let alone a moment when there were not even any minions within reach!

“Feeling lonely, master? Missing me, perhaps?” A familiar voice reached my ear. High and clear; feminine and attractive, although more cute than sexy. It came from the shadowy main corridor, leading to the main entrance of my throne room, directly in front of me.

Wait. Shadowy? The main corridor was always lit brightly!

A girl stepped into the light. She had long, luscious brown hair and cute features, two feline ears perched atop her head, and a matching tail swishing behind her. Her feet were bare, a leather collar around her slender neck, her body clad in a girly white sundress as she wore back in my old life. A dress that was disturbingly similar to those that I liked on Lilith…

“YOU ARE DEAD. YOU DIED A LONG TIME AGO. AND EVEN IF YOU DIDN’T, THIS IS NOT YOUR WORLD.” I said calmly. It wasn’t the first time that she haunted me.

“Neither is it yours. So, why insist on staying here? You could join me… I am terribly lonely, you know?” she asked me.

I hesitated for a second. In my previous nightmares, she had never wanted me to die.

“You promised to never leave me alone. To keep me!” she almost screamed, tears welling up in her eyes.

“I PROMISED TO STAY BY YOUR SIDE UNTIL EITHER OF US DIED. FIRST, YOU DIED, AND LATER I DIED AS WELL. I KEPT MY PROMISE.” I told her as calmly as I could. It was tearing my heart out to see her like this.

“I thought we would be together again! But I am over there, and you insist on staying here!! Why?!?” she asked through tears.

“THERE ARE PEOPLE HERE I CARE ABOUT.” I defended myself.

“Lilith. You just had to find a replacement for me. But did it really need to be the first helpless girl that crossed your path?” she questioned me angrily.

My six eyes shot wide open and then narrowed. “SHE IS *NOT* A REPLACEMENT FOR YOU!” now it was my turn to be agitated.

“Of course. You’d never have sex with your adoptive daughter. What you needed, was someone you could care for.” She said without making a face.

“LIES!” I shouted enraged.

“Really? It’s just an accident that you took in the first little orphan girl that wandered into your arms? And destroying her village so that she couldn’t depend on anyone else anymore is also just a coincidence?" she continued calmly.

I was going to scream at her, to tell her how wrong she was, that I didn’t take in Lilith just to sate some wish to care and protect!

But then…

Then I noticed *it*.

My memories of my old world were fuzzy sometimes. But never of her. And never this much. She would have *never* just spoken calmly to me after I screamed at her, scaredy cat as she was. She would have cried, apologized, maybe even run away, but never just continue talking.

I took a moment to breathe and calm down.

“BEGONE APPARITION. AND TELL YOUR PUPPETEER TO STAY OUT OF MY DREAMS!”. I said tiredly.

“So, you noticed.” A voice coming from a side corridor stated.

The girl twitched, then went limp, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Instinctively, I reached for her, to catch her and save the girl I had adored so much from falling, even though I knew it wasn’t real. But she didn’t fall. She just stood there.

In my peripheral vision, I saw a familiar face appear from the corridor where the voice originated a moment ago. It looked to be female, just as the body that belonged to it, but I knew it was not. Behind his back, there were two folded angelic wings. Slowly clapping, Ariel strolled lazily toward me.

“Impressive. I was quite sure I had done a good job of emulating you beloved… huh. What did you call her again?” he wondered.

“THAT IS NONE OF YOUR CONCERN. WHAT DO YOU WANT?” I asked him, greatly annoyed at his meddling.

“Oh, nothing really. I just noticed that you were having reoccurring nightmares, always about the same thing… or person? Anyways, I told myself, if you are having nightmares either way, I might as well nudge them a little to impart a message to you.” He explained.

“I THOUGHT THE BEINGS OF HIGHER PLANES WERE FORBIDDEN FROM INTERFERING WITH US MORTALS?” I grumbled.

“Oh, but manipulating a dream a little isn’t interfering, I am not even the cause for your nightmares, that are you alone.” He winked.

“YOU HAVE NO RIGHT!” I accused him.

“I am an archangel. I have every right.” He said smugly.

I figured it was time to get this over with. And it was probably a bad idea to provoke Ariel just yet. I had to play it cool.

“WELL, SINCE YOU ARE HERE ALREADY, YOU MIGHT AS WELL TELL ME THAT ‘MESSAGE’ OF YOURS.” I offered.

“Straight to the point, eh? Well, it’s rather simple, really. Look, I’ve been watching you and… Although you have sworn an oath, I see very little ‘eradicating the dark’ going on… Only a lot of preying on the innocent.” Ariel explained.

“I NEED TO BUILD AN ARMY FIRST” I stated simply. “AND THE OATH I SWORE DOESN’T FORBID ME FROM ATTACKING ANYBODY.”

“While that is true, I will not tolerate you just sitting idly while enjoying my gifts forever. I guess you could say that I am here to… warn you.” He said dangerously.

“GODS AND THEIR EMISSARIES ARE FORBIDDEN FROM INTERFERING. YOUR APPEARANCE IN MY DREAM IS ALREADY CLOSE TO A VIOLATION. AND IF YOU BREAK THAT RULE, THE OTHER GODS WILL RESPOND IN KIND.” It was time for a threat of my own.

“Luckily for me, appearing in a dream just to talk doesn’t constitute a breach of the accord between dark and light.” Ariel chirped as if to taunt me… was he keeping something from me?

“Just don’t come crying to me if something goes wrong for you. Anyhow, I gotta get going. See ya pal!”

And with that, he and his puppet were gone.

I just sat there on my throne. It was not real. Nothing of this was real. The real her would never accuse me like this. And even if I left her behind, I had fulfilled my promise! And nobody in their right mind would turn down a chance to be reincarnated! Right?!

What bothered me the most, however, was the accusation that I took Lilith in not out of charity or pity or some other altruistic notion, but because I felt a need to care for somebody. Could that... be true? NO! OF COURSE NOT! It wasn't even the case in my old life, so why would it be with Lilith? Okay, maybe there was some truth to it in my old life, but not with Lilith. When I took her in, she was broken and battered, with nowhere to go, even after I 'removed' the immediate danger. No matter how I felt about it, what I did was the best and most rational way to go about it. Every other nice person would or at least *should* have done the same!

Such were my thoughts as I slowly woke up.