1: Hallowed

"Oh, you'll just love it here, My Prince! I certainly did. This is where I met and wooed your father after all," Michelle Prince said.

Adam Prince just kept looking out the window as they drove, "No one says 'woo' anymore, Mom…"

"Oh, poo~" Michelle pouted playfully, more aware of what she was doing than she let on. "I can never keep up with what the hip boys are doing these days."

Adam rolled his eyes and suppressed a groan. He was used to his mother's antics, especially when it came to teasing him. It was what parents did. And he knew she was just trying to break any tension he might be feeling on an important day like today.

It was move-in day at Hallowed University. Adam Prince was a fresh high school graduate and one of the many incoming freshmen that were going to be attending Hallowed University. To that end, he and his mother had made the two-hour drive from their hometown to the town of Hallow where the university was based.

Adam's family was always a bit odd. For one, his parents were monogamous. It had always been just Adam, Michelle, and his father, Bruce. This single pair-bond relationship was something of an exception in their women-dominated, men-deficient society. Instead of single pairs, harems of women usually gathered around a single man and formed tight-knit family groups.

Adam knew the reasoning for this. Everyone did. It was taught in school as readily-available, basic history. At some point in the past, just after Humans settled down and formed the very first civilizations, there was a shift in the Human genome.

Women started to be born more often and men less. This shift eventually stabilized into the golden ratio that they knew today — ~5:1. Of course, there were other changes that accompanied this shift but the major one was that societies across the globe began to be dominated, run, and ruled by women and harems began to form the backbones of communities.

No one knew the exact source of this shift in the Human genome. Even with modern biology and advances in technology, it remained one of Humanity's greatest mysteries. But scientists had been able to document the other changes that came along with the shift.

Women were typically faster and stronger than men. They were not always bigger but men were noticeably weaker on average. This change was one of the things science couldn't fully explain. Even a woman much smaller than her male counterpart would be more physically powerful as if aided by some undetectable, supernatural source.

Which was, of course, impossible. Humanity had outgrown the legends and myths of old with the advances of science and logic. There would always be those who swore the supernatural existed but Humanity as a whole had largely accepted that reality wasn't that interesting.

The discrepancy between a woman's size and her physical prowess was accepted by scientists and logical folk as a simple biological enigma. One that Humanity just wasn't advanced enough to fully understand yet. Fringe scientists, religious figures, and 'pink-pilled' activists, however, claimed it was proof that women were the superior gender, chosen by God or whatever other insubstantial transcendent force supported their cause the most.

Over millennia, the effect of the genetic shift became clearly evident. Many of history's leading figures were women, while men were relegated to pulling strings behind the scenes or had their deeds lost to the sands of time. Still, history was littered with a plethora of powerful men.

The advent of harems and group bonds ensured that fact. Men were treated as trophies for women to fight over or cooperate for but that didn't mean they were any less important than their female counterparts. Throughout almost every culture across the world, men were held with more esteem than women.

Men were rarer and more valuable. A single fit and fertile man could make a community, securing the next generation as a breeding stud. A single fertile woman was much more limited in reproductive potential but typically much more physically fit than her male counterparts. The natural result of this interaction was that men were prized, something to be sheltered, protected, and fought over by groups of women.

In the modern era, this gender imbalance took on a different appearance. The world was largely civilized and made up of pseudo-post-scarcity societies. Women no longer physically fought or waged war over men and men weren't mere treasured breeding resources. Instead, romantic competition took on a more 'civilized' form.

Women were still typically the aggressors, pursuing men they desired instead of the other way around. But they also had the advantage of polygamy. They did not need to be the only woman in a man's life, just one of the few who crossed the finish line.

For civilized societies, this meant that men had much more power over their romantic fates. They were the sexual gatekeepers. Sexual freedom was high and sexual discrimination was rare. Of course, things weren't perfect. Rape was still common and some discrimination still did exist. Many women still thought of men as trophies, something to be won and huddled away so they were kept safe from those outside the family.

But progress was being made constantly. More and more men were seen as meaningful members of society instead of sexual items or breeding resources. They could get an education, hold jobs, and even rise to positions of power. In a woman-dominated society, men were starting to become more than dainty princes or — to be crude — meat dildos…

Even different lifestyle choices were starting to be accepted. Bisexuality between women had always been something of a cultural norm. It had to be when harems were the primary relationship type. But other sexual orientations and identities were becoming more accepted as well. The only orientation that remained truly taboo was male homosexuality.

[AN: this doesn't reflect my views on homosexuality (male or female) but it is the only thing that makes sense in the story's universe. Removing two (or more) men from an already extremely limited dating pool will obviously get a much more visceral reaction from a woman-dominated society. It isn't really important to the story so this will probably be the only time I mention it.]

On a lesser scale, atypical relationship types like monogamy had also become generally accepted. Some close-minded people still looked down on monogamy — something Adam and his family had experienced many times. They never bothered Adam much though.

He didn't put much stock in the opinions of others. He was happy with his simple monogamous, single-child family. It was the only family he'd ever known. He'd always been a bit of a loner, having had only one real friend in his life who moved away when they started high school.

Adam sighed to himself. He missed Ruby. Things were so simple when she was in his life, before high school… before her mom died… The two of them were as thick as thieves. If they were ever seen apart, people knew something was wrong. All through elementary and middle school, they'd been the loners at the back of the class. But at least they had each other.

Then tragedy struck. Adam remembered the day Ruby didn't come to school. He remembered hearing what happened from a teacher and rushing over to her house, ignoring the fact that classes hadn't let out. He remembered the tears in her silver eyes, how she clung to that well-worn, red cloak that belonged to her mother, and the heartbreaking goodbye only a week later as her family moved away not long after middle school graduation.

They kept in touch during their freshmen year of high school. But that didn't last for long. Ruby's replies took longer to come as if she were walling herself off from him. And when she did reply, it was always to talk about strange topics like the book her mom left her and the occult…

Ruby was going down a strange path and that would have been fine but… then her replies stopped and Adam was left alone. He didn't hold a grudge against Ruby. She was going through a difficult time in her life. Her mom had just died and her family had moved away from the home she'd grown up in. And these things just happened. Friends didn't always stay close. There was nothing wrong with that… Adam just missed her…

With his connection to Ruby seemingly cut, Adam truly sank into the loner persona. He was the quiet boy at the back of the class that didn't like attention and never talked to anyone he didn't have to. Of course, people tried to talk to him. Mostly girls who were enamored with the mysterious air his loner persona gave him. But they weren't Ruby and Adam was never in the mood to try and get to know them.

His life continued like that until he graduated high school. School had never been a problem for Adam and he easily made it into the top five students of his graduating class. And he'd already secured admittance into Hallowed University, a solid school with a high number of famous male alumni.

Which brought Adam back to the present. The next four years of his life were set. He'd be attending Hallowed University and living in the medium-sized college town of Hallow. He had no idea what he'd be majoring in, having just put down 'undecided' for now.

As his mother drove toward the university's campus, Adam looked upon the bustling town of Hallow. This was obviously one of the busiest days of the year for a college town like this. Parents and students — new and returning — walked the streets, filling the air with a sense of excitement, progress, and hope.

Yet Adam couldn't bring himself to join the excited mood. Just like in high school… just like the rest of his life… it felt like something was missing. Adam had felt like that for as long as he could remember. The feeling of emptiness — like there was a hole in his soul, waiting for something to fill it — had always been present.

His therapist had diagnosed him as clinically depressed and Adam had accepted that because it seemed to be the most reasonable explanation. All the symptoms seemed to be there, after all. He sometimes felt like he lacked the energy to do anything. The world felt monotone and unimportant. Even when he was with Ruby, the feeling only went away briefly.

But a part of Adam didn't think it was so simple. A part of him hoped that there was more to the world, that there was more to him than just depression. Despite having no proof, a part of Adam — the same part that felt so empty — knew something was waiting for him…

So while that part of Adam held onto the little hope and optimism he had left, the rest just sighed. He just wanted to get move-in over with so he could collapse into his bed and go to sleep. Thankfully, they soon pulled into a parking lot near the dorm Adam would soon be calling home for a year.

After that, move-in progressed smoothly and uneventfully. Adam attracted a few glances but none of them were worth mentioning… Or so he thought.

From the darkness of a shadow, a pair of lavender eyes — with a red gem shining just above and between them — peered at Adam as he moved in, "He's not yet complete…"

The same voice, tinted with darkness and demonic power, responded to itself, "He will be. Those scheming bastards will take him tonight…"

"Can't we stop them…?" The first version of the voice asked with the barest hint of worry flavoring her monotone voice.

"And stop our soulmate from completing himself?" The second version of the voice scoffed. "Get over yourself, you emotionless bitch. You wouldn't be saving him, just causing him further pain…"

The eyes sunk back into the shadow and disappeared without another word. Another pair of eyes observed Adam while the woman they were attached to leaned against a wall. Sparkling-white teeth bit a black-painted lip as she giggled. A skimpy black outfit reminiscent of traditional Aztec clothing and complete with fishnets and a studded choker complimented charming caramel skin.

"Mmmm~ Mistress Death sure knows how to pick 'em ~" The Latina temptress mumbled to herself as she watched Adam.

In another room within the dorm building, an adorable silver-eyed reaper gazed into a bowl of water, watching her childhood friend from so far and yet so close, "Adam… W-What if he hates me now…? N-No! I'll make this right!… After I observe some more… In the morning…"

Another girl watched through the wrinkles in time. A clock flashed in one of her eyes and a sadistic giggle tinkled on her lips, "So this is how it all started~?"

This was indeed how it all started. A single, depressed man in a woman-dominated world, trying to find the purpose and meaning his soul yearned for. And the numerous goth girls who would eventually come to surround him. A mysterious kuudere soulmate with seemingly two personalities, a sultry Aztec priestess of Death, a childhood friend dabbling in the occult, a Spirit that watches over time itself… And they were only the beginning…