Day 133 Post-Impact
Home had never looked so beautiful.
The walls of Harmony rose against the afternoon sky as the expedition team crested the final ridge, five days of hard travel behind them. The volcanic caldera, the ancient ritual, the binding of an entity that had waited three millennia for justice - all of it felt almost dreamlike now, fading into memory as the familiar shapes of home came into view.
"They've spotted us," Jade reported, her surveillance feeds showing movement at the main gate. "Looks like the whole settlement is turning out."
She wasn't exaggerating.
By the time they reached the gates, a crowd had gathered - survivors who had stayed behind, faces bright with relief and curiosity. Word of the Covenant's success had reached Harmony via Jade's communication relay, but seeing the expedition team return safely made it real. Cheers erupted as Sarnav and his wives passed through the gates, people reaching out to touch them as if confirming they were actually there.
The wives who had stayed behind pushed through the crowd first.
Zara reached them with military efficiency, her dark eyes sweeping over each returning wife before settling on Sarnav with a critical assessment that was pure soldier. "Mission accomplished, I hear. The entity is bound?"
"By mutual agreement. It won't threaten Harmony again."
"Good." Something almost like a smile crossed her stern features, softening the hard edges that military life had carved into her. "Welcome home, Commander. We held the line while you were gone."
"I never doubted you would."
Minji practically tackled Sarnav in a hug, her gaming-dyed hair - currently a vibrant purple - bright against his chest. "Oppa! I was so worried! The surveillance feeds kept cutting out and I thought something terrible happened and Jade wouldn't tell me anything useful and I stayed up three nights in a row monitoring communications-"
"I told you everything was fine," Jade said flatly from behind him.
"You said 'situation nominal.' That's not reassuring, that's robot talk! Normal people say 'hey everyone's alive and not being eaten by an ancient god!'"
Ishani arrived next, her athletic body cutting through the crowd with model's grace. She didn't tackle him like Minji - instead she pulled him into a kiss that left no doubt how much she'd missed him, her light magic flickering warm against his skin. "Fifteen days without you," she murmured against his lips. "I've been climbing the walls, sayang."
"I'll make it up to you."
"You'd better."
Ananya was more measured in her greeting, her dancer's poise evident even in emotional reunion. She simply took his hand and held it, her dark eyes saying everything her voice didn't need to. Through the bond, he felt her relief - quiet but deep, like still water.
Sana arrived last, having been coordinating medical preparations in case the team returned injured. Her relief was palpable through the bond - a warm wave of holy light that made his heart ache. "You're safe. You're all safe. Thank the gods."
"Thank the Covenant," Elena corrected from where she stood at Sarnav's shoulder, her shadows finally relaxed after days of constant vigilance. "The gods had nothing to do with it."
"I'll thank whoever I please," Sana said primly, but she was smiling.
And then there was Mythili.
She stood at the edge of the crowd, watching. Not pushing forward like the others, not demanding attention. Just... watching. Her son, returned from negotiating with an ancient entity. Her son, surrounded by eleven beautiful women who loved him. Her son, who had become something far more than she'd ever imagined.
Their eyes met across the crowd. She nodded once, a small gesture that carried weight neither of them could voice.
Meera appeared beside Mythili, and Sarnav noted how the older woman's hand rested on his mother's arm - supportive, knowing. Meera had been here for ten days while he was gone. Ten days of observing. Ten days of waiting.
Her eyes met his too, and something in them promised conversations to come.
The celebration lasted well into evening.
Food appeared as if by magic - Sana had been coordinating that too, apparently - and the common areas filled with noise and warmth. Stories were exchanged, the expedition team recounting their journey while those who'd stayed behind shared news from Harmony. The Purifier network had gone quiet. New survivors had trickled in. The gardens were flourishing under Nisha's care.
Through it all, Sarnav was aware of Meera watching.
She didn't approach him directly - not yet. But she positioned herself where she could observe every interaction, every touch between him and his wives, every glance that passed between him and Mythili. She was gathering data, he realized. Building a picture. Preparing for something.
Mythili found him during a quiet moment, when most of the crowd had dispersed to smaller gatherings.
"You look different," she said softly. "Stronger. More... certain."
"The ritual changed something. I can feel it." He hesitated. "I'm sorry I worried you."
"You're my son. I'll always worry." Her hand brushed his arm, quick and light. "But I'm proud of you. What you did - finding another way, refusing to just destroy what scared you - that's not easy. Your father would have been proud too."
"Mom..."
"Go to your wives. They've missed you." She stepped back, her expression complicated. "Especially Nisha. She's been counting the days."
She left before he could respond, and Meera appeared to take her place at Mythili's side. The two women exchanged a look that Sarnav couldn't quite read before disappearing into the crowd together.
Nisha found him before he could find her.
"Sayang." Her voice was soft but insistent, her hand slipping into his. "I've been patient. I've watched the others go with you on the expedition. I've waited while you negotiated with gods and bound ancient powers." Her dark eyes held his, warm and determined. "But you're home now. And I need you."
"Nisha-"
"Don't argue." She was already pulling him toward their quarters, her girl-next-door sweetness taking on an edge he recognized. Nisha was gentle, yes. Romantic, yes. But she was also his first wife, and she knew how to claim what was hers. "The others can have you tomorrow. Tonight, you're mine."
Their quarters were exactly as he remembered - comfortable, lived-in, decorated with small touches that were purely Nisha. Flowers she'd grown with her nature magic. Photos from before the Impact. A bed that had seen their first time together, months ago when everything was simpler.
She locked the door behind them and turned to face him, her expression somewhere between nervous and determined.
"Fifteen days," she said quietly. "Fifteen days since you touched me properly. Do you know how hard that was? Feeling you through the bond, knowing you were with the others, wanting you so badly I couldn't sleep?"
"I'm sorry. The expedition required-"
"I know." She stepped closer, her hands finding his chest. "I'm not angry, sayang. I understand. But I need you to understand something too." Her fingers curled into his shirt. "I was your first. I'll always be your first. And sometimes I need to be reminded that still matters."
"It will always matter."
"Then show me."
He kissed her, and fifteen days of waiting dissolved into nothing.
She melted into him immediately, her body remembering his touch even as her mind reeled from finally having him back. Her 33D breasts pressed against his chest through thin fabric, her curves fitting against him like they were made to be there. Because they were. Because she was his first, his childhood friend, his wife who had loved him before any of this began.
"I missed you so much," she whispered between kisses. "Every night I dreamed about you. About this."
He walked her backward toward the bed, hands already working at her clothes. She helped, pulling at fabric with urgent need, and within moments they were both bare. Her body was exactly as he remembered - natural curves, warm brown skin, the slight softness that made her feel like home.
"Beautiful," he murmured, laying her back on the bed.
"Sayang..." Her eyes were already wet. Nisha cried easily during intimacy - not from sadness, but from overwhelming emotion. It was part of who she was. "I love you. I love you so much it hurts."
"I love you too. My first. My Nisha."
He kissed down her body, taking his time, relearning every curve and hollow. Her 33D breasts were soft and responsive, her nipples hardening under his tongue. She gasped and arched into his touch, her hands tangling in his hair.
"Please... I need you inside me... I've waited so long..."
He positioned himself at her entrance, finding her already soaking wet. When he pushed inside, she cried out and wrapped herself around him completely - arms around his shoulders, legs around his waist, pulling him as deep as he could go.
"Yes! Finally! I've missed this so much, sayang, missed feeling you fill me..."
He made love to her slowly at first, savoring the reconnection. Through the bond, he felt her emotions crashing over him like waves - love, relief, desperation, joy, all tangled together into something overwhelming. This was what Nisha offered. Not the aggressive passion of Elena or the competitive fire of Jiyeon or the scientific curiosity of Yuki. Just pure, honest, emotional love. The kind that had been there since childhood, growing and deepening until it became something unbreakable.
"I love you," she whispered, her voice thick with feeling. "I've loved you since we were children. Before the Impact. Before any of this. You know that, right?"
"I know. I've always known."
"Good. Because sometimes, with all the other wives, I worry you might forget who was first. Who loved you when you were just Sarnav, not the Seal Warden, not the Harmony Sovereign."
"I could never forget." He thrust deeper, making her gasp. "You're part of me, Nisha. The first part. The foundation everything else is built on."
"Sayang..." More tears spilled down her cheeks, but she was smiling. "That's exactly what I needed to hear."
"Faster," she begged a moment later, her hips rolling to meet his thrusts. "I need more. I need all of you. Show me I'm still yours."
He obliged, driving deeper, harder, claiming her with every stroke. The bed creaked beneath them, a familiar sound from a hundred nights before. Her moans grew louder, punctuated by Manglish that slipped out when she lost control of her careful composure.
"So good lah... your cock feels so good inside me... I'm going to cum already, sayang, you're going to make me cum just from being inside me again..."
The room began to change around them.
Flowers sprouted from the wooden furniture, blooming in impossible speed. Vines crept up the walls, leaves unfurling in response to Nisha's rising pleasure. Her nature magic had always been tied to her emotions, and right now those emotions were overwhelming every barrier she had.
"I can't hold back," she gasped, tears already streaming down her cheeks. "I'm going to- sayang, I'm cumming, I'm cumming-"
She shattered beneath him with a cry that was half sob, half scream. Her pussy clamped down on him in rhythmic waves, her whole body convulsing, tears flowing freely as the orgasm overwhelmed her. Flowers exploded into bloom around the room, filling the air with sweet fragrance.
The sight of her completely undone, crying from pure emotional overflow, pushed him over the edge. He came deep inside her, groaning her name, feeling her magic surge around them both.
"Sayang..." she whimpered afterward, still crying softly, still holding him tight inside her. "I needed that so badly. I needed you so badly."
"I'm here." He kissed her tears away. "I'm home. I'm not going anywhere."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
She curled against him, surrounded by flowers that hadn't existed ten minutes ago, and finally let herself believe it.
[HARMONY POINTS: +900][BOND WITH NISHA RAMACHANDRAN: DEEPENED][NISHA RAMACHANDRAN: C+ → B- ADVANCEMENT][NATURE MAGIC: ENHANCED - EMOTIONAL RESONANCE]
Later, as Nisha slept peacefully beside him, Sarnav's thoughts drifted to Meera.
She had been watching all day. Gathering information. Preparing something. Tomorrow, he suspected, she would make her move.
The entity was bound. The seal was stable. Harmony was safe.
But the mother's friends had only just begun their work.
[DAY 133]
[SARNAV: S-RANK (HARMONY SOVEREIGN - FIRST STAGE)][PROGRESS TO SECOND STAGE: 74%]
[WIFE CULTIVATION STATUS][1. NISHA - B- | 2. ISHANI - C+ | 3. ANANYA - C+][4. MINJI - C | 5. JADE - B- | 6. SANA - B-][7. JIYEON - B- | 8. SERENA - B- | 9. ZARA - B-][10. ELENA - S | 11. YUKI - C-]
[HARMONY SAFE ZONE: 1,398 SURVIVORS | 3 SECTORS][SEAL INTEGRITY: 96.2% - STABLE]
[COVENANT STATUS: ACTIVE][ENTITY: BOUND BY MUTUAL AGREEMENT]
[MEERA RYAN: OBSERVING - READY TO APPROACH]
[WIVES BONDED: 11/32]