Coming Together

Lee brought Undine in, the healing began, Layla remained passed out despite the recovery of her body. The woman’s stamina was drained. Usually, John got worried when one of his women was knocked out for a prolonged period. This time it gave him a few hours to think, which he needed because the question of whether or not she was ‘his woman’ was a complicated one. It also was just one of several.

The takeover of Hawaii would be uncomplicated. Kamehameha promised as much and John saw absolutely no reason not to immediately elevate the ghost to the status of Viceroy of the area. Fusion had no interest in extracting from the area and it already was so Americanized from the mundane history that John did not expect any cultural fault lines to appear.

Nathalia wanted to put her Guild Hall in the area, so they would bring wealth if anything. On the matter of Nathalia, she had been dubbed Pele by Kanaloa. Having the support of what was, effectively, a protective deity legitimized them instantly. As long as they did not go full tyrant, they would be able to count on the support of the Night Marchers, Mo’o, Kupua and others.

After that was the matter of the Throthaxen spy. By John’s estimation, Fianna had done everything correctly. Being two layers deep into an Illusion Barrier was beyond the reasonable minimum of operational safety. Revealing her full capacity as a fighter was the reasonable course of action. As for what the Throthaxen being there or what its goals were, none of them could say.

Nahoa got a light talking to due to her actions. She smiled through all of it, unremorseful to the core. Punishing her was not in the cards and she knew that. For one, John abhorred genuinely punishing his women. He was blessed with relationships in which his annoyance was usually enough of an incentive to change.

Annoyed, that he was, but not to a degree that Nahoa considered to outweigh an action she thought justified. It was difficult to argue against her case. They were enemies. John had killed their god. The most realistic scenario was that they would turn into zealots in the fight against John. As an elite force, they would all have had connections. 40 organized and connected Abyssals? Even if they never achieved any combat power again, they would be able to hurt Fusion diplomatically.

John did not like the measure Nahoa had taken. Simultaneously, it was impossible to argue it wasn’t effective. A light talking to was therefore where it stayed at. In the future, he wanted to be involved in the decision at least. If blood was spilled due to his ambitions, he did not want an unwarranted distance between him and the dirt.

Killing Veridion would mean that the Concord of War would declare Fusion a renegade state officially. That would be annoying to deal with on so many levels. John wasn’t too worried about the domestic situation though. The Concord of War meant basically nothing to American Abyssals. The only guild on the continent that had patron gods before Fusion arrived had been Florida with the Cosmic Chicken and Wendy and… yeah.

International relations would be strained by this. By how much, that would be interesting to be worked out. The Concord of War had gone untested for so long that it was a genuine question how much power they actually wielded. Between Fusion’s raw goods exports and the Concord’s promises of protection, what would the guilds of the world choose?

Then there was the matter of Nathalia’s wedding. Now that they had the islands, a simple ceremony could be arranged within half a day or so. Lee was going to gather up all the haremettes, then they would quickly sketch out the whole thing and execute on it. It would not be much, but it would be the ritual Nathalia wanted.

Between Lee’s portals and the Harem Comms, gathering the haremettes only took two hours. The limitation that Lee could only connect two Protected Spaces she had made herself was counteracted almost completely by their instant communications. Of that two hour wait, the first twenty minutes was Lee gathering almost everyone. It was Lydia and Lu Zhi who delayed everything by an extra hour. The monarchs were just that busy.

In every objective sense, needing only two hours to gather almost thirty people from the four corners of the world was an incredible convenience.

John’s heart was full, seeing his gathered harem again. It had been an eventful week and though he had the privilege of three bodies, some of them he had not seen at all during that time. “Should I be here?” Lu Zhi asked with a teasing smile, tapping the vacant spot between her hips with the point of a folded fan. “I am not a true harem member.”

John just rolled his eyes. Why even respond to that? Everyone knew that the empress’ entrance into the harem was a question of when not if.

Without another word, Lulu sat down to the right of Jane. As naked as the day they were born, all of the harem was gathered inside the large living room of the main house of this billionaire’s compound. “Anything ya wanna say, tiger?” his first wife asked.

“No, I think I will let you all work this out,” he said. “I’m here for questioning.”

“Alrighty, then, as first of the Imperial Choir…” John sort of loved that the term was catching on now. Added a whole extra dimension of uniqueness to his harem. “…I’mma start this meeting. Topic of discussion is whether we think Layla would fit in with us?”

Barely had Jane finished the sentence that, elsewhere in the house, someone tore open a door. Stomping steps down a staircase reverberated in the concrete walls. Several pieces of décor clattered to the floor. John could just imagine Layla swiping them off the surfaces as she tried to take the hard corners at maximum speed.

The bottom of the door smacked against a stopper, rebounding into his stalker’s face. A flood of words more fitting for a sailor than a lady flowed from her mouth as she shoved the door back again, for it to rebound again. With the thinnest veneer of patience, she gave it a gentle push, so she could finally storm into the room. She bounced over the back of the empty armchair strategically located at the opposite end of the coffee table.

Layla landed in a kneeling position. She bounced thrice, thick thighs jiggling almost as much as her breasts did beneath the oversized black t-shirt. Her wavy, brown hair was messy. Undine’s healing came with the side benefit of cleaning, but not with a brushing. Despite her hatred for the door and the haste of her approach, John’s stalker wore a face of sweet, almost innocent glee.

“You are talking about me?” she asked, excited.

“Yeah, we are, and if you are a smart stalker, you’re going to be quiet while we work out the perv’s desires!” Momo was the one to respond, arms crossed over her flat chest. “Answer questions, do not interrupt, see it as your final trial for suitability.”

“O-o-okay!” Excitement had her stammering. She was vibrating with her entire body. Only a minor part of that was the pleasure she felt in his presence. Evidently, she had mastered that control completely.

Momo looked to Jane, who gestured back at Momo. The fairy maid let out a long sigh, pretending like she hated being the spokesperson for harem management. “No need to rehash the previous conversations. We’re all in agreement by now that Layla has made up for her previous breaches of propriety, yeah?” Nods all around, some reluctant, some immediate, but nods all the same. “Then we will proceed to evaluate her based on who she is right now. Let’s start with the easy one. Aclysia, what does the maid cadre think?”

“We approve fully of one so devoted to Master,” Aclysia stated instantly, much to Layla’s happy squeaking. The brunette was the very picture of excited waiting. One could almost forget she had been manically laughing while stabbing a god half to death not a day earlier.

[Layla Innocence AI: https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/8b30f6e42fd0.png ]

The dichotomy only made John want her more.

Staying his tongue and his stare, John instead focused on Aclysia. The head maid was looking to her fellow servants for signs of disagreement. Beatrice, Claire, Fianna and Nahoa all gestured their agreement readily. Ehtra had the audacity to harumph before nodding, the sweet and sour woman that she was. Delicia gave it a moment’s thought before shrugging with a huge grin on her face.

Momo blushed intensely under Aclysia’s stare. She tugged at the bluntly cut sidelocks of her hime cut. “S-sure… Master can have…”

“Deserves,” Aclysia corrected.

“…deserves… one more… but we have to slow down!”

Pleased, Aclysia hummed. “As you say, my fellow maid,” John’s second wife said and motioned for the scene to continue.

“Grrmhmhrm…” Momo grumbled, pale face still dusted pink from the confession drawn out of her. An objective guardian of the gates of the harem, she most certainly was not. A capable organizer and leader of meetings, however, she was. “Lulu, what do you make of this?”

“Layla has proven herself capable, driven and competent beyond her station,” the empress spoke very matter-of-factly. “I have had next to no contact with her yet, so that would be a point against her, but the very fact that you decided to call me into a meeting where she would see me tells me that she is trusted by all present. I approve of her joining, under the condition that it be delayed.”

“Delayed?!” Layla screamed, only to shrink down in her seat when the combined disapproval of the harem hit her. “I can be quiet! It’s just… No, no, I won’t complain. I’ll be quiet.” She forced herself to remain there, now swaying side to side nervously.

“I agree with Lu Zhi,” Undine chimed in. “I have had more contact with Layla. I vouch for her core character, though we will need to prevent her from taking unwise actions at times.”

Jane giggled and jabbed her elbow into Siena’s ribs. “That’s a totally new phenomenon.”

“I have not been a problem for months.” Arms crossed, the moon-eyed shadow spirit glared daggers at the harem leader, then turned her attention to Layla. “You have my approval as well. I find you alluring. We have much to do together.”

Layla sucked her lips in to suppress her gleeful response.

“She’s less fudging destructive than my stuffed butt ever was.” Eliana’s dodging of curses was a little more natural now in its execution, but her choice of words remained odd. “So, I’m for her fat furnace thighs being added to the list of legs wrapped around my face.”

Salamander made an agreeing sound. “I’ve got no opposition left either. Not filled with a fiery passion about adding her, but I’m not fucking complaining.”

“Sally!” Eliana shouted and patted her flat stomach. “Not in front of the kid.”

“Mother Fire, you aren’t even showing yet! Don’t go all Karen on me already.”

Gnome clapped her hands and the two growling hotheads piped down. “I also agree, uhm, but I also agree with the idea of a bit more of a delay…”

“I stand with Gnome and Lu Zhi,” Moira declared in the proud tone of a paladin. That she used that voice without even thinking about her nudity was now beyond the realm of cute contrast and into settled expectation. John loved her even more for having integrated so fully into their lifestyle. “Layla was granted a weapon by Lorelei’s vision. The Lady has linked our fates, that much is clear. As her champion, I will stand for her design, but as a woman I desire a bit more familiarity.”

“I am fine with whatever, whatever happens I am fine with, yup, yup!” Sylph chirped.

Nia’s sole visible eye wandered from Lu Zhi to Fianna. “The decision has been made already.”

“Informally, yes, but there are details to be hammered out,” Lydia stated. “Details that are best left up to one among us who passes the final judgement.”

“If I may, I express my full agreement with that,” Lorelei chimed in.

“Yup,” Metra stated. Next to her, Hailey simply nodded.

All eyes in the room were directed at Nathalia.

“Me?” The dragoness somehow was surprised by this. “I have already passed my judgement and found her appropriate. What further decision do you desire from me?”

“Hey, it’s your wedding tomorrow.” Legs crossed, Lee tilted forwards. “I think it only makes sense you decide whatever you want.”

“I concur,” Nightingale cooed.

“My partner has good judgement,” Scarlett agreed.

One haremette was left to speak up. The collective attention shifted to Lyndell, who was watching it all languidly. “…Yeah,” she spoke slowly, once she realized her input was wanted.

The inadequacy of her response made the room explode with laughter. Everyone partook in it, save for the horny mushroom herself, who smiled uncertainly.

“Glad to be of entertainment?” the godlike girlfailure asked.

“You are a treasure,” John assured her, using Magus Step to get over there and put a bunch of kisses on her cheeks. Giggling, the grey-skinned woman let him continue. Only when Nathalia had finished her contemplation, did he return to his seat.

“Very well, if this decision is placed in my hands, then I shall make the decree with the authority of the entirety of the Imperial Choir,” Nathalia declared.

“Go on,” Lydia encouraged her, though her tone was slightly resigned.

Greedy as she was, Nathalia both desired more time with her beloved and a greater harem. She was not as bad as Aclysia or Claire in believing that John deserved everyone he wanted. Indeed, her greed was more due to her own intense bisexuality. She was closer to Jane in that regard. More women in the dragoness’ hoard were doubtlessly desired.

“I have observed Layla this past week, tested her by verbal and physical means. Though she has her worrying tendencies, more intense than those of most of us, she has shown the capacity to rein them in. It is clear to me that she is in this not for selfish gain nor is she dominated by the ecstasy that flooded her mind anymore. The embrace of her obsession is wilful, her actions, though fuelled by intense emotions, her own.”

Layla was back to bouncing up and down. The words ‘It’s happening! It’s really happening!’ were practically written all over her face. She lifted the collar of the oversized t-shirt, one of John’s, and took a deep inhale. Her eyelids fluttered, but she still was a little calmer after.

“Simultaneously, I do not want her joining right before, during or after my wedding,” Nathalia declared, causing Layla to freeze. Then, she nodded repeatedly.

“No, yeah, that makes sense, I can see that, it’s your time and all that,” she shot out a rapid response.

“Good, then I decree the following: John will take her on a date one week from now. Until that day, it is Layla’s sole mission to socialize within the harem. On the day of the date, John will make the final decision. Should she receive the Lover’s Will mark at that time, I believe it is her right to get bred after her deflowering.”

“REALLY?!” Layla jumped up from her raw excitement.

“Ya want her to cut in line?” Jane asked.

Nathalia elegantly swung one leg over the other. “As John told us, the idea was presented by the annoying teddy bear and I find it wrong to deny what is a rarely realized fantasy. Let the newcomer enjoy the fusion of joining the harem and being with child.”

“That has to be decided unanimously,” John decided to weigh in. His cock was visibly hard at the mere suggestion, but he was trying to put the horny second, emotional connections first. “Anyone against Nathalia’s suggestion?”

No hands went up. Adding one more to the first wave of the breeding order changed little and everyone else was quite happy with where they had been placed on the complete list.

‘The joys of working things out ahead of time,’ the Gamer thought.

“Alrighty!” Jane stood up. A hand on her hip, a smile on her lips, and mischief in her eyes, the tomboyish head of the harem made her final proclamation, “As Empress of Fusion, Leader of the Harem, First of the Brides of the Emperor- Oh shoot, that’s a Warhammer reference, isn’t it?”

“And you were sounding so regal for a second,” John teased her.

“Shush… ehem!... and Head of the Imperial Choir-“

“How about the Foremost Voice of the Imperial Choir?” Sylph suggested. “I know, I know, I know, sounds a bit hierarchical and we are trying not to be but let’s be honest and also ‘head’ is also hierarchical and ‘Foremost Voice’ just sounds better and you can sing, I heard you sing, you’re no Undine but you are pretty good so you should praise yourself!”

“Foremost Voice is… actually pretty fucking good,” Salamander agreed.

“Sally!” Eliana complained again.

“Relax,” Metra groaned.

“W-we’ll need to work out the cussing rules,” Gnome muttered. “That’s… going to be a problem…”

“Agreed,” John said and reached for the glass of water on the table. He had been sipping from it here and there, as one was wont to do in company and hot weather. There was just a dribble left in it. He drank that, then considered standing up himself or sending one of the maids.

“Uhm… water?” Daiyu asked.

John jumped. “How long have you been here?” he asked.

“Uhm… uh… since the start?” the black-haired shortstack muttered. “S-s-sorry if I was… withdrawn…”

“Withdrawn…” John tasted the word. “Like… a… turtle with their…?”

“Can I get through this proclamation already?” Jane playfully stomped her foot, wiping out the thought that John had begun to spin together. Frustrated, he sipped from the glass, after Daiyu had refilled it. “As Empress of Fusion, Leader of the Harem, First of the Gamer’s Wives and Foremost Voice of the Imperial Choir, I hereby declare that y’all-“

“I’m rubbin’ off on her,” Hailey joked.

“That y’all are the worst!” Jane threw her hands into the air, pouting for a brief moment. “That y’all are to spend time with Layla in the coming week and that John will plan a date for her on Friday the 14th of February 2020, at the conclusion of which, provided Lover’s Will takes, he will consummate the relationship and put a baby inside her.”

“LET’S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Layla screamed in triumph.

It was delightfully unhinged.