Fourth Day (5 of 6)

Breaking Free: After telling his story to Marsh Master Selune, Damion is introduced to his new counselor, Viri

'Breaking Free' Content Warning: Erotic Psychological Drama

This story contains scenes of psychological distress, dubiously consensual intimacy, emotional dependency, complex trauma recovery, and themes of power imbalance and identity reconstruction.

This story explores the fragile process of healing after long-term dehumanization, the difficulty of regaining agency, and the intimate entanglements that form in the aftermath of captivity.

Proceed with care.

Damion clears his throat and readjusts in his seat. He picks at his food with his chopsticks. He's completely unfamiliar with what vegetables these are, but he's starving so he pops a tiny scroll looking thing in his mouth and chews.

Damion starts his story slowly. "I went back to my room and waited for the counselor you spoke of. It took a long time for her to come. It was kind of awful. I had nothing to do. Not even a book to read."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. You could have gone to get something in the Harmony Palace library."

"I didn't know that," he says shyly, "I didn't even know how to get to my room. It's so easy to get lost in that huge palace. I was too afraid to explore and stupidly get lost."

Selune nods, "Duly noted."

"Plus, I didn't want to miss when the counselor arrived. I was really looking forward to seeing her." Selune nods.

Damion sighs, "So she comes, asks me a bunch of questions, takes me through my very first trip through the Spirit Realm without a single word spoken, drops me off at my room here and tells me to go to the bank in the morning and meet her in the room after lunch. And then she left."

"She didn't stay with you for the evening?"

"No, she just left. And I was all alone," he puts his chopsticks down and looks up at Selune, "I haven't been alone in over two years and suddenly I'm all alone with nothing but my own thoughts."

Selune looks right back at him, "I regret that you carried that alone. She was supposed to spend the evening with you." Damion nods.

He exhales and deflates. "This is the first meal I've had since dinner in Harmony Palace."

Selune's eyes widen. "You haven't eaten in two days?" Her voice hasn't raised in volume, but the exclamation in her tone follows through.

Damion shakes his head. "I didn't know where to find any food."

Selune looks gravestriken. "We have a dining hall. The counselor didn't tell you?"

"No!" Damion says abruptly then reigns in his frustration. "I'm sorry. I'm upset. I've felt abandoned and have been wanting desperately just to go back to Mulsae."

Selune places a gentle hand on the fist Damion didn't even realize he was clenching. "What Falloway did was wrong. You're right to feel you were abandoned. I take full responsibility for all of this happening to you, and I am deeply sorry."

She looks at him with pleading eyes, "Please don't let my failure cause you go back to Master Mulsae. Let's move together going forward to ensure you have the help you need."

Damion nods slowly. His lips twitch and he blinks back the urge to tear up.

He breaths in long and slow, and gradually exhales. Then begins again. "So the next morning I go to the bank, and it was so stressful and overwhelming. Just everything was going wrong and the teller was frustrated with my stupidity..."

"You went to the bank alone? Without Falloway?" Selune interrupts. Damion nods. "Going to the bank for the first time is exactly the type of thing Falloway was supposed to do with you."

Damion huffs, "It certainly would have been nice to have someone to help. I didn't even know what the coins meant! I still don't know what a ten coin looks like."

"That wasn't supposed to happen."

"It did," Damion sighs. "I finally meet up with Falloway, and we go to a clothing store. Also stressful because I have absolutely no idea what I'm supposed to wear or what looks good or not. We find an outfit and then... Falloway just left. She said she had somewhere to be."

Selune puts her chopsticks down, "The place she was supposed to be was at your side." Damion huffs.

"The assistant at the store was nice. At first." He rolls his eyes. "I figured I'd buy five shirts and three pants from this store and go back to my room. But then she finds out I'm Emberan, and she kicks me out of the store."

Selune's eyes widen, "She kicked you out? Because of the type of Windborne you are?"

Damion shrugs, "Either my type or that I was from the Water Sanctum."

Selune grows grave, "That kind of discrimination should not happen in my city."

Damion shrugs, "It seems everyone is afraid of Emberai and the Water Sanctum. They don't recognize me as Emberan, but when they find out, everyone has become scared of me."

Selune shakes her head. The gears turn in her mind about how to fix such a problem in her city.

"I was really upset," Damion sighs heavily, "I'm embarrassed of it... I decided to get drunk." Selune nods.

"The bartender was pretty nice. The whore, not so much. She copped a feel and discovered my cock cage and loudly called me a pixie and left."

"Hold on... There's discrimination against homosexuality, too?" Damion nods. Selune sits back in her chair. "You've discovered the sore points of my city, Damion. And I am grateful for you telling me about them."

Damion huffs, "It's worse than discrimination," he shakes his head.

Two servants arrive. One removes the current plates, and the other sets down plates of the next course.

"Please continue," Selune encourages.

"You already know what happens next. You discovered the injuries."

"I can't believe such people are in my city." Damion shrugs.

"I didn't intend to drink and fly, but I was so upset I wanted to just go back to my room and bury myself."

Selune looks at him sympathetically, "That's a very normal response to such a thing."

"Really?"

"Really. It's common to want to hide away, or to wash yourself, sometimes repeatedly."

Damion huffs, "I haven't even been back to my room yet, let alone have washed myself since." Selune nods gravely.

"So, I drink and fly, I crash, and that's when you saw me." Selune nods.

"But when they were done healing me, they told me I was free to go. But go how? I can't fly. It was the middle of the night. I'm on the streets, alone, and don't know how to get to the palace complex."

Selune raises a hand to her brow, "That is my fault. I should have ensured you had an escort. Gods, Damion, I see how badly I, and my people, have failed you."

Damion huffs. He's doing that a lot in this conversation. "I wander around the city. I ask for help but they look at me and walk away." Selune shakes her head. "Finally, a nice seeming woman offers to help me. But instead of leading me to the palace, she had me go into a building, and the people inside tried to trap me."

"The charity organization..."

"I didn't know that!" He clenches his fist and grinds his teeth. "They lead me inside and tried to trap me behind two locked doors. I wasn't about to let myself be trapped so I broke out. They fought me on it, but I broke out."

Selune continues the story, "And they contacted the city watch and now they were looking for you..." Damion nods.

"I decided to wait until dawn and follow the sun back to the palace. I found a place to sleep. Then was woken up to five men who wanted to tie me up. I would have fought them, too, but they clearly could have overpowered me. So I let them tie me up." Selune nods.

"The worst part is I have a clearly broken right arm, and it was like the man was purposely trying to hurt me!" His fingernails dig into his palm. "He kept pulling and yanking and jerking my arm! I kept trying to remind him it was broken, but he told me I deserved it because I attacked a charity."

"That is not right. Everyone should be treated with decency and respect, no matter what they have done."

Damion huffs, again, "Clearly, not everyone believes that."

"The people guarding my city streets should," Selune says firmly.

"Then they discover my cock cage and want to inspect it. They made me lower my pants so they could get a good look at it. They tried to take it off and hurt me tugging and pulling on it even though I told them it was cursed. And then they discovered the anal plug. They forced me to remove it right there in front of them. It was so humiliating."

Selune swallows. "Those are standard safety precautions... but to hear it implemented from your perspective makes these policies sound barbaric." Damion nods.

"So now I've lost my anal plug and I'm forced to wear a diaper. It's so. Godsdamn. Humiliating." Damion hangs his head and burns in shame.

"You should be able to get your anal plug back. It should be logged and stored for eventually returning to you."

"I really hope so," Damion looks at her hopelessly, "But I've honestly lost hope anything good will happen. Everything is just going to get worse, and worse, and worse..."

She reaches out again to touch Damion's hand. "I am going to work hard to ensure everything turns around for you, Damion."

Damion bites his lip. "They asked if there is anyone who they could contact to help me. And I only know you and Falloway here. But they all thought I was crazy or lying."

He sighs and rolls his neck. "So they leave me in this barren cell for an ungodsly amount of time. I was so bored. I was so alone. And... I just... couldn't cope any longer. I broke out of the cell and they had five men with shields beat me unconscious." Selune gives a pained expression.

"I woke up in the hospital tied up and alone again. I just... I don't want to be alone any more. So I made a ruckus. Then, then someone pulled up my records from yesterday and saw that I really actually do know you."

"That's when they reached out to me..." she says softly.

"Now they started being nice to me all of a sudden. They helped me not be alone. They kept me company. I needed it desperately."

"I see," Selune says thoughtfully. She is in deep thought for a moment, then continues, "Thank you for telling me your story. You have exposed many ugly aspects of my city that I do not want to tolerate. I need to make changes to address these issues.

"I dearly hope you'll give me another chance to help you, Damion. I want to help you. I want you to become successful and have a happy life. Please reach out to me if you encounter a problem again. Please."

She stands and walks to the other end of the table where there are two sheets of parchments. She picks one up and hands it to Damion. "This is the Heavenwood parchment I promised you. It's twin is right here," she gestures to the other sheet. "Write to me for anything. Okay?"

Damion nods slowly and folds up the parchment. He places the parchment in his pocket then gazes down at his plate. "I am very stressed out and overwhelmed. I honestly... I honestly seriously considered going with Mulsae while he was here today."

Selune looks at him with deep sympathy, "Please, Damion," she pleads softly, earnestly, "Please don't go back to him."

Damion sighs and pokes at the dregs of dinner on his plate, "I miss how peaceful I felt."

"Oh, Damion," Selune has a pained expression, "It was a peace built on severe restrictions and devoid of choice."

"I know," Damion whispers, "But it was still peaceful, nonetheless."

"Let's try to get you back to that peaceful state once again," she tries to look hopeful. "One where you have choices and freedom. Okay?" Damion nods.

"Thank you for letting me try to help you," Selune smiles bittersweetly. Damion just nods again, but inside he's not sure if he believes it.

Selune sits back and puts her napkin on her plate, "I'd like you to meet your new counselor." She stands and gestures for Damion to join her. Selune stops momentarily by the servants behind the woven reed screen and asks, "Can you please have Viri join us here?" The servant nods and leaves.

Selune gestures to the chairs in front of the sunken brazier, "Let's sit." Selune takes the chair with the book and puts the book under the chair. Damion sits in the other chair.

"I spent this afternoon interviewing counselors to make sure I found someone reliable and dedicated." Damion nods.

"I feel that Viri will be a good match for you. He has a history of being reliable, and he seemed excited to work with you."

Damion nods, "Okay."

"I'd like you two to talk to each other here. I'd like you to ask whatever questions you may have to see if he'll be a good fit for you. And then the two of you will go and spend the evening together and make plans for tomorrow. Does that sound okay?" Damion nods.

The front doors open and a Sylvaran man enters. Selune smiles widely, "Viri, thank you. Please sit," she gestures towards the couch.

Viri makes his way over. Before sitting he says, "Pleasure to meet you, Damion," and bows.

"Thanks, Viri," Damion says shyly, "It's nice to meet you, too."

"I would like to make sure we are on the same page about how Viri is supposed to help, okay?" Both Viri and Damion nod.

"Viri here will make himself available to you all day, every day until you are completely self sufficient. His job is to help you with any task you have, no matter how big or small."

She picks up the two sheets of parchment on the low lying table between them. "These are Heavenwood so you can send messages to each other." She hands one to each of them. "If you're not together for whatever reason, you can at least write to each other through the Heavenwood."

"Thank you, Master Selune," Viri says with a smile. Damion nods.

"Damion, do you have any questions for Viri?"

Damion shifts uncomfortably in his seat. He takes a deep breath. He should ask these questions no matter how embarrassing. "Is it okay if I ask stupid questions or ask for help on something simple?"

Viri smiles widely, "Absolutely okay. I really want to be helpful! I understand you're from a very different culture, so I can imagine things that may seem simple or obvious to me will be brand new to you."

Damion chuckles, "Yeah," he rubs the back of his neck, "You know I'm Emberan?" Viri nods. "You know I'm from the Water Sanctum?" Viri nods again. "And you're okay with that?"

Viri smiles sympathetically, "I don't care about where you are from. I only care about what you do. I care about how you personally approach the world. I don't care about the culture you grew up in. It's about who you've become today."

Damion smiles a little, "Really?"

"Yes, Damion. You seem nice. You're already growing a good impression on me."

Damion blushes profusely, "What? No... Really?"

Viri chuckles, "Really."

Damion squirms, "So... I have some... private... issues... that... I may need help with." Viri nods. Damion squirms some more, "Like... my whole crotch area... is... fucked up... Does that bother you?"

Viri looks at him sympathetically, "No, Damion, it doesn't bother me. And I'm not uncomfortable about that stuff, either. I've done my time in a hospital. I know how to be discreet, and don't easily become shocked."

Damion blows out a sigh of relief. "Okay," he swallows, "Some really fucked up things have happened to me. I'm kinda fucked up about it. And I have fucked up feelings about it." Viri nods sympathetically. "Like... you're okay... with... me having... issues?"

Viri's eyes show such openness and concern, "Yes, Damion. That's why I'm here. That's why I want to help you. You deserve a good life. I want to be there to help you achieve it."

Damion blows out some air and rolls his neck and shoulders to relieve tension. His throat bobs as he swallows, "Is it okay if I mention the fucked up things that happened to me?"

"Yes."

"Even the depraved?"

"Yes."

"The evil?"

"Yes, Damion, it's okay to talk to me about it."

Continue reading: Fourth Day (6 of 6)
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