Third Day (1 of 4)

Breaking Free: Damion stumbles through the simple freedom he thought he wanted, only to find it’s so much harder without the cage

'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.

17th day of the 11th moon
1105 HC

Damion wakes up squeezed into the blankets at the foot of the bed, wrapping tightly around him because they're tucked under the mattress. He's completely enveloped by them. He opens his eyes and still sees nothing.

The tightness around his body is comforting. He's still feeling the emotional after effects of last night. He still feels overwhelmed at all he needs to do, figure out, and learn in order to live his life. There is a little voice buried in his mind that wishes he could still have that simple life with Mulsae.

He pushes his way out of the cocoon of covers. There's not even really thought to moving, he's just been still for so long and it's time to move again. He sighs at the dawn's morning light. Another day.

He lumbers into the bathing chamber, hops into the tub and turns on the tap. He lets the water warm up around his skin. He sits back and just soaks in the water.

"Bank morning, Fal afternoon," he says to himself. I can do this.

He finishes bathing himself and puts on one of those neat robes made of towel material. He goes back into the other room and groans at the sight of the chair he broke last night. Stupid stupid stupid.

He slumps into the other chair. He feels like shit. Shouldn't I be happy? I was just freed after two years of sexual torture and humiliation. I should be floating in glee. Instead I'm slumped in a chair feeling anxious and worried. What the fuck?

He continues to admonish himself and slumps down low in the chair. If I'm so stupid I can't manage living in this room, how am I going to manage living out there?

He groans and slides off the chair onto the floor. He goes completely limp. His mind blanks out, like someone flipped a switch inside him. No thoughts, no feelings, just weight pressing him into the floor. He lies there, not really aware of time passing.

Then a thought flickers through the haze, "get to the bank," and his body obeys before he can question it. He just stands up and walks over to the robes he received yesterday. He's puzzled a bit. He feels better. He can move more freely. But he puts the confusion aside and just puts on the robe and heads out the door.

Damion walks out onto the front porch and realizes he doesn't even know how to get out of this palace complex. Fuck. And if he did get out, he wouldn't know how to get back to this building. Godsdamnit.

He slumps onto the stairs in frustration. Even trying to get into the city is a problem. Stupid. He then realizes he could do what he does best: fly. He stands and steps out from under the porch roof, spreads his wings wide and jumps into the air with a mighty flap.

He flies over the city having no idea where to go. Where would a bank be? I don't even know how to get to the bank. Stupid. He sighs and scrubs his face as he glides. Maybe I should start at the city center and work my way out.

He flies high so he can see the whole city and analyze the street patterns. There does seem to be an area that looks like the rest of the city was built around it. He decides to give it a chance and flies towards it.

He circles around what he assumes is the city center trying to identify the buildings as he passes by. He actually doesn't have to do this for too long because he finds the bank a block away from the city center! It's a stone building that looks well made and sturdy. And a sign across the front says 'Bank of Marsh Sanctum', just what he was looking for.

He lands in front of the bank and walks in. It is decadent. More decadent than the palace complex by far. He feels he doesn't belong. He's only wearing a robe. He doesn't even have any shoes on. He feels so out of place and has no idea where to go. Stupid.

A Sky-Touched man walks up to him, "How may I help you today?"

Damion feels even more intimidated. This man is dressed like he's attending royalty. And here he is in a robe and wind swept hair. Fuck.

"Uhh, I was given a bank account yesterday. I was told to come here and learn how to access it," he says bashfully while rubbing the back of his neck.

"I can help with that, let's go to my desk," the man says kindly and then gestures for Damion to follow him.

They sit at the incredibly constructed desk. It's solid with carvings up the corners and around the edge of the top. And the top, gods, it is polished to a mirror finish. The desk is impeccable with everything perfectly ordered and not a drop of dust.

"Do you have the account information?"

Damion pulls out the parchment and hands it to him, "This is what I was given."

"Ahh, yes!" he exclaims, "I'm the one who wrote this," he lowers his gaze at Damion, "You are now one wealthy individual."

Damion blushes, "That's what I've heard."

"Alright, you want to learn how to access your funds, is that correct?" Damion nods in confirmation and the banker patiently explains the process to withdraw funds. He gives Damion a small stack of duplicate withdrawal forms and puts them in a folder. Oh gods oh gods oh gods. This is so complicated. How the fuck am I going to manage this?

"Would you like to withdraw funds today?"

"Yes. Please." The banker then proceeds to help Damion fill out the withdrawal form.

"How much would you like to withdraw?"

"I wouldn't know," Damion says bashfully.

"What do you intend to do with this money you're withdrawing?" the banker says still being kind and patient.

"Well, I have to buy a new wardrobe. I'm going clothes shopping this afternoon," he says while rubbing his hand on the back of his neck.

"Alright," he writes down a number, "How about this much?"

"Umm, I think it's fine," he says unsure.

"Then you're all set. Take this form to a teller and they'll give you your funds," the banker smiles kindly.

"Thank you," he says as he stands. He doesn't know what the etiquette is. Should he bow? He has no fucking clue. He rushes away just to run away from the problem. Stupid.

Damion walks up to a teller and hands him the completed withdrawal form. The teller is a small Sylvaran Windborne with green wings flecked with azure. He sits on a high stool so he's eye level with Damion.

The teller silently accepts the form and looks through it. He then flutters up and glides out into a back room. He's gone for a bit then comes back with a tray heavy laden in coins. Damion gawks.

The teller proceeds to count all of the coins to verify with Damion that this is the requested amount. He ends the transaction with a curt, "Have a nice day."

Damion blinks and doesn't move. How do I carry all these coins?

The teller speaks up, annoyed, "Is there a problem?"

Damion's throat bobs as he swallows, "I don't know how to carry all of this."

The teller sighs loudly, "You didn't bring anything?"

"I literally own nothing. I don't even own this robe. I'm not even wearing shoes," Damion spills his frustration.

The teller flutters up to peer over the counter at Damion's feet to confirm that, yes, he is barefoot. The teller's eyes widen.

"How about if you go purchase a coin purse and then come back," the teller suggests, annoyed.

"I don't have any money."

The teller sighs dramatically, "Fine! I'll reverse this transaction, and we'll do another one with a smaller amount of money that you can carry and go buy a coin purse."

The teller whips out a form and angrily fills it out then shoves it in front of Damion and growls at him to sign it. He whips out a withdrawal form and angrily fills it out, too. He slides it across the counter, "This much should get you a coin purse, okay?" Damion nods, "Then sign it." Damion obeys.

The teller angrily grabs the tray laden with coins and flutters into the back room.

Fuuuuuck. Damion feels so humiliated. This feels just like when Mulsae humiliated him, except he doesn't have anyone to blame but himself. I'm just so stupid. Stupid stupid stupid.

The teller comes out with a tray that has only a handful of coins on it. He counts the coins with Damion, then dismisses him with a, "Have a good day."

Damion collects the coins, puts them in his pocket and leaves. He was going to ask where he could buy a coin purse, but the teller clearly wants him gone.

He walks out onto the street. People of all shapes and sizes are walking about. I have no fucking clue what type of stores sell coin purses. Stupid. He feels like he could cry out of frustration. He wants to run and scream and curl up into a ball and cry.

He takes a step, then another step. One foot in front of the other leads him down the block. There are stores here, but which should he try? He walks and looks at all the establishments. He walks around the entire city center then goes a block further and walks all around the city center once again.

One store nearby caught his eye so he decides to gird himself to be stupid again asking stupid questions. He walks in and a bell above him chimes. There are items on display. Nothing looks like a coin purse.

"Good day!" exclaims the proprietor, "How can I help you?"

"I'm looking for a coin purse," Damion says shyly.

"I'm sorry, I don't sell things like that." I knew it, I'm so stupid for coming in here. "But I'm sure the general store keeps some in stock."

Damion perks up. He saw an establishment that called itself a general store. "Really? Thank you!" he exclaims and practically skips out of the store.

He wanders around a bit before he can find the general store again. He goes inside and there is a clerk at a long counter. No items are on display.

"Can I help you?" the clerk says gruffly.

"I'm looking for a coin purse," Damion says tentatively.

"How big?" the clerk is curt and to the point.

"Umm, I don't know. I have this many coins," he holds out his hands to demonstrate the size the bank teller had originally presented to him.

"You'll need three large ones to hold all of that!" The clerk exclaims.

"Is that a lot?" Damion asks as he rubs the back of his neck.

The clerk eyes him suspiciously, "Why do you need so much all at once?"

"I need a new wardrobe. This robe is all I have," Damion picks at the robe.

"Why don't you just have the store debit your account for you?" the clerk asks incredulously.

"What?" Damion blinks.

"Local stores work with local banks to transfer funds so folk don't have to walk around with so much money."

Damion has hit his limit. He's hungry and frustrated and just can't take any more. He collapses forward and bangs his head on the counter. This is too much. My day has just started and this is too much.

"This is not the place for dramatics!" the clerk admonishes.

"I'm sorry," Damion says without lifting his head from the counter top, "So much has been thrown at me so fast. I'm just so overwhelmed."

"Get out and have your pity party elsewhere!" the clerk exclaims while pointing at the door.

Damion straightens, "Can I please buy one of each size coin purse you have?"

The clerk narrows his eyes at him then grunts and heads into the storeroom. He returns after a few moments with three coin purses, "One small, one medium, and one large coin purse."

The clerk tells him how much it is. Damion pulls the money out of his pocket and stares at it dumbly. He doesn't know what the coins mean.

"Umm," Damion swallows, "Can you take it out of this?"

The clerk eyes Damion up and down then narrows his eyes. He turns to Damion's coins and flicks coins towards himself one by one until he's collected about three fourths of how much Damion had. The clerk shoves the remaining money back at him and collects his portion. Damion has no idea if he is being scammed or not. Stupid.

The clerk puts the coin purses in a bag and shoves it towards Damion. "Good day," the clerk says curtly. Damion nods, takes his bag and leaves.

He gets outside and wants to burst into tears. I'm in over my head. I can't handle this. This is all too much. I want to just spend my day training and reading with Mulsae, not dealing with all of this bullshit.

Damion sulks over to the bank and back to the snippity teller. He puts the bag on the counter and pulls out each of the purses.

"I've been told I don't need to withdraw all that money because the store will handle the transfer of funds," Damion says with exhaustion.

"That is common here, yes," the teller says with pursed lips.

"I just need some money for incidental expenses. Can you help me with that? Some money I can leave in my room," he places a hand on the large purse, "and some money to carry around," he puts his hand on the little purse.

The teller narrows his eyes at him then sighs dramatically. He whips out a withdrawal form and fills it out.

"Withdraw this much," he says pointing at the number. It's about a third of what Damion originally withdrew. Damion nods and signs the form. The teller flutters to the back room.

The teller returns with a tray of coins not nearly as laden as it was before. The teller counts the money with Damion and then ends with a curt, "Have a nice day."

Damion scoops the coins into the large purse, puts it in the shopping bag and heads out. He sighs deeply once he's on the street again. That was such a humiliating and agonizing ordeal. He turns a little hopeful. At least I won't be clothes shopping alone. It will be nice to spend time with someone else.

Damion holds the shopping bag tightly, spreads out his wings and jumps into the sky. He flies over the city, to the palace complex, and back to his room's terrace. He notices his bed has been made, and the broken chair has been replaced.

He plops the bag on the table and takes out the large and medium purses. He transfers some coins to the medium purse then puts the large purse back in the bag, folds the bag over itself and stuffs it under the bed.

He is exhausted. That experience was so draining. If I weren't such a stupid brute it wouldn't have been so hard. He flops onto the bed face first. I'm just a soldier. I'm just a pet. I'm not built to handle all of these complications. I'm built to follow orders. Just a stupid, stupid brute.

He kicks his feet to scramble himself onto the bed fully. His stomach growls. I guess being stupid burns a lot of energy. He hasn't eaten yet. He doesn't even know where to eat. He's too exhausted to solve the problem and falls asleep.

~•~

"Hi Damion, it's me," sings a female voice.

Damion jumps up and off the bed, "Sorry! Sorry! I fell asleep."

"I'm sorry I woke you," Falloway says sadly.

"It's okay, I've been waiting for you." He scrubs the sleepiness off his face.

Falloway smiles. She looks radiant. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, please, lead the way, I have no idea where anything is." She chuckles. Damion swipes the coin purse off the table before exiting the room with her.

Falloway leads Damion through the palace complex of Reedrest. He already feels better. He's not alone. Just being with someone seems to ground him. He takes a lung full of air for seemingly the first time today.

She walks them through the city, pointing out the architecture and notable historic facts as they walk. Damion is enjoying listening to her and the sound of her voice. All his problems are forgotten, he can just be with her. Be in the Right Now.

Continue reading: Third Day (2 of 4)
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