#so we're gonna get some snippets of the absolute hell he'd go through if he tried to run

[brutal-nemesis]

E&T: A Day in the Sun

Hell yeah it’s time for all that lore on Taiyorum I dumped on y’all to be in the story ✨ Please enjoy whatever the hell sort of possibly fluff with angst sprinkles this is and we will resume the pain next chapter :) 

Also fair warning: this is a GIANT monster chapter of 4.4k words (the longest chapter to date 😳) because I got really carried away so I apologize and uh have fun with that

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Ingredients: threatened vivisection, noncon touching, vague-ass nsfw mention, premarital handholding AGAIN（⊙_⊙;）

“Ready to go?” It had been a few days since the plan to go out and see the city had been made, and the time had finally arrived. Erebus was a bit nervous to go out in public looking the way he did, but it’s not like anyone knew him. Neteri had come in after he’d eaten breakfast, a bit of a bounce in her step.

“I think so,” he replied from where he was seated on the bed.

“Alright! Before we go though, I want to make it clear to you,” Neteri leaned in over him, grabbing his chin and forcing him to look up at her, her voice dropping as she continued to speak, “that there’s no point in running. You’re my legal property, so any guards who catch you will bring you right back to me, and anyone who tries to help you will be breaking the law. I assume you don’t want to get someone thrown in prison because of you. Even if you somehow manage to hide or get away, that brand will tell us exactly where you are, and we will capture you again. There is no possible scenario in which you will escape. And if you try…” she glanced down, placing her free hand on his heart, “well, I don’t have any explicit reason to, but I would love to take a look at the inside of your chest cavity. Understand?”

“I-I understand. I won’t try to escape.” The temptation was always there, every time they hauled him out of his cell, those precious few moments where he wasn’t tied to something, but never once had he given in to it. Not because he didn’t want to escape, but because he knew it wouldn’t work. It would only make things worse for him, so why bother? He deserved to be here, anyway.

“Good boy.” She reached to pet him on the head, but he jerked away, glaring at her.

“Don’t push it.” She laughed, poking the end of his nose before he could dodge and turning to get something from her bag. She fumbled around a bit in it before pulling out-he felt his face grow red. Not the leash, anything but the leash. “Do...do I have to wear that?” He wished he didn’t sound like a child pleading with his mother.

“What’s so wrong with it? You can have your hands free.” 

“It’s humiliating?! I’d rather have my hands tied in front of me. Or behind me.”

“That’s way more inconvenient though. Plus it’s not as cute.”

“I have never once agreed with your definition of that word.” Her mouth fell open in shock.

“Not even when I said-you don’t think you’re cute?” He shot an annoyed glance at the corner before looking back up at her.

“No,” he said flatly.

“Oh, oh Erebus,” before he could lean away, she grabbed his head and hugged it close to her chest, “you poor sweet thing, you’re just the most absolutely adorable, and that is a fact.” 

He wormed his hands in between them and pushed her back. “Get off of me.” He stood and crossed his arms. Neteri pouted and crossed her arms back. They stared at each other like that for a few moments before Neteri relented, sighing.

“Fine. If you’re that self-conscious, do you want me to make the leash invisible?”

“You ca-I mean...I, um, fine. If you’re going to make me wear it.”

“I am,” she said as she reached up and attached it to his collar. His stomach twisted at the weight of it, even as she ran her finger along it and said the spell, the links of the chain fading from view. Part of him was starting to regret this, but he really, really missed being outside, and this was a small sacrifice to make. It’s not like anyone else could tell it was there anyway, all they could see was the...collar. Well, better a bunch of random people he’d didn’t know saw him like this than his former subjects. If the emperor had wanted to make sure Erebus would never want to show his face in Berké again, he’d certainly succeeded.

As he did last time, Erebus tried to walk side-by-side with Neteri so he didn’t have to feel the pull of the leash, which wasn’t hard given how short her strides were compared to his. She began humming, and soon enough he could hear her singing softly under her breath.

“Going out to the outside~. Just me and my cute pet...demon...prince...thing...whatever.”

“Person.” 

“My pet person.”

“Just person.”

“My person?”

“Just you and a person.”

“Me and a person. On a leash. I am holding it.”

“Remember that part about how you felt bad about making me endure horrific agony twice and getting assaulted by your boss? And how you wanted to make it up to me? Because you’re doing a terrible job.”

“You say that now because it has not yet been meat pie time.” 

“I-I can’t really argue with that but just. Stop singing.”

“Fine,” she sighed. They walked in silence for a few more minutes until Neteri stopped suddenly, the leash jerking Erebus to a halt. “Shoot! I forgot to-” she glanced up at Erebus sheepishly, “...you wouldn’t happen to know where we are, would you?”

“Of course not how the hell would I-did you get lost?” She grinned devilishly.

“Oh no, I know where we are. I just might have totally forgotten to blindfold you, but since you don’t know where we are anyway, it doesn’t matter.” Erebus was an absolutely terrible captive, why hadn’t it even occurred to him to try to memorize the layout of the castle? Or did that make him a good captive? Either way, it wasn’t something he wanted to be. He cleared his throat and tried to justify himself, though whether it was to himself or Neteri, he wasn’t sure.

“W-well you said if I tried to run you’d-”

“Yes I did, and I meant it! And you’re such a good, smart boy.” She pulled the leash down, forcing him to bow his head so she could pet the top of it. He straightened as soon as he was able, flushing red for what must have been the thirtieth time today, briefly considering if avoiding the risk of vivisection was worth the nearly constant humiliation that had become his life. 

But when they finally made it outside, everything else was forgotten. Erebus found himself smiling, really smiling, at the sight of the blue sky, the warm sun on his skin, and the feeling of a cool sea breeze. He could hardly stop looking around, taking in all the sights of the foreign city with its wide streets and tan buildings, radiating out from the central plaza in front of the castle entrance. And the plants, oh, they were everywhere, vibrant splashes of green and an array of other brilliant colors sprouting up from planters and beds and windowsills. He was jolted out of his amazement at the feeling of something cold pressing into his palm and small fingers wrapping around his hand.

“It looks more natural than the invisible leash.” Neteri was looking up at him with a smile. “Plus, since it’s a cold element enchantment, our hands won’t get sweaty!” 

“Why did we need the leash at all, then?”

“Yeah, like we’re going to hold hands the entire time.” She pulled him along without waiting for a reply. “Come on, I want to show you something. Well, a few somethings. But not all at the same time! Because that doesn’t make sen-”

“I get it, Neteri.” They resumed walking, and Erebus glanced over his shoulder as they continued along. A massive cliff ran along the backside of the palace, towering over the entire city. It was made of reddish-tan rock raked with diagonal stripes that were cut by deeper horizontal lines every so often. But even more noticeable were the green and black stones set into its surface, outlining the shape of a huge pointed sun. The same sun that had been burned into his chest. He winced and looked away, even though he knew he was going to be catching glimpses of it all day. 

“That’s the Midnight Sun that the city was named for. It glows at night!” Neteri’s face fell a bit as he returned her gaze. “Though I guess that’s a symbol you’d rather not see, huh?”

“I...it’s fine. I see it often enough,” he sighed. Even if he’d wanted to pretend things were normal today, that sun looming over him wasn’t the only reminder of what he’d been through. Between the arm that he hadn’t managed to change at all yet and the constant sweaty itch of that awful collar, with the weight of the leash attached to it, what was one more little indication that he wasn’t free?

He tried to put it out of his mind as they walked along, marveling at the lively bustle around him as people of all sorts of races and cultures shopped and dined and chatted, paying him and Neteri absolutely no mind. The air smelled of a comforting mix of the salty sea, the beautiful flowers growing in planters all over, and delicious food. He was soon lost as Neteri led him through the streets, but she seemed to know exactly where she was headed. 

“Have you always lived here, Neteri?”

“Hmm? Oh, no, I grew up in a smaller village in what used to be Alpinan. I moved here to go to school about...eight years ago?”

“Wait are you still in-”

“No, no, I graduated after three years and I’ve been working for the Empire ever since, mostly as a military medic.” That both made sense and didn’t at the same time to Erebus. Of course Neteri was a medic, healing was something she was incredibly skilled in, and he’d certainly experienced it enough firsthand. And could be genuinely kind and caring when she wanted to. But when he imagined a healer, it was usually someone who wouldn’t hurt people on purpose or do...the sorts of things she did to him. But here she was, in all her contradiction, her little hand in his, their palms separated by cold links of the chain attached to his neck. 

Soon enough, the street widened into a large open area, like a sort of park. There was no grass, but paths wound in between large beds containing a wide variety of plants, some of which Erebus recognized from books he’d read, but a large number were completely foreign. There were benches here and there, and children played in the many smaller stone squares within the area. Soft music drifted through the air, though he couldn’t pinpoint exactly where it was coming from or what instrument it was. 

When they arrived in the center of the park, they came upon a pool with an elaborately carved stone structure in the middle of it, like shallow bowls on a pole with a statue of a person with their hand raised to the sky on top. It shot water up into the air, creating rainbows as the droplets fell back into the pool. Erebus couldn’t help but look on in amazement. “I have to admit, the spells you guys have for water manipulation are a lot more refined than anything we have in Berké. Between this and the little rainstorm in the-”

“The what?”

“You know, the thing you guys have instead of bathtubs where you pull the lever and it makes a little rainstorm?”

“Wait do you mean sh-” she clamped a hand over her mouth. “You didn’t-” She lowered it again, revealing a grin. “That’s what you call it?”

“Well I didn’t-what’s it called, then?!” Neteri shook her head.

“Oh, I am not telling you, that’s just too adorable oh my god.” He shot an annoyed glare off to the side as she laughed. She was never going to let the cute thing go, was she? 

“Uh…” he looked around for something that could change the subject. “Hey, I recognize that plant.” He pulled her over to a vine-like plant with small purple flowers. “It’s called a parakius. The flowers are poisonous, but the roots can be used for medicinal...stuff. We have a few in the palace gardens.”

“Interesting...what about that one?” She pointed at a plant with a tall, thick stem dotted with yellow bumps that had bright red berries at the top. 

“That’s an...atsunai, I think it’s called? The berries contain this weird neurological poison that can only be cured by the fluid in those yellow bumps. I’m surprised they have it in a park like this, but I guess it’s not really dangerous to people at this size. See, how they work is small animals will eat the berries and get sick and go to the stem to get the antidote, and when they try to climb the stem to get to them, they can get stuck since it’s sort of sticky. I’ve read that they can grow to be really huge though, and...” he stopped himself. “Sorry, I don’t know if this is boring for you.” She laughed.

“Are you kidding? That’s so cool! I love learning about this type of stuff, so tell me more!” She gripped his hand tightly in her excitement, and he couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. They went all around the garden, Erebus explaining everything he knew about the various plants there while Neteri listened attentively, posing questions as they came to her. They barely noticed how much time had gone by until their stomachs started growling.

“Okay, okay, that was fun but we should probably eat something and I have some other stuff I want to show you. So let’s go!” They left the park, diving back into the city streets. Neteri took a zig-zagging path through them, and Erebus wasn’t quite sure where they were headed until they stopped on the edge of a street running alongside the rows of docks jutting out into the glittering ocean. Neteri tapped her foot, thinking. “I think it might be easier to leave you here while I go get the food, but…” She looked him in the eye, her face hardening. “Are you gonna stay put?”

“Yeah,” he sighed. “You said it yourself, it’s not like there’s any point in running when I have this brand, and anyone who tries to help me is just going to end up getting punished.” He sat down, his lower legs dangling over the edge. “Plus if I was going to run, I would at least do it after we ate.” Neteri smiled and shoved the back of his head playfully.

“If you say so. I’ll be right over there, anyway,” she pointed at a nearby stall that had people crowded all around it, “so you won’t really be out of my sight. I’ll be back in a few, then.”

Erebus looked out over the port as she walked away, trying to crush the foolish instinct that was screaming at him from deep within his chest. He wanted to run so, so badly. He wanted to sprint into the unfamiliar streets or jump in the water and swim to some ship headed out to sea, just to be free for even a moment. But he would be found and grabbed and sliced open. Running would earn him nothing, he knew that. Neteri did too, seeing as she was actually confident enough to just leave him alone here unsupervised. Well, no, there was a guard staring at him. And now he was coming over. Great.

“What are you doing just sitting here, slave? Where’s your owner, huh?”

“I’m not a-” he stopped himself, sighing. There wasn’t any denying the collar around his neck, and he’d rather not have to say why it was actually there. “She’s over there, alright?” He pointed at Neteri. “She told me to wait for her here.” 

“And you’re waiting like a good little slave, aren’t you?” He squatted down next to him, studying his face. Erebus tried to turn away, but the guard grabbed his chin, so he settled for glaring at the man. He could have struggled more, but the last thing he needed was to make a scene. “You’re quite a pretty one. You her little boytoy?” 

“Wha-no-I’m not-she would never-I don’t-” the guard laughed as Erebus’s face twisted in disgust, burning red. 

“That’s a waste.” The guard cocked his head, smiling slyly. “I can’t imagine you would be, but you’re not for sale, are you?” Erebus’s fists clenched in his lap.

“I most definitely am not.” That was the one good thing about how possessive Neteri was of him, and that was that there was absolutely no way she would hand him off to this creep. 

“Excuse me, sir, but could you kindly get your filthy hands off of my property?” Blessedly, the guard complied, quickly standing and backing away as Neteri approached. She stopped in between the guard and Erebus, her hand stretched out in front of him protectively, a terrifying smile on her face. 

“I didn’t mean any harm, ma’am, I was just-”

“I don’t care. You don’t just go messing with things that don’t belong to you. Now, I suggest you get out of my sight before I make sure you can’t touch anything ever again.” Once the guard had scurried away, she dropped down and started looking Erebus over worriedly. “Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he? I-”

“I’m fine, Neteri.” Erebus waved her off. “He was just being…” he shuddered, “just being creepy.”

“Ick. Well, I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner, but the spell notified me that someone was touching you right as I was paying for the food so I just glanced back and I saw that you weren’t being hurt and figured I should just finish up so-”

“Really, it’s fine, can we just-”

“Okay, if you say so. Here.” She handed him one of the large pastries she was holding. It was wrapped in some sort of paper, but he could feel the heat through it. But there wasn’t any sort of...

“Isn’t there...wait am I supposed to just, like, eat this with my hands?” Neteri gave him a concerned look.

“As opposed to what, exactly?”

“There’s no plate or utensils or-”

“It’s. It’s street food, Erebus. You’re supposed to eat it while walking around. With your hands. That’s the point of it. Have you seriously never had something like this?”

“No. I mean I ate in the palace most of the time, so…”

“Okay, princey boy,” she sighed. “It’s very complicated, so pay close attention. You bring it up to your face,” she said as she did so, “and then you bite it.” 

“Thanks, not sure I could have figured that out.” Neteri rolled her eyes as she finished chewing.

“You seemed pretty confused to me, bud. Well, go on then, eat the peasant food.”

“I never said it was-whatever.” He followed her lead and began eating. It was quite good, not that anything wasn’t anymore the way his tongue was now. But he’d been getting better at telling when the flavor was coming from the food and when it was being simulated by the tongue, and it was barely doing any work. The pastry was buttery and flaky while the meat curry in the middle was tender and flavorful. They ate in silence, watching people go about their business at the docks. Erebus ended up watching a particularly beautiful sailor woman carrying crates onto a ship. She was quite strong, and he could almost imagine her beating up the guards and rescuing him, and then they could sail off somewhere far away...

He noticed Neteri was watching her as well, a dreamy sort of expression on her face. Once the woman was out of sight, she turned to look at him and nodded sagely. “You have good taste in women. We should discuss this at a later date. It’s one of my many topics of interest.” Ah. That...that made sense, somehow. 

After they finished eating, she showed him a few more spots in no particular order. There was a street paved with colorful stones from all over the world, another statue that shot water into the air in a complex pattern, and a hidden little bookshop that she loved going to. She even let him pick out a couple of books, which he really was grateful for. The hours in that cell could be terribly long. After stepping back out into the bright sun, she led him through another series of twists and turns.

“Okay this next one is just, like, really funny but kind of dumb.” She pointed at a tattered poster advertising some sort of concert. “It’s been here for like, two years.” She stifled a laugh.

“That’s...it? It’s just a poster someone forgot to take down. Is it really that funny?” He gave her a confused look, and she burst out laughing, pointing weakly at the man on it.

“Th-there’s just-just something about his face,” she squeezed out before dissolving into another fit of laughter. Erebus just stood there in silent bewilderment, trying to understand why this was so funny to her. The man on the poster did sort of look half-asleep, even though he was supposed to be playing an instrument. Maybe it was the absurdity of Neteri’s amusement, or the sound of her laugh, or the man’s face really was just funny. Whatever the case, Erebus soon realized he was laughing too. He tried to stop, but he just couldn’t help it. Every time he or Neteri stopped, they would look at the stupid outdated poster or one another and completely lose it again.

When they finally both calmed down, Neteri smiled up at him. “You know, I don’t think I’ve heard you laugh before.” 

“Well…” Erebus looked away. “I haven’t exactly had much reason to recently.”

“Yeah no it makes sense I just...it’s nice. You have a nice laugh.” Erebus turned away from the poster. Maybe you’d hear it more if you weren’t experimenting on me.

“What’s next?”

Their final stop was back towards the palace, at the foot of the massive cliff that loomed over the city. By now, the sun was starting to set behind it, and the stones set in it were giving off the faintest light. Along the base was a bustling market, stalls crowded with handmade goods of all kinds and piles of brightly-colored spices lined up one after the other facing the cliff. Neteri wormed her way through the crowd, Erebus awkwardly trying to follow, gripping her hand tightly as he tried to squeeze through gaps she’d fit through easily with her small frame. He was afraid that if he lost her hand, she’d pull him along by that leash, or that if they were separated entirely he’d be punished for trying to escape. 

Thankfully, they made it to the cliff without letting go of each other’s hands. Now that he was closer, Erebus could see that the rock was made up of what looked like grains of sand cemented together. Here and there, large dark green crystals jutted out of the rock. People were laying their hands on them and muttering to themselves, like some sort of odd ritual.

“This is where everyone offers their prayers and energy to the sun,” Neteri explained. She placed her hand on a crystal. “You just touch it and think of whatever prayers or wishes you have and let it take some of your strength in return.” She pointed up at the giant crest of Xerna, barely visible from their vantage point at the base of the cliff. “Everyone’s energy is sent to the sun there, which is what allows it to glow when it’s dark out. The thought is that it sends your prayers up to the actual sun, or whoever you believe in, that way.” She took her hand off the crystal and pointed to it. “Do you want to give it a try?”

“Uh, sure.” Erebus didn’t really think of the sun as a deity, but he figured Drottkia, the Dragon Queen, would still hear him like this. But what exactly did he want to ask? There were a million things he could wish for, but he knew most of them wouldn’t come true. It was useless to wish that another part of him wouldn’t get hacked off and replaced, that he would be set free, but maybe...he placed his hand on the warm crystal. Please, he prayed, please let me go home someday, someday when it’s been long enough that no one remembers me. Someday when no one will recognize me. Even if I’m not free. Even if I’m no longer human. Just let me go home one last time. He felt some of his strength leave him as he prayed, and he quickly took his hand off once he was done, not wanting to be so weakened that he’d need help walking back.

Right. He’d have to go back. Back underground, in that lonely cell away from the sky and the sea, and now with the knowledge that the world outside was getting on just fine without him. He tried to savor every last sight of the city streets as they made their way back to the palace. “Sorry you won’t get to see the Midnight Sun glowing, but I don’t really want to have you out after dark. Maybe some other time.” She squeezed his hand. “Did you have a good day, at least?”

“Yeah. It was cool to see everything and be outside for once. So, uh, thank you.” It felt weird thanking the person who was keeping him captive, but...she didn’t have to take him outside or buy him food and books, and he’d been raised to give gratitude when it was due.

“Of course! Thank you for being so good all day. Let’s head inside now, shall we?” He took one last look over his shoulder as they stepped through the door, one last glimpse of fresh air and freedom and the world outside his own. It closed behind him with loud finality, blocking out the lights and sounds of the city.

The daydream was over, and now it was back to the nightmare.

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