Shattered Sanity

"Then Chris will definitely be able to help you," Sam said as he stood to his feet. He tucked the drawing into his folder, the one he always took when he needed Chris's advice, and placed it in his backpack. "He's got this gift...he's able to bring back memories that people have lost or forgotten about. He's helped me a few times, especially when Roulette manages to make the news and I can't remember anything. Chris has told me exactly how many people died within one night of me being Roulette." Sam looked at the time and motioned towards the door. "His sessions start in an hour. We should go so we can get in."

Ffion didn't really like the idea of leaving the safety of Samuel's property as she thought that one of Jack's goons would grab her and return her to the monster she had finally managed to escape. She wasn't entirely sure she liked the idea of someone digging around in her head either.
"I suppose if it's the only way to get some answers, then by all means, let's go." Ffion tucked her phone in her pocket, and headed outside. She adjusted her jersey, shifting about nervously. "Sam, are you alright with what I told you? I know you're an Assassin, a master... "

"It's fine, Ffion," Sam said as he locked his house, switching his keys over to that of his car as he started walking towards it. "I may be a Master Assassin, but I can detect who's really a Templar. I know the difference between one who chooses that path versus someone who was forced into their Order. My Brotherhood gives people a choice to become one of us, stay a civilian and if they choose that, we have someone erase their memory of us and the Templars or...if they choose to become a Templar...then we have to hunt them. It's how it goes." He opened the driver's side of his car and smiled over at her as he slid inside. "And you, my friend, are no Templar. I can sense that much. Chris will help us reveal everything else. I just hope he can reveal why my visions have surfaced all of a sudden.."

Ffion opened the passenger's door, and slid into the seat before quickly fastening her seatbelt. She still felt guilty about everything she had done during her time with the Templars, and she didn't want to forget it.
"I'd like to keep my memories... I'm not going back to the Templars, that's for sure." Ffion needed to figure out what she was free. The Templars had taught her how to kill, so it only made sense for her to join the Assassins.

For the duration of the drive, Sam was silent. He had withdrawn into his own head, as he'd done many times before. He was thinking, or rather...having a conversation with himself about all this. Even Roulette didn't know what to think and that alone made his head hurt. It only stopped when he pulled into the driveway of Chris's house. "Here we are," he said with a soft sigh, parking his car and turning the engine off. "If he looks at you, try not to say anything. He's usually in read mode at that point." He gave her this instruction like he'd done this before, which would make sense. Sam got out of the car and approached the door, stepping up onto the porch before he gave the door a knock.

"Come in," Chris's familiar voice made Sam feel comfortable and in he went, keeping the door open for Ffion.

Ffion followed Samuel closely, feeling safer at his side. It felt strange, having a door held open for her since it was usually the other way around with her holding the door for everyone. It occurred to her that she had not only been used as a tool or weapon, but a piece of furniture too. She was really starting to like this newfound freedom of hers, especially since Samuel and Roulette treated her like a human.

"Ah, Sam! My favorite customer! What can I do for you today? Another read?" Sam couldn't keep the smile off his lips at Chris's enthusiastic ways and simply shook his head and chuckled.
"It's good to see you too, Chris," he said, avoiding the question for a moment before he looked at Ffion and then back at Chris. He fished out the drawing he'd drawn and laid it on Chris's table. "I'm actually here about..."
"Visions," Sam nodded, not even having to say a word. This guy truly was gifted. "Sit, both of you. And relax while I get some of my things." Chris rose to his feet and scampered off down the hall, leaving the two of them in the living room.

Sam sat down with a soft sigh and motioned to the seat at his side, telling Ffion to do the same. Chris was going to be a while, if Sam knew him.

Ffion sat down beside Samuel, and immediately began fiddling with the sleeves of her jersey. Her fiddling was a nervous habit which she had likely had for some time given the condition of the sleeves. She had one or two of her own questions to ask Chris, one of them was a burning question she'd had for years: what was so special about her bloodline, and who was this great Templar ancestor of hers that the Order wouldn't stop talking about? All she knew was that her ancestor was involved in the crusades, and had flaming hair much like Ffion's. Of course, their main purpose for the visit was to figure out the visions, and to get some of her memories back.

It was about ten minutes before Chris came back, the smell of lavender filling the air around them. The man sat two incense burners on each end of the coffee table that sat between them. In the center of the burning incense, he placed three things, one of which happened to be a crystal ball inside of which it looked like a small storm. Sam leaned over to Ffion, about to explain why the crystal ball when Chris shushed him violently. Sam snapped his jaws shut and sat back upright while Chris stared into the center of the ball, tapping one finger to his own mind before tapping it again to the ball, which seemed to activate it, as the mist inside began to swirl.

Chris soon looked up at Ffion, having had a stronger pull towards her than to Sam today. Then his eyes moved back from hers to the ball, his fingers flexing over its surface. Was he psychic?

Ffion didn't say anything as she remembered Samuel telling her not to speak while Chris was busy. She watched the man before her, trying to figure out if he was a mystic, a psychic, or a run of the mill fraudster. Given that both Ffion and Samuel had abilities, she didn't doubt that Chris had some abilities. It was definitely interesting, and Ffion hoped that this man might actually be able to help them.

Chris studied the ball for a while longer before the center of the fog cleared, the makings of an image appearing inside. The man seemed to sit straight, though never took his fingers off the ball. "Ffion Rees," he said, speaking her full name as though he'd known her all her life even though he'd only just met her and hadn't even been introduced to her yet. "Interesting name." This statement he seemed to mumble to himself as the images shifted again.

It showed her place of birth: Aberystwyth, Wales. Chris looked up at her again, dispelling the images. Sam knew all too well the signs of an oncoming vision. Chris's eyes were starting to squint up as though he were having trouble pinning something down. Immediately, without him looking at it, the ball's center began to swirl in on itself until the vision both Sam and Ffion both had been having lately formed inside. Sam sat forward just a little bit, frowning. Chris wasn't linked with them and neither was his ball. What was going on? As the scenario played out, Chris's gaze never left Ffion's face.

"Interesting," he said once the images left the ball, his fingers drifting off of its surface. He sat back and studied the two. "Both from Britain. One from Wales, the other from London itself. Both abducted, taken from your homes and families. One sold, the other turned into a mere pet." Chris smiled, clapping his hands together. "Oh, this is going to be fun. It's been a long time since I had a connected pairing such as this. Ooh, I can't wait!" Chris shivered in excitement before he turned back to the both of them. "Now then, I can sense you're here for another reason than just a simple vision clarification." Sam spoke, motioning in Ffion's direction.
"She's lost her memories," he said simply. "Go on, Ffion. Tell him."
"Oh, please do," said Chris. "I tend to do a better job if I get the information straight from the person I'll be working with."

Pairing? What exactly did Chris mean by pairing? Did he know something that they didn't? Mere pet. The memories hurt, every second of her life with Jack had been filled with pain. She thought of what Samuel had asked of her, looking between the two of them cautiously.
"When they took me... Apparently I was loud and unruly, constantly crying for mum and dad. Rather than listening to my crying, day in and day out, they decided it would be better to just force me to forget my parents, and my home..." Ffion sat in silence for a moment, thinking very carefully about her own visions. She hoped that Chris could help her. "They experimented on me, and Jack... well... I see things now. Things that were, things that are, and things that have not yet come to pass. It's what made the Templars so successful. Since meeting Samuel, I've been experiencing memories that are not my own, yet feel familiar." She was well aware of the Lord of the Rings reference she had made.

(I love you now XD)

Chris sat in silence, listening to her spin her tale. Once she'd finished speaking, Chris shifted in his seat and closed his eyes. Memory regains," he began slowly, "Are not easy to do. I've done it before, but it usually takes days for it to finally work. The person will experience a few of their memories that they'd lost, sometimes in dreams and others they will simply see something and remember that they had it once." Silence filled the air before he turned to her. "I can help you get them back. And as for the memories that aren't your own but feel familiar...I've dealt with that too. It's got a name for it, but I call it the Relapse, where it feels like you know what the memory is but don't know where it came from or whose it is. Many people come to me with this. It's usually a trait known only to us psychics, which is why most of us carry around a crystal ball. It helps to channel these memories and visions so we can live normally. Well...as normal as possible, anyway."

"Can you help us?" Chris looked up and gave a nod, clapping his hands together again.
"Yes," he said simply, standing to his feet. "I'll need to work with you both separately. Ffion goes first, so I can resurface her memories as well as tap into these Relapse memories. Then it'll be your turn, Sam." Sam nodded and watched as Chris motioned for Ffion to follow him.

Ffion was hesitant to leave Samuel's side, to be left alone with a strange and unfamiliar man. Still, she needed to know what was going on with her and Samuel, and she needed to regain her memories that the Templars had robbed her of. Ffion rose to her feet, and took a few steps towards Chris before freezing in place.

"NO! Let go of him" the woman roared as she tried to get close to the man. A man tightly wrapped his arms around the woman, and hoisted her into the air. The woman watched with tears in her eyes as they tied up her love, escorting him to a large oaktree. She was being carried there too.
"Mister Nathan Fernsby, you have been found guilty of bedding the chief's daughter, and no less than forty-two counts of murder that we know of."
"It wasn't him! He can't control it!" The woman watched in horror as she watched the executioner slip the noose around her lover's neck. "Please, I'm begging you!"
"If you love him so much, then hang by his side!" The men slipped a noose around the woman's neck ash she held her lover's hand for the last time.
"Everything's going to be alright, Charlotte" the man said with a sad smile as he gently stroked her hand. The two were hoisted into the air, their hands clasped tightly together as everything around them faded.

Ffion gasped for air as she held her neck, tears flooding her eyes. She looked back to Samuel before turning back to Chris, following him closely.

Sam frowned when he saw tears in Ffion's eyes. What had she seen? He didn't move from his spot as Chris took her to the session room, where he'd have her relax and where he'd do what he needed to. The second the door clicked shut behind Chris was the second that Sam went rigid, his entire body tensing up. His head pounded, making him grab it and bend forward where he sat. He'd never had this much pain before. Where was it coming from?

"You'll die!" A man screamed, bloodlust in his voice. He cocked his gun and took aim at the man cowering in front of him while in his eyes there was a spark of insanity. He was gone. No longer a man, but a beast that people feared. A killer who took lives without mercy. "You'll die for touching her!"

Ffion looked to the door that led back to Samuel, wondering if he was alright, before turning to face Chris. She needed to regain her memories, to know what was happening with the visions before she could even think of trying to help Samuel.
"So, how does this work" Ffion asked, her voice shaky. She was still trying to recover from what she had seen, and it felt like she had a noose tied around her neck.

"Memory restoration takes a fair bit of time," Chris answered as he set up the incense and poured a glass of weird smelling liquid. Smelt like alcohol but it looked like coconut milk. Matter of fact, the entire thing smelt like coconut with just that hint of alcohol. "And every psychic has their own way of bringing them forward. Mine involves this drink, a little bit of hypnotization and dreams. I will be interacting with you the entire time, which means I will request of you to tell me what it is you're seeing once I put you under the hypnotization. Okay?"

Ffion looked at the drink curiously, wondering what it was. Whatever it was, it smelled delicious, and it resembled what she thought a beach smelled like as she had never been to one. She thought for a moment as to how she would have to describe what she saw to Chris. Perhaps she should tell him what she had seen already?
"I can do that for you."
Ffion pulled some bits of paper from her pocket, gently fiddling with them before handing them to Chris. "I think these might help you. I wrote down everything I've seen since meeting Samuel, as well as some research I've done."

Chris looked over the paper for a moment before he motioned for her to sit down. "These will definitely help," he said with a smile. "Alright, then. Let's get this started. Go ahead and drink that for me. Then I want you to stare into the center of my pendant once I pull it out."

Ffion took the drink from Chris, studying it for a moment before downing it rather quickly. It actually tasted really nice. She set the empty glass aside, and made herself comfortable in her seat, ready to start the process. Ffion still didn't seem to find of someone poking about her head, but it was going to help her, it was going to help the both of them.

When Chris saw that she was relaxed after the drink, he tugged at a leather cord around his neck and pulled up his pendant. It was a crystal, polished to perfection and it seemed to glitter in the light. Chris took it from around his neck and held it up away from him, directly in between them both. While it was in his hand, and without him touching it, the crystal began to swing gently back and forth on its own. It was a gentle swaying motion, one that would put anyone into a trance. After all, the crystal was beautiful.

Ffion watched the pendant for a moment, it's gentle swing motion driving her into a further state of calm. Her body felt light at that moment, with only a slight chill in her neck. For the first time in her life, she was calm. Ffion slowly slipped into a trance, her breathing slow and shallow, much like it was when she slept. The only difference was that her eyes were still open.

Chris looked her over for a moment before he slipped the pendant back around his neck and sat forward in his chair. "Hear my voice and do exactly as I tell you," he said, keeping his voice at a mellow, soft tone to not interfere with his trance. "You're going to block out every single sound except for my voice and your own breathing and heartbeat." Chris stood long enough to touch Ffion's forehead with a gentle finger. He slowly slid it across and did the same thing going from her bangs to the bridge of her noise. He was creating a star pattern on her forehead, which would help to pull in her lost memories. "Now, tell me what it is you see. What do you smell? Feel? Hear?" He wanted to see if, possibly, one of her memories had come back this quickly. Some people didn't need to be in the trance for too long, but everyone was different. He wanted to see just how different Ffion was so he could better help her.

In her head, Ffion could hear the laughter of children, and she could clearly smell candyfloss as well as freshly baked cakes. She felt a very light breeze on her face, and a slight sensation of her being moved.
"It's my birthday" Ffion said quietly. "My parents took me to Borth to go to the carnival. I'm on the merry-go-round. Mum's gone to get something to eat, dad left to go get some coffee. He hadn't been getting much sleep because of the case." Ffion took a deep breath to try remain calm. Of course she would remember the day she was taken... it was the only memory she had from her childhood. Hardly anyone could remember anything from that young an age. However, it was nice to see her mother and father once again. "There's a man... he says his son loves carnivals too. He gave me some sweets which made me tired... I can't see anything anymore."

Chris shifted, eager that she'd actually found a memory. "Hold onto your mom and dad," he urged. "And tell me what else you see." He'd snap her out of the trance once he'd helped her regain more of her lost memories, if there were any more.