Chapter 29: Chapter 12: What is Therapy?
Alphonse followed the woman to the back room and looked around. The room is a decent size, around 300sqft, with several shelves each has various bottles and herbs. in the left corner is a bed that has a tan blanket on it. Near the center of the room is a single chair and on the right wall is a desk with various glass objects.
"So what exactly happened?" Huang Fei asked.
"A sort of relapse... I'd rather forget." Alphonse said as he entered the room. Huang Fei motioned to the bed as she sat in the chair. Alphonse walked to the bed.
"What do you mean by relapse? It can mean different things based on what you relapsed." Huang Fei asked as Alphonse climbed onto the bed and sat there.
"Memories... Terrible memories..." Alphonse said as he trembled a little.
"Alright, well there are two routes we can go about this, you talk about them or I go into your mind and view them, the latter will be more painful as it will be like you are reenacting your entire life." Huang Fei stated. Alphonse hesitated before speaking.
"I would rather neither..." Alphonse said.
"Unfortunately I have to use one method or the other, Xiao Shi is expecting you to get better, even if only a little." Huang Fei said.
"I can only remember the major parts, my being underfed, pain, and..." Alphonse stopped as his expression became grim.
"Sounds like we have to use the other method then." Huang Fei said.
"No. I don't want to go through it... Not again..." Alphonse said as he slowly moved his hands to his head.
"If you can't talk about at least most of it now, then you won't get better, it'll be faster the other way." Huang Fei stated blandly as she shrugged. Alphonse began to curl up into a ball just thinking about recovering and reliving his memories. Huang Fei stood up and grabbed a small ring from the shelf.
The ring is silver with a dark blue gem encased in it. The gem looks like a flower with only two petals. "Sorry, but I have expectations to uphold, and I need better cultivation materials." Huang Fei said. Alphonse had already fully curled into a ball as Huang Fei put the ring on her finger.
She placed her hand over Alphonse and the gem began to glow as both hers and Alphonse's vision began to fade. When their vision came to they were in the first-person perspective of someone else, unable to control the body they are now seeing through.
The life of a boy named Mathew flew past both Alphonse's and Huang Fei's eyes, and when that lifetime finished, Alphonse's began, flashing through the memories of pain, agony, and loss.
Once all the memories had accumulated into the moment they stand Huang Fei stood with a shocked expression while Alphonse continued to lay in a ball as his eyes became teary, angry, and devoid of hope.
"Impossible... You regained memories at such a young age... But... None of them... You died... How did...?" Huang Fei said as her expression slowly changed from shock to confusion.
Alphonse continued laying there as he began to cry. Huang Fei exited the room and went to the waiting room. "Something wrong? You look confused." Huang Xiang asked.
"Xiang ge, I would like to speak with you. Xiao Shi, please wait here." Huang Fei said. Huang Xiang nodded and followed Huang Fei to the storage room behind the desk.
"Does it have something to do with the kid?" Huang Xiang asked.
"He has memories of his past life, what's weirder is that he got them at the age of one and it barely had any effect on his personality. He was already very similar to the person in his past life anyway, but still." Huang Fei said."
"Strange, I had a beast-man from the same, or a similar, tribe come in and they also had memories of their previous life." Huang Xiang said.
"First of all, clan, not tribe, second of all, what was their lifetime like, future or past?" Huang Fei asked.
"Future, some sort of place without cultivation." Huang Xiang said.
"Same for this boy, though his new life has been terrible. He died twice and got resurrected by something called an angel." Huang Fei said.
"Do you know what an angel is?" Huang Xiang asked. Huang Fei nodded.
"I looked at the boy's memories, so I have a decent understanding of angels. A being created by 'God' who is the creator of the world as well as the universe, etc. Angels are practically messengers, but they can also hold more power than just that." Huang Fei said.
"Stop there. This implies mortals can't reach godhood, correct?" Huang Xiang asked.
"I suppose... We can become 'godlike' to humans, but never reach the power of God. I think that is what it is. Anyway, this boy could definitely use some help to get rid of what the era he came from would refer to PTSD." Huang Fei said.
"What's the best way, did his memories tell you?" Huang Xiang asked.
"There are several things that can help, but something called 'therapy' is supposed to help a decent bit, time can also help him recover, though he will never be able to truly be free of his memories, he can only really get over them, and even then..." Huang Fei said.
"How does therapy work?" Huang Xiang asked.
"Talking?" Huang Fei said questioningly.
"You aren't sure, are you? Whatever, we can call it a 'new' branch of alchemy and use it for our profit, I doubt the boy will tell anyone that therapy isn't alchemical." Huang Xiang said.
"Alright, we can talk to Xiao Shi about it then, we can tell him I came up with it and that no one else knows how to help someone with therapy." Huang Fei said. Huang Xiang nodded as they both left the storage room.
"Leader Shi, I have been informed by my sister that a new form of alchemy, invented by her, is needed to remedy the boy's condition." Huang Xiang said.
"It is called therapy." Huang Fei said.
"What is therapy?" Xiao Shi asked.
"It is a form of medicine that helps with psychological things. Things such as trauma or overly emotionally stimulating events, after all, people's minds, no matter the race, can only take so much." Huang Fei said.
"What is the medicine?" Xiao Shi asked.
"Something which requires appointments, we can set up a plan. A certain number of days a week, and a certain amount of time each day. The process is simple, but it takes time, and with what his memories look like, it is something that can't be cured, but the impact can be lessened by quite a lot." Huang Fei said.
"Do you think it will hinder his cultivation?" Xiao Shi asked.
"If left unattended, his mind will become like a warzone where he is constantly battling with himself, his memories can resurface from simple phrases that seem harmless, but remind him of his past. He has something I call PTSD. Essentially, he has been through many, many, traumatic events, these events have caused several things to happen to his mind, it is hard to explain as I only have a few recorded cases, and this could be useful for research purposes." Huang Fei said.
"I see, then two times a week, and as payment, I will give you two spirit condenser pills a week." Xiao Shi said. Huang Fei eagerly agreed. "Today can be the first treatment, I will bring him again in two days, as for the length of each, one hour should suffice, yes?" Xiao Shi asked.
"Yes, just come back in an hour and pick him up, and remember, his mind is still in a bad place, he can become stressed easily, which can lead to heart attacks, strokes, vomiting, headaches, anxiety, being or feeling overwhelmed, loneliness which can lead to self-isolation and loss of willpower, leading him to not want to do anything, and remember, these are just some of the symptoms which can appear at the drop of a hat." Huang Fei said.
"Okay, you have my gratitude, Huang Fei." Xiao Shi said as he left. After around half an hour Xiao Shi knocked on Sarah's door. Sarah answered.
"What is it that you need, sect leader?" Sarah asked.
"I've been curious, what is your relationship with Alphonse, you are both of the same clan, some of the few left, but you seem to have large amounts of hostility towards him." Xiao Shi asked.
"Would you like to come in? It'll be easier to explain with a cup of tea." Sarah said. After a few minutes, Sarah walked over to the table with a clay jug and two cups of tea. "A lot of stuff happened in our clan... A few generations ago we had some traitors who started a sect that was attempting to exterminate the entire clan." Sarah started her explanation.
"What does this have to do with you and Alphonse?" Xiao Shi asked.
"I'll get to that part, this was a contributing factor. The constant extermination attempts caused our entire clan to become quite stressed and live in fear, that is... Until Raeloph took command, everyone saw him as a beacon of hope who could fight off the Mu Yu sect... Later he became a reclusive man, the only time the civilians would see him was when a battle broke out between the sect and our clan." Sarah continued explaining.
"What caused this shift in what I would assume is otherwise a charismatic person?" Xiao Shi asked.
"My guess? Awakening, it's a racial feat that has a chance of making the user go insane, but the power gained from it is quite large, so generally, it's worth the risk especially in wartime... I... Don't know what happened fully as this all happened before I was born and when I was really young. When I was six, Raeloph put my father up for execution unjustly, I was being unfair as well, pushing Raeloph's actions onto Alphonse..." Sarah said with a somber tone.
"So you were pushing the actions of the father onto the son?" Xiao Shi asked.
"Partly... As it turns out, when Raeloph went insane, he became a bad and abusive father, so my father tried to help Raeloph's children escape from Raeloph, that's why he was executed. I was thinking 'If Alphonse, Cedra, and Edrit hadn't sent that letter, then he would still be here,' it was wrong of me to think that. I was just angry and looking to blame someone, but if I have anyone to blame for his death, it would be Raeloph and my father himself." Sarah said somberly with a slightly strained voice.
"I see... Then, do you know what PTSD is? One of the alchemists said that Alphonse has it." Xiao Shi asked. Sarah looked a little shocked because of the question.
"Where did you learn what PTSD is?" Sarah asked.
"That didn't answer my question, but I learned it from Huang Fei, an alchemist." Xiao Shi responded.
"I do know what it is, I visited Huang Xiang earlier today, I must've heard it while I was there or something." Sarah said lightly. "Please excuse me, there is something I need to do." Sarah said dully as she stood up. She bowed slightly and left the building.
"She knows more than she lets on." Xiao Shi mumbled.
'I should speak to this Huang Fei person, they are likely to have memories from a previous life if they know about PTSD.' Sarah thought to herself as she walked through the sect. After a little under twenty minutes, Sarah reached the alchemist shop she had visited earlier.
She walked in and was greeted by Huang Xiang. "Hello, what can I do for you?" He asked.
"I am looking for Huang Fei." Sarah responded.
"She is currently dealing with a patient, please wait. I will let her know that you are waiting for her." Huang Xiang said as he stood up and walked over to the other room.
...
"Let's start..." Huang Fei said lightly as she sat down and looked at Alphonse. "How would you describe yourself?" Huang Fei asked. Alphonse didn't respond. "How are you feeling right now?" Huang Fei asked.
"Like a hundred thousand swords were stabbed into my body in an instant." Alphonse said quietly with a scratchy voice.
"How would you describe your thoughts right now?" Huang Fei asked without response. Things played out similarly for forty minutes until Alphonse sat up. "Are you ready to answer some questions?" Huang Fei asked. Alphonse nodded hesitantly.
"I... Don't want to... But I take it I have to..." Alphonse said coarsely.
"Overall, how would you describe your mood?" She asked.
"Pain, regret, misery, fury, grief, and fear..." Alphonse listed.
"Not quite what I meant, but good information to have. If you could change one part of how your current life is, what would it be?" She asked as she wrote something down.
"I would..." Alphonse said as his eyes became teary. "I would be here with my twin..." Alphonse said as he held back his tears. Huang Fei continued to write notes. Similar questions were asked for the next few minutes and Alphonse would answer. After a total of around ten minutes, the door opened.
"Huang Fei, someone would like to speak with you." Huang Xiang said.
"Okay, tell them to wait out there, I'll be out in a few minutes." Huang Fei responded. Huang Xiang nodded and closed the door. "Who is Prism to you?" Huang Fei asked.
"A friend... Without her... I probably would've gone insane after-" Alphonse paused.
"If you don't want to talk about it now, we can wait." Huang Fei said.
...
Huang Xiang walked back to the desk. "She'll be out soon." He said. Sarah nodded and waited. After a few minutes, Huang Fei exited the room.
"He needs to wait a few minutes, he's probably tired after being bombarded with questions. Is that the person who's waiting for me?" Huang Fei asked while pointing to Sarah. Huang Xiang nodded.
"I have a few questions." Sarah said.
"Alright, ask away." Huang Fei said.
"Do you have memories from a previous life?" Sarah asked.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
EldurJaalind
EldurJaalind Slowly, the story is coming together, slowly... Also, we are nearing the end of the volume! Soon enough we will be on volume three!
Anyway! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone