TW: going to inner world, denial

Chapter 14- A Long Road (Kiri, Astra, Aya, Elsa)

Kiri sighed heavily, letting herself relax. Elsa had managed to kill Nassiri and free all of them from the woman's influence. She was really impressed. Looking back on her early days as an altar, Kiri couldn't help but feel guilty for her spiteful behavior. It was shameful, really. It wasn't Elsa's fault that Kiri and the others had been created and yet Kiri was a, well, bitch to her. Kiri hoped she was making up for it now. Going to Elsa's room, she looked to the clock. It was going on 10 p.m. and it was about time to rest for the night. Kiri laid down on Elsa's bed and closed her eyes, falling into the void of the inner world. It had been quite some time since she had been to the castle. Kiri knew which way it was and made it there within minutes. She walked in and sat on the couch, seeing Aya sitting in the chair opposite her. She was listening to music, wearing her usual black hoodie. Kiri could see blonde bangs and realized that this was the first time she had ever seen Aya's hair.

"She needs to calm down or she could get hurt," that was Astra. But who was she talking to? Kiri thought and realized it was Arcy, knowing that Arcy always talked in the third person. "Let's get her to the living room where she can play safely."

"Can she sit on your wings again? They're so soft and fluffy!"

"Of course she can," Astra laughed. Something about the angel's laugh was soothing and musical. "Oh, hey Kiri. How are things with Diane?"

"Who is she talking to?" Arcy ruffled Astra's feathers.

"Just an imaginary friend. Everyone has one, even the white angel." Astra laid on her stomach on the floor, leaving Arcy on her back undisturbed.

"Things are going good. Diane is relieved beyond all belief that Nassiri is gone. I was explaining the complexities of the inner world to her when you gave us the news. I must say, I'm rather impressed by our Snowflake. She's shown us just how strong she can be."

"How what who now?" Elsa walked down the stairs, rubbing her eyes. She had her crutch under her good arm. Elsa's left hip, right arm and head were still injured.

"We're so proud of you, Elsa!" Kiri smiled. "And I'm impressed with how strong you can be. You took down Nassiri on your own."

"Oh, that. I'd…rather not talk about it." Elsa looked down and walked to the kitchen.

Kiri raised an eyebrow and looked to Astra. "She probably feels like she killed herself," Astra whispered.

Kiri nodded. "So how is our Snowflake feeling?"

"I'm so freaking hungry I could eat an entire cow!" Elsa replied from the fridge. She closed the doors, arms full of food.

"Let me help you with that before you drop some," Kiri went to Elsa and grabbed some of the food. "I'd be starving if I hadn't eaten in as long as you have." She walked with Elsa to the dining table and laid the food down. "How does your head feel?"

"Like there are a zillion tiny balls rapidly bouncing back and forth in it. My hip is way painful and my elbow is just numb now. Can I eat now?"

Kiri let a tiny smile lift the corners of her lips. "Sure." She couldn't blame Elsa for being irritable. She'd been through way too much to be in a good mood when waking up. Kiri returned to her place on the couch, fixing her black silk gown. "So does Arcy always hang onto you like that?"

Astra, playing peekaboo with Arcy using her wings, poked her head out from behind the feathers. "Yeah, but I don't mind. Arcy finds sanctuary in it and it makes her feel safe. As a guardian angel, that's all I can wish for." She ducked her head back down and shook her wings, making Arcy laugh.

"Arcy sure is strange. Any reason she talks the way she does?"

"Nope," spoke the feathers. "It's just the way she is. I think it's kinda cute."

Aya raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. Who was Kiri talking to? Who had she gone to help in the kitchen? Was Kiri going insane? Aya shook her head, got up from the chair and went to her room. It was time she wrote some more poems. What would she write about this time? Ayalah looked out her window for a few minutes, trading topics back and forth. She lightly tapped on the windowsill, debating. Maybe she could write about the time she was in class and the others had ridiculed her? No, too cliché. Maybe she could just listen to some music. Music was always a good go to. Aya took down her hoodie and brushed her blonde hair, going slowly and carefully. She took pride in the fact that her hair had no split ends. It was meticulous but worth it.

She braided her hair and placed the hoodie back over her head. Going to a bookcase by the bed, she fingered through the c.d.'s she had. Maybe some Xandria. Diann always had such a beautiful voice. She was operatic and yet could belt out a killer rock star verse with no problem. A perfect mix. Anna came in the room, annoying Aya. Didn't Anna know how to knock? What if she had been undressing? Aya turned to the red head and blinked.

"I'm so glad you're here, Aya! I was so bored earlier! No one wants to listen to me!"

In all fairness, Aya didn't want to either. She just wanted to relax and be on her own. But she didn't dare say anything. So Aya just put the c.d. in and laid back on her bed.

"So, I was out in the park earlier and I came across a family of ducks. It was the cutest thing! The mama duck was trying to teach the babies how to swim. One of the ducklings was having a hard time and he kept just flipping in the water. Every time his little butt went up, I saw his little feet just waddling through the air! It was adorable! I got it on video!" Anna pulled out a camera and played the video.

Okay, this was adorable. Who didn't love ducklings? They were just cheeping little balls of featherfluff. Aya smiled a little, watching the little duck go upside down and paddle his webbed feet through the air.

"See? Isn't it just the cutest! Yet no one wants to see it," Anna sighed. "I guess this is just a little treasure that we can share when we need to cheer up, right?"

Aya sighed and ruffled Anna's hair. Anna was eccentric but she meant well. Aya watched her leave, a little surprised when she closed the door. Well, that was a cute little moment. Worth the intrusion.

Elsa sighed as she devoured all the food she had grabbed. The whole fight with Nassiri still felt surreal, as if it was only a dream. Yet she had done it. The bloody clothes were in her hamper and the presence of hate was gone. Had Elsa killed herself in a way? After all, Nassiri was a part of her. There was a huge wave of guilt, but why? Nassiri was purposely trying to ruin her life and everyone else's. Maybe it was guilt over having taken a life? Her parent's had taught her that violence was never the answer. Yet, that had been the answer for the situation. Why was this so conflicting?! Elsa had single handedly rid them all of a horrible person and she was feeling bad about it. This was frustrating. She wanted to talk about it but at the same time she just wanted to be left alone. 'Had I have known I'd feel like this after killing Nassiri, I wouldn't have done it. I would have let someone else take care of her,' Elsa frowned, now pushing her food around with the fork. Why was life so full of conflict? She tried to distract herself with thoughts of school. What grade was she in again? What school was she in? It had been such a long time since Elsa had been in the real world, that she didn't really know the answers anymore. Was that supposed to happen? Now that Elsa thought about it, she couldn't recall a lot of things. Where was her father? And her pet? Did she have any friends? Elsa stood and cleaned her plate off, going to her room. Thoughts were fluttering around her like butterflies in a butterfly net. Did that make sense? It made sense to her. When would her injuries heal? How had she gotten them again? She leaned her crutch on the wall as she laid down on her stomach on the bed. A deep depression settled over her as she went through her memories. There were so many gaps in time that she couldn't explain. What was this bizarre place she was in anyway? She couldn't remember it in any way. Was this just some strange continuation of a dream? Confusion swirled together with depression and made Elsa more frustrated. Snowflakes started forming in the room and gently falling down. She looked up as a snowflake landed on her hand. "And then there's this…" Elsa sighed. Her powers. This was something that no one in the family could explain. And it was the source of all of her problems. Couldn't she just wish it all away and have a normal life? "Is it too much to ask to be normal? I don't want these powers or weird dreams of people I don't know." She plopped her head onto her pillow with a groan.

Astra, who had just laid Arcy down for a nap, had walked by Elsa's room on the way out. She'd overheard part of it, as Elsa hadn't closed the door all the way. "Oh dear, this isn't good." She moved fiery red hair from her eyes and walked downstairs. "Kiri, we seem to have a problem."

"What is it?"

"I think Elsa has relapsed into denial. I just heard her talking about us in her room. She thinks we're a dream. I fear the thing with Nassiri caused this." The angel sat in the chair opposite the couch and crossed her legs. Worry shone in her emerald eyes.

Kiri let out a heavy sigh and rubbed her eyes. "All we can do is report it to Dina when we go in next. She'll know what to do." Kiri frowned, Astra nodding. This was going to be a long recovery.

Hello everyone! How are you guys doing? I'm doing, meh. I had two teeth pulled out on 7/21 so my mouth is in a lot of pain. But I write on for my faithful readers! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. As you can tell, things are getting interesting. Join me as I take our favorite people on a little ride!