I am so sorry for the long wait for a new chapter. I've been really struggling with my own bipolar disorder and trying to deal with it until my insurance goes through and I can get treatment. I hope this makes up for it. The next few chapters are going to focus on the alters lives. So enjoy this glimpse into their daily lives!

TTW: bipolar mania, psychosis, physical/visual hallucinations

Chapter 25- Roller Coaster (Ayalah)

Aya was feeling great. There was nothing she couldn't do. But the workout room wasn't really doing it for her. She wanted…more. But what more? She paced around for a good 20 minutes before deciding to go on a run through the park of the inner world. Aya changed into a light hoodie, yoga pants and running shoes. She grabbed her phone, ear phones and left the castle. She wanted to be a model but needed to lose some weight first. Aya ran laps around the park, guessing the distance was around 1.37 miles. She stopped to get something to eat and appreciated the view from her bench. She could see the lake where the duck family was, the aspen and weeping willow trees and the bridge that went over a narrow part of the lake. It seemed like just yesterday that this whole place was nothing more than a blank space with a few beds and now it was like a cozy little community.

Ayalah threw out her trash and began the run. Running was invigorating and gave her a sense of freedom. There was peace and quiet, no other people to bother her. She was free in her own thoughts and ideals. The world was so vivid in color and life.

The sky seemed to be a mixture of deep, bright blues, the clouds looked so white they could have been made of fluff. The grass was the color green that you see on easter eggs and in books. Running over the bridge, the waters of the lake were so serene and clear that it could have been mistaken for just a little dip in the ground. It seemed like in no time, Aya had run around the park at least a few times. Not even winded but wanting a change of scenery, she turned to head back to the castle. Along the way, Aya stopped at the store to get hair dye. She wanted to be a red head like Nia was.

Aya wasn't sure if Nia knew, but Aya looked up to her. Astrania was strong, supportive, smart, wise and beautiful; everything Aya wanted to be. Even if Nia didn't know, Aya wanted to show appreciation somehow. She walked into the little shop, grabbed a hand basket and headed for the hair products aisle. The two shades that seemed closest to Nia's hair color were "Crimson Glamour" and "Sunburst Auburn." Unable to decide, Aya put both in the basket. Now she needed color protectant shampoo, a brush and scissors. Aya also picked up a hair dye brush and bowl for easier dying. Nia's bangs had a really gorgeous style and her hair was a little past her shoulders. It was really beautiful and Aya loved it.

Happily humming and feeling like she had wings on her back (incidentally like Nia,) she headed back to the castle. Life was great and nothing could bring her down. Aya skipped through the front doors, twirled around and smiled.

"You seem in good spirits, Aya," Nia smiled to her.

Aya acknowledged her with a nod and skipped to her room. The great thing about this castle was that everyone had their own bathroom in their room. Which in turn meant she could lock her doors and do her hair uninterrupted. Aya placed her things on the bathroom counter and peeked out of her room quickly to compare the shades she had with Nia's color. It seemed that Crimson Glamour was closer. With a nod, she closed and locked the door. Once back in the bathroom, Aya sectioned her hair off and began mixing the dye. Ahe hummed, imagining how she would look as a red head. It was a rather pleasant image in her mind. Would Nia understand the gesture? Aya hoped so. The dye was cold as she brushed it onto her hair. It took about 45 minutes but Aya managed to cover every strand of her hair. How long was it supposed to soak? She read the sheet again and set her phone timer for 35 minutes. While she waited, Aya drew her heart out. Instead of the usual demons she drew, the pages were filled with illustrations of animals and fashion designs. It seemed to be just a few minutes and a few pages when the timer went off.

Humming along, Aya undressed and got in the shower. The water seemed to be blood as she washed the excess dye from her hair. That took about another 40 minuites. Once done, she wrapped the towel around herself and began to trim her hair. Aya blow dried her hair and fluffed it, shaking loose any trimmed hair that might have stuck to her. Looking in the mirror, she nodded and felt beautiful. Aya chose to do a natural make up just to accent her features and went to her closet. Strangely enough, she didn't want to wear her usual hoodie and jeans. Instead, she chose a pastel blue and purple swirl sun dress that Anna had gotten her as a surprise present a while back. She put it on, pinned her hair half up and left the room.

"KYAAAAAAAAAA!" Anna practically flew to Aya and hugged her. "YOU LOOK SO BEAUTIFUL AYALAH, OH MY GOD! GUYS, COME SEE THIS!"

Kiri sighed, rubbing her eyes as she walked into the hallway to the bedrooms. "Why are you screami-" Her jaw dropped seeing Ayalah. "Whoa. You look amazing!"

Nia was tilting her head at Aya, smiling proudly. "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and you do it beautifully, Aya. It's really touching that you look up to me so much."

Aya's smile was ear to ear and felt like her head would snap off at the jaw. Nia could tell! In a burst of energy, she ran and gave Nia the tightest hug she could.

Elsa was staring, bewildered. "Wow, that's unlike you, Aya. Are you okay? Granted I like seeing you this happy, it just seems odd."

"Dina suspects that Aya is bipolar, though she hasn't had enough time to narrow down which type yet," Nia replied.

"She looks like you, Nia. She looks pretty," Arcy piped up from her usual place under Nia's wings. "What's her name, Nia?"

"That's Ayalah, Arcy. She's a dear friend of mine. Does she like her?"

"Arcy does! Arcy trusts your judgement."

Everyone smiled. Aya tilted her head, seeing a fuzzy shape around Nia. Kiri smiled and patted Arcy's head. Was Arcana getting better with talking? Aya let go of Nia and spun around, almost laughing out loud. She took a selfie with Anna and Elsa and skipped to the kitchen. She wanted to sit by the pool and just relax. But once she did sit, Aya felt very restless. Her feet kept twitching and her fingers were tapping. She got up and paced around. All this energy and the work out room and run had done nothing to make a dent in it. She felt like she was lost in a restless body that wasn't hers. Her arms were getting increasingly itchy and it was incredibly irritating. No matter how much she scratched, the itch just got worse. It was like a rash under her skin that she couldn't get rid of. Maybe it was some sort of weird reaction to the hair dye?

She felt like there was something in her hair and frantically ruffled every strand, unsuccessful in shaking the feeling. Her mood was shifting into straight agitation with these physical sensations she couldn't get rid of. Strange sounds caught her attention now and she turned to see bizarre and terrifying creatures emerge from the forest behind the castle. Bodies contorted in inhuman ways, eyes glowing with lavender death, gnarly long claws, under bites filled with jagged fangs, every inch of their figure covered in a sludgy material. Sheer terror filled every cell of Aya's body. They made eye contact with her before she bolted inside and locked the doors. All the doors and windows were closed and locked, but still she could feel their eyes. Aya heard the scratching of their claws on the walls of the castle, trying to get to her. What were they? Why were they coming for her?

Nia was sitting in her chair, watching Aya cautiously. It seemed Aya's good mood was caused by an episode of mania that had just started. "Oh dear, we need the right people to be able to deal with this while she's here," she stood and walked to Kiri in the dining room. "Keep an eye on Ayalah. I think she's hitting a psychotic mania. I'm going to make some changes to the inner world for her safety." Kiri nodded. "Don't touch her or say anything. Keep a safe distance unless absolutely necessary. We don't want to make this worse." And with that, Nia walked to her room and left through the window. She flew to an empty space in the park and waved her hands around. Her fingers started glowing as a building slowly took shape. What she was making was a mental health institution. But how would she create the doctors? Once the building was done, Nia sat and concentrated all her energy into splitting a part of herself to make a medical doctor. The sun was setting when she finally managed to do it.

Dizzy and weak, Nia stood and looked to the split doctor of herself. "Come, get Ayalah...Mania, psychosis...She needs help..." She shuffled her way back to the castle, her twin following silently.

They didn't have far to go before Aya came rushing out of the castle, tears streaming down her face and fright making her so pale she could have been dead.

"Easy there," Nia's split self gently stopped Aya. "We can go somewhere safe where they can't get you."

Aya looked to this doctor who was identical to Nia, stared behind her and then jumped onto the doctor. She clung to her, hoping the angel would fend off the demons.

"Lani...Your name, is Lani..." Nia huffed as she took the last few strides to the castle. "Take, care of her..." Nia made it inside and flumped on her chair. "Taken...care of..." And she promptly passed out.

Aya clung to the angel, shaking violently. Tears streamed down her face, soaking the woman's shirt.

Lani stroked her hair. "Everything is alright, Aya. I won't let anything happen to you. Whatever it is you're seeing, it won't get us."

Aya was shaking so badly that it was shaking Lani. The creatures were slowly shambling after them, as if all of their limbs were broken and they were struggling to walk in zero gravity. She tried to turn her eyes away from them but they only got closer. They entered a new building and to Aya's relief, the creatures seemed unable to open the doors. The downfall of horrors was not having thumbs to open doors. But still, the physical sensations, the sounds of the creatures trying to dig their way in and the feeling of those slim, vertical eyes upon her made her paranoid. She was given something to eat and drink and felt a prick in her arm. Before long, she was sound asleep.

"Take your rest, Aya. I'll watch over you." Lani smiled as she sat by Aya's bed.

Thanks you so much for your patience! I have a brand new tablet pc which makes writing much less intimidating to me (a recent thing I've found. The laptop just seems to be too much to write on sometimes.) I do plan to do more updating on this and my original story, so thank you so much for your patience. Thanks for reading/faving/following! See you next chapter!