Chapter 9 – Bipolar Disorder

The night had been one of the longest of Envy's life.

They'd gotten back to the hotel without incident and chained the door shut. Leaving Sara to keep an eye on it just in case Elmina made a break away, Envy and Ed had taken the dark haired girl into the bedroom and sat her down on the bed. Her crying had finally ceased and her expression had shifted inexplicably from distraught to curious.

"Mina, I want you to explain to us what happened," Ed told her slowly, watching her with a serious expression. Envy stood back observing the two of them. After his daughter's adverse reaction to him earlier he was reluctant to step in and possibly make things worse. Elmina blinked at the golden haired man.

"Uncle Ed, why is Winry here? I thought she needed to be back at the shop?" her tone was puzzled and her words were unusually rushed sounding, almost making her difficult to understand. Both men stared at her with blank expressions. Upon seeing their reaction Elmina frowned. "What?" she demanded, a little defensive. It was a moment before her uncle was able to come up with a response.

"Mina," Ed began carefully, "Winry isn't here," his expression was guarded. Elmina's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Yes she is," she protested, "You left her standing out by the door," she sounded a little indignant. Envy stared at his daughter, thrown for a loop. Was she hallucinating? Then a thought occurred to him.

"Elmina… that's Sara, not Winry," he told her, watching her uneasily. He wasn't sure if that was really the mix up, but his daughter was definitely out of it and Sara did bear some resemblance to her mother. Elmina's gaze moved to him, clearly confused. She opened her mouth to say something and then hesitated. She blinked as if she'd lost her train of thought. Then her gaze shifted back to Edward.

"Winry has a lot to do. She needs to go back. AJ can't handle things all by himself," her tone was concerned. Edward glanced back at Envy and they shared a look. Clearly this conversation wouldn't be going anywhere fast.

"No, don't worry about it. I'm sure AJ has everything under control," Edward told her finally. Elmina shook her head stubbornly, clearly not buying it one bit.

"No he can't! It's too much for one person to handle," her tone was adamant.

The two of them had continued attempting to convince her to drop the subject of Winry, but they were unsuccessful. It didn't take long for Elmina to get fed up with them. She rose to her feet and stormed out of the room, brushing off their half-hearted attempts to stop her. They were reluctant to try forcefully restraining her unless absolutely necessary. They didn't want to provoke her into lashing out violently again.

Luckily for them the dark haired girl had been simply content to walk out to see Sara, immediately launching into a lecture at her for leaving her 'son' behind in Resembool to deal with everything on his own. The Luminescent Alchemist had stared at her with a very confused expression throughout her rant, not at all sure how to respond.

"Well? Are you going to go back and help him or not?" Elmina demanded, finally coming to the end of her lecture.

"Uh…" Sara searched for a reply rather unsuccessfully. How was one supposed to respond to something like this? It was Envy who stepped in to intervene.

"She'll be going back first thing in the morning. She can't go right now because it's too late to catch any trains," he explained firmly. If she couldn't be talked out of her irrational beliefs, then playing along with them for the time being was likely the best bet. Elmina turned to stare at him for a moment, clearly pondering his words. Finally she nodded, appearing satisfied with this answer.

The night had continued on in a similarly bizarre manner. Elmina absolutely refused to sleep. Even when they managed to talk her into lying down she wouldn't stay still for more than a few minutes before she was up and about, rambling away about something they could barely follow. She would occasionally grow irritated with their apparent stupidity, but her attention span was short enough that she soon forgot why she'd been frustrated in the first place. Occasionally there would be a shift in her mood and she'd become extremely confused and distraught. Inconsolable tears would soon follow. But these crying fits only lasted a short time before she was abruptly back to her chatty, inquisitive self. She attempted to leave the room several times, both through the door as well as the bedroom window. But despite the locks on each of them being on the inside, they seemed to frustrate her enough that she'd give up and forget why she'd had the sudden desire to attempt to leave in the first place.

This went on until morning. Finally Edward, Sara and Envy had agreed to take shifts watching her while one of them grabbed an hour or so of rest. Unlike Elmina, they were all bordering on exhausted. It was rather astounding how energetic she continued to be. Sara's attempt to occupy her with a card game had ended in her sitting back and watching her cousin in puzzlement as it became clear that the dark haired girl had no concept of following rules and was quite happy to make up how the game should go as she went. When morning finally came it found Elmina seated on the couch in the living room attempting to deconstruct an alchemically constructed puzzle that Edward had whipped up in a final desperate attempt to keep her occupied. Despite her short attention span, she'd actually remained focused on it for almost half an hour.

There was a knock on the door. Envy's head snapped up, jerking him out of his slight doze. He was seated in the chair across from his daughter. Edward was grabbing a bit of rest and the green haired man had sent Sara down to grab some breakfast for herself. He rose to his feet and started across the room towards the door. He pulled it open and was a little startled to come face to face with his wife. AJ was standing behind the dark haired woman. Elsie took one look at her husband and her expression deteriorated.

"We're too late?" she asked in alarm, more of a statement than a question. Envy nodded grimly. There were a number of questions he wanted answers to.

"What do you know about those creatures?" he demanded, "They did something to her," there was an edge to his voice. Elsie's expression grew guarded.

"What do you mean? Is she alright?"

"It's like she's lost her mind! Yesterday she was running around in the middle of traffic. She didn't sleep at all last night and she won't keep quiet for more than five minutes at a stretch. And for some reason she's convinced that Sara is Winry. What is going on with our daughter?!" he sounded like he was at his wit's end. Elsie grew pale, staring at him with wide eyes. It was a moment before she found her voice.

"Let me in," she said finally. Envy moved aside and she strode past him into the sitting area followed by AJ. Elmina glanced up in surprise.

"Mom?" she asked, and then her gaze landed on the brown haired mechanic behind the older woman and she gasped. "What are you going here? Who's looking after the shop?" she rose to her feet abruptly, clearly alarmed. AJ blinked, a little taken off guard.

"Uh…mom is. She wanted me to go with Elsie and make sure she got here safely," he explained, eyeing the dark haired girl uncertainly. Elmina's gaze grew extremely confused.

"B-but…she just went downstairs a few minutes ago," she protested weakly. There was a troubled expression on her face. AJ frowned, opening his mouth to reply when Envy cut him off.

"Don't bother," he advised tiredly, "There's no point." Elsie stared at her daughter for a moment, noting her unusually wide eyes and rapid speech. She let out a shaky breath, resting her forehead in her hand. After what her husband had told her she knew with an absolute certainty what was happening to their daughter. And from what she'd experienced the day before with Despair, something told her the culprit wasn't far off. Finally she raised her head.

"Alright Mania, where the hell are you?" she demanded. Her tone was flat. Envy and AJ both glanced at her, clearly confused by the odd statement. There was a brief silence. Then abruptly, to everyone's surprise, an odd blur formed in the air in the center of the room. It grew and shifted, becoming opaque before finally taking on the form of a man. A moment later a red haired creature stood before them, appearing exactly how Elmina had described her assailant from the night before last. Slit pupils, wild hair, long sleeved crop top and trousers. A crooked headband held back his flamingly red hair, and the slight grin on his face revealed pointed teeth.

"Figured me out so quickly? I'm impressed. Long-time no see Elsie," his grin broadened slightly. Elsie's eyes narrowed. Despite its distinct differences from the depressive state which she was unhappily familiar with, her feelings about the manic side of her former disorder weren't exactly warm and fuzzy.

"You bastard," she hissed, "Leave my daughter alone!"

"Hey now, don't be like that," Mania's expression grew mildly put out, "You and I had a lot of fun together!" he told her, his tone innocently sincere. Elsie stared at him.

"I'm not sure I would classify being locked in a psych ward and drugged back into sanity as 'fun'" she replied finally, her tone unenthused.

"Aw, don't be a spoil sport," he retorted unconcernedly, "Admit it, you enjoyed parts of that particular episode. There were some fantastically creative delusions going on if I remember correctly," his tone was appreciative. Elsie's hand's clenched into fists.

"It's because of that episode that my mother wound up dead!" she snapped. Mania tisked at her, shaking his head disapprovingly.

"Now Elsie, it isn't my fault that Despair enjoys breaking her toys," he told her, tone slightly patronizing. "Besides, if it weren't for that episode you would never have met your interesting husband and ended up living here with your daughter," he pointed out.

"Leave my daughter alone! You don't need to involve her in this!" Elsie cried.

"Actually, I do. After all, aside from you she's really the only person in this dimension I can affect to the level which I can get enjoyment out of. And Despair has labelled you as 'off limits' until your pregnancy passes. So my dear little Mina is the only available host for me at the moment," he explained forlornly. At this Envy bristled, letting out a growl. Whoever this bastard was he had no right to refer to his daughter like that.

"You let her go right now!" The green haired man's expression was rather frightening as he took a threatening step towards the red haired creature. He didn't understand the details, but he had gathered enough to know that this man was somehow having an influence over his daughter. The red haired man smirked at him.

"Don't bother. You couldn't hurt me if you tried," his tone was unconcerned. With an angry exclamation Envy lunged at him. Then his eyes widened in surprise as the creature moved almost faster than his eyes could follow. The next thing he knew he'd been kicked in the chest and sent flying backwards. His head cracked against the wall as he made contact with it, thoroughly dazing him.

"Envy!" Elsie cried in alarm as her husband slid to the floor. Upon seeing him still conscious despite the hard impact she whirled on the red haired creature. "Stop this!" her tone was desperate. Mania regarded her bemusedly.

"He started it," he pointed out mildly.

"Hey," everyone turned a startled gaze on Elmina as she finally spoke up. She was staring at Mania with an upset frown. "Don't hurt my family," she ordered him sternly. She sounded more reprimanding than worried. He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Sorry Mouse, but I don't take orders from you," his tone was amused.

"Look," Elsie said, "this isn't fair," her tone was plaintive. Mania glanced at her and let out a chuckle.

"My dear, do you recall us ever being particularly fair back in your home dimension? Just because we have bodies now doesn't change the way we like to operate," he told her frankly, "Although…" he glanced back at the dark haired girl speculatively. Elsie watched him helplessly, nails biting into her palms. After a moment he nodded. "For right now I might just humour you. As deliciously fun as this has been, I'm rather eager to explore this dimension a bit now that I've got a claim on your daughter," abruptly he grinned, "I'll be back," he told them cheerfully. Then he began to dissolve right before their eyes, disappearing entirely a moment later.

There was a long period of silence while everyone stared at the spot where he'd been, slightly stunned by his bizarre teleportation ability. He'd come and gone so quickly…

"Who the hell was that?" everyone glanced over at Edward, who was now standing in the door to the hallway looking somewhat groggy. Before anyone could come up with an answer for him Elmina's knees buckled and she sat down hard on the carpet.

"Mina!" Elsie was beside her daughter in a second, crouching down next to her, "Are you alright?" she asked worriedly. The dark haired girl was trembling and there was a guardedly blank expression on her face.

"I…" her voice was faint as her gaze moved across the people in the room. Why was everyone staring at her like this? What had just happened? She felt extremely disoriented. After a moment several memories flooded into her empty mind. Her eyes slowly widened and she raised a hand to cover her mouth, a feeling of horrified embarrassment crashing over her. What had she done? It was all so fuzzy and fragmented. She vaguely remembered attacking her father. And then there were flashes of her running, and then for some reason she'd been crying… but she had no memory of arriving in the hotel room, and only fuzzily remembered bits and pieces of what had taken place after that. Finally she turned and met her mother's concerned gaze. "What just happened…?" she asked her voice barely more than a whisper.

"My question exactly," Envy grumbled, rubbing the back of his head as he scrambled to his feet. He eyed his daughter with concern. Elsie bit her lip, staring at Elmina with a troubled expression. There was a brief silence. Finally she let out a soft sigh, glancing over at her green haired husband.

"We should sit down. This is going to be difficult to explain," she said, her tone resigned. She felt numb. So often during her teens she'd felt like she'd been standing on a rug which was constantly being yanked out from underneath her each time she'd thought she was finally ok. Since she'd come to this world it had been so long since she'd had any reason to feel that way. Now it felt like the ground she'd come to believe was unshakable had suddenly opened up and swallowed her. This just couldn't be happening…

Elsie rose to her feet and offered her shaky looking daughter a hand up. Elmina stared at it, appearing unsure of what the gesture even meant. It was a moment before she finally reached out and took it, allowing herself to be pulled into a standing position. The two of them found a place to sit on the couch, while everyone else found seats of their own on the remaining chairs. Elsie drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, combing back through the recesses of her mind to memories she'd done her best to forget over the years. Finally she raised her gaze to stare at Envy.

"Do you remember when we first met?" she asked. He gave her a puzzled look.

"Of course. We were in a hospital together," he replied.

"Do you remember why I was in the hospital?" she pressed. He frowned slightly.

"Well, for some disorder, just like the rest of the people there. I don't see your point here. Didn't the gate take away whatever it was you had?" he demanded. The dark haired woman sighed.

"It did. Which is precisely why we're dealing with our current problem," she replied resignedly.

"…I'm not following you," Envy's frown had deepened, his puzzlement increasing.

"Look, I don't know how it's possible. All I know is that whatever Dante did she somehow brought my disorder out of the gate as a physical manifestation of itself," she explained, "When you met me back in that hospital, I'd been admitted there because I'd been experiencing something very similar to what our daughter just when through. It was triggered by that creature that was just here, Mania. He's half of what was once my Bipolar Disorder," her tone was grim. There was a silence over the room. From their expressions, Edward and AJ clearly weren't following her at all. Envy appeared a little taken aback. Mina stared at her mother uncertainly.

"So the other half…it's that girl Despair?" the dark haired girl asked weakly. Elsie glanced at her, a little surprised, before nodding.

"She's the manifestation of depression. Though, the name Despair is rather fitting," Elsie's gaze moved to the floor, expression troubled, "As much as I hate the thought, I'm almost certain that she'll come after you next,"

"How do you know?" Envy demanded. Elsie grimaced.

"Every manic episode I ever had was followed by a depressive one. What goes up must come down," she sounded pained.

"Ok," Edward spoke up finally, "Let me get this straight. You're saying an illness you had on the other side of the gate somehow took on physical form and is going after your daughter?" he sounded incredulous.

"Essentially yes," she replied. The blonde alchemist stared at her oddly. Elsie let out a heavy sigh. "Look, I don't know how this happened. All I know is that those creatures used to be a part of me. I'd recognize them if I was blind and deaf. I'm certain about this," she said firmly.

"Ok then…but why are they after Mina?" AJ demanded. There was a grave expression on his face.

"You heard what Mania said. I'm not sure about Despair, but I suspect Mina and I are the only people Mania can influence in this dimension. At least to the degree that he wants. Bipolar Disorder is genetic. Mina must have inherited the tendency toward it despite the fact that the disorder is no longer an active part of me," Elsie replied.

"What are they after? Or is this all just for their sick enjoyment?" Envy demanded, frowning deeply.

"I…don't know for sure. It's possible there's a driving motive that they haven't seen fit to mention. They're an illness right? If they aren't affecting anyone then what's the point to their existence?" Elsie suggested tentatively.

"So…how did you manage them back in your dimension?" AJ asked, concern obvious in his gaze.

"Well, they were inside me so I was able to control them to some degree with medication. But they aren't the same here. They don't seem to be as constrained and they are much more dangerous. In my dimension they weren't lethal…well, unless you committed suicide because of them. But when Despair showed up yesterday she had every intention of killing me until she discovered I was pregnant."

"She what?" Envy growled, leaning forward slightly in alarm. Elsie sighed softly.

"I'll explain what happened. But first I want to hear what happened here. How did you get caught by Mania?" Elsie asked, turning toward her daughter. Elmina swallowed, staring at the floor. The farther back she combed through her memory the less fuzzy things were. She clearly remembered leaving the hotel room and she remembered running into the red haired creature. From that point on things began to grow more fragmented.

"It's… a little complicated," she glanced up at the others to find their gazes all resting on her intently. This was going to be difficult to explain. She herself wasn't entirely sure why she'd made the choices she had. Looking back, the thoughts and emotions that had influenced her decision making even before she'd completely lost control didn't seem completely rational. "Well…" she began, "It started with me deciding to go for a walk…"

-Author's Note-

I had a little mental illness rant back in chapter 7. I won't subject you to another one lol. Though honestly, I feel seriously sorry for what my poor parents went through during my major manic episode. Having your kid lose their mind out of the blue is a traumatic experience. Even more so when you have no idea what the hell is going on.

On a totally random note, I discovered up until the last chapter I'd been spelling Resembool wrong. So that has now been fixed.

I never mentioned it in chapter 7, but unlike the vast majority of OCs with 'dark sides' or whatever you want to call it, when Mania and Despair mess with Elmina they do her no favors. There's no bonus silver lining to the misery. At least no obvious one. She doesn't become some amazingly powerful fighter, or whatever…just no. Life does not work that way. That said, Mania and Despair have their own important roles to play in this story, as you will see. They aren't just in it to screw around (though Mania is pretty sure he is lol).