Hi I'm very tired and very sick and I've just been making myself more miserable by bingeing KH2 on Critical Mode, combine that with how fuckin' hard Roxas' Theme hits me, and I am mentally checked out and prolly physically as well
BUT NOT MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY CHECKED OUT ENOUGH TO NOT WRITE Y'ALL SOME STORIES, YEAH BOI
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"A wha... huh? A Servant of Naga, you said?" Elise asked, wondering if she had misheard the beast looming over her.
"That is correct." The voice echoing in her head never failed to send a shiver down the young girls' spine. "Though we are long gone and forgotten by many, we still watch over you and the rest of humanity from afar, though I am the only one left who watches over you from this plane of existence."
"Servant of... hmm." Elise hummed to herself in thought as she tried to recall just where she had heard the name before. Her eyes almost literally lit up as the thought crossed her mind. "OH! That's right! Leo was reading a book about you guys! So YOU'RE why he had a sudden interest in the topic!" The girl huffed triumphantly as she crossed her arms. "He said that he heard something about you and that's why he wanted to read the book, but with how rare and divine the book made you all sound, I didn't believe that for a second!"
(Y/n) chuckled at her words, a low and hearty sounding one. "Divine, you say? Well, that's quite the honor, especially coming from one with such holy bloodlines as yours. You flatter me, Milady."
Elise giggled, hopping off of her horse with surprising ease and letting her companion wander and do his own thing while she walked up to (Y/n), all previous fear that once seized her now completely gone, as if it was never there to begin with.
"Gee, never did I think I'd ever see a real dragon though... I've only ever seen paintings, and even those don't compare to the real thing!" Elise muttered, daring to raise a hand and run it across the scales that lined (Y/n)'s neck, the dragon letting out a soft sound that sounded oddly close to a purr at the touch.
"I'm quite pleased to see your first impressions of me have left, Milady. I'd truly hate to frighten you."
"Oh, well, you did scare me a bit at first... Okay, well, you scared me a lot. But I guess it was more a fear of the unknown, huh?" Elise looked up to the dragon with a wide smile as she spoke, her hand not having its place on the dragon's neck.
"Oh... right..." The girl muttered to herself as she looked down at her brother, a thought crossing her mind as she gazed upon his sleeping face.
She had never seen him quite this content as he slept before, or ever, really. Not that she crept into his room and watched him sleep on a regular basis, but she had done her fair share of dragging him out of bed whenever Xander or her Father told her to. There had been many mornings when she saw him sleeping so peacefully, so sound and content that she almost didn't have the heart to wake him. But all of those mornings she saw him near snoring, all of those naps he sometimes fell into when he didn't get good sleep the night before...
None of them even came close to the look of comfort and utter peace on his face now, as he slept against the body of this beast.
"Why... why did he come all the way out here, do you know? He's kinda far from the castle..."
(Y/n) let out a sigh as she turned her head to look down at Leo. "Elise... might I call you that? In truth, when I came across him on this specific night, he was wounded. His hand, to be precise. But that wound... I do not think it was the reason he fled to this near-forgotten riverbank. In truth... I believe he fled here simply to escape, if only for a night. I'm... well, I cannot say what is troubling him to this extent. As I stated previously, that is not my place nor my story to tell. However, his motives for coming this far away from civilization are to merely breathe and be free to speak and do what he thinks. And, well..." (Y/n) let out a sigh as she bowed her head. "I'm more than happy to provide that for him. Even if it's just for a few fleeting hours, I find joy and happiness in comforting him in whatever way I can."
At first, Elise didn't say anything, a frown growing on her features as she stared down at Leo. Of course. It all made so much sense now. Elise knew how this war was effecting her, but she had no idea how it was impacting her brothers and sister... let alone the rest of Nohr. Everyone was finding their own ways to escape from this mindless battle, and it seemed Leo's ways lied within the scales and soul of this dragon. She didn't think Xander and Camilla would understand, but Elise... well, Elise understood it perfectly.
But Elise wasn't that naive. She knew there was more to Leo's running away.
"It's also because of Father... isn't it?" Elise barely made any sound with how low and quiet her voice had become. Kneeling down next to Leo, she took his one bare hand, his right hand, and gripped it tightly between her own. "I... I've noticed. Whenever... whenever Father asks to talk to Leo, he always comes out of the Throne Room looking so... so scared. I've seen it... back when he wanted to find that book in the library, simply the mention of what he talked about with Father seemed to frighten him so much. I mean, sure, he's always been afraid of Father, we all are... but it's never, ever been to this extent..."
Elise never even noticed the large tears sliding down her cheeks as she kept speaking.
"He doesn't even tell us why... he just says he's fine and runs away from us. Doesn't he trust us?! We're so worried about him, and he won't even confide in us anymore!"
Gripping Leo's hand a bit too tightly, she practically collapsed into her brother's side, sobbing loudly and uncontrollably now. She felt a firm, yet gentle pressure on her back and a rush of hot air blow past her. It must've been (Y/n), trying to comfort her in whatever way she could.
Elise honestly didn't know what she could do to help her brother. She already felt small and useless enough as is because of this war, but now that she was absolutely positive that something from within the castle was happening to Leo and it involved her own Father, she just felt even worse. Not only could she not help with this war, but she couldn't even help her own brother gain more peace of mind and ease.
Just what kind of sister was she?
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A wyvern snarled as it landed next to a horse, which seemed to jump slightly from the unexpected landing. Their riders both sighed in near unison as they stared deep into the woods all around them, their breathing creating small clouds of fog with every exhale as they contemplated their next move.
"Xander..." Camilla spoke quietly, turning to face her brother with a look of worry all over her gorgeous features. "He isn't here. I've looked everywhere I could from the skies."
Xander sighed as his grip on his reins became dangerously tight. "Yes, and I have looked where your skyward eyes could not reach. He... yes, he didn't come this way. I've not even found so much as a single track to signify that he is here."
Camilla leaned forward a bit, leaning on the horn of her saddle and staying silent while she gazed ahead of her. The trees moaned and groaned all around them, giving them no silence as they sat there in piercing darkness. "... He wouldn't have dared gone towards Cheve, would he?"
Xander practically scoffed at that guess. "Of course not. Leo may be brash at times, but he's certainly no fool. He would never even consider the option."
"Hmm... I suppose you're right." Camilla sighed, hanging her head and tangling one of her hands into her hair as she closed her eyes sadly, taking a deep breath as she seemed to compose herself.
This action didn't go unnoticed by Xander, however. "Camilla?" He asked, almost cautiously as he stared at the purple-haired princess that was his sister.
"I..." She began to speak, her voice breaking in the process. "... I've lost one already, Xander. We all have. And I miss her dearly. I'd do just about anything to get my baby sister back. That loss... it's been painful enough as is." She let out a shaky sigh, swallowing away a lump in her throat as Xander's gaze on her softened considerably.
"Please... please do not tell me I must lose another before all this bloodshed ends. I do not think... no, I know my heart would not be able to take it. I do not care what has to be done to ensure it won't happen. Please tell me that I... no, please tell me that we won't lose Leo, too."
Xander didn't say anything at first, simply turning away from her and staring at his hands that were still gripping his reins. Though the Eldest Crown Prince would never admit it, he did miss Corrin a hell of a lot. It wasn't quite the same without her around anymore, and though he wouldn't easily admit it, her absence was slowly, but surely, causing Nohr to fall to its knees.
He didn't think that Leo would go off to join the Hoshidan's simply because of his longing for his sister, no, Leo was far too loyal to his country to do that, which is why it angered Xander so much when his Father even mentioned the bold idea. But could he have gone off somewhere and... fallen to an unfortunate fate in the process?
Though Leo was strong, certainly earning his right to wield Brynhildr with confidence and command thousands of troops... Xander couldn't cross out that possibility, as painful as it was.
"... I know, Camilla. I'm worried about Leo too. But you and I both know that Leo is far too headstrong and stubborn to be lost to us. No, we won't lose him this easily. Even though we haven't found him here, I'm certain we will find him soon."
Camilla scoffed, raising her head slowly as she wiped at her eyes with her right thumb. "Gods, I hope you're right, Xander."
"Remember, we haven't searched all possible directions yet." Xander stated as confidently as he could, though he was beginning to mentally waver.
"Yes... yes, you're right. We have not even begun to search the Eastern Mountains yet. Is it possible he could've wandered that way?" Camilla wondered out loud, seemingly more to herself than anything as she turned towards the east.
"It's the only possible way he could've gone without endangering himself. If he's not there... then we will have no choice but to brave the oncoming Hoshidan's and search towards Cheve."
"I suppose that is the only other logical direction he could've gone." Letting out a heavy sigh, she took the reins of her wyvern into her hands again, the wyrm seeming to note the gesture as it growled and flapped its wings in excitement. "I will continue to search for Leo and scout ahead from the skies."
All Xander did was nod as she bolted skyward, flying towards the east with zero hesitation. Pulling back on his own reins, he spurred his mount into action, quickly turning around and heading for the exit to these eerie woods as fast as he possibly could.
All Xander could do was simultaneously pray for Leo's safety and curse himself for not being able to ride any faster. He hoped with all his being that Leo was safe and sound in these mountains and not dead at the bottom of a ravine somewhere.
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Leo's eyes cracked open at the feeling of a heavy pressure to his right side, his eyelids feeling heavy and murky as he groaned, mentally trying to shake off what sleep he did get. When his eyes finally decided to cooperate and not give him such blurry vision, he moved to sit up, but was stopped when he finally remembered the weight on his side.
In a blur, he barely registered his baby sister, Elise, sitting up and staring at Leo with such wide eyes, he was sure they were going to pop out of her skull. However, while he wasn't given much time to register that her eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks were stained with tears, he was able to register that she was right here, right next to him when she shouldn't be.
"Elise?!" He almost shouted, causing her to jump slightly as he fully bolted upright. "What on earth are you doing here?!"
"I-I, uh... yuh-you... you disappeared! So I came to find you! I was really worried, okay?!"
"All by yourself...?" Leo muttered out, now taking the time to take in the disheveled and saddened appearance of his sister.
"W-well... Xander and Camilla are looking for you too... b-but they told me to wait at the Castle... but I couldn't! I had so many bad thoughts of you hurt and all alone somewhere in the cold! So, even though Xander and Camilla told me to stay behind, I had to come and make sure you were okay myself! All we found in your room was a bloody handkerchief and a rope that lead off the balcony... I got s-so scared, Leo!" Elise began to break down towards the end of her rant, more tears continuing to fall as she spoke before finally shattering to pieces at the end, hiding her face in her hands as the sobs came back full force again.
And Leo's heart couldn't help but wrench at the words. Letting out a sympathetic sigh, he leaned forward towards his sister and enveloped her in as tight of a hug as he could muster, one which was quickly returned as Elise quickly wrapped her arms around Leo's shoulders. He didn't mean to make his entire damned family worry about him, but he was letting his instincts control his actions and not his brain. And his instincts were screaming at him to just get out of that musty castle.
He looked up towards (Y/n), seeing her kind eyes as she nodded gently towards him.
"Why on earth are you all looking for me? I was planning on coming back in the morning, you know I wouldn't stay away for very long."
Elise hiccuped as she pulled herself away from Leo. "Buh... because we... we went and told Father that you were gone... that you had disappeared." That statement sent a shiver up and down Leo's spine. "And he... he made such a rude accusation! He said that you went and betrayed us! That you had left to join the Hoshidan's!"
Leo almost choked at that. "What?! But I would never do such a thing!"
Elise sobbed again as she stared up at Leo. "We know that! But we know... we know that Father wouldn't hesitate to do something drastic if he found you before we did! We know he wouldn't hesitate to kill you, Leo! So we wanted to find you first, so we could save you, Leo!"
Leo's eyebrows furrowed at her words. He was positive that he was already well on the path of being killed by Garon before, but now... now it was practically sealed in stone with a nice little decoration of his blood to tie it all off. Though he couldn't blame his siblings at all for telling his Father of his disappearance, they were only worried about him, what he could blame was his Father for allowing himself to become the monster he was.
"Leo, please..." Elise's words brought him out of his train of thought, his gaze flying downwards to meet her own.
"Please tell me the truth... please tell me. Father's been doing... doing something to you, hasn't he? I've seen it in your eyes and behavior, and I know it's not just because of Corrin leaving. You're not yourself anymore... and it always comes out the strongest whenever you speak to or even see Father. Please, tell me what he's been doing to you... please, brother."
Leo began gaping like a fish while he stared at his little sister before sighing and screwing his eyes shut, letting his head fall. Of course, Elise would be the one to notice. She was far too sharp for her own good sometimes. Finally, he looked back up to his sister with a smile, grabbing both of her hands with his own.
She didn't need to know. She was far too sweet... her heart and mind didn't deserve to know.
"Of course not, little one. Why, if anything, I suppose his rants have become much louder, which is a bit jarring. But I promise you, nothing is happening between Father and I that I would have any reason to hide."
"Leo, don't lie to me!" Elise shrieked, causing Leo's heart to twist even more.
"I'm not, Elise. I swear to you, I would never lie to you. I have no reason to lie. You know I'd tell you or the others if something was happening."
"But you haven't been telling us anything..." the poor girl whimpered out, not even looking Leo in the eyes anymore and instead staring down at her lap.
"That's because my mind is focused solely on this war. Yes, Corrin..." He took a deep breath, trying his hardest to hide any falter in his voice and eyes as he spoke. "... Corrin leaving has left its impact on me. It has left its impact on all of us, has it not? I've simply been putting my mind and thoughts elsewhere to distance myself from it, and I suppose it's made me rather jumpy towards the trivial things, even if it is from Father's lectures. I hope you can forgive me for that, Elise. I swear, I will find the time to talk to and confide in you and the others more often."
"And you can hold me to that." Leo finished with a wink and a smile, and though he had lied through his teeth, his words seemed to bring ease to Elise, which was the main goal in his mind. She returned the smile, and it seemed somewhat genuine this time. The young girl sniffled, wiping the tears off of her cheeks before turning to face (Y/n).
"Well, you certainly didn't confide in me about this company you were keeping." She finally spoke with a raspy giggle, sending her brother something along the lines of a knowing smirk.
"Ah, uh, heh, well..." Leo stammered out as a small blush crept up his neck, scratching the back of his neck as an awkward feeling practically flowed from his being. How in the hell was he going to explain this?
(Y/n) just chuckled. "Now Elise, would you have believed him if he had told you of a dragon he had met and became friends with deep within the mountains?"
The young girl hummed out thoughtfully as she placed one of her index fingers on her chin, her lips puckering slightly as she stared up at the beast. She finally let out a small giggle as she sent (Y/n) a smile. "I mean, I've made up weirder stories, so it wouldn't have been THAT difficult to believe."
Leo sighed, but allowed a smile to creep forth nonetheless. So, one of his siblings had finally met (Y/n). Well, at least Elise was taking it well, but that's what the mind of an imaginative young woman would do, he supposed. At least he wouldn't have to worry about Xander and Camilla learning about her, at least not right now.
(Y/n)'s head quickly snapping towards the west brought his attention to her, however, and he noted a serious and lethal look on her features, a look he had never seen her wear, and quite frankly, he was just fine in never seeing it again.
"(Y/n)?" He asked cautiously, with even Elise seeming to have noticed the sudden change in her mood as well.
"Something... hmm. Something is happening."
Her tone was far too serious for Leo's liking. Quickly getting to his feet and instinctively placing his hand over where Brynhildr rested, his heart began to hammer in his chest. "Like what?" Elise's eyes shifted between (Y/n) and the grove that separated them from the rest of the world. "W-what's happening?"
(Y/n) let out a low and nasty-sounding snarl as she braced to get to her feet.
"Combat."
And with that, she quickly bolted off into the grove in the blink of an eye, both Leo and Elise's horses getting spooked by the action. A frown worked its way onto Leo's face as he quickly grabbed Brynhildr and ran off after her, Elise hesitating for a moment before she ran over to her horse, grabbing her healing staff and making sure she had her spell tome as well, before following right behind them.
(Y/n) had stopped to observe the situation from within the safety of the trees, her eyes narrow and her head low as she gazed upon the fight. Both Leo and Elise appeared right next to her, Leo almost instinctually placing his hand on (Y/n)'s leg as a form of comfort. Observing did show one thing, and that was Hoshidan's were locked in combat with... someone or something. At first glance, Leo couldn't tell exactly what. But what was truly unnerving was that there were Hoshidan's this far inside Nohr, which meant that more Hoshidan's couldn't have been that far behind. A plus was that he didn't see any of their Royalty or Corrin, so they must've been taking orders from a lowly commander in this specific fight.
Yet his eyes widened when he saw two familiar faces in the fray.
His hand that was against (Y/n) clenched into a tight fist before he bolted forward based on pure instinct, Elise gasping at his actions and (Y/n) staring at him with bewildered eyes as he ran.
"XANDER! CAMILLA!"
Both of their heads whipped towards his direction when they heard their names being called, their eyes brightening considerably when they saw his face.
"Leo! You're alright!" Camilla exclaimed, a wide smile gracing her features.
However, all Leo did was scowl aggressively as he tore open Brynhildr, conjuring up a spell in his free hand and sending it outwards towards Xander's general direction, the ball of purple flames hitting an enemy that was coming up behind his brother, the man not even being able to scream as he was evaporated into nothing more than a cloud of purple dust. He briefly noted a gash on Camilla's left arm, but Elise seemed to be five steps ahead of him, rushing to her side with her healing staff in hand and practically yanking her to her knees via her uninjured arm and putting forth all her effort into healing it.
"Elise, what on earth are you doing here?!" Camilla shouted, her eyes showing both immense worry and bewilderment.
"You can either waste time by asking me questions or sit still and let me heal you, dangit! Now quit squirming!"
Leo quickly leaped over to Xander's side, both of them fighting in near-perfect synchronization as they slew any who dared get too close. If Leo just so happened to miss one of his spells or an enemy dared come close to threatening himself or Leo, the enemy was cut down with a swift slice of Xander's Sword, Siegfried. If Xander dared miss an attack or not notice an enemy creeping up on him, Leo dispatched of them in a ball of purple flames, making sure they didn't even have time to blink before their lives ended.
"Where the hell did they all come from?!" Leo shouted, letting an abyss open up underneath some poor Archer as he was swallowed up to let fate decide his course. Xander let out a shout of his own as he let his sword split some Sky Knight's skull into two, the blood spray hitting his face upon impact, yet not phasing him one bit. "We aren't sure! We were headed this way to search for you when they ambushed us from the trees!" He ducked to avoid one of Leo's spells and simultaneously swiped at a Monk's legs that was charging after Leo, effectively immobilizing him in one strike before Leo finished him off. "It's a good thing that you came when you did! I'm not sure Camilla and I could've handled this horde on our own!"
A scream coming from Elise stopped both of them, the pair turning to see what was wrong. Their hearts nearly stopped when they saw her getting grabbed by some Oni Savage, Camilla being completely surrounded by enemies and unable to assist, yet clearly worried for her sister's safety.
"Let go of me! Please!" Elise shrieked out, the young girl starting to cry as the grip on her only tightened.
"ELISE!" Leo practically screamed as he charged forward, not even daring to consider the multitude of enemies that threatened his own safety as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him, doing his damnedest to reach his baby sister's side. Xander wasn't far behind him, both of them with the same goal in mind as they rushed to Elise.
However, a large figure completely landing over them and flattening the enemies near them to a pulp caused both of them to shout in surprise and fall over to avoid getting flattened themselves, both of their eyes wide as they witnessed the form leap over to Elise's side and simply snapping up the Savage that threatened her, forcing him to let go and tossing him away as if he weighed no more than a piece of paper.
Everything came to a screeching halt as (Y/n) stood protectively over Elise, slowly turning towards the rest of the horde and giving them the nastiest glare Leo had ever seen, making even Garon's glare look like a kitten pouting. Elise looked up at her form with surprised, yet thankful eyes as Leo heard a heavy snarl come from deep within her throat as she bared her fangs, now stained a slight pink from blood as her eyes widened, bracing her form very visibly...
And letting out an ear-splitting roar, standing up on her hind legs and spreading her wings to make herself appear even bigger than she already was, the roar echoing all around them and through the mountains, making the very leaves shudder with the sound.
Sparing a look over to Xander, he only saw pure terror and confusion on his brother's face as everything unfroze with (Y/n)'s roar, all of the Hoshidan's efforts seeming to focus on (Y/n) now, quite understandably. Leo quickly got to his feet and rushed over to Elise, helping the young girl up to her feet as he scanned her for injuries. "Are you alright?! He didn't hurt you, did he?!"
"I-I'm fine, but (Y/n)!" Elise shouted over all the commotion, causing Leo's gaze to quickly fly over to (Y/n). She seemed to be having no issues, simply swiping away or biting at anything that came close to her, her snarls sending shivers up Leo's spine. Looking over at both Xander and Camilla, he saw them both staring up at her in fear, Xander seeming to struggle to get to his feet in order to defend himself as Camilla was so frozen in fear that her axe was in danger of falling from her hands. (Y/n) quickly turned towards Leo, the sudden eye contact catching him off guard as he stared at her.
"Leo! Brace yourself!"
He didn't even nod. All he did was pull Elise into a tight grip, keeping his eyes on (Y/n) and whatever she planned to do next, trying to curl himself around Elise to protect her as much as he could, the young girl wrapping both of her arms around him as she stared at the whole thing from behind Leo's shoulder.
A growl came from (Y/n) as she leaped towards Leo and Elise, quickly grabbing both of them which caused a shriek of surprise from Elise, before leaping over towards Camilla and grabbing her as well, and making sure to not leave Xander out, grabbing him in the same clawed hand that she held Camilla in before leaping over to a corner where no Hoshidan's were waiting and dropping the four royals underneath her protectively, snarling at the Hoshidan's who didn't dare come close to her in this stance.
Xander seemed to remember how to move properly again, quickly getting to his knees and grabbing all of his siblings protectively, but it was clear in his eyes that he had absolutely no idea what to do.
(Y/n) raised her head as she took a deep breath, a deep, (f/c) glow coming from deep within her as she did, a glow so strong that it even illuminated the four that she was protecting, spreading from her stomach all the way to the back of her throat, causing both Leo and Elise's eyes to widen with wonder, while both Camilla and Xander tried not to visibly shudder in fear.
And a great beam of (f/c) fire emerged from the back of her throat, a beam she directed towards the ground that enveloped the floor in enchanted flames in the blink of an eye, (Y/n) occasionally readjusting herself as she got lower and lower to the ground, the mysterious blaze seeming to completely avoid Leo and his siblings under her. It didn't set any of the trees or other various fauna alight, but anything living was doomed before they even knew it. So many Hoshidan's screamed as they slowly burned from the soles of their shoes all the way to their helmets, their armor providing no protection to such flames. A few Sky Knights and Kinshi Knights flew off to try and escape, but they were no match for (Y/n)'s scarily precise aim, the dragon launching fireballs at them that seemed to hone in on their target, the birds and pegasi not even being safe from her fury, all of them bursting into a flying ball of flames that crashed not long afterward.
And just like that, in the span of a few minutes, it was all over. Every Hoshidan in this troop was dead, and any who just so happened to survive from the Nohrian Royal's fury, they stood no chance against the fury of a Servant of Naga and her enchanted flame.
Everyone was breathing heavily as (Y/n) still stood protectively over them, her breathing coming out strong and hard as she searched for anything that dared to move.
Xander was the first one to move, quickly grabbing his siblings and escaping from underneath (Y/n) before practically throwing them behind him and facing the dragon, Siegfried gripped tightly in his hands as he glared at the beast.
"If you think you can do anything to my brother or sisters, you can think again, you damned heathen!"
"Xander, stop it!" Leo tried to stop his brother from his assault, but he was too late. His older brother was already charging forward, and with a loud shout, he leaped into the air to try and end (Y/n).
"XANDER!"
The sound of metal upon metal brought Leo to his feet, full-on prepared to charge forward and stop his brother from killing (Y/n)...
However, the sight of Xander's sword edge laying flat against (Y/n)'s head, with not even a scratch in sight as she glared at the eldest prince made Leo's brain and everything else come to a screeching halt.
"If this is how you treat your saviors..." (Y/n) harshly muttered out, a low growl coming from her as she quickly lifted her head up, effectively sending Xander backward, not nearly enough to hurt him, but enough to just get him away from her.
"Then I truly pity your enemies, Crown Prince Xander of Nohr."
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Alrighty, I'm off to go die for the night via sleep, it's like 2 am here and I'm sick why am I still awake oh god