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“What are you guys waiting for?! Get going!” All the Crimson Lions nod hastily as they climb up the snowy mountain. Mereoleona thought training here would be a great idea, especially for the squad’s flame mages.
“You do realize they’re still my squad, right?” Fuegoleon says. Mereoleona glares at him.
“So?”
The mountain was freezing, covered in mana like no other… Mereoloena and Fuegoleon watched as the Crimson Lions yelled going up the mountain of ice… except for Leo.
Leopold just seemed to be standing there… He had a frown on his face as he slowly activated his mana skin and walked forward.
Mereoloena stood beside him. “What’s wrong with you?! Get going!”
Leopold gazed at her and sighs.
“If you plan on staying weak forever, then just quit!” Mereoleona says as she crosses her arms. She knows her brother’s competitive and determined nature, so there’s no way he’d ever…
“Ok.” Leopold muttered as he turned around to leave.
Mereoleona stared at him with disbelief. “Where are you going?”
“I give up.”
For a long moment, Mereoleona didn’t know what to say. “You’re… giving up? Is that really the way of House Vermillion?” Mereoleona tries to argue. Leopold shrugs without a care and continues his way home.
“Leo, are you alright?” Fuegoleon asks Leo, concern written all over.
“Mhm.” Leopold hums, not bothering to look up. Leo makes his way down the mountain.
Fuegoleon turns to Mereoleona. “What’s wrong with him?” He asks her. She’s still for a few moments and lets out a sigh.
“He said he… gives up.”
Fuegoleon raises an eyebrow. “He what…?” Fuegoleon questions as he darts his eyes over to Leo who walked down the mountain with dull eyes… without a care in the world.
“He’s not gonna climb the mountain,” she says with a bitter tone.
“I’ll go talk to him—“ Fuegoleon gets cut off mid sentence as Mereoleona speaks, shaking her head.
“No, you go with your squad. I’ll speak with him…” Mereoleona goes on to follow Leo. Fuegoleon sighs and he turns around to go up. Leopold really hasn’t been himself in a while, it was quite worrying.
Leo takes one step in front of the other, snow crumbling beneath his feet. If only he could move forward like this in more ways than one…
“Leo!”
Leopold jumps at the sudden voice and turns his head. “Mereoleona?”
She looks pissed off. Leo really isn’t in the mood for this conversation right now… “What’s wrong?” She asks, though it’s more like a demand.
Leopold stares at the ground, refusing eye contact. “I… It’s too hard.”
Mereoleona clenched her fist and gritted her teeth. “Please, this is easier than the volcano. What’s wrong?” Her voice softened, something that Leo’s only ever heard in serious situations… He could count on one hand how many times he’s heard her speak so carefully.
“I just don’t feel like it,” he answers, gazing back up to Mereoleona’s eyes.
She looks defeated as he sits on a nearby rock. “You’ve been more emotional lately… Are you sure you’re doing alright?”
Leopold shrugs.
“You don’t know?”
Leopold rolled his eyes, his mouth was sealed. His stomach was in knots as it sunk lower… He feels as if he’s going to vomit.
“You look like you’re gonna throw up… Now that I think about it, you haven’t really been finishing your dinners, have you?” Leo didn’t appreciate the interrogation his older sister was subjecting him to…
“I try to finish, I just… haven’t had an appetite in a while. Everything is gross…”
No appetite… “Have you been having any other symptoms?” She asked him.
Leopold was still for a moment. “Symptoms…?”
Mereoleona nods in confirmation. “Yes. Symptoms. There’s obviously something wrong with you and I need to make sure it’s not depression or some sort of disease.”
“Depression? That’s ridiculous! I don’t even have any reasons to be depressed…” Leopold argued, his voice louder.
“That’s not how depression works, Leo. You need to talk—“
Leopold raises his voice to a shout. “Shut up!” He rubs his eyes and runs away, down the mountain. Depression… sure, he had most of the symptoms, but what were the chances it actually meant anything? As soon as Leo’s out of Mereoleona’s sight, he leans against a rock and throws up.
For a moment, his thoughts were muted… and his stomach felt relief. However, his breath smelled now… Leo leans up and wipes his mouth. He feels a lot better now… He can’t help but feel a little bad for snapping at Mereoleona like that. Why does he have to be such a brat sometimes?
Tears rolled down his face, he sniffled as he began an ugly cry… An utterly pathetic cry.
He doesn’t even deserve any help if that’s how he’s gonna treat those who try… Why even bother? He’s so worthless… They could never hope to understand, they’ve been nothing but model children their whole lives! They’ve never been weak or useless to this point… Leo wants to go see Fuegoleon, but he’s probably well up the mountain by now… And going up there makes Leo feel like throwing up again.
Leo slides down the rock, onto the snowy grass. No matter how many tears came down, his negative thoughts would just come back and restart the process… Quite frankly, he was beginning to have a headache… And the volume of his sobbing was really embarrassing.
“Leo.”
Leopold flinched, his voice turned off immediately. “What…? I thought you went up the mountain already…” Fuegoleon takes Leo’s arm and helps him up. Leo continues to hold onto him as they stand.
“I was worried about you. Come on, let’s go home, alright? You should take a nap…” Fuegoleon said with a comforting smile.
Leopold nods and goes with Fuegoleon.
When Leopold opened his eyes, the morning was already evening. He rolled over in his bed and took a sip of water. His breathing was still stuttering from all the crying earlier… There he goes again, sleeping through another day. At least his thoughts were quiet when he was asleep… He wishes he could sleep all day, but humans aren’t designed to sleep for that long.
When he sat up, he felt an eerie silence. His room was always a place he felt safe, his bed a home. Lately, all it felt like was a prison… he feels like crawling out of his skin.
Leopold throws the blankets off of himself and rushes out of the room before his breathing could quicken.
Fuegoleon rubbed his eyes with a sick feeling in his chest. “I’m just so worried about him… You should’ve heard the way he cried… God, it was terrible…” Fuegoleon explained with a strained voice while Mereoleona listens intently. It was the most heartbreaking thing he’s ever heard.
“You think we should have him see a doctor?” She questions. Fuegoleon thinks for a few moments… He doesn’t want to force Leo into something like that, but it’s something that should probably happen.
“We probably should… He just seems more depressed every day, I hate seeing it.” Fuegoleon takes a big drink of water, it helps his nerves relax a little bit.
“I know it’s probably not the nicest thing to do to him, but I’d rather force him into seeing a doctor than finding his body one of these days.”
“Sister! Don’t say things like that! He’s not going to kill himself…” In reality, Fuegoleon was unsure of his words… but thinking of that as even a possibility was too much for him to think about.
“What kind of doctor…?” The door creaks open, a little voice speaking through.
“Leo…” The two siblings look at him. “Why don’t you come take a seat?” Mereoleona suggests with a calm demeanor. Leopold nods as he slugs over and sits beside his brother.
“Leo, me and Mereoleona want you to see a psychiatrist.” Fuegoleon says. Leopold’s shoulder droop and he puts his head down.
“For what?”
Fuegoleon gently puts a hand on his little brother’s back. “Well… you’ve been really depressed lately… We can get you a diagnosis as to what’s wrong and get you some help so you feel better.”
Why? Why would they want to help him? He’s not worth anything… Leopold hides his face in his arms.
“Leo, is that something you wanna try?”
Leopold leans back up and shrugs. “I don’t know… Why are you doing this?”
The two older siblings were taken back for a moment. “What do you mean…? We want to help you, Leo…”
Leopold shook his head as his vision got blurry. “I don’t deserve it.”
Fuegoleon tilted his head and pulled Leo closer to him in a side hug. “Hey, don’t say that… You deserve it.”
“But I’m so worthless and I can never do anything right…!” Leopold starts to cry.
“Don’t say that… You’re strong, you’ve saved so many people…” Fuegoleon whispered, putting his other arm around Leo. Leopold just melts into the comforting touch.
“There’s no point in anything I do… I just want to sleep forever…”
Mereoleona shook her head. “Hey, if you slept forever we wouldn’t be happy. Everything you do has a point.”
“I know you feel like the whole world is against you, but we’re here for you… You aren’t alone.” Fuegoleon says. Leo’s words got more inaudible, he felt pathetic.
“Easy for you to say! You’ve never been weak!” He cries, too tired to even sound angry.
Fuegoleon shook his head. “Hey, now that’s not true… We all start out weak, I had to work hard… I’ve felt worthless when I was younger like how you feel right now… I’ve always felt better after speaking to someone about it… I think it’s good that you’re finally talking about this… Me and Mereoleona want to help you, alright?”
Leopold was quiet, his hands shook, his bottom lip trembling. “I’m sorry…”
Mereoleona walked around the table and sat on the other side of Leo, she put her hand on Leo’s shoulder. “Hey, there’s nothing to be sorry about. Let’s just find you someone to talk to.”
“If you ever need to talk, we’re here, alright? Mimosa’s here… Kirsch is here… and our parents or even your friends… We all support you, don’t think you’re a burden, okay?” Fuegoleon rubs Leo’s back, just as he did when Leo was little… It always soothes Leo when he is crying.
“Okay…”
“We’ll stay with you as long as you like.” Fuegoleon whispered. Leopold nods in understanding, his crying calming…
“Okay.”