Hello again! There isn't much to say besides happy holidays and enjoy the story. TW: Kind of ED but not really. Still would not read if the topic of skipping meals could upset or trigger you. Also mentions of abuse and bullying.

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When he woke up, he was laying on a small cot in the med bay and felt all kinds of crusty. His mouth was dry and his throat scratchy. His stomach gnawed with hunger and his head pounded. Leo had certainly been better.

"You're awake." Leo's head snapped up.

"Dude, chill. I'm just here to give you some of this." It was Percy. His dark eyebrows were raised and he wore a friendly smile, which surprised Leo. He held out a chunk of ambrosia. Leo took it and elegantly shoved it in his mouth like a rabid animal. It tasted like his mother's pozole which was a shock to his tastebuds. He knew his mother's cooking well, even though he hadn't tasted it in years.

"So, uh.." Percy cleared his throat. "Annabeth told me a little bit, but what happened up there? I mean, why was she so mad? And why'd you pass out, man? You scared us all half to death." Leo rubbed his eyes.

"How long have I been out?" Percy obviously wanted his questions answered but didn't press any further.

"About two hours. Annabeth told me to stay here. I guess she didn't want you to be alone when you woke up." Very sweet of her, Leo thought, after she got him worked up like that. The nerve of some people. He sat up and put his feet on the floor, happy that the ambrosia was keeping him from getting dizzy.

"Leo, I know you don't want to tell me what happened.. But I don't think Annabeth would pry if she didn't have a good reason to." Leo and Percy's eyes met for a few moments before Leo sighed.

"I guess you'll all find out eventually. Dike visited me a few days ago. She said something about wanting justice for me. I think.." He hesitated, not wanting to be confrontational. "I think she sees how left out I am sometimes."

Percy frowned. He opened his mouth to speak when he was interrupted.

"Hey, is he-?" Piper stood in the doorway.

"Oh, good. He's awake. We all talked and think it's best to have a kind of group meeting." Great. they've staged an intervention for me, Leo thought.

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In the mess hall, the air was tense. Leo knew it was because of him. They all looked up when Percy, Piper, and Leo entered the room. Jason stood up

"Leo, thank the gods you're okay. How do you feel?" Leo summoned up a cheeky grin.

"Like a million bucks, super man." Jason shook his head, rolling his eyes and smiling at his friend.

"Leo, I'm sorry." Annabeth said. He hadn't even noticed her at first, as she was tucked in the corner, not saying much.

"I didn't mean to upset you." Leo waved her apology away.

"I'm fine. Don't worry about it."

"Have you been feeling sick?" Hazel asked him. He did a double take.

"Have I what now?" He asked, laughing.

"You summon fire all the time and you don't pass out. You're stick thin and weigh almost nothing. We had no trouble getting you to the med bay because you're so light."

There really was no way out of this, huh? Leo sighed.

"I may or may not have... skipped a few meals here and there to get the ship repaired." He mumbled.

"A few?" This time it was Piper.

"Leo, you're a skeleton. When's the last time you had a real meal?"

"Um.." Leo faltered. Had it been Three days earlier? Four? He'd had to have had something to keep him going. Coffee, maybe. Ew, coffee. Leo shuddered.

"Honestly, I haven't been eating regularly since the beginning of construction of the Argo II." The reactions varied from horrified sighs to facepalms.

"Dude, why?" Percy demanded.

"No time." Leo said, staring at the floor.

"I'll be better about it from now on, okay? I've just had a lot on my plate."

"You better." Piper said, staring at him like she intended to follow him around with a bag of snacks, which she probably did.

"While I'm glad we've resolved that issue, I'm still wondering what you and Annabeth were arguing about in the first place." Frank chimed in. His babyish face reddened slightly. "Not trying to pry or anything, but it seemed important."

Leo debated telling them all the truth. It would certainly get them off his back about it. But it was embarrassing enough that Dike felt bad enough to visit him. There was no way he would tell the others. He didn't need anyone to make them care about him. He started getting chills and for a moment thought he was about to collapse again, but then a voice spoke.

"Of course it's important." Dike sat at the head of the table, leaning back in her chair, legs crossed. Weapons were immediately reached for.

"Oh, don't bother with those. I'm not here to cause harm." Dike stood. Her heels clicked on the wooden floor as she strode around the room.

"You're all a team, yes? A family? You work together and care for each other?"

"Of course, " Jason said indignantly. Dike raised an eyebrow at him.

"Is that so? Then you were aware that your friend was struggling? You were there for him when he needed you?" She was met with silence.

"I see. Neglectful friends, aren't we? Is that fair?" Again, silence.

"Maybe you all think yourselves stronger than Leo? Better?" Leo's face burned and he stared at the floor. Of course they did.

"Let's see you walk through a day in his life, then." Dike snapped her fingers and gray smoke spiraled around the room.

"What's happening?"

"Guys, calm down!"

The smoke obscured Leo's vision for a few moments before disappearing.

"Where are we?" Annabeth said, her knife drawn. The others all had weapons drawn as well. Piper looked around.

"Are we in a school?" Leo looked around and his heart sank. He knew this place.

"This is my old elementary school."

"Dike said we would walk a day in your life.." Annabeth reached out and touched the wall. It swirled and turned to gray smoke as she touched it, returning to solid matter as she pulled her hand away.

"I think.. we're I'm a memory." She said, looking at Leo. "Your memory."

A bell rang and students poured into the hallways. Among them was a small, curly haired boy no more than 10 or 11 years old. Leo.

"Is that-" Hazel started.

"Yeah," Leo answered. "That's me."

"How old were you here? This looks like a high school." Annabeth asked.

"I think like 11 or something. I skipped a grade or two. I had to take a bunch of tests first, though." Before anyone could question this, a loud bang sounded in the now almost empty hallway.

Younger Leo stood against a locker, a bag clutched to his chest. An older, much bigger boy, stood over him, his fist planted on the the locker beside Leo's face.

"How's it feel being a freak, Valdez?" Leo didn't answer. He turned his head away as the boy leaned closer, revealing bruises on his cheek.

"How did you get those bruises? Did your parents do that?" Laughed the bully.

"Oh, wait. You don't have parents, do you, freak? They didn't want you." The boy pushed Leo to the floor and walked away laughing. Young Leo sat up and leaned against the lockers. He rubbed his elbow where he had collided with the floor and stood, walking off to find a spot where he would eat lunch alone.

The smoke reappeared and drowned out the sight before them. Leo closed his eyes, feeling the humiliation of being bullied in front of an audience. When he opened them, he stood in the mess hall back in the Argo II. Nobody spoke for a moment.

"What the fuck was that?" Percy blurted out.

"Percy!" Annabeth said, whacking him on the arm.

"No, I agree with Percy. What did we just watch?" Jason asked.

"That was a memory from the first school I got kicked out of. I got bullied a lot there." Leo answered.

"Leo I'm sorry. That couldn't have been enjoyable to go through again." Piper said.

"It's not a big deal. Demigods get bullied all the time. It's nothing new." He waved her off.

"Why did Dike show us just that one memory, though?" Frank said.

"I don't think she's done yet." Annabeth said. "I think she's going to show us more memories."

"Why do you think that?" Leo tried to sound casual but his voice cracked. He did not want them seeing his memories.

"She said she wants us to know what it's like to to live your life, right? She's probably going to visit us again. That one memory didn't show us much."

Oh no. Leo sighed. His life was about to get very, very interesting.

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That's all for this chapter! Another one will be up ASAP, I promise. As always, read and review!

-R