I step out of the Soul Forge and look around my room, making sure that there was nobody around, before dispelling the doorway. I stepped over to the desk in the corner and looked out the window, the sun was up and the traffic was still going strong along with the pedestrians that occasionally passed. “What time is it?” I asked myself and turned my head towards the nightstand by my bed and looked over to the alarm clock that was facing away from me.

I walked over to the clock and checked the glowing green numbers that told me that it is only seven in the morning. “Huh.” I thought that I was in the Soul Forge for much longer than that! I went in a little after six didn't I? I guess I was faster than I realized.

I step back to my desk and turn on the lamp, rummage through the main drawer for a second, looking for a pencil and some paper. I found the paper easily as it was sitting near the front of the drawer but I couldn't find a pencil. I opened the other drawer and saw a bunch of pens “Good enough for now I guess.” I commented and brought out the black plastic pen and set it along with a few sheets of paper onto the desktop. It's time to plan.

________________________________________________________

About an hour later, when my hand was sore from writing for so long, I finished my plan that was written across five double-sided sheets of paper. Well, my plan for this year anyway. I had decided that I shouldn't make plans for the entire series yet, just me being there could change the plot by a lot, which would mean that my plans would be flawed and would have to be changed anyway.

I think that my basic long term plan would work out ok though, albeit with a little bit of struggling.

While I am not just going to tell you the plan, I will say my basic goals which are: To survive, help others survive and make really cool things. Not necessarily in that order.

First things first however, I need to get into Yancy academy for this year. I mentally review my plan, first I need to figure out who is in charge of where we go to school, I can probably just ask to find out for this step. Second, I need to talk to who is in charge of my education and convince them to send me to Yancy. Lastly, if talking doesn't work, I need to figure out how to make a mind control ring.

Just kidding about the mind control ring, I doubt I could make one any time soon, even if I wanted to.

No, the real last backup plan is to just head to Camp Half Blood early and wait for Percy to show up and kill the minotaur to try to get into his good books and perhaps become friends that way, which would help a lot of my plans. I hope I won't have to go with this option, it's not as good a plan as just going to Yancy and getting to know him slower and eventually becoming good friends that way.

I spin in my chair and stand up to check the time, it's just about eight fifteen. Breakfast is supposed to be around eight thirty I believe so I got some time until that. What to do… Ah, I should probably do some exercise to test my new body a bit.

________________________________________________________

When I was doing my thirtieth pushup I heard a knock on my door and someone's voice saying, “It's time to get up! We are having breakfast now!” Ah, finally. “Ok, I will be right down!” I answered rather breathlessly, I was really pushing my new body to see my limits. It turns out that my new body, despite being only eleven years old, was as strong, if not stronger, than my old body. This was really weird as I was eighteen in my past world! Maybe it was the half god part of me?

As I thought back on the exercise the more I realized that this new body was a boon for my survival rates in this new world! Of course, nothing survives first contact with the enemy and it's better to be cautious, but I was feeling optimistic about my chances.

I stood up and quickly put on a shirt, leaving for breakfast. I walked through the carpeted wooden hallways towards where I remembered the dining room was located. A few minutes later, after going through a seemingly endless hallway and passing sun filled window after window, I ended up at the dining hall doorway where I froze.

I could see about two dozen children, going to sit down at a long table that was in the center of the room from what looked like a buffet table piled with food that smelled like heaven when the only thing I had eaten was a little bit of hospital food for the last few weeks.

I also saw the woman who drove me here yesterday lookup at me as I froze. She smiled at me and said “Come on over!” and then she got all of the children’s attention “Hey, everybody! This is Ardika and he just arrived. Say hello to Ardika everyone.” The children stopped to look at me inquisitively which caused me to shrink back a little, I wasn't the best with kids along with being terminally introverted.

The children apparently thought I was uninteresting after looking me over and turned back to their food or friends. I wasn't sure if I should be relieved or insulted about that.

I slowly walked over to the buffet table and grabbed a plate. I proceeded to pile every food onto my plate until I had a stack that was getting hard to carry and then I sat down at the long table. A few people looked at me questioningly and they started to talk to their friends laughing while looking between me and the massive pile of food. I started to eat, the food was amazing, the pancakes were practically melting on my tongue, the fruit was juicy and soft, I felt like I was in heaven with all of the wonderful food that I could finally eat.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

I groaned in satisfaction, leaning back in my chair. That was amazing. I opened my eyes and looked back at my empty plate that I had practically wiped clean, and looked around to see quite a few people looking at me astonished I just chuckled and told them “Hey, when you can't eat any actual food for two weeks and you see food, you will understand.” as if it was the most common thing in the world. Actually, it might be, for all I know, a different dimension is bound to be different in some way. The monsters and gods might account for that though.

From the way the children looked, not eating real food for two weeks might not be common though. From their expressions you would think I was a dying man and their slowly edging away probably meant that I didn't give the best first impression.

I sighed, well I guess I won't be making any friends here… I looked around for one of the caretakers, I should probably find out about the school arrangements now that I am full to bursting.

By the buffet table was the same woman that drove me here, I had lost track of her at some point while I was eating but apparently she is supervising the children. How many people work here? I mean I have only seen two caretakers here so far and someone probably cooked the food so three? That seems a little low… Whatever, I can ask her.

I stand up and grab my plate off of the table, push in my chair and walk over to the dirty dish pile that was at the other end of the buffet table, close to where the caretaker was standing. I carefully put the plastic plate and cup into the bin and turned to the caretaker, “Hello again!” I say cheerfully “Hello to you too.” she responds, looking down at me smiling “Do you want something?” I nod and say “Yes, I was just wondering about what is going to happen with schooling arrangements…” I said questioningly, looking for some information.

The woman looked surprised by that and said “What do you want to know?” “Well, everything really. Where am I going to school, where is it, do you know?”

The caretaker seemed to be a little more taken aback at that and continued asking me questions before she finally told me that she didn't know and that I would have to ask the director who is in her office right now. I thanked her and walked out the door, hurrying down the hallway to her office, thinking over what I was going to say. I stop just before the door at the end of the hall and turn to the plaque which reads ‘Director Kasandra’ in big bold lettering.

While I was standing at the big imposing dark wooden door, I started to doubt my plan. Was this really necessary? Ok Ardika, you can do this, it’s just a talk… Just a casual talk. I raise my hand to knock and hesitate slightly before bolstering my courage and knock on the door.

After a few seconds of silence during which I continued to stand nervously in front of the door I hear a voice from inside saying “You can come in.” ‘Ok, just keep calm and say what we planned, Ardika and you will be fine. Worst that could happen is you have to run to camp sooner than normal.’ I thought to myself as I reached out and grabbed the handle, turning it and stepping inside the office.

I looked around the office that was sparsely decorated and quite plain with a few shelves that were next to empty, a desk at the far end of the room, and a door behind it. The Director was sitting expectantly behind her desk looking at me. I cleared my throat, looked at her and started to talk. “Good morning.” I told her, trying to be polite.

“Good morning to you too Ardika.” She remembers my name… That's probably a good sign. “I wanted to ask you about the arrangements for school.” She looked a little surprised at that but not too much so “What about them do you want to know about?” “Well, where am I going to be going to, what type of school is it that I am going to and where is it, are the main questions I want to know right now.”

She took a second to think and then looked up to ask me another question “Why do you want to know right now? School is quite a long way away, you still have a few months until it starts.” ‘Shoot, I need to come up with something…’ “Well… I am not really sure, but I feel like I liked school a lot and…” ‘Ok, laying the no memory thing this early probably wasn't the best move right now…’ I looked up at her, trying to seem like I was trying to remember something. She seemed to be really surprised, but I wasn't the best at judging body language so for all I know she sees right through me.

“Are you sure? Are you remembering something from before the accident?” ‘I think that she is falling for it…’ “I don't know…” I said, trying to sound frustrated. “It's just I think that I might remember something about a school…” I trailed off again making Kasandra sit forward and say “Do you remember what the name of the school you remember is?”

‘Ok, here’s my chance…’ “I think that it is… Jancy? No… that's not it…” “Do you mean Nancy academy?” she asked me, my face lit up at the name! She knew Yancy academy? This is great! “Yes, that's it!” I say, relieved. “What about it do you remember? Did you go there?” I frown, thinking hard, ‘If I say yes then she will go asking if I was enrolled there… but how would I remember it if I didn't?’ “I’m not sure… I don't think so? I just remember someone taking me there and saying I would be going there some time… and I also remember someone reading me a book there.”

She looked disappointed at that, but I was quick to say “I think that I might know someone that was there though… I remember someone leaving me in a room with someone and being told to be good for… someone? I don't really remember what their name is…” At that she seemed to perk up a bit, this was a little easy… “Do you remember what they looked like?” she suddenly asked me, “I… A little? It’s a bit hazy… I might recognize them if I saw them, but I don't know…”

She pushed herself back and said “Would you like to go there this year?” ‘Really? That was fast…’ “Maybe? I don't remember a lot about it…” I told her, trying to not show my excitement and keep the 'child that was trying to remember something' façade. “Ok, how about I can take you to take a look before school starts, and you can decide then. Ok?” ‘Wow, it was really easy to manipulate her into that… Maybe it’s the young body?’ “Ok, that sounds good.” I say and I smile a little.

“Is that all you wanted to ask me?” she prompts me, to which I say “Yes, I think so, goodbye.” and I turn to the door, turn the handle, swing it open and quickly leave, shutting the door behind me. I grin widely, that was too easy! Now that that is sorted, I should go back to the Soul Forge I guess.

I turn back down the hallway, still grinning and I happily jog all the way back to my room.