Author's note at the end (You're welcome), super short disclaimer here: This is a work of fan fiction using the world and some of the characters created by Rick Riordan. He owns them, I don't.

Cassie didn't remember dying.

Or at least, she think she died. It would make sense; die in one universe and magically get transported to a fictional one.

Yeah. Totally makes sense, right?

But anyways. She didn't remember dying. She did sort of remember being in a car crash though.

And she sort of remembered waking up in a hospital. She noticed she was alone, but she must have passed out again pretty quickly because she didn't remember anything else.

The second time Cassie woke up though, a nurse was in her room, checking monitors or something.

It took the nurse a minute to notice the girl was awake, which was good, because Cassie was a bit out of it, and it was taking her a minute to start forming coherent thoughts. "Hey," The woman said when she saw Cassie looking around, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," Cassie answered automatically. You can know it was 'automatically' because no, she was not fine. She was completely confused and she wasn't at all focused on the nurse's question. She was focused on her own. Why am I in a hospital? ... What happened? She tried to recall her most recent memories to figure out how she got there, I… I was at school yesterday and- no, I had gotten home after school. Then? Then I- "Ahh!" A horrible shooting ripped through Cassie's skull and her hands flew to her forehead like that could somehow ease the pain.

"There now," The nurse rushed forward, dumping her clipboard on the foot of Cassie's stark white hospital bed before taking a gentle hold of her wrists.

Her head! She had never felt a pain that bad before.

"Careful, don't want to mess with that bandage now," The nurse said calmly.

Bandage? …Oh... Bandage. Now that the nurse mentioned it, Cassie did feel a thick pad over her left temple. Why is that there? She felt around at it, but of course, the bandage didn't have any answers for her. The slight sting underneath actually just made her more confused. Why, exactly, did she have a nice-sized gauze pad on her head?

"Do you want some more pain medicine?" The nurse asked after a moment, "I can get you something stronger if you need it,"

Pain meds? Cassie's headache had gone as quickly as it had come and the wound on her temple didn't physically hurt all that much, despite whatever must be under the bandage. Do I need pain meds? She supposed she felt tired, and a little weak, but otherwise Cassie thought she was fine. But yeah right. If she was fine, why was she there? What happened? And why was she alone?

"Cassie?" The nurse prodded.

Where was her mom? Why wasn't her mom there with her?

"Cassie," She asked more forcefully,

What? Oh, "Yeah," she shook her head to try and focus back in the present, "Yeah, err, yes please. Thanks"

"Okay, just stay in bed, I'll let the doctor know you're up and be right back with some meds, okay?"

"Okay" That was a stupid, Cassie told herself, I don't need medicine. I need my mom. Where's- The nurse walked out as Cassie thought to articulate her question. Cassie slumped back onto her pillow and sighed. She supposed one more minute of unanswered questions wouldn't matter though, she could wait until the nurse came back. But then again…

Cassie realized that the nurse had left her clipboard on the edge of the bed. She awkwardly shimmied herself to grab it, careful not to snag the IV that was hooked up to the back of her hand on anything.

When she sat back she brought her chart up to read an- "Woah," She muttered. That stereotype about doctors having horrible handwriting? Cassie raised her eyebrows is surprise at just how indecipherable it really was.

It took her a few moments of trying to decode the script when she realized that it wasn't the doctor's loopy cursive that was unreadable. What the...? Cassie frowned when she realized that she couldn't read anything on the page. Not the doctor's handwriting, not the computer's plain font, none of it. It was all illegible to her.

Cassie began to worry. Did her head injury cause this? She was just starting to freak out when her room's door opened.

It wasn't the nurse returning that Cassie saw come in the door though. Instead, in rushed a middle-aged woman with straight dark hair wearing a headband and a colorful messenger bag. She looked frazzled. Concerned. But when her gaze locked onto Cassie, everything about her relaxed.

Cassie was instantly relieved as well.

It was her mom: Jennifer Barton.

"Ohh, Cassie!" The woman cried, hurrying to her daughter's bed to embrace her in a long hug. Cassie gratefully returned the gesture, smiling now that her situation wasn't quite so scary. It would be okay now: her mom was there. Her mom could handle it. Her mom would take care of her. "Are you doing okay? Are you hurting anywhere?"

Cassie sat back and took a deep breath. "I'm fine, actually." And although this time she really meant the answer, she knew her mom wouldn't believe her. Not while Cassie was in the hospital. Not with the bandage around her head and IV in her hand. But still, it was the truth.

"What…." Cassie started to ask, then cleared her throat, "What happened?" Cassie thought that her lack of memory would frighten her mom, but instead the older woman just reached out to take her daughter's hand reassuringly and gave a small sympathetic smile.

"You don't remember?"

Cassie shook her head. "I tried to read the doctor's chart," Cassie tentatively started to tell her mom, worry starting to form in the pit of her stomach again. She was in the hospital, probably from a head injury, and now she couldn't read.

Not good.

Before she could say anything else though, her mom sat back and gave a slight grimace, "Dyslexia acting up again?"

What? Cassie frowned. She wasn't dyslexic. What was her mom...?

"We were driving to your school. Someone ran a red light and T-Boned our car. You were knocked unconscious."

Car crash. Ahh. That explained a lot. She must have gotten a concussion or something. Cassie was pretty sure people who got concussions had a hard time remembering their accident. That would make sense. But it didn't explain why she couldn't read... Unless, she supposed, she got hit really, really hard.

But her mom had mentioned dyslexia. Cassie didn't have dyslexia. Why would her mom say something like that?

And why was her mom driving her to school? Cassie's confusion grew even more. Her mom NEVER drove her to school. Even when it was snowing out Ms. Barton would make her daughter ride the bus.

Cassie's head began to throb. Why wasn't this making any sense!? She squeezed her eyes shut in frustration and rubbed her hands over her face.

"Are you hurting?" Her mom asked.

Cassie didn't uncover her face to respond, but quietly said through her hands, "The nurse is bringing some meds".

And not a minute later, the nurse did.

She brought Cassie a glass of water to go with the pills, both of which the girl took gratefully, and simultaneously reassured Ms. Barton that despite being unconscious for the last day, Cassie's vitals were in fact, very good. The nurse then asked Cassie a few simple questions;

"Name?"

"Cassie"

"Age?"

"13"

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"Uhh," Cassie paused, not all that comfortable with admitting she was having memory problems. "I was in a car crash?" She didn't mean for it to come out so much like a question.

The nurse made a quick scribble on the clipboard she had taken back, "That's perfectly normal if you can't remember." She reassured, seeming to know exactly what Cassie was thinking. "You got a pretty nice concussion there. You may be able to remember what happened in the next few days, but it's perfectly normal if you can't. Luckily that's your only injury though, besides some bruising... If you're feeling up for it, Dr. Miller will probably let you go home soon; maybe tonight or in the morning." Cassie nodded. That sounded good- she wanted to go home. Right now, actually. "But the more rest you get," Continued the nurse, "The better you'll feel, so try and get some sleep. Or, if you're hungry the cafeteria instructions are right here," The woman handed Cassie's mom a laminated colorful paper, "But you can call me if you need anything," This time she pointed to some sort remote control looking thing next to Cassie's bed, "otherwise I'll be back in a few hours for some more vitals."

Cassie gave a polite "Thank you" as the nurse left, but her energy was quickly draining and so when her mom asked if she wanted any food, Cassie quickly declined and told her mother that she really just wanted to sleep. Her mom nodded and left her alone, and Cassie was able to slip back into unconsciousness almost instantaneously.

When she awoke a few hours later, she felt infinitely better. Cassie and her mom had gotten some cafeteria food and afterwards the two happily started watching an old Disney movie on the room's TV. They were halfway through it when Dr. Miller finally came in.

He asked Cassie how she was feeling of course, and did all those normal doctor things; flashing a light in her eyes, checking her temperature and the blood pressure monitor she was still hooked up to, and he even made her walk in a line heel-to-toe like cops do with drunks. He replaced the wrap on her temple with two small butterfly bandages and nodded when he finished, seemingly satisfied with how everything turned out. Although Cassie had gotten a bad concussion, he said, she seemed well enough to be discharged.

"Perfect," Ms. Barton had announced and turned to her daughter, "We can still make it to Yancy tonight if you're up for it."

Yancy? Cassie must have misheard her mom. Go to Yancy's house tonight? "Who?" She asked,

"Yancy." Her mom repeated, "Your new school? We made it over halfway there; there's only about two more hours to go. We'll already be arriving a day late and it would be a waste to drive all the way back home first. If you're feeling okay, that is."

Cassie furrowed her brow and looked down into her lap, thinking hard. What? Um, no. Cassie went to PS 31. It was just a couple blocks from her house in Brooklyn. Walking distance. Not two hours away. She had never heard of…. Yancy.

But Cassie didn't tell her mother this. Cassie had just had a major head injury. She didn't want to scare her mom and make herself look crazy.

Oh my gosh, Cassie froze. What if she was crazy?

No, no. She shook her head. She couldn't be crazy! She was just dazed. Confused. Overwhelmed. Concussed! It would all be fine. Her memory would come back with rest, just like the nurse said it might, and it would all be fine.

And she was fine, Cassie told herself while trying to ignore the fact that she had never heard of this new school.

She took a deep breath. Just. Fine. She repeated.

And physically, she really was feeling pretty decent. If 'Yancy' was only a two hour car ride away, she could do it.

"Um, sure, I guess". Cassie tried to hide the uncertainty in her voice but neither of the adults in the room missed it. They just missed the reason for it.

"It'll be okay, squirt," Dr. Miller gave her a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder. She grimaced, since that particular joint was very sore. And also because that was an awful nickname. "It's a whole new semester, it'll be fun. And a boarding school! How exciting! And I bet it'll be fun to be away from your mom," He smiled and winked at them both.

Cassie's mom smiled back at the doctor.

Cassie just looked at him like he was crazy. Boarding school!? She couldn't speak. Though, Cassie supposed 'boarding school' would explain why it was so far away. But of course, it was about the only thing it explained.

The doctor shifted awkwardly when she didn't respond to his little jest. "Right!" He finally said, "Well, I'll be back soon with your discharge papers then."

Once he had gone Cassie's mom started their movie again, somehow oblivious to her daughter's bafflement. Cassie was in turn just as oblivious to the movie and continued to stare at her blanket intently. She knew it wasn't a prank. Her mom would never do something like that- Ms. Barton was the nicest, most honest person Cassie knew. No, Cassie didn't think for a second that this was some big prank her mom was playing.

So, she tried to sort it all out, I go to boarding school. Called Yancy. Not a normal day school called PS 31. I was in a car crash. I got a bad concussion and my memories will come back. Cassie breathed and nodded to herself. Okay. She was figuring this out. She could do it. And Yancy did sound familiar to her- Her memories must be there somewhere and would come back after some more rest. And if her memories were there, there was no reason to tell her mom and freak her out. Or her doctor.

Not yet, at least.

Cassie didn't try to strike up any real conversation with her mom once they started driving.

No, Cassie just sat anxiously in the front seat, thinking hard as she watched the cars fly past on the interstate. Every once in a while she would change the radio station, or ask if she could adjust the temperature, but Cassie was otherwise silent. In turn, Cassie's mom didn't make much small talk either. It was pretty out of character for her mom, but Cassie was grateful for some quiet.

She assumed they were getting close when they finally exited the interstate and her mom started giving her instructions.

"Just call if you need anything. Anything at all! If you forgot something I can always mail it to you, and you have some money for emergencies, right?" Cassie checked her bag when her mom said this. Oh yes. Cassie smirked at seeing all of the bills. She had money- much more than she would ever need at school. She supposed she wasn't all that surprised though, she knew her mom was rich. "I'm sure the other kids will be nice; they're all in the same boat as you and know what you're dealing with. That's what Yancy specializes in so don't be afraid to ask the teachers for help!"

Wait, what? Cassie glanced at her mom questioningly.

Ms. Barton caught her look and explained, "Learning… Disabilities. And…. Behavior issues." She said slowly, as if trying to come up with euphemisms for each description.

Wait, what!? Behavior issues!? I don't have- Cassie was angered at being labeled as such but her mom quickly continued,

"Not everyone has behavior problems, don't worry, I'm sure there'll be plenty of nice girls and you'll make friends. But there are also lots of kids there with dyslexia like you. They know how hard it can be, and so do the teachers. I know it's scary, you starting half way through the year, so don't be afraid to ask the teachers for anything, okay?"

Cassie just nodded as her mom continued.

"Now, I'll be up to visit in just four weeks, but you still need to write and call me, okay?" Ms. Barton continued with her instructions but Cassie was only half listening to the rest. She now knew enough to be more sure of what was going on; she went to Yancy, a boarding school for kids with learning and behavior problems (Cassie cringed at that again. She was the perfect student! She didn't need to be there), and she was just starting there this semester. She nodded to herself. Okay, okay... She could do this. She still didn't remember anything about transferring schools or not being able to read, but she could do this.

Cassie's mom finished her last bit of advice on 'how to survive the semester' when they pulled up in front of a huge, three-story, grey stone building. Cassie got out and took her luggage from the trunk, putting the bulging backpack on her back and adjusting the small rolling suitcase in her grip.

Now or never…. Yeah right. Cassie wasn't going to tell her mom. As long as she could ignore her messed up memories, it would almost be like nothing weird was happening.

When they had reached the top of the steps, Cassie paused and tried to muster all the determination she could.

She looked up at the entrance to her school. The name Yancy Academy was engraved in huge font above the front door and Cassie found herself even more upset at the memories she was sure were there but that she just couldn't reach.

Yancy. She was 100% positive she had heard that name before. And she was 100% nervous about going inside.

"Come on, it's freezing!" Her mother urged as she passed her daughter and took a hold of the huge brass door handle. Cassie, realizing her mom was right and that she was terribly cold, rushed inside.

Cassie blinked, momentarily taken off guard by the blinding fluorescent lights and stark white walls and hallway. So this is Yancy….

Cassie didn't have time to take it in though since her mother immediately set off down a corridor to their left, leaving her daughter having to hurry to catch up.

It was late in the evening so Cassie wasn't surprised that all of the offices they passed were empty. The only one that seemed to be occupied was the room furthest down the hallway, right at the end of the corridor. The door was open and as they approached Cassie could hear the clack clack clack of a keyboard coming from within. She tried to read the identifying sign next to the door but all she could make out was 'principal'. The name below was indecipherable, but Cassie thought that was because of the name itself, not because she couldn't see it correctly. Still, Cassie knew she had never had a reading problem before and it frustrated her.

Ms. Barton stopped just outside the wide open door but still gave a polite knock to announce their presence.

"Ahh! Ms. Barton!" The principal immediately stopped what he was doing when he saw them. He hurried out from behind his desk to shake the woman's hand, "I'm Dr. Kravosky. I'm so glad you both made it. I was so worried when you called and told me about the accident," The cheerful man turned to Cassie and greeted her with a handshake as well.

"I was so relieved," Dr. Kravosky continued sounding very sincere, "To hear that you're okay. We're so glad you're back."

Cassie smiled up at him. She liked this guy. He seemed like a good principal. "Glad to be back," she replied.

The principal returned her smile and gave her a friendly squeeze on the shoulder, just like Dr. Miller had. Her bruised one again. She tried not to flinch. Gosh, she though, what's with everyone? Cassie didn't think she'd ever had people use that gesture with her before, and now that her shoulder was hurting, they wouldn't stop.

"Now," The principal started and clasped his hands together, "Have you had dinner yet?" Cassie shook her head 'no'. "Well, I told the cooks you would probably be coming late, if you wanted to head to the cafeteria- Oh, look!" The principal spotted someone coming down the hallway and called them over with an energetic, "Grover!", then looked back at Cassie and suggesting, "Why doesn't Grover join you so you have some company?"

Cassie didn't know who 'Grover' was, but she replied with a "Sure," as she turned around to look at the kid coming towards them.

He, well… He certainly wasn't a handsome guy. Grover had bad acne and unkempt curly brown hair that was partly hidden by a Rasta cap that Cassie thought looked pretty tacky. His shirt had some band logo on it that Cassie didn't recognize, and it looked like he had the slightest hint of a beard starting to grow.

The thing Cassie really noticed though, was the crutches.

And then, it all clicked.

Boarding school. Yancy. Crutches. Grover...

She froze.

"No way…."

Before you leave, I know. I KNOW. Every author asks for them. But just rate this 1-10, that's all I ask. If you get to the review page and decide you might as well add some more since you're already there, that's great! And very much appreciated! And you making it this far is appreciated too, so thanks.

So. I'd been reading a lot of PJO reincarnation stories lately and had this weird urge to write and upload my take on one. I feel like this chapter is slightly rushed in some ways, but at the same time, it's well over 3000 words, and this is like the second story I've typed in almost 5 years, s it'll have to do. I'm also sure it could use another editing run-through, but I'm the slowest editor ever and I really just want to be done with this chapter so again, it'll have to do.