Chapter 2: We Land in Oz

I woke up to the sound of flowing water. The grass was soft, the air smelled sweet, and everything seemed peaceful. I opened my eyes and saw a bright blue sky with fluffy white clouds. Where was I? I got a feeling that I wasn't on Long Island any more. The fresh water next to me felt too clean, without the pollution I came to expect around industrial America. Oh gods, Annabeth! I sat up and quickly found her stirring next to me. When she sat up, I gave her a hug while I went through my mental check list:

My name is Percy Jackson, son of Sally Jackson and the Greek god Poseidon – check

I am seventeen years old – check

My girlfriend Annabeth Chase daughter of the Greek goddess Athena is with me – check

We were on a date on Long Island and were attacked by a manticore and then sucked through a swirling green portal courtesy of Nemesis – check

Well at least I have my memory this time. And Annabeth. I touched my pocket and felt the reassuring presence of my lethal pen, and our bags were lying next to us.

"You okay, Percy?" Annabeth asked.

"Yep, it seems like my memory is intact, and you're with me. So, it's much better than the last time a goddess decided to magically transport me somewhere," I replied. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She rotated her shoulder some. "Actually, my shoulder feels completely healed. I guess Nemesis must have healed it when she sucked us through that portal. Now, where exactly are we?"

Her gray eyes started sweeping the area as her mind whirled trying to put together the clues to figure out our location. We were on some kind of grassy plain with a few hills scattered around and a large river next to us. "I don't know. But I do know that the water in that river feels too clean to be anywhere near New York City. Also, I feel a lot of water beneath us."

Annabeth frowned, "Like groundwater?"

I shook my head in response, "No, it feels deeper and just, more. Usually, I really have to strain to feel groundwater. This is like an ocean but miles underground if that makes any sense."

Annabeth sighed, "No, that doesn't. Although some scientists have found evidence of oceans in the mantle, it shouldn't be the cause of the difference that you are describing."

"Well, I'll just whistle for Mrs. O'Leary, and she can shadow travel us back to Manhattan once she gets here." Mrs. O'Leary was my loyal pet hellhound, and with her ability to shadow travel, she could travel across long distances almost instantly though she would probably have to nap before she could take us back. I grabbed the Stygian Iron dog whistle hanging from my camp necklace and blew it. The dog whistle was a gift from Nico, son of Hades, that let me call Mrs. O'Leary from anywhere. Annabeth and I waited a minute, but Mrs. O'Leary never appeared out of the shadows. "If we are really far away from her, it might take a while," I told Annabeth. "I better Iris message my mom while we wait, to let her know that we are running late."

We walked to the river, and with a wave of my hand, I manipulated the water to make a misty rainbow in front of us. Annabeth grabbed a golden drachma from her bag and said, "Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me Sally Jackson in Manhattan," before tossing the coin through the rainbow. The coin passed through the rainbow and landed on the other side. "Hmm that's weird."

I picked up the coin and said, "Oh Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me Sally Jackson in Manhattan." I tossed the coin at the rainbow, but again nothing happened. Next, we tried connecting to Chiron and then Frank at Camp Jupiter. We even tried our godly parents. Something we never do, but still had no luck.

Annabeth groaned, "I have a bad feeling about this." She pulled out her cell phone. "Look, I've got no service."

"Maybe, we're someplace like in the middle of Africa where the service isn't as good," I stated.

Annabeth retorted, "But then why aren't the Iris messages working?"

I pointed to a nearby hill, "Lets just walk up there. Maybe, we can see something, or you could get cell service."

When we reached the top of the hill, Annabeth gasped, "Oh my gods." Below us was the most beautiful city that I have ever seen, besides maybe Olympus. There were soaring towers, graceful arches, and elegant light green domes. What was even more surprising was the amount of air traffic surrounding the city. There were lots of small vehicles flying around, and a few larger ones that would just disappear out of the sky. Not like airplanes that passed over you. These seemed to just go straight up and vanish. "Toto, I don't think we are in Kansas anymore."