SO sorry about the long wait, i was camping this weekend so i couldn't update. well, anyways here's the next chapter!

Chapter 20: Annabeth

Annabeth pointed her sword at Percy's throat. It had been a few days since they had come to Legion Camp, and she wanted to see if he had gotten any better at sword fighting since he had disappeared. A little better, but they were still about equal.

"I win." Annabeth said, smiling.

Percy got up and said, "Yeah, well, if we were in a real fight you wouldn't, cause I'm all immortal remember?" he said.

"Not completely." Annabeth said. Percy shrugged, and they walked out of the arena towards where Leo was fixing his ship.

"How's it going?" Percy asked him, looking up at the almost fully repaired Argo II.

"Almost done." Leo said. "Two more days and we'll be ready to go."

"Really?" Annabeth asked. "I thought it was going to take four more days, at least."

Leo shook his head. "Lupa agreed to let the Vulcan cabin take more time off training than they were when we first started."

"Great!" Annabeth replied happily. She was really anxious to get back to camp, she didn't know how much longer she could stand this place.

"Hey," another voice said. "You guys need something to pass your time? We could go monster hunting."

Annabeth turned around to find herself looking at a girl with mischievous upturned eyebrows. A Hermes kid feature.

"Sure, Gwen." Percy replied. "Coming, Annabeth?"

"Course I am, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth said.

It ended up they were going not only with Gwen but also with Sam, son of Hecate. Annabeth knew that he would have all kinds of magical tricks up his sleeves.

They went into the West Woods, and eventually came to a cliff overlooking the ocean.

Suddenly Percy tensed, then relaxed. He turned to the group. "Anybody up for fighting a sea monster?" he asked. Annabeth couldn't see anything, but Percy could probably sense its presence down there.

Annabeth and Gwen scowled at him, but Sam said, "We don't keep monsters in the ocean. None of us can reach it."

"Yeah you're right." Gwen said. "Then its probably just a wild monster."

They started turning away, but then Annabeth spotted something through the trees. What is that?" she yelled to the others, and they followed her through the forest, until Annabeth skidded to a stop and held out her arms to keep the others from going over the edge.

In front of them was a trench spanning at least 20 feet, and about 100 feet deep.

"This- this wasn't here before." Gwen said in a small voice. "I- I was here with Sarah and Cody last week, and this chasm wasn't here."

"Then, how did it get here?" Annabeth asked.

"Let's see if I can find anything out." Sam said. He stepped forward, put his arms out and closed his eyes. Then he started murmuring in latin. Annabeth caught only a few of the words, like trace and origin. She knew Greek better.

Sam put his arms down and opened his eyes, breathing hard, as if the magic had drained him of energy. "Well?" Gwen demanded.

Sam shook his head. "All I know is that something very, very old and powerful was here. And I think that that's what made this chasm."

Annabeth's mind was reeling. Was this Gaea's doing? But why, out of the blue, would she put a trench in the middle of the forest of Legion Camp? And if something had happened here, what had happened at Camp Half-Blood, if anything?

"We should report this to Lupa." Gwen said. "Maybe she'll know what to make of it." Everyone nodded, and started heading back to camp.

As the group was walking back, Annabeth was so deep in thought about Gaea and her giants that she ran right into Percy when he stopped and drew his sword.

"What is it?" she whispered, pulling out her dagger.

"I don't know." Percy said. "I thought I heard something."

Annabeth listened, but heard nothing. "I think you were just imagining it." Gwen decided.

"I could've sworn-" Percy trailed off, staring into the forest.

"Come on." Annabeth said, grabbing his arm and pulling him along with the group. Percy shook his head and they walked back to camp. Nothing crossed their path.

"All right, how about me and Sam go tell Lupa about the trench?" Gwen suggested. "You two should get to dinner."

Leo

After Percy and Annabeth left with Gwen, Leo turned back to his ship. He had been surprised how quickly the Vulcan cabin was getting the ship done, two more days and the Argo II would be good as new! Leo had made sure that the job wasn't hasty and was well done, that was the most important part. They needed a ship that was well done and repaired, otherwise what was the point of getting it done quickly?

He took down the sail and examined the hole in it. Bobby came up to him and said, "We can have Reyna or one of her siblings fix that. Their mom is the goddess of weaving."

Leo considered this. "Yeah, but I could also rebuild the hole with some light metal so that its stronger than it was before." he paused. "But I guess I don't have time for that, do I?" he asked.

Bobby shrugged. "Depends when you want to leave." Leo wasn't sure if Bobby wanted them to leave, then remembered that Bobby was coming with them.

Leo sighed, scooped up the sail, and walked towards the Minerva cabin. He knocked, but nobody answered. They were probably all training. He peeked into the colosseum and saw Hazel, who was Praetor, just finishing up practice with a few of the older kids.

"All right, great, everyone. Next time we'll work with lances." she saw him standing there and walked over to him. "Hey Leo." she said. "What is it?"

"Actually, I was looking for Reyna. Well, any Ath- Minerva kid will do."

Hazel nodded towards a girl that was a little younger than Leo, talking off her armor as she walked away. "That's Claire." Hazel said. "She doesn't hold grudges like Reyna does, so I'm sure she'll be happy to help you."

Leo said his thanks and caught up with Claire. "Hey." he said. "Claire, right?"

The girl nodded. She had pale blue-gray eyes and shoulder length blonde hair. "You're Leo, right? You came in that boat?"

"Yeah, um, listen can you help me with this?" he showed her the sail. "Your mom is the goddess of weaving, so I thought you could help me patch this up?"

Claire smiled. "Help you, or do it for you?"

"Um.." Leo started, but she cut him off.

"Yeah sure I'll do it, it won't take that long, and I have a free afternoon today." Claire took the sail from him and walked back to her cabin.

"Thanks!" he called after her. She waved her hand to indicate that she had heard, and then Leo turned and headed back towards the boat. That's when he saw Gwen and Sam running past him at full speed.

as always, plz review!