Annabeth's p.o.v.

It had been almost a week since I had met the two most prevalent people in Arthurian Legend. Though, it appeared that it wasn't legend at all, but really history. Surprisingly, I was not shocked to find that these figures were real people. The gods were real, and so were monsters, so why not Arthur and Merlin?

I had found lodging in one of the lower towns, and had exchanged labor for food. I still had no idea why the gods had sent me here. Why? What could they gain from this venture through time? I had no answers, and I was beginning to fear that my presence was drawing the attraction of monsters. In the last two days alone, I had heard of new rumors of a dark beast that could melt into and out of the shadows. That could only mean that a hellhound was present.

Normally my aura wouldn't be enough to attract such a monstrosity, but there probably wasn't any other demigods here yet. That was a good thing too, because the masses of common folk were too ill-educated to even properly fight them off. I knew, sooner or later I would have to face the hellhound.

Today I was going to deliver herbal reserves to the upper town, where the people working at the palace lived. I knew that I would have to be more careful in my business there. If I were to be spotted by the two men I had met, then I was surely in for a lot of trouble. I wouldn't put it past King Uther, a hater of anything involving magic, to put me to death. Being beheaded or burned at the stake would not get me back home. Back to Percy.

I didn't know what to think about, because all of my waking moments were spent thinking about returning to him. But, as with every quest, you cannot return to normalcy until the task was complete. I didn't know what my task even was!

I tucked the cloak I had borrowed around me, hiding my modern clothing underneath its yards of fabric. It made me less noticeable, and I did not have to somehow purchase entirely new clothing. After my hood was up, I lifted the basket of herbs and started to walk, taking all of the main roads so that I wouldn't get lost.

Passing through the large archway into the castle courtyard, I kept my head down, though I was marveling at the wonderful architecture of this age. I paused to ask for directions to the man named Gaius, or to wherever his chambers were. The majority of herbs would go to him.

As soon as I found the right door, I knocked, keeping my head down. It was rumored that Gaius knew a great number of things. Perhaps he could help me determine how to get home. There was no answer behind the door, but I entered anyway. The room filled all of the expectations of a medieval physician's office. Unfortunately, medicine had a long way to go before it improved the length of life. I placed the basket on the worktable, and unloaded the herbs, leaving them nicely on the table.

My hood slipped off of my head as I approached a wall of shelves, absolutely stuffed with books. I trailed my hands over the hardcovers, looking at the titles. It was truly amazing how many books on anatomy this man had. Maybe medicine was further along than I had thought. I pulled one of the books off of the wall and flicked through it. I brushed stray hairs out of my face and put it back. I moved to a corner that was full of scrolls and chose the most official looking one of them all. I unrolled it and peered at the fancy writing. All of the letters were jumbled. If only they had Latin, or Greek, which would be even more preferable. I sighed in discontent.

"Can I help you?" A man's voice said from behind me. I froze and slowly turned, seeing an old man, who could only be Gaius.

"I am sorry for intruding." I replied, and rolled the scroll, tying a piece of twine around it so that it would not lose its shape. "I do not mean to offend you."

"Then what is the purpose of this visit?" Gaius asked, not moving from his spot next to the table. I motioned toward it.

"I have come to deliver your herbs. I became enthralled by your library, however." I took the basket off of the table and pulled up my hood again.

"Have we met before?" Gaius tried.

"No." I said plainly.

"What is your name then?"

I paused, trying to see if I could trust him. He looked as if he had seen a lot in all of his years. I decided that if I wanted any help I would have to trust somebody. It might as well be Gaius. "Annabeth Chase."

He nodded, "I am Gaius, the court physician."

I pursed my lips. Where could this conversation go? I opened my mouth to make a lame excuse as to why I had to leave when a tumult of screams came from outside. I didn't look back as I exited the building, running with all of my strength towards the noise.

Around me, I heard all sorts of cries, "To arms, men!", "Run!", and "What the hell is that thing?"

It could only be a monster here for me. And their mortal weapons would not be able to even harm it. I stopped when I reached the training fields, trying desperately to control my breathing before I had to dispatch the monster.

It was a hellhound.

Relatively small in comparison to those I had seen before, I wasn't all too terrified that I would die fighting it. Rather, that this demon would kill off others before I had my chance. I slipped off my cloak, knowing that it would only hinder me. My dagger fit perfectly in my hand and I put my Yankees hat on, knowing that I would be able to surprise it this way. At least, that was the plan.

The knights of Camelot surrounded the hellhound, swiping their swords and spears at it, but it did nothing. And every time someone got too close, it would jump into the shadows and reappear somewhere else. This one was the size of a grizzly bear, and boy, it looked hungry. As soon as I stepped within the fifteen-foot perimeter, he straightened, his nostrils flaring. He could smell the blood in my veins.

I blocked out the screaming around me, keeping my focus on the demon. It was odd though. Usually the monster would pay more attention to my presence. What was distracting him? I strained to see what it was.

Oh. Arthur. Merlin. Of course.

But they both had crazy futures ahead of them. They couldn't die now on my account!

I couldn't believe I was doing it, but I took off my hat, stuffing it into my back pocket. I became visible again, and the men around me shrieked.

"Over here, hellhound!" I shouted in Greek, startling the monster. I slipped back into English. "That's right. I'm the one you want."

The beast turned ferociously, and dove into the shadows. I knew that the more traveling it did, the more tired it became, but now he had the advantage of surprise. I didn't even have time to look at Arthur and Merlin's shocked faces. I heard heavy panting behind me, and whirled around, diving sideways as it tried to tackle me.

Merlin's p.o.v.

The girl was back again! She had materialized out of nowhere, brandishing her dagger and yelling in a different unknown language. Oddly, the monster had immediately reacted to her taunts, as if she were a better threat than Prince Arthur. The thing jumped into the shadows again, disappearing. The girl seemed to be able to sense it though, and with lightning fast reflexes she dove out of the way before it could pin her to the ground.

She proved to be a worthy distraction, and the rest of the knights at once tried to attack the thing. But that was the problem: their weapons couldn't harm it. Several blows that should have killed the monster just passed through its body as if it were made of air. It was like nothing I had ever seen before.

Just as Arthur was trying to give new orders, the girl jumped into action. She slashed and stabbed with her weapon, rolling and leaping like no other warrior I had ever seen before. Her style was impeccable, as though she had been born fighting. Every hit she made with her dagger actually made contact with the beast. The darker gleam of the blade would lacerate the monster's body, but no blood came out of the wound. Instead, yellow sand fell out onto the ground, parts of it getting picked up and blown by the breeze. It began to smell acrid in the area, and many men coughed at the scent the monster was releasing.

She was now on top of the thing as it thrashed wildly to shake her off. In a moment it disappeared into darkness then reappeared a few seconds later. She looked degrees paler and her hair was majorly windblown. In no less than four seconds, she brought up her dagger, and plunged it into the beast's back, slaughtering it. The monster collapsed, quickly becoming sand and darkness, all which seeped into the ground like it hadn't even been there.

And all that was left was the girl. Standing there, she stared at us and sheathed her weapon. Her hands moved to her face as she pulled the stray pieces of hair out of her eyes and mouth, all the while smearing dirt on her cheek. Blood dripped from her mouth where a busted lip remained. There was a scrape on her leg, but it didn't look bad.

As Arthur and his men surrounded her before she could disappear, she met my eyes with a hardened glance. I shivered. Scary. Her eyes conveyed the feeling that she wasn't scared, and that she had been through much worse. The only emotion that I later could see was alarm when the guards took her knife. They roughly grabbed her by her arms and forced her inside the castle walls, where she would no doubt have an audience with Uther later.

As I stood along in the now-empty training fields, all that remained were questions. What was that beast? How had she killed it? Did she have magic like me? How did she know who I was?

And most importantly: Who was she?