Most of the characters belong to Rick Riordan.

The map I used for this is a modified European map.

Annabeth's eyes slowly opened, the world going from blurry to focused. Her head throbbed immensely, like if someone was hitting it with a hammer. She tried to move her arms but to her surprise she couldn't, they were fastened to two poles, about 3 yards away from each other. The ropes held her up but also made sure she couldn't move her arms.

Suddenly all the memories came crashing in on her, she had been captured! Horrors of what might happen to her made her squirm in her bonds, trying to pull free. She felt the ropes digging into her wrists and felt a warm stream running down her forearm.

"Well well well! You must be important if the King himself orders you to be kept alive," a man said from behind her. She tried to turn her head but from her position it was impossible to see him fully. She did however see his smirk as he said, "for as long as possible. And his majesty didn't really specialise what we weren't allowed to do!" His smirk grew as she stared in horror. Annabeth tried to wriggle away from him, but couldn't not with her arms stretched out.

She instead attacked him verbally, screaming for help. This seemed to amuse him further, until she started calling him names. That was when his eyes darkened, "I am not stupid! I'm not a barbarian!" his face was flushed and he pulled something from his belt. A long coiled whip. Annabeth stared in horror as he warmed up his arm. Five other guards stood around them, making sure she couldn't escape. She tried to remember what her mentor had told her, but failed. She was too panicked to do anything.

The whip lashed across her back, the impact jerking her body forward. The searing pain came after a few moments and Annabeth had to fight the tears back. She had not let out a sound and the guards obviously didn't take that as good. Another lash and her back exploded in pain, it felt like if someone held a hot iron against her. The tears started flowing, running down her face steady streams. Another lash, finally she screamed as the pain was too much. Another lash- she screamed, scraping up her wrists as she fought the ropes.

Annabeth felt her world grow darker and the pain feeling distant. She didn't even notice when they untied her wrists and placed her on her stomach. She was abruptly thrown into a world of pain again when they threw a bucket of water in her face. Her head jerked up and she tried to get up- her back burned so much she couldn't even use her arms. The guards walked towards her, and held her down. She couldn't see what they were doing but she guessed it wasn't going to be fun for her. The guard who whipped her's voice was heard from behind, "Boys, rip up the shirt please, I cannot access her back otherwise"

Annabeth's heart skipped a beat, was he going to do what she thought? She felt something cold, a knife- cutting through the thin fabric of her already ripped shirt. She felt their eyes on her bare back, probably eying the wounds she had there from the whip.

"Those are some strange tattoos you've got there sweetheart," the guard said. Annabeth remembered them, unlike in the south, where magic had been gone for over a hundred years, many people in the north still possessed the powers. The tattoos served as marks for whoever could utilize the arts- people who were born with them were natural magic users. The tattoos, runes as they were called in the north, was a secret language only accessible to the people who had been taken in as apprentices of magicians. It was handed down through the trade, from master to apprentice. The runes were often colourful and could cover almost any part of a person's body. The shape of the runes and the way they coiled around someone spoke of the way that the host could use magic.

When a runed child was born in the North it was immediately given to the the sorcerer's guild so that they could read the symbols and give the child a proper education in the arts of magic. The parents had no choice in giving up their child, as a people who didn't know how to control their power was extremely dangerous. This was one of the many reasons why people of the six kingdoms believed that the North was full of barbarians, people willingly giving away their children? Uncivilised. One of the other reasons why the North seemed uncivilised was that it didn't have a king, people lived in villages that governed themselves, the North was also extremely isolated from the rest of the world, the only part of it that had any contact with the kingdoms was called the Outposts. The ruler of the Outposts called himself king of the North but he didn't have any power or access to it. The villages in the region had come together and had people posted around the borders, killing anyone who tried to gain access. The people of the North had no common language but spoke variations of three different, all easy to understand for each other but not for people who spoke the common tongue.

The six kingdoms consisted of the kingdoms of Ogygia, Hades, Celestia, Olympia, Elysium and Atlantis. Before they had been separate they had all been been provinces in the great empire of Othrys. The Othryan people were masters of witchcraft and magic, the dark arts. They had built a great empire in a decade that managed to stand for a century- when the provinces all gathered up and toppled the black throne. They left the once great empire in ruins and retreated to their own lands. All that was left was said to be smoking piles of ash.

The first kingdom, Ogygia, was a series of islands led by their royal family, the current king was called Atlas and his daughter was the crown princess, called Calypso. It's capital was called York. Atlas had many children, and even more women, and even though he had many bastards he stood his ground and invited many of them to his court.

Ogygia was the most isolated of the kingdoms, since it was an island nation. That didn't stop it from getting invaded by the rising kingdom of Atlantis. The people of Ogygia had managed to surround the Atlantic army in one part of the land. Later when they made peace that part fell in the hands of Atlantis who set of a great harbour for trading. The main exports were coal and fish, but they also traded with oil, a resource that the noble families had started using as fuel.

The second kingdom was Hades. Hades was a balanced country, were the king didn't have much power. The people voted for many things that the king had to enforce- this didn't seem to bother the royal family. Their king was called Hades, his parents must have been very imaginative. 'Hey let's name our kid after our country so that when he'll become king it will seem as if he renamed the country after himself!' Hades and his wife Maria had led their country into a golden age, making it the second, if not the richest kingdom. Their main exports were wheat, fruits, wine and gold. The royal family consisted of Hades, his wife Persephone and his two legitimised bastards, prince Nico and crown princess Bianca. Hades didn't have any children with Persephone and had to legitimise his children, though their relationship with the queen was said to be a bit tense. They had also been in a war with the Atlantic people, a war they almost lost, the Atlantic army had gotten far into the nation when they negotiated peace. The capital of Hades was called Alicante.

The third kingdom was called Celestia, it was the kingdom that was closest to Othrys. Almost a third of it was surrounded by the old Othryan border. The king of Celestia, Charles Dare, resided in the capital, Berlin. He ruled with an iron fist and was the richest monarch. His subjects all paid high taxes to him and many of them were forced to work in his mines. The main export of Celestia were various metals, ranging from gold, to iron to the most valuable metal bronze. Bronze was an alloy, made from tin and copper and almost every kingdom could create their own, but the Celestian blacksmiths forged the metals with a special casting method that made it more durable, lighter and easier to keep sharp if forged to a sword.

The fourth kingdom was Olympia. The capital was called olympus and was ruled by the self-proclaimed king Zeus. His wife was called Beryl, with her he had two children- princess Thalia, the oldest and crown prince Jason. The reason that Thalia wasn't the crown princess was that Olympa, like many of the kingdoms, was male dominant. The Olympian army was the strongest and most well-trained. The Olympian people liked their king, many thought he acted a bit childish sometimes, throwing fits as he thought people conspired against him. King Zeus hand many children with other women. Olympia's biggests exports were fruit and wine.

Zeus had for many years been in arguments with the kings of Atlantis and Hades. He was certain one of them would overthrow him, especially the Atlantic king. The reason may have been well-supported as Atlantis had been in a state of constant conquest, creating ports and colonies almost everywhere. The only thing they seemed to be missing was a piece of land that didn't have any connection to the sea.

The fifth kingdom was Elysium. The capital of Elysium was the city of Rome. Elysium was the beach resort of the world. People, often the richest, went to relax at their estates on the beaches or to gamble at the casinos- the biggest of which was the Lotus Casino. The rulers were King Tristan and Queen Aphrodite. Together they had one child although Aphrodite probably had many secret lovers, and maybe children. Their child was crown princess Piper. Elysium imported more wares than it exported, its only economical gain being tourism. It imported all luxury wares like wine, gold and gems for its visitors to look at.

The sixth kingdom was probably the richest, it was the kingdom of Atlantis. The ruling family was the Jacksons. They were the only royals who had a common-name, it also fit them the most as they were the ones who identified themselves the most with their people. King Poseidon often talked with his subjects, helping sailors and many times joining their trade missions to other kingdoms. His wife, Queen Sally was a calm and loving woman, she was from a simple merchant's family and had worked her way up to a position where the king had noticed, and fallen in love with her. Their children were called Perseus and Andromeda. Perseus was the oldest one of them, making him crown prince. He was just like his father, simple, he wasn't like many of the other spoiled brats that lived at the courts of the different families. He was currently living as an honoured guest at the court of King Zeus, in Olympia.

Atlantis was the richest kingdom because it controlled all the sea, all trade across the sea was Atlantic. It was also the only country with access to salt which raised the price they could charge for the important ware. The exports of Atlantis were, amongst others, pearls, dyes, fish, salt, copper and gold. The Atlantic colonies around the continent were home to the biggest harbours and were where most transactions occurred. Atlantis had been waging war against many of the kingdoms, often quickly negotiating a peace were they gained some land which they settled, creating another trading station that grew rich.

South of the kingdoms was the continent called the South, many explorers had tried to explore and few had returned, it might have been because it was like the north, the people who lived there didn't want anything to do with the schemes of the kingdoms. Although few had come back there was still trade going between the continents, mostly by the Atlantians.

To the North, beyond Celestia was the place they called the Outposts. It was a barren landscape and the people there spoke a language similar to the Northern ones but that still was understandable for the common tongue speakers. Zeus had proclaimed himself king of the Outposts, and of the North, but in reality he had no power there.

Many people believed that the climate and terrain in the North matched that of the Outposts.

"What do they mean?" The guard's voice threw Annabeth back into reality.

"It doesn't matter," she said quietly.

"Doesn't matter? They look magic to me, do you know magic is forbidden? The kings all agreed on that." Annabeth knew this, many years ago all the kings had come together and the discussion led to magic being banned in all its forms. It also led to the kings accepting the common language and outlawing all religions other than the Olympian. The Olympic pantheon had already been accepted by most people, the gods were said to have existed for centuries already and many of the kings and noblemen were named after them. Hades, Poseidon, Zeus were all named after the most powerful gods. No one knew if the decision had been made in an attempt to dehumanise the Northerners or if it had been to secure their thrones, but one thing was sure, every time someone had tried to attack the North, they had all died.

"Maybe she was sent here for using magic," one of the guards suggested. He sounded disgusted. Like if magic was a crime! Annabeth felt like punching him for thinking that but her back was in too much pain and she was held down. She decided to not answer, if the guards didn't know why she was there or who she was it was good, it was bad enough that king Zeus sentenced her here to die, she didn't need the to know why she was sent here.

"If she is a witch I do not want to touch her" one guards said, "Maybe we should give her such a warm welcome here as we had hoped to" he said it with a grin. Somewhere behind her one of the guards moved something, it sounded like a bucket being lifted. Then she felt something pressing into her wounds, and her world exploded in pain, somehow it felt worse than the whip itself. Her world was on fire and she screamed until she had no breath left. The guards just held her down and laughed.

She lost track of time, how long had she been laying there? She hadn't even noticed the guards carrying her to a different building. She stared outside, careful not to move her neck and noticed that it was morning, when she first got there it had been noon. She had laid there for an entire night!

Annabeth tried to get up but her arms wouldn't support her weight so she just laid still. Silently sobbing. No one seemed to have noticed her so Annabeth was surprised when she felt someone touch her. The touch was gentle and when she turned her head she saw that it was an old woman who studied her with pity in her eyes. She said something in the common tongue that Annabeth was too dazed to hear, then she started dabbing Annabeth's back with a wet cloth. Annabeth felt the pain return and then it be relieved as the woman kept on cleaning the wounds. Annabeth whispered a thank you to her and the woman just stared sadly.

"Save your strength," she said "You're going to need it!"

Then she walked off, leaving Annabeth on the ground.

One year later

Annabeth was too weak to fight off the guards as they grabbed her, she had been in the mines for an entire day and could barely stand up. She tried to kick them but they just shrugged it off. They dragged her with them- her feet scraping against the ground, into the main complex of the camp. They pulled her through the big double doors and into the main hall. She was surprised when she saw a group of people there. There were at least seven of them and by the tense movements of six of them she guessed that they were guarding the seventh.

"Ah, That took you long enough Chiron" A man said, he was the one who was guarded by the others. "Although you could have taken some more time to clean her up, she stinks!" he said. Annabeth stared at him, this was clearly a royal. No one else would even be allowed in here, and if they were they would have more to complain about than the smell. The man stared at her, "Well, is she going to bow to her superior?" It was more of a demand than a question. The guards who held her up pushed her down face first into the floor. She had just enough time to catch herself with her arms. The guards didn't seem to be happy with this though so they kicked her in the back sending a flash of pain from a year's worth of whipping up her spine. She collapsed forward, onto her face and stomach.

The boy walked up to her, studying her. After a long time he gestured for the guards to leave.

"I didn't expect her to look like this Perseus," he said to someone behind her. A second voice answered from behind, "No, I am shocked to see that the most feared assassin in the world is no older than my dear sister." The man, Perseus, walked into her field of vision.

He had jet black hair that was short-cropped. He was tall and muscular, he looked like he was fast- but even the slightest pound more muscle would make him slower. She guessed he was from Atlantis, with his sea-green eyes and black hair that framed a face worthy of a god. He was undeniably handsome and he walked like he knew it, almost swaggering.

"Stand up," he ordered and she did just that, her muscles screaming in protest. They both eyes her once again, and she didn't like the way that their looked at her. She felt their eyes on her hips, face and looking at her chest. She crossed her arms over her chest to cover herself, the torn shirt she wore wasn't doing a good job of that. She saw a tinge of disappointment flash over the face of the first one. He was pale, with sand-blonde hair and blue eyes. His skin wasn't tanned as Perseus' was but more white. He looked more lean than Perseus did, also way faster. She guessed she wouldn't outrun him anytime soon.

"I imagined her more-" he seemed to be stuck on a word, "…less thin." he settled, it almost sounded as if he was a bit disappointed.

"Come on Luke, not everyone can look like Thalia." Percy said. Luke huffed slightly. "Oh, excuse me," Perseus said, "We haven't even told you who we are or why we are here. Terribly sorry for that." She just stared at him, did he really expect her to forgive him that easily? He had just stared at her breasts as if he had never seen a woman before and he expected her to forgive that so easily, dream on.

"I am crown prince Perseus of Atlantis. Son of Poseidon and Sally Jackson, king and queen of Atlantis," he grinned at her. It was a bit lopsided and it made her want to smile back. "This here is count Lukas Castellan, son of the late Hermes and May Castellan." Annabeth had guessed that they were royal and she had been half correct. She wasn't surprised. Almost everyone could hear it in their accent and see it in the way they looked at the world. The Castellan looked alot like his father, whom she had assassinated. She prayed to the Hidden that he didn't know that.

"We are here," Castellan picked up, "Too bring you out of this place to serve us. You will be our champion." She flinched, what did he say? She really must have been whipped too much, she was going insane. He must have seen the distrust on her face because he was quick to say, "There is going to be a championship in Elysium in a few months, many of the other noble children have already decided on their champions and we would ask you, but seeing from the state of this place i guess that you would do it to get out of here. Do you accept?"

Annabeth thought for half a second, twirling her dirty her around her finger, it had once been princess blonde and now it looked like it was made of mud and twigs. She looked at her nails- scraped up, with dirt all over them. The only thing she liked about the filth was that it covered her runes, so that no one would see them. She was sure that if Lukas or Perseus knew that she was runed she would be executed or sent back to the mines immediately.

"I accept" she said with a hushed voice. Both men seemed surprised that she talked. She hoped that they wouldn't hear that her accent wasn't like that of any of the kingdoms. Since she was a Northerner she had to many languages and her common tongue still had an accent. Although with a teacher as hers she wasn't surprised she spoke ten languages fluently.

"Very well. Guards!" he shouted and the guards entered again. "Prepare our horses and make sure we can leave whenever she is ready." He paused for a moment. "Captain," Lukas commanded. The man that he had previously called Chiron walked forward. "Show her to the showers and give her some clothes to ride in, those filthy rags are being disposed as well." The captain nodded and held his arm out to guide her.

She exited the showers, feeling clean for the first time in a year. Everything seemed nicer, and she could finally smell something other than sweat and dirt. She had noticed that she was awfully skinny, she looked like a skeleton compared to her otherwise curvy form. She took an extremely long shower, feeling like the crown prince and the count could wait a bit longer then she heard a huff coming from her guard, Chiron. She hadn't even noticed he was in the shower room. She met his eyes in the mirror and the old man stared back. Then she remembered; her runes!- if he saw them he would most likely report them to the lords and she would be executed, or worse, but he just looked back at her with calm. She didn't even bother to hide her body as he didn't seem like he was that sort of a man. He just calmly stared at her with his brown eyes,

"You must get dressed milady," he said. "You needn't keep the lords waiting. They have don't have much patience for these sort of things." Annabeth was surprised. Why had he called her a lady? Then it hit her, some people of the north regarded runed people very highly. He must be one of them.

"Where are you from, Chiron?" she asked, a little suspicion in her voice.

"The south-peak," he said. She had been correct. He was from the area that regarded runed people the highest, the place in the North with the least amount of magic. Coincidentally the place in the North the closest to the kingdoms. Not many Northerners thought that this was a coincidence.

She eyed him as she dressed, he was tall- like most people from the North, she guessed he towered over most men, he had brown hair and brown eyes, his face was rough- like that of a person who had endeared many hard winters and much wind, his chest was broad and his arms looked strong. She decided not to ask any more and let him lead her to the horses.