Death of Olympus

Chapter 1

Percy stares aimlessly at the ground, his hands clasped, his back hunched as he sits on the stone bench in Camp Half-Blood. A He feels a hand on his back and turns to see Annabeth.  She sits beside him quietly. Percy begins to say something, but stops and turns his attention back to the soil. "Listen," Annabeth says, "I know... well... I..." she lets out a sigh. "How could this have happened? He's a... well, he was... a god." Percy shakes his head. "I don't know." He looks to the pond a few feet away. Normally, that pond could be anything he needed or wanted it to be. He could lift the water with the power he inherited from Poseidon, shaping it into weapons or using it to propel himself through the pond. Now... Now Poseidon was dead, and Percy had lost his powers. 

"Listen," Annabeth said, holding him close to her, "We're gonna find whoever did this, and we're gonna--" she choked to a stop. "Ah... Aaah!" She fell to the ground, holding her stomach. "Annabeth?" Percy rushed to lift her back to the bench, kneeling in front of her. "Are you okay?" Annabeth shook her head slowly, her face going pale. "I... I feel..." She tried to speak through the pain, but lurched back as it hit her again, harder. Percy felt the blood drain from his face, his hands going numb from realization. "No... no!" Annabeth fainted, and Percy lifted her in his arms, rushing to the medical tent, then to the center of camp where he found the children of Athena, crying, many passed out on the ground, the rest of the camp looking distraught as they gathered around them. "Athena!" A boy shouted from near the center of the mess of crying teens. "Athena!!" Chiron sauntered slowly through the weeping children to the boy's side. "She's dead, son." The boy shook his head, tears streaking his face. "No... no!" He stood and bolted from Chiron's presence. Chiron turned to Percy. "We need to talk." Percy nodded, heading for the old centaur's tent.