Third Person POV

Percie paced in circles, itching her arm.

"Leave it alone, scratching your skin off won't help." Alabaster commented from where he was sitting on the ground, flipping through a spellbook.

"Easy for you to say, you can't feel it." She snapped.

"How long has it been going on?"

"Since we got out of the woods." She replied, switching from scratching at her arm to rubbing it.

"Is it just that one arm?"

"No, but that one's the worst."

"Where are the other places?" Alabaster was reading a certain page of the book now.

"I have one or two on each leg and one on my back, then there's one on the back of my other hand." Percie gritted her teeth in frustration, trying to ignore the painful, itching, burning sensation on the spots she mentioned.

"Well I have no clue what it is." Alabaster snapped the book shut. "Have you tried pouring water on it?"

"Yes you idiot!" She shouted at him, frustrated.

"Alright, alright!" Alabaster threw his hands up in the air in surrender. "Try freezing each spot."

Percie paused. She hadn't thought of that. Carefully laying her hand over the spot, she sent a small shock of cold into it.

The burning stopped.

She sighed in relief and quickly did the same on her other pains.

"Good idea, Torrington."

He nodded.

--------------------------------

Percy frowned.

"Will, it's doing it again. Well, kind of."

The son of Apollo turned. "Seriously? I don't get it, what's going on?"

Percy gingerly inspected his arm. The burn on his forearm had stopped hurting since he poured some nectar on it, but now it was cold.

"Wait, what do you mean kind of?" Will asked, stopping next to the infirmary bed that Percy was sitting in.

"Each of them are reacting to stuff, but I'm not doing anything. Now they're cold."

Will frowned. "First it feels like someone's scratching the skin off, now it's cold? I think you should go tell Chiron."

Percy sighed and nodded. "I will, do I have permission to leave my cot?"

Will smiled a little at the question. Every time Percy had stood from his bed, for even the littlest thing, he had threatened him into sitting back down and letting someone else get what he needed for him.

"Yes, you have my permission to get up and go to Chiron. Just don't hurt yourself."

Percy grunted and stood. His left leg buckled slightly, but he caught himself and stood straight again.

"Remind me to check the burns when you get back." Will told him.

"You got it." Percy muttered. Leaving the infirmary, he took a deep breath. Inside the building it smelled like medicine and sterilized metal, outside, there was a cooling sea-salt smelling breeze coming from the Long Island Sound.

"Hey, thought Will told you you weren't allowed to leave." Piper jogged up.

"He sent me to Chiron. Weird stuff's happening to my burns and he wants Chiron to know."

"Oh. Well I need to talk to Chiron as well, I'll come with you."

The two set off towards the Big House. Percy glanced over at the torched trees and sighed sadly.

"She's screwed up so much, in such short time."

Piper patted his back gingerly, avoiding the places that were burnt.

"It's all my fault." Percy said.

"What? No it's not!" She exclaimed.

"Yes it is. If I hadn't gotten so angry at that kid, I wouldn't have given Percie a foothold. she wouldn't have gotten out and none of this would have happened."

Piper stopped, grabbing Percy's shoulders and turning him to face her. "That's not true. If you hadn't gotten angry then, it would have been some other time and the exact same thing would have happened, just later. We would have had to face this eventually, and if it wasn't yours, it would have been someone else's."

Percy looked at her dejectedly. "But it just had to be me."

Piper sighed and gently pulled him into a hug. "Percy, I know your life is tough. We all do. But don't beat yourself up about things like this. It could have happened to anyone and I think that because it happened to you only proves that the Fates know just how much you can handle. I'm not happy about this. I lost my best friend, I honestly think he was my soulmate. But I don't blame you. I promise that."

Percy turned, starting towards the Big House. Piper could tell from the depressed slump in his shoulders that he hadn't really been listening to her.

"And Annabeth doesn't blame you either." She called.

Percy froze, feeling those words sink in.

He turned slowly to face Piper. She looked at him sadly, seeing the tears in his eyes.

"Thing is, I don't believe you." He said quietly before turning and starting towards the Big House again.

With a sigh, Piper followed him.

[A/N sadness]