And so begins another minific! I hope you guys enjoy, Percy, Piper and Annabeth get a little holiday. Also, Piper and Annabeth conspiring to keep flirtatious Magicians away from her is funny.

It wasn't surprising to Percy, how easily Nico and Bianca had slid into the lives of everyone at Brooklyn House. The two children of Hades fit right in- but then it would be hard not to. Brooklyn House was home to every kind of weirdo, and Sadie had once light-heartedly put it- and Percy thought it was adorable the way Nico had latched onto Walt like a lost puppy.

And- much to her surprise, he'd also taken to following Felix around when Walt wasn't around-not that Felix minded, the older boy quite liked Nico- he found the ten year olds enthusiasm fun- and Nico seemed excited at all the penguin facts, despite the fact that Bianca had wryly remarked that he'd shown no such interest before now.

And Bianca was finding her place too, if not as quickly as her brother- with Nico growing in confidence he wasn't attached at the hip with her as he clearly once had been, which meant that Hades daughter was able to get some space to herself. And where her brother had latched onto Walt and Felix, Bianca seemed to have latched onto Percy- though she'd also made friends with a magician around her age named Kaya- who had also rather latched onto Percy as she was studying the path of Nephthys.

She was even looking forward to starting school, when summer was over, and Percy thought it would be good for her. Sally had been giving the two Hades children lessons on more recent history, and Sadie had been showing them the latest tech and music so that they wouldn't feel left out at all.

In any case, two weeks after they'd returned home from their quest to the Sea of Monsters, Percy, Piper and Annabeth wanted a break, and since the DiAngelos were doing so well at settling in, none of them felt guilty when they'd asked Sally- and a few calls later and it was all arranged, the girls would be staying at the Fourteenth Nome- though they'd been made to promise that they wouldn't cause too much chaos for Desjardins while they were there.

So Sadie opened the portal for them when they had their bags packed and ready- with the time difference, whilst it was fairly early- eight in the morning for the girls, it was two in the afternoon for Desjardins, who was waiting for their arrival, and greeted them with a small nod and a very faint smile aimed at Percy- a twitch of the lips- even now he tended to hide how fond he was of her, and he led them to a private dining room to eat- since they hadn't had breakfast and he was late to eat lunch.

After they'd eaten he informed them that he'd paid for tickets for them to visit the Louvre- and Percy had to hold back her laughter at the wide eyed look Annabeth gave him at that.

She could admit that even if she wasn't really into art, she did enjoy wandering around the building with her two best friends on either side of her, and Desjardins leading a personal tour for them, and the daughter of Athena was practically floating by the time they got back to their room, dropping onto the bed and bouncing slightly as she'd let out a loud happy noise.

And all three of them slept well that night- and the second night too, since they spent the day at the Eiffel Tower, though Desjardins had professional business to deal with that say so he was unable to accompany them.

After they visited the summit of the tower the girls ended up eating at one of the restaurants- on the first floor of the tower, where Percy and Piper listened to Annabeth as she told them about the architecture of the building.

On the third day Percy rather dramatically gave her friends her own personal tour, showing them where she and her siblings had arrived when they'd first come to Paris all those years ago- which made Piper laugh and Annabeth go all starry eyed- which made Percy feel rather proud and smug for reasons which she couldn't place no matter how hard she tried.

And the next three days after that were spent visiting dozens of tourist spots-many of which made Annabeth practically drool as she lectured her friends about the wonderful architecture, whilst Percy and Piper watched indulgently, and whenever they visited different museums the younger two giggled and whispered about how they'd steal different exhibits if they wanted to- which was only slightly to annoy Annabeth, who would shoot them narrow eyed looks before huffing and rushing off to look at the next exhibit, Percy and Piper exchanging glances and following willingly behind her.

By the time the day came to return home the three girls had explored Paris so thoroughly that one magician- who Annabeth and Piper had been glaring daggers at when he had joined them on a second trip to the Eiffel tower, followed by a walk through Paris-; apparently he was rather a fan of Percy and had been very excited to get to meet her- joked that they likely knew the city of his birth better than he did- though he'd given her his phone number for if they ever came back to Paris and wanted a local to give them a tour.

Percy had been rather confused when later that day she'd realised that she'd misplaced the piece of paper that the number was written on- and she'd seen Desjardins chuckling and shaking his head at her, as her friends had helped her look.

It was the evening before they were due to leave that Percy was pulled aside by Desjardins who had asked for a private word with her.

Once they were alone- and Percy found herself realising with a start that he'd brought her to his library- and she also realised that it was the first time she'd been in Desjardins library since she was nine years old, held captive by him- until she'd flooded the entire building.

The man must have noticed the look on his face because he let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head, "Yes, before you ask, I do remember what happened last time you were in here. I hope you don't plan on repeating your actions-"

"I mean-" Percy grinned slightly, a cheeky gleam in her eyes, "You really don't want to tempt me 'cause I gotta say that was actually super fun for me-"

"You are a terror in human flesh Persephone Kane." Desjardins chuckled too- and she noticed that they'd both slipped into speaking French once alone- that made sense at least. He'd spent the majority of their visit speaking English for Annabeth's sake.

"Yeah, yeah but you have to admit I'm a pretty awesome terror."

"Do I now?" He crooked an eyebrow before his expression turned more serious. "I'm afraid I didn't bring you here to reminisce my girl. Your uncle informed me of your adventure with Zeus' Master Bolt and Hades Helm last year."

"Oh?" Percy blinked and moved so that she was stood at the table in the centre of the room, leaning back against it and crossing her arms. "What about it?" her tone was curious more than concerned.

"He mentioned that someone placed a tracking spell on you-" and instantly Percy was tensing, uncrossing her arms and bracing her hands against the table at her back, gripping it to avoid fidgeting and showing her sudden spike of anxiety.

How could she have forgotten that? But then it had been a year and nothing had come from the strangeness of that tracking spell. It had slipped her mind. But she should have remembered- a tracking spell like that could be dangerous. "Oh?" she tried to sound nonchalant. "Desjardins-"

"He asked me if I could also look into it- see if I could find out who dared to track a Princess of the House of Life. Such an action... it is certainly not something any loyal followers would condone, not unless your brother asked for it as a safety precaution and he trusts you far too much to need to track your every move."

"Have you found something?" Percy asked, gripping the table tighter, nails biting into the underside of the wood. He must have found something- why else would he have asked to speak to her alone.

"Perhaps." he looked troubled, "I wished to speak with you about this first- given the fact that you are the one who was being tracked-"

"I appreciate that." Percy said swiftly, "I-" She paused, "Am I being tracked again now?"

"No." Desjardins held up a calming hand, "No you're not. Though I can't be sure if that's a truly good thing or a bad one. If they're not tracking you now then they may have other means to keep tabs on you."

"Okay." Percy grimaced, "Okay- so... you do know something right? You know who was tracking me?"

"Not exactly." Desjardins shook his head, "What I found... it makes little sense to me I must admit. You know of course that magic is... distinctive. That each magicians magic has small differences, that it is unique to the magician. You can tell the difference between a spell cast by Carter and a spell cast by Sadie." and- yes, of course Percy knew that. It wasn't something she often dwelled on though, there wasn't much need but Carter's magic was more ordered, controlled than Sadies, there were distinctive little flairs, that made it easy to detect- and her mom for example, her spells always felt more soothing, calming and gentle compared to her siblings. Zia's always had that distant hint of heat- but it was only detectable if she focused on the magic itself, not just the spell but the feel of the individuals magic.

"Of course." Percy nodded, "You- you managed to detect the magic or something?" she paused, "How? Set got rid of the spell."

"It left very faint traces- they fade over time but they are there. The spell is gone but the magic lingers." the man looked very troubled- and old too. But then he'd looked old ever since that day- the day Percy- no. No, the last thing she needed right now was to get distracted by the memories of her possession by Apophis. She pushed them back and forced herself to keep her focus clear.

"But I guess that's only useful if you know how a persons magic feels I guess." Percy pointed out, "Like- if I didn't know Carter and Sadie I wouldn't know that a spell had been cast by one of them right?"

"Exactly."

"So if you know something... do you know the person who placed the spell."

"No." Desjardins grimaced, "It is... the feel of the magic is familiar but different all at once. I would say it had to be a family member of his if I wasn't certain that he had no family left-"

"What-" Percy's eyes narrowed. Something about Desjardins expression made her stomach feel tight and uncomfortable. He looked scared for her- scared of how she'd react to whatever he was going to say. And gods but a part of her wanted to turn around and run. To run away and never look back, to hide except she could never do that- not to her family. "What do you mean?" Percy was faintly proud that her voice didn't tremble.

Because a part of her already knew what Desjardins was about to say- if only because of that look in his eyes. Because there was only one reason he'd be so worried about her reaction.

"The magic- it felt much too much like Vladimir Menshikovs magic."

And Percy wasn't sure if she was glad that he'd finally said it or not. Because gods but wasn't this a walking nightmare?

"You said he had no family?"

"None that I can track down." Desjardins gave a small shake of his head, "I have been looking and I will keep looking but he had no siblings, his parents died years ago and he was never married. He claimed he was too dedicated to the House to worry about love." and she could see what he was thinking- what he was afraid of.

After all if somehow Menshikovs spirit had returned to life- and Percy wasn't even sure if there had been a spirit left when Apophis had finished with the magician- then his magic would have undoubtedly been altered by his return. Altered by the sliver of Apophis that had entered him. But it couldn't be. Desjardins had to be wrong. He had to be. There was some other explanation.

And Percy knew how her family would react, how her friends would react if they knew.

"Desjardins-" she swallowed hard, meeting the mans dark eyes, "Please... don't tell anyone about this. I know it's a huge thing to ask but-" she was cut off by the man pulling her into a gentle hug, his hand resting on the back of her neck as Percy's face was pressed into his chest.

"I will keep quiet for now Persephone. I promise you that." and Percy closed her eyes, letting herself take the moment of comfort for what it was.

And gods but she hoped that he was wrong.