And here we go again. This is going to be fun :D I hope you all enjoy what I do here.

It felt strange, how the world had shifted after Annabeth and Piper had started dating. They were still close, still friends, of course. But there was a distance now that there hadn't been before. An awkwardness. Carter and Sadie had both questioned her about it but she'd given vague distracted answers- she really did not want to talk about it. It had made the recent months a lot less fun than Percy was used to these days.

Still, her friendship with Drew was pretty good. The other girl was a great distraction, and when Drew was busy Percy often hung out with Bianca, so that Piper and Annabeth had the time to go on their dates- though for some reason they kept shooting her looks that she just didn't understand. She was getting good at pushing her confusion to the back of her mind now though, which was a relief in some ways.

She didn't even let herself feel hurt by the fact that Annabeth and Piper were going off to spend Christmas with Annabeth's dad and step mom- or at least, they were spending the days leading up to Christmas with her family- they'd be coming back to Brooklyn on the 23rd of December. Of course that meant that they weren't attending the schools 'Snowflake ball' which was kind of sad, but hey, Percy could still go and have fun without them.

And she even had a date. A transfer student named Alina Martin had asked Percy the day after Annabeth and Piper had headed off to stay with Annabeth's dad- two days before the dance. Drew and Felix had encouraged her to say yes- and Drew and Felix' interactions did make Percy laugh- Felix was so cheerful that he was immune to Drew's casual bitchy nature, which infuriated the dark haired girl.

Still, since they'd both agreed and pushed for Percy to say yes she'd decided to go for it. Sulking over the fact that Annabeth and Piper were dating one another wasn't going to make her happy in the long run after all.

And Alina was pretty, Percy would have to be blind to miss that little fact, with her long straight ash blonde hair, the deep blue eyes. Sure she wasn't quite so pretty as Piper or Annabeth but she was pretty sure she'd never think anyone matched up to those two.

The best thing Percy could do, she was well aware, was at least try, or she'd never stop feeling sad when she saw Piper and Annabeth holding hands, heard them whispering to one another. And maybe if she finally got over then she'd stop focusing on every little confusing look they gave her.

So she'd said yes, her first date, and she was looking forward to the dance even if the date part had her feeling a little uncertain. It would help if Carter and Sadie didn't keep looking at her like they were worried every time Piper and Annabeth were around. It wasn't like she was about to do anything stupid for Ra's sake!

In any case, the dance was a welcome distraction from her general worries, though she was a little sad that she didn't have help getting ready since Carter and Sadie were off in Egypt for a meeting with Uncle Amos- well, Carter was. Sadie was going with him because Walt was there on Anubis business and she wanted to see him.

But at least she had Bianca- who she helped get ready- which made sense since the two girls had brought their outfits together and everything, Bianca practically begging for Percy's help getting ready.

The daughter of Hades had picked out a turtle neck black dress with short sleeves, and a silver belt. It came down to just below her knees and had silver swirls embroidered onto the skirt. She'd chosen to wear tights purely for her own comfort- since the girl still struggled with some aspects of modern fashion and modesty- she was doing well though, all things considered.

Percy meanwhile had gone with a blue dress- kind of. The top of the dress was blue with silver beading all over it in spirals and swirls, an off the shoulder design with sleeves that came to just above her elbows, and the skirt of the dress was blue, but there were layers of soft shimmering blue and green fabric that made it look like the ocean, changing as she moved, and a pair of adorable strappy heels, just to give herself some height. And it had been fun, when she'd raced Bianca, the look on the other girls face when she'd realised that Percy could actually run in them without breaking an ankle.

She'd brushed Bianca's hair out and carefully braided two sections from either side of her head, bringing them to meet in the centre so that she could fasten them with an elegant twist, carefully sliding a long celestial bronze hair pin into place, using it to both secure the hair and as a little weapon for Bianca- though she had her Stygian iron daggers strapped to her upper thigh underneath the dress.

Those had been a gift from Hades, he'd asked Percy which weapons his children seemed to like using and then two days later he'd summoned her to the Underworld and given her the two daggers and a Stygian Iron sword to give to Bianca and Nico, both of whom had been overjoyed with their presents.

Percy had spent a lot of time training with the other girl, helping her learn how to use her daggers- and as far as Percy was concerned Bianca had natural talent- she wasn't on the same level as Percy, Piper or Annabeth yet but she was getting there. She'd comfortably beaten Sadie in a spar- though if they weren't using magic then that wasn't quite so hard since Sadie was more a spell person than a sword fighter.

Once Percy had finished with Bianca's hair she focused on her own hair, pulling two sections back to meet in the middle before braiding them together, letting it sit on top of her curls- which were more tamed and smoothed than usual. Once she did that she let Bianca clip an entire pack of hair gems into her hair, braid first and then clipping them randomly across her curls so that her hair almost seemed to sparkle, glinting blue and green as she turned her head to look at them in the mirror.

Once they were both ready they headed down to meet Felix, and several other members of Brooklyn House who attended BAG. They all headed to the school together, Percy looking around hopefully when they arrived.

It didn't take her long to spot Alina- her long ash blonde hair pulled up into an updo, wearing a black slinky dress that made her look a few years older than she was. She was beautiful, really she was, and she gave a wide smile when she saw Percy, waving her over.

"Hey." Percy smiled at the other girl as she reached her- and gods but it felt too awkward. She barely knew Alina, no matter how nice she seemed. "Do you want to dance?"

"Of course." Alina's eyes sparkled with amusement as she grabbed Percy's hand, towing her out onto the dance floor.

And so they danced- and it was kind of fun, Alina was taller than Percy, and wearing heels that would make Drew jealous- and when Percy and Alina spun past Drew, who was dancing with her latest toy, the other girl gaped at the sight of Alina's outfit- which really was a hell of a lot more mature than most of them were wearing.

In any case, Alina towered over Percy- which meant that she could spin Percy under her arms easily, and Percy found herself laughing as they danced, only stopping when they both needed to catch their breaths, at which point they headed towards the punch table, Alina filling one of the cups for Percy and handing it to her as Percy leaned against the table.

Then Alina stiffened, frowning slightly before pulling her phone out of her clutch, eyes narrowing, "I've gotta take this princess." she winked at Percy, "Don't go anywhere okay?"

"Sure." Percy smiled at the other girl, trying to ignore the sudden unease curling in the pit of her belly as Alina pressed her lips to Percy's cheek before she moved away, pressing her phone to her ear and weaving through the crowds, heading towards the side entrance to the hall.

Something about that brief flash of... had it been anger? On Alina's face had put Percy on edge rather suddenly.

But there was no way it was anything serious- she was just paranoid.

She shook off the thought, pursing her lips and letting her eyes drift over the dance floor, humming along to the music before- she blinked, doing a double take as her gaze focused on a figure stood in the main doorway looking very awkward, clearly trying to blend in- and failing.

Percy felt her lips twitch with amusement at the sight despite the fact that the anxious feeling in her belly was ramping up uncomfortably.

She'd told Alina she'd wait by the punch bowl, but if Desjardins had felt the need to crash her school dance... Percy didn't think about it any further- it wasn't even a question, she moved towards him after setting her drink down quickly, noticing the relief on his face when he spotted her approaching.

"Desjardins what are you doing here?" Percy tried not to sound to abrupt when she asked the question but it wasn't exactly easy.

"I need to speak to you, and your mother mentioned a school dance." he held out an arm for her, "Come, we should speak outside Percy. It is important."

"Me specifically?"

"Yes." Desjardins nodded, and something in his eyes made Percy feel sick to her stomach.

There was only one reason she could think of that would make him look so serious- that would require him coming in person.

He'd managed to figure out who was behind the tracking spell that had been cast on her a year and a half earlier. The one that had reminded him of Vladimir Menshikovs magic.

"Let's go outside then." she tried not to let her voice waver, tried not to show her uncertainty as they quickly made their way out of the school into the cool air of the outside world, walking over to a set of benches where they both sat, Desjardins carefully laying a hand on Percy's shoulder.

"Are you okay child?"

"I- yes? No? I don't know right now." Percy knew she didn't need to lie to the older man, "I'm freaked out because I know you're here about the tracking spell and- I mean... please just- is it him?" it was ridiculous, she was older now, stronger and yet when she thought of Vladimir Menshikov actually showing up again it brought back the memories of a frightened nine year old, of the helplessness she'd felt when she'd been possessed.

"It's not." Desjardins voice was firm, reassuring and Percy felt some of the tension that had been piling onto her ease away.

He was dead, he hadn't been brought back by some forbidden spell, Vladimir Menshikov was still dead. But... if he was dead then- "Who cast the spell? If it wasn't him why was their magic like this."

"Because, I did some digging." Desjardins looked old now, exhausted, "I found that he visited a woman and her daughter from time to time, more than he bothered with most people. There was no marriage, he never claimed the girl but I have come to believe that Vladimir Menshikov had a daughter- she'd be around seventeen years old now."

"Oh shit." a daughter. One who probably wanted revenge against Percy, which was why she'd been trying to magically stalk her. It was somewhat worrying but not the terrifying news which she'd been expecting- though Desjardins expression was still serious. "Is there more?"

"She seemed to have followed in his footsteps- a small faction of magicians from the Russian Nome had disappeared lately- it's part of why your uncle called Carter for a meeting."

"Defectors." Percy's brows furrowed, "So she's coming up with some sort of evil plan. That's good to know. Do we have a name or anything so I can keep an eye out?"

"No last name, but we do know that her first name is Alina."