Disclaimer: As usual, just the OCs are mine.

Author's Notes: Happy awesome Monday. Have lots of fun and hard work at school or your actual work. I am a teacher, so I work at school (silly joke). This chapter is probably 90% by Zero Son of Seven who is an amazing writer. I just edited a couple of things here and there to fit the story perfectly. It was written around chapter 6 and Zero had no idea what was ahead.

25. Aida's Journey (Collaboration with 'Zero Son of Seven')

"Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, I'm so dam stupid!" I said as I gulped the last sip of my mocha. "How could I do that? Ten years, ten long years and the first thing I did was slap him. Wow! So mature Aida. Grandma Athena would be really proud of me" I throw the empty plastic cup into the nearby bin and slumped down on the nearest table.

"Well to be honest you weren't actually prepared to meet him right? Of course you were mad and angry" said my best friend Sarah. She was just watching as I keep rattling my idiot behavior. Sarah was perhaps the only friend that cares about me more than any of the rich friends and annoying suitors that my grandmother Karen kept introducing to me.

"I know, but still it was stupid of me, I'm supposed to be calm and calculative not causing tantrum like an Aphrodite's or Zeus' daughter" I whined upset and I hit my head with the table annoyed of myself.

I know it's weird to talk about Greek gods in front of mortal. Well, if Sarah was just a normal mortal then, yes, it would be weird. Like me Sarah was a legacy, daughter of another Athena's daughter and Hephaestus' son. In other words, we were related and that's a good thing because I almost goes insane with all the things that I've seen and no one would believe me. She kept me sane most of the time.

Sarah sat down beside me as I pinched my nose and asked "So, how is he?"

I raised my head as I calmed down a bit, I said "He looks good. Screw that! He's freaking handsome. If he isn't my little brother I would make my move on him. I won't ever introduce him to you. You are dangerous"

"Hey that thing with Zack was his fault" said Sarah and laughed and soon I joined her.

"He is dad's son, just like him" I smile as I slowly slid open my Iphone. I stared at our family photo.

I was 6 at that time. Dad and mom came into camp for a week to see if we were okay, also to say hi to Chiron, Grover and Calypso. Mer kept rambling about TJ not helping him with her archery to my mom while Dad and I took a stroll on the beach. As we walked together, I told him every single thing. He couldn't look any prouder as I told him how I beated the Apollo cabin on the archery, how I defeated an Ares kid who keep pestering me, how close I was of beating his record and so many more.

These were the happy moments that made me smile and sad at the same time. I just missed them so much. I was so happy back them. Mom was pregnant of our sister Sage, my name choice, and the last time I remember of her was touching her belly and I felt my sister kicking my palm.

Just before they left, back to New York to spend some days with Grandpa Paul, we took a family picture and little did I know it was the last picture we would ever be together. Just one week after that, Chiron and Grover told us that my mom was missing and dad left to find him. After some arguing and more tantrums, I finally gave in and went back to the Matthews's residence and stay with my grandparents.

Don't get me wrong. I love my grandparents, most of the time, but I really despised and I still do how Karen kept complaining about how my mom became a heartless woman. Being 'heartless' the kindest word she ever said about my mom. There are just some many horrible adjectives she had used over the years.

For years, I had to endure Karen throwing hate filled remarks of how my dad destroyed his perfect son image by coming back and took mom and I away from him; about how my dad could never be a better man than my father and she keep spewing lies of my dad hitting and forcing my mom to leave his son while I know that it's was my father who hit and cheat on her. When I was 5, I found my mom's diary by mistake and I saw the pictures she kept, her domestic abuse records. As much as my dad tried to make me care, love and remember my father, I just can't. Percy is my dad and that's it. I don't have or want another. To my concern or care, Jake was just a sperm donor.

I was so mad at Karen that the first two years we keep shouting at each other. She never hit me but I could tell she wanted. For two whole years, I kept waiting for dad or Grover to come knocking on the door and took me away but it never happened.

When I was 9, Karen agreed to me to visit Camp Half-Blood and I got to see Theo. I was so excited of finally seeing my little brother. However, that day went wrong, very wrong. Before stepping down the car, my grandpa Jake told me to cut the ties or else. This was the first time he ever threatened me and I knew this was serious. His all demeanor changed as he got closer and I couldn't help but to picture my father doing the same to my mom. Did she ever feel as scared as I was back them? I just nodded almost in tears and I ran to the entrance.

I found Theo waiting for me. He hugged and started to pull me to see this and that. I didn't need grandpa's Jake threat to do what I did. I was angry now. Theo was nothing but happy here at Camp. Campers, his adoptive family and everybody smiled at him. They tried to hug me and smile at me too, but I was mad, really mad. Theo was happy while I was miserable. I only lasted one hour at Camp and ran away. I found my grandpa filling gas in the nearest gas station or just waiting for me. I just remembered him opening the door to me with a smile.

I almost gave up hope. For the following years, I thought my dad was dead and I was stuck forever with the Matthews. Then when I was 14, a miracle happened. I ran with some monsters; yes, I did run into monsters once in a while. I heard them talking about my dad rampaging in Florida. I knew my dad was still alive and looking for my mom. So I decided rather than waiting for my dad to come to get me, I will find him and help him search for my mom.

So the next week, I used my allowance and registered for survival camp since I could never come back to Camp Half Blood. It was at this camp that I meet Sarah and after knowing her status we became best friends. Luckily for me, her family lived close and Karen liked them enough to let stay with them often. Sarah's mother, Summer, taught us sword techniques.

With the help of Sarah, I hired Kyle, son of Hermes, to find dad's whereabouts. The last thing, I knew he was close to Canada. I began planning and packing all the necessary stuff. Sarah's father was kind enough to created a celestial bronze sword that can turn into a bracelet, a small survival pouch that can stored a lot of stuff and yet be light as a feather.

For the last months, I was just waiting for the right moment. Karen has no idea what my plan was but my grandfather Jake wasn't that naïve.

One day, when Karen left early to one of her stupid galas, he confronted me and I came clean. I tell him how I couldn't stand any longer with Karen complaining and how she looked down on my dad, my mom and my half-siblings. I was expecting a slap, at least an angry lecture. Instead, he hugged me and kept saying he's sorry for not helping me defending my parents, for what he pushed me to do at Camp Half-Blood when I was 9. He promised that he will help me on my little quest and kept Karen from searching for me when I am gone. He also gave me bank card with half a million in it for me to use when I leave. I was stunned, my grandfather was never the one to show his feelings and I was forever grateful to him. Perhaps not all Matthews are bad.

Thereby, I was truly prepared and ready for Kyle to tell me any info about my dad. I just needed one word to leave this house. For the last two months, my dad just vanished. There was no trace of him and I was worried.

For the last 7 years, I didn't hear anything about Theo and Mer until today. When I saw him on the mall I was happy and almost rush towards him, but as I got closer, I was scared to face him. What am I supposed to say? 'Hey Theo, How are you? Sorry for leaving you alone for seven years'

So I decided to run away first, calm down and then meet him again. However, Theo was still a wild child like he used to be. He grabbed me and kept pestering me until I finally snapped and tell him all those horrible things. The look on his eyes when I slap him and walked away broke my heart into million pieces. So now here I was sitting with my best friend and sobbing about how stupid I am.

"So what are you gonna do now?" Sarah asked after a while.

"I think he's on a quest, he's was with Taylor and Emily Marie, childhood friends. Three is the mandatory number for a quest party when they start and if my guts are right. I think it's about finding dad" I said confidently.

"Well isn't that good? Did you forget that they were disappeared? For all we know they could be anywhere and it will be impossible to find them" Sarah stated the obvious.

After I ran away from TJ, Sarah convinced me to go back to him. However when I looked for him at the parking lot, I was too late. He was gone and I saw Ventis scattered looking for him.

"Not exactly" I smile as I show her the GPS apps where a little blink appeared and moving on the Long Beach map. "I'm the granddaughter of Athena, do you actually think that I will entirely lost control" I smile as I remember the little tracking chip that I put as on TJ collar.

"Are you gonna help them?" Sarah fish out her phone, ready to call her mother.

"Are you gonna join me?" I said. We both smile as she called her mother and I called my grandfather about what I'm about to do next. My grandfather told me not to come back until I found my family back, but then Sarah started to cry over the telephone.

I looked at her confused and she mumbled in tears "My dad is dead" I hugged and we cried for the rest of the night. In the morning, we returned to her house and got ready for the funeral.

At the funeral, just a couple of demigods attended. They looked around with doubtful scared eyes like they were waiting for something to happen. Sarah's family cried and cried and I just held my best friend's hand most of the time.

Close to the coffin, I heard a satyr talking to other demigods. He told them that somebody was attacking demigods and they should hide for the time being, so this wasn't an accident.

For 3 months, life continued. Sarah and her family were moving on, sad and getting by. Kyle disappeared too, afraid of the threat that demigods called the Dark Sword. Theo threw his t-shirt somewhere in Portland and I was now back to Square 1.

Sarah's oldest sister Ashley got engaged one week ago and she was determined to get married by Halloween. Sarah thought it was too sudden and they got into a big fight which lasted for 2 days.

Yesterday, Ashley and her friends left to Las Vegas to the typical cliché bachelorette party, getting drunk in every bar and flirting with guys. Sarah decided to stay with me tonight. After a bad movie, we had the brilliant idea to spy on Sarah. From my laptop, I had access to all security cameras in Las Vegas, we were just waiting for facial recognition program to kick in and find Sarah and her friends and probably evidence to tease her for months.

I was bored looking at the screen when something caught my attention. I saw Taylor, Aunt Piper's son. He was walking with… Theo.

"My brother is in Las Vegas" I said gasping and pointing to the screen.

"What?" said Sarah running to my side "Where?" I pointed to him and opened a window to have a better look "You have to go"

"Yeah" I mumbled and immediately booked the first morning flight. I called a cab and left the Matthews residence in the middle of the night. Sarah wanted to come but she couldn't leave her mom alone. She was still afraid of the Dark Sword like everybody, all demigods were. We have heard of at least 20 dead demigods and their families.