SILVER LINING. ( j. grace & p. mclean )

0. PERCY GETS OFFERED IMMORTALITY AND SKYE GETS EXILE

AS A DEMIGOD AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPULSIVE HUMAN BEINGS ON THE PLANET (if she did say so herself), Skye Masuda held a lot of regrets. Lots of 'what if's' and second thoughts.

What if her joke of pouring loads of fake spiders on Malcolm Pace came to bite her in the ass? (Answer: it definitely did; never prank a child of Athena.)

What if she got in trouble for sneaking out into the woods when she was explicitly told not to because there was a hoard of angry wasp creatures and she thought it'd be cool to see them? (Answer: Chiron wouldn't let her out of his sight for weeks after! But at least people noticed and appreciated her for defeating a swarm of large wasps with laser eyes, so she considered it a win.)

Stuff like that, you know. She'd learned to push them aside, to move on, and keep looking forward.

Her biggest regret, though? Watching the bloodshed on the wrong side of the war.

As she gazed at the carnage of the city of Manhattan, she wasn't so sure she could move on from this so easily.

Next to her stood Luke. She still couldn't think of her half-brother as that blasted titan, Kronos, but the proof was right there for her: when he turned in her direction, Skye saw eyes of pure gold. Luke's used to be blue, like an open sky. Skye was positive she would never look at that same color again without feeling bile in her throat.

"We need you in the enemy lines, Skye, your abilities could give us an advantage," Kronos spoke lowly, using Luke's mouth, in a voice that was so much like Luke, but also so foreign that it nearly made Skye lose face right there amidst the bloodthirsty Titan army on the Williamsburg Bridge.

A thought poked her, as it had been since the explosion of the Princess Andromeda: Did Luke know it would all come to this when he had persuaded Skye to join Kronos?

"It'll be easy peasy," he had promised her, four years ago when Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase had brought Thalia back to life via Golden Fleece magic. "We'll blow up a few ships, scare them into submission, it'll all go by so smoothly, just minor stuff. And you'll feel like you're doing something worthwhile. We could use your awesome speed, and you'll be on the front lines instead of shunted away. That's always what you've wanted, right? To make a name for yourself since your so-called heroic ancestor fucked it up?"

She hated that he knew her so well. The one person she opened up to, and it was Luke Castellan, who wasted no time using it to his advantage. She had followed him, eager and naive, desperate for a stupid thrill and feeling useful for once, unheeding of any consequences that might arise. Her stupid fatal flaw, recklessness, was seriously going to be her death. What could go wrong? she had told herself back then.

A fucking lot, she answered her old question now, as she watched the Minotaur bellow, pick up a white limousine, and hurl it at the flying shape of Blackjack, most likely with Percy Jackson astride.

Monsters jeered and shouted, as the Minotaur picked up another car, while Percy and Annabeth's pegasi swerved madly to avoid the flying projectiles.

Skye didn't want to see this. Watching her cousin avoid getting flattened was itching to be her last straw. She turned to Kronos, who gazed at the scene impassively. "Why exactly are we needed here?" she asked. "The Minotaur seems to be holding his own without us. Wouldn't it be more efficient to recuperate and attack somewhere else?"

Kronos's jaw tightened; he didn't like having his actions questioned. But Skye was his trusted lieutenant—Luke had personally vouched for her. She could say stuff that would get other monsters killed if they tried. "Watch and learn, little one," he said with an eerie grin. "Soon enough, something will happen, and I want to be there to see it."