Disclaimer: I own nothing, except for the original characters. All rights go to Rick Riordan

Warning: Mediocre Action scenes(Have to start somewhere)

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The Grand Illusion

Sylvie

I had first met Maddi during fifth grade. I was the new kid, and my mom had suggested I join the musical, with my "angelic" voice. "Angelic" was translated quickly to "quiet" and I was given a chorus role. I was alone on one side for some reason, the others choosing to cluster during one scene. Instead of ignoring me as others did while I acted, she had came over to invade my personal space, and cough. It was fake, but of course I didn't know that and I fell off the stage. Maddi was right behind and jumped off, landing on her feet, reminding me of my cat Tommy, with his inability to injure himself no matter how high he jumped, not afraid of anything. Neither was Maddi as she helped me to my feet.

Every other person just sat watching with a dumb stupor.

She grinned at me, and said "Maddi, with just an I, ,no y or ie."

"Sylvie."

Now seven years later, I was still the one she looked out for.

We were family in every sense of the word, except in blood. When my mom died, it was her and her dad who took me in. She snapped at anyone who said anything bad about me. Even though I was older by about a year, not to mention taller, she was the big sister. She had no sense of modesty, and no filter. This is where my life turned upside down, and not in the sense where I was sent off with a rich uncle and aunt.

It was the the last day of school before summer and they decided to have some sort of assembly. Since it was junior year, the groans of others alerted me to how everything was so, done. I was flicking, playing with a rose I found outside. Maddi was talking with one of her guy friends, named Alex who was smiling goofily in her direction. Her light brown hair reached just below shoulders, streaked with lavender and platinum blond hair, her trademark mischievous grin whispering to Alex. She was on my left, ready for the end of her sophomore year. It was average and I attempted to tune out the world around me. That is until I saw her.

The cheerleaders were usually very beautiful, and also very intimidating. That, in turn caused me to usually avoid eye contact. That day, I decided to retain eye contact. I met the gaze of a fellow junior girl who had transferred earlier in the year, her skin the color of chocolate and curls that seemed so naturally enthralling, with curves I would never be able to achieve. I blinked, and it all went to hell.

Where the cheerleader had been now had a monster in her spot, with skin the color of snow and hair on fire. She bared her fangs, and her legs moved forward in my direction, one bronze, the other looking like a donkey's leg. What froze me wasn't any of that, but eyes the color for crimson, like blood.

I panicked, and gripped Maddi's wrist, my eyes darting all over place. More of the monsters popped up, about four of them and when Maddi's gaze followed my direction, she popped up, field hockey stick in hand, finally getting it back after a year of it being confiscated after whacking a guy who was rumored to have abused his sister.

A chain reaction occurred after that when one of the basketball hoops fell to the ground and an earthquake vibrated the entire gym. People panicked, not that I blamed them. This wasn't California, it was New York. Everyone ran for the exit, but the monsters stood their ground. When I met one of the gazes, it smiled and Maddi did the rational, she ran right towards the monster, field hockey stick in hand. My feet moved of their own accord, following Maddi, although I wasn't completely sure why when everyone else headed in the opposite direction.

I wasn't one for conflict or any sort of violence. Five against one was hardly fair though, and with little attention to logic tackled the closest beast.

It didn't take long for it to push me off , and we kept circling each other. I blinked again and the image shifted back to the pretty cheerleader. Her eyes were a bright blue and no longer looked so menacing.

"You don't really want to hurt me," she said, a grin overtaking her face.

Did I? A part of me wondered whether what I had seen was true or not. A monster wouldn't look so harmless. She straightened up and walked towards me, but then there was a crack heard and I looked down. The bronze leg glittered against the sunlight peeking through the large gym windows. I stumbled, and fangs popped out in my face.

Vampire, I thought vaguely while attempting to not be chewed.

"You don't really want to hurt me," I murmered half-heartedly. My powers of persuasion obviously weren't as good as her's though. She grinned, claws out first.

I kicked my feet under, but nothing escaped the claws, and I was quickly binded by the beast. Her fangs inched closer to my neck. I flailed around, hoping to at least hit something. Just as I lost the ability to breathe, the sound of something hitting the cheerleader alerted me. Gold dust flew into the air a moment later. A dagger hit one of the bleachers, narrowly missing my head. I looked around, but all saw was Maddi taking on two of the other cheerleaders. Besides that, the gym was empty. Sirens could be heard in the distance and I picked up the dagger. Maddi's field hockey did no damage against the monsters. Even her strength did nothing to help her now.

"Will you just cooperate," one of the ugly vampires hissed at Maddi when she continued to whack them in the head, as if expecting them to go back under the ground.

With no warning, I jumped onto the larger one's back, and stuck the knife into her throat, and fell to the ground a moment later, covered in gold. I turned my head in time to see the last one of them jump at me, but Maddi pushed against her, the field hockey stick the barrier, her back to me. On instinct I threw it, aiming for the head and a lock of Maddi's hair fell to the ground. But I didn't miss, and a moment later, she was dust too.

Instead of talking, we ran for the back entrance, hoping to avoid the crowd.

-PC-II

"Not quite how I pictured my last day of sophomore year," Maddi commented as we sprinted through the streets of Manhattan, hoping to catch a cab, "if you can believe it though, it actual ended better than I thought it would."

She grinned lazily in my direction while we ran our marathon. A cab was supposed to be waiting for us downtown to drive us to Westchester county, where Maddi's dad had gotten a job for the summer as he prepared to open his restaurant this weekend. We would probably be early to arrive, but after the fiasco at the school, we didn't have anywhere else to go. Her grin was met with my glare. I have never been the most athletic, or athletic at all really and after dealing with the ugly undead I wasn't in the mood to for a long distance sprint.

"Not... exactly... how I pictured... vampires looking ...like either," Maddi continued, turning the streets as if she owned the town.

"Figures the only vampires we would meet would be girls," Maddi continued as we stopped at Seventh Avenue, "and ugly at that."

"Were you hoping for Edward Cullen," I snapped back in reply, looking around as if more monsters loudly pop out at any moment.

A hand was on my shoulder, and I glanced at Maddi. She was looking down and when I followed her gaze my hands were sprawled out, twitching, a nervous habit developed over the years. I was still breathing heavily and sweat already began to bead down my forehead. Maddi didn't even seem look exhausted, her hair mused in a way that made it look like it was done on purpose.

"We"ll be fine," she murmured, the grin still bright on her face.

"How can you know that?" I whispered, my stomach in knots, snakes twisting within.

The cab pulled up and Maddi opened the door for me, "We'll be home."

I looked back at her reassurance, and my hands gripped hers. "You're so weird."

The sun in her eyes almost blinded me. "Don't I know it."

-PC-

I was skeptical of the driver, a pixieish girl with hair the color of honey and featured which made her look younger than me.

Maddi had the skill to fall asleep wherever she was and it seemed not even a battle with death could prevent it. I, the rational one, watched the driver as we crossed the bridge to home.

I peeked down at my phone, frowning at the blank screen. I glanced in Maddi's direction, watching her breathe in and out in a timed rhythm, revealing the sincerity of her action. She always kept her phone in her back pocket, which I though was ridiculous, what if someone stole it right out from under her? We lived in Manhatten!

Or we had anyway.

Nonetheless, with my nails, I gripped the phone. Five missed calls, eight missed texts. Including one text and four calls from her dad. Sighing, I speedily put the phone in its previous dwelling and looked out the window.

The driver had been paid ahead of time, so when we reached the house and walked out of the cab, she sped off in an abrupt fashion, leaving us staring at our new home, no neighbors at least a mile away.

The sound of something crashing had us go from a leisurely walk to a desperate run in a blink. Maddi stabbed the key into the keyhole while I peeked through the window. I jumped back in recoil, staring at the bull in the room.

"Wait!" I screamed as Maddi pounded into the room, a gasp followed soon after.

I went in, dagger in hand. Maddi's dad had the bull by the horn, two-legged with thick brown fur and horns that curved grotesquely.

Maddi's gasp distracted her dad and he fumbled under the horns. Without warning, the beast, Minotaur, cocked its head to the side, slashing at the man's throat. He fell a moment later.

I wasn't sure where my mind was at the moment, but I took off, taking the dagger as I went past the still form of Maddi. I gripped it in a overhand stance, aiming for the heart, or hoped where the heart was. I wasn't quick though when it grabbed at the dagger, a flurry of fur and pressure, a deadly grip. The face was grotesque, with black eyes and a disfigured face of a bull, with the blood of Maddi's dad on one of it's horns. I shook violently, and my mind caught up with my body.

It pushed me against the wall and I faltered, my legs was swinging above the floor. The horns were at their limit and even its mouth wasn't close enough to reach me, the wall my savior. The monster refuse to give up and pushed against the force of the wall, breaking the wood. It's teeth were centimeters from my wrist when a gunshot snapped through the air. Gold dust filled the room, a storm of death and decay right before my eyes. My eyes darted to the left, my heart in my throat.

Maddi was leaning against the wall, and slumped down, sitting on the floor. The shotgun in her dad's room was in her hands.

For a moment I could tell she had forgotten when she whispered, "That was so cool."

My eyes couldn't look away from the blood though and when she glanced again to the side, her gaze sobered and she stood up.

"I thought we didn't have the bullets for it," I muttered.

She was staring at the older man, "Now we do."

"I'm gonna get the first aid kit."

I blinked, and she was gone.

He was sitting front of me a moment later, clutching at his throat. Death was a part of life I knew, something that happened to everyone. It wasn't something that was easily acknowledged.

His breathing shallowed, and I sobbed silently, tears beginning to form. The older man looked at me solemnly, weakly grinning.

"It's my time."

I knew that, but I still fought, " We'll call 911, we can get you help. Just please, just don't go."

I hated how weak my voice sounded, raspy and dry from crying. I felt his breath end and I knew before I opened my eyes, he was dead. I reached out to touch his face, when his body began to fade. I panicked, gripping at the air and followed the gold to the edge of the window.

"No, no, NO!"

My voice grew louder, until I yelled at the sky, the sun starting to peek out beneath the clouds. Tears fell down in light cascades, but all I saw was gold.

"Where is he?"

I couldn't meet her eyes, instead I stared at my hands, hoping they would give me the answers.

"He's gone."

Maddi's voice broke "But where is he, his body?"

What could I say. The truth?

I turned, and Maddi stared at me for a moment before her eyes darted around looking for what wasn't there. What could I say, that he evaporated just as the monsters had into thin air?

Her eyes were hollow, but tears streaked down her face.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, knowing she didn't know why I was apologizing, "I'm so sorry."

-PC-

Illusions are part of life, a grand impression, a show rooted in happiness that doesn't quite meet the eyes. Life was the grand illusion, full of people drifting through, hoping to land on the right beat, ignoring what was right in front of them.

I had always prided myself in my individuality, and thought I lived above in reality. I thought I saw past the superficiality and the brief moments if satisfication.

I was wrong.

That day, Maddi and I saw beyond the grand illusion.