Chapter 2

Cale couldn't remember any time in his life when he had to carry so many things. Thankfully, no one had to carry anything heavy. When everyone walked into the commons area of the castle and unloaded the stuff they were carrying, Mercedes tapped Cale on his right shoulder, "Are there any nice cups, shot glasses and bottles to go along with the shot glasses?"

"Yes," Cale answered, "why?"

"Where I'm from," Mercedes smiled, "on the Day of the Dead we leave out a shot glass and bottle full of Tequila for the adult dead. But since no one here drinks Tequila, I thought we could use Sake instead."

Cale nodded and showed Mercedes where the Kitchen was. When the ex-Warlord of Corruption and the exchange student got to the largest cabinet in the kitchen, Mercedes took out a small white and pale blue porcelain bottle and matching porcelain shot glass. She also got out a gold pitcher and basin, "Take these things to Mia, and after you give them to her, would you bring me the sugar, the sweetener, and the food coloring?"

"Why?" Cale questioned.

Mercedes laughed, "No Day of the Dead is complete without candy skulls."

"C…C…CANDY SKULLS!" Cale shrieked.

"What?" Mercedes questioned, "You've never seen a skull before?"

"Uh…well...uh…" the Warrior of Winter stammered.

"Don't worry," Mercedes laughed again, "I make good candy skulls. They're really delicious and I'm sure you'll enjoy eating them."

"I…uh…better give this stuff to Mia," Cale answered, making a quick exit for the door.

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As Dais and Sekhmet were helping Mia, Sage, and Ryo take out all of the stuff from the plastic bags. As Sekhmet took out the "tissue paper" from its plastic bag, he noticed that Mia and Mercedes had only bought a large quantity of only three different colors. "Mia," Sekhmet began, "Why did you and Mercedes buy purple, white, and pink tissue paper?"

Mia smiled, "According to what Mercedes told me, all altars must have the four Elements."

"Impossible," Sage stated, "There are five Elements."

"In the eastern part of the world," Mia clarified, "there are five Elements: earth, air, fire, water, and spirit. However, in the western part of the world, there are only four Elements: earth, air, fire, and water. According to Mercedes, an altar to the dead must have all four elements. The fire will be represented by the candle's flame, the earth will be represented by a special bread baked for the Day of the Dead called "Pan de Muerto" or as the English-Speaking people call it, "Bread of the Dead." Water is symbolized by the pitcher of water in which the dead will wash his or her hands after its long journey from Mictlan, and the wind is symbolized by the tissue paper, which will be cut into different designs. The three colors of tissue paper we bought have symbolic meaning for this festival: purple means pain and suffering, white means hope, and pink is the color of the festival."

"So then," Dais began, pulling out two gold picture frames, "Why did you two buy picture frames?"

"The central part of the Day of the Dead altar is a picture of the deceased," Mia explained, "It helps to clarify whose altar is whose. Besides, Mercedes is going to help us with an altar to Anubis while she prepares one for her little sister."

"Little sister?" Dais questioned, "I didn't know she had a little sister."

"She died two years ago." Mia explained, "and her name was Pepita. From what Mercedes told me, she was eight years old when she died."

"How did she die?" Sekhmet asked.

"She was ridding her bike when a car speed up behind her," Mia answered, trying to remember everything Mercedes told her, "The driver wasn't paying attention and hit Pepita, killing her instantly."

"But isn't she buried in Mexico?" Sage asked

"Yes," Mia replied, "but Pepita was Mercedes only sister. And she loved her very much, I know that for two years she made an altar to Pepita on her own, without any help."

Sage slowly nodded, even though he had two sisters, he couldn't imagine anything bad happening to them.

"Here's the stuff Mercedes wanted me to give you," Cale cleared his throat.

"Thanks," Mia smiled as she took the stuff from Cale's hands.

"Uh…" Cale stammered, "Do you know where the sugar, sweetener, and food coloring are?"

"Over there," Mia pointed out.

"Thanks," Cale murmured, as he took the three ingredients and sped towards the kitchen in a hurry.

"What's his problem?" Dais asked.

"I don't know," Sekhmet answered.