Chapter 15

The Spanish girl was about ready to scream. Mercedes had just about had it with this Castle, her hosts, and this bizarre "Nether Realm." The inability to utilize technology, the strange sky, her strange hosts, and the apparent lack of intelligence by things called "Dynasty Soldiers" was enough to push her, and probably anyone else, over the edge. 'I think I know why my hosts' ex-boss failed,' the exchange student thought as she shook her head.

Mercedes was not looking for a fight; in fact, she had tried to talk to some of the "Dynasty Soldiers" into ringing one of the tower bells at 6:00 PM when they planned to go to Anubis' grave for a picnic. Ringing the tower bell, due to the fact that was no Catholic Church Bell, starting at 6:00 PM between 30 second intervals was to summon the dead back to their graves or tombs. All of them would go to Anubis' grave and stay there until sunrise so that everyone could clean the headstone, place the food, candles, and flowers out on the grave, and then have the traditional graveside picnic. Mercedes remembered the Day of the Dead celebrations back her home when her brother Pepe would bring his guitar to the family tombs and play songs for entertainment. Unfortunately, the Spanish girl never learned to play the guitar because she never saw any reason to learn. Of course, she had also assumed that she would stay within her own country for the rest of her life, 'but then again, God tests us wherever we go.' Mercedes thought.

Placing her faith aside for a moment, Mercedes knew she had to finish getting ready for the picnic. When the exchange student had tried to talk to the soldiers, they knew right away that she had a Western Accent. Perhaps they were not making fun of her accent, but were acting on orders from Dais to ignore her. Surprisingly, none of the soldiers has drawn out any weapons when she started swearing; so either they were acting on orders, or they thought the sight of her losing her temper was amusing.

Mercedes then stormed away from the soldiers, and walked back into the castle. She still had to get the cleaning supplies for the grave and cook the food for the picnic, 'you would think my hosts would act in a more mature manner?' The girl sighed

As Mercedes entered the castle proper, and walked down the semi-darkened hallways that lead towards the kitchen, the she accidentally walked right into Dais. "Having problems?" The former Warlord of Illusion grinned.

"Get out of my way, witch, I do not have time for you," Mercedes snapped.

Without warning, Dais grabbed her shoulder and forced her to look at him. "WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!" he yelled.

"I called you a witch," Mercedes answered again in a defiant tone-of-voice. "And it is what you are. You have used your powers for selfish reasons, and you cannot seem to realize that Anubis is perfectly capable of making it on his own."

"AND IF IT WERE YOUR FRIEND!" Dais yelled, shaking Mercedes, "WOULD YOU HAVE JUST WALKED AWAY FROM THAT PERSON?"

"When someone say "no" they mean "no." Mercedes answered, look at the Warrior of Summer straight in the eye, "So when Anubis wanted you to leave him alone, he meant it."

Dais calmed down a little, only to mask his anger with a bone-chilling smile that made Mercedes shudder, "If I wouldn't get me into trouble, then I would kill you right here and right now. But I can't, so let me tell you this one thing: I will not make you a martyr in your mind or your precious God's mind. So stay out of my way!"

Dais released his painful grip on Mercedes' shoulders and then walked away. The only thought that ran through Mercedes' stunned mind was, 'he let me off way too easy.'