"Yes mom, I'll be fine. I just moved up a grade, it's not like I'm going to a completely different school in a completely new state." The dark haired girl said, giving her mom, Devon a roll of her eyes. All Devon did was worry and it drove Grace crazy. She just wished her mom would just believe in her. "Well, you just be careful, okay? Drive safe. Don't let anyone mess with you. Call me if you need me. I love you." Devon said, kissing her daughter's forehead. "You act like this is my literal first day of school. I'm a senior in high school, not just walking into kindergarten." Grace teased once more, getting on her tiptoes to kiss her mom's cheek. Grace was quite short in general, but compared to Devon, she felt like an ommpa loompa from the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Devon was a tall and slim woman with long blonde hair that fell beautifully into waterfall curls. Her mom's eyes gleamed with pride as she looked over her growing girl. "Alright, I need to go, okay? I'll see you after school," the seventeen year old yelled as she walked towards the door. "Be careful!" Devon said once more. "Nah, I plan on running over children and puppies on the way to school." Grace said, shaking her head. "Love you!" she quickly added as she closed the door to her childhood home. She walked down the small, winding path to her car that sat in the driveway. Her eyes glanced over it's sleek body as she clicked the unlock button on the key fob. As the car made a quick "click", telling her that it had been unlocked, she pulled on the door handle and slid into her seat. The black leather freezing her back and thighs as she grumbled, "I really need to get some seat covers or something because this leather is going to drive me crazy. You're lucky I love you, Baby." She said, throwing her bag into the passenger side seat. She had a 2007 Ford Mustang GT, blue and white. This car was her life, and besides all the paint work, she had done everything on her own. She was super proud of her hard work. She turned the key in the ignition, the motor rumbling loudly in the cold. She let it idle for a short minute before pulling back the gear shift and backing out of her driveway. Grace didn't live too far away from her school, maybe a 10 minute drive but it was way too cold to be walking, and there was no way she would be riding the school bus. She hadn't rode the school bus for almost 10 years and sure didn't plan on it, now.

As she finally made it to school, she quickly parked her car and looked around the parking lot. Her friends stood at Teegan's old Chevy Malibu, talking it up. She grabbed her bag from the passenger seat and got out of the car, closing the door and locking it. As she walked over to her friends, she noticed a new girl talking to James. Her red flags automatically went up. Grace was very protective, especially of her friends and she for sure wasn't letting some random new girl come in on her group. She threw her bag onto her shoulder and stopped by James, giving him a big hug. It had been a few months since she saw him because of work and she missed him. "Hey, Gracey," he said, wrapping his arms around her. "Hey, James," she quickly responded, pulling from the hug and her eyes resting on the stranger once again. "Are you going to introduce me to your friend?" She asked, looking to James. He laughed, nodding, "Oh yeah, I forgot you guys never met. This is Clair. Clair, this is Grace." James said, introducing them to each other. Clair simply waved to Grace and continued on the conversation her and James were holding. Grace rolled her eyes and walked over to Teegan, who was leaned up against the hood of her car, texting on her phone. "What, do you have a boy toy now? Why am I the only one that's single?" Grace groaned, Teegan looking up with a confused look on her freckly face. "No? I'm texting my mom. She needs me to pick up Anne on the way home from school." Grace's face flushed with embarrassment as she seen the gears spinning in Teegan's head. "Ugh, don't ask. I'm in an awkward mood." Grace said, hoping Teegan wouldn't question her outburst any further; and thankfully she didn't. As the bell rang, Grace pulled her bag up farther on her arm and began walking, making some small talk with Teegan just before they split to head to their classes. This was going to be a long year . .

"Hey Grace, think you could help me out with this BMW? We need to rotate the tires and change the oil but I'm really too busy." said a blonde haired man, his hands dark with grease. "Oh, sure. Gimme like 5 minutes and I'll be out." She said, sighing. Grace wasn't supposed to be working, she was just picking up a part for her mustang, but she couldn't say no to some extra cash. She did need to put some gas in her car. She walked out to her car, grabbing some dirty clothes from the back seat and walking back inside to change. As she finally finished up, she walked into the garage, heading to the silver BMW. She frowned as she remembered this car. This was Clair's car, she had seen it on James' Snapchat story when they were hanging out last week. Maybe Grace should try to talk to her again, to make nice. She groaned at the thought of talking to Clair. She was so rude when they were introduced. She shrugged and began to work on the car.

As she finished up, just about 20 minutes later, she backed the car out of the garage and walked back inside, the keys in her hand. Keys were never left in cars if they were to be sitting outside to avoid theft or keys being locked in cars so it was like a 6th sense to Grace, now. As she walked back inside, she grabbed the towel from her back pocket and began cleaning off her hands. She wasn't overly dirty, but it was obvious that she worked on the car. Her blue eyes rested on Clair, her irritation instantly growing. She just wished that this girl wasn't so stuck up. She walked over to the brunette, dangling her keys to her car. "Grace? Is that you?" She immediately after looking up from her brand new iPhone X. "Yeah. Hey, Clair." Grace said, the keys still dangling from her fingers. "You work at a.. maintenance shop?" Grace's face turned sour, dropping the keys on Clair's lap. "Yes. I do. I have worked here for almost 2 years, now. Is there a problem with me working here?" Grace questioned, her anger slowly growing in her gut. "No, of course not. I just didn't expect you to work here. Thought you'd be working at a store or something. No need to get snippy." Clair said, standing up with an attitude and grabbing her keys from the chair. "Thanks for fixing my car, I guess." She said, walking outside to her car and getting in. Grace's fists balled up, her anger growing once more. She ran to the bathroom to change once more, slamming the door behind her. As she looked up to the mirror, her eyes quickly flashed a golden. "What?" She said, quickly closing her eyes tight and opening them again. They were her normal blue. "I'm just seeing things. I gotta go home." She said, giving one last look in the mirror before changing and then going home. 

"She has some kind of problem with my, James. I don't know what, but she has an issue and I want to fix it for her." Grace said, walking down the hall with her best friend to her side. "Grace, I think you're just overreacting," James said, realizing what he said was extremely wrong. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that, Grace. I just don't like you guys fighting." He quickly added, hoping his recent words didn't upset Grace a lot. "I'm overreacting? I'm sorry that your new best friend is stuck up. when you first introduced us, she didn't even say hi. She just went right back to talking to you. I don't mind you guys talking, but she's just disrespectful." Grace explained, picking at the peeling black polish on her nails. James sighed, shaking his head, "You don't need to like her. You don't need to be best friends with her. I'm just asking you to come to my house and chill out for my birthday party and be civil. I don't want any arguing, or fighting or attitude. I've already had this talk with her and she promised to be polite." He said, running his fingers through his dark hair. "I just want all three of my friends to be in a room together without bickering. Is that too much to ask?" He said, his face showing obvious pain. He was right. What Grace was doing was wrong and she was endangering her 15 year friendship all over another girl. "I'm sorry, James.. I didn't notice I was hurting you." she paused, hugging him, "I'll do my best to be.. civil this weekend. but if she comes for me, i'm not going to hold back!" She said, laughing. It made her happy to see James smile a little. "I'll see you after class, Gracey." He said, walking off down the hall to his next class.

A few days later, Grace walks into James' house, Teegan, him and Clair all sitting on the couch, eating popcorn. "I'm sorry I'm late. Work made me stay longer to finish up on a client's car." Grace explained, slipping off her shoes at the door. James' mom was extremely particular about her carpet and made everyone take off their shoes before walking on it. There sat Teegan once more, on her phone. "Are y'all making Teegan the third wheel?" Grace asked, frowning at James. "No, she's having issues with her mom again." Grace automatically went into momma bear mode. "Why? What's wrong? What happened?" Grace asked, quickly walking over to Teegan and sitting down beside her. "She wants me to come home and watch Anne. I told her no because I want to spend time with you guys but she has a date so I have to." She complained, sighing. "I'm sorry, James. I gotta go. Happy Birthday." She continued as she grabbed her bag from beside the couch, slipped on her shoes and left. The three left in the house were silent before James finally stood up, "Wanna watch a movie or something? Mom got me the new Baywatch movie. I heard it's really bad. We can laugh at it together?" He said, looking to the girls for a reaction. Clair giggled and nodded, and then her attention then turned to Grace as well. "Whatcha say Grace? Wanna watch a dumb movie and laugh at it like old times?" He asked, wiggling the case in his hand. She laughed, "Sure. Why not?"

The three of them sat and watched the movie, Grace lay out on the couch and the two of them squeezed on a small chair together. It was starting to click for Grace. The two of them were together and that's why he cared so much about her coming to his party and for them to get along. Her blood boiled once more, but she kept it to herself. There was nothing she could do and if James was happy, it shouldn't matter who it was with as long as he was happy. She pulled her sweatshirt sleeves up to her mouth and started to bite them to calm herself down. Why did seeing Clair get her so angry? Grace obviously didn't like James. Or did she . . ?

"Why do you always have to have her come with us?" Grace questioned, looking over to James who had his head in his hands, "Because she's my girlfriend, Grace. I'd like to have her along, why is that so wrong?" He asked, shaking his head, "If you have that big of a problem with Clair, then don't come. It's not that big of a deal. I don't know why you have such a problem, Teegan doesn't have any issue with her. They actually get along really good." He added, standing up. "Teegan and I are two different people, James." Grace argued, "Oh yeah, and why's that exactly?" He questioned, an irritated look on his face. "I don't know. I can't explain it. She just.. grinds my gears." She said, balling up her fists. "Well, Grace. I don't know what to tell you. I love her and she's not going anywhere." he said, walking off. Grace fell back into her chair, pulling her hand up to her mouth as tears began to well in her eyes. It wasn't fair. She had been around James his entire life and he didn't give her one look but as soon as a new girl comes along and gives him the googoo eyes, he's in love. She had to do something about this.

"Clair, can we talk?" Grace asked, walking up on the blonde who was grabbing something from her locker. "Uh, sure Grace. What's up?" she questioned, shutting her locker and turning to face Grace. "You seem to have an issue with me and I wanna see what the issue is because I'm tired of hurting James over our little fights." She said blatantly. "Honestly, I didn't have an issue with you until you started talking about me to James like I was a piece of garbage. I mean, we never really got along but there wasn't ever negative feelings until you started talking behind my back." Clair explained, fixing her bag on her shoulder, "Thing is you seemed to have an issue with me right away and I tried to look past it but you always had an attitude with me, no matter what I did." she quickly added, watching out for a reaction on Grace's face. "You're right, I have always have an issue with you because you were always so stuck up! The day we met you looked right through me, like I was air. I was polite and you just ignored me. How is that fair?" Grace yelled, her fists balled up once again. "So I didn't act like you were the queen of the world and you're mad at me for that. Well, I don't really care. You'll have to get over it." Clair retaliated. Grace could feel her blood boiling and before she knew it, her fist flew. Clair fell to the ground, her books and bag spreading across the white tiles. "Grace? What are you doing?" James yelled from behind her, running up to Clair and helping her up. "What is your deal?" He yelled again, looking at the blood running from Clair's nose. "I-I'm sorry .. I didn't mean to." Grace said, running down the hall and outside. She needed to get out of here . . !

Grace burst into the house, teats rushing down her flushed cheeks. She slammed the door behind her, running to her room before she could be questioned by the concerned Addyson that sit on the couch. "Grace?" she yelled, knowing something horrible had happened. Grace didn't cry very often, so when she did there was something very wrong. Addyson stood from the couch, still in her work clothes. "Grace what's going on?" she yelled again before just walking up to the teen's door and knocking. "Please let me in, baby. Lets talk, it'll make you feel so much better." she said, full of worry. "I don't want to talk, momma. Please just leave me alone." Grace said through tears, her lungs burning and eye red. Addyson sighed, opening the door. "I know we promised to never come in without your permission but there is obviously something wrong and we need to talk about it. Let it all out." Addyson said, sitting down on Grace's bed, running her fingers through her daughter's thick black hair. "I said I don't want to talk about it, why can't you understand that?" Grace said, looking up from her pillow. "I do understand, love but I'm not leaving until you talk. This is what mothers are for. I know we don't talk as much as you and Devin do, but I want to be here for you when I can be." She said, a weak smile crossing her red lips. Addyson worked a lot and it was difficult for her and Grace to spend time together because of school, work and her handing out with friends. However, they still maintained a good relationship. The two stood in silence for a moment before Grace sat up, pulling her pillow to her chest and taking a deep breath, "I got into a fight at school." She said simply, Addyson's concerned look changing to an irritated one, "And why is that, exactly? I told you to tell me or Devin if someone was bothering you and we'd take care of it." The disappointment in Addyson's voice broke Grace's heart. "It wasn't like you think," she paused, "it was Clair, I punched her. I don't know what's wrong with me, lately I can't control my anger." Grace said, looking to the floor, not being able to handle looking at her mom. "What did she do to anger you so badly?" Addyson questioned, knowing Grace could take a lot of crap before exploding. "Her and James have been up each others butts this past month. No matter what we do with James, Clair has to come along no matter what. I already didn't get along with her but this just shattered it completely. I confronted her this morning about us fighting and I admit I wasn't the nicest but it just escalated and I hit her. I don't know why I did that but I just did." Grace explained, Addyson sighing, "Do you care for James, Grace?" She questioned, a bit of a laugh hiding behind her lips. "Well of course I do, he's my best friend." Grace said, giving Addyson a roll of the eyes. "No, Miss Priss, I mean do you like him? Do you have feelings for him?" She questioned, running her hand up and down Grace's back to calm her. "I-I don't know. Maybe. I don't know what I feel. I've just been so mad ever since she came around. I feel like he's pushed me to the side for her and I can't stand it." Grace said, confused. She couldn't like James, they'd been best friends almost their entire lives. It would be weird. "Honey, it's not wrong to like your best friend. Devin was my best friend before we started going out, and now look at us. We have you." Addyson said, smiling. "I understand what you're going through, love. I really do. Your mom had a friend that I just had horrible feelings about and it almost ripped us apart. If things are meant to be, they will be, you should never act on them the way that you did. I realize this wasn't your intent, and you're still not sure if you even have feelings for James, but you need to learn to handle your anger before you get into deep trouble. We can only hope that no one saw you hit Clair and she's nice enough to keep her mouth shut about the ordeal." She added, looking back to Grace who was again, staring at the floor. "Why don't you call her up and apologize? Maybe you two can figure something out." Addyson suggested,  making Grace sigh. "Yeah. Maybe."

"I'm so very sorry, Clair." Grace said, putting a lock of her black hair behind her ear. Clair sighed, nodding, "I am, too. I did treat you badly and I don't blame you for hating me. I would have done the same thing if you treated me the way I treated you." She said, giving Grace a halfhearted smile. "James didn't put you up to this, did he?" Grace questioned, getting a chuckle out of Clair, "While I'm sure he wants me to, no he didn't." Clair put out her arms, calling Grace in for a hug. "Friends?" She questioned, seeming worried what Grace may say or even do. However, Grace just smiled and walked forward, wrapping her arms around Clair as she did the same. "Friends."

"Hey, Grace can you look at my car sometime this week? The brakes are being really weird. Went straight to the floor this morning." Clair asked, walking down to the cafeteria with James, Teegan and Grace. "Oh, yeah. Sure. Maybe you should just park it and take another car. Sounds like you have a broken line or need a master cylinder. Can be really dangerous." She said, concerned. "Oh, yeah. I had my dad run me to school today. Only time I'll drive it is right to your shop." Clair said, giving Grace a thumbs up. Grace laughed, nodding. As they walked into the cafeteria, Teegan walked to their usual table. Clair frowned, "I'll be up, then. I'm gonna talk to Teegan." Grace and James nodded and walked to line up for food. The two of them grabbed trays, James bumping Grace in the side with his elbow. "You and Clair make up all of a sudden? You two seem to be really friendly." He questioned, wiggling his bushy eyebrows. "Yeah. I uh.. regret what I did and said about her. She's a really cool chick." Grace said, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "I tried to tell you but you're so stubborn. So, you're gonna come to the party then, tonight since you guys are doing good?" James questioned, giving Grace a small smile, "Totally. I will be there." She paused, "I'll bring the chips." The teenager added. James laughed, "Of course you will." 

Grace drove down the road, three bags of chips in her passenger seat. Ambulances, cop cars and fire trucks rushed by her, making her frown. Grace hated to see ambulances because that meant someone was hurt and the way her mind worked, she always over thought things and assumed it was someone close to her. She sighed, shaking the idea from her mind and kept driving. She pulled into James' driveway, shutting off her car and grabbing her chips. She walked inside, James jumping up from the couch, "Oh, Grace it's just you." He said, his voice disappointed. "Well, it's great to see you too, James." She said, sarcastically while putting the chips on the counter. "Clair was supposed to be here almost an hour ago and not she's not responding to my text or calls. Her parents haven't seen her since she left for the party and I'm just really worried. They said she took her BMW that needed brakes.. what if she wrecked?" He said, picking at his hands with nervousness. Grace frowned, walking over to him, getting down on her knees and placing her hands on his legs, "She's going to be okay. Maybe her phone died." she said, trying to keep her friend hopeful. It hurt her to see him so worried. She could tell he was on the brink of a breakdown. He'd only cried in front of her once before, when his hamster Jeff died so she knew that this was a big deal. "W-what if she's hurt, Grace? What if she's dead? W-w-what if..." He stopped, tears welling in his eyes. "James, don't think that way.. that's a horrible way to be thinking. You should be positive." She said, rubbing his leg trying to comfort him. "What's being positive going to do other than upset me more when it turns out against me?" He questioned, Grace tried to help, but she couldn't find anything to say. Just as they fell silent, James' phone rang. He stared at it for a moment before looking to Grace, seeming to ask her to answer it for him. As she stood, her knees grew weak, but she stood tall to try and make James feel better. An unknown number was on the screen of the phone and she picked it up, answering. "Yes, hello? ... Yes, he's here ... Of course." She said, a small pause before every answer. "They want to talk to you, bud." She said, walking over to James as he reluctantly took the phone. "This is James ... Yes, she's my girlfriend, is she okay? Did something happen?" He questioned, the longer it took the person on the other end to answer the more anxious James became. "T-thank you for telling me. I will be right in." He said, ending the call. "She was in an accident. Her brakes failed completely and she ran into a tree. She's in a coma. They recommend me coming to say my goodbyes." He said, putting his phone on the couch cushion beside him, putting his head in his hands and pulling on his messy hair. "I-I'm sorry, James. I can drive you if you'd like." She said, her heart aching for him. "No.. I need some time to collect myself before getting to the hospital. I'll see you later, Grace. Thanks for the offer, though." He said, grabbing his phone and walking out the door. He sat in his car for a moment before starting it up and driving off. Grace hoped he would be strong enough to handle this pain because she surely couldn't handle losing him... 

People walked out of the building, all of them dressed in black. Tears were falling, crying was heard all around. James stood with Clair's parents, her mother hugging him tightly. Grace couldn't make out what her mother had said, but it seemed to make James smile. Teegan sighed, "I can't believe that she's gone." Grace nodded, sighing as well. "I can't either." Thunder boomed in the distance, sprinkles of rain falling to the earth. "Well, you know, they say that if it rains at a funeral, the person has gone to heaven." Grace said, looking up to the sky. the rain fell into her eyes and burned but she just couldn't look away. She hoped that the old wive's tale is true. Grace looked up as James walked over to her and Teegan, his eyes blood shot. "Hey, buddy..." She said, pulling him into a hug. "I saw you and Clair's mom talking... What'd she say?" She questioned, making James crack a little bit of a smile. "She said that I'm still welcome in their home any time. They still love me." Grace hugged him tighter, rubbing his back in a comforting way. "Well, we do, too. Teegan and I are still here for you. No matter what you need." She said, Teegan nodding. "Thanks, guys. I'm gonna go inside and sit for a little bit, you can go ahead and leave if you wanna." He said, giving them both a hug and going back inside the funeral home. "I hope he feels better, soon..." Teegan said, pulling her phone out of her pocket. "I gotta go home. Mom is making macaroni and cheese. You're welcome to join us if you'd like!" She said, looking to Grace, "No thanks, T. I'm gonna go home and hang with my family. Both of my moms are home and that's really rare so I'm going to chill with them." She said, giving Teegan a hug and watching her walk off. Grace turned to her car, clicking the unlock button. She was parked towards the back of the parking lot to avoid door dings. As she went to open her door, she noticed something in the field behind the funeral home. It looked like a jackal in a way. It seemed to be looking right at her. She closed her door again, walking to the corner of the parking lot and squatting, giving a small whistle. Maybe it was a stray? The canine walked up to her slowly, sniffing her hand. "Hi, puppy." She said, looking over the dog for any scrapes or bruises. It seemed clean. "Are you lost?" She asked, looking on the dog's neck for a collar but there was only a thick black cloth with a golden Ankh on it. Her stomach dropped as she pulled up her arm and looked at the bracelet on her wrist. "It's the... same symbol." She said, standing up. "Tanuk." The dog said, making Grace gasp. "Did... did you just talk?" She asked, looking at the dog once more. "Tanuk Akila Massari." It said once more. "What... are you?" She questioned, her hands starting to shake. Was she going crazy? "You are Tanuk. Daughter of mortal Farah Grace Abraham and God of Death Anubis." The canine said, "And I am here to tell you that your father, Anubis needs your help or the balance of the spirit world and the earth will be disturbed." She added, her tall ears perked up. "Well, Grace. You have officially lost it."

"So let me get this straight. You are a royal Pharaoh Hound sent by Anubis the God of Death... who is also my biological father... to tell me that I need to save him from being killed by his brother, Osiris who wants to take over the underworld." The Pharaoh Hound nodded, "In a way, you're right. Osiris doesn't necessarily want to kill him, but he surely will if he needs to. Osiris feels cheated out of the throne when their father, Set appointed Anubis the king of the underworld." She said, taking a quick breath, "So, to make your father weaker, he has cut off the soul wall. The soul wall is the wall that depicts if a soul should be sent to the underworld or the overworld. Since it has been cut off, no souls are being put through. These souls are stuck on the earth still. Bad souls can take over a weak mortal's body and use it as their own. This can be very bad as these souls cannot be destroyed by anyone besides the king or his offspring. Meaning, you are our only hope. Anubis is too weak to leave the throne because as soon as he'd step off, Osiris could take it without a fight." She explained, looking to Grace hoping she'd understood this time. "Okay... So I need to fight a God to save my father and the balance of Earth?" Grace questioned, pulling at the bracelet that was tied to her wrist. She always wondered what that bracelet was symbolizing and now she knew. "Pretty much. Osiris has set something on the soul wall so that it cannot be opened by anyone other than him. You need to fight him and make him vulnerable enough to find out how to open the wall back up." She said, sitting down. "And how do you expect me to do that, exactly? He's a God and I'm a... not." She said, shaking her head. "There's no way I'd be able to beat him in a fight." Grace added, looking over to the hound. "Actually, half bloods are stronger than any God or Goddess out there. While you are stronger, you are not immortal and that can cause an issue on your part. When Gods or Goddesses are severely hurt, they fall into a coma like state. While they're not unconscious, they cannot move or use their specialized powers. If you're able to get Osiris into that state, you will be able to open the soul wall and grant your father's source of power back." As the hound described the coma like state that Gods and Goddesses could go into, she became more confident. However, she could still be killed and that worried her. "H-how long do I have before the balance of the Earth is set off and it's to the point of no return?" Grace asked, hoping she had a bit. "You have maybe a month, however the longer you put this off, the stronger that Osiris will become and the weaker your father will get. The sooner that we take care of this problem the sooner you can return to normal." The dog said, "Also, since you've never faught before, especially against a God, I will be sticking around to train you. My calling is Ubaid. You cannot tell a single soul of this as there are many life servants of Osiris around. No one can be trusted." She warned the teen, her tone turning stern. "Do you understand?" She questioned, Grace simply nodding. "Good. Now, have you developed any abilities? While you won't have anything quite like your father or like Osiris, you may still develop special abilities." Ubaid asked, her ears pushed up tall to listen to Grace. "I-I don't think so?" She said, thinking hard, "Oh! I don't know if this classifies as an ability but one day after getting into an argument with Clair my eyes turned this golden color. I thought I was crazy and just imagining things but since you say all of this, I don't know for sure if I was crazy or actually seen that." Ubaid stood, "Yes! That is exactly what I'm talking about. That is a sign of your abilities setting. What happened that caused your eyes to illuminate?" She asked, seeming extremely excited. "We were arguing at my work and I got super mad. When she left, I went to the bathroom to change out of my work clothes and as I glanced up, I noticed my eyes were gold." Grace explained, watching as Ubaid began to pace and think. "We need to get you to do that again. I need to observe the way you handle it and try to make your abilities solidify."

Ubaid tried everything but nothing could trigger Grace's anger. She sat down, defeated. "What were you two fighting about, anyways? Maybe that can help me figure out how to handle this." She suggested, looking over to the teen. "Uhm, it was really dumb actually," She said, scratching the back of her neck nervously as she looked to the ground. "She came into my work, I rotated the tires and changed the oil in her car. When I went to return her keys she seemed to have some attitude with me. James introduced us just a few months ago and when we were introduced, she pretty much ignored me. It was rude, in my opinion. She actually admitted what she did was wrong, but really that doesn't matter anymore because she's gone..." Grace sighed, looking up to Ubaid. "Continue." She said simply, Grace nodding. "She just always had an attitude with me and I when I went to return her keys to her, she looked at me like I was an alien or something. She said she just didn't imagine me working there, but the way she said it was extremely snarky." Grace sat for a moment, Ubaid breaking the silence, "So how did you feel? Betrayed?" She questioned, Grace giving a short laugh, "I felt angry, betrayed by James because I felt like he was trying to replace me which really when I look back at it now made literally no sense at all. It just irritated me so much because I care so much for James and he just seemed to constantly ignore it." She said, her anger growing again. Her fists balled up and she looked up to Ubaid, the hound standing up, "Keep going!" She urged and Grace was happy to comply. She hadn't talked about how she felt about all of that problem and while it was opening her back up to anger, it would help her later on to get it all out. "I just wanted James to actually see how much I care for him for once and he never did. Then she came along and completely ruined it!" She yelled, digging her nails into the palms of her hands. Ubaid urged her on, "So you took care of her didn't you?" Grace looked at her confused, "What do you mean I took care of her? I didn't kill her!" Grace said, her anger growing. "Of course you did, Grace. You wanted James all to yourself so you took care of her that day you changed her tires. You tampered with her brakes, didn't you?" The canine questioned, Grace shaking her head, "I would never do that to James!" She yelled, her eyes shining a bright gold. "You're selfish and wanted him to be with you. You obviously can't be with him when he has a girlfriend so you tampered with her brake lines and made them faulty. You knew she would wreck!" Ubaid continued. "No! I didn't!" Grace retaliated, her right hand shooting out a blast of light at Ubaid. The dog whined as she fell back. The teen gasped and ran towards her, but she was not upset or harmed, thankfully. "You did it. That's exactly what you're going to need to fight Osiris. Now for you to figure out how to use it at will."

"Tanuk, you need to focus!" The hound growled, sitting down. "Again." She added, watching as the teen struggled to get another burst of light from her hand. "I told you to stop calling me that, Ubaid!" She yelled, irritated. They had been trying to get this to happen all week and nothing. It was winding down to the last wire and she was only getting more and more discouraged. "One last time, Grace. Try one last time. Take a deep breath, focus and go." Grace inhaled, closing her eyes. She needed to do this. Not only to save the world, but to finally meet her father. Grace always thought her father was just some dead beat that promised her biological mother the world and when she wound up pregnant, left. She wanted to know the entire story. She wanted to know how they met and why he never came back. This wasn't just about being a savior, this was about getting closure, too. "Okay. I'm ready." She muttered, opening her eyes and giving one last effort. She thrust her arms forward, a burst of light booming forward and hitting the target. They'd went to a farm and took a scarecrow to use as target practice. They had 4 others, they wouldn't miss this one, would they? Didn't matter, now. The scarecrow was now in tons of pieces and surely wouldn't be making it back to that farm. Ubaid jumped up, barking in excitement. "Yes! You did it! Finally!" She yelled with enthusiasm, running up to Grace and licking her face. "It is about time if I do say so myself!" She added, laughing. "Now we gotta make that stronger. You seemed extremely determined to do it this last time. Good, keep that determination in your heart because that's what's going to drive you through this fight." Ubaid sat down, "I noticed you searching things about that bracelet last night." She said, Grace looking up surprised. "You can't hide things from me, Tanuk. I am your servant and if there's one thing about servants is that we are very protective of our lords. Especially when their lords are going to be saving the world in the next few weeks." She said, laughing. "Would you like to know about that bracelet?" She questioned Grace, the teen nodding, "Please." Ubaid smiled, looking to the girl's wrist. "That is something your father had specially crafted for you when you were born. I know you think he was never around for you, but trust me, he was around a lot more than you think. Anubis has seen every birthday, every tear, everything. While he cannot allow you to see him, he's here celebrating with you and mourning with you. That bracelet connects you to him. That way he's able to connect with you on that level. When you're sad, so is he. When you're happy or, determined or, playful he feels those feelings and they affect them as much as they affect you. That bracelet has protected you, also. When you were a baby, that protected you from the bad spirits that can attack children because of their young souls. He's no dead beat dad and trust me if he was able to be in your life, he would be. Perhaps this can change after you've helped him. Now that you're almost an adult, you can finally have a relationship with him." Grace smiled, nodding, "Yeah. Maybe. It would be nice to have him in my life."

"Hey Gracey, you weren't at school today or yesterday, you sick or something? Give me a call, okay?" "Grace? Where have you been? It's been almost two weeks and I haven't seen you or even heard from you. I hope you're okay..." "Hey, Grace it's Teegan. James and I are really worried about you, please give us a call..." "End of messages." The answering machine beeped, making the teen sigh. "Can't I just call them and let them know what's going on?" She asked the Pharoah Hound sitting beside her. The only people she'd seen in the last two weeks were her parents. Ubaid said it was for the best since no one could really be trusted. "No, Grace. You need to stay strong. You will be able to talk to them as soon as you've done your deed." Grace sat on the couch, watching tv. She hated worrying her friends and needed to tell them everything was okay. She stood, walking to her room. What Ubaid didn't know wouldn't hurt her but what Teegan and James didn't know surely were hurting them and she couldn't handle hurting them. She hadn't seen either of them since Clair's funeral and she knew she was just making it worse on James. She clicked both of their names in her phone and called them in a conference call. "Grace! Are you okay? What happened? Where did you disappear to?" James asked, extremely happy to hear from his friend. "Guys, I can't talk for long I just wanted to let you know I'm fine. There's just... Family issues going on I need to fix, okay? I will be back to my normal self sometime next week. I promise." She explained, the three of them talking for a short moment before she had to hang up, "I'll talk to you guys next week. And if I don't... I-I love you guys. So much." and quickly hung up the phone. She wished she had the guts to tell James how she felt, but right now was not the right time. She hoped she did the right thing in telling her friends, but she knew she could trust them. They had been in her life for so long and she cared for them and she hoped that they cared for her enough to trust her. She walked back out into the living room and sat back down on the couch, the hound beside her not moving an inch. Perfect. Again, what Ubaid didn't know wasn't going to hurt her and even if it did, Grace felt way better now that her friends knew she was okay. 

"It's time, Grace. It's finally time to meet your dad. I don't know how much time you're going to have and if he'll be in the best... mood but I'm sure he'll be super excited to see you." Ubaid said, wagging her tail. "I-I'm ready." Grace said, nervously. "Now, I'm going to warn you that he's not sure of your... Earthly nickname so to him, you are Tanuk and he is quite stubborn. However, if that name bothers you, I'm sure he'll try his best to call you whatever you would like to be called." She said, smiling at Grace. "So, are you sure that you're ready? You can feel free to take all the time in the world that you need, Grace. I don't want to rush you. I am devoted to your safety and while he was my original lord, you are my new lord and I will do anything to protect you and you only even if it means going against Anubis." The canine said, her dark brown eyes looking into Grace's. "I'm nervous. What if he doesn't believe in me after he sees me?" Ubaid giggled, "Oh, Grace. Regardless if he doesn't believe in you, it doesn't matter. You are all he's got. Plus, you're a strong girl and I've told him that. Now it's just time for you to prove it. You are the daughter of Anubis. Hold your head high." The hound said, nudging the girl's hand. "Alright, Ubaid. I'm ready." The dog nodded, walking up to the large doors. They opened, and she turned back, looking to Grace who stood still. "You can't back out, now." Ubaid laughed, continuing to walk. She knew that Grace would follow. As Grace walked in, she quickly noticed the daunting red hue in the room. It was hot and she felt like she was going to pass out, but didn't know if it was from fear or the heat. Her hands were shaking and she felt sick. She didn't know what scared her more, meeting her biological father or the battle that may be going down in the next few days. She slowly walked after Ubaid, the man on the throne slowly standing, "Ubaid, is that... Her?" He said, looking Grace up and down. "Yes, Anubis. This is Tanuk." She said, stepping to the side. "Tanuk... It's really you." He said, walking over to her. Grace could tell that he was really hurting but he was so excited to see his daughter that he was looking past it. "Hi..." Grace said simply, standing still. "I'm sorry, Tanuk. I'm sure this is quite odd for you but I hope you know that I didn't abandon you. I did all I could to be with you on special occasions or even times I just missed you. I have always been with you." Anubis explained, opening his arms for a hug. She walked forward, falling into his embrace. He tightly hugged her. She felt so right and so safe in his arms. She never knew what having a father was like, but she knew the love she felt when Devin and Addyson hugged her, and she surely felt it with Anubis. He did truly care for her, she could tell. The two of them talked for several hours before he asked to see how her powers were evolving. It was time to rock.

Grace stood, face to face with a target. her hand was clenching her bracelet with nervousness. What if she disappointed her father? What if she couldn't protect him? All kinds of things ran around in her mind but she shook them away. She was good enough heck, she was better than good enough! She took a deep breath, thrusting forward a ball of light, smashing the target just as she did with the scarecrow back home. Anubis began clapping, a smile on his face, "She is ready."

"I will stand by you and fight till my demise, Grace." Ubaid said, giving a bow to her lord. "I believe in you, I really do. I know you can do this. You have your father rooting for you as well." She added, as Grace sat with her golden sword sitting in her lap. "I'm just... nervous, Ubaid. I'm scared that I won't be able to fight him. I'm scared to lose you and to lose Anubis. I don't want to let you guys down, either." She said, picking at the skin on her hands, something she did a lot when she was nervous. "You will never let us down, Grace. You have done everything you could to ready yourself for this day. While no one will know about this and the things you will have done for the world, you will be the savior and no one can take that away from you." Ubaid added, walking over to Grace and nudging her hand with her black muzzle. "You can do this. Now grab that sword, take a deep breath and beat some Osiris butt!" She barked, pumping herself up. "You're right, Ubaid. I got this. I will save my father AND the world. Just you wait and see!" Grace said, grabbing the sword and throwing it over her shoulder. She COULD do this and she surely would, too. As she walked out, her stomach jumped into her throat. Osiris was just outside that gate and as soon as he busted through, everything would be in Grace's hands.

Several hours passed before Osiris burst in the door, "Oh Anubissss! It's your big brother! You know, the one you stole the throne from?" He asked sarcastically, giving a demented laugh. "Not so fast, Osiris. If you thought taking the throne was going to be that easy you were terribly wrong." Grace said, her voice stern and serious. The golden sword rest on her shoulder, the red hue of the underworld making it seem more devilish than earlier. The sword was lined with Ankhs and her bracelet was tied to the metal handle. She would never be any more ready than she was right now. "And who are you, exactly?" Osiris questioned, looking down to the short black haired girl. "I am Tanuk, daughter of mortal Farah Grace Abraham and God of Death Anubis." She said, pulling the sword off her shoulder and moving into a fighting stance, "And I am here to beat some selfish butt." She said, running forward. She had worked with this sword for many weeks now and was very comfortable with it so she wasn't nervous about that. However, the thing that did make her nervous was that she would eventually have to use her special ability and was worried that she would not be able to make it work exactly when she needed it. However, she did her best to stay confident because if there was any doubt in her mind, she would second guess herself and mess this whole thing up.

She rushed him, deciding to take the first hit. Their swords hit, the sound of metals clanging together. She tried everything that Ubaid had taught her but nothing seemed to be giving her the advantage. She got the occasional hit, but as did he. She had a large cut on her side that burned like someone had thrown rubbing alcohol in it, but she needed to keep going. There was definitely no backing out now, not that she wanted to, he would not be letting her father and Ubaid down. As they continued to fight, their swords became entwined and she was thrown back onto the floor, falling down with a loud "oof." Her back now ached and her side continued to sting but she kept going. She would rather die than give up. "Come on, girly. I don't want to kill you. I'll feel bad." He said in between the clangs of the swords. "So you feel bad for killing me, but not your own brother? Seems to make a lot of sense." She retaliated. "See, you have nothing to do with this fight. My brother on the other hand is the only thing in the middle of being the king of the underworld." He argued. "Shame is, I do have something to do with this fight because you are going to hurt my father a few hours after I have just met him and I'm not going to let you get away with that so easily." Just as she said that, she threw her sword down. He stood, confused. "What are you doing?" He questioned, "Giving up?" He asked. "Not even close," she teased, she opened both her hands, Ankhs burnt into her palms. "I'm saving my father's life." Just as she said that, two balls of light rushed from her hands, hitting Osiris straight on, knocking him to the ground. He coughed, "Y-you got me, Tanuk..." He said, laying still on the ground. She walked up to him, standing over him, her palms still open. "Take my pendant, place it on the soul wall. That will open the wall and your father will regain his powers." Grace felt weird, super tired and woozy. She took a deep breath, grabbing the pendant from his neck. She walked over to the wall, a perfectly sized hole in the wall for Osiris' pendant. She placed it, the rock falling from the wall to reveal a purple fire. She slowly turned, her father holding Ubaid in his hands. She wasn't moving. "Ubaid... No." She muttered, her vision going fuzzy and black as she fell to the ground.

The sound of beeps echoed in Grace's head. It sounded a lot like the beeps of a heart monitor. Why would she be hearing a heart monitor? She needed to go help Ubaid! As she tried to move, pain struck her body. She groaned, her eyes slowly blinking open. The world was bright and blurry. Where was she? She surely wasn't in the underworld anymore. As her vision returned, she noticed she was in a hospital room. No, she needed to help Ubaid and see if her father's power was restored. Her heart rate began to rise, the monitor beeping quicker and quicker. Her mothers sat asleep in the small hospital chairs, but woke up at the sound. "Grace, Grace, you need to calm down, baby." Devin said, taking her hand. "Where's father? And Ubaid? What happened to her? Is she okay?" Grace asked, her mothers looking at each other. "Who's Ubaid? And you know that your father left your mother before you were born. We told you this, love but it's okay, maybe you were dreaming while you were asleep. We found you in your room passed out. They said you were severely dehydrated." Addyson said, rubbing Grace's arm. "Maybe you should get some more rest." She said, looking at her daughter. "C-can I get a Pharaoh Hound puppy?" Grace asked, making Devin and Addyson laugh, "Sure, love."