Game of Stars

by Sayantani DasGupta

  “Heya, young scientists!” Sadie boomed as the music finished. The TV audience yelled back, “Heya, Sadie!”

  “The universe is rich with mysteries.” Sadie hit a button and the entire room around her became the solar system, so it looked like she was casually walking, in her white pantsuit, through space.

  “Just this past year, for the first time in all of history, our instruments began to detect cosmic ripples across the fabric of space-time, the aftershock of two black holes colliding into each other many light-years away.”

  There was an exaggerated yawn followed by some giggles from somewhere in the room. Dr. Dixon cleared his throat, and the noise quieted down. “You guys are going to like this next part,” our teacher said.

  The image behind Sadie changed, to two bright white stars circulating around each other.

  “Now, just this year, we have detected a remarkable event that happened a hundred and thirty million light-years away. We have seen the beautiful explosion of light—the fireworks—created when two long-ago and faraway neutron stars collided.”

  “What’s a neutron star?” someone in the classroom shouted out.

  “Good question.” Dr. Dixon paused the video on Sadie’s animated face. “Neutron stars are formed when the collapsed core of a very large star explodes out and becomes a supernova, then dies.”

  Not that I would admit it out loud, but I, of course, knew all about the life cycle of a star—how some suns become red giants, then white dwarves, before becoming black holes. That was because Lal and Mati had actually been transformed into a red giant and a white dwarf last fall during a whole messy disaster where Neel’s mom had eaten them, and then vomited them out as golden and silver spheres. Part of the risk, I guess, of having your stepmother be a rakkhoshi-queen-slash-powerful-black-hole.

  Dr. Dixon clicked his remote to let the video run again. On the screen, Shady Sadie also clicked on her remote. The two white stars behind Sadie ran into each other, letting off jets of silver and gold sparks. “When these two neutron stars collided,” the TV scientist explained, peering at the camera over her dark frames, “they filled the universe with streams of heavy metals, plumes of gold and platinum.” To illustrate her point, the sparks danced and glowed on the screen like they were alive.

  And just then, my own brain sparked and danced to life too, just like those precious metals. This was what I’d been reminded of when Ms. Twinkle Chakraborty was talking about those magic Thought and Touch Stones—the Chintamoni and Poroshmoni—and how together, they could make it rain gold and platinum from the sky. I felt my breathing speed up. If black holes in this dimension were rakkhosh in the Kingdom Beyond, why couldn’t the precious stones the Raja and Sesha both wanted be twin neutron stars?

  “So how much gold and platinum did those stars make?” Jordan Ogino asked. Clearly, the talk of precious metals had gotten my classmates interested. They were materialistic, if nothing else.

  Dr. Dixon paused the video again. “Oh, just a few nanillion dollars’ worth!” He smiled when we all looked baffled. “Well, let me put it this way, it made about twenty Earths worth of gold, and about fifty Earths of solid platinum.”

  “That’s some serious cosmic bling!” shouted out Jordan as everyone laughed.

  Dr. Dixon switched off the video and brought up the room lights. “Okay, so who can tell me what alchemy is?” I could tell the teacher was looking straight at me, expecting me to jump in with an answer. But I kept my eyes on my desk. I’d already made a fool of myself enough for one class period. Besides, my brain was occupied thinking about my evil bio father in possession of a neutron star.

  “Isn’t that, like, when wizards tried to change metals into gold and live forever and stuff?” said Sophie Hiller, popping some gum at the end of her sentence.

  “Yes, you’re right, young scientist!” Dr. Dixon pointed enthusiastically at Sophie, like she’d just said something brilliant. “Except, maybe, the wizard part. Alchemists were people who spent their whole lives looking for a jewel, sometimes a stone or an elixir, that could transform other metals into gold. They thought this precious stone, if they found it, might also prolong life and cheat death.” Dr. Dixon went on, “Now, in light of the fact that these neutron stars actually created gold and platinum and other precious metals, think on this: What if that jewel those long-ago alchemists were looking for was nothing short of the stars themselves?”

  My eyes shot up from my desk, catching Dr. Dixon’s bemused glance. Then my science teacher held up an image from a textbook, the sight of which almost made me yelp with surprise. There it was, that TSK Industries symbol again, the one that I’d seen in Sesha’s broadcast!

  “This is an Ouroboros—a snake eating its own tail—from one of the earliest alchemical texts ever known. It symbolizes the eternal unity of all things, the cycle of life and death which the alchemist seeks to break and live forever. The all, as they say, is one.”

  Isn’t that interesting?

  I thought for a second maybe my science teacher was reading my mind, or at least in it. But then I realized those last words weren’t Dr. Dixon at all.

  Hey, Luna Bar! a very familiar voice screeched in my head. Get out here!

  I stubbornly kept my eyes on Dr. Dixon, who had already started his lesson for the day. But nothing he was saying was registering, because the Rakkhoshi Queen was in my skull again.

  So many fresh kiddies in so many rooms! Eeenie, meenie, dummy, dude, in my mouth, you human, you!

  She was here, at Alexander Hamilton Middle School! I gasped out loud, hissing, “Don’t you dare hurt anyone!”

  Zuzu poked me in the back. “Kiran! What’s the matter? You okay?”

  Loonie Princess, hurry scurry! Or I’ll make these kids into a nice curry!

  I jumped up from my seat. “No you won’t!” I shouted. “Not if I have anything to say about it!”

  Dr. Dixon paused, his whiteboard marker poised in midair. “Ms. Ray, are you feeling ill?”

  “Yes!” I couldn’t stop my voice from shaking. I grabbed my backpack and still-wet coat. “I am! Sick!”

  “Do you need to go to the nurse?” Dr. Dixon handed me a hall pass, a worried expression on his face. “Are you going to be all right on your own?”

  “Yes, thanks! I’ve … I’ve got to go …” The entire classroom, or so it felt, exploded into giggles. My face was on fire and I couldn’t stop the tears from rolling. I heard Zuzu asking me something but I didn’t wait to listen.

  “I’m fine!” I muttered at her, putting out a hand when she made a motion like she was going to come with me. Then I jetted from the room, away from the laughing voices and toward the demoness waiting outside.

  I knew I couldn’t go out empty-handed. I needed my bow and quiver, so I dashed as quickly as I could to my locker. I’d left my weapon at school thanks to our gym teacher, Mr. Taylor, still offering archery in spite of the unfortunate incident last year where I’d by mistake hit him in his thigh with an arrow. (His limp was totally not noticeable anymore, no matter what Zuzu said.) I whipped through my combination, grabbed my bow and quiver, and ran into the icy rain.

  “Where are you, you belching monstrosity of a queen?” I was glad no one was there to witness me with an arrow nocked in my bow, yelling at the air.

  Chill out, don’t lose your head. I’m over by the gardening shed. The Queen cackled in my mind. I knew it was her because she burped at the end of her sentence.

  “Get away from my school, and don’t you dare hurt anyone!” I hissed as I ran, slipping and sliding on the icy ground, toward the side of the building with the rickety garden shed. As I passed the cafeteria dumpsters, the smell of rancid sloppy joes and meat loaf almost made me gag. Just beyond, halfway to the soccer fields, was the little gardening shed the groundskeepers used to store stuff. On the far side of the shed was a small overhang. I pressed myself against the somewhat dry wall, away from the rain, and, more importantly, away from the school windows. I really didn’t feel like ge
tting caught outside the building without permission. Especially since it might be hard to explain why I had a bow and arrow in my hand. I wondered how long it would take Dr. Dixon to send someone to check up on me and figure out I wasn’t in the nurse’s office.

  “What do you want? Where are you?” I hissed, my eyes wide for any sign of Neel’s mom.

  The Demon Queen’s voice was closer now, and clearer. Time to go, you pathetic excuse for a hero!

  “Go?” I looked around the deserted, icy soccer fields. “Go where? I’m not going anywhere with you!”

  There came an unmistakable smell of some more acidic burps. And the buzzing sound of bees. It was the Rakkhoshi Rani manifesting herself next to me. She still had the same see-through quality as when she visited my room, like she wasn’t really there, even though she was. And she still had her insect buddies along with her.

  I was so nervous at seeing her in the middle of the day, and on my middle school grounds, that I let a few arrows fly. Of course, they were useless and just went sailing straight through her to lodge in the icy ground behind her. I blinked hard, second-guessing myself. Maybe I had gotten a concussion. Was hallucinating demonesses a symptom of getting bashed in the head by hail?

  “Cut the warrior princess act, Moon Shadow.” The Queen flipped her long hair over her shoulder as she turned on me. “I don’t have time for empty heroics.”

  “How are you …” My words trailed off as I pointed to her transparent form.

  “Here but not here?” The demoness cackled, picking her tooth with a long nail. “Essence-Tyme, of course. You 2-Ds don’t have it, I suppose? Figures. You really are a limited civilization.”

  Neel had called me a 2-D once, a word that described how people from this dimension didn’t like to think of the universe as a complicated place and wanted a simple and easy explanation for everything. I wanted to tell his mom not to use the insult, to argue with her about all the video-conferencing technology we had in this dimension, but this wasn’t the time. “Why are you here?”

  “To get you to hurry up and join that dratted contest, obviously.” The Queen sniffed, loud and wet. “You know, I really don’t get what my son sees in you.”

  My stomach flipped a little at her mention of Neel, but I tried to keep the topic on course. “Join the contest? Are you serious?” I lowered my weapon but still kept an arrow ready and the bow partially pulled back. “Are you seriously here trying to get me to sign up for Who Wants to Be a Demon Slayer? What, are you working with Sesha now? I thought you hated serpents!”

  “Ack! Ptu! Chi chi!” Acidic smoke, as well as some bees, shot out of the Demon Queen’s nose. “Work with Sesha? I have half a mind to rip your tongue out of your head and use it as dental floss! What a disgusting suggestion!”

  “Then what? Why are you telling me to sign up for it?”

  “Well, they’ve already approved your bloodwork, so there’s that,” she snapped, crossing her arms over her transparent chest. At her words, my eyes widened, and I remembered all that had happened that morning.

  “You sent those giant birds to steal my blood?” I wanted to scream but kept my voice at a level of controlled fury. I may have been arguing with a demoness, but that didn’t mean that I wanted to risk getting a detention for being outside of school without a pass.

  “Oh, steal, schmeal! They asked and you offered!” The Rakkhoshi Rani snapped her sharp teeth, the bees swirling in and out around her hair. “There was no stealing involved!”

  I put away my arrow, shouldered my bow, and then whirled on her with the weapon of my fury. “They hypnotized me! And what do you mean ‘approved my bloodwork’? Are you telling me you sent my blood sample in to Who Wants to Be a Demon Slayer?”

  “You should thank me, you ingrate! If I hadn’t done that, they would take forever to process your application,” said the demoness like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Their registration offices are a mess. Now you’ll be through the paperwork lickety-split!”

  “I’m not going to the Who Wants to Be a Demon Slayer? game show registration office—or anywhere—with you!” I was so frustrated, I could have screamed. “And I’m not competing in it! I mean, the whole show is obviously just a giant ploy by Sesha to trap me!”

  Okay, yes, this had been Zuzu’s exact point from this morning, and yes, I had been all eager to join the contest back then, but that was before the Demon Queen wanted me to do it. If she wanted me to join, it couldn’t be a good idea. The rakkhoshi was the villain in this scenario, and no heroic deed was going to result from following her advice.

  “Oh, save me from mopey moon chits who live in horrible climates!” The Rakkhoshi Rani shook her fist to the gray sky. Then, with a screech that practically burst my eardrums, she shouted, “Bangoma! Bangomee!” Her voice was so loud I was sure we were going to be caught, and Principal Chen would make it rain detention slips all over me.

  “Can you keep it down? I don’t know what’s going to happen if one of the teachers sees you …”

  “Shh—ach—uh bup bup! Zip it!” the Queen yelled, making a “shut your face” sort of hand motion in front of my nose. Argh, she was so rude! Even in this half-transparent form.

  “Oh, where are those dratted birds? They’re always running on avian time. Clearly, they have never heard the expression about the early bird and the worm.” She looked up at the skies and shouted, even louder this time, “Bangoma! Bangomee!”

  “Shh!” I wanted to clasp my hands over her mouth but (a) her mouth was kind of see-through and (b) see-through or not, she was still a demoness, and I really didn’t want to get my hands that close to her fangs. “What is wrong with you?”

  The Rani whipped around to give me a red-eyed death stare, but she was interrupted from saying anything by the giant, human-faced birds Bangoma and Bangomee flapping down on the frosty field in front of us. Neel’s mother tapped her not-really-there foot and pointed to what looked like a sundial strapped to her wrist. “You birdbrains never have any sense of time, do you? What kind of application ambassador operation are you running, anyway? Your union is going to hear about this, believe you me! Be this late again, and I’m going to give you a one-star review on Cracken’s List, and then where will you be?”

  Your words are mean, but we will serve you, Queen.

  “Show this moon chickie why she needs to join Who Wants to Be a Demon Slayer?” The bees around the queen swooped and buzzed.

  “I’m not going anywhere with you!” I protested, backing up a little.

  “Well then, you’re in luck. I’ve got a workout session scheduled with my new trainer. Got to get in my crunches,” the Queen snapped. “Anyway, I can’t go. My essence has a block on it from going where they’ll be taking you. It’s also the reason I haven’t been able to tell you the whole story.”

  “You have a block on your, er, essence?” I wasn’t even sure what the words meant.

  “Oh, come on!” The Rakkhoshi belched loud and long, sending a bunch of bees streaming out of her nostrils. “You mean to tell me in this dimension, no one monitors your harmonigram conversations and demony-mail? Don’t be naive, do you actually believe no one is watching?”

  I wasn’t sure what to say to that, so I just doubled down on my original point. “I don’t care what you have to say. I’m not going to be a contestant on Who Wants to Be a Demon Slayer?”

  “Oh, you’ll change your mind soon enough.” The Rakkhoshi pointed a long talon at the birds. “Show her! Now!”

  Bangoma and Bangomee shook their rain-darkened feathers and stretched out their wings. I flinched, more than a little cautious since our last dizzying encounter. They opened their eyes wide, and again, I felt like I was falling into their swirling rainbow irises. Those swirly, whirly birdie eyes somehow pulled me out of myself so much that I actually felt separate from my body and my spirit.

  Now, Princess, see what you must save.

  “No!” I resisted the pull, squeezing my eyes shut at the last minute. “I
won’t! I don’t want to!”

  “Oh, yes, by my chin hairs and cracked feet and slowly developing six-pack, you will!” screeched the Queen, shoving my spirit into the birds’ irises.

  Falling into the giant birds’ eyes was the wackiest, weirdest, coolest thing. I felt like I was flying through a movie on super-duper fast-forward. I saw so much—the green fields and rich forests of my parents’ homeland, the cawing monkeys and dappled deer. And it wasn’t just my sense of sight either. I could smell dizzyingly scented flowers, piled high in the marketplace, hear the mystical possibilities of an early morning raga played on a stringed sitar. I zipped by vivid colors, and people with faces like mine, and the chaotic wonderfulness of a place where history walked hand in hand with modern life. And best of all, I was quickly dry and warm.

  Then I felt like I was crashing underwater. Propelled down, down, down in some sort of a bubble to the bottom of the ocean. I wasn’t swimming, I wasn’t even really there, but I could see it all—the schools of neon fish, the bright coral and the green seaweed dancing about like a mermaid’s flowing hair. Then my progress finally slowed down, and I saw him. I couldn’t believe it. How could it be? But there he was.

  We were standing in a room that didn’t look like anywhere in the royal palace. It was small, and weirdly familiar, with steel walls and stone floors. And I was right there, in front of him, a boy I had thought was my friend. A boy who had blown me off in the harshest way after promising to be in touch. A boy who made me want to both jump for joy and punch him in the nose.

  Neel.

  Well, isn’t this a surprise! Where ya been, dude?” Needless to say, when I get mad, I have no sense of chill.

  “Kiran!” Neel’s dark eyes were wide with shock.

  I’d been thinking about this moment for weeks now. What I’d say when I saw Neel again. How I’d be so calm and cool and collected. How I’d pretend it was no big deal that he hadn’t been in touch. How I’d pretend like I hadn’t missed him at all, and act like I barely remembered him. But all those plans flew right out of my head at the sight of Neel looking so darned surprised.