Aru Shah and the End of Time

by Roshani Chokshi

  Boo, Mini, and Aru were sitting in the kitchen. Behind them, Aru’s mom was making hot cocoa and talking on the phone to Mini’s parents. Every time she walked past Aru, she dropped a kiss on her head.

  “Do you think they’re awake yet?” asked Aru.

  Poppy, Burton, and Arielle still hadn’t woken up yet. According to Boo, their proximity to the lamp when it was lit meant that they were going to be stuck in place for just a little bit longer than everyone else.

  “I’d give it another twenty minutes,” said Boo. “Don’t worry, they’ll be fine and won’t remember a thing. Now, as to the question of training, it is natural that the Council of Guardians will want to train you. You’re the Pandavas, after all. And this fight is not done. The Sleeper will be adding to his army, and now we must do the same.”

  Mini scowled. “Training classes…on top of school? Will that affect my normal extracurricular activities?”

  “That’s like saying, Clean your room so you can do extra homework,” added Aru.

  “Ungrateful children!” harrumphed Boo. “It’s an honor of the century! Several centuries, in fact!”

  “But you’ll be right there with us, won’t you, Boo?”

  At this, Boo bowed, his wings dragging on the floor. “It would be a privilege to train you, Pandavas,” he said. He raised his head but did not look at them. “You will still accept my tutelage knowing who I once was?”

  Aru and Mini exchanged glances. They didn’t need to use their Pandava bond to know what the other was thinking. Aru thought about the version of the Sleeper she’d seen in her mom’s secrets. The kind-eyed man who thought he’d never become evil. Then she recalled who Boo had been in the stories. Once, Shakhuni had been evil and bent on revenge. He’d gotten himself cursed. But maybe curses weren’t all that terrible, because he’d saved their lives not only once, but twice. Maybe he wasn’t all bad or even all good. He was just…human. In pigeon form.

  “People change,” said Aru.

  It could have been her imagination, but Boo’s eyes looked particularly shiny, as if he were about to cry. He needled through his feathers with his beak. Nestled in all that boring gray was a single golden feather, which he extended to them.

  “My troth,” he said solemnly.

  “Troth?” repeated Mini. “Gross! Isn’t that what people do when they get married?”

  “Ew!” said Boo.

  “I’m a catch,” gasped Aru when she was done laughing.

  “It’s a troth! Not a betrothal!” said Boo, looking thoroughly disgusted. “It’s a promise—of trueness. Of loyalty. I hereby pledge my troth to serve the cause of the Pandavas.”

  Mini and Aru looked at each other. What now? Mini grabbed the Death Danda and tried to knight Boo, saying “Rise, Sir—” but Boo hissed and fluttered off to a different part of the museum.

  Aru’s face hurt from grinning. She gazed out of the window panel on the left side of the door. Even though it wasn’t quite nighttime yet, the stars had begun to shoulder their way into the sky. Usually, she wasn’t able to see them so clearly, because of all the city smog and light pollution. But tonight the stars seemed close and bright. Twinkling, almost. A flash of lightning spidered across the sky, followed by a powerful bang of thunder. Mini jumped, but to Aru it was like the sound of applause. And she knew Indra was watching out for her.

  “Everything’s going to be different now, isn’t it?” asked Mini, staring out of the window panel on the right side. “And it isn’t over. The Sleeper’s going to come back one day.”

  “We’ll be ready,” said Aru fiercely.

  I’ll be ready, she thought.

  An hour later, Mini hoisted her backpack onto her shoulders. In her hands, the Death Danda had shrunk to the size of a purple compact. She stuffed it into her pocket.

  “Do you want me to come with you?” asked Aru’s mom.

  The stone elephant had once more knelt to the ground, lifted its trunk, and opened its mouth, offering Mini a way back home. The barest trace of magic stirred the air.

  “No, that’s okay,” said Mini. “Thanks, Auntie.”

  Some people might find it strange that Mini was already calling her Auntie when they’d only just met (although Mini did know a lot about Aru’s mom by now). But that’s how the girls had been raised. Anyone who was a friend of your parents was automatically called “auntie” or “uncle.”

  “Your mother and I will talk again soon,” said Aru’s mom. “It’s…it’s been some time.”

  “I know,” said Mini. And then she turned bright red. “I mean, I don’t know because I’ve, like, seen your deepest, darkest secrets or anything.”

  Boo, who had only recently been filled in on everything, squawked loudly. It very clearly meant Shut up while you’re still ahead.

  Mini threw her arms around Aru for one last hug. “See you soon,” she said.

  And with that, she climbed through the elephant door. Boo watched her go, shouting, “Don’t forget to hydrate at home! Pandavas are always hydrated!”

  Boo flew to the tip of the elephant’s trunk to address Aru’s mom. It’s not exactly intimidating when a pigeon speaks to you from the ground. Then again, a pigeon talking at all doesn’t conjure a portrait of solemn respectability.

  “Krithika,” he said gently. “Perhaps we should have a few words.”

  Aru’s mother sighed. She pulled her arm away from Aru’s shoulder, and Aru felt a rush of cold. Then she tilted Aru’s face and smoothed the hair away from her forehead. She looked at Aru hungrily. As if she had never looked at her long enough.

  “I know you have a lot of questions,” she said to Aru. “I will answer them. All of them. But Boo is right, there are some things he and I need to discuss.”

  “Can Boo live with us?”

  “I’m not some stray you found on the side of the road!” huffed the pigeon.

  “I’ll get you a nice cage?”

  “I am not a pet!”

  “I’ll hug you and squeeze you, and name you George—”

  “I am an all-powerful sorcerer—”

  “And I’ll get you the softest pillow.”

  Boo cocked his head. “Pillow, you say? Well, I could use a nap—”

  Before her mother could object, Aru said, “Yay! Thanks, Mom!”

  Then she ran into the Hall of the Gods. If her mom and the rest of the world had recovered, then surely by now…

  Aru flipped on the light switch. There, huddled in a corner with the broken remnants of the lamp’s glass case, stood Burton, Poppy, and Arielle. They were staring around the Hall of the Gods, utterly confused. They glanced at the smashed glass, then up at the window.

  Arielle frowned. “I thought…I thought we got here in the afternoon?”

  But all confusion disappeared when Poppy caught sight of Aru. “Knew it,” she said gleefully. “What a liar! You couldn’t even admit the truth, so you had to break the lamp? That’s pathetic.”

  “I didn’t lie,” said Aru casually. “That lamp was totally cursed. I just got back from fighting an ancient demon in the lobby.”

  Burton held up his phone. The red light started blinking. It was recording. “Wanna say that again?” he asked smugly.

  “Sure,” said Aru, walking forward. “I lied. Sometimes I do that. I’ve got a big imagination. I try not to lie about important things, though. Here’s the truth: I just saved your lives. I even walked through the Kingdom of Death to do it.”

  “Get help, Aru,” said Arielle.

  “Can’t wait to show this to the whole school,” said Burton.

  “I can prove it,” said Aru.

  She felt in her pocket for the pen from Chitrigupta. She used it to write a message in the air. Help me out of this, Uncle.

  Immediately, something sharp poked her in the pocket. She fished it out—a piece of paper that hadn’t been there before. She scanned it quickly, fighting back a smile.

  “Still recording?” asked Aru.

  “Yup,” said Burton.r />
  The three of them snickered.

  “Good,” said Aru. She started reading: “‘On September twenty-eighth, Poppy Lopez went to Mrs. Garcia’s office and told her that she thought she saw someone taking a baseball bat to her car. When Mrs. Garcia ran out of the room, Poppy pulled the pop quiz out of the file cabinet and snapped a picture with her phone. She got an A-plus on the quiz.’”

  Poppy turned pale.

  “‘On Tuesday, October second, Burton Prater ate his boogers, then handed Arielle a chocolate chip cookie that he had dropped on the ground. He did not wash his hands. Or the cookie.’” Aru looked up with a frown. “Seriously? Dude, that’s gross. Pretty sure that’s how you catch the plague.”

  Arielle looked like she was going to vomit. “Is that for real?”

  “‘And yesterday, Arielle wore her mom’s first engagement ring and lost it at recess. She told her mom that she saw the housekeeper holding it.’”

  Arielle turned red.

  Aru folded up the paper. Then she tapped the blinking red light of Burton’s phone. “Got all that?”

  “How—how—how…how did you—” stuttered Poppy.

  “I’ve got friends all over the place,” said Aru.

  This was one of those times when she wished she were sitting in a big black leather armchair with a weird-looking cat and an unlit cigar. She wanted to swivel around and say, Feelin’ lucky? Instead, she settled for a shrug. “Still want to show it to the school?”

  Burton held up his phone, scrolled to the video, and deleted it.

  As a show of good faith, Aru handed them the piece of paper. “Now we’re even.”

  The three of them stared at her. Aru grinned.

  “Let’s get outta here,” said Poppy.

  “Have a nice weekend—” started Burton, but Poppy smacked him.

  “You’re such a suck-up.”

  When they left, there was a new note in her pocket:

  Consider that the first and last time! Naughty child.

  PS: The palace sends its love and says hello.

  Aru smiled. “Hello, palace.”

  Maybe it was just her imagination, but she thought she felt the faintest bit of warmth coming from the tile of home in her pocket.

  Word Vomit

  When the end bell of sixth period rang, Aru could barely stop herself from jumping onto her desk. She wasn’t the only one who was excited. It was the day when school got out for winter break.

  Even though Atlanta was just cold instead of snowy, the whole world felt like almost-Christmas. Which was the best. Fairy lights and paper snowflakes covered the ceilings. The Christmas songs that had been playing since November hadn’t started to drive her crazy yet, either. And in that day’s chemistry class, their teacher had taught them how to make fake snow with baking soda and water, so most of the tables were covered with tiny snowmen.

  Aru started to pack up her things. Her lab partner, Arielle, smiled at Aru, but it was a slightly wary are-you-a-witch? grin.

  “So…where are you going for Christmas?” Arielle asked.

  As usual, Aru lied. But this time, it had a far different purpose. “Nowhere,” she said. “You?”

  “Maldives,” said Arielle. “We’ve got a timeshare on a private island.”

  “I hope you have fun.”

  Arielle looked a bit surprised at that. But then she smiled more genuinely. “Thanks. Um, by the way, my parents are throwing a New Year’s party at the Fox Theatre downtown. I don’t know if you got the invite already, but you and your mom are invited if you want.”

  “Thanks!” said Aru. This time she didn’t lie. “But we’ve got family plans.”

  She’d never said the words family plans before, and she didn’t think she’d ever get tired of saying it.

  “Oh. Well, have fun.”

  “I’ll try!” called Aru. “Have a good break!”

  And with that, she slung her backpack over her shoulder and stepped into the cold. While most of her classmates were on their way to their private jets or chauffeurs, Aru was on her way to her training session in the Otherworld.

  Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, for three hours, Aru and Mini learned war strategy from Hanuman, dancing and etiquette from Urvashi, and folklore from Boo. They were supposed to get more teachers starting next week, and even join the other Otherworldly kids who were training (although none of them were the offspring of gods).

  “Other kids? Like us?” Mini had asked.

  “Yup,” said Aru. “Maybe that snake boy from Costco will be there.”

  “I don’t think he’d remember me….”

  “You walked into a telephone pole, Mini. I’d say that’s pretty memorable.”

  Mini thwacked her on the head with Dee Dee.

  But before they could join the other students, their parents had wanted to make sure they had mastered the basics and caught up. It was essentially, said Boo, “remedial classes for divine dunces.” Rude.

  Aru wasn’t thrilled about having to take Dance, but as Urvashi had explained, “When Arjuna was cursed to lose his manhood for one year, he became a wonderful dance instructor, and it made him that much more graceful in combat. I should know—I’m the one who cursed him, after all.”

  “When are we going to get to the stabby stuff?” Aru had asked last Wednesday.

  Vajra, who had decided to become a glowing pen instead of a lightning bolt for that day, burned brighter at her question.

  Boo’s gaze had narrowed. “One should not want to rush toward violence.”

  Today, as she walked home, she thought about the last message she’d received from Mini. Aru still didn’t have a phone, so they couldn’t text, but that’s where the stone elephant came in handy. When she’d checked the elephant’s mouth this morning, Mini’s letter was simple:

  How am I going to train today?

  I’m 99% sure I’ve contracted bubonic plague.

  (I even saw a rat yesterday.)

  Aru laughed, remembering it. But the laugh quickly died in her throat when she saw who was walking just a few feet in front of her on the sidewalk.

  The new boy at school.

  Aiden Acharya had enrolled just last week, which seemed really impractical, considering that winter break was just about to start. But according to the school’s best gossip (Poppy), his family had been very convincing (read: they were superrich). He was having a pretty easy time adjusting at school, which made sense considering he looked like…that.

  Until recently, Aru hadn’t given much thought to what made a boy good-looking. Just the basic standards of not sounding like a braying donkey and not smelling like a pair of cursed sneakers ruled out half the guys in her class. Aiden, on the other hand, had dimples and curly black hair. And he smelled nice. Not like soap or deodorant, but like clean laundry. Plus, his eyes were really dark and framed by even darker lashes.

  She hadn’t spoken to him yet. What would she say? All she knew was that he and his mom had moved into the large house right across from the museum. Yesterday, his mom and her mom had started talking on the street. Indian people did that all the time. (Oh, you’re Indian? Me too! How ’bout that?)

  Aiden had been standing with his mom. At one point, it looked like he had seen Aru watching them from the museum window. Aru had flashed her most attractive smile (she even sucked in her nose) before remembering that she was wearing a pair of metal horns. Boo had insisted that she wear them whenever she was at home. (What if you need to wear a helmet while fighting demons? Your neck needs to be strong!)

  Aru had panicked, walked straight into the fridge, and fallen flat on her face. She’d then continued to lie on the kitchen floor for another hour.

  She still wanted to strangle Boo.

  Now Aru was squeezing her eyes shut in embarrassment over Aiden possibly having seen her in horns when she banged her nose into something. His backpack. She looked up. Aiden looked down. He was at least a foot taller than her. In the afternoon light, his skin looked golden.

/>   “Hi,” he said.

  Aru opened her mouth. Closed it. Come on, Aru. You walked through the Kingdom of Death. You can talk to a—

  He smiled. “Don’t I know you?”

  “I…” She choked.

  Why did her voice suddenly seem so deep, out of nowhere? She sounded like the weatherman. She made a fist and hit her throat. Which only made her cough. Say something! But the only thing her brain could come up with was: How you doin’? No! thought Aru. Definitely do not say that. This was what she got for marathoning Friends. Aru smiled. And then she opened her mouth. “I know where you live!”

  Aiden stared at her. She stared at him.

  “You what?”

  “I…um…demons. Good-bye.”

  She had never run home so fast in her life.

  Why, Why, Why? Stupid Words

  “You didn’t…” said Mini.

  This was the fifth time Mini had said this.

  “Mini, if you say that again—”

  A cackle from Urvashi made Aru shut up.

  On Fridays, their first class was traditional dance (specifically, bharatnatyam) and etiquette with Urvashi. But Aru had arrived looking so shaken after her encounter with Aiden that Urvashi had demanded to know what happened.

  When Aru had told her, Urvashi had laughed hard enough to cause a lightning storm. Several merchants from the Night Bazaar had come to complain that she’d ruined their stock of raincoats (actual coats that shed rain). But the minute Urvashi had smiled at them and cooed, “What’s the problem again?” they’d forgotten what they were going to say, and they went away dreamy-eyed.

  Now Urvashi had called in Hanuman and Boo and forced Aru to tell the story again. Hanuman hadn’t laughed, but his mouth had twitched. Boo was still trying to pull himself together.

  “I remember Arjuna being a lot more…” started Urvashi.

  “Suave?” offered Boo.

  “Charming?” chimed Hanuman.

  “Good-looking?” suggested Mini.

  “Mini!” said Aru.

  “Sorry,” she said, blushing.

  “You know, in my day, you could just swoop in and take the person you liked,” said Boo. “It’s far more efficient than talking.”