Aru Shah and the End of Time

by Roshani Chokshi

  “I’m pretty sure that’s called kidnapping,” said Mini.

  “It was romantic.”

  “It’s still kidnapping.”

  Hanuman clapped. “Come, Pandavas, it’s time for strategy lessons.”

  Pandavas. The word still sounded strange in Aru’s head, especially because she knew that it wasn’t going to stop with just her and Mini. The Sleeper was still out there, and as the danger grew, more Pandavas would be required. She had even gotten a glimpse of them in her vision. All girls….So where were they?

  Sighing, Aru took off the bells around her ankles and handed them to Urvashi.

  Urvashi patted Aru’s head. “Don’t worry, my dear. When I’m done with you, you will fell men with a laugh.”

  Aru didn’t want to kill the guy. Just maybe talk to him?

  Why was everything the worst?

  As Aru and Mini left Urvashi, the Night Bazaar dance studio closed up behind them. Urvashi refused to rent space anywhere, because I have an image to maintain, and I’m not going to put my feet on a floor that’s been stained by other people’s shadows. Which meant that, three times a week, the sky of the Night Bazaar opened up to allow Urvashi to descend in a celestial blue lotus as big as the museum. When the girls finished their lesson, the petals of the lotus closed over Urvashi and she floated back to the heavens.

  Hanuman’s lessons were a lot more…rugged.

  “This way,” said the monkey-faced demigod, bounding ahead of them.

  Aru and Mini trudged dutifully after him. Hanuman liked to use the terrain of the Night Bazaar. Today, he took them around the orchard of Dream Fruit and beneath an archway of gleaming silver feathers.

  “Those feathers come from chakora, or moon birds,” said Hanuman. “A feather plucked from a moon bird will glow brightly, but only for a moment. If you wait until the feather is shed naturally, it will forever bring you light.”

  Sure enough, the feathered archway never seemed to dim.

  On the other side of it, the landscape was steep and more treacherous. They peered down into a deep canyon with a wide river rushing through it. Far below, on the opposite bank, a shiny crown hovered in the air.

  “Pandavas!” called Hanuman over the roar of the river.

  Mini turned white. Aru remembered that her sister had a horrible fear of heights. Not of spiders, though she wasn’t wild about spiders, either…

  “Imagine that it’s your duty to retrieve the crown,” said Hanuman. “How would you get to it?”

  “Find another way?” offered Mini.

  “Trick the other side into bringing it over here?” suggested Aru.

  Hanuman frowned. “Always choose the simplest route! Aru, you have a tendency to choose…complication over simplification.”

  “Or maybe I just don’t want to drown?”

  Mini nodded vigorously.

  “In my day, I built a bridge. I called on my friends to help. We gathered rocks and threw them into the ocean so I could get across,” said Hanuman.

  “I don’t have any friends like that,” said Aru.

  “Hey!” said Mini.

  “Besides you, I mean.”

  “What about changing shape?” asked Hanuman. “Always consider how you might adapt to your surroundings rather than forcing your surroundings to adapt to you.”

  “But…we can’t change shape?” said Mini.

  “Use your tail!” said Hanuman. His tail curled over his shoulder.

  “We don’t have tails.” She stuck out her butt so he could see.

  “Oh,” said Hanuman. His tail went limp.

  At that moment, an alarm went off. Hanuman tensed. Before, he’d been the height and build of an average man. At the sound of the alarm, he shot up in size, snatching up Aru and Mini in the process so that they could stand on his open hands.

  “I’m gonna throw up,” said Mini, crouching on Hanuman’s palm.

  “Whoa,” said Aru. It took her a moment to get her bearings, but she had an incredible view of the entire Night Bazaar. It looked like thousands of cities were attached to it. From here, Aru could see the entrance line, which stretched into a bank of clouds. At security, the bull-headed raksha had been replaced by a raksha with the shell of a tortoise. She could even spot the brilliant jewel that was the Court of the Seasons.

  The alarm blared once more.

  The sky changed from the split colors of daytime and nighttime. Now it was a uniform black.

  “Something has been stolen,” said Hanuman, sniffing the air. “You must go to your homes immediately. I’ll send word by Monday.”

  “Wait, what’s been stolen?” asked Aru. She craned her neck over the side of Hanuman’s hand, as if she could catch sight of a runaway thief. She felt bad for whoever had lost whatever it was. But at least she wasn’t the only one who’d had the Worst Day Ever.

  “It’s something even the gods fear,” said Hanuman darkly.

  It took only three steps for Hanuman to cross from one end of the Night Bazaar to the other. He let Aru and Mini down near the stone door carved with elephants. The door had been created just for them when their moms had decided it was high time the girls started their training.

  “Be safe,” said Hanuman. He patted their heads with the tip of his pinky (which was still big enough to almost crush them) and then strode off in the other direction.

  “At least we have some free time?” said Mini.

  “Yeah,” said Aru.

  But at what cost?

  Woof

  Mini was lying upside down on Aru’s bed.

  It was a Saturday, the day after the entire Night Bazaar had panicked about something being stolen. Aru had checked the stone elephant’s mouth every hour, but there hadn’t been any news from Hanuman yet.

  Boo was acting particularly nervous. He was probably still mad because the neighbor’s cat had snuck up on him and stolen two of his tail feathers. Aru had watched him chase the poor feline down the sidewalk, shouting, “I AM A MIGHTY KING! YOU HAVE INSULTED MY HONOR!” But even his “vengeance” (he nipped the cat’s tail and hid her food bowl) hadn’t been enough to calm him down.

  “Are you coming over tonight? My dad is making pancit!” said Mini excitedly. “It’s my favorite.”

  Aru wanted to, but it was the last night before her mom was leaving to go on another archaeological dig. They still hadn’t talked about what had happened between her and Aru’s dad. Sometimes Aru could feel her mom attempting to get the words out before her shoulders slumped. It meant a lot that at least she was trying. Aru still didn’t like it when her mom went away, but now they both tried harder to enjoy the time that they did have together.

  “I’ll call every day, and you’ll have Sherrilyn, too,” her mom had promised. “But you have to understand that I’m doing this for you.”

  “I know,” Aru had said.

  And she’d meant it. Her mom was insistent that somewhere out there, just waiting to be found, was an ancient object that might help them defeat the Sleeper once and for all.

  “How do you know he won’t come after you?” Aru had asked.

  “Trust me, chuckloo,” her mother had said, sighing. “I’m the last person he wants to see.”

  Aru knew how important it was for her mother to continue searching. She understood now that her mom wasn’t only securing artifacts for the museum, but also trying to secure their future. She was looking for answers…and a way to fix her mistakes. Still, it was hard for Aru to go to Mini’s house and see how she was fussed over and coddled and always tucked in at night….

  Love looked different to everyone.

  Boo perched on Aru’s feet. “Why aren’t you reading poetry or practicing war strategies? You’ve got to be diligent with your training!” he said.

  “Boo, it’s Saturday.”

  “The Sleeper is gone, but not defeated. Who knows what kind of trouble he’s getting up to?” Boo said. Mini poked him with the Death Danda, laughing when his feathers ruffled and he hooted like an angry o
wl. “Fiendish child!”

  Boo preened himself, taking dramatic pauses to glare at them every now and then. “He’s called the Sleeper for a reason. It could be a long time before you hear from him again, that is how well he hides. But you will hear from him again. Until then, other beings, darker and more dangerous than the ones you faced, will come out and try to test their strength.”

  “Killjoy,” muttered Mini.

  Aru rubbed her shoulder. It was still sore from their last training exercise. And she was pretty sure Hanuman had sprained her neck just by patting her head.

  “Can I live? It’s Saturday!” complained Aru, frustrated.

  “You won’t if you don’t take this seriously!”

  “We are taking this seriously!” said Aru. “In the stories, the Pandava brothers partied half the time and fought the other half. I’m just keeping with tradition.” She turned to Mini. “I can’t come over today, but how about tomorrow? Should I bring Twizzlers or Twix bars?”

  “Twizzlers,” said Mini.

  “Absolutely ungrateful—” started Boo.

  This was his favorite speech. Aru almost had it memorized. Ungrateful children! The gods would be ashamed to see that this is how you choose to apply yourselves!

  But just then, there was a howl outside the museum.

  Mini bolted upright. “Did you hear that?”

  The girls ran to the window. Boo fluttered after them. Since it was December, Aru had to rub some frost off the latch in order to open it. Aru leaned out, scanning the street.

  On the sidewalk, a massive wolf paced restlessly. It was carrying something in its mouth: a heavy golden bow and arrow. No passersby on the sidewalk took any notice.

  Aru had a bad feeling about that bow and arrow. It glowed with its own light, the way Dee Dee and Vajra did. Was it a celestial weapon?

  “Um, hello?” called Mini. “Giant wolf!”

  “Why are we the only ones that can see it?” asked Aru. “Should we go down?”

  Vajra flew into her hand, shifting between knife and sword and arrow. Not that Aru could do anything with any of those weapons.

  “What’s it holding?” asked Mini.

  Right before their eyes, the wolf changed shape. A blue light burst and crackled all around it. The next instant, it became a girl. She was taller than any guy in Aru’s class, but still looked about twelve years old. She had hazel eyes, tan skin, and long brown hair. She clutched the bow.

  “That’s not good,” said Mini.

  The girl paused, sniffing the air. Was she smelling…them?

  A noise must have startled her, because she twitched and turned into a blue bird. She picked up the bow in her beak and flew off.

  Downstairs, the stone elephant began to blare its warning siren. It was the Otherworld’s call signal. A call for help.

  Aru had the sneaking suspicion that the stolen item everyone was looking for just might be a golden bow.

  “How could no one else have seen that?” demanded Mini.

  Aru had no idea. But then she looked across the street and spotted someone standing in the window: Aiden. From his surprised expression, it was obvious he had observed the wolf-girl-bird, too.

  But that didn’t make any sense. Why would he be able to see something from the Otherworld? Aru frowned as she shut the window and pulled the drapes down.

  “This should be entertaining,” said Boo, chuckling.

  “What’s so funny?” asked Mini.

  “Shouldn’t we do something about her?” asked Aru. “Who was that?”

  “That,” said Boo, “was your sister.”

  Aru’s eyebrows skated up her forehead. “WHAT?” she and Mini said at the same time.

  “But she…she’s a beast!” said Mini, shrinking.

  “She’s a beast,” said Aru, admiringly.

  “And she probably stole that!” said Mini. “She’s a thief!”

  “You know what they say,” said Boo. “Can’t choose your family.”

  Mini started knocking her head against the doorframe. “But we just finished a quest…” she moaned.

  Aru looked beyond her, to the now empty sidewalk and the near-wintry light. The world still smelled like almost-Christmas. There was a hint of frost in the air. But there was something else, too…a current of magic that Aru could feel singing through her veins.

  Beside her, Mini had begun to tug at her hair. The Death Danda, as if it were matching her mood, hopped and danced, then turned from a purple compact into an imposing stick at the blink of an eye. As for Vajra, the lightning bolt had stayed silent. Waiting. Lately it had stopped assuming the form of a ball. It now preferred to take on the shape of a slim golden bracelet around her wrist.

  Boo soared near the ceiling, gleefully shouting, “I told you so! This is why you need to do your homework! Evil strikes whenever it pleases!”

  In spite of herself, Aru smiled.

  She was Aru Shah.

  A reincarnated Pandava. Daughter of the god of thunder.

  She had her best friend at her side, a slightly deranged pigeon, and the Otherworld’s knowledge to guide her. She could handle whatever came next.

  “What are you thinking, Aru?” asked Mini.

  Aru tapped Vajra at her wrist. The bracelet turned into a gigantic bolt of lightning that stretched from the floor to ceiling.

  “I’m thinking that we should start working on a battle cry.”

  “What about AAAAAAHHHH-don’t-kill-me?” suggested Mini.

  Aru frowned. Okay, maybe she wasn’t 100 percent sure that they could handle whatever came next. But she was kind of sure.

  Which was way better than last time.

  Glossary

  Hiyo! I’d like to preface this glossary by saying that this is by no means exhaustive or attentive to the nuances of mythology. India is GINORMOUS, and these myths and legends vary from state to state. What you read here is merely a slice of what I understand from the stories I was told and the research I conducted. The wonderful thing about mythology is that its arms are wide enough to embrace many traditions from many regions. My hope is that this glossary gives you context for Aru and Mini’s world, and perhaps nudges you to do some research of your own. ☺

  Apsara (AHP-sah-rah) Apsaras are beautiful, heavenly dancers who entertain in the Court of the Heavens. They’re often the wives of heavenly musicians. In Hindu myths, apsaras are usually sent on errands by Lord Indra to break the meditation of sages who are getting a little too powerful. It’s pretty hard to keep meditating when a celestial nymph starts dancing in front of you. And if you scorn her affection (as Arjuna did in the Mahabharata), she might just curse you. Just sayin’.

  Ashvins (Nasatya and Dasra) (OSH-vin, NUSS-uht-yuh, DUS-ruh) Twin horsemen gods who symbolize sunrise and sunset, and are considered the gods of medicine and healing. They’re often depicted with the heads of horses. Thanks to the boon of Kunti (the mother of Arjuna, Yudhistira, Bhima, and Karna, who was blessed with the ability to call on any god to give her a son), the Ashvins became the fathers of Nakula and Sahadeva, the twin Pandavas, by King Pandu’s second wife, Madri.

  Astras (AHS-trahz) Supernatural weapons that are usually summoned into battle by a specific chant. There are all kinds of astras, like Gada, the mace of Lord Hanuman, which is like a giant hammer; or Indraastra, invoked by the god Indra, which brings a shower of arrows, much like Indra, the god of the weather, can summon “showers.” Get it? Ha! Gods like irony. And violence.

  Asura (AH-soo-rah) A sometimes good, sometimes bad race of semidivine beings. They’re most popularly known from the story about the churning of the ocean. You see, once upon a time the gods were not immortal. In order to attain the drink of immortality (amrita), they had to churn the Ocean of Milk. But…it’s an ocean. So the gods needed help. And who did they call? You guessed it, the asuras. The asuras were promised a cut of the immortality. But the gods, obviously, did not want to share. Lord Vishnu, the supreme god, transformed into Mohini, an enchantress. Once the asur
as and devas (divine ones) had churned the ocean, Mohini sneakily gave all the amrita to the devas. As one can imagine, the asuras were not happy.

  Bharata (BAH-rah-tah) The Sanskrit name for the Indian subcontinent, named after the legendary emperor Bharata, who was an ancestor of the Pandavas.

  Bharatnatyam (BAH-raht-naht-yum) An ancient, classical dance form that originated in South India. Yours truly studied bharatnatyam for ten years. (You can ask my kneecaps about it….They’re still angry with me.) Bharatnatyam is its own kind of storytelling. Oftentimes the choreography of the dance draws on episodes from Hindu mythology. Bharatnatyam is frequently connected to Lord Shiva. One of Shiva’s other names is Nataraja, which means “the Lord of Dance” and symbolizes dance as both a creative and destructive force.

  Bollywood India’s version of Hollywood. They produce tons of movies a year. You can always recognize a Bollywood movie, because somebody gets fake-slapped at least once, and every time a musical number starts, the setting changes drastically. (How did they start off dancing in the streets of India and end up in Switzerland by the end of the song?) One of Bollywood’s most enduring celebrities is Shah Rukh Khan. (Yours truly did not have the most giant crush on him and keep his picture in her locker….You have no proof, go away.)

  Brahmasura (BRAH-mah-soo-rah) Once upon a time there was an asura who prayed long and hard to the god Shiva (Lord of Destruction, as you might recall). Shiva, pleased with the asura’s austerities, granted him a boon, and this dude, real casually, BTW, asked for this: “ANYONE WHOSE HEAD I TOUCH WITH MY HAND GETS BURNED TO ASHES.” I imagine their convo went like this:

  Shiva: Why, though?

  Brahmasura: ☺

  Shiva: No, seriously, why? That’s a horrible wish.

  Brahmasura: ☺

  Shiva: I…ugh. Okay. Fine. You will regret this! *shakes fist*

  Brahmasura: ☺

  Okay, so fast forward, and everyone hates Brahmasura and is scared of him, so Lord Vishnu has a solution. He changes form to Mohini, the beautiful enchantress. Brahmasura is like “OMG I love you,” and Mohini’s like “LOL, okay, let’s dance first, and see if you can match me move for move,” and Brahmasura is super excited and does the thing. Well, joke’s on him, because when Mohini/Lord Vishnu puts her hand on her own head, Brahmasura imitates her. BAM. Turned into ashes. Let it be known to all ye mortals: don’t underestimate what you might consider froufrou things, like dancing, because you might just end up a pile of ashes.