“What the heck was that?” demanded Boo.
Aru groaned. “I don’t know…. It worked in Wonder Woman.”
“Are you Wonder Woman?”
“I…am facedown in a pile of shame.”
Not too far from where Aru was sprawled out, Aiden appeared from a portal. She rolled onto her back only to hear the familiar click of Aiden’s camera. She blinked open her eyes and there he was, waving down at her.
“Why are you here now?” she demanded. “You’re not supposed to be here for another hour.”
Aiden shrugged. “Got bored. Decided to record a behind-the-scenes look at the intense lives of Pandavas.”
“And?”
“And I may have to change the title of the documentary.”
“Go away.”
“Not a chance, Shah,” said Aiden with a wide grin, and then he helped her up.
An hour later, Aru, Mini, Brynne, and Aiden stood in front of the entrance to the Soul Exchange. Aiden was carrying the bow and arrow. They were encased in an enchanted box carved out of ice to prevent the weapon from feeling the pulse of human hands. Apparently, the bow and arrow couldn’t help but want to shoot every time they sensed a heartbeat.
Fortunately, the monstrous guard swan was nowhere to be seen. When the door swung open, they entered not a pristine office building like last time, but a beautiful palace. The floors were made of interlocking golden tiles with rubies at the center. Above them, the ceiling was the actual night sky, and Kamadeva didn’t need a chandelier, because constellations twisted in the air, casting silvery light. All along the walls were images of famous couples throughout history and legends: Tristan and Isolde; Héloïse and Abelard; Nala and Damayanti; and even the five Pandavas and their wife, the beautiful and wise Princess Draupadi. Aru scanned the statue of Arjuna. She didn’t look anything like him. She had no muscles. And no mustache (thankfully). But Draupadi looked familiar. Something about her eyes…
“So, you survived!” said Kamadeva, appearing before them. He clapped, and Aru looked away from the statues. “Oh. Excellent. I love it when stories don’t end in dismemberment!”
Mini’s eyes widened. “Me too?”
Aiden offered the box nervously, shifting back and forth on his feet…. After all, Kamadeva had promised him an arrow of love. And Aru knew exactly what Aiden was going to use it for. Brynne had told her that Aiden’s dad was stopping by tomorrow to pick up the last of his stuff. His parents would be seeing each other for the first time in months….
“He’s going to Parent Trap them?” Aru had asked.
“That’s the plan,” Brynne said. “But, if you ask me, I don’t think it’s a good one.”
When Kamadeva reached for the bow and arrow, the ice case turned to vapor. He beamed as he caught the weapons and lifted them up into the air.
“Hello, old friends,” he said, before swinging the bow over his shoulder. He slid the arrow into a quiver hanging on his other shoulder. “You did well by defeating Surpanakha—”
“That’s not her name,” said Mini quietly.
Kamadeva startled. “Pardon?”
Mini turned bright red, and Aru jumped in. “She didn’t like to be called Surpanakha. She preferred Meenakshi. Or Lady M.”
Kamadeva looked at them thoughtfully. “And this is the name you wish me to use?”
All four of them nodded.
“Then I will,” he said.
“We’d also like to tell you her side of the story sometime,” Aru pressed.
“When you’re not too busy,” added Mini.
“All right then, Pandavas. So you shall.”
Somewhere, Aru thought she heard the faintest sigh on the wind…a breath held too long and suddenly exhaled.
“And as a reward for bringing back my bow and arrow, I also have a boon for each of you.”
Aru’s ears perked up. Woo-hoo! Boon! She just hoped this wasn’t going to be like Agni’s boon, which, no offense, was basically just a divine IOU. What was she going to do with that?
“For the daughter of the god of death,” said Kamadeva, handing her a small golden box, “I grant you a single minute of time, which can erase a full minute of words you didn’t mean to say. Very handy for first-time crushes.”
Mini blushed. “Thank you.”
Kamadeva held out a slim red book to Brynne. “For the daughter of the god of the wind, I present you with my favorite recipe book! Soul food is delicious, of course, but heart-food?! Ah. It brings you kindness for days.”
Brynne grinned and took it eagerly. “Yay! Cookbook!”
“For the daughter of the god of thunder, I give you this”—Kamadeva handed her a silver lipstick tube—“a celestial spotlight made of crushed stars and aged moonbeams. Use it when you feel like the world should see you in a different light.”
Smolder power! thought Aru as she thanked the god of love.
“And for you, Aiden Acharya,” said Kamadeva, holding out a single golden arrow no bigger than Aru’s palm, “an enchanted arrow from my own collection, to do with as you wish. But know that you cannot change someone’s free will. And there is no magical cure for grief. All this arrow can do is open the pathway for love. It doesn’t make someone smitten, and the love doesn’t necessarily have to be romantic. It simply makes them aware of love where perhaps they might not have been beforehand.”
Kamadeva’s words were cryptic, but Aiden smiled anyway. He took the arrow carefully and stuffed it in his pocket.
“Don’t put it there!” said Aru.
“Yeah,” said Brynne. “What if you fall and land on your butt?”
“And then the first thing you see is the floor. Or a lamp,” said Mini. “Then you’d be in love with a lamp. Er, super aware of a lamp.”
“Fine! Fine!” said Aiden, sliding the arrow over his left ear like a pencil. “Better?”
“Sure,” said Brynne.
Kamadeva opened the door for them. “I wish you well, Pandavas.”
Aiden sighed. “Honestly, I’m really not a Pandava.”
“Maybe not by blood. But certainly by marriage,” said Kamadeva. “After all, in another life, you were Queen Draupadi, the wife of the five Pandava brothers.”
There are certain horrific moments in life when the only way to fix an awkward situation is to be awkward.
Kamadeva had vanished, along with his extravagant palace, leaving the four of them staring at one another in the middle of the forest.
“So…” said Aru. “Should we call you Wifey?”
Aiden—who looked as if he’d been hit by a train—managed a weak laugh.
“Go away, Shah,” he said.
“You’re my friend, but the thought of being married to you makes me nauseated,” said Mini. “No offense.”
“None taken.”
Brynne shuddered. “You’re my best friend, but I would never like you. One, because you’re basically my brother. Two, I prefer boys who can beat me in a wrestling contest.” She thought about this and added, “Or girls.”
“You’ve beaten me a thousand times at wrestling,” said Aiden.
“Exactly,” said Brynne.
Aiden rubbed his temples. “Okay, I get it. You know, you guys could just say, Cool story, let’s never discuss it again. Besides, it’s not like you’re anything like your Pandava souls. I mean, look at Aru.”
“HEY!”
“Just saying,” said Aiden. “I’d never like you that way. We’re only friends.”
He was looking at her when he said that, and her face turned hot. He didn’t have to make it so obvious he’d never like her that way. Aru told herself she didn’t care. At all. She told herself it didn’t hurt her feelings.
Maybe if she said it enough times it would be true.
Aru faked a grin and said, “Cool. So, all in favor of Aiden’s new name being Wifey, keeping in mind that it’s only a name, and he’s his own person, blah, blah, blah….”
Mini and Brynne raised their hand. So did Aru.
&nb
sp; Aiden looked horrified. “Wait a second! Don’t I even get to vote? I don’t want to be called Wifey!”
“Rules are rules, Wifey,” said Mini, laughing.
And that was that.
You Shall Not Pass!
Aru stroked her beard. It was, she thought, an excellent beard. Nice and soft and gray, and perfect for plucking at pensively.
“Fly, you fools!” she said, scowling at her reflection in the window.
“Aru, the movie hasn’t even started yet!” groaned Mini. “You can’t quote Gandalf until halfway through!”
“It’s my birthday, I’ll do what I want!” she said with a cackle.
Aru’s birthday was February 15. Otherwise known as the day when all the unsold Valentine’s Day candy went on sale and the world smelled like sugar and despair. But this year she was determined to make it a perfect day. She’d invited her friends over to the museum to binge-watch the Lord of the Rings movies. In costume. Mini had dressed up as a hobbit because she liked that their houses had curved walls. “Living in the forest as an elf is way too much pressure to appreciate the outdoors,” Mini had said. Hira, on the other hand, had no problem with the elf lifestyle. She had dressed up as one, and every now and then would dramatically shape-shift into Arwen, the elf princess, which made Aru ridiculously jealous. Brynne had dressed up as an orc. As a present, she was baking lembas bread and decorating a birthday cake with Legolas’s face.
Aru’s mother had refused to dress up. But she had let them use the big panorama room in the museum, which was like an actual movie theater. And as a present, she’d booked two tickets to Paris, where she was going to give a lecture on bronze pieces of Lord Shiva.
It was, Aru thought, the best birthday she’d ever had, and it had barely started.
“Aru, I’ll be upstairs reading,” said her mom, pausing to kiss her on the head. “When I come downstairs, I do not want to see your Gandalf beard on the stone elephant.”
Well, there went that idea.
“And do not croak ‘my precious’ in my ear at two a.m., like last time.”
This was turning into the worst birthday.
“I love you. Have fun.”
All right, fine, it wasn’t that bad.
Aru waved good-bye to her mom. Outside the museum windows, a layer of frost clung to the trees. Boo had decided to take the evening off. But he didn’t fly away before leaving instructions:
“Because it’s your birthday, I will refrain from lecturing you about the dangers of sugar, and also, I moved the weekend training session from eight thirty a.m. to eight forty-five a.m., so that you may sleep in,” Boo had said. “Happy birthday.”
“What? That’s only fifteen more minutes!”
“Fifteen more minutes in which the enemy may advance!”
The enemy, in this case, could be the Sleeper, who still hadn’t been found, or Takshaka, who had managed to escape his jailers and disappear. Though Aru didn’t like to think about it, she knew that somewhere in the dark, a massive army was being cobbled together. They may not have succeeded in getting the nectar of immortality this time, but both the Sleeper and Takshaka were clever…. Soon, they’d find another way.
Already, Aru had begun to hear rumors whipping through the Council of Guardians…. Something about Kalpavriksha, the wish-granting tree. After all, the amrita wasn’t the only thing that had sprung out of the Ocean of Milk when the devas and asuras churned its waters. There were treasures still left to uncover…treasures that might make all the difference when the next great war finally came.
For now, though, Aru was going to savor tonight. Who knew when she’d have another chance to relax and have fun like this?
“Do you think his dad is there already?” asked Mini, next to her, also looking out the window.
“I don’t know. But I hope Aiden is okay.”
Wifey hadn’t come to Aru’s party because his dad was coming over today, and he planned to use his love arrow to get them back together. None of the girls thought this was a good idea, but the boy was stubborn.
“Mini!” hollered Brynne from the tiny kitchen. “I need help! Legolas is melting!”
“Oh no,” said Mini.
“I can help—” started Aru, but Hira blocked off the entrance.
“You’re not allowed!”
“Hira, that was a perfect opportunity to say ‘You shall not pass!’”
“Oops.”
“Fine, fine,” said Aru. “I’ll stay out here. Holler when I can come back in to my party.”
“Will do!” said Mini, and she jogged off after Hira and Brynne.
Not knowing what else to do, Aru looked out the window again.
And saw Aiden…
He was pacing his front lawn, Shadowfax around his neck. Kamadeva’s arrow poked out of his hoodie pocket. He had the hood pulled up over his head, but still, it obviously wasn’t enough to keep him warm outside in this weather. He hadn’t asked any of his friends to be there with him when his dad came over. But just because someone doesn’t ask for help doesn’t mean they don’t need it.
Aru stroked her fake beard thoughtfully…and slipped out the front door.
Across the street, Aiden’s head snapped up the second the museum entrance closed behind her.
“Why are you dressed like an old man?”
“Old wizard,” she corrected. “It’s for my party.”
“Oh.” Aiden shoved his hands in his hoodie pocket, then glanced over his shoulder to the windows of his house. Aru wasn’t sure, but she thought she could make out the shadow of Mrs. Acharya inside.
“You should go back and have fun,” he said. “You don’t have to be out here.”
“Well, Legolas is melting, so I can’t go in yet.”
Aiden accepted this without comment, which was proof of their friendship.
“He’s coming soon,” said Aiden, his words rushing out. “And I don’t know what to do. I just want her to be happy.”
Mrs. Acharya was now at the window. She didn’t even seem to register that Aru was outside with Aiden. Her face looked gaunt and sad, but also…determined. The way someone looks when they’re going into battle and they don’t have any regrets.
“Do you think she’d be happy if she was back with your dad?”
Aiden tugged on his black hair, twisting his curls into bizarre-looking horns.
“I dunno. I thought so, but now I just don’t know. I just…You don’t know what she was like before all this.”
That much was true, but Aru could take a guess. Since their quest, she’d seen old photos of Mrs. Acharya, the former apsara celebrity. It wasn’t so much that that she was supremely attractive, but that she was happy. Confident. As though she liked herself more than anyone else and that was all that mattered. In that way, she reminded Aru of Brynne.
These days Mrs. Acharya looked different…more caved-in.
“And then I keep thinking about what Kamadeva said,” Aiden went on. “That it’s not really an arrow of love, but awareness, and I don’t even know what that means!”
He tugged harder at his hair. Aru swatted at his hand. “Stop that or you’re gonna go bald!”
Aiden glared at her. The headlights of an approaching car flashed down the street.
“He’s almost here,” said Aiden. He grabbed her hand. “C’mon!”
Aiden dragged her along as they crossed the lawn and slipped through the front door.
“What are we doing?” hissed Aru.
“Just hold on, Shah. Two seconds. Please.”
It was the please that got her, whether she liked it or not.
“Aiden?” his mom called. “Is that you?”
He held his finger to his lips. Together they crawled past the front door, then took a left into the den, where they hid behind the sofa. In the front hall, Aru saw a long mirror on the wall. Framed photographs (all taken by Aiden) lined both sides of it. The foyer of the Acharya home split off into two rooms. The one on the right was the dining area, where M
rs. Acharya was staring out the window, her arms wrapped around her slender body.
Aiden pulled a small glass bubble-like charm from his jeans pocket and blew it into the air. Instantly, it expanded into a giant translucent sphere that surrounded them.
“Silence charm,” explained Aiden. “Now she can’t hear us.”
Aru poked at the bubble. “Where’d you get this?”
“Night Bazaar. This yaksha merchant gave it to me after I took some headshots for him. He said he wants to be a Tollywood star.”
“Huh. Cool. So…why the bubble? I mean, I’m totally here for moral support and all that, but…what are we supposed to do from inside a bubble?”
Aiden was quiet for a long moment, and then he said, “You know the best thing about taking photos?”
Aru shook her head.
“I can show people what I see,” said Aiden in a low voice. “I can show them how I see them. I wish I could show my mom. Maybe then she’d see that I think she’s…perfect.”
Aru plucked at her beard. Across the hall, Mrs. Acharya went to the long mirror. Her hair was in a low ponytail, which made her eyes look too big for her face. She smoothed her cheeks in an upward motion, the way Aru’s mom did whenever she had a hard day.
“So then why don’t you do that?” asked Aru.
Aiden’s eyes widened. His gaze went to his mom, looking at herself in the mirror. Outside, a car door slammed shut. Aiden pulled the arrow from his pocket. And then, as if it were just a simple dart, he threw it at his mom, where it hit her on the side of her leg. Aru held her breath, thinking Mrs. Acharya might scream or something, but she didn’t. She just shook herself, glancing once more in the mirror. This time, she didn’t look away as fast, and she didn’t frown. She reached out and touched her reflection. Then she looked beyond it, to the photos Aiden had taken over the years. Pride bloomed across her face. And then, slowly, she smiled.
It might not have seemed like a big deal to anyone else, but it made Aru feel insanely happy. Kamadeva had said there was no magical cure for grief. The arrow only opened a pathway for love, but that didn’t mean it had to be romantic. Sometimes the best kind of love was just loving yourself.
Aru Shah and the Song of Death Page 28