Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes, page 12
“You really need to work on your pep talks,” said Aru.
But Brynne was the bravest out of all of them, and at first Aru really wasn’t worried when she entered the narrow passage.
At first.
The seconds trickled by, and Mini began to sing softly to herself. Then she stopped. “Something’s gone terribly wrong, I can feel it,” she insisted.
“We don’t know that,” said Aru. “It hasn’t been two minutes—”
Ding!
The timer on Mini’s watch went off, and the two girls stared at it. Aru felt a pressure building in her heart. They couldn’t ignore the dark waters of the river any longer.
“What happened to them?” asked Mini.
“I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about,” assured Aru, but she could taste the lie on her tongue.
Rudy might’ve gotten distracted or lost or something, but Aiden and Brynne? They wouldn’t have gotten turned around that easily.
“All right. Let’s go,” said Mini.
That was Mini. She had a list of unpronounceable phobias, but still she somehow managed to be fearless when it mattered most.
Squeezing into the passage together wasn’t that hard. As the smallest of their group of four, Aru and Mini usually had to take turns being squished in the middle of the backseat whenever Aru’s or Mini’s mom drove them to the movies. Luckily for Aru, Mini was pretty slow at Nose Goes! and ended up in the middle seat way more often.
The moment after they stepped into the tunnel, shadows rushed in and sealed up the space behind them, hardening into a solid black wall. Darkness swallowed them, and all Aru could hear was the river roaring in her ears.
She looked down, holding Vajra in ball form for light. Rudy’s guess had been right. Instead of a glass floor, they were now standing on a slender bridge made out of iron grating. About a foot or so beneath them, the river flowed quickly. There weren’t any railings on the sides to keep them from falling in, so they clutched each other for dear life.
A sharp pang of thirst hit Aru in the back of her throat. She swallowed impulsively, hating how dry her mouth felt. She reached for her backpack, then let her hand drop. Aiden had all the water bottles, and who knew where he was? Aru would just have to wait. As soon as they got out of here, she could have all the ice-cold water in the world.
Her gaze traveled back to the rushing water below. It looked as dark as poured ink, but Aru found herself fantasizing about how the water would taste. Like bottled-up winter. Like her whole soul had shriveled up and a single drop would be enough to plump it once more. Like—
“What’s that above us?” asked Mini.
She pointed to the ceiling, and Aru became aware of her surroundings. In the air above the water shimmered a hundred reflections. The wavering images of temples and cities, grassy reeds and muddy banks, were all crammed together and reminded Aru of a collage of holograms.
“It must be every shore that the river touches,” said Mini, staring up in awe.
“Must be,” said Aru. She felt a little guilty about it, but she wasn’t really listening. All she could think about was how parched her throat felt, how the inside of her mouth kept sticking to her teeth. She needed to get them out of here. The faster she could do that, the sooner they could join the others and get a drink. Aru cast Vajra’s light farther out and saw an answering gleam from a small lantern not thirty feet away. It was affixed atop a little metal door.
“That has to be the exit,” said Aru. “But that means they didn’t even have to walk very far….”
Chills ran down her spine.
Mini looked to her left and right. “They’re not here. They must have gone through….”
Aru didn’t bother answering. She was too busy thinking about the water beneath them. Gods, she was thirsty. All she wanted was a glass of water. But not just any water. The rushing current of the Yamuna River called to her like a lullaby. It would be so easy to sink into it, let it soak through her clothes and drag her down to the bottom, and then she could gulp all the water she wanted—
“ARU!”
Aru felt Mini’s hands on her shoulders. She blinked. Vajra shimmered right before her eyes, as if the lightning bolt had been zigzagging frantically to get her attention. Aru looked down and her heart slammed into her throat. What was she doing? She was crouching on the bridge, her hands gripping the edge, her knees not far behind, and her whole upper body leaning toward the night-dark water.
“What’s gotten into you?” yelled Mini, pulling her backward. “I kept saying your name and you didn’t even hear me!”
Aru scrambled back from the edge of the bridge, then sat with her arms wrapped around her knees.
“I don’t know what’s going on with me,” she said, panicked. “I really want to drink the river water.”
“Ew!” said Mini. “I’m thirsty, too, but you saw the sign, and there’s no way I’m breaking that rule. The water could be contaminated! You could get some serious infectious diseases from river water, like shigellosis, norovirus, or even cryptosporidosis! And you know what happens if you—”
“Mini, I legit feel like I’m dying already, so please don’t remind me,” grumbled Aru. “I just want a little water.”
“No!” said Mini, stamping her foot. “Let me run the symptoms past you, because they’re truly horrific, and maybe then you won’t want dirty river water. First of all, every time you go to the bathroom—”
But whatever horrific factoid Mini wanted to spout was interrupted by a smooth feminine voice. Just the sound of it quickened Aru’s intense craving.
“Child, aren’t you thirsty?”
“Y-yes,” Aru croaked.
“Then drink your fill and be sated like the rest of your companions.”
The ceiling disappeared, revealing a steel-gray sky. Below them the Yamuna River churned, then parted in the middle. Mini screamed, pointing wildly into the deep. There, curled up on the riverbed with their eyes closed and their lips a dangerous shade of blue were Aiden, Brynne, and Rudy.
Isn’t This…a Bit Much?
Waves crashed over their friends and rose to form a shape like an inverted hurricane that towered nearly fifty feet above the bridge. Aru and Mini didn’t even feel a drop fall as they strained desperately to catch a glimpse of the others. The water was murky, but little things breached the surface of the vortex: a fish spine here, an uncapped water bottle there. At one point, Aru saw the tail of a crocodile whip through the frothing water. Everywhere she looked there were far too many plastic bags.
At last Aiden, Brynne, and Rudy reemerged, swirling in a tight knot, their heads dipping in and out of the water. Mini gave a terrible shriek, but the trio seemed completely oblivious. In fact, they seemed, well…dead. Fear ripped through Aru’s heart. This couldn’t be real.
Could it?
The churning stopped. The riverbed beneath the bridge was sucked dry. Now Aru did feel a few drops fall on her arms, and she looked up, her pulse skyrocketing. Looming above them, draped in the river as if it were an elegant sari, was Yamuna, the goddess of the river. Aru recognized her from artifacts back home at the museum.
Her long black hair was pinned back with fish teeth and dotted with pearls. Around her neck and wrists she wore writhing snakes brighter than any jewels. Her skin was night-dark and gleaming. She was stunning to look at, but there was an unsettling quality to her beauty. It was like staring at a vast, thundering waterfall—one you didn’t want to get too close to. Brynne, Aiden, and Rudy were caught in the hem of her huge flowing gown like fish in a net.
Yamuna’s gaze darted between Mini and Aru but came to rest on Mini.
“Please,” begged Mini. “Let them go! They could die!”
Aru opened her mouth, wanting to chime in, but…she couldn’t speak. Her voice had been snatched away from her.
Aru glared at Yamuna. You did this! Why?
The water goddess had stolen her voice, and not even in a remotely stylish way, like how Ursula trapped Ariel’s voice in a pretty glowing shell. Nope. One moment it was there, the next—gone.
The river goddess tilted her head. “I shall ask the questions.”
Mini gulped audibly. She looked to Aru, who pointed helplessly at her throat.
She took my voice, Aru tried to express through their Pandava mind link, but even that seemed blocked in the presence of the goddess.
“You did not wish to drink my waters, little one?” asked Yamuna.
As the goddess’s cool voice washed over her, Aru’s desperate thirst finally vanished. Aru breathed a sigh of relief and shakily rose to stand. Just because she couldn’t speak didn’t mean she couldn’t support Mini.
“Um, no thank you?” squeaked Mini. “There’s a lot of bacteria that…Wait! I mean, I’m sure it’s not your fault and all, and I’m sorry I called you dirty—”
“The pollution that accumulates upon my surface has no bearing on my soul.”
Aru nodded to herself. Nice one. Maybe she’d use that excuse next time she didn’t feel like showering.
“I…” Mini clenched her hands into fists by her sides. “I think your soul would be a little polluted if you let our friends drown.”
BOLD, MINI! MAYBE TOO BOLD!
Aru tried to direct this thought at her sister as hard as she could, but it only resulted in a headache.
“You are the only one who was not tempted to break the rule,” said Yamuna. “Why is that?”
Mini blinked, shuffling a little in place. “The sign says not to? And I don’t want to die of an uncontrollable infectious disease?”
The river goddess paused to consider this, and then she bent closer, the rushing current of her sari slowing a little.
“I will ask you three questions, Daughter of Death,” said Yamuna. “Answer them to my satisfaction, and perhaps we might arrange the resurrection of your friends.”
“How ’bout asking Aru?” suggested Mini. “She’s a lot better at answering stuff than I am.”
The goddess shook her head. “I am asking you, child. Should you succeed, she may live, but she cannot speak for you.”
Aru was liking this less and less by the moment. Granted, Aru had almost broken the rule about drinking the river water, but how was that her fault if an enchantment had made her extra thirsty? Yeah, there’d been a sign, but who was going to follow—?
MINI, answered her brain.
Okay, fair, allowed Aru.
“I’ll answer your questions,” said Mini, lifting her chin.
“Very well, child. Here is my first query…. What is the heaviest weight to carry?”
What kind of question is that? thought Aru. First, it was super subjective. For example, Aru would say An elephant. But Brynne, who could turn into an elephant, might say A skyscraper. Second, how exactly would answering this question convince a goddess to bring their friends back? Maybe she was looking for summer interns to pluck all the plastic bags and water bottles out of her water….
Mini seemed to turn the question over in her head. She looked between Aru and the goddess, then said, “Guilt.”
Her answer coiled heavily inside Aru. How many times had her own shoulders felt bowed by the weight of knowing she’d let the Sleeper escape? It explained her fear, too, of carrying the living key. Aru didn’t like what it made her think, or rather, what it let her think. The key didn’t put those thoughts and doubts in her head. It had only brought out what was already there.
“What do you think is the greatest wonder, child?” Yamuna asked next.
Mini creased her brows in thought, skimming her fingers along her father’s Death Danda, which she clutched tightly in one hand.
“I know a thousand ways a person can die, but that doesn’t make me want to live any less,” she said quietly. “I think other people feel the same way…otherwise, how do we get through the day? That, I think, is a huge wonder.”
Again, Aru was shocked by her answer. If she had pom-poms, she’d cheer! Mini was wrong if she thought Aru was the only one good at answering stuff. Aru might find an answer quickly, but Mini spoke from the heart.
“Your answers please me, Daughter of Death. I have only one thing left to ask….”
Yamuna stepped back, and a wave pressed forward the limp bodies of Brynne, Aiden, and Rudy. They rotated slowly in the hem of her gown, dark water lapping at their noses, hair matted to their heads.
“Not all may leave my domain. You may only choose one. Who do you pick?”
Aru’s heart slammed into her throat.
Choose one?
But that meant…that meant they were—
“Only one can come back to life?” asked Mini, staring at her three friends.
The goddess nodded.
“Who among them deserves another chance at life? You are the daughter of the Dharma Raja—surely you can choose fairly?”
Their three friends floated, completely oblivious to the decision placed before Mini.
“Will it be the naga prince whose quick smile and musical talents have captured, perhaps, a little more than your eyes and ears?”
When Yamuna said this, a slender ribbon of water dangled Rudy right before Mini’s face. Aru jumped back. The snake prince’s head lolled to one side, and water ran down his neck. Mini bit back a sob, and her lip trembled, but she didn’t weep. Instead, she reached out and grabbed Aru’s hand tightly.
“Or the boy who has come to be another brother to you? The one who always listens?”
A strip of Yamuna’s dress bore up Aiden like a wave. Aru turned her face. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see him like that.
She couldn’t.
Something in her soul recoiled at the thought.
“Or your sister…?”
There was nothing else Yamuna needed to say as her sari drew out the third Pandava sister. Brynne, who would probably try to wrestle the river if she thought it was insulting her. Brynne, who would protect the rest of them no matter the cost to herself.
Tears stung Aru’s eyes. If she’d known the dangers of this river ahead of time, she would’ve figured out some other way into the House of Months. She couldn’t bring herself to think of losing any of them—
“Rudy,” said Mini.
Aru stood there, stunned.
What?!
Aru looked between Mini and Yamuna and—Brynne! Their Pandava sister, who was slowly melting back into the folds of the goddess’s gown…
“Why?” asked the river goddess.
Yeah, Aru wanted to scream. Why? Why him and not their sister? What would happen to Aiden?
Mini lifted her chin and spoke in a clear voice: “You asked me to think like my soul father, the Dharma Raja,” she said. “He would look at who had already lived…and, judging by that, me, Aru, Brynne, and Aiden have had more lives than most people. We’ve been reincarnated a lot…but not Rudy. Therefore, he would be the most deserving of another chance at life.”
There was a cold, almost godly logic to it, which struck Aru like an arrow. And yet, all she could think when she looked at her sister was How could you?
Yamuna considered Mini for a moment, and then…
Burst into laughter?
The liquid dress trembled with the force of her laughter and the goddess raised her hands and clapped. Instantly, water crashed down, filling the riverbed beneath the bridge once more.
Aru felt warmth spread through her throat, and she clutched her neck, gasping. “What the—?”
Hey! She could speak! That would’ve been awesome if not for the fact that Mini had just let Brynne and Aiden die. Aru whirled on Mini, only to see something land on the far side of the bridge.
Brynne, Aiden, and Rudy lay on the metal rails.
They were unconscious, but color had returned to their cheeks and lips, and their facial muscles twitched faintly, as if they were stuck in a long dream. The water dripped off them quickly, and their clothes gradually lightened as they magically dried.
Behind them stood Yamuna, no longer an embodiment of the river, but a young woman with dark skin, a pearl clip in her hair, and a long blue maxi dress.
“You did better than I expected, niece,” said Yamuna.
Mini looked shocked. “Wait…niece?”
The goddess grinned. “I guess you didn’t know that your soul father, Yama, had a twin—me! It was truly awful growing up with him. He could never take a joke and haaaated it whenever I flooded his bedroom. Oh well.”
“So I…I passed your test?” asked Mini.
“Oh, completely,” said Yamuna, waving her hand. “You were coolheaded when others usually aren’t. You followed the rules when most people can’t control their impulses. And you had the empathy to put yourself in someone else’s place and set aside your feelings. That is a rare quality, my niece. And for that, I will spare your friends.”
“All of them? Really?” asked Mini, bright spots of color touching her cheeks. “I’m never the one who, you know, saves stuff.”
Relief flooded Aru. “Wait till we tell them what you did!” she said. “They’re gonna lose it! You were amazing!”
Mini grinned. “I was?”
“Completely.”
Yamuna smiled, but her expression turned regretful. “I’m afraid there’s one last condition I must make,” she said, “though it pains me to do it, for you are my own family.”
Aru clutched her throat. “No take-back on the speaking. Please?”
Yamuna gestured at their three unconscious friends. “Before I wake them, you must promise to forever remain silent about this episode. They can never know that you saved them.”
Aru was just about to ask why when the goddess continued. “As for you, daughter of the god of thunderstorms, I must take this memory from you.”
Wait…what?
Aru felt crushed. Mini was usually in the shadows. She was always watching, always analytical…but hardly ever the star. Aru wanted to remember this, to celebrate it when Mini sometimes forgot.
Mini stared at her friends, then glanced at Aru with a sad smile on her face before she turned to her aunt. She squared her shoulders.
“It doesn’t really matter if they know I saved them, does it?” Mini asked. “I mean, they still got rescued in the end.”
