Aru Shah and the Song of Death

The book's American cover

***Aru Shah and the Song of Death,*** written by Roshani Chokshi and edited by Rick Riordan, is the second book of *the Pandava Quintet.* It was released on the 30th of April, 2019. The story primarily takes place in the glittering and ancient Naga-Loka, the land of the much acclaimed and proud Nagas, approximately just a few weeks after the events taking place in *Aru Shah and the End of Time*.

The book follows the titular protagonist Aru Shah and her sister Mini Kapoor as they team up with an unlikely duo: an ultra-strong girl who just seems to know way about magic more than she lets on, and an older boy who has familial connections with the Otherworld and just happens to go to the same school as Aru does; as they journey through Naga-Loka, in an attempt to find the person who actually stole the bow and arrow of the Kamadeva, the God of Love

## Synopsis

*Aru is only just getting the hang of this whole Pandava thing when the Otherworld goes into full panic mode. The god of love's bow and arrow have gone missing, and the thief isn't playing Cupid. Instead, they're turning people into heartless fighting-machine zombies. If that weren't bad enough, somehow Aru gets framed as the thief. If she doesn't find the arrow by the next full moon, she'll be kicked out of the Otherworld. For good.*

*But, for better or worse, she won't be going it alone.*

*Along with her soul-sister, Mini, Aru will team up with Brynne, an ultra-strong girl who knows more than she lets on, and Aiden, the boy who lives across the street and is also hiding plenty of secrets. Together they'll battle demons, travel through a glittering and dangerous serpent realm, and discover that their enemy isn't at all who they expected.*

## Development

Roshani Chokshi revealed that the Georgia Aquarium will play an important role in this book and the portal to the Naga Realm there.

She also said that Boo will be like *"Why Me?"* for the entire book.

## Dedication

The book is dedicated to Roshani Chokshi's grandparents: Vijya, Ramesh, Apolonia, and Antonio. She says they "carried so much in the crossing of oceans" and she loves them.

## Cover

The fabulous cover of the book, just like its predecessor, is illustrated by Abigail L. Dela Cruz.

The cover depicts a particular scene from the book, namely the scene wherein the Pandavas and Aiden fight the giant crab in Varuna's Palace. However, the cover only shows two of the people, namely: Aru Shah, the reincarnation of Arjuna standing on the left with Vajra, her lightning bolt in her hand and Aiden Acharya the reincarnation of Draupadi standing on the right with his twin scimitars swirling with electricity, courtesy of Vajra. The giant crab is completely gravel-black with burnished red designs and stripes, as it slowly advances towards the duo.

They are in Varuna's Palace, which leads to the fact that they're underwater, which can be seen easily due to the various decorative reeds, the surface of the ocean peeking from behind them and the theme that the cover takes in with the varying shades of blue and aquatic-green it carries.

## Plot

### Battle Of the Night Bazaar

A herd of zombies was currently swarming through the Night Bazaar which was in chaos. Aru Shah and Mini were hiding as they had trouble using their celestial weapons. They had to find a thief somewhere who set off an alarm saying an unwanted demonic presence was in the area. Some zombies found them, so Aru launched Vajra at them and the girls made a run for it. The zombies chased them through the stands and aisles, the thief, another Pandava sister, was at the end, she shifted into a blue wolf and ran off carrying a large and golden bow and arrow. Grocery carts blocked the girls' path.

Mini tried to use Dee Dee but failed. A zombie dentist named Ernst Warren charged at them, the girls managed to hold him off only for at least twenty more to appear. Boo arrives using a vial of grey smoke so the girls can go after their sister. Aru used Vajra to lasso a grocery cart and they go to an arena where students train. In there, the thief and another girl were fighting for control of the bow and arrow, the latter looked exactly like Aru, much to the utter surprise of herself and Mini. The Pandava sister turns into a blue jaguar but the fake Aru throws her against the wall, she was *controlling* the zombies. Mini and Aru believe the fake Aru is a rakshasi as they could take on the appearance of gods, demons, and humans. The two try to fight her but the imposter escapes leaving them surrounded by fire. Up in the sky, Hanuman, Urvashi, and two other members of the Council of Guardians arrive. The two Pandavas used their weapons to shield themselves from Hanuman's water, then they check out the other Pandava. She blames Aru as the thief who blames her back, suddenly air began to lift the three off the ground. A flag, the symbol of Vayu, appeared over her head and turns into her own celestial weapon, a large, blue club. After blowing Mini away, she and Aru were getting ready to fight, Hanuman wanted her half-sister, Brynne, to stop. Aru was then shot into the sky.

### Uloopi's Ultimatum

Aru wakes up in a bubble with a hole in it, Mini and Brynne appear next to her. Using mind link, Mini says that Brynne is the reincarnation of Bhima the Strong, as she broke the glass bubble while Aru hurt herself trying. Down below in the Court of the Sky, the Council of Guardians was gathered together. One of them was King Jambavan, the gigantic bear. The four of them were arguing with a fifth member who says the bow and arrow was stolen from the naga treasury(treasure of Nagini). It had to have been a Pandava as only they could get past Takshaka, the guard who was also present. The bow and arrow belonged to Kamadeva, the Hindu God of Love. The naga woman who blames Aru and Brynne for this, she is Queen Uloopi who was a wife of Arjuna, Aru's previous incarnation. Boo and Hanuman try to defend them but to no avail. Uloopi thinks that the thief is affiliated with the Sleeper who was still at large since he failed to end time. When the council brought the Pandavas down, Uloopi revealed that the thief is kidnapping people and turning them into zombies without *actual* hearts and soon the effects will be permanent. The Pandavas are to prove their innocence by retrieving the bow and arrow in ten days. If they fail, they'll lose their memories of being Pandavas and the Otherworld, their souls will go dormant, and they will be banished from the Otherworld, *forever*. Aru was horrified at not even remembering Mini, Brynne is revealed to be part asura but it doesn't seem like she is the thief. Takshaka also says new Pandavas will come along if they fail, he and Uloopi leave through a portal he made. Brynne thinks she can do this alone but her sisters disagree, Boo can't come as he is suspected to be in league with the Sleeper. Instead, the Council's witness who made them doubt their guilt with join them. He is Aiden Acharya, the new boy Aru word-vomited, and he's actually a great student of semidevine linage. Surprisingly, he and Brynne are revealed to be the best of friends, Boo is wrapped in a golden bar and sent away, he will only be freed if the Heartless are cured. Urvashi advised the quartet to first go to to the Warehouse of Quest Materials for supplies.

Aru goes with Mini to the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture and remembered the battle there with her birth father. Mini goes home to tell her parents where she's going, Krithika arrived to give her daughter a backpack of clothes and snacks. She never wanted to discuss the Sleeper and Aru remembered when she told her the horrible story of Ekalavya's thumb. Arriving at the Warehouse of Quest Materials through a portal, Urvashi explains that they can take *one* item that will disappear on the tenth day, she also suggests they start by looking for the bow and arrow's owner, Kamadeva. Aiden reveals to Aru that he knew she was a Pandava because he used his camera, to zoom in on Vajra. Brynne chose metal sneakers to enhance her fighting ability and reveals that she just found the bow and arrow on the sidewalk, Aiden took a kit of UNIDENTIFIED NECESSITIES and Aru took a bottle containg a "bright idea." She remembers Boo telling them that Kamadeva lives in the Midwest, Brynne calls upon giant gazelles representing the four winds. They remembered Aru and Mini from their last quest and allow Aru to pick West first, Mini chose North, Aiden chose East and Brynne chose South.

### Visiting the God of Love

While flying, Aiden reveals that his mother, Malini the apsara, is now a microbiologist and his dad is a lawyer, but they were getting divorced. The quartet land at Loves Park, Illinois in the Otherworld. Two signs on tree say that they need submitted identification and a guest pass to enter the gold door on the shore of the pond. A nearby swan's nest has a key, but when Aru took it the small swan with it suddenly turns giant and attacks them. Aiden grew two scimitars from his arm braces, Brynne tosses him the key and has him open the door. She tries fighting the swan as an elephant but its true target was the key. Aru has Mini make a duplicate for Brynne to fly away as a bird to mislead the swan.

Everyone manages to make it inside which looked like the lobby of the New York Stock Exchange. Kamadeva approaches them with hovering swords then shows them the time he made Surpanakha attracted to Rama and Laxmana and got incinerated by Shiva. While they were watching Kamadeva looked into their hearts so he can believe that they didn't steal his bow and arrow. But Uloopi wouldn't listen to him, she blames him for falling in love with Arjuna. He reveals that after he got incinerated, his wife Sita to the bow and arrow. But grieving his death, her soul song fled granting the bow and arrow a dark power. Anyone with enchantment knowledge struck by grief could carve out their own soul song, allowing them to use the bow and arrow to rip people's hearts out instead of joining them together. So after he was reincarnated and Rati’s soul song returned to her with him, he gave the weapon to Uloopi’s vault in the Naga Realm. If the thief's soul song is returned, the Heartless will return to normal. He can't with the *Pandavas’* quest due to all the Stock problems, but he does tell them the soul song is in the treasury where the thief stole his weapon. Once found, they must speak the true name of the thief to reveal the weapons' location then plunge the arrow through their heart to cleanse its dark power.

### In Naga-Loka

As Kamadeva takes them to an aquarium, a portal to the underwater realms of the Otherworld, Aru learns that Brynne's bracelets were actually melted trophies. For help, the god of love also gives them a card for the sage Durvasa, who will curse them for wasting his time. Crossing through on of the doors, the quartet arrive the Georgia Aquarium. Heartless people have been reported missing, a large group of them suddenly surround the four. Kamadeva told them to "take the door on the left," so while Mini uses quicksilver on her shield to make them invisible, they enter through a small driftwood door that smelled like the sea.

Inside was a long tunnel underwater, Brynne carries Aru so they can go faster as they have nine days left. At the end of the tunnel was like an airport terminal, except outside was ocean and there were sea animals with bubbles containing humans and creatures instead of planes. Aiden notices that all the Heartless are male, the terminal for naga realm was almost leaving. They managed to make it through the security despite some delays, a humpback whale takes them to the terminal for the Naga-Loka, the capital of the kingdom. But the Pandavas were rejected by an officer and Aru was pulled down into water. Fortunately, Aru Shah is somehow able to breath underwater and talk to fish. She witnessed a naga market and an eel taking passengers to the Will of the Sea, Vajra forces Aru board it.

She arrived at the Palace of Varuna, the god of the waters. While remembering the Ocean of Milk, Varuna's wife, Varuni, the goddess of wine, comes up and asks her to follow her. Varuna was watching cricket, his wife is disappointed in him and says some sort of prophecy about Aru surviving the sea. Aru explains the situation, but neither god will tell the thief's name, though they can give her a secret route to the naga treasury if they feed their pet. A blue crab leads Aru to an arena where her friends were trapped in cages from a naga guard, then he grows and reveals that he is the pet they have to feed. Aru's friends escaped the cages to help out, they need to fill the crab's belly with one of them. During the fight, Aiden has Aru light up her scimitars with her lightning bolt allowing him to do some serious damage to the crab. Soon after Brynne turns into a fly and gets swallowed, the crab vomits her up. Since the gods never said how long their pet's belly had to be filled, the crab reluctantly left and an exit appeared. After putting on air-bubble helmets, Aiden revealed that his mother gave up on being an apsara to marry his dad, he was the only one nice to Brynne due to her being part asura. Varuna lost his wife's bet, Varuni guided them to a dry but unsafe tunnel that will take them to the treasury.

### Fighting Takshaka

Brynne revealed that she found out she was a Pandava last autumn when she saved her two uncles from a car crash, that was around the time Aru and Mini went to the Kingdom of Death. She was hoping to go to but she didn't, Aru said the gods must've have been waiting for the right time. Brynne's mother, who doesn't visit her, said her father was a musician. They reached the palace that was built for Uloopi and Arjuna. A nearby skull talks to Mini saying that they don't know the thief's name yet. In a cave, three snake ladies emerge, they guard terrible secrets, knowledge and treasure. As soon as Mini knows the the thief's real name, she gets taken away by the nagini. Aru got furious and Brynne for not holding her, she even tells her she only *acts* like a hero. The nagini reappeared and say that Mini is safely resting due to using her energy to obtain the knowledge. They wanted more and showed a vision of beautiful, young Uloopi pleading with her father to let her save Arjuna who cursed to be killed by his son. But her father didn't see any bother in this, yet says she must use her own jewel located on her forehead, it caused her to age. Another vision showed her using the jewel to bring Arjuna back to life, and another showed Uloopi and Takshaka talking about the Pandavas' deaths. Aru realized that this is why she has underwater ability and despising Uloopi is old. Before leaving, the nagini reveal that Mini is in the land of sleep near the Court of the Heavens and drop Uloopi's jewel for them to return to her. Aiden says they'll need a sage to protect them. After dreaming, where Mini communicates with Aru at a Home Depot, the amnesiac trio decided to go to the treasury and get the soul song first.

Aru gives Brynne chocolate to make up for earlier, having an asura or the Sleeper as a parent is difficult. Aru realized that Mini wants them to go to Durvasa to save her. Traveling beneath the naga city, the trio fell into the treasury full of snake statues and untold wonders. However, above them, Takshaka attacks them after turning into a complete snake. He wanted revenge against the Pandavas for burning down the Khandava Forest that killed his family. He used to be friends with Indra, but his rain was too much work to put out the fire, now Takshaka is friends with the Sleeper. The three were losing the fight against him, but remembering the dream with Mini, Aiden played Luis Fonsi's *Despacito*, which Takshaka hates. Using this opening, Aru finds a red orb with a chain, the thief's soul song! Unfortunately, Aiden's phone hit a commercial allowing Takshaka to counter, but Aru grabbed it and turned up the music volume, only for her to drop and break it. Takshaka demanded the song, it turns out he let the female thief steal the bow and arrow. Varja wouldn't work on him due to a boon from Indra, Brynne and Aiden get defeated as well. But suddenly, bhangra music begins playing and a Naga boy tells the trio to run. He is revealed to be Takshaka's grandson. Aru saw him at the Night Bazaar on her last quest, her wants her phone number, and after some hesitation, she gives it to him and leaves with Brynne, Aiden and the theif's soul song.

### Rescuing Mini

The three arrive at Little India in Edison, New Jersey. While having some *chaat* and *samosa*, Brynne gives Aru, Aiden's camera as she pours water on him so he wouldn't pass out, he reveals that he named it Shadowfax. The thief's soul song didn't have any music, instead it had smoke and "fingernails" inside. On the back of the card Kamadeva gave them, Durvasa is at the DMV (department of *many voices*). When they introduced themselves to the card, it began folded into a clock and eventually span to let them know that Durvasa has accepted their appointment. Then it makes a trail for them it follow and crossing into the Otherworld, they found a small DMV/ashram everywhere they looked.

Inside, a yakshini girl named Iris refused them entry for three centuries unless they had a green ticket. So Aiden, part apsara, smoldered Iris allowing Brynne to sneakingly get the ticket. Up the staircase were booths for the sages Durvasa, Bhrigu, Kindama, and Narada. The last sage cursed a gandharva to lose sense of time for listening to music when he was talking. Durvasa called for the Pandavas while giving specific curses to people, yet he simply leaves after refusing to help them. After Aiden's opened his locked door, they find themselves in a cosmic gallery. A statue named Shakuntula was inside a glass case in rows, Aiden remembered that she was someone Durvasa cursed from the old stories. The sage appeared and explained his motive for taking the gods immortality away and that one statue was apsara named Rambha. When they explained the dire situation, Durvasa decided to say that he can not tell them that Mini is at the Bridge of Dusk and Dawn because he wishes some endings could be avoided. He also didn't give them adequate protection in the celestial realms by speaking to them which will vanish after sunrise.

The three enter the Dreaming Grove of Ratri, home to the goddess of night. As soon as Brynne picked a silver fruit from one of the trees, three black hounds chased each of them. When Aru looked into one's eyes she saw the Sleeper, her sisters turning on her, and Boo imprisoned. They couldn't get to the bridge because they were trapped in a nightmare. Brynne was seeing Anila, her mother, disappointed in her, Aiden saw his mother crying about her relationship with his dad. Aru saw a Great Pyrenees in the reflection of the fruit, when she stood up to the nightmare hounds it got sad and turned into the white dog, then it woke up Aiden and Brynne making the other two hounds dissolve. Suddenly, Ratri appeared and revealed that the "apple" is a Dream Fruit, it shows what normally can't be seen like in dreams, she was responsible for Mini in their dreams. They can cross the bridge now, but are warned of Ratri's sister.

At the Bridge of Dusk and Dawn, the three found Mini sleeping in the air. Nearby was the Palace of Day, Ushas, the arrogant goddess of the Dawn who drags the sun, lived there. She and her red cows appeared, but Mini wouldn't wake up. The other three said that they are in a disgusting bathroom with sneezing and the five-second rule, that worked. Brynne flew ahead as Aru turned Varja into a hoverboad to carry the others. But Aiden dropped Mini forcing Aru to pick her up, Aiden was sent towards the cows but just ended up riding one. Ushas was a huge fan of Malini.

When they were back at Durvasa, Mini took a POWER NAP she got from the warehouse. The earned more of the sage's trust by suggesting curses her was giving to people. He brought them to the astral plane, a sanctuary not revealed to anyone else. Brynne put the thief's soul song on the floor and Mini said that her name was Surpanakha, she was the sister of demon king Ravana and the one responsible for the war in *Ramayana*. After a while, her soul song shows her talking with Takshaka about taking the amrita, the nectar of immortality the gods had gotten with the asuras whom they reneged. It's located in a golden dome with a labyrinth containing serpents whose fire kills anything with a heartbeat, this explained the Heartless zombies, Surpanakha's hiding them in the Ocean of Milk.

### Sparky's Challenge

With two days left before they are exiled, Durvasa advised the quartet *not* to go to the Mall of Meditation Groves to *illegally* get to the Great Swamp of New Jersey. The mall was filled with different environments for rishis and sages to meditate, yakshas were trying to outsell each other. Brynne muscled the others to a portal leading to the kiosk for the Morris Country, then she revealed to the yaksha that they are the Pandavas causing him to sound the alarm allowing the quartet to get through the portal.

When they arrived at the swamp, Brynne found the entrance to Ocean of Milk past some trees. But then five figures arrived, one was an asura who brought another taller figure nicknamed Sparky. Lady M, Surpanakha, told them to prevent any entry. A girl named Hira was forced show the quartet that Surpanakha was beautiful by transforming. Aiden recognized one as Navdeep from school, Mini cast an invisibility spell she mastered while sleeping, only for an asura to say a counter spell. But Aru traps them in Vajra forcing them to surrender, but Sparky was not caught and made their weapons disappear as he didn't like fighting.

He decided to challenge Brynne to an eating contest so they can enter the Ocean of Milk. The food included lentil soup, naan, chutney, idli, and more. The contest begins, Sparky and Brynne talked about occasions where they ate lots of food. For dessert, there was rasmalai and halwa, Aru noticed Sparky changing when he ate while talking about is life. Brynne lost the contest as she was already full, but it turns out she lost to Agni, the god of fire. Flames began to inadvertently engulf the area around them, the Pandavas unsuccessfully asked their spiritual fathers for help, so Aru threw the BRIGHT IDEA bottle at Agni to push her idea of nothing edible onto him. Suddenly, the previously burned area turned rich with jewels. Agni gave them their weapons back and allowed passage into the Ocean of Milk. When questioned about the Khandava Forest, he told them the tale of Jaya and Vijaya, it proved that while life isn't fair, things don't happen without an unknown reason. Aru remembered something her mother told her, villains can do heroic things and heroes can do villainous things. Agni decided to bestow the quartet with gifts, Mini received a Night Flame so she would never be lost in the dark, Brynne's wind mace received a new flaming ability, Aru received an *Incendiary Offers for Future Use* coin so she can receive a weapons in the future, and Aiden's Shadowfax was added eternal memory and battery.

### Final Battle In The Ocean of Milk

Under the Ocean of Milk, there was leftover treasures from when it was churned. The quartet could see a golden glow far in the darkness of shadows, while talking about his mother Aiden liked Aru as a friend. They reached a green glass tunnel that to the dome where the *amrita* was. It was surrounded by a Heartless army, two talking nagas were right next to the tunnel doors. Mini used her shield so they'd sneak to the doors, but one guard made the Pandava girls trip when he practiced dancing to bhangra. When the two nagas detained Aru, Surpanakha arrived and sent the guards to the outside, but she turned out to be Hira the rakshasi. She revealed that she is part of the Otherworld Foster Care System and Navdeep's family took her in, apparently he just acts arrogant when he's with his friends. Brynne offered to take her in, her uncle was a descendant of Mayasura, the architect who built the Palace of Illusions.

With only a few hours remaining, they searched the perimeter of the dome. Mini accidentally touched the dome with Dee Dee, causing the celestial weapons to become powerless! The Heartless came to life and Takshaka and *beautiful* Lady M carrying the bow and arrow arrived. She said that her real name is not Surpanakha, the naga king didn't trust Uloopi after she fell in love with Arjuna. Lady M tried to persuade them in joining their cause by saying that stories die after they are stopped being told unless people find parts, polish them up, and breath life into them. That's what she wants the *amrita* for, not for herself, if they plunge the arrow in her heart, she will disappear with her true story, her soul would become a song of death. Her parents named her Meenakshi when she was born, the reason she wanted to marry Rama or Laxmana was because Ravana killed her greedy rakshasa husband. But Laxmana ridiculed her and her furious pride made her attack Sita. She's more than a monster in a story, she's a scapegoat who suffered disfigurement, she wanted to be remembered for her triumphs. However, now she was beginning to look more demonic as people imagined her, but she needs the *amrita* because many others feel the same way, including the Sleeper, in fact it was *his* idea. Aru pointed out that the things Lady M and her own father did weren't right, but then she told the five about what happened with Sita and her, she gave them five minutes to think this over.

Hira was a bit *too* sympathetic of Lady M, Aru remembered the Sleeper's foul army, she and her friends decided to fight. If they don't, they'll be banished and the Heartless will stay like that forever, two wrongs don't make a right. Aru got the idea of using Hira as an impostor Meenakshi, but she doesn't tell her until later when she had an opening. When Lady M returned, Aru wanted Kamadeva's bow and arrow, their weapons came back. But Meenakshi fired the arrow at Aiden, who was now Heartless!

Upon the signal Mini threw Dee Dee over Lady M covering her with the shield. In the fight, Takshaka took control of the arrow but couldn't find Lady M, soon disguised Hira arrived and took the arrow. The real Lady M escaped Dee Dee, but when Aru got the arrow she reluctantly plunged it into her chest. Her soul did indeed become a song of death, it sounded like ice creeping across a window pane, a warning shout unleashed a second too late, water closing over your head, and the silent chime of a moment that has been forgotten forever. However, all the Heartless zombies, including Aiden, came back to normal. The sound of the celestial mounts were heard to take the Heartless to their homes, but Takshaka revealed that the quartet have missed their deadline before leaving through a portal. Lady M looked beautiful again, alas she then faded, the quartet vowed to remember Meenakshi's full story.

### (Boring) Aftermath

Takshaka returned with Uloopi, Urvashi and Hanuman, the former naga king denies any involvement with the theft. So they returned to the Court of the Sky for a trial with the Council of Guardians. The Pandavas explained what had happened to them on their quest. Suddenly, Aiden arrived and showed the Council Shadowfax that contained a hologram of Takshaka admitting that he hid Uloopi's heart jewel. At this point, Aru returned the jewel she had in her backpack, the queen thanked and apologized to the Pandavas and had two guards take Takshaka away, then Boo returns.

### Awkward News

Two weeks later, the Pandavas were practicing balancing book on their with weapons surrounding them. Boo advised them that there will soon a war where the Sleeper would be faced again. He too felt sympathy for Meenakshi due to his own past in avenging his sister, he decided to teach them about the bad stories of the Pandavas as well. One hour later, they arrived at the Soul Exchange to return the bow and arrow to Kamadeva. The god of love promised Aiden Acharya an arrow so he can try to get his parents back together, Mini received a box which can erase a minute of time, Brynne got Kamadeva's favorite cookbook, and Aru received a spotlight that makes the world see her in a different light. He wished the Pandavas well, Aiden said he wasn't a Pandava like he's been saying throughout the whole book, but Kamadeva reveals that his *is* one by marriage, he is the reincarnation of Queen Draupadi, the Pandavas' wife.

### Happy Birthday Aru!

February 15th was Aru Shah's birthday, she was dressed as Gandalf because she has invited her friends, including Hira, to binge-watch Lord of the Rings together. Boo has given fifteen minutes off from their weekend training session. However, the Sleeper has not yet been found and Takshaka was revealed to have escaped his jailers. Aru has heard rumors through the Council of Guardians of Kalpavriksha, a tree that grants wishes, and other treasures from the Ocean of Milk. But right now, Aru's party was almost starting. Aiden threw the arrow he received at his mother which made her feel happy, Aiden decided to use it to help her see herself the same way he does.

That night, everyone was lying around the room, they were tired from the party. At midnight, Aru received a text that apparently came from Takshaka's grandson who helped them. He said he going to call in on Aru's favor. When she went to sleep, she dreamed she was in a forest with the dog from the Grove of Ratri. Suddenly, a pair of younger twin girls showed up claiming she was in *their* dream. One of them received a vision where Aru Shah would save the two the following year.

## Prophecy

*The girl with eyes like a fish and a heart snapped in two*

*Will be met in battle by a girl name Aru.*

*But take care what you do with a heart so broken*

*For uglier truths will soon be spoken.*

*You, daughter of Indra, have a tongue like a whip,*

*But be wary of those whom you serve lip,*

*For there is a tale beyond that soon you shall see.*

*But all that depends on your surviving the sea.*

## Unraveling the Prophecy

1. Meenakshi, whose name meant "the one with fish-shaped eyes," carved out her soul song to use Kamadeva's bow and arrow to create an army of heartless zombies.
2. Meenakshi would battle Aru Shah, reincarnation of Arjuna, under the Ocean of Milk.
3. Meenakshi had a broken heart to to her brother, Ravana, killing her husband.
4. Meenakshi would tell Aru Shah and her friends the actual true stories of her life and how the devas did injustice to her.
5. Aru Shah, the soul daughter of Indra, had a tongue which spoke as swiftly and sharply as a whip.
6. This is meant to caution Aru, meaning, that she should be cautious of those people she is agreeing to, because she would be torn between the sides of the devas and the rakshasas.
7. This line talks about the true tale of Meenakshi, and her true self, beyond what Aru has known and learned.
8. 'Surviving the sea' can either mean surviving the army of the Heartless on the Ocean of Milk, or surviving through the Naga-Loka, which is basically under the sea.

## Chapter List

1. **New Demon Who Dis?**
2. **Keeping Up with the Pandavas**
3. **Aru Shah: Demigod and Hamster Impersonator**
4. **We Literally *Just* Went on a Quest**
5. **This Is Fine. Really**
6. **The Warehouse of Quest Materials, aka "Do *Not* Touch That"**
7. **Who Doesn't Like Vegan Granola?**
8. **Swans are the Worst**
9. **That One Time I Got Incinerated**
10. **That Went Well ... Not**
11. **Terminal C. Get It? LOL**
12. **Aru Shah Is a Piece of Sushi**
13. **I Mean, Technically, We're Family....**
14. **Heeeere, Monstrous Kitty!**
15. **No, I Can't Sing. Leave Me Alone**
16. **Mini Gets a (Spooky) New Power**
17. **Uloopi's Secret**
18. **A Chocolaty Truce**
19. ***Dehhhh-Spah-CITO***
20. **I Don't Trust Nobody and Nobody Trusts Me**
21. **The Dangerous Samosa**
22. **Aiden Brings the Smolder**
23. **Leave the Rock Outta This**
24. **Mistakes Have Been Made....**
25. **And Then Came the Fiery Cows**
26. **Cows Are Officially Cancelled**
27. **Sage Durvasa Curses**
28. **We'll Even Throw in Starvation for Free!**
29. **Did Your Parents Really Name You Sparky?**
30. **Brynne Loses an Eating Contest**
31. **Aru Shah Is on Fire. No, but Seriously. Like *Fire* Fire. This Is Not a Drill**
32. **Presents from Uncle Agni**
33. **But Real Talk, *Where* Are the Cookies?**
34. **Oh No! Oh No! Oh, Wait a Minute....**
35. **Hello, New Friend!**
36. **The Tale of the Demon Princess**
37. **Lady M Makes a Request**
38. **Who's the Heartless One Now?**
39. **Shadowfax Saves the Day**
40. **Well, This Is Awkward**
41. **You Shall Not Pass!**
42. **There and Back Again, an Aru Tale**
43. **ALL BY MAH-SELLLF** (Bonus Halloween Special Chapter)

## Characters

### Main Characters

* Aru Shah
* Mini
* Brynne Rao
* Aiden Acharya
* Meenakshi/Surpanakha
* Takshaka
* Uloopi

### Other Characters

* Kamadeva
* Durvasa
* Hira
* Agni
* Varuna
* Varuni
* Navdeep
* Ratri
* Ushas
* Boo
* Urvashi
* Hanuman
* Jambavan
* Unnamed Naga Boy (Takshaka's grandson)

### Minor Characters

* Crab (Supposedly Sebastian's Sibling)
* Ushas' cows
* Yakshas
* Iris
* Swan
* Gandharva
* Heartless Zombies
* Ernst Warren

## Trivia

* The plot of the book is similar to the plot of *Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief* from *Riordanverse* where both Percy Jackson and Aru Shah were accused of stealing a powerful weapon and set off to clear their names.
* There is a bonus chapter featuring Aiden, Brynne, Aru, and Mini going to a Halloween party dressed as an incognito Peter Parker, a saltshaker, a unicorn, and Winnie Sanderson respectively.

### Mentions of Other Cultures

* Destinations at the Georgia Aquarium airport include *Lemuria*, *Avalon*, and *Atlantis*.
* Before fighting Varuna's crab, Aru asks if it can sing to which the crab sarcastically asks if she will ask if he has a Jamaican accent too. This is a nod to *Sebastian* from The Little Mermaid.
	+ After that point, Aiden alludes Tamatoa, the singing crab from Moana, another animated Disney film.
* In one scene, Aru Shah, Mini and Brynne dress as the *Sanderson* sisters from the movie, *Hocus Pocus*.

## Link to Bonus Chapter

https://www.readriordan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Aru-Shah-Halloween.pdf