Aiden Acharya

* Aiden
* With Aru

**Aiden** **Acharya** is a main character in the Pandava Quintet where he is the the modern-day reincarnation of Draupadi, the wife of the Pandava brothers. He is the boyfriend of Aru Shah and currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with his mother.

## **History**

### Early Life

Aiden Acharya was raised in an unspecified place, probably in the Otherworld, where his parents argued a lot before eventually divorcing. At some point, he befriended Brynne Rao after seeing people bullying her, and they eventually became best friends.

## The Pandava Quintet

### Aru Shah and the End of Time

Aiden moves to Aru’s school right before winter break. Aru thinks that Aiden is good-looking. When Aru first meets him, she momentarily panics and says some embarrassing stuff before running off.

### Aru Shah and the Song of Death

Aiden goes along with Brynne, Mini Kapoor-Mercado-Lopez, and Aru on a quest to clear their names because they were falsely accused of stealing Kamadeva's bow and arrow and need to return it to its rightful owner, lest they be banished from the Otherworld. They travel through the dangerous realm of Naga Loka to find the true thief of the bow and arrow, making new friends and dangerous enemies along the way. At the end of the book, the group realizes that Surpanakha AKA Meenakshi, is the thief. When they meet the council to clear their names and prove that Takshaka isn't a very good person, Takshaka denies it. Aiden, who had recorded his gloating confession, shows it to the Council and clears their names. Every time someone calls the group Pandavas, Aiden immediately corrects them, saying he isn't a Pandava. He does this until the end of the book, when Kamadeva reveals that Aiden is actually the reincarnation of Draupadi, the wise and beautiful princess who was married to all five of the Pandava brothers.

#### All By Mah-Selllf (Bonus Chapter)

Aiden goes to an Otherworld Halloween party along with Aru, Mini and Brynne. He wears a dark green shirt and dark jeans, saying that he dressed up as 'incognito Peter Parker' when asked by Aru.

### Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes

Aiden helps the three Pandava sisters rescue two "targets", one of whom is about to utter a prophecy that could turn the tide in the war between the devas and asuras. The targets turn out to be the last two reincarnated Pandava siblings, Nikita Jagan and Sheela Jagan. Ultimately, the Pandavas and Aiden fail in preventing the prophecy from reaching the Sleeper's ears, and they are asked to step aside. Instead, Aiden goes with Aru, Mini, Brynne, and Rudy on their unofficial quest to retrieve Kalpavriksha. The groups encounters new demons and gods on their journey, and eventually locate Kalpavriksha. He continues his streak of denying being a Pandava, going so far as to call himself "Pandava-adjacent" (and Rudy, by virtue of being his cousin, "Pandava-adjacent-adjacent"). Throughout the book, it seems as though he develops feelings for Aru, although to what extent it is yet to be seen.

### Aru Shah and the City of Gold

Aiden goes along with Aru, Mini, Brynne, and Kara to Lanka to win the Nairata army from Lord Kubera. He helps the girls finish the three trials that they need to complete in order to gain the army, the antima astra, and free Hanuman and Urvashi from Kubera's prison. Aiden helps the devas and the Potatoes by battling and defeating the Sleeper’s army. Later on Aru’s birthday, when Aru confronts him about how Aiden was avoiding her and she ends up telling him her feelings for him, he kisses her and says, “Happy Birthday, Aru.”

## **Appearance**

Aiden is Indian-American, and extremely attractive, due to being the son of an apsara. He’s mentioned to have dimples, curly black hair that occasionally sticks up like horns when he runs his hands over it, dark eyes framed by even darker eyelashes, a nice smell similar to clean laundry, and skin that looks golden-brown in the afternoon light. He’s taller than Aru by “at least a foot”, although that might have been an exaggeration on Aru’s part. His eyes also have flashes of blue that remind Aru of the sky and dusk, which are likely only noticeable when you look closely.

Aiden prefers darker clothes and looks like "an elegant shadow". Normally he doesn't care about his appearance and just wears whatever is in his closet.

## **Personality**

Aiden is an extremely empathetic person and cares about his mother a lot, constantly thinking about her even when he is faced with his own problems. He doesn't like conflict and often tries to get the people around him to get along; he spends the majority of *Aru Shah and the Song of Death* trying to get Aru and Brynne to be friends. In *Aru Shah and the City of Gold*, Aru explicitly describes Aiden as being 'indecisive' and unable to choose between things, which is shown as he refuses to support either Aru's or Kara's ideas when they're trying to figure out what to do. This is shown as a result of his parents' divorce.

Despite his unwillingness to fight with others or get involved in fights, Aiden still stands up for himself. For example, when Aru accuses him of being creepy for using his camera's zoom lens and take a closer look at Vajra, he says that she has been creepy for stalking him.

 Aiden's very introspective and doesn't talk a lot, to the point where his cousin calls him "broody." Aiden often jokes around with and teases Brynne, and later the others, but he's still very serious when important matters are at hand. He's observant, quick-thinking, and proactive, which is shown when he records Takshaka’s confession.

Aiden is protective of those he loves, which is part of the reason why he's known as 'Ammamma'. He's also protective of those he views as being victims, such as Hira, Kara, as well as Nikita and Sheela. Due to his protectiveness, Aiden tends to be somewhat standoffish towards those he views as being potentially dangerous, such as Hira before he learns more about her past.

## **Relationships**

### **MALINI** (mother)

Aiden cares deeply about his mother. He feels bad for the fact that she got divorced from Mr. Acharya, since he's basically a reminder forever of her failed romance, and he's somewhat jaded towards the Otherworld as a result from that.

### **MR. ACHARYA** (father)

Aiden seems to be less close with his father than with his mother, but he lives with him every other weekend and was given his treasured camera, Shadowfax, from his father, although he thinks that was probably just because his dad didn’t want it anymore, in the same way he thinks his dad didn’t want him and his mother anymore. He feels more sad and wistful than angry and upset about that, but that might just be his tendency to internalize stuff.

### **URVASHI** (maternal aunt, mentor)

Aiden and Urvashi care for each other. Urvashi is sympathetic towards his family situation and doesn’t seem to be overly judgemental of his mother. Urvashi stands up for Aiden when Takshaka talks to him in a dismissive way.

### **MINI KAPOOR-MERCADO-LOPEZ** (friend, reincarnated husband)

Aiden and Mini serve as the respective peacemakers of their friend group. They bond briefly over knowing about various diseases while riding on the wind gazelles to Kamadeva, and later Mini comes to view him as a brother. When they find out they used to be married in a past life, Mini and Aiden both agree that their relationship is completely platonic, with Mini saying that the thought of being married to Aiden makes her feel nauseated.

### **BRYNNE RAO** (friend, reincarnated husband)

Brynne and Aiden are pretty good friends and both seem to consider their friendship as one between a brother and sister, which makes things awkward when they found out they used to be married. They have nicknames for each other and jokingly tease each other. When they were younger, Aiden found Brynne being bullied for her asura heritage, so he stepped in and cursed the bullies, which started their friendship.

### **ARU SHAH** (love interest, friend, reincarnated husband)

Aiden and Aru had a rocky start to their relationship. Aru, having a crush on him, bumped into him one day, and in their first mutual interaction, she word-vomited on him and ran away. When they meet again in *Aru Shah and the Song of Death*, he seems somewhat embarrassed when Brynne lets on he talked about that encounter with her in front of Aru. Throughout the book they become friends. A few times, Aiden says that he obviously doesn’t feel romantic feelings for Aru, and Aru, embarrassed, agrees. A significant step in their relationship occurs when Aru notices Aiden sulking in her lawn during her birthday party and he brings her along on his mission to Parent Trap his parents; however, Aru helps show him that what he really cares about is whether his mom is happy and loves herself.

There is also a part in *Aru Shah and the Song of Death*, where Aiden, Brynne, and Aru are discussing what happened previously, with their fight against Takshaka. Brynne and Aru were filling Aiden in, as Aiden had been knocked out. After Aru is done explaining what happened, Brynne says "A boy asked for Aru's number." To which Aiden responds saying, "Why?" Aiden's comment hurts Aru, but she says sarcastically, "Wow, thanks." Aiden blushes and starts to say something, but Aru cuts him off.

Several times in  *Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes*, he hints that he might have a crush on her, whether he recognizes it as such or not, like when he stares at her after she gets her new outfit from Nikita, when he implies that she's beautiful when she says Sohail the chakora bird viewed her as hideous, or when after using the key, he openly stares at her for a full second, implying that the key has unlocked a feeling within him.

There is also a part of the beginning of the book where Sheela tells the story of Princess Draupadi (who was reincarnated into Aiden) and the 5 Pandava brothers. She ends her story with; "The only sad thing was that she loved one brother more than the rest." After she finished her story, her eyes flashed silver, according to Aru, and then said, mostly to herself; "Even lifetimes later?" Aiden then responded and said, "What are you talking about?" Sheela could possibly be referring to Aru. The reason why Sheela would be referring to Aru, and not Brynne, Mini, Nikita, or Sheela herself, is because Aiden only sees Brynne as his best friend, Mini as his sister, and the twins as his friends, leaving the only other person to be Aru. We don't really know how Aiden feels about Aru, but it is implied he has a crush on her.

At Home Depot, Rudy tells Aru that she must hate the place, with Aru replying that she doesn't hate the place, as she and her mother had fun times there. Rudy invited Aru to his palace, in which she is originally excited about, as no boys have ever invited her anywhere. However, she saw Mini stop for a moment, then continue, and she immediately felt bad, as she knew Mini had a crush on Rudy. She politely turns Rudy down, and tries to catch up with the other girls. As she is leaving, she overhears Rudy tell Aiden that he thought Aru would hate Home Depot. Aru imagines Aiden fiddling with his camera when he says "Then I guess you don't really know her."

However, in *Aru Shah and the City of Gold*, it is very visible that Aiden reciprocates her feelings for him. Near the end of the book, Aru confesses her feelings for him, and the two kiss.

### **RUDY** (cousin, friend)

Rudy and Aiden have a slightly rough relationship, where Aiden is often annoyed by the sheer difference of Rudy and himself, but Rudy seems to like Aiden and teases him often.

### **KARA** (friend)

Throughout *Aru Shah and the City of Gold*, Kara and Aiden became close friends, and Aru suspected that there was romantic attraction between them. Aiden frequently took Kara's side when the Potatoes weren't being nice to her. At Aru's birthday party, Aru overhears Kara telling Aiden she likes him. However, he rejects her and tells her he only thinks of her as a friend, and Kara storms off.

## **Powers**

### **Shadowfax**

Aiden takes pictures of everything, according to Brynne; he considers himself a photojournalist. The camera, Shadowfax, is “kind of dumpy-looking” according to Aru, and according to Aiden, it’s a Hasselblad his dad owned way back in 1998, when he had dreams of being a photographer. A mechanic in the Night Bazaar modified the internal mechanism of the SLR and converted it into the modern, digital SLR as well as added an entire Bluetooth chip, making it so the photos don’t have to be developed but automatically get sent to both Aiden’s phone and laptop. The phone is for checking out, and the laptop is for editing.

#### Fire Battery

Agni’s gift to Aiden, a “fire battery” which ensures that the power will never run out and that the camera will always have enough memory.

#### Night Vision

Aiden’s camera has “night vision,” which allows him to take pictures in the dark that come out right.

#### Emergency Accessory Transformation

By pressing a golden button on top of his camera, the camera, along with the bag, folds up until it becomes a watch on his wrist. By touching the watch, his camera bag and camera return to his hip.

#### Seeing Far Away

By looking through his camera, Aiden can see far away things that look like specks to Aru.

### **Apsara Abilities**

Aiden is the son of an apsara, which means he inherited some apsara-related powers from his mother.

#### Smoldering

All apsaras, as Aiden puts it, have a kind of hypnotic power that makes them impossible to look away from and make people follow them, which Aiden can also do. He doesn't like using this power, since he's seen some of his aunts and uncles (on the apsara side) take it too far. He says to Aru that it didn't seem right to do that to someone when they didn't agree to it.

#### Singing

Aiden can use his apsara powers to sing songs, something that he doesn't like. He uses this power in Home Depot to sing a lullaby, which helps to lull some baby plants to sleep. According to Aru, his singing summons a "feeling of contentment, like spending a whole day out on the lake or at the pool, drowsy with sunshine." His signing is so good, Rudy asks him to be part of his "band".

### **Gifted Abilities**

#### Cursing

Queen Draupadi was known for her sharp tongue and the curses she threw upon people who messed with her. Aiden also has this ability because he is her reincarnation. He once cursed a group of bullies when he was younger.

### **Scimitars**

Aiden uses twin scimitars as his main weapon. They can conduct electricity without electrocuting him. In *Aru Shah and the City of Gold*, one of them is accidentally destroyed by Aru. He later gets a replacement from a soldier in the Nairrata army.

#### Leather Bands on Wrists

Aiden has two leather bands on his wrists that he can transform into his scimitars.

## **Trivia**

* Aiden’s mom, who works as a microbiologist, gifted him a big book of diseases.
* Aiden’s dad is a lawyer; he is going to practice in New York after he gets married to Aiden’s stepmom, Annette
* Aiden carries a tiny packet of Kleenex in his camera bag
* He was named "Aiden" because his parents couldn't decide on a name, and looked up names on the Internet
* Aiden's mother Malini taught him how to waltz
* He is a good dancer, but tries to hide it by always volunteering to be the official photographer at school dances
* Aiden practiced the poker-chip trick Le Chiffre did in *Casino Royale* for 6 months, but never used the trick because he doesn't play poker.
* Confirmed by Roshani, he is a Scorpio sun and Cancer moon.
* On Twitter, in response to a question about why Aiden's name didn't start with a D (similar to how the other Pandava sisters' names matched their reincarnation), Roshani stated that she had originally considered the names "Drew" or "Dhruv" for Aiden, but ultimately went with a name that captured the personality of his previous reincarnation.
	+ Interestingly enough, "Drapaudi" can mean "daughter of fire", while "Aiden" can mean "little fire".
* Aiden's closeness to the Pandava sisters can be a (in)direct hint at the former bearers of their soul - Draupadi was very close with Arjuna, Bhima, Yudhistira, Nakula, and Sahadeva. (Though it is shown that Aiden does prefer Aru to the others, as Draupadi does to Arjuna).