Aru Shah and the Nectar of Immortality

We all have a role in life. Maybe we’re someone’s sibling or spouse, a teacher or a parent, a ruler or a warrior. And with that comes a duty to show up for the situations life throws at you! After that, you do your best and let everything else go. The outcome? Pfft. Not your problem. People’s opinions? Not the point! When you go home and look in the mirror, it’s your face you’ve got to look at. No one else’s.

How would you describe yourself?" asked Tumburu. Aru consider this. And then, in a very measured voice, she said, "Kind." Brynne snorted. "You mean sneaky." "Uh, imaginative," said Mini, a touch defensively. "Very imaginative." No one asked you to elaborate! Aru said through the mind link, but her sisters only laughed. "Kinda weird," said Rudy. Aiden glanced at her. The corner of his mouth tipped up. "Chaotic.

When someone chose to see you only as small and weak, it made them careless. Careless enough not to notice when a small and weak thing crept past all their expectations and laid a trap they didn’t expect.

Sometimes being strong demanded the courage to be weak.

Ah, time. The best cosmic joke in the universe.

There's no way I'm coming out there to watch you guys make eyes at each other for five minutes straight!' shouted Brynne from the kitchen. 'We don't do that!' said Aru. You do, said Mini through their mind link. Aiden pretended to be very preoccupied with Shadowfax.

'Please, Shah?' Aru opened her eyes. the swarm of black leaves and dirt was barely six inches from her face. She shuddered, jumping back and colliding with something warm and solid. She caught her breath... Aiden. His hand moved to her waist, drawing her against him. 'I've got you, Shah,' he said. When he spoke, his voice ruffled the wisps of hair that had escaped from her braid. 'Don't go.

There is more than one kind of darkness, and none is darker than doubt, for the light required to illuminate it belongs not to a jewel or a flame, but your very soul.

S. saw that you might need this. The helmets should block Aiden's hypnotic apsara stuff so no one does anything embarrassing... again >:) -N & S P.S. The tambourine? hahaha "Amazing," said Aru, crossing her arms. "Little sisters can troll you at any distance.

Mankind is stubborn. You can lead them to a pool of righteousness and they will still prefer their poisoned wells. After a while, all that is lovely and bright tarnishes beneath their gaze….

Go with my blessings, Pandavas,” said the god of fire. “But before you do, let me offer one last piece of wisdom. There is more than one kind of darkness, and none is darker than doubt, for the light required to illuminate it belongs not to a jewel or a flame, but your very soul.

Life is a heck of a battlefield, but I gotta say, the scenery is totally worth it.

THE TIME OF THE POTATOES HAS COME!

Aru teetered backward, her arms pinwheeling as she scrambled for secure footing. Someone caught hold of her wrist. 'I've got you, Shah,' said Aiden fiercely. It was the last thing she heard before something thudded against her head and the whole world went dark.

The last four beds inched closer, and Aru felt a terrible drowsiness wash over her. She swayed on the spot until she felt a warm hand close around her wrist, and she looked up to see Aiden staring at her. The starry flecks in his eyes held her steady. 'Don't you dare, Shah,' he said. 'Stay with me.

I'm just going to do my best! That's all I got! I don't know what to do. I don't know if I'm going to make a mistake or if everyone's going to hate me. I don't know if it's going to work. And I don't even know if it will matter in the end...but I have to try.

First things first," said Aru, lifting her hand. "I cannot speak to you in iambic pentameter. I'm in high school. And I'm in Otherworld training. So, I've got, like, three brain cells left, and it would take at least four for me to come up with rhymes.

Brynne Tvarika Lakshmi Balamuralikrishna Rao had always been strong. Like, so strong that even her shadow bristled with muscles and other shadows would wither away in its presence.

It was lovely and exhilarating, like holding your breath underwater and opening your eyes, knowing you wouldn’t be able to see this forever.

Sorry we couldn’t do this sooner, but, you know, I’ve got a lot of jobs to juggle.” He winked in the mirror. “Anyway, you’ll learn this on your own, but it’s worth telling you. Life is a heck of a battlefield, but I gotta say, the scenery is totally worth it.

Guys?” said Aiden. All three sisters snapped at him. “WHAT?

AT LAST, A WORTHY OPPONENT!” he’d roared, shaking the stalactites hanging from the cave. “I AM OFFICIALLY INTRIGUED!

sometimes it takes being powerless to understand what it means to be powerful,

On the bright side, your drool was minimal this time! said Mini through their mind link. I didn’t even need to get out the wet wipes! Aru sighed. Clearly, I’m winning at life.

you just gotta show up... and let go

I find joy in the doing and not the receiving

Brynne rolled her eyes. “You watch too many movies, Shah.” Aru ignored her and reached up to touch her hair, which she normally kept in a loose braid. “Maybe I could—” “I’m telling you this now, out of love. You cannot pull off Rey’s hairstyle,” said Nikita. “One, you don’t have the forehead for it. And two, you will look like a hedgehog that got into a fight with a lawnmower.

Uh-oh…That serious?” “Kinda?” said Aru. “I mean, the fate of the entire universe is on the line, so I’d rank that…mildly important?

When Aru opened her eyes, she found herself in the only place in the world that made her feel like she could breathe a bit easier, a place where broken things could be fixed, where all the answers lay in plain sight, where the aisles held the rare perfume of possibility tinged ever so slightly with the sweetness of mulch and wood chips…. “Aru, you really need to get over your Home Depot obsession,” said Nikita, staring down with her hands firmly planted on her hips. “Can’t you dream about someplace else?” “Nope,” said Aru. Of course, in the dream, Home Depot didn’t really look the same. First, Aru was sitting in an armchair that seemed to be made of cotton candy for no apparent reason. For another, the aisle banner over her head said FLOORING, but instead of the shelves being filled with things like wood laminate or vinyl plank, she was staring at a rotating row of moon jellyfish and miniature thunderclouds. At the end of the aisle, which somehow seemed as if it were hundreds of feet away and yet close enough to touch, stood a huge podium where an endless supply of doors rotated.