Aru Shah and the Soul Trident

The Big Scary Lady gets Murder-ed

The Potatoes, except for whale-Brynne who was still on top of Putana, huddled together, suspicious of Jayant. Jayant, on the other hand, seemed relaxed. A little too relaxed for Aru's taste. Just like the Sleeper, Aru thought with a sudden chill running down her back.

Jayant clapped his hands together and addressed Brynne, "Daughter of Vayu, you may get off now. I assure you, Putana will not attack without my permission." At the last part, he glared at the rakshasi, who cowered under his gaze.

Well? Brynne messaged Mini and Aru. Aru glanced at Mini, who nodded her head, and she gave the okay sign to Brynne. She immediately transformed back into her human form and leaped off Putana to join the rest of the gang. The rakshasi scowled and slowly stood back up, her back hunching over in pain, being surprisingly obedient.

"Are you here to let us go?" Rudy asked meekly. Jayant stared at him for one second...two seconds...and threw his head back and barked with laughter. Aru gripped her stick tighter.

"Haha!" he said, wiping a tear out of his one eye. "Yes, of course! Who am I to stop my lovely sister and her friends. Not to mention," he stared directly at Aru with a smile playing on his lips. "I dare not come in the way of the daughter of my boss."

Aru felt like she was punched, and she clenched her teeth. "So, you're working for the Sleeper? And what do you mean sister?" Brynne and Mini each put a hand on her shoulder, and Aru felt herself calming down a little.

Jayant looked at his fingers, as if she was asking a useless question. "For your first question...isn't it obvious? Of course I am. I thought the Pandavas were a bit smarter. How disappointing."

"Pandava-adjacent," Aiden muttered under his breath.

"And Pandava-adjacent-adjacent," Rudy added.

Jayant waved them off impatiently. "Yes, yes. Adjacents, whatever. And to answer your second question, sister," he addressed Aru directly. "I am the son of Indra, lord of the heavens. So, in short, I am your...soul half-brother, I suppose."

Aru turned to Mini, and asked through the mind-link, Do you know who he is? Mini shook her head and said, No, I don't think I've heard of him.

So, Brynne interjected. I guess he's kinda like what Hanuman is to me, but to you.

Yep, Aru sighed. Just my luck that half my family is evil.

Mini and Brynne sympathetically patted her shoulders.

"Wait a second." Rudy suddenly had a horrified expression on his face, and was pointing at Jayant, as if he were shocked by something. "You're the Jayant? The one who attacked Sita?!"

"What?" Aiden asked, seemingly surprised. " That's him?"

"What gave it away?" Jayant asked dryly. "The name? Or was it the eyepatch?" He sighed dramatically. "Well, if you insist, I'll show you my story."

"We don't want to-," Brynne was cut off, as Jayant waved his hand in the air and an image popped up in the air.

The air swirled around for a bit, before a barrage of scenes started to play. In it, a crow sat in a tree, staring at a beautiful woman sitting underneath it. Sita, Aru suddenly thought with a gasp. Sita was picking flowers, and Lord Rama was laying down on her lap. The scene seemed nice and peaceful, but did not last for long. Jayant, wanting to test the strength of God-King Rama in his human form, flew down and pecked Sita's feet. Aru saw Sita crying out, and Rama immediately woke up.

Getting angry, he shot an arrow at Jayant. Except, it was no ordinary arrow. As Aru watched on, Jayant tried to escape the arrow, but it kept following him, kinda like a heat-seeking missile.