Aru Shah and the Soul Trident

Even Demons Like McDonald's

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, guys! I just had a little trouble coming up with this chapter, not to mention, I was a little busy in the past few days! I'll try to update more quickly! Enjoy the chapter!

Aru stared at the huge door right in front of her. I guess I'm dreaming, she quickly realized. She had never had such a vivid dream before, except for when Nikita and Sheela dream traveled and appeared in her dreams. The door looked...interesting, to say the least. It was silver, and intricate patterns swirled around the edges. The weird part, however, was that two huge elephant-like tusks jutted out from the door. Definitely not her idea of décor. Aru looked around and saw that she was alone, drifting in a dark space.

She wondered what happened with Jayant and everyone else. What if he attacked the other Potatoes too and they were dreaming like she was? Or did he hurt the others? No. Even without their weapons, her sisters were strong. Plus, Aiden and Rudy were there too. She was sure they were fine.

Aru floated forward, until she was just an inch away from the weird tusk-door. She guessed that her dream wanted her to open it. Aru closed her hand over the doorknob, and swung the door open. Nothing could have prepared her for what she saw.

A man was leaning over a table, looking at maps. Asuras were stationed all over the room, holding spears, javelins, and other various weapons. Aru watched on as the man was saying something to the demon right next to him, when he suddenly turned around as if he sensed something. Aru had to cover her mouth with her hands to keep herself from gasping out loud. The man's very familiar brown and blue eyes narrowed as he scanned the room, and Aru quickly shut the door. The Sleeper?! What?! She thought to herself in panic, her heart pounding in her chest. Aru waited for a couple seconds, preparing for the door to burst open and the Sleeper to find her...but nothing.

Cautiously, Aru opened the door again and peeked inside. The Sleeper's head was turned away from her, and he was talking to a rakshasa, as if nothing had happened. Maybe...Aru thought to herself. Could it be? What if he couldn't see her?

To test her theory, Aru tip-toed inside and glanced around her. The rakshasas standing guard didn't seem to notice her! Heck yeah! Aru thought to herself excitedly. She was invisible! Ooh, maybe she could plant-stalk the Sleeper in her dream! Unfortunately, to her great disappointment, there were no plants in the room and her dream refused to provide her one. Stupid dream.

She scowled, but quickly made her way to the Sleeper, who had stopped conversing with the asura and was now staring at the map on the table. She studied his face closely, and saw that he pretty much looked the same as when she last saw him at her birthday party. He was gaunt, and his black hair flopped in front of his face limply, but his heterochromatic eyes (Mini had told her that it was the term for eyes with different colors) were bright and filled with a strange energy. It reminded her of the eyes of the person she had once seen on the streets on her way back home from school. She had later learned that they had escaped their mental institution. The only difference was that the person's eyes seemed to glow with a wild light, while the Sleeper's seemed to glow with desire.

Aru waved her hand in front of the Sleeper's face, and sure enough, he didn't notice her. Was this some sort of vision? But why would Jayant, who works under the Sleeper, want her to see his plans? That was strange, but Aru didn't have time to think about it, because a formerly friendly face filled up her sight. Kara.

"Dad! Did you call for me?" Kara's beautiful, black curls bounced up in the air, as she walked into the room with a book in her hand. Aru desperately missed her. They had become so close in such a short amount of time, only for them to be separated just like that.

"Kara, my dear! I'm so glad you're here," the Sleeper said, and he was...smiling. Aru knew in her heart that she shouldn't feel jealous and only have feelings of hatred for him. After all, he hurt her family, her sisters, her friends, and he even lied to Kara to convince her to go with him. But Aru couldn't help but feel a deep pang of sadness. All she could think about at the moment was how he was once Suyodhana, her father who had been so excited when she was born, and had loved her mother so much.