Aru Shah and the Soul Trident

The Potatoes Venture into the Zombie Apocalypse

Aru stumbled out of the black hole and stared at her surroundings. She felt like she had just stepped into a horror movie. The view was dreadfully gloomy. Dead trees with bare branches loomed over them, and ravens that were perched on said branches squawked at the group, who they deemed to be intruders. A full moon shone in the sky and illuminated the land. She even saw a graveyard to her right, looking creepy and unwelcoming.

"This place could use a little pizzazz," Rudy sniffed, untangling himself from the two of them.

Mini shivered. "It's cold too." She zipped up her black sweater and stuck her hands in her pockets. Aru, who wore a thin T-shirt, simply hugged herself and rubbed her arms.

"Yeah," She agreed.

"Guys! Over here!" Aru turned her head and saw Brynne waving her hand in the air, motioning them to join her. Aru jogged over to her sister, with Mini and Rudy following close behind.

"Brynne! Where's Aiden?" She asked, scanning the area.

"Chill, Shah," Brynne snorted. "Your boyfriend's right over there." She pointed to a small hill right next to them that overlooked the graveyard. "Go on and call him here. I bet he won't yell at you, at least," she grumbled.

Aru blushed slightly when she heard Brynne call Aiden her boyfriend. She was about to correct her, but stopped herself. He had confessed to her while they were being guided by the vamanas, right? So did that mean they were going out? She would have to establish her relationship with Aiden later.

Brynne let out a huge sigh, shaking Aru out of her thoughts. A mixture of guilt and sadness rested in her eyes. Aru patted her sister's arm.

"Nah," she said. "You call him. Go make up with him."

"But-" Brynne tried.

"He is your best friend," Aru insisted. "Talk to him."

"Fine," she mumbled, and Brynne trudged over to Aiden.

"Good job," Mini spoke up. Aru turned to her sister. "With what?"

"It's important to not let our group dynamic be messed up, especially during quests," Mini explained, fidgeting with Medy.

Aru nodded. "True." Then, she heard a low, humming sound behind her and whipped her head around. She let out a startled gasp. "The black hole thingy is gone!"

Mini looked at the spot where it previously was, and wore an equally worried expression on her face. "Then how do we get out of this place?"

Aru shrugged helplessly. "I'm not even sure how we got here in the first place."

"I think the hole was a portal," Rudy said, tapping his foot against the dead grass on the ground thoughtfully. "Maybe we have to go through this place to get to the chamber?"

Aru nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense."

Mini went quiet for a while, then suddenly, her face lit up. "Oh! I think I know what's going on! I'm pretty sure the portal is taking us to our trials! Remember what the vamanas said?"

"You shall face trials along the way. You will find the chamber where the Soul-Solidify Scythe lies at the end of the trials," Aru repeated. "So, we have to get through these 'trials' in order to get to the SSS chamber?"

"Yeah," Rudy said, catching on. "Wait, so does that mean the whole sewage serpent thing was a trial too?"

"Yep. I think that each of us has to go through some sort of test." Mini agreed.

"What test?" Aiden asked, approaching the three of them. Brynne followed close behind, with a grin plastered on her face. Aru smiled. She guessed they had made up.