Aru Shah and the Soul Trident

Oh, Look At That. I've Been Impaled!

"ARU!"

Aru collapsed, her chest burning with pain. It was so intense that she couldn't even feel her own blood gushing out of her. She breathed deeply, each breath feeling like she was being stabbed by a million needles.

She could dimly see Aiden's face hovering the closest to her. He was yelling something, and from what she could deduce from her blurry vision, his expression was a mixture of anger and fear.

Aru grunted and opened her mouth to speak. Welp, if there was one thing she knew, it was that she wasn't gonna die without quoting anyone.

"Oh, would you look at that? I've been impaled," she laughed weakly, but loud enough for her friends to hear her. Then, she closed her eyes as the voices around her slowly faded away.

"Aru!"

"You can't die!" Aru felt her eyes twitch.

She heard a sniffle, then someone said, "I can't believe she quoted Olaf as her last words."

A sob. "I can."

"Wait guys. There's no blood!"

At that, Aru's eyes flew open. What?!? What was happening??

Then, her gaze landed on something on the floor. No, someone, she corrected. Huh. No wonder she couldn't feel her own blood. She wasn't bleeding to begin with.

She shuddered. It felt weird to see herself so...still. Her eyes were closed, and her mouth was slightly open. She hoped she wouldn't drool. Her hair looked like a rat's nest, and her clothes looked like they hadn't been washed in weeks (which they hadn't). The knife was still stuck in her chest, and it released an eerie dark green halo around it. Gandalf laid stationary in Aru's hand, not emitting any of its usual warm, amber glow.

Aru looked down and stared in amazement at her transparent hands and feet. Was she a ghost? Then, an unsettling feeling of fear formed in her mind. What if she was stuck like this forever?

She glanced in front of her, and saw her friends huddled around her...well her body, anyways.

"Guys! I'm right here!" she said, but no one seemed to be able to hear her, much less see her.

She tried to send a telepathic message to her sisters, but all she received was static.

"You're right," Mini murmured. "There isn't any blood." She began to gently pat Aru's cheeks. "Aru? Can you hear me?"

But ghost Aru could only watch at her friend's vain attempts to wake her up.

Brynne gently shoved Mini aside and slapped Aru's face. Hard.

Aru winced, despite not being able to feel pain. She scowled. How could Brynne do that to her?!

Mini shrieked, and pushed Brynne away. "I told you to not do that again!"

Wait, again? When had Brynne ever slapped her?

Brynne scowled. "Well, what else are we supposed to do then?!"

"We wait." Aiden spoke up. His eyes looked a little glossy, but his face remained stony. Aru hated seeing Aiden like that, and she hated it even more that she was the cause for it.

"Wait for what?" asked Rudy.

Aiden pointed at the engraving, which was now glowing a vivid green. "Wait for Aru to fetch the Soul-Solidify Scythe. Remember, only a soul can enter."

"Maybe Aru's soul separated from her body when she stabbed herself! So that means she can go inside the chamber!" Mini exclaimed, putting everything together. Then, she frowned. "Isn't soul separation deadly?"

"I'm sure it'll be fine for a short amount of time," Brynne said nervously. "Aru! If you can hear us, you better go and get that dumb weapon already! We'll watch over your body for you, don't worry!"

"I should worry if it's you who's looking after me," Aru said, but it was pointless because her friends couldn't hear her.

Aiden knelt next to Aru's body and carefully pulled out the knife, and he placed it gently right next to her. He then looked around and his eyes settled a couple feet from her.

"Shah?" he said unsteadily. "Be careful, alright? Make sure you return."

Ghost Aru walked over to him and placed her transparent hand on his shoulder. Aiden slightly shifted, as if he could feel her presence.

"I will, don't worry," she promised.

With new-found resolve, Aru strode towards the wall with the engraving. She tilted her head. How was she supposed to get through? Maybe...

Aru touched the wall with her transparent hands, and to her surprise, it went straight through!

"Awesome," she muttered, grinning. With one last glance at her friends, she took a deep breath, and walked through the wall.

When Aru entered the chamber, there was only one word to describe it- creepy. Torches with green fire flickering on top of them lined the walls, and the stone floor had cracked lines here and there. A large podium stood at the center of the room, and right in the middle, was a floating weapon.

Aru gazed upon it in awe. The scythe radiated divine energy, with a golden halo behind it. Various jewels decorated the silver hilt, and the blade was pure black. It was beautiful, yet there was a sinister air to it.

Aru carefully approached it and stood before it. She cautiously reached out her hand to it, and as soon her hand entered the halo of the scythe, it shocked her. Literally. It reminded her of Vajra, her slightly rebellious lightning bolt. But strangely enough, she wasn't able to feel any pain. Maybe that was because she was a ghost at the moment?

She sighed and put her hands on her hips. What was she supposed to do now? Was there some kind of ritual to get it, or did she have to push some sort of button? Quickly, she scanned the area. Nope, no bright red button with the words 'PRESS IF YOU WANT THE GLOWING WEAPON.'

Aru groaned and flopped on the floor, and when she was just about to call it quits, something shiny caught her eye. Curiously, she crawled over to the shining gem on the floor and poked at it. It was a beautiful emerald that glowed different shades of green. As pretty as it was, however, it didn't offer her any advice. Frustrated, she threw the gem at the wall and it clattered to the floor with a loud thunk.

She glanced at the scythe again. There has to be some way to get it, right? They had completed the trials, and finally reached the chamber. Aru had even stabbed herself to get this far. She could feel herself getting angrier by the second. Scowling, she was just about to go to her friends and try to figure something else out, when she heard a voice.

"The girl you love will be the death of you."

Aru whirled her head around, and saw...Aiden?

A/N: I know this chapter was shorter than usual, but I really liked the cliffhanger and decided to end it there! However, the coming chapter will be the usual length!