Aru Shah and the Soul Trident

No Regrets?

Aru's eyes widened. Aiden?! Then, after a moment, she realized that it was just a hologram. Aiden's image flickered, and instead of his usual calm demeanor, he looked...angry.

"Aiden?" she asked, her voice cracking.

"The girl you love will be the death of you." Aiden's hologram repeated.

Aru suddenly remembered the time that they were in Surya's hall. She had gotten startled, and in the mess she had created, Aiden had gotten the same exact prophecy. Her heart pounded, creating a hole of fear in her gut. How could she have forgotten about that?

The hologram changed, and it now showed a ragged-looking Kara kneeling down next to someone. With rising horror, Aru realized that it wasn't just anyone- it was Aiden.

"No," she mumbled. That was just a dumb prophecy. It couldn't be true, right? Besides, Aiden didn't love her. Or did he? Aru shivered. Once upon a time, that thought would have made her feel all giddy and happy. But now? Now all she felt was fear.

Kara sniffed and glared right at her. "You killed him! Why?"

"What-what do you mean?" Aru asked out loud, horrified. She took a couple of steps back.

"How many more sacrifices are you going to make him make for you?" Kara yelled at her. "First his most prized possession, now his life??"

Aru shook her head. "No..."

With one last stare, the image of Kara and Aiden vanished, and was replaced with one of the Sleeper- her father. His hologram studied her interestedly. Her dad's mismatched eyes stared right at her soul-literally. He clicked his tongue and had a disapproving expression on his face.

"We could have been a real family," Suyodhana said. "What cost shall your disobedience have?"  Her father snapped his fingers, and an image of her mother showed up. "Perhaps...her life?"

"NO!" Aru screamed. She waved her hand through the hologram in an effort to make it go away, but it was no use. Her father chuckled and snapped his fingers once more. "Forget her life, how will you save everybody else's? Don't forget, your weapons are with me." He flicked his hand, and showed an image of Vajra, Dee Dee, and Gogo all huddled together in one pile, their usual glow gone.

Her fingers itched, yearning to will Vajra back into her hands. Aru gulped, and she glared at the scythe. "What kind of test is this?! Couldn't I have gotten a concert trial or something like Rudy did?"

The silent scythe remained a silent scythe. She scowled at it and kicked the base of the podium in a fit of anger. Huh. She felt a lot better after doing that.

Aru glanced back at the hologram. The Sleeper smirked and had a playful, yet creepy grin upon his face.

"Aru Shah, you might as well give up already," he said. He waved his hand, and an image of his army showed up. They were walking through some kind of cave. "What can you possibly do now? My army and I are already on our way to find Mahishasura and the Soul Trident. You cannot even hope to stop us."

Aru growled. "Watch us." But part of her was already affected by his words. Could they really make it in time? Sure, they reached the Soul-Solidify Scythe chamber, but they still had no idea where Pathal-Loka was and how to get there. Aru bit her lip nervously, but maintained her glare.

"The point being," he continued, smiling. "You can't save anyone. You are destined to step aside and let me bring glory to the Otherworld. You will soon realize that you are on the wrong side of the war, and by the time you do, it will be too late. You would have lost everything and everyone!" He laughed, and in that moment, Aru felt helpless. Maybe he was right. What could she even do?

 She forced herself to calm down, and took a deep, steady breath. Okay, focus Aru, she told herself. This place was probably just playing tricks on her. After all, it was just a hologram. It was just trying to distract her from her real goal.

Pushing down her rising doubt, Aru walked up to the scythe, which hung in the air ominously. She started to tune out the Sleeper's taunts, turning her whole attention to the glowing weapon.

She cautiously tried to grab the weapon again, but it shocked her once more. Scowling, she pulled her hand back.

"You can join me, you know."

Aru whipped her head around and stared at the hologram of her father.

"No way," she said almost automatically, narrowing her eyes.

The Sleeper shrugged. He snapped his fingers, and the image of Kara kneeling next to Aiden popped up again. "Are you sure? You know, I can prevent this from happening. I shall also ensure nothing will happen to Krithika." He flicked his hand, and her mother's terrified face glimmered in the air as well.

Aru was at a loss for words. On one hand, she definitely didn't want to join his side. It would make everything she had fought for pointless and she immediately wanted to reject his offer. But on the other hand, she couldn't let her mother and Aiden get hurt because of her...and if the Sleeper wouldn't hurt them, then wouldn't that be alright? Her friends would understand, wouldn't they?

Aru hesitantly took a step towards the Sleeper, and his smile widened. The moment she did, however, a thought crossed her mind: Was this the right thing to do?

Aru contemplated her choices. Perhaps she could possibly protect her mother and Aiden, but at what cost? She recalled all the chaos the Sleeper and his army caused throughout the whole Otherworld. If she joined him, then that would mean she agreed with his tactics, regardless of what she tried to say otherwise. Plus, she was pretty sure her mother would basically murder her if she did that. And Aiden? Well, he wouldn't get the fact that she wanted to protect him through that thick head of his.

She chuckled at the thought of it, and faced the hologram again.

"No," she said adamantly, her voice unwavering. "I still won't."

The Sleeper's smile faltered. "So you do not care what happens to the people you love?"

Aru faltered, but she shook her head. "Of course I do. But I would practically be killing myself in the process of maybe saving them. Besides, who's to say you won't turn on me?"

He growled. "You and everyone will die! There is no other way but to join me if you want to save them!"

Aru smirked. "If there is no other path, then I'll just make my own. That's no big deal."

"You will regret this!"

Aru lifted her chin up and stared at him beneath her eyelashes haughtily. She then turned her heel and walked towards the podium. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but the Soul-Solidify Scythe seemed to glow even brighter now. She didn't know how, but she had a feeling that it wouldn't electrocute her now. Aru grabbed the scythe out of the air confidently and successfully.

She was awe-struck by the sheer power she felt coursing through her veins after she had made contact with it. She felt a hundred times more ready and powerful. Aru could feel her hair wave around her face as the SSS released a powerful wind that echoed throughout the chamber.

"Here's the thing," she said, striding towards the hologram of her father. "I don't think I will." She swung the SSS at him, and as if it were in sync with her, it lopped off the Sleeper's fake head and the hologram disappeared.