Aru Shah and the Soul Trident

Galadriel's Wise Words

The pieces of the Soul Trident rained down on them in tiny shards. Aru watched as the three weapons floated back down, and Gandalf made its way back into her grip. It let out a sharp burst of warmth, like it was asking her Did I do well?

Well, she supposed having no trident at all was better than letting the Sleeper get it.

Speaking of whom, the Sleeper fell to his knees and picked up a piece of the Soul Trident's mahogany shaft. He glared at Aru and her sisters. "This isn't over," he said, scowling as he rose up again. He snapped his fingers and melted into the shadows, gone.

Aru felt her knees buckle and she collapsed onto the ground, exhausted. "Welp. That happened."

She felt her sisters flop down on the ground beside her.

"Is it over?" Mini asked, looking at Medy fondly.

Brynne shrugged. "For now, at least."

Mini bit her lip. "Do you think the gods will be mad that it broke? What if they punish us for it?"

Aru closed her eyes briefly. "I doubt that they would rather have the Sleeper be in possession of it, though. Maybe it's a good thing that it happened? That way neither side really won."

"Shah!"

Aru lazily lifted her head to see Aiden and Rudy run down the hill towards them.

Aiden crouched beside her, a worried look on his face. "What happened?"

Rudy nodded. "Yeah, one minute I was fighting a bunch of demons, and the next, they were gone."

"Kara and Jayant disappeared too," added Aiden.

That made Aru stand up. "What? Kara left too?" She didn't know why, but she thought Kara would stay for some reason. She tried not to let that get to her, but she felt her heart squeeze in pain.

Aiden shrugged. "I mean, I don't think it was by choice. A portal opened up next to her, and she was just...gone."

"The Sleeper must have taken her with him," said Mini, getting up and stretching. "Don't worry, Aru. We'll see her again soon, and this time, we'll be able to tell her everything." Then, she sighed. "Well, the Soul Trident is gone. What now?"

Brynne bit her lip. "Well, now that the Soul Trident's out of the picture, my next guess is that the Sleeper's gonna go after the amrita."

Aru gulped, but gave her a quick nod. "Maybe Mom has more information on where to start our search exactly?"

"We have to get Nikita and Sheela too," remembered Rudy. "Hanuman and Urvashi said that they're gonna join us after this whole thing was over, right?"

Aiden nodded firmly. "Let's go to the Otherworld for now and regroup." He got up and held out a hand to Aru. "You ready, Shah?"

Aru gave him a small smile and accepted his outstretched hand. He pulled her up, and she said, "Duh. When am I not?"

She squeezed his hand, and he put his arm over her shoulder. Aru leaned into him.

"Do you guys really think we'll be able to stop him?" she asked after a minute.

Brynne walked up to her and placed a hand on her arm. "We will. We have to. For the world."

Mini placed her hand on Aru's wrist. "For us."

Rudy sidled up next to her and smirked. "We have to, Shah. Because after this, Aiden and I are gonna go for our first concert tour. That can't happen if the world's destroyed."

Aiden rolled his eyes. "I told you– I'm not in your band."

"Aw, come on, I know you want to be. Don't be shy, cuz."

"I'm not sh-"

"Okay, that's enough," Mini interrupted. She nudged Rudy sharply, and he let out a whine. "Talk about the concert stuff later, and focus on defeating the Sleeper now."

Brynne grinned. "Let's do this thing," she said, putting GemGem over her shoulder confidently.

Aru looked up at the sky. The sun shone brightly, its rays trying to penetrate the looming gray clouds that hung in the cerulean heavens. Perhaps it, like them, was trying its best to outshine the darkness.

Despite everything, Aru found herself smiling.

"You're right," she decided. "We can do this. Sure, the Sleeper may have a whole army, but we're enough for that. After all, even the smallest person can change the course of the future."

Aiden stared at her. "You didn't..."

Brynne sighed. "Did you really have to quote Galadriel?"

Aru laughed. "Duh."

Their fight was far from over.

A/N: Hi everyone!! Whew, that was a longgggg fic. I can't believe that I finished my first wattpad story ever! Thank you guys so much for sticking through with this story and reading it! Now I gotta go and actually read NoI and fangirl and stuff.

Butttt this isn't the end of my writing spree! I'm actually planning on starting my own story (not a fanfic) in about two months or so, when school ends! Follow my other account, @sunturtle,for more updates, because I'll be posting my story there!

Once again, THANK YOU GUYS FOR THE VIEWS AND VOTES! I hope you guys check out my new story later if it interests you! :) :)