But Real Talk,WhereAre the Cookies?
Aru worried that passing under the arch would mean falling headfirst into a huge glass of milk and some giant confusing her with an Oreo. But the portal didn’t work that way. The moment the four of them stepped through, they found themselves standing on pale sand. Suspended above them, stretched out like a creamy sky, was a rolling sea. The Ocean of Milk.
On the one hand, being so close to it was overwhelming. All around them were the scattered remains of the huge cosmic event when the Ocean had been churned for the nectar of immortality. The stories said that hundreds of precious treasures had leaped out of the waves when the gods and asuras churned the sea, and Aru could see the proof. Jutting from the smooth white sand were thick, sparklingbranches the size of towering oaks. There was only one tree they could’ve belonged to: Kalpavriksha, the wish-granting tree. Aru touched a branch cautiously, feeling the rough-cut crystals that were embedded in the wood. She felt a muted pulse of magic under her fingertips and drew back her hand.
“Wow,” breathed Brynne, pointing at the massive structures haphazardly surrounding them. It lookedas if someone had chopped up the Great Wall of China and scattered it across the sand. “It’s Vasuki’sskin!”
Gross, thought Aru.
Vasuki was the naga king who had allowed his body to be used as a rope when the ocean was churned—after that, he lived as a necklace on the god Shiva. Now that Aru looked closely, she could make out the pattern of iridescent scales, bright as peacock feathers, on thepieces of snake skin.
Everything was so … massive.
It made sense—these were the treasures of gods. Seeing Agni change in size had reminded her that whenever gods fit in her field of vision, they were just humoring her.
Aru had never felt smaller in her life.
There was no sound except the gentleswishof the ocean above and the constantclickof Aiden’s camera.
Mini said, “I thought it wouldsmell different. Like cereal or something.”
“Yeah, me too,” said Aiden. He sniffed the air. “Kinda smells like an ice cream truck parked outside of a Hindu temple.”
Yup, thought Aru,that. The smell of cold and cream and wafting incense.
“And I didn’t think it would be quite as see-through,” added Aru, glancing up at the milk/ocean/sky. “Looks like skim milk up there.”
“At least I don’t haveto worry about lactose,” Mini said with much relief.
“I don’t know why there can’t be an Ocean of Cookies ifthere’san Ocean of Milk,” reasoned Brynne. “I feel like that should be illegal.”
“Truth,” said Aiden.
Of all the kinds of oceans they could be walking under, Aru was glad it was an Ocean of Milk and not something weirder, like an Ocean of Kombucha, which tasted like stewed socks andsoy sauce.
The broken tree branches and huge pieces of treasure cast long shadows that threw them into darkness. Mini’s Night Flame barrette now looked like a lilac halo around her head. Off to the right of them, Aru could just make out a faint golden glow.
“Look!” said Aru, pointing at the glimmer. “Do you think that’s the dome of the labyrinth?”
“Must be,” said Brynne. “But we don’t knowwho’s guarding the outside…. I’m going to scope it out.”
In a flash of blue light, Brynne changed into a sapphire-colored hunting dog. She snuffled the ground.
“Follow me!” she said, pointing her paw to the left. “I can smell stronger magic about five kilometers southeast—”
Mini gasped. “You’re socuteas a dog!”
Aiden snapped a photo.
Brynne growled at them all before bounding off into theshadows.
Mini put her arm across her nose. “I hope I’m not allergic to her. I’m out of tissues, and I don’t want to have a runny nose when we fight!” She raced after Brynne, calling over her shoulder, “We’ll take the front, you guys patrol the rear!”
“Got it!” said Aru.
Thewhole place felt a lot quieter without Brynne and Mini, and Aru’s thoughts wandered back to what Agni had said.See well.
He wasn’t the first person to say that to her. The first was Varuni, the goddess of wine. Only she’d slurred through a sort of prophecy before she’d given that advice…. Aru pushed herself to remember, until the words floated back to her:
