Shadowfax Saves the Day
There’s a reason movies don’t always show what happens immediately after a battle ends.
Because it’s really boring.
The cured Heartless collected themselves, shouting things like “DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE MY OTHER SHOE WENT?” as they lined up to be whisked back home by the celestial mounts. Ever since one of the men had mentioned a burrito, all Aru could think of andall Brynne could talk about was food.
Mini had fished out hand sanitizer from the depths of her backpack and was doling it out to the men. “Just because you were undead doesn’t mean you should be unclean,” she said.
Aiden held up his camera, and all four girls shrieked at him.
Aru: “No! Look at my hair!”
Brynne: “Do not document my hunger or I will eat you.”
Mini: “I’ll get a headache fromthe flash!”
Hira: “If anyone finds out I was here, I’ll be in big trouble….”
Aiden rolled his eyes. “I’m not taking a picture ofanyof you.”
Brynne put her hands on her hips. “Wait, why not?”
“Rude,” said Aru.
“Then why do you even have it out?” asked Mini.
“Just in case,” said Aiden cryptically. He looked around the ocean. “I bet that two-faced serpent king will come back any second now.”
Right on schedule, a portal opened in the middle of the sand, and up through it slithered Takshaka, dressed in the full regalia of the naga court and acting as if he hadn’t been at the Ocean of Milk mere minutes ago. Behind him came Uloopi. And that wasn’t all. Urvashi danced out of the portal, her silks waving behind her, and Hanuman jumped into view. Today he was wearing a faded Nirvana T-shirtunder a velvet tuxedo jacket.
“The bow and arrow!” said Uloopi, gliding forward.
Brynne held the weapon out to her. Since Meenakshi’s disappearance, the arrow had changed. The celestial weapon’s former luster had been replaced with a dull sheen.
Urvashi surveyed the torn-up seabed and the great golden tank protecting the nectar of immortality. “But where is the thief?” she demanded.
“You shouldask Takshaka,” said Aru coldly.
Uloopi’s cobra hood flared behind her. “What are you presuming to tell me, girl?”
“Takshaka was just here!” said Brynne.
“And he and Lady M—but everyone called her Surpanakha—were trying to get the amrita, because they thought they’d been dissed by the gods,” said Mini, crossing her arms. “Which I think is kinda true, but that doesn’t mean they—”
“Enough ofthis tripe!” interrupted Takshaka.
“I would like to hear them out,” said Hanuman. He eyedTakshaka,his fur bristling slightly. “It is when we stop listening that we commit the greatest wrongs.”
The serpent king’s tail lashed angrily.
“The Pandavas are acquitted of the charges against them,” pronounced Urvashi.
Aru’s heart soared, but then it crashed with the next words:
“That,”snapped Uloopi,“requires a unanimous vote. Don’t forget that they had ten days to complete their task. They failed to meet the deadline.”
“But we saved the Heartless!” said Aru. “And we were never guilty in the first place—we were forced to do all this because you didn’t believe us.”
