“But no worries!” said Rudy, grinning at Aru. “I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”
“Yeah,” said Aru weakly. “No pressure.”
An hour later, the cleaned-up Potatoes sat around a giant feast Brynne had casually whipped up. There were fluffy scrambled eggs—Rudy had assured her that they were from chickens and not snakes—custardy French toast drenched in cinnamon and powdered sugar, fresh fruit carved into elaborate animal shapes, a stack of blueberry pancakes, and miniature quiches.
“I call it BRYNNER time,” said Brynne. “Breakfast for dinner, made bymoi.”
Aru dug in, occasionally looking over at the nearby couch on which Kara lay. Even though Shikhandi had said Kara wasn’t in any pain, Aru still felt a twinge of guilt looking at her. It was her fault Kara had ended up like this.
“What if Kubera won’t let us continue with the trials until Kara is back to normal?” Aru wondered aloud.
Brynne, who was midway through her second stack of pancakes, paused. “Why would he care about that? She’s not a Pandava.”
“True…” said Aru. “But sheisa Potato.”
“And she’s been with us every step of the way,” said Mini. “We need to bring her out of this coma. It can’t be good for her.”
“I’m with Mini,” said Aiden, glancing at Kara. “We need her. Kara seems…special.”
Special.
The word reverberated through Aru’s skull.
“I think I’ve got something that might help…. Come with me.” Rudy pushed away from the dining table.
The Potatoes followed him to a chamber that was the size of a two-car garage. Unlike the other rooms they’d seen, which had aquamarine walls with glass windows that looked out into the sea, this one reminded her of a sunken pirate ship. On the wood-plank walls, driftwood shelves were crammed with an array of odd treasures: jars full of old coins, a handful of statue busts, a plane propeller, and even a couple of paintings that sparkled with enchantments. A chandelier made of shark jawbones rotated above them. At the center of the large room was a ten-foot-high rectangular box made of fused metal patches.
“This is the fastest way to get to the surface,” said Rudy, patting the side of the container. “It’s an Anywhere Elevator. You go in, tell it everything you’re looking for, and it will take you to the right place. It doesn’t get used very often, though, so give your directions carefully or things could go…bad.”
“What do you mean ‘tell it everything you’re looking for’?” asked Aru.
“It just knows stuff,” said Rudy, shrugging. “When my parents go on their annual honeymoon—”
“No such thing as an annual honeymoon,” said Aiden.
“There is formyparents,” said Rudy, wrinkling his nose in disgust. “Last time they used it, my mom asked to go ‘somewhere that focuses on wellness and has a rugged but not primitive landscape’ and also ‘great photo opportunities that will look more cultured than obnoxious on social media.’ My dad just asked for a place that had a bar.”
“So, technically, we could walk into the Anywhere Elevator and ask it to take us to the place where we could heal Karaandcomplete Kubera’s third trial?” asked Aru.
“Yeah!” said Rudy. “The only problem is…I don’t know how to get inside.”
Aru studied the Anywhere Elevator. It didn’t have a door panel or even any seams. Floating beside the cube was a glass prism containing a strange object. It looked like some kind of tool, but it shimmered, almost as if…
“It’s a key,” said Rudy. “It summons water, and it can also turn into other forms of water, like vapor or ice.”
“And that’s the key you use to open the elevator?” asked Aiden.
Rudy nodded.
“Well, that’s useless,” said Brynne. “Can’t we just smash a hole in the elevator and step inside?”
“Won’t work,” said Rudy.
“Yeah, right,” said Brynne. “I cantotallyopen this thing.”
Ten minutes, five broken vases, three ruined chairs, and one completely unchanged Anywhere Elevator later…Brynne conceded defeat.
“Okay,” she said, panting. “I can’t open that thing.”
