“Family?” piped up Mini.
“Congrats!” said Aru.
Aiden smacked his forehead.
The groom stood up. “What do you think—”
But he was interrupted by a loud gurgle coming from the fire. In the blink of an eye, the flames shot up fifteen feet. Then they parted down the middle like curtains drawing open.
“The decorations!” wailed one of the aunties.
“I told you we should’ve eloped,” muttered the bride.
From within the flames, a woman’s voice called out,SACRED FLAME CONNECTION CONFIRMED. YOUR CALL IS BEING TRANSFERRED. PLEASE HOLD.
“What is going on?” shouted the groom.
One column of fire spiraled toward the Pandavas, elongating into a flaming tunnel.
“Hold on tight!” yelled Aiden as he grabbed Aru’s hand.
Aru flung out her other arm, and relief surged in her chest when Brynne and Mini drew close. A blast of hot air blew back Aru’s hair as the flames pulled them all into the portal. She tried to blink, but the gusts of wind and flames forced her eyes shut.
The last thing Aru heard was one of the guests calling out, “Are you still serving lunch after this?”
Aru felt like she’d landed on hot asphalt. Her arms tingled as heat crawled through her skin. She blinked, trying to get ahold of her surroundings, but something blocked her sight. Something with coarse hair and…hooves? Aru shot upright, scuttling backward, only to find herself face-to-face with…a goat.
The goat didn’t look like other goats. For one thing, it was wearing a shirt that readMULTIVERSE’S G.O.A.T.On top of that, its fur was the color of cinnamon and its horns were stubby orange flames. It regarded her with its rectangular pupils and then bleated indifferently, as if to sayYour presence is vastly underwhelming. With a snort, the goat wandered out of her sight.
Only now could Aru finally get a look at where they were. Brynne and Mini were already standing on her left. Brynne had a scimitar out, and Mini was blotting her face with a moist towelette.
“This place is so hot!” said Mini. “I’ve run out of water, too. We could get heatstroke!”
Aiden, who was standing to Aru’s right, held out a full water bottle.
Mini instantly brightened. “Thanks, Wifey!” she said, reaching for it before casting a guilty glance at Aru.
Aru knew, logically, that it was only a bottle of water. And yet some grumpy corner of her brain muttered,Betrayal…
“Need a hand?” asked Aiden.
Belatedly, Aru realized she was still sitting on the ground. She ignored him and hauled herself up on her own.
The Pandavas were standing in an empty chamber that reminded Aru of a fancy hotel lobby. The walls were slabs of shiny obsidian with rivulets of lava sliding down from the top and disappearing into the strangest floor she had ever seen. From one angle the floor looked like pieces of polished ruby and topaz interlocked in a dazzling array. But when she tilted her head, she could see images wavering in the jeweled tiles. In one, she saw a family’s temple room, and even part of their kitchen. In another, she saw a woman in a white sari sobbing by the banks of a river. In a third, the same bride and groom from mere moments ago walked in slow circles with warm smiles on their faces.
“Whatisthis place?” asked Brynne.
Aru looked up from the floor. Sweat broke out across her forehead, and her fancy lehenga felt too heavy. A ceiling of steam and smoke soared hundreds of feet above them, tapering like the funnel of a teakettle. It made her think of—
“Oh my gods, we’re in a volcano…” said Mini. “Anactualvolcano…”
The goat, which had been ambling around them and occasionally snuffling the floor, bleated loudly. It stamped the floor with its hoof, and the ground began to tremble. All at once, a tall figure rose out of the jeweled tiles. Aru recognized the god of fire immediately. Agni’s skin was burnished red, and his hair looked like shorn flames. He wore a scarlet kurta edged in fire, and around his neck was a bright chain. On it, a pendant the size of a robin’s egg shone so fiercely that Aru had trouble looking at it directly.
Agni shook his head, then pinched the bridge of his nose. “It wasjustgetting to the good part!” He inspected the floor, squinting at the tiles before groaning and craning his neck. “Argh! That guy just got kicked out by security! I wish I could’ve seen his face.”
His goat trotted over, and Agni absentmindedly patted its head before looking at the Pandavas. “Can’t you see I’m in the middle of, basically,everything?” he demanded, gesturing downward.
“You were…in the floor?” asked Mini.
