Aru Shah and the Chamber of Lies

Derek Doesn't Like Lamps

"First of all, thank you for your hard work, Pandavas, Aiden, and Rudy," Hanuman started off.

Urvashi nodded. "Yes, you all have fought long and hard, however..."

Uh oh. Aru cast her eyes down, willing Urvashi to not finish her sentence.

"...your job is unfortunately not done," the apsara finished.

"What do you mean?" Rudy spoke up indignantly, shooting up to his feet. "The Sleeper has been defeated! Don't we deserve a break?"

Aru winced. Maybe he shouldn't have said that in front of the whole council, she told Brynne and Mini.

Especially not in front of Uloopi, Brynne added.

Mini shrugged. Well, Rudy is her great-grandson. She's probably gonna be lenient on him.

"Don't use that tone in front of your elders, Rudra. Sit back down," came Uloopi's stern remark.

Oop. Guess not, Mini amended.

As Rudy grumbled in his tie-dye colored bean bag, Aiden asked, "What do you mean 'our job is not done?' Like Rudy said, we did defeat the Sleeper. We even saw his dead bo-" He abruptly stopped his sentence and looked at Aru guiltily. "Sorry, Shah."

"It's alright," she answered, not looking at him. She didn't want to be reminded about her father's dead body, at least during the day time. After all, she saw it nearly every night in her dreams.

Urvashi looked uneasy. "Yes, I have no doubt that you defeated him. The thing is, we expected things to settle down in the Otherworld. However, the opposite has happened. Hanuman?"

Hanuman came forth and placed a multi-faceted gem in front of them.

"What's that?" Mini asked, looking at it curiously.

"It's a video gem," Aiden answered, staring at it admiringly. "I've always wanted one."

Rudy thumped his chest. "In case you've forgotten, you've got a prince as a cousin, cuz! Don't worry, I'll buy one for you!"

"Thanks," Aiden said dryly.

Hanuman coughed into his fist. "Pay attention, Pandavas."

"I'm not a Pand-," Aiden and Rudy started to say at the same time, but Urvashi silenced them with a look. Grumbling, they both settled back in their chairs and watched.

Aru watched on as a flurry of images played in the air, like a hologram. The first one showed the Sleeper defeated, laying on the ground with Aru and her friends around him. She saw herself kneel down on the ground next to him to hug him one last time.

Real Aru ducked her head down and stared at the clouds beneath her feet, trying to hide the tears brimming in her eyes. She felt Aiden's hand on her back, and Sheela's small hand covered her own.

With her boyfriend and sister providing her with courage, she glanced up at the screen again. The video now showed a couple of interrogations.

Even after Aru killed the Sleeper, his army had kept fighting. Eventually, the Council came down and, along with the Potatoes, had eliminated most of them. A couple were captured because, according to Urvashi, they had wanted to see if there were any more of them around, and if so, where they were.

In the hologram, she could see a marut sitting down in front of an asura. He was holding a very bright lamp light and was shining it right in the asura's face, making the monster squint and tilt his head away.

It kinda looks like those interrogation scenes in movies, she told her sisters. No one answered. She huffed. Well, that was just rude.

"What is your name and place in the Sleeper's army?" The marut gruffly asked in the video, holding the lamp threateningly.

"Get that wretched thing away from me!" The asura wailed.

"Only if you answer my questions!"

The asura growled and confessed, "Fine! The name is Derek! I'm in the 5th infantry! Now, will you please shut that thing off?!"

Seriously? Aru thought. Derek?

"I see..." said the marut, not bothering to turn the lamp off. "So, Derek. Are there any more of you out there?"

The asura huffed. "Like I'll tell you any-" Suddenly, the asura jerked forward. His red eyes rolled back in his head and he started shaking, as if he was having a seizure.

"Hey!" The marut yelled, clearly startled. "What's going on?!"

It took a couple moments, but the asura finally stopped trembling. He tilted his head forward, and stared right at the camera gem recording the whole thing in the room. When he opened his eyes, Aru's heart nearly stopped. The asura's previous blood-red eyes had turned completely black. She heard her friends beside her gasping in surprise. The asura smiled in a creepy, cruel way.

Adding onto Aru's horror, he uttered four familiar words. "This isn't the end." Then, he promptly collapsed, and static filled the video. Aru nearly fell out of her chair in shock.

Everyone was silent. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Mini and Brynne staring at her. They probably recognized the words from the piece of paper earlier.

Urvashi waved her hand, and similar interrogations played on the video gem. In all of them, whoever was interrogated seemed like they were possessed by something and all of them repeated the same four words: This isn't the end.