Aru Shah and the Chamber of Lies

The Human World is Full of Lies

"Why is it red?" was Aru's first question upon seeing the bridge.

Kara glanced at her, and for a moment, it seemed like she focused on hers and Aiden's entwined hands, but she quickly looked away. "What?"

"The bridge," Aru repeated, still horrified. "Why is it red? I thought it was supposed to be golden?!"

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and saw Rudy sadly shaking his head at her. "The human world is full of lies, Aru. Now you know how I feel."

Nikita rolled her eyes. "Is this about Disney World?"

"Of course!" Rudy cried. "Why is it called Disney World if it is not actually another world?"

Aiden looked like he was close to face-palming again. "It's because the bridge is actually named after the Golden Gate strait, which is the body of water that connects the San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean," he explained to her.

"Let me guess, another nature documentary?" Aru asked sarcastically.

He shrugged. "It's a beautiful place with amazing places to photograph!"

Aru shook her head. "It's so misleading though."

"Well, enough about that!" Brynne interrupted, clapping her hands together. Her stomach suddenly growled. "Can we go get something to eat now?"

"We just ate at Kara's house two hours ago!" exclaimed Mini.

Brynne crossed her arms. "I have a fast metabolism."

"We should get going," spoke up Sheela all of a sudden. They all turned to the young Pandava.

"Why?" asked Mini nervously.

Sheela's eyes glowed a silver for a moment. "There's going to be a huge tide soon. We must go to the turtle's abode before that happens."

They exchanged worried glances and hurried towards the bridge. It was unsurprisingly crowded, and people pushed back and forth. Aru was squished between Aiden's shoulder and a lady's huge backpack.

"This isn't gonna work," grunted Mini as someone's elbow nearly knocked her glasses off. "Let's pair up and meet at the start of the bridge."

"Good idea," agreed Kara.

Brynne whistled. "Alright, listen up Potatoes! Find a buddy and stick with them!" She hooked her arm with Kara, and the pair made off deeper into the crowd.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the twins holding each others' hand tightly and with their small height as an advantage, they were able to slip past several groups of people. Mini dragged Rudy, but not before waving to Aru before they made off.

"Oomph," grumbled Aru as someone nearly ran into her. She clutched Aiden's arm and started to walk forward. "Let's go before I accidentally punch someone."

Aiden raised an eyebrow, but let Aru guide him. "Accidentally?"

"You know what I mean."

The pair quickly decided it would be best to go to the side instead of sticking right in the middle.

"Do you remember which way the bridge is?" she asked nervously. Aru couldn't see a thing. She sighed. It was one of the sad things of being about five feet tall.

Aiden squinted as he craned his neck over the crowd. His eyes lit up when he spotted it, and he said, "Yep. We're almost there. Come on!"

After many complaints (mostly from Aru) and receiving glares from many people (Aru was on the receiving end- it wasn't her fault that they kept shoving her!), they finally made it to the entrance of the bridge.

Exhausted, Aru plopped down on the curb. "I think I lost my sanity back there."

Aiden sat down next to her. "Don't worry- you lost it a long time ago."

Rude. She huffed. "Snob."

"Troll."

They stared at each other for a couple seconds and burst out laughing.

Suddenly, Aru felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Done flirting?"

Aru whirled around to see Brynne and Kara standing behind them.

"When did you guys get here?" asked Aru.

Brynne shrugged. "Like a couple minutes ago."

Kara nodded towards the crowd. "This is nothing. You should see my school during class changes. The hallways are, like, a foot wide and my school is severely overcrowded."

Brynne hauled Aru up, despite her protests. "Come on, the twins are here too."

"What about Mini and Rudy?" asked Aiden.

Kara shook her head. "They're not here yet."

Aiden sighed. "Rudy's probably holding Mini up again."

Aru smirked. "That won't bother Mini."

Aiden frowned. "What?"

The sisters exchanged glances with each other, barely smothering their smiles.

"Oh, it's nothing, Ammamma." Brynne looped her arm around Aiden's neck. "Anyways, I'm sure they'll be here soon."

As soon as they were going to step on the bridge, Nikita and Sheela came running to them, an energized Mini and a bedraggled-looking Rudy following.

"Whoa, what happened to you?" asked Aru, staring at Rudy. His usual, neat hair was now sticking up in several places, and his ironed-shirt was completely wrinkled. The sunglasses that were previously on his head were missing, and he looked like he was about to cry.

Rudy scowled. "Humans are vicious." He looked back at the crowd and pointed at them, screaming, "I'll have you know I'm a prince! I swear I'll throw you lot in a dungeon! How dare you do this to me!" The only thing he received were a couple of weird looks from onlookers.

Mini patted his back. "Don't worry, Rudy. It was only a pair of sunglasses. I'll get you a new one at a souvenir shop or something."

"Sunglasses?" questioned Kara, frowning. "What happened?"

"Someone stole them," explained Mini. "He's just a bit miffed about that."

"They were the premium brand, Mini!" cried Rudy, burying his face in his hand. "Premium brand..."

"Guys," interrupted Nikita. "We should get going."

"That's right," Aru agreed. "We have a turtle to find and possibly threaten."

A/N: Hi everyone! Sorry, I know I haven't uploaded in a long time, I'll try to stick to a schedule from now on. Also, I know this chapter was a little boring, but the next ones will be more interesting!