Lightning Strikes

1

A couple of things before we get the story started. If you didn't read the entire description, I'm planning to update on Tuesdays in Pacific Time. It's my first fanfiction in seven or eight years, so if I break some kind of unwritten rule, please do let me know. Chapters are hopefully going to be between 2000 and 4000 words. 

In this story, Aru is more than slightly OP. You'll see as the story progresses. There will also be demigods and our favorite twin gods. Also, I only speak Hindi and Tamil (and obviously English), so please excuse me if my Telugu or Gujarati translations are wrong. Blame Google Translate. 

That said, I hope you enjoy! :)

After NoI

Arundhati Shah sat on her bed, wearing her Spider-Man pajamas. Those pajamas had been through a lot with her. She supposed that she should've been more grateful to them, but the only good thing that the red PJs had ever done was to introduce her to this wide world of mythology. Which, she reflected, was quite a big contribution, after all, she had gained everything through them. Even after all of that, she was surprised that she had bought a new pair of them.

Maybe that was because she had lost it all...

She was weeping more than she should've been at this point. Twelve nights had elapsed since it happened. She was supposed to be celebrating tomorrow morning, not crying. All of the families were meeting for a meal together, their way of simplifying the elaborate ritual. Technically, it counted.

Big emphasis on the "technically" part. Was it still considered the whole ritual? Would the soul find its way to heaven? Or would it eternally wander the Earth, wondering who had refused to release it?

Or it could just disappear, of course. Aru wasn't against believing Nietzsche, after all, if God was dead, her whole fucking life so far would make a lot more sense. Unfortunately, there were two problems with that. Number one, she hadn't really been listening in class when the Social Studies teacher was talking about Nietzsche, she was a bit preoccupied. So she highly doubted that she had understood the words of the German philosopher correctly.

Number two, she had seen far too many gods to believe that none of them existed. Living, breathing gods, so they clearly weren't dead yet. But one day, maybe they'd be gone. After seeing the pot of amrita with her own two eyes, she wasn't holding her breath on the gods passing away.

That was the second-worst part about this whole mess. The amrita could still be out there, and there was some frustrating intel that indicated that a destroyed pot did not equate to the absence of amrita. Which meant that her elder sister's sacrifice was completely in vain.

Though Kara wasn't dead, obviously, her complete lack of relevant memories made her about as likely to meet Aru as...well, about as likely as Aru finding Kara on the street.

That was the worst analogy of all time.

Her mind wouldn't shut up, and all of her thoughts were inclined to say the same damn thing. They were clear: "It's all your fault, Shah."

Sometimes they came as her mom, sometimes as her sisters, and sometimes as Aiden. Whichever voice the demon in her head took, it was truly disturbing. "You don't exist," she would tell her demon.

"I know," the demon always responded. "But then, what are you?"

In an attempt to satiate her restless mind, Aru had taken up reading some of the books in her mom's closet. None of them were ever remotely interesting, but they helped Aru pass the day. Because really, she couldn't sit on the bed all day.

Her door rattled slightly as someone pounded on it. "Shah?"

Aru didn't respond. "Shah? Aru, I'm coming in, okay?"