BRYNNE'S POV
Aiden, Brynne, and Mini climbed up the stairs, slowly. Mini took a breath and rapped on the door to the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture. Brynne shifted from one foot to the other. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Aiden fiddling with his camera. The door opened and K.P. Shah looked out, blinking at the Potatoes. "Hello, Mini, Aiden, Brynne," she said, smiling wearily. "It's good to see you."
"Auntie..." Mini started nervously, her eyes darting around. "We've got a lot to talk about."
"Where's Aru?" Krithika asked, stepping back and letting them through.
"That's...actually why we're here," Brynne said, glancing at the carpet.
Brynne couldn't have felt worse if she'd tried. Krithika Shah didn't yell at them or accuse them of leaving her daughter. That made it so much worse. She seemed to understand that it hadn't been their fault, even when she started crying. Even when they left, she didn't look glad to see their retreating backs.
Brynne couldn't have been in that place any longer. It was simply a reminder of Aru's absence.
The trio walked down the street. Mini's eyes turned steely, even as they swam with tears. "We're going to get her back."
"We need to make a plan," Brynne pointed out. "But it's going to be kind of hard to do it in our dreams."
"How about in-person, then?" Aiden suggested. "I can't dream-travel anyway, and it'd be a pain to relay everything to me."
"We can't get to the twins," Mini pointed out. "They're in a 'safe building.'"
Brynne's fists clenched. She had only bad memories of the Otherworld Foster Care System. She took a breath and forced her shoulders to relax.
"Well--" Aiden held up his camera to the skyline, only to shake his head and lower it again. "Bad lighting."
Brynne thought she saw a glimmer in his eyes, but he shook his head. "Anyway, I'll take care of the twins. Can you meet me tomorrow morning at seven?"
Brynne grimaced. She hated getting up early. "Where?"
"Um...Nandana Gardens."
"What?" Brynne turned on him. "You want to go back there?"
Nandana Gardens was the location of the fake wishing tree, which had sent them on the quest that had gotten Aru kidnapped. She had no fond thoughts of it.
"People aren't likely to think we'll be going there," Aiden argued. "It's for Aru, okay?"
Brynne looked away, wiping her eyes. "Okay."
She could hold herself together for Aru. She had to.
YOU ARE READING
Aru Shah 3.5 (DISCONTINUED)
FanfictionA continuation of Tree of Wishes. Read at your own risk (spoiler warnings and mild cliffhangers). These were taken from my "A Series of Aru Shah Oneshots" because I felt they were better in a separate fic. The chapters have been revamped and many pa...
