Aru was not looking forward to telling her mom that she had to go on another quest. She knew her mom was sick of it, sick of hearing the world might end, sick of all the worrying.

But what else was she going to do, leave a note? That would be so much worse.

(*cough* Zane *cough*)

The Potatoes had split up to go home a while ago, so Aru was alone in front of the museum. She took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

Her mom, Dr. K. P. Shah, was in the lobby finishing a call. She set the receiver down and smiled brightly as her daughter walked in.

That only made Aru's stomach sink lower.

"Good news, Aru!" He mom said. "Some new artifacts are ready to transport, so we'll have them here in two, three weeks, maybe."

Aru didn't have the heart to tell her that the world might end in a week. "Yeah, that's great Mom," she said with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.

Her mom studied her face. "Something's happened, hasn't it?"

Aru sighed, and it all came tumbling out.

"OkaysoI'mreallysorrybutIhavetogoonanotherquesttosavetheworld."

One of the many things about Aru's mom was that she was excellent at knowing what someone meant, even if it was bordering on gibberish. It probably came from speaking to foreign visitors whose English wasn't always great.

Dr. Shah's face fell. "Oh."

"It won't take too long," Aru promised, forcing a smile onto her face for her mother's benefit. "I'll be back before you even know I'm gone!"

"When do you leave?"

"Um... tomorrow. Morning."

"All of you? What do you call yourselves again... the Potatoes?"

"Mhm," Aru smiled again, but this time it was genuine. "Well, minus Nikki and Sheela. We'll be fine, Mom!"

"Alright," Dr. Shah said, walking over and kissing Aru on the forehead. "Then I guess you better get packing."

-𓃰𓃰𓃰-

Aru shoved the last of her necessities into her enchanted purple backpack she'd bought at the Night Bazaar. It could carry anything that could fit inside without any weight or mass, which made it super handy for quests. Unfortunately, a flamethrower would not fit inside. Vajra bounced around in ping-pong ball form on her nightstand. She recalled it to bracelet form on her wrist, then slung the backpack over her shoulder and headed downstairs.

It was barely five A.M., but her mom was already downstairs. Aru dropped her backpack by the door and slid on her shoes. Her mom handed her some warm dosas for breakfast.

The Potatoes, including Rudy, who had insisted on coming along once again, were due to be there in a few minutes.

"So, where are you going?" Dr. Shah asked as Aru finished her dosas.

"Kalivana," she answered. "Ever heard of it?"

Her mother's face paled, and Aru started to regret answering. Why couldn't she have said they were going someplace nice and harmless, like Amaravati, instead?

Because then it wouldn't sound like a quest to save the world, the annoying part of her brain answered once again.

Shut up.

"I've heard very few references to Kalivana," Dr. Shah said. "So few that many aren't sure if it even exists or not. The Forest of Kali. According to legend, the entrance has been blocked for ages, with very few going in and surviving."

Aru cracked her knuckles in an attempt to seem tough. "Well, Kalivana hasn't ever dealt with Pandavas before."

Even with her display of bulletproof bravado, her mom didn't seem any less worried.

Before Aru could say any more, someone knocked on the door.

"Aru?" Aiden's voice called from the other side. "We're all ready now. You coming?"

"Gimme a second!" Aru called back. She hugged her mom good-bye, picked up her backpack, and walked outside.

"Fashionably late, are we?" Rudy asked, leaning against the wall and fiddling with a gem. As always, he wore an eyesore of an outfit- a bright yellow jacket with embroidery of a cobra snake on the back, dark maroon shirt, and jeans. His messenger bag of magic stones was over his shoulder, and shiny sunglasses perched atop his head.

Aiden snorted. "As if you'd know anything about fashion." As usual, he looked ridiculously and unnecessarily attractive in a plain dark green hoodie and black pants.

Aru shrugged and walked over to Mini and Brynne, who were next to Greg the stone elephant. Mini was dressed in all black, a black long-sleeved shirt under a black sweater-vest, black leggings, and black combat boots. She even had black eyeliner on. Dee Dee, in the form of a compact, was in her hand.
Brynne, on the other hand, wore a grey tank top and a puffy white jacket, along with grey cargo pants and her magical choker around her neck.
Aru herself was dressed in her standard purple t-shirt and purple cuffed pants. She had her favorite red zip-up sweater tied around her waist, just in case.

"So," Aru prompted. "Are we going?"

Brynne nodded. "No flying chariot this time, though."

Mini shuddered. "Good."

"We're gonna take the wind gazelles," Brynne said.

Aru fought a grin. Every so often, thinking of Brynne's enraged expression the first time they'd ridden the wind animals gave her a teensy bit of guilty satisfaction.

As if on cue, the four gazelles galloped down from the sky. North, South, East, and West came to a stop right in front of them. They hadn't changed a bit since the last time Aru had seen them.

It was a short ride to Kalivana, which was apparently just beyond the sky court. At first glance, it looked like just another floating island. But when they got closer, Aru could see- and feel- a thick layer of mist surrounding it. And when they landed, an instant chill appeared in the air. Aru unwrapped her sweater and slipped it on, but she was still shivering.

"I'm part reptile," Rudy complained as the gazelles galloped away. "I don't do well in the cold."

"Oh, it gets much worse than the cold," said Urvashi from behind them.

The Potatoes whirled around to see Urvashi and Hanuman standing on floating clouds. Boo perched on Urvashi's finger, making the apsara look like some sort of Disney Princess.

"Bu-but we could get hypothermia," Mini chattered. "And then-"

"We could die?" Aiden, Brynne, and Aru said at once.

Mini rolled her eyes and stamped her foot, though it was probably since she was cold, not in anger. "Well, first our circulation would slow down, leading to a weak pulse, which could then lead to heart and respiratory failure, and then we could die."

"Same difference" Aiden muttered.

Rudy cringed, apparently not thrilled at the aspect of maybe-freezing alive.

Hanuman snapped his fingers, and instantly Aru stopped shivering. It felt like someone had just wrapped her up in a thick blanket and stuck her in front of a cozy fire with some hot chocolate.

Rudy looked like he could weep for joy. "Thank you! I can't die from hypothermia, I still don't know what Coke is!"

Everyone ignored him.

"What did you do?" Brynne asked incredulously, looking down at her jacket.

"I simply enchanted your clothes to keep you comfortable in extreme temperatures," Hanuman said. "We can't have the Pandavas-"

"-and Pandava-adjacents" Aiden cut in.

"-freezing alive, now, could we?" Hanuman finished, paying no attention to Aiden's comment.

Boo fluffed his feathers. "Good luck, oh, and also, don't die. And don't make me worry too much. At this rate, I'm going to go all grey from dealing with you all!"

"Hold up," Aru said. "Why can't you come with us? I mean, if this stone is so important-"

Boo sighed, then flew off Urvashi's hand towards the forest. Right as he tried to pass between the first trees, a silver light emitted, repelling the bird and sending him bouncing backwards like a child running full speed into the side of a inflated bouncy castle. He landed and pigeon-strutted back to them.

"See? No divine beings are allowed into the forest. You, on the other hand..." he flew up to stand on Aru's head. "You're all at least part mortal, therefore you can enter."

"Yippee," Aru murmured.

"What?" Boo asked.

"What?" Aru responded.

"Remember, Pandavas," Hanuman said.

Aiden didn't even bother correcting him.

"You have a week to get in, find the stone, and either bring it back here or destroy it. If not, the demons will take over and destroy everything you hold dear."

"Good luck!" Urvashi said jovially.

On that super happy note, the three immortals disappeared, leaving the Potatoes staring into the misty trees.

Aru sucked in a breath. "Well, this has definitely got bad vibes."