Chapter Two: Queen of Chess and NOT Just When it Involves Food

Recap:

Kara glanced nervously at Vajra. "Are you going to leave?"

Aru hesitated, but then said, "I'll stay. For now." She muttered the last part under her breath as she looked around the room again, remembering each and every detail. If she was going to stay here, she was going to be useful.

Kara clapped her hands excitedly. "Great! I'll show you around." Aru hesitated, still a bit unsure about her decision, but followed Kara, who pointed out all parts of the lair enthusiastically.

While Kara toured the deceivingly large lair with carelessness, Aru felt overwhelmed. The place had a theater, one inside pool, one outside pool in a hidden away place, a jacuzzi, etc. A jacuzzi! Not to mention a pantry full of Swedish fish. And another one filled with Oreos, most of which were probably past their expiration.

Boo would love this, Aru thought while helping herself to a packet of double stuffed Oreos. But then she remembered what she had seen inside the Tree of Wishes and the sweet cream suddenly turned bitter on her tongue.

Kara, innocently oblivious to Aru's turmoiling emotions, had bounded far ahead and let out a gasp of surprise and delight.

"Look!" She pointed to a door that Aru could have sworn wasn't there before. It was a light, soothing mint green color with dark brown swirls bordering the door. When she came closer, she noticed tiny, shiny lightning bolts placed randomly across the wood. When Aru touched the door subconsciously, the lightning bolts began to spin around and form what looks like Hindi letters.

Aru squinted, not believing her eyes. After she had found out about being the reincarnation of Arjuna, her mom had tried to connect her with their culture, starting with reading and writing in Hindi, but had promptly failed. Aru had still learnt how to recognize one phrase - her name. And it was her name that was now being displayed on the green wood.

अरुंधति शाह

(A/N You have no idea how much time it took for me to type this with the Hindi keyboard... it was so confusing!)

A lump grew in her throat as she traced the beautifully written foreign letters. "H-how?" Aru croaked out. It was unlike her to get choked up so easily, but it was unnerving to see her name, her identity displayed in a place she never knew existed, as if she already belonged here. She hated how vulnerable it made her feel.

"This place is magical," Kara explained, as if understanding the delicacy of this situation. "It creates and expands like a living, breathing miracle." She placed her dark-skinned hand on Aru's slightly lighter one, still on the door. "And now, it made a place for you. That means my - our - home accepted you. You belong here."

Aru snatched her hand away from the door as if it was on fire. "Can I go inside?" She asked, not knowing how to recognize the bubbling feeling inside of her.

Kara smiled brightly. "Of course!" She pointed to a silver slip of metal as big as Aru's hand on the side of the door. "Place your hand on it."

Aru did as instructed. She couldn't help gasping with delight as her name lit up for a second, then the door swung wide open, silently, to a fairly large room with a dark oak floor and blended shades of green for the walls. There was a loft bed taking up a whole wall. The desk inside had a notebook opened to the very first page, with an assortment of all the stationary materials she could ever want. A slim light green laptop sat on the corner of the dark brown desk. One half of the room was filled with target dummies and different weapons on the shelf. The remaining, which Aru was most drawn to, was a large bookshelf as big as the wall filled with hundreds of books. It had a window seat next to not a window exactly, but rather a moving picture of the stars.

"Wow," Kara breathed out as Aru stood next to her, speechless. "Your room is even better than mine."

Aru gulped down something, still taken aback by the whole ordeal. She spotted a tiny table in the corner with a chess set and two chairs. A part of her missed the game, having quit despite her talent all because of the classmates who made her think it was nerdy. As she looked back on it, it all seemed so simple and insignificant, Aru couldn't hold in a big smirk.

"Wanna play?" She asked Kara, who followed her gaze and grinned.

"You're on."

***

After 29 games, Aru had 30 packs of Swedish Fish, 20 Oreo packets and 8 pieces of bubblegum. Kara had nothing but a bruised ego.

"How?!" She whined again as Aru gathered up her prizes, cackling.

Aru flipped her hair, regretting the action as soon as it slapped her in the face. She settled for a smirk. "I'm the queen of chess and not just when it involves food."

Kara slumped with defeat, but then straightened up again, suddenly having brightened up. "Let's look at your wardrobe!"

"Wardrobe?" Aru asked, confused, but Kara was already leading her to a silver door she hadn't given much attention to before. Swinging it open, a walk in wardrobe with too many outfits to count, presented themselves, ranging from super-hero themed pajamas to dresses practically made for prom. There was even a table at the end with hairbrushes and nail polish bottles.

Kara grinned, an eyebrow flicking up as Aru tried to back away.

(A/N I know that it seems weird that they're doing things like this, but I want Aru to have some fun before what happens next...)

***

A few hours later, the two sisters tried on dresses, painted nails, and did the most horrendous makeup on one another. Aru, at first, wasn't so keen, but after a while, a smile began to creep up on her face, all thoughts of spying and her sisters forgotten. After about 3 hours, Aru yawned, tired.

Kara stood up. "You should get some rest." Kara's smile was genuine and soft, and that paired with the exhaustion, made Aru want to just collapse in her new bed and cuddle with all the stuffed animals she could find, but a thought flew into her head.

"Wait," she grabbed Kara's wrist to stop her from going. "How long was I out?"

Kara looked guilty as she answered, very quietly, "2 months."

"2 MONTHS?!" Aru freaked out, even more than when the store had run out of Swedish Fish, which was saying something. She tried to reach her sisters through the mind link, but the paths were blocked and her frantic messages wouldn't get through. Panic and guilt for not trying to contact them sooner rose inside of her.

She swiveled to face Kara, "why can't I reach my sisters?"

Kara didn't ask what she was talking about. "You can't reach Brynne, Mini, Sheela and Nikita through your shared mind link because dad reinforced this place so that no one can contact anyone here without his permission.

Aru narrowed her eyes on her. "How do you know about our mind link?" After a second, she added, "and is there any way to contact them?"

Kara took a deep breath. "I know their names because one," she held up a finger. "Dad told me," she held up another finger, "two, dad or may not have given me a device with which I can see all of you guys 24/7 which is how he always tracks you." She said the last part sheepishly.

"You WHAT?!" Aru sputtered.

"The bright side is that you can see your sisters now?" Kara said, more of a question than a statement.

All the colorful words about to spring from Aru's mouth disappeared.

"I can?" She asked, surprised at how hoarse her voice sounded.

"Of course you can," Kara reassured her. She made a move to take something out of her pocket, but before she could, a voice rang out from the living room.

"Kara? I'm home." Aru froze as Kara bounded out of the room to hug a man she recognized, with one blue eye and one brown. The Sleeper.