Page 61 of Aru Shah and the End of Time

“It’s the same poison that was released when the gods churned the Ocean of Milk. It will kill us. Please tell me you read the sign.” She pointed to a poster off to the side.

Aru skimmed it briefly. Once she readLIKELIHOOD OF DISMEMBERMENT, she stopped.

“Nope.”

“According to the warnings, if you touch the cauldron, the whole thing will explode,” said Mini. “It happens once a year, kinda like a volcano, which is why this place is blocked off. We’d bothdie.”

Then Aru had an idea. “Maybe I can call in a favor.”

She told Mini about the cage full of godly mounts. When she was finished, Mini looked impressed and even a little envious.

“A seven-headed horse?” she asked. “Can you imagine all of its neural pathways? That would be fascinating to study!”

“Focus, Mini!”

“Okay, okay. Well, you can’t even call in that favor. The rules specify that no animals may drain the poison. Apparently, it can turn them into huge monsters that eat everything around them.”

“Ughhhhh.”

“Details, details,” said Mini, chewing her pencil. “There’s gotta be a trick to this.”

“What about creating an illusion with your mirror?” asked Aru.

“Not possible.”

Mini drew out the compact. It shimmered, but it wouldn’t conjure anything. And Aru’s Ping-Pong ball didn’t offer any clues, either. It wasn’t even glowing.

“It’s like a magical dead zone,” said Mini. “I don’t even think our gifts from the Seasons will work. I couldn’t get the bakery box from Spring to open, and the only stuff around here is rocks and the big ole fire.”

Huh?

Mini pointed upward and Aru’s mouth fell open. A giant chandelier of fire hung from the ceiling. The flames twisted, and embers sparked but didn’t fall to the ground. It looked weirdly shiny, as if the whole thing were encased in glass like a chemistry vial full of blue and gold flames.

“I feel like the fire and the poison are connected somehow,” said Mini, chewing on the pencil. “If we touch either of them, they’ll explode. But at least nothing will get past the entrance.”

“Wait. If the fire and poison can’t get out of this room, why has the entire tourism office been evacuated?”

“The smell. Also, they have designated vacation days. At least, that’s what the sign says,” said Mini. “This is the weirdest tourist spot.”

Aru shrugged. Considering that the last place her class went to on a field trip was a museum of lunch boxes, a poison volcano sounded way cooler. And the Otherworld apparently thought so, too. A brightly painted wooden panel stood next to the cauldron, awaiting the next photo op. Visitors could stick their faces through a cutout hole (allowances had been made for horns, cobra hoods, and multiple heads) and pretend they’d drunk the poison. On the bottom there was a bucket for donations along with a small sign:THANKS FOR SUPPORTING YOUR LOCAL HAUNTING!

Aru circled the cauldron. “So…short of trying to drink this thing and definitely dying, there’s no way?”

“I didn’t say that. I just said we can’t approach it like anyone who’s hadanyexperience with magic. A magical person would try to trick their way into emptying the cauldron.”

Mini’s gaze had turned intense. She looked at the cauldron, then back at her notebook, then back at the cauldron. “It’s a liquid.”

Aru thought it would be uncharitable to sayDUH, so she just nodded.

“If you heat liquid, it can turn into a gas. Some of the poisonous liquid in the caldron has become the poisonous vapors that areholdingthe liquid.”

Aru’s head hurt. Was this really the time and place for a chemistry lesson?

“That’s the trick,” said Mini, talking to herself. “They don’twantus to think with magic. We’ve got to think about it like any ordinary person would….I’ve got a plan.”

Mini seemed so shocked by the idea that she could have a plan that it ended up sounding more likeI’ve got a plan?

“Awesome!” said Aru. “What’s it involve?”