Page 98 of Aru Shah and the End of Time

Mini just shook her head and kept walking. Everyone knew that the only way out of the Kingdom of Death was to enter a new life. Which meant that the only exit lay through the Pool of Reincarnation. But they didn’t have to be reincarnated, or so Chitrigupta had said. So that meant theremustbe another way out of the Kingdom of Death. At least, she hoped so.

Aru wanted nothing more than to get out of the Kingdom of Death. First of all, it stank. Second of all, she was starving. Third of all, she wouldn’t even be able to brag about going there.Final destinationwas not as impressive as adestination vacation. It was just flat-out terrifying.

But she had to admit that part of her was excited to see the Pool of Reincarnation.

How did the Kingdom of Death decide what people got to be next? Was there some kind of checklist?You met the minimum number of good deeds, so you get to avoid premature balding in your next life. OrEnjoy being a cockroach! On the upside, at least you’ll survive a nuclear disaster.

Yet that would have to wait.

Because there was another pool they had to visit first: the Pool of the Past. This was the only place where they could finally learn how to defeat the Sleeper.

Aru and Mini walked around the bend, only to end up in a hall of windows.

Thousands upon thousands of windows looked out onto worlds that Aru had never considered real. Lands where there were palaces of snow and palaces of sand. Places where sea creatures with rows of eyes blinked back at them from the other side of the glass. It made sense that every place should have a connection to death. Death had some claim everywhere. Death was in the wind coaxing a flower to blossom. Death hid in the wing of the bird folding itself to sleep. Death was in every breath she inhaled.

Aru had never given much thought to death before now. No one she knew had died. She’d never had to mourn anyone.

She assumed she’d be full of sadness on the day that happened. But walking through the Kingdom of Death, she felt a drowsy sort of peacefulness, like balancing on the border of sleeping and waking.

In the distance, Aru heard the sound of machinery. Wheels gnashed and ground. Around them, the atmosphere had changed. The walls had that iridescent quality of polished oyster shells. Stalactites made of paper spiraled down from the ceiling.

“These must be Chitrigupta’s archives,” said Mini. She reached for one of the papers and read aloud: “‘On May seventeenth, Ronald Taylor jumped into the Arctic Ocean yelling “Sea unicorn!” and he startled a narwhal. He did not apologize.’”

“So…these are just accounts of what people do every day?”

The papers spun slowly.

“I guess so?” said Mini. “I think we might be getting closer to the pools. He’d only keep all of his records here if they needed to consult them when they remake people’s bodies and all that.”

“I wonder what happens if you scare a narwhal. Maybe karma gives you a gigantic zit in the middle of your forehead and you get called an ugly unicorn for a month.”

Mini’s eyes widened. “Wait, I have a zit on the side of my nose—does that mean I did something to deserve it?”

“Did you?”

Mini frowned and was opening her mouth to say something when new ground loomed up ahead. The floor beneath them changed from rigid stone to something wet and slick, surrounding…

Pools of water.

Some were the size of rain puddles. Others were the size of ponds. There were at least fifty of them, spread out in concentric circles.

Large incense burners floated silently above each one. The walls hadn’t changed, though, so the shining water looked like a bunch of pearls hidden in an oyster. Beyond the Chamber of Pools, Aru spotted the dim light of an exit. She didn’t hear any voices. It didn’t seem like anyone else was around.

This place smelled weird. It smelled like…longing. Like an ice cream cone you were really excited about eating, but after one lick, it fell onto the sidewalk.

Unlike in the forest or the Otherworld Costco—or even the whale shark—there weren’t any signs here. Nothing indicated which pool was for what. Or who. Aru rubbed her neck, grimacing. This wasn’t going to be easy.

Mini carefully stepped between two of the pools. “Go slow,” she said. “It’s slippery. What would happen if we fell in?”

Aru shrugged. “Maybe we’d get instantly reincarnated?”

“What if we came back as animals?”

“Then I get dibs on being a horse.”

“Enjoy that.”

“I like horses….”