ru stared at Kalpavriksha soaring above them. It didn’t seem fake to her. Fake things should be obvious! Like a bootlegged movie that was recorded by someone who got up and left the theater in the middle.

Nikita lifted her palm off the dirt, her ice-blue eyes sheening bright green for a moment. “I’m an expert on what’s designer and what’s a dud, and this thing? This is a dud. I read its roots,” she said. “Its earliest memory is of being carried in a dark pot and placed here. And it definitely can’t grant wishes.”

“We tested it,” added Sheela mournfully.

Nikita clapped once, and the dirt vanished from her hands. She placed them on her hips.

“The tree can’t be a fake,” said Boo. “That would mean…all this time I…”

He trailed off, stunned. But the longer Aru looked at the tree, the more an urgency grew inside her.

“The prophecy,” she said. “It mentioned a false treasure.”

“One treasure is false, and one treasure is lost, but the tree at the heart is the only true cost,” sang Sheela.

Aru said, “If this tree is false—”

“The real one is lost?” finished Mini.

“No war can be won without finding that root…no victory had without the yield of its fruit,” said Aiden, putting his camera away.

“What if that means winning the war depends on finding it?” suggested Brynne. “And the part about victory—I mean, it’s a wish-granting tree. A person could just wish to win!”

“But what about ‘the tree at the heart’?” asked Mini. “How is that the ‘true cost’?”

“Maybe that’s a hint about where the real Kalpavriksha is?” tried Aru.

“Maybe…” said Mini, but she didn’t sound too convinced.

“Well, then we have to find it!” said Aru, growing more excited. “I mean, we’ve only got five days, right? We have to go right now and tell the Council—”

“You can’t.”

All six of them turned to face Boo, who was staring up at the tree. He’d never looked so small to Aru. She thought of him searching for his own shadow and felt a pang in her heart.

“It would be impossible to reach Hanuman and Urvashi in Lanka,” he said. “The location of their audience with Kubera is wrapped in secrecy. No one would be able to get word to them before Holi. Not even me.”

“What about Opal?” asked Mini.

Aru and Brynne scowled at the same time.

“As if she’d believe us,” said Brynne. “She told us to stay out of the way. And, according to her, no one is going to trust our word right now…. If we’re going to find the tree, we’ll have to do it ourselves.”

“I’m in,” said Mini.

“Me too,” said Aiden.

Once again, the whole fate of the Otherworld depended on them, Aru thought. And it wasn’t just the Otherworld’s fate…it was theirs, too. She couldn’t shake off Opal’s nasty words about her being the Sleeper’s daughter. If they brought back the Tree of Wishes, no one would ever doubt them again.

“Three,” said Aru firmly.

Even the twins raised their hands.

But when they looked at Boo, he was horrified. Aru had learned to pick up on his physical cues: feathers sticking out at all angles, round eyes wider, beak ajar.

“What is it, Boo?” asked Aru. “I thought you’d be happy. If we find the real tree, you can wish on it and…be free.”

Their mentor turned his head and shuffled slightly farther away.

“Boo?” pressed Aiden, gently.

The pigeon sighed. “There’s something you need to know.”

Aru felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle. “What?”

“I’ve been coming here for years. I don’t know when she put this decoy here, but Aranyani must have had a good reason for hiding the real tree. She must have been afraid the wrong person would try to wish on it….”

“The wrong person…Like…the Sleeper?” Aru guessed.

“If it was, it would’ve been before he was the Sleeper,” said Boo. “He couldn’t have gained entrance to Amaravati after.”

But what about before, when he was just a man? Aru wondered. What would he have wished for back then?

Boo took a deep breath. “If you start looking for the real Kalpavriksha, the Sleeper might figure out that this one is a fake. Then he could track you to get to the real tree,” he said. “That would be a disaster.”

“We can keep it secret,” said Aru. “We’ve—”

“This mission is far too risky,” butted in Boo. “I can’t let you go. And I can’t come with you. I’m sure Opal’s team is watching my every move.”

“Boo, we have to,” said Aru. “We only have five days! The Sleeper’s army could already be on its way, and the Otherworld could be attacked! We can’t let that happen!”

“Even if I let you go, what will you do if and when you find the real tree?” asked Boo.

Aru eyed the redwood-size tree. “Uh…I guess we’ll just dig it up by the roots, stop by Home Depot, and stick it in a planter on the way back here?” she suggested pathetically.

“Rein in the optimism, Shah, it’s too much,” said Aiden.

“I don’t really trust shapes and sizes,” said Sheela, gently stroking the leaves of a brightly colored shrub that seemed to sway even though there was no breeze. “You never know how something could be hidden with just a little bit of”—Sheela poked the leaf—“magic.”

The leaf peeled in half, revealing that it was really the bright green wings of a butterfly, and the insect took flight.

Sheela had a point, thought Aru. If there was enough magic to hide a tree that size, then there had to be enough magic to bring it back to the heavens, where it belonged. They’d figure it out.

“Where could the real Kalpavriksha even be hidden, though?” asked Boo.

Nikita cleared her throat. “When I was reading the roots…I saw something.”

She placed her hands against the tree trunk. Once more, her veins glowed green. Slowly, a palm-size area of bark peeled back. The branches under the Ocean of Milk had been solid gold through and through. Layers of gold covered the duplicate tree, which Nikita easily rolled up to reveal wooden bark engraved with a snake-dragon-thingy biting its tail: (image link:)

“I know that snake symbol! That belongs to the Crypt of Eclipses,” said Brynne.

“Sounds like something Indiana Jones would break into,” said Aru.

“Indiana Jones?” demanded Boo. “How dare he?! Where does he reside?”

“Hollywood?”

Boo seethed. “He will pay for the presumption….”

“What’s in this crypt?” asked Aru.

“Everyone’s secrets,” said Boo. “That A7 must be a locker or chamber within. Membership to the crypt is by invitation only, and reserved for the aristocrats, deities, and demons of the Otherworld. Aranyani must have hidden a clue to Kalpavriksha’s location in her vault. It would be safe there. After all, the whole place is said to be guarded by a dragon.”

“I’m sorry, did you say dragon?” asked Mini.

“Could we just save ourselves some trouble and talk to Aranyani?” asked Aru. “We could explain what’s happening, somehow convince her to tell us the location…. We could bribe her! What’s her favorite ice cream flavor?”

Boo shook his beak. “Aranyani is famously elusive. I’ve only glimpsed her twice in three centuries. She doesn’t like the heavens very much.”

“Wonder why,” said Aiden.

“Um, what about the dragon?” repeated Mini.

Brynne flexed. “We can totally handle a dragon.”

“Uh, what kinda dragon are we talking about here?” said Aru nervously. “Like Smaug sitting on all his gold, or like a cute friendly little baby Norbert hanging out in Hagrid’s cauldron?”

“Probably the first,” said Aiden.

Mini whimpered.

“Before we worry about that, let’s assume that we somehow manage to get into this ‘invitation only’ crypt thing,” said Aru. “What about the vault? How are we going to open it?”

Brynne touched Gogo, her wind mace, which had taken the form of a choker at her throat. “I might have a plan. It’s said that the architect of the gods can make anything. I bet he could easily make a key that opens any lock. And guess whose uncle works for him?” She pointed her thumbs at herself.

At this, the look of skepticism on Boo’s face melted into something else: hope.

“C’mon, Boo,” Aru pressed. “We can do this. What happened with the twins and the prophecy was a fluke. You’ve got to let us fix this.”

“The devas don’t want you leaving Amaravati,” said Boo cagily.

Aru kept her expression blank. He hadn’t said no. That was a good sign. They just had to play this carefully.

“Then we’ll do it undercover,” said Aru.

“With coordinated outfits?” asked Nikita brightly.

“No,” Aru, Brynne, and Mini said simultaneously.

“Though we will need different sneakers,” said Mini, pointing at hers. “With no tracking devices.”

“Yeah. We’ll leave our sneakers here so everyone will think we stayed put,” said Aru. “No one will be looking for us for the next few days anyway. Everyone will be too preoccupied with the prophecy and Holi preparations.”

Brynne put in, “No one but us even knows that the tree is a fake.”

“And the Sleeper’s army is probably distracted by Hanuman and Urvashi’s mission,” added Aiden.

Boo swayed back and forth, tossing his beak one way and then the next. Finally, he grumbled. “No dawdling at any point in time and throwing off the mission timing,” he said, pointing his wing at Aru.

“No lecturing about all the opportunities for fatality and thus ruining group morale,” he said to Mini.

“No picking fights with things that randomly offend you,” he said to Brynne.

Boo turned to Aiden. “Keep up the good work.”

Aiden beamed, and all three girls glared at him.

“You understand that this can’t be a sanctioned quest,” said Boo. “Stay completely off the grid. If you run into any problems with anyone from the Otherworld, you won’t be able to prove that you’re working on behalf of the devas. And you’ll have to be done in time for the Holi celebrations in five days so you don’t raise any suspicion!”

Aru nodded so fast she thought her head would fall off.

“Now, what is your mission?” Boo quizzed them.

“Get a key to unlock the vault in the Crypt of Eclipses,” said Brynne.

“Get inside the crypt and hopefully find a clue about the real tree’s location,” said Aiden.

“Stay undercover,” said Mini.

Boo turned to Aru, who said, “Um…don’t end up a dragon snack?”

Boo sighed. “I’m still worried.”

“We’ve got celestial weapons!” said Aru. “Don’t worry so much.”

Boo looked at them, warmth shining in his round eyes. “Pandavas, you are far more than the things you fight with.”

“Sure, but also celestial weapons,” emphasized Aru.

Just when it looked as though Boo was going to yell at her, the twins piped up.

“What about us?” demanded Nikita, crossing her arms.

“Until the age of twelve, you’re considered underage,” said Boo. “And if you leave the heavens, the devas will know, thanks to those gifts from your soul fathers.” He pointed his beak at the glowing shapes embedded in their skin. “These symbols not only indicate that your powers haven’t fully manifested, but they also work as tracking devices.”

“So we can’t go?” asked Sheela quietly.

Aru’s heart twisted sharply. The twins had been separated from their parents…and who knows what else they’d gone through. No wonder they wanted that wish.

She wanted to tell the twins they’d have their chance. They just needed to give them some time. But the moment she opened her mouth to explain, Nikita stepped in front of her twin and glowered at them.

“Just because we can’t go with you in person doesn’t mean you’re getting rid of us. We can dream-travel. We’ll find you.”

“And help!” said Sheela. “I like helping.”

“You’ll need it,” said Nikita haughtily. “We’re not going to let you screw this one up.”

“Remember this, Aru,” said Sheela, her eyes clouding over and her voice deepening. “There’s lots more to find.”