The Principal's office was quiet, save for the faint hum of ancient formations carved into its stone walls. Golden light flickered across the chamber as the runes activated, projecting scenes onto the far wall like a living mural.
On that shifting canvas, three young figures fought their battles:
Ashwini in a desert of silence, coaxing life from barren wood until green awakened under her will.
Vijay on a flatland maze, weaving wind, water, and fire in clumsy but determined harmony.
And Ansh, deep in the jungle, sword clashing awkwardly yet fiercely, Daav at his side, his laughter and shouts carrying through even as monsters bore down on him.
The Principal stood with his hands clasped behind his back, watching. His eyes softened as Ashwini bound her foe with roots grown from the faintest cacti. His lips tightened as Vijay staggered, nearly swallowed by flame, only to answer with a desperate surge of water and air. And when Ansh's black smoke threatened for a heartbeat to curl around his shoulders… only to vanish as he steadied his grip on the sword… the Principal's chest finally eased.
"It seems," he said at last, voice calm but weighted, "that your training has begun to awaken their true potential."
Rajyugas, the Vice Principal, stood at his side in silence. His sharp gaze never wavered from Ansh's figure on the wall.
"Yes," Rajyugas murmured, eyes narrowed. "They are growing. Faster than I expected."
The Principal's lips curved faintly. "Especially Ansh. Once, he could not even stand against a single beast without faltering. Now, he can fight without losing himself. Perhaps, at last, he has learned the first step—to protect himself."
The words lingered in the air.
Rajyugas tilted his head, his tone dry. "Protect himself? Or protect the bird clinging to his shoulder?"
The Principal glanced at him, a small smile forming. "Perhaps both. Either way… it is progress."
For a time, silence stretched between them, broken only by the shifting images.
Ashwini stood victorious, her roots spreading like veins across the sand. Her face, though pale with exhaustion, was alight with fierce pride.
"She has grown bold," the Principal said softly. "Her weakness was not her power, but her reliance on the abundance of life around her. To command life in a desert… that is a lesson few could learn. She carries within her the makings of something… greater."
Rajyugas gave a single nod. "Her will is steady. A useful quality."
The mural shifted again. Vijay staggered, sweat dripping, but he pulled himself forward. His water quenched fire, his air shielded him from flame, his sparks of lightning barely grazed their target—yet every element responded, however imperfectly.
"And Vijay," the Principal continued, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully. "He pushes himself into the five elements, yet that is not truly his path. You see it as well."
Rajyugas' jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. "Perhaps."
The Principal turned fully toward him. "You know as well as I do—his affinity is not bound to the five elements. It is something… rarer. Something closer to your own power."
Rajyugas' gaze flickered, but his voice was flat. "I am not ready."
His eyes remained on Ansh, sword raised high, Daav flaring at his side. The boy laughed even as his body trembled with exhaustion, joy ringing through the jungle canopy as though nothing could break him.
The Principal sighed. "You avoid the topic. As always."
Finally, Rajyugas turned, his expression sharp as a blade. "Because it is irrelevant. My task is not to shape them into what they could be. It is to ensure they survive what they must face."
The Principal studied him for a long moment, then exhaled slowly. "And yet, you care more than you admit."
Rajyugas' silence was telling.
The runes dimmed, the wall fading back to blank stone. Only the two men remained, shadows long in the golden light of the chamber.
The Principal broke the quiet first. "Tell me, Rajyugas. Why have you really come here today? You do not watch idly."
Rajyugas closed his eyes briefly, then opened them, gaze steady. "I am requesting fifteen days' leave."
The Principal's brows rose. "Leave? At such a time?"
"Yes." Rajyugas' tone was resolute, his voice like iron. "And I will be taking the three of them with me."
A long silence fell.
The Principal's gaze sharpened. "And where, exactly, do you plan to take them?"
For the first time, Rajyugas allowed the faintest curve of a smile to touch his lips. It was not reassuring—it was the kind of smile that held secrets.
"Where they need to go."
The Principal's eyes lingered on him, searching for answers in the face of the man who revealed so little. But Rajyugas gave none, his silence its own fortress.
At last, the Principal exhaled, the tension slipping only slightly. "…Very well. But know this, Rajyugas. If you take them, their fate will lie in your hands. Not mine."
Rajyugas. "It always has."
The room fell into silence once more, heavy with truths spoken and unspoken, before the runes faded completely and the chamber returned to stillness.