LEGACY OF THE FALLEN
Chapter 26
"What has Aksh been doing these past three days?" Ayesha asked, sipping her morning coffee as she sat at the dining table.
"Don't know, man. I've barely seen him lately," Tushar replied, munching on his breakfast, the table half-covered with food meant solely for him. "He hardly steps out of his room since he beat Avni."
"Maybe he's depressed after hurting her," Ayesha said softly, wiping away a tear from the corner of her eye. "Maybe he's crying every day inside his room..."
"Huh. But I saw him yesterday near the castle," Jasmine said, walking over with a curious glint in her eyes. She leaned in closer and whispered, "Let me tell you a secret. I saw him sneaking around all cautious and weird, so I followed him… and guess what? He was buying chocolates at the departmental store near the castle."
She giggled. "I think he likes chocolates."
"No way. That cool and cold Aksh likes something like chocolates?" Ayesha raised an eyebrow.
"I'm telling you the truth. I saw it with my own eyes," Jasmine whispered, grinning.
"Ohhh, if that's true, then we just uncovered his secret. Hehehe," Tushar chuckled, stuffing another full plate of food into his mouth.
Avni was also there, sitting beside them on her floating hat, quietly munching on a small bun.
"Hey, Avni, why is your face all red? Are you sick or something?" Ayesha asked, leaning closer with concern.
"N-No! It's… it's nothing!" Avni stammered, her face turning even redder as she quickly floated away, closing her eyes. Her long green hair fluttered with the wind, trying to hide her flustered expression.
That means... those chocolates in front of my room yesterday… they were sent by Aksh? So he's not mad at me anymore? And he gave them to me in secret…Does that mean he… lo-lo-loves me?!
She drifted off midair, completely lost in her thoughts, her face glowing like a tomato.
"That's a very creepy move by you, Vice-Captain Jasmine," Aman interrupted, sitting across the table with perfect posture. One leg crossed over the other, back straight as a board, a cup of black coffee in one hand, and his other adjusting his glasses with practiced precision.
"You didn't just stalk someone—you also tried to pry into their personal life. Tch tch. Don't you know stalking is against the rules?"
"Let's go before this rulebook starts nagging," Jasmine whispered into Ayesha's ear.
"What are you guys talking about?" a voice came from behind.
As they turned, Aksh was standing there—yawning with one hand over his mouth and scratching his stomach with the other. His hair was slightly messy, and he looked like he'd just rolled out of bed.
"Wow… is that really you, Aksh?" Jasmine gasped, blinking twice.
"Wooww… when did he get so handsome?" Ayesha exclaimed, her eyes widening as she stared at him.
Aksh was several inches taller than before, now standing at nearly 170 centimeters. His physique had changed noticeably—no longer lean, but not bulky either. His muscles were well-defined, especially in his forearms where veins snaked visibly beneath his skin. His cheeks, once slightly sunken, had filled out with healthy color, and his face seemed to glow with renewed vitality.
Jasmine stood up and walked over to him.
"You're even taller than me now," she said, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "What kind of drugs were you taking these past few days?"
She raised her hand to compare their heights, stepping in close—so close that her cupcakes lightly pressed against his chest.
Aksh immediately took a step back, turning his face away.
"I-I'm just… in my growing period," he muttered.
"By the way, what were you guys discussing?" Aksh asked, stretching a little.
"Oh, it's—it's nothing!" Jasmine blurted out, avoiding eye contact like it was cursed.
"She was telling us how she stalked yo—mmmfff!" Aman began, but his words were smothered the next moment—Jasmine had already clamped a hand over his mouth.
"We were just talking about what we should have for dinner!" Jasmine said quickly, smiling through gritted teeth as Aman struggled to breathe beneath her iron grip. "Oh, and yeah—Captain wanted you to meet him in the basement. Since you're already up, you should probably head there."
"Okay... al-alright," Aksh replied, blinking.
As he walked away, he thought, "Wasn't she just standing in front of me a second ago?"
Aksh went down the stairs beside the hall. After reaching the bottom and walking a short distance, he stopped in front of a large steel door. It looked completely out of place in the Black Dog, where everything else,from furniture to windows,was made of black wood.
He opened the door and looked inside. It was a huge hall, completely empty. The entire room was white—the walls, the floor, even the ceiling—all made from large, hexagon-shaped tiles that gave the space a strange and clean feeling. At the center of the room sat Arihant, writing something in a book.
"Ohh, you're already here. I was just about to call you," Arihant said, glancing up.
Then he blinked and tilted his head. "Oh my... what do we have here? Who is this gentleman, and where's my cute little Aksh gone? What have you done to him?" he added dramatically, standing up and circling Aksh like a curious scientist examining a strange specimen.
"Stop it and tell me why you called me here," Aksh said, already fed up with all the compliments he'd been getting lately.
"Hmm, such a serious kid," Arihant chuckled, unfazed. "Well, I've been planning how to continue your training—and after brainstorming for the past three days, taking your absurd growth into account..."
He paused deliberately, adding a touch of drama.
"I've finally come up with a plan to push you to 2-Star Tejas before the competition."
"2 Stars?! But I've heard it takes 3 to 4 years to reach that from 1… even for prodigies. And not to mention, I haven't even reached 1 Star yet," Aksh replied, clearly skeptical.
A wide smirk stretched across Arihant's face. "That's for people who don't put their lives on the line during training," he said, his tone darkening slightly. "But you… you're different, aren't you?"
His eyes gleamed as he glared at Aksh—like a demon who'd just found a brand-new toy.
Aksh gulped.
Looks like another hell is waiting for me.