The clearing deep within Sitri territory was silent, save for the rustling of leaves. Riser stood at the center, arms folded, while Sona adjusted her glasses with deliberate calm.
"Take them off," he ordered flatly.
Sona blinked. "Excuse me?"
Riser smirked. "The glasses. Tonight you don't get to hide behind them. You want to learn Haki? You face the world with your own eyes."
Her lips tightened, but she slid the glasses off, tucking them away. "You're insufferable."
"And yet," Riser stepped closer, flame-etched eyes boring into hers, "you keep showing up."
Before she could retort, his arm blurred—fingers like steel crashing toward her. Reflexively, she raised a magic barrier. The strike shattered it instantly, the backlash knocking her to the ground.
"Ugh—!" Sona coughed, her palms stinging.
"Good. That's lesson one," Riser said, crouching down, offering no hand to help her up. "Haki doesn't care about your lineage, your name, or your fancy spells. It's your spirit. Your will. Bleed, break, and rebuild—that's the only way."
Her jaw clenched, but she pushed herself up. "Then I'll rebuild."
Hours passed. Riser's strikes were relentless—blows that forced her to predict, to feel. Every time she failed, she hit the ground. Every time, she rose again.
Sweat clung to her temples, strands of hair sticking to her face. Her violet eyes burned with the same quiet fire that had drawn Riser to her in the first place.
Finally, as he swung again, her body moved before her mind did—stepping aside, his hand cutting air.
Riser's lips curled upward. "There it is. Observation."
Sona was panting, but her mouth twitched upward ever so slightly. "…About time."
When he finally let her rest, he pulled something from his coat pocket: the pearl he'd given her before. It pulsed faintly with aquatic light.
"You'll train with this too," he said, placing it in her palm. "It doubles your water magic, but if you rely on it too much, it'll eat you alive. I want you to master it, not let it master you."
She studied it, feeling its cold hum seep into her veins. "…You really think I can?"
Riser leaned in close, his breath brushing her ear. "I don't think. I know. You're Sona Sitri. My equal. My future wife. If anyone can wield both Haki and that pearl, it's you."
Her cheeks flared crimson. "Y-You—!"
He chuckled, pulling back, eyes twinkling with mischief. "Cute when you blush. Keep doing that, and I'll have to start rewarding you more often."
She turned away sharply, clutching the pearl. But her lips trembled upward. "…Idiot."
Far from them, half-hidden by a barrier she herself had cast, Serafall floated cross-legged in midair, chin propped on her palms, eyes sparkling with delight.
"Ufufu~ look at them~ training in secret, bleeding together, blushing together… ahhh, my little Sona-tan is so in love already!"
Her grin softened slightly, though. Watching the way Riser never relented but always caught her when she faltered, Serafall realized—he wasn't just showing off. He was shaping Sona into someone who could walk beside him in truth.
"…Maybe," she whispered, her voice unusually quiet, "he really is the one for her."