A/N: The following chapters will be briefer than the previous ones, due to the sheer length the original combined one would have been.


When the door opened, Nera faced them with an expression devoid of any emotion until recognition kicked in. "Ah, good morning. You arrived earlier than anticipated."

Lux smiled sheepishly and ducked her head when the snowy-haired woman stepped back to let them pass. "Well Fiora did say to be early, so here we are."

Nera nodded faintly, looking over both women but keeping her gaze trained on Eyrin. She looked a little worse for the wear, but probably from having woken up so early to come out. "Would you like some tea before the morning's first lessons? I'm afraid I will have to brew a fresh pot for you, but I'm certain something a little hot would do your bodies good." Like the first time they arrived, the two Crownguards followed Nera to the kitchen area. Already there was a tea pot on the counter and while the snowy-haired woman prepared a fresh kettle of water, curiosity nipped at Lux's heels.

She picked up the half-filled teacup and took a small whiff of the liquid within. She cringed. "Eugh, what kind of tea is this?"

Eyrin shouldn't have, but followed suit anyway to see what it was Lux went on about. Fortunately for her, she didn't register anything off about it. "Perhaps it's something that isn't to your liking milady?"

"Ah, that's a special tea." Nera came over to the island and gently retrieved the fragile ceramic from the raven-haired woman's hands. She sipped at it, making a bitter expression, before setting it down on the counter. "It's not recommended for normal consumption. Requires a few hours to brew properly and mostly when we feel ill."

"Ill?" Concern washed over Lux's features. "Are you unwell?"

Nera didn't smile, but her eyes twinkled with mirth. "In a way, perhaps so. Milady and I operate on very tight schedules normally, and we have little room to properly relax in. I beg her not to consume such a tea especially on difficult days, but she insists at least having a cup or so every now and again."

Now that could be something useful. Lux peered at the teacup again, wondering what kind of plant the leaves belonged to. "Might I have a taste?"

"No," Nera replied a bit sharply, but her voice softened in her response immediately after. "It's for those who have grown accustomed to its properties. For you, it would most certainly make you sick."

Eyrin looked to Nera, then to Lux, and then at the teacup. Strange...

"Here we are, a spot of fresh tea." A few clinks later and some idle conversation until the sun rose a little higher in the sky, the three engaged in some light conversations in regards to the current happenings within Demacia. Seeing as Lux and Nera were a little more well-versed with those subjects, Eyrin took the time to let her mind wander, and found it going back to the inconspicuous teapot sitting off to the side.

Why is it I can't smell anything, but Lux can? And why would it make her ill?

"Oh, I see they've arrived." Fiora appeared in the kitchen, looking like she had been up for a while and dressed to kill – literally. She didn't have her rapier on hand, but the form-fitting suit meant business. "And you didn't prepare them Nera?"

Nera bowed her head apologetically. "It was a rather cold morning. I offered them a fresh pot of tea to warm them up beforehand."

The duelist scanned the counter, picking up the teacup Nera just drank out of. She sniffed it cautiously before downing the contents in one go.

Eyrin watched her carefully, but there were no reactions.

"Hey, I thought you didn't like sharing!"

"Oui, I do not. But I also do not enjoy creating extra work."

"Point, if you both are ready we can head to the training hall and we may begin."

Lux followed the two out of the kitchen, but Eyrin hung behind a bit. She took the lid off the teapot and glanced at the contents inside. They looked like normal leaves, but when she replaced the lid, the leaves inside clattered quietly.

Wait-

"Eyrin, where are you?" The blonde's sing-song voice broke her out of her thoughts.

"Coming!" Eyrin shouted, quickly darting out of the kitchen to catch up with the others.

The questioning burning in the back of her mind could wait another time.

As ruthless as Fiora was in her bladework, her patience made up for her harsh teaching methods and by default, Lux's stumbling when it came to learning the basics. "No, no. That is not how you go en garde. Je jure que j'enseigne à un enfant. Look."

The duelist positioned her feet accordingly, her dominant foot pointed out with the other perpendicular underneath her. To Lux, it looked incredibly uncomfortable and not at all like the powerful, stable stances of Ionian martial arts or Demacian guarding formations. She tried to mimic the stance, only to feel like she was ready to topple over and held up her foil. "Like this?"

"Oui, better. But you are still off balance. I could easily swing at you and you would fall over before you could step back. Worse yet, sprain your ankle." Fiora tucked her own practice weapon under her arm as she walked around Lux and nudged her feet with her own. "Further back here, and bend your knees a little more."

The slight adjustments actually did make Lux feel a little more secure, though the whole crouching thing had to look silly from a different perspective. "How about this?"

Fiora studied her but refrained from making any decisive comments. "Now, try to follow me." She fell into the same stance as the blonde. "Forward movement, front foot first. Retreat, back foot first."

Lux watched as the duelist shuffle forward and backwards, following the patterns in her mind. "Okay, so like this?" It was much easier performing the shuffling movements and Fiora's nod of approval made her smile.

"Exactly. Now, a lunge." A forward stab, quick and right at what Lux assumed to be center mass of the opponent. It was a powerful move, and if Fiora had her rapier instead of a practice tool, it would most assuredly punch a hole in whatever body it pierced. "The basics, you will repeat these until you master them."

Which could mean any length of time, but if the duelist was cutting time out of her day to teach someone like her, then Lux better damn well put the effort in and try to get some results.

…..

…..

…..on the flipside, Eyrin struggled to keep up with Nera.

"You say punch, but you also say I'm not punching. I'm following your movements!" The raven-haired woman emphasized her actions by repeatedly punching thin air, leaving Nera to shake her head and sigh quietly. "You are just throwing your hand out there. Here."

The snowy-haired woman guided Eyrin's hands with her own. "Demacian training regiments differ vastly from Ionian, and unfortunately I only known the latter. We aim not to put all of our strength into the fight, but utilize it according to our situations." She gripped tightly clenched fists and willed them loose.

"Keep your fists light. Do not clench them – you tense your muscles and restrict yourself. Act and react with a purpose." Eyrin relaxed as Nera's fingers dug into various parts of her arm, trying to keep herself from wiggling at all the contact. The close proximity made her feel awkward as the older woman seemed to have no regards for personal space. Nera turned to Eyrin and held up her hand – covered with a padded glove. "Your goal is to punch. Not the strength of it, not the speed nor the accuracy of it. But to simply punch. Form is more important as I showed you."

Eyrin nodded, focusing on the glove in front of her.

"Again. Punch."

The raven-haired woman followed through, landing her fist dead center before retracting it.

"Again."

A second punch.

"Again."

Another.

"Again."

…...

…...

…...

…...

"...alright, that's enough for now."

Eyrin blinked in confusion. "What happened?"

Nera stopped in the middle of taking off her glove. "Training is done for the day. How do you mean?"

Wait, done? It was then that the raven-haired woman realized the sun had moved from the wall to the other side of the room, barely touching the racks and she could see Lux cross-legged and smiling so bright, it rivaled that of the sun itself. Where did all the time go?

"Don't worry, I felt the same way you did when Kahina taught me," the blonde slowly rose from her seat on the ground and made her way over to Eyrin. "Nera's is a little more gentle though, and she's definitely loads more patient than him."

The raven-haired woman stared down at her fists. They felt sore and her arms were heavy, but otherwise she didn't think they did anything promising. "I was just punching."

"Yes, but you weren't thinking of anything else but punching." Lux looped her arm around Eyrin's shoulder, despite how sweaty and smelly she might have been. "When you started, I noticed you were trying too hard to make it perfect. I think Nera saw that and just told you to punch, didn't she?"

"I suppose?"

"As I said, the form is most important," Nera explained as she stretched her muscles. "You can have a powerful punch, but you might break your fingers. You can have a fast punch, but have it miss. You can try to hit the same spot over and over, but not everyone is created equal." She gestured to a few training dummies leaning in the corner of the room. "Perfect the form, and everything else will come in time. Do not fight it and try to bend it to you. Let it flow naturally."

"Demacian hand-to-hand combat is not as flexible as Ionian, and they value efficiency less than power. Ionian is definitely more difficult to learn, but not impossible." Lux ended up joining the other woman in her stretches and Eyrin felt out of place just standing there.

"And stretch, xuéshēng."

Eyrin raised her eyebrow, but followed suit nonetheless. "Is that Ionian for something?"

"Ionia has many languages, I simply speak in one of them."

"What's it supposed to mean?"

"I called you my student." Nera chuckled. "Consider it a term of endearment."

"Then what do I call you?"

Nera sat back on her haunches and stared up at the ceiling. She went quiet for a solid minute before finally answering. "Jiǎngshī ."

"I suppose that means something like teacher?"

"Precisely."


Afterthoughts: I apologize for any formatting issues that show up as well as translations. Nera is speaking in Mandarin or Cantonese, the latter of which I do actually understand but since I can't read either one I had to assume are the correct romanizations. I felt like Japanese is a bit too well-recognized and Nera isn't exactly someone who comes from a region that speaks a common dialect. I also apologize for the poor French that comes up, since it's not a language I speak but one I feel like Fiora goes into quite often when she speaks to herself or to Nera.

For those of you curious as to what Fiora said: "I swear I'm teaching a child." Or something to that effect. I'm not perfect. I'm just trying.