The air was cool and still, a deep contrast to the turmoil Livia felt stirring inside. She sat cross-legged where she had been meditating, her breath steady, her heart calm — or so she believed.
Hours of reflection and deep breathing had given her a fragile peace, one she'd never felt before. But as Florita slowly circled around her, there was something different in the elder's presence now — sharper, heavier, almost foreboding.
"Peace is easy," Florita said softly, her voice like the wind. "When the world around you is still. But true strength — true discipline — is when you can remain calm even as everything inside you screams."
Livia lifted her gaze to meet the older woman. "How… do I learn that?"
Florita stopped behind her, her hands weaving through the air in a motion Livia didn't quite recognize.
"By walking through the fire you've spent your whole life avoiding it."
Before Livia could ask what she meant, the world shifted.
