"I'm sorry I'm late," Was the first thing Nox said the moment he walked into the head mistress's office, only to pause.

The headmistress was calmly sat in the pavilion as usual sipping whatever was in her glass cup, probably some type of tea.

She was in a long white dress with golden patterns, one similar to the blindfold she currently had on.

Sitting opposite her was Ayla who seemed to have developed a worrying addiction to the cookies laid out on the table, judging by the crumbs at the corner of her mouth and the other cookie halfway to her lips.

But it wasn't like he was one to judge, after all, he would be the same with the snacks called candy.

Her grey eyes were still as emotionless as he remembered but Nox felt there was something different about her today.

And he soon realized what.

Usually she was dressed in the Academy's combat division uniform, though he had never actually seen her in a combat class, but today she wore something different.

She had on what seemed to be white cargo pants and a black top, one that was definitely not her usual style, but it wasn't like it didn't suit her.

"This is the part where you give her a compliment," The headmistress said with a grin on her face, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Ayla curiously lifted her head towards him before looking back down at her cookies, there wasn't much left to share, except the one in her hand, and she definitely had no intention of sharing that one.

Nox just turned to the headmistress before repeating, "sorry I'm late, I was caught up in.... something."

"Don't worry," Aurielle said with a small smile, lifting her cup slightly. "I was informed."

'That fast?' Nox mentally thought, before sitting opposite the two.

She basically had eyes..well, strings all around the academy but even then, he expected it to be a while before she knew about something that happened minutes ago.

"I see that child, Astra, is influencing you a lot these days," Aurielle said when Nox sat down.

"They issued the challenge," he answered, "and they wouldn't let up until I accepted."

"So you decide to just embarrass him in a single move?" The headmistress seemed to be enjoying this conversation, "and you also, almost destroyed his solar tech."

Nox went silent, after all, he had nothing to say in his defense. He could say that was the only he would ensure no one challenged him again,

But that clearly had the opposite effect.

Seeing him silent the headmistress just chuckled, and said, "but that's not why I called you here."

Nox sat up straight and looked at her.

"I need the two of you," she continued, "to take care of something outside the academy."

Nox's brow furrowed. "Outside the barrier?"

"Just beyond it," Aurielle said calmly. "A minor settlement reported irregular Eclipsed behavior. Nothing large-scale, but… strange."

"How strange?" Nox asked.

"The Eclipsed have somehow been able to recognize and avoid Solar Knights every single time we sent someone there," She explained.

"That's strange," Nox muttered, "shouldn't Eclipsed be drawn to SE, rather than avoiding it?"

"Exactly," Aurielle replied. "Which is why I'm sending you."

Nox frowned. "Why me?"

Aurielle smiled. "Because you can move without drawing attention, and because," she added lightly, "you seem to have a talent for dealing with Eclipsed in unconventional ways."

Her words seemed to just be a casual comment, but they both knew it wasn't. She was hinting that she knew of his masked persona, and Nox wasn't surprised.

He instead turned to Ayla, who had finished the cookies and was looking at them.

"You'll be my partner," she explained.

Nox nodded in understanding before asking the headmistress, "why not send Astra? Wouldn't she be able to handle this easily?"

"No," the headmistress shook her head, "ignoring the fact that the Eclipsed would sense her SE and hide, there's also the fact that she'll probably deny this request."

Nox paused for a second before asking, "is she allowed to do that?"

"She isn't," the headmistress said with a chuckle, "but she does it anyway," Aurielle finished lightly. "And I indulge her. Occasionally."

"I see," Nox nodded, the headmistress's relationship with Astra seemed to be like that of a older sibling's with their younger ones.

He silently thought about it for a while, they had gotten a week off and he had nothing better to do anyway, so he might as well accept.

"When do we leave?"

"Right now," the headmistress answered, "besides, don't you need attention away from you for a while? This is a great opportunity to just disappear for a short while."

Nox thought about it again, she was right, after that spectacle he definitely did need some time for the rumors to die down.

But he definitely wasn't prepared enough to just leave on such a short notice, he at least needed food, incase history decided to repeat itself.

As if reading his thoughts, she said, "I've prepared everything you might need, including some snacks that she likes."

"And this shouldn't take more than a week at most." She finished.

Nox paused, well, now there was no excuse to deny the request so he just sighed and stood up, before turning to Ayla,

"Whenever you're ready."

She looked up at him before saying, "let's go."

"Great," Aurielle said before tossing Nox a watch, "everything you need should be in there."

Nox caught the watch and looked at it for a while, he already had one with an almost infinite space, thanks to Elias, so he just turned to Ayla, who didn't seem to have one.

"Here," he said as he handed it over, "and don't try to take out the cookies."

Ayla looked at the watch before nodding, but he could see that she definitely wanted to take the cookies out.

"Alright then," he turned to the headmistress, "we'll be off."

"Very well," the headmistress said with a smile but her next words almost made Nox's fall over, "good luck on your date."

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