Out of place.
That was exactly what Nox was feeling right now while standing in the middle of Solara Prime's central plaza, surrounded by buildings higher than he had ever seen before.
People, dressed in what he could only describe as an extreme show of wealth....well, when compared to what people in the slums wore anyway, walked on and about.
Compared to his five foot six height, these people might as well be giants. But he guessed that's what eating three meals a day caused.
Their skins looked healthy, and they had a lot more meat on their bones than anyone he had ever met back in the slums.
Hell, even their 'skinniest' seemed well-fed enough to look like nobles to him. They looked healthy and their eyes had no bags beneath them, an indication that the slept calmly without worrying about an Eclipsed wave reaching them.
The contrast was really large when compared to Zone 9. There was happiness everywhere he looked.
But as he observed them, so did they.
Well, not openly if course. No one would dare stare openly at someone walking beside a Solar Knight, but the looks they were giving him was painfully clear.
They looked at him like some kind of trash or some kind of refuse unfit for their eyes.
A mother subtly pulled her child closer as they passed. A pair of academy students in clean white uniforms whispered to each other and laughed as they took multiple glances at him.
Even the maintenance drones that hovered near the plaza fountains seemed to pause a little longer when scanning him.
He hated it.
Noxfelt like some kind of animal at a zoo, some rare and unpleasant animal that people only came close enough to gawk at before stepping back in disgust.
In just the minutes of being in Solara Prime, he had already regretted his dream of ever coming here, he wished he could go back to the slums.
At least there, everyone was equally miserable. No one pretended they were better than anyone else.
He shoved his hands into his pockets, lowering his head slightly as he followed Astra through the plaza.
They couldn't bring the Jeep around these parts, hence the reason they were walking.
Astra, meanwhile, although aware of the looks the kid was receiving, said nothing. Yes, the kid was now under her care but there were some things he needed to learn on his own.
If he was going to survive in Solara Prime, or anywhere in Aureum, he had to grow a thicker skin. She wasn't about to babysit him every time he was insulted or looked at in disgust....
That'd just set him up for failure in the real world.
Nox continued forward with Astra leading the way, he hated every moment that passed but he still kept moving.
But suddenly, he felt his skin crawl, a familiar sensation that he would never forget, after all, it was the same sensation he got when the Eclipsed looked at him.
Without realizing, his steps froze and all the sounds around him faded and his breath constricted. His instincts screamed at him to run, but he couldn't.
This....was a lot worse than what he felt from the Abyssal Hound, whatever was coming seemed a lot more dangerous than it.
As much as his head could allow, he slowly turned back with stiff movements.
The people were still there, talking and walking but to Nox, it was like they'd been muted.
His eyes scanned where the feeling came from only to realize, there was nothing there. But the feeling didn't disappear, he still felt the eyes of an Eclipsed locked on him.
Which should be impossible right?
They were in the middle of Solara Prime, one of the safest places in all of Aureum. Even the outer Light Field alone made it impossible for any Eclipsed to step a foot in, let alone look at him.
So why?
Why did this feeling refuse to go away?
His heartbeat was the only thing he could hear in his ears as his breathing came in short, uneven gasps.
His eyes went from face to face, scanning for the source of this feeling but all he could find were happy faces or even the few that looked at him in hidden disgust, none was of an Eclipsed.
The moment Nox seemed to be on the verge of a panic attack, a hand sudden rested on his shoulders, snapping him out of it.
Sound returned and the chatter of the plaza rushed back into his ears. He turned around, as he took in heavy breaths, and locked gaze with Astra.
She let out a sigh before saying, "let's get you out of here before you get a panic attack."
Astra had no idea why the kid was behaving like that, but she was sure that it wasn't because of the looks they were giving him, he didn't look that weak.
"Breathe," she said, "in through your nose and out through your mouth."
Following her words, Nox slowly gained control of his breathing again as the feeling of being watched slowly faded.
"I'm fine now," he said after a while.
"That's a lie," Astra responded before adding, "but first, let's get out of here."
There definitely was something wrong but here wasn't the place to talk, so she decided to ask later, for now, she had to get the kid out of here.
"Hold on," she said.
Before Nox had the chance to say anything, Astra grabbed him by the neck of his jacket, with her boots powering up.
With a boom, the two disappeared leaving behind a blast of wind that caused several bystanders to stumble back, clutching their coats and bags so they don't fly away due to the wind Astra left behind.
A few let out a gasp while others swore....under their breaths of course, but most quickly went back to their business.
Solar Knights doing strange things in public wasn't exactly uncommon in Solara Prime.
****
Meanwhile, just a bit beyond where Nox's eyes were looking, a pair of emotionless gray eyes were locked on him as Astra dragged him forward while she ran.
For a moment, an unreadable expression graced the person's face before it went back to normal.
"I guess it's time to go back," the words were said without the least bit of emotion as they looked up in the sky where the artificial sun hung, "it's getting late."
With that, they disappeared as if they were never there in the first place.