101 Confusion

Riku didn't know whether or not to laugh as Nyx's words sank into his mind. Find the target on the floor and hit it? What did those words even mean? Even more, what floor? They were quite literally standing in the open space at the moment.

"Uhm... That's not exactly straightforward, Nyx," Shizu weakly chuckled.

"Huh? I'm pretty sure it's the best I can do without telling you where the office is outright," Nyx defended herself with a shrug. "Seriously, that's it. Find the target on the floor and hit it. You'll find your way soon enough."

The former assassin frowned at the obtuse string of words they were given. That was far from being obvious at all. "Nyx, I agree with Shizu. Is that really the best you can do?"

The goddess blinked at him scandalous, almost looking like he had just insulted her when that wasn't the case at all. Well, maybe it was, but he didn't mean it in a malicious way.

"That's the best you're going to get, my Champion," Nyx glowered at him, her tone turning more godlike as she had seemingly decided to act like the goddess that she was now instead of any other appropriate time. "I won't say it again, and I won't justify myself to mortals that can't seem to understand something so simple."

Riku glowered back at the goddess. If it was any other time before he got to know Nyx further than he had already done, he would've been sufficiently cowed by such a powerful display of godly presence. However, that wasn't the case. Nyx was a pushover of a goddess no matter how much she tried to deny it. It wasn't ideal, in his opinion, but so long as that remained the case, then he didn't care that he was hurting her feelings. He wanted proper information, and he refused to back down now.

"What's with that look? Are you... Are you challenging me, my Champion?" Nyx incredulously asked, her aura of pure Chaos looming over him despite. "Are you questioning my authority?"

"I'm just asking for more clarification," he insisted, his gaze refusing to leave hers. "I don't want any kind of confusion for this challenge. Don't you want that, Nyx? I want us to win, and giving us something as nonsensical as that hint you just made won't help that goal at all."

Beside him, Shizu had visibly stepped back, allowing him to bear the brunt of Nyx's ire as the goddess's tone sank even lower, her sheer power and authority washing over him like a torrential waterfall. Not that it bothered him in the slightest. Nyx wouldn't hurt him. He was her Champion, and she needed him far too much to just throw him away.

"My... You don't want to fight me, my Champion," Nyx glowered, her violet starry eyes shining with both worry and anger as she spoke. "Don't think that I need you enough to not just throw you away the moment you defy or insult me."

"If that was the case, you would've thrown me away ages ago," he scoffed. "I've insulted you how many times now? And I'm still here."

Nyx was taken aback by his words, some of the wind beneath her being taken out as the truth of the matter was being laid bare to her. At the end of the day, his patron deity really was just their friend. A friend that unfortunately got to be on the receiving end of playful ridicule that she wholly deserved at times, but he made sure to never outright bully her for it. Hell, he even encouraged her whenever she was clearly on the verge of having her mask of confidence breaking. Even Shizu was hard at work keeping her company, giving her more of the soft support that he could never give her due to just how he was as a person.

"T-Those don't count," Nyx insisted, having clearly realized what he was talking about. "And don't think I already forgot you and Shizu trying to break the rules yourselves by drawing more power than you can both handle."

"As if you don't break the rules yourself," Riku fired back. "You said it yourself that you're the premier rulebreaker between your siblings. You've broken rules before. What's one more to give us a leg up in this game?"

Nyx faltered yet again, her aura of divinity waning as his words rang true in her head. Of course, Riku himself knew why she didn't like breaking rules too often. Her control over her power was already random as it was. It wouldn't do for her to keep risking herself if they could just do what they had to without her assistance. But still, he really wanted a better hint than what they currently had.

"You... Don't think that just because you're making sense means that you're winning," Nyx whined, her godly persona starting to break. "You don't need my help, my Champion. I'm sure that you can figure things out given enough time."

"Time that we don't really have," he insisted. "And even if we did have it, wouldn't it be better to still do things as quickly as possible to give us more of a lead against the other Champions? We're not even in first place, you know."

For the last time, Nyx buckled, and the foreboding aura that enveloped her very person slowly disappeared, revealing the person that was behind the goddess once more giving both him and Shizu a resigned look.

"Fine... You're right, my Champion," Nyx weakly sighed, her hands awkwardly moving to raise her hood up. "I'll think of something else... Just don't expect it to be quick. You can use my earlier hint too if you can. Cause I still stand by my words that it's already enough."

Flashing a rare smile, Riku walked up to his goddess and ruffled her hair beneath her hood. The goddess mumbled something under her breath, but she didn't bother fighting him off.

"Thank you, Nyx," he sincerely stated. "We'll go on ahead then if you're staying here."

Nyx simply rolled her eyes. "Just go. I want something nice to compensate for this though, my Champion."