120 Curie

"Oh, I guess I'll be going ahead."

Shizu's hesitance to leave was as clear as day as she slowly stood up. Meeting up with Tyche, her expression was one of uncomfortable anxiety as she turned around to face him.

"I'll see you on the other side then, Riku," Shizu weakly smiled. "I'll try to see what's up with the next Realm while I'm waiting."

"What my Champion meant to say was that you take your time while she gathers the advantage," Tyche coolly smiled, his tone sounding a lot more forced than usual. "It's not everyday that we get to be in first place, after all."

"I'll keep that in mind," Riku diplomatically replied.

With a scoff, Tyche turned around, taking Shizu with him as he waved his hand around them. Like with Shizu's power, threads of fate appeared around them, bathing them in green light before they promptly disappeared from view. It would've been fantastical if he hadn't seen literal magic before.

Still, with Shizu's disappearance meant that she was now first in this Game that they were playing, which was so far from his original estimates that he would have to switch up a few things so that they could go faster. They had a lead now, which meant that they had to solidify it instead of simply allowing others to do most of the legwork for them in advance. Although, that also depended on whether or not Nyx would be fast enough to allow them to do such a thing in the first place. And speaking of...

'Nyx, how long are you going to take with that thing?'

/I'm going at this as fast as I can, alright?/ Nyx grumbled back to him. /I want to make sure that I don't have any spelling errors with this./

'And that forces you to go by slowly?' he questioned.

/The Language of the Gods isn't as easy as any of your mortal languages, my Champion,/ she quickly defended with a growl. /Just shut up for now and let me work. I'll be done faster if you just allow me to work./

Noting his patron goddess's annoyed tone, Riku did exactly what he was asked and promptly shut himself up. Once again left without nothing to do, he decided to observe the last Champion that he hadn't really paid attention to despite having already exchanged a few words with.

Curie was a rather curious individual. Sharing the name of one of the most famous physicists of their time was something that would immediately draw attention. He hadn't really asked her yet about it, but he had a feeling that she would probably rebuff him with something else entirely. She was clearly insecure in the same way that Nyx was, and the jittery look in her eyes told him that she was desperate for any kind of recognition. Whether or not that was the reason for her name, he didn't know. For all he knew, maybe she was truly related to Marie Curie. But without asking her about it, he would probably never know.

Then again, what was the harm in trying? It wasn't like he had anything else to do anyway.

"Hey, Curie."

"W-What? What is it, Champion of Nyx?"

Rather professional in her tone, but still clearly nervous despite her casualness earlier. "Your name is Curie, correct? Any relation to Marie Curie?"

The Champion of Kali froze up, her eyes wide with both anxiety and pride as a nervous smile spread on her lips.

"She's my mo-cousin," Curie proudly replied. "She's so amazing, right? I can never hope to match her."

And just like that, Riku had the reasons for why he saw such things in the woman. Curie, for all intents and purposes, had an even bigger inferiority complex than Nyx could ever have. She wasn't even mad that she couldn't match up to her famous relative. In fact, she was brimming with pride and adoration, but at the same time, he could feel the disappointment she had for herself for not matching up to her idol. She wanted the fame too. To the point of using her own surname instead of her given name just to have some recognition.

"I see. Marie Curie's contributions to nuclear physics is something to be admired, after all," he casually stated. "I'm sorry for your loss then."

"I-It's fine," Curie weakly chuckled. "I've made my peace with it. Though her work is far from complete.... and I need to finish it...."

Riku raised a brow at that loaded statement. Far from complete? As far as he knew, Marie Curie just discovered things about radioactivity and that was it. She then due to constant radiation exposure and that was that. In fact, there were no other notable Curies other than her husband. Which was to say...

Who was the person in front of him, exactly?

"Care to share what such work is, Curie?" he carefully asked.

"It's... Something- No, I shouldn't..." the Champion of Kali whispered to herself as she twiddled with her fingers. "Her work... The Cold War..."

The former assassin pursed his lips at that. Even in his line work, he never involved himself in major power struggles too much. Taking jobs from the government was already dangerous, and dealing with the wrath of the major superpowers was just asking to have an accident to happen to him. So no, he probably wouldn't push the woman more than he already had.

"It's fine," she reassured him with a hand wave. "I'm not privy to much things anyway beyond my work. Well, at least I don't have to deal with it anymore..."

He narrowed his eyes at that. Despite her words, the glint in her eyes stated the exact opposite of what she just said. She had ambition, and she probably wanted to have her wish granted just as much as anyone else.

"Understandable," he curtly nodded. "No hard feelings in the Game then?"

"No hard feelings," she nodded back. "Let's just give it our all."

With a shared look, the two Champions returned to their wait in silence, their respective gods rapidly filling out their paperwork. Eventually, they all disappeared one by one as the gods turned in their papers, and inevitably, Nyx turned in hers, allowing him to reach the next Realm.

And finally, he would get another power. Hopefully, he would have a good selection again.