35 Stairs

/Well... I guess you'll see later why?/ Nyx awkwardly chuckled.

Shizu stared at Riku, and he simply shook his head before continuing on to their destination. Whatever it was that was bothering Nyx, she said it would be revealed later, so he just had to trust her word for it.

A few minutes of walking and dodging random mobs of people cheering them on later, they finally arrived in front of the massive Dicastery where they were supposed to learn what their next step would be. Standing right above it, the entire building practically towered over them like it was a wide and massive skyscraper. The usual marble columns were still present, and the entire thing itself was styled after some kind of Greek courthouse complete with the complete lack of color beyond the marble white that was just as present at any other building they came across. Of course, the massive floating golden scales above set it apart from the rest of what they've seen so far, signifying its significance just with sheer wondrous architecture alone.

"It's... bigger than I thought," Shizu whispered in awe, her jaw almost dropping to the floor as she significantly craned her neck up just to look at the entire building. "Bigger than even the biggest courthouses back home."

"On that, I agree," Riku casually replied. "If it's anything like government courthouses though, we should probably expect some stringent rules the moment we try to step inside."

"Oh, I've never been to one, actually," his fellow Champion admitted.

He raised a brow at that. That kind of sounded impossible in his ears. "Not even to get civil papers or anything?"

"The nearby city hall had most of my needs covered," she shrugged. "The only thing I'd need from a courthouse would probably be a lawyer or a notary, and I never needed any of them in my life."

"Lucky you, then," he faintly smiled.

Turning his attention back on the building, the massive columns of marble acting as its facade almost felt overbearing as he tried looking for the entrance. Somehow, he expected the doors to be just as massive as the building itself, but surprisingly, he spotted a few sets of double doors even spaced throughout the front of the building. People were coming in and out like it was any other government office, and even more surprising, there were Lion Guards standing on either side of each door. Security, most likely.

"Time to see what's waiting for us then," Riku stated as he took a step up the stairs. Only, he stopped when he noticed that Shizu and Nyx weren't following him. Turning around, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Shizu was frowning when he saw her, her attention clearly split between him and the quiet Nyx just right beside her. "B-Before anything, I want to know what's wrong, Nyx."

The goddess flinched at the sudden attention. Riku already had an inkling on what was wrong with her on top of Nyx herself telling him that they'll know in just a little but, but a confirmation wouldn't hurt at all.

"I guess there's no hiding it," Nyx sighed behind her hood, her shoulders sagging with every word she spoke. "Like what I told my Champion earlier, you'll see in a minute, especially now that we're here."

Immediately, Shizu turned to look at him with a questioning look, to which he simply shrugged before turning back around to climb the stairs. He really didn't want to deal with this now, especially since Nyx herself clearly didn't want to budge. So instead, he took one step up after another with Shizu and Nyx trailing behind. The stairs themselves were long and steep, and he was honestly surprised that he was starting to get out of breath when they were barely over halfway up.

"H-How long is this going to take?" Shizu panted. "My legs are burning..."

"Just a bit further," Riku reassured her, lightly hiding the fact that he was starting to pant himself.

By the sidelines, Nyx was subtly chuckling underneath her hood, a fact that the former assassin quickly took note of for use at a later date. She was laughing at their misery, was she? Well, she'll get something of equal worth somewhere down the line.

With their destination now close at hand, Riku almost let off a grunt of victory the moment he saw the end of the stairs. His hand went on his knees for a few good seconds to help him catch his breath, his head shaking at the insanity that was climbing the equivalent of a four-story building's worth of stairs.

"I thought... that would... never end..."

Shizu's desperate pants almost sounded off to him as she laid down on the ground, uncaring even if the marble surface was technically dirty. Her chest was heaving as she put her arm over her face, her sweat dripping down her like she just took a shower as her shirt clung to her surprisingly thin figure.

"Well, I thought it was fun."

On the other side of the spectrum, Nyx was smugly chuckling at them as she stood resolute like nothing even happened. As expected from a goddess, she wasn't even winded despite climbing up the same set of stairs that they did. Then again, she was a literal goddess, and it would be even more suspicious if she actually struggled at something as menial as climbing stairs.

"Not... fair..." Shizu weakly whined at the goddess, to which the latter just chuckled. "You're... the worst..."

"It's free excercise," Nyx shrugged. "Anyway, you two should go in now. I'll just stay here or probably just go back to my Realm for a while."

Riku raised a brow at her. "You're not coming with us?"

"I would, but I think I might be pushing my luck too far if I did. His guards are even looking suspiciously at me now," the goddess weakly chuckled, making them turn their attention to the aforementioned guards. Sure enough, they were all squinting at Nyx in particular. "I'll just play it safe and watch from my own Realm in the meantime. It's not like I can't talk to you even if I'm not here anyway."