56 The Sea of Stars

{RIKU POV}

{REALM: ???}

{DEPTH ???}

Still in what appeared to be a waiting room of some sort, Riku simply stood around waiting for stuff to happen as he looked around. Sure, he could always move on and make his own way from there, but that wasn't the smart thing to do in a new environment. He was currently alone without a guide to gather information from, and that was on top of Shizu still being unaccounted for.

"O-Oww..."

And speak of the devil...

Turning around, he was mildly surprised to see Shizu grumbling to herself as she appeared on the ground with a familiar green glow. It would seem that her patron god had a hand in her momentary disappearance just as Nyx told him. At least he didn't lose his one asset that he actually poured enough time training into.

"Why did I have to land on my butt?" she sighed in annoyance as she picked herself up. "Ugh... Riku?"

"Welcome back," he casually greeted her as he helped her up. "I heard that your god wanted to talk with you in person?"

Immediately, Shizu flinched, something that Riku quickly noticed. "Y-Yeah..." she nervously nodded. "Something about the game and stuff... Nothing too important..."

The former assassin knew she was lying before she was even done speaking. Based on how much she was fidgeting, it was probably an uncomfortable subject for her. Perhaps it was about her wish? Or maybe it was about the terms of her relationship with her patron god. Whatever it was, it was probably important enough to impact her like this. Not enough for him to want to question her about it, but it was certainly something to keep in mind in the future.

"Very well. What's important is that you're here now," he faintly smiled at her, something that gave Shizu a bit of normalcy as she smiled back. "We'll have to see what kind of Realm this is first and go from there."

"Maybe Nyx will help us again?" Shizu asked. "Where is she, by the way?"

"Maybe I'm already here?~"

Turning around, sure enough, they both saw Nyx casually standing there with her ever smug smile. Her hood was down again, allowing her to show her arrogant smirk in all of its chaotic glory.

"Nyx!" Shizu eagerly greeted the goddess, the fortune teller wrapping the woman in a hug.

"H-Hey... I'm not your patron deity here, Shizu," Nyx awkwardly chuckled, her hands clearly confused on whether or not to hug Shizu back as they hovered above the other woman. "Also, I haven't even been gone for like a few hours."

"Well, it's always nice to see a friend," Shizu huffed with a smile as she let go. "It's also nice to give them hugs."

Nyx blushed as she looked away, and Riku couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of the two women bonding. It almost reminded him of a time when he wasn't alone. When he actually led a team before he decided that going at it as a solo hitman was better for his mental and professional health.

But back to the matter at hand, Riku let out a small cough to get his companions' attention, the two women quickly looking at him.

"Right, since we're all here, how about we get a move on?" he pointedly suggested. He then stared at Nyx in particular as he added, "We're still in a game, after all. One that we want to win, isn't that right?"

To her credit, the goddess quickly recomposed herself. "That's right. We're currently in the second Realm of the Deep Blue," she sagely explained. "We're not in there yet properly, of course, but we already here."

"You're talking about this place we're in now, right?" Shizu asked as she looked around the room they were in. "This isn't the entire Realm. It's almost like a waiting room of some sort."

"That's pretty much it," Nyx shrugged. "Big Brother Astra didn't want anyone just suddenly popping up in the middle of his Realm, he built this around each entrance and exit found in his Realm. It's kind of boring, but then again, he's kind of a bit boring sometimes.... Or maybe he was just too lazy to add decorations..."

Riku raised a brow at that. Apparently, this next Realm was owned by Astra, the God of Space if he recalled. He saw him watching during their Trial by Justice earlier, and Nyx's words actually made sense with how laid back the god seemingly was back then.

"Anyway, let's get out of this place and get to the actual fun stuff," Nyx eagerly stated with a singular clap. "This place is actually one of my favorite Realms. It's just very soothing to be here. And pretty too."

At that, Shizu let out an excited breath as she eagerly followed Nyx to the door. Likewise, Riku simply remained quiet as he followed after the women for once. It wasn't always going to be the case, but it wasn't like they were already in danger anyway.

With his goddess at the lead, the former assassin simply watched as she waited for them by the door, her hand already on what appeared to be a simple doorknob as a knowing smile etched itself onto her face once again. She was actively shaking with excitement, something that he had never seen her do since he met her.

"Shizu, my Champion, welcome to the second Realm of the Deep Blue: The Sea of Stars..."

For the first time in a long time, Nyx actually used her goddess voice as she opened the door. Almost immediately, Riku blinked as he took the liberty of taking the first steps on what almost looked like an old concrete dock of some sort. It was barren and devoid of ships, but it was clearly recently used based on some of the ropes that were still hanging off of some of the piers. But that wasn't even the most eye-catching part.

No... What was more important to take note of was the fact that it almost looked like they were currently in outer space. And even more pressing was the prompt that suddenly appeared over his face.