74 Nightmare

{RIKU POV}

{REALM: THE SEA OF STARS}

{DEPTH 14}

"That went rather smoothly, don't you think?"

Riku simply nodded at Nyx's observations just as they arrived at the fourteenth Depth of the Sea of Stars. While the twelfth Depth gave them far too much excitement for it to be fun, the one after that went relatively peacefully. Beyond the fact that they were still far too close enough to other Champions for comfort, the Depth went by without so much as a shot or an attack being fired at them and vice versa, which was good since Shizu still hasn't woken up ever since her stunt with Stephen.

"We'll have to keep moving at a steady pace," he spoke aloud, his gaze glancing at the closed cabin doors where Shizu's unconscious form currently resided. "We can't afford another fight right now. Not with Shizu still down."

"Tell me about it," Nyx sighed with a shake of her head. "I really don't want us to face the others. We got lucky it was Big Brother Astra that caught us earlier."

Riku hummed in agreement as he casually sat by the edge of the boat. The calm waters of the Sea of Stars made for a calm peaceful atmosphere, a more than welcome sight after their previous battle. Sure, they were climbing the ranks far too rapidly for his liking, but it was still within his calculations if he was being honest. It just meant that they could take their time should they encounter something that needed more nuance to get through. The unwanted attention was annoying, but after their brief battle, he was sure that they could fight other Champions now if need be.

"We could've went and killed that Champion if not for the fact that the boat was on the verge of getting sunk, to be honest," Riku shrugged. "His power was strong, but getting near him quickly enough would make that no longer matter."

"You're just saying that because we got away," Nyx teased, her mouth already full with another morsel of sashimi as she spoke. "If not for Shizu, we'd probably still be there."

The former assassin conceded to that. "Agreed. She really pulled through."

Truly, the decision to take Shizu into their group was paying dividends in terms of their fighting ability. Sure, he probably could've figured something out on his own if push came to shove, but having a dedicated support with as much utility as her was a massive time and effort saver. Shizu's ability just kept on surprising him with how verstile it was. Granted, it would seem that she too was subject to the literal luck of the draw when it came to her power, but it was much better than him just praying that he got something good with his rolls and procs since she actually seemed to know what she was getting.

Seriously... the ability to summon an infinite ladder... It was as surreal as powers could get.

"You're thinking of something unflattering about me again, aren't you."

"It's just the nature of the beast," Riku shrugged, making Nyx pout even as she kept eating his food. "You can't fault me for saying Chaos is an unreliable tool if it's doing exactly that."

"Ah, but it still worked out though, right?" his goddess quickly quipped with a smug grin. "I told you that while they're random, they're still useful."

Riku opened his mouth to retort, only to close it as her words rang true yet again. "I'll concede to that."

"That's what I thought," Nyx smugly chuckled as she reached for her plate, only to come up with empty air as her fingers landed on smooth surface instead of food. "Now make me another plate of sashimi, my Champion~"

Standing up, the former assassin simply scoffed before taking the empty plate and walking back into the cabin. Inside, he tossed the plate into the sink before getting to work on making a new batch of fish sashimi for his patron goddess. His knife moving quickly, his work was done in record time without so much as a wink lost from his speed.

Then, seeing as he had some time on him, he moved to kneel down to check on Shizu's sleeping form. He had laid her down on the floor with nothing else to cover her with. That was, until he bugged Nyx to make a blanket for her stating that their companion would need one. As such, the fortune teller was currently sleeping on a blanket made of thousands upon thousands of microscopic tendrils all pretending that they were threads of cloth.

Frankly, it was disturbing, but not disturbing for him enough to care.

"You're still asleep, huh," he shrugged as he stared at her unmoving face, her chest slowly moving up and down as she breathed. "A Depth already passed since you were out of it, you know."

His words fell on deaf ears as Shizu just kept sleeping. She frowned a bit for a brief second, however, her beautiful face scrunching up as if she was having a bad dream.

"ughh....."

Riku raised a brow at the groan of pain that escaped her lips. Blinking at the reaction, he did the only thing he knew to do whenever he saw someone that was on the throes of what was clearly a bad dream.

He used his knife and started poking her bare skin with its tip. Not enough to draw blood, obviously, but just enough to inflict pain and cause her to hopefully wake up.

It worked with his torture subjects, after all. Suffice to say, it would work on anyone.

"You're dreaming, Shizu," he calmly told her while gently poking her arm and neck. "Wake up."

"p-please.... i didn't.... stop...."

"no... pleasee.... PLEASE!"

Riku remained passive as Shizu suddenly jolted upright. His knife still in the middle of poking her, she stared at him like he was some kind of monster, her eyes full of fear and confusion.

"R-Riku?!"

"You finally woke up," he blandly replied. "You were having a nightmare."

"I was... I was getting stabbed..." she whispered in horror before her eyes finally caught sight of his knife midpoke. "Wait... Were you seriously using your knife to wake me up? Are you insane?!"

"It worked though, right?" he scoffed.

At that, Shizu let out a sigh as she placed a hand on her chest. All the while, the former assassin simply shrugged before standing up. He did his job. He didn't care what she thought.

Besides, it was funny seeing her like that of his own doing.