95 Unappreciated

{RIKU POV}

{REALM: THE SEA OF STARS}

{DEPTH 18}

"You know, I really wish that something would happen right about now."

Nyx's bored tone echoed across the silent waves of the Sea of Stars as their ship casually cruised through the stellar waters. Riku himself was feeling... nothing much as he kept fishing. Likewise, Shizu's quiet sighs of boredom kept him company as they just did nothing with their time.

Surprisingly, after the hectic insanity that was Depth 15, nothing much else happened the moment they ran toward the exit. They've gotten rid of two Champions respectively, which was an achievement that would surely be noticeable assuming the other Champions were paying attention to the wider going ons of the Game. Riku had asked Nyx about the current standings a while back, and they were currently running at around fourth to fifth, unsurprisingly.

"Honestly, I'm kind of getting bored too," Shizu lazily mumbled, her head on her palm as she lounged on the side of the boat. "You'd think that we'd find something after all that insanity, but I guess it was a one and done thing?"

Riku silently chuckled at that. He could still remember the moment Shizu first woke up after their ordeal. She was still on high alert, adrenaline coursing through her veins as she drew a flurry of cards for an enemy that wasn't there. It took a bit of time to calm her down after that, and from there, Nyx proceeded to chew them out for supposedly drawing far more power from their patron deities than they were capable of handling.

Frankly, he didn't see the problem. They were alive because of it, so it was just another tool that they could use depending on the situation.

"It just so happened that the other Champions left around simply left after realizing that it was a bad move to try and get in the action, I suppose," Nyx shrugged. "It would've been fun to see though..."

"Even if it risked us actually dying back there?" Riku jokingly chimed in.

"Well, not really, but it would've been cool though," Nyx awkwardly replied after a bit of thought. "It's not like I'm not worried for you two. It's just that as a goddess, entertainment can be rather rare and boring."

"Huh? Wouldn't it be the other way around?" Shizu casually asked. "You have all the power in the world. Surely, you'd have access to everything, right?"

"That's what you think, but that just means that we get bored quicker," the goddess lazily explained. "I know some of my brothers and sisters resort to some rather weird measures to ease the boredom. Some just go full into work, while others just get fit or something. Or do arts."

The former assassin simply shrugged as he listened in on the conversation. It wasn't really important to the Game at hand, but learning more about the gods was always a plus in terms of knowing how they thought. Not that it would translate to knowing how their Champions would move, but it was something to pass the time.

"Yeah... I guess everything would get boring after a while," Shizu hummed in thought. "What about you then?"

"Me? I think you two already know what I do when I get bored," Nyx mischievously chuckled. "I'm rather infamous already."

"You are chaos incarnate, I suppose," Riku remarked.

"Exactly," the goddess proudly huffed. "While the others have jobs that revolve around the fate of the universe and all of the balancing stuff, my job is to ensure that there is something to balance in the first place. The God Father explicitly stated that it was my duty to keep everyone on their toes, even if... Even if it meant I get flak for it..."

And just like that, Nyx began sulking as the memories of being bullied and ignored came washing over her again. At this point, Riku didn't really care anymore about the goddess's plight. Although, if it was really her job to be annoying, then why would her siblings be mad at her? Clearly they all loved the God Father to follow His will.

"Actually, if that's your role in the universe, then why are your siblings mad at you?" Shizu asked, having come to the same question as he did. "Wouldn't they just let you do your thing if that's actually your job?"

At that, Nyx fidgeted as she twiddled her fingers together. "Well, you see, the God Father kind of didn't inform them of my role. Said that them knowing of my purpose would make it impossible to do my duty."

Riku narrowed his eyes at that. That... actually made sense.

"He did his best to stop the worst of the bullying, to be honest," the goddess recollected, a wistful nostalgia coloring her voice. "He made sure it wouldn't go too far, and I actually felt love back then. But ever since... Well, I felt more bullied than loved since He passed."

Shizu let off a comforting hum as she moved to rub the goddess's back. She was pretty good at consoling her, he thought. Almost sisterly in a way.

"It'll get better, I'm sure," the fortune teller smiled. "You're sure they still love you, right?"

"What? Of course, they do," Nyx awkwardly defended. "If they didn't, they would've all collectively kicked me out of the Deep Blue by now. And the others... Yeah..."

Despite himself, Riku couldn't help but smile as Nyx let off a single tear in her eyes. At the very least, she still believed that the other gods really loved her. Not that he doubted it. Siblings could show love in wildly different ways. Even if he never had such things, he still saw some of it during his work. It was just the way family worked sometimes.

"See? Surely, they'll see reason," Shizu reassured her. "Maybe just tell them that you're feeling unappreciated."

"I'll... probably do that once I win though," Nyx weakly giggled. "Only then do I feel like I have the right to tell them that."

Silently, Riku nodded in approval of his goddess's words. If that was the plan, then the least he could do was to make sure that it would happen by the end of things.