The silence that followed Astra's declaration was telling as the gods and goddesses around them all let out a collective groan of resignation. Riku didn't know how to respond to being told such an inane reason for a gathering to take place, but he was at least glad that he wasn't going to fight any more than he would've wanted to.
"Wait, all this time, and you just wanted to be lazy?!" Shiva growled in anger. "You really just let us to be stuck here in your office waiting for you to send us on our way?!"
"It's a more efficient use of my time," Astra smugly shrugged. "Besides, it's not like you all are the only ones waiting. Even my own Champion is currently waiting outside along with a few others. They're understandably lost and probably all killing each other by the door, but at least it isn't happening here."
Riku raised a brow at such callous words. The way Astra just emotionlessly stated that people were killing each other just above them sounded cold enough that even him as a former assassin felt a chill run down his spine.
The atmosphere in the room suddenly grew a few degrees colder as the younger gods and goddesses remained silent against the Second of the Thirteen Gods. Even Shiva visibly backed down, something that Riku found interesting as Astra stood up from his chair.
"Right, let's get things over with," Astra casually clapped his hands as a soft smile returned to his face. "I'm sure you're all eager to get out of my humble office and into the next Realm, so let's get started."
"Wait, started with what?" Nyx cluelessly asked.
"Why, with the paperwork, of course!"
...
...
A long and pregnant silence settled throughout the entire office. Riku and the rest of the Champions could only imagine having to do the same paperwork that they just did back in the first realm, and some were visibly groaning at the prospect of doing such mind-numbing work again.
"Uhm... What paperwork, exactly?" Mary eagerly asked.
"Oh, you Champions don't need to do a thing," Astra chuckled, much to their surprise. "No, this is actually work-related. I literally can't let you all pass even if I wanted to until some of this stuff is sorted out."
...
Another brief moment of silence passed as confusion dawned on the Champions. Meanwhile, Riku was getting suspicious of what was being asked of them. Or rather, of the gods as they all began groaning in pain upon hearing such a statement.
"Seriously? You're making us do your paperwork?" Luna coldly stated. "Shouldn't you have done this ages ago during the planning stage?"
"Well, it just slipped my mind, you know?" Astra replied, scratching the back of his head like he hadn't done anything wrong. "I've been busy with all of my designing and stuff that I didn't have time for it."
"Big Brother, I was busy with making rivers and time flows and I still got to finish mine," Kali pointed out with an annoyed glare. "In fact, even Little Nyx submitted her paperwork around five hundred years ago."
Riku then immediately felt Nyx perking up at the praise beside him, her chest huffing up as she smugly smiled. "That's true. I made sure to file it in the usual triplicate too."
"Ooh~ I'm so happy for you, Nyx~" Ragnarok happily cooed.
"I'm just doing what's expected of me," the Goddess of Chaos scoffed. "This is all new, after all, and even I understand how intricately the Deep Blue works and all that."
The former assassin raised a brow at that, and Shizu gave him a look as well stating that she found such a statement more informative than it let on. There was obviously a system to how the gods worked, but to hear that it all involved paperwork as well... Again, it was more humanizing than they expected.
"I hope it doesn't have any spelling errors this time," Shiva scoffed back, quickly taking the wind out of Nyx's sails. "I don't have to remind you how much work you put on me for screwing up the forms for your Chaotic Influence Permits when you put them on my desk."
"Hey! At least you didn't have to go around the entire Deep Blue doing inspections," Nyx whined back. "Your Realm is just full of instabilities, last I checked."
"Then you shouldn't put in the paperwork to Brahma over there to have him fix it," Shiva fired back with a grin. "Or did you forget again?"
Once more, Nyx fell silent as she was rebuffed by her older brother. Sinking back into her seat, the goddess remained quiet, seemingly hoping for the situation to pass.
"I'm sorry..." she weakly muttered.
"You should be," Shiva huffed. "Seriously, you're just piling more-"
"Now now, let's focus on the task at hand here," Astra chimed back in, pulling the conversation back to the objective. "As I said, I haven't sorted out the Realm Passes for all of the Champions yet. I also have to make one for my Champion too, so let's get to that, shall we?"
"Here in your office? Seriously?" Solis grumbled with a pout. "Can we at least get some tables to write on to do your work?"
"There's some on the waiting area you were all just in," Astra casually pointed out. "And as for your Champions, they're all free to stay here so long as no fighting will be had. Also, the first one to bring their completed paperwork back to me would be the first ones out of this place."
At that, the deities all perked up at attention along with their respective Champions. Even Nyx raised her head back up at such a challenge, something that she would hopefully be able to do without much effort.
"Here's all the paperwork, by the way," Astra added as he produced a rather thick stack of papers on his desk. "Line up so that I can give them all to you."