{REALM: THE DICASTERY}
{DEPTH 4}
As a career government hitman, Riku had always finished his assignments alone with little to no backup whatsover. Sure, he had the occasional partner covering for him in a few specific hits where it was needed, but otherwise, he went solo for almost the entirety of his career. Taking Shizu on as a partner was unusual, but it wasn't anything that he hadn't done before with having a partner having his back. But making an entire party, however...
It was entirely out of his comfort zone as a professional.
"So, any thoughts on what we should do next?"
Behind him, Nyx asked him the same question that she asked him one Depth ago, only this time, her mouth was still full of lion sashimi that she shared with Shizu beside her. He wasn't going to lie: it was nice to have someone to make food for in the situation he was in. While he was always in his element in terms of combat, he left that life for a reason, and cooking was one of the few things he was good at that wasn't killing people in a thousand different ways.
"I thought we were going to keep moving forward?" Shizu casually asked, her hands full with her own portion of sashimi as she ate and spoke. "There's not much else to do, to be honest."
"But isn't that boring?" Nyx complained.
"That's what you keep saying, but that's not what Riku thinks, isn't it?"
He mentally nodded at his fellow Champion's words. He really didn't care what they were supposed to do next. They had an objective to follow, and that was exactly what they were doing at the moment. Again, there was not much else to do other than follow the path ahead of them, and beyond the occasional Lion Guard trying their lack to attack them, there was not much else to do other than walk or banter with the others.
Yes, he had forgone some of his paranoia and operational security to relax a bit. It wasn't like any of the lions were any threat to them anyway. On top of that, his [Chaotic Tempering] skill was starting to give him some serious upgrades in terms of speed and power. He almost felt like he was at his peak killing capacity again, and that was frightening to think about considering they've barely begun their descent into the Deep Blue.
"Which is why I'm asking him in the first place," Nyx smugly chuckled. "Unlike Big Brother Tyche, I actually look after my Champion."
"That's... I don't know how to- Oh, Tyche says that he takes offense to that," Shizu relayed, her tone betraying her amusement at the exchange. "He also says that he trusts me to know what I'm doing and is being responsible unlike his little sister."
"Hey! I take offense to that too!" Nyx pouted. "At least I'm out here actually doing something!"
Against his better judgment, Riku couldn't help but let out a scoff at his goddess's words. "And what exactly are you doing?" he chimed in. "All you've done is watch us fight while eating every single enemy we kill."
"I'm here to give you information... whenever applicable," Nyx defended, her pout deepening the contrast between her mature looks and cute demeanor. "It's not my fault I can't help you two."
Shizu laughed at the exchange, and Riku had no choice but to nod even as the soft smile on his face refused to leave. To Nyx's credit, she was doing her best to be as useful to them as she possibly could. She did her best to act as a spotter, even hinting on where to go and pointing at the general direction of the exit despite saying earlier that she wasn't allowed to do so. In some ways, it almost felt like she was desperate to be seen as useful as she constantly did her best to bend the rules of non-interference as best she could.
"And that's not even what we're supposed to be talking about now," Nyx added after swallowing the sashimi she was chewing on prior. "We're slowly getting closer to Big Brother Themis's actual home Depth. We need to discuss what we're going to do once we get there."
"You haven't even said anything about that, Nyx," Riku pointed out just as they rounded another corner on the road they were following. "What is there to talk about if you haven't revealed what we should expect there?"
"O-Oh... I guess I didn't then," the goddess dejectedly sighed. "Sorry..."
Shizu was quick to place a hand on the goddess's shoulder, and Riku could only sigh at yet another instance of Nyx beating herself up. It was a pathetic look, especially for someone that had power like her. And unlike before where he actually pitied her, now, it was just starting to get annoying.
"Just tell us what to expect," Riku pointedly told her. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself."
"That's... At least don't sound meaner than that," Shizu frowned at him.
"But it's true," he blandly replied. "Nyx knows what to do, so she should just do it. There's no need to say sorry. Just be better."
Nyx turned her head up to look him in the eye, her hood partly obscuring the defeated look in her gaze even as he simply stared at her in response. There was nothing to feel for her except for pity, but he didn't want her to see that.
"Stop moping around too much," Riku coolly stated. "You're a goddess. Act like it."
"You're... You're right..." the goddess weakly nodded. "I'm... I'll do my best."
"That's right," he scoffed. "When you make a mistake, don't bother apologizing. Just make it up with doing better."
Turning around, Riku promptly began walking once more, ignoring the looks both Nyx and Shizu was giving him as he let them sort things out in the way only women knew. He wasn't great with the whole talking thing, but he at least knew how to point out flaws and giving advice based on his own experiences.
Besides, if Nyx was that desperate for approval, then he knew that she'd be a valuable asset once she actually got some consistent confidence in her. Funny how both her and Shizu almost have the same problem, and how he had to be the one to somehow fix them so that they could be more useful.