{REALM: THE DICASTERY}
{DEPTH 10}
The moment Riku stepped foot on the last Depth of the current Realm, the difference between the prior levels they went through and the one they were on now was immediately as clear as night and day. Looking out from the hill where they spawned in, the repeating marble columns and buildings from before gave way to what looked like a proper city complete with winding roads and what looked to be proper urban planning. Granted, all of the buildings were still made of marble for some reason, but there was clearly a sense of purpose to each structure now as some buildings looked like residential homes while others looked like literal office buildings. Even further, there were even other people walking about. All of them sported robes of some kind, and there were even stalls and other goods being sold in what looked to be a marketplace right next to where they were.
All in all, it almost felt like they traveled to a facsimile of Ancient Greece. There was still a golden yellow aura blanketing the sky, however, and the massive building sticking out from the center of the entire city was obviously unnatural with how much it glowed with a powerful authority. Well, that, and the giant scales floating overhead was an obvious indication that they were far from reality.
"This is... beautiful," Shizu whispered, her arms hugging herself as she walked just behind Riku. "An actual city made of marble... You'd almost think we're in Greece now."
"Right," Riku nodded. "This Depth is clearly not like the ones before. There's even people down there."
"Welp, this is all certainly new," Nyx curiously chimed in as she materialized right beside them. "The last time I was here, the Dicastery proper was the only building in the entire Depth."
"Wait, so this city wasn't always here?" Shizu asked. "So... Did your brother Themis make all of this?"
"I'd say yes, but he probably asked for a bit of help," the goddess shrugged. "Maybe Big Sis Solis? Big Sis Kali? Big Brother Brahma most certainly helped with some of the buildings."
Stepping forward, Riku couldn't help but frown as he observed some of the people walking near them. They were obviously expected with how some of them gave them merely a passing glance before continuing to go about their lives. Some even gave them an encouraging smile as if cheering them on for the trials ahead.
"This is still amazing though," Shizu wondrously stated, her eyes wide as she took in all the sights. "Do you think they sell food here?"
"Most likely," he absently replied before becoming serious again. "Still, we should be on guard. We still need to know what the challenge to reach the next Realm is before we can even do anything."
"And the other Champions are probably here as well too," Shizu added, nodding along at the seriousness of their situation. "First up though, where do we go?"
"Ah, you can both probably go to the Dicastery proper then," Nyx quickly answered. "It's where Big Brother Themis lives. Or where he sleeps, at least."
Nodding, Riku gave the two a passing glance before turning straight toward the biggest building in the entire Depth, possibly even the Realm itself. The silver roads weaved and curved, but otherwise, it was a straight shot to their destination as they passed by entire city districts and residential areas along the way. Surprisingly, there were no signs of battle everywhere despite this Depth supposedly housing at least ten Champions at the moment. He would've expected some sort of fighting at the very least, especially after seeing the level of destruction two Champions fully battling it out could do on an empty Depth like earlier. The fact that the entire city looked peaceful, even looking like they were curious about them like they were celebrities, was a rather curious observation.
"I feel like such a celebrity right now," Shizu awkwardly whispered even as she smiled and waved at the people passing them by. "Why are they all cheering for us?"
"They probably only think of us as tourists, maybe even entertainment," Riku postulated as he in turn casually ignored the stares and cheers he was getting. "Perhaps they know that we won't ever hurt them, or maybe they know for a fact that they'll never get hurt being near us."
It was a possibility, after all. Why else would these people that probably only ever knew this kind of life look favorably at what they probably saw as aliens or outsiders? The culture clash between them and these people alone was insane, and yet here they were casually greeting them, some even looking like they wanted autographs.
"I... can we hurry then?" Shizu weakly asked him, her cheeks turning redder by the second as a few men started ogling her. "It's getting uncomfortable here, and..."
Riku simply nodded in understanding before he quickly upped his pace, his casual walk turning into a brisk one as Shizu and Nyx trailed behind him. Surprisingly, their resident goddess was remaining awfully quiet, even more so the closer they got to their destination. It was almost eerie not hearing her smug voice talking about how much she knew the place. She even hid behind her cloak for some reason, her hood now fully covering her features as if she was some kind of fugitive.
/Nyx./
The goddess audibly yelped at his sudden contact. She gave him a soft glare before she replied, /What is it that you had to startle me, my Champion?/
/You're being quiet,/ he blandly stated. /Quieter than usual, I might add./
/Isn't that a good thing?/ Nyx sarcastically replied.
/Not if something's clearly bothering you,/ he scoffed back. /You haven't told us anything of use ever since we entered the city./
The goddess physically wilted at his words, and Riku did his best not to laugh at such a cute and pathetic sight. He knew that there was more to her behavior now than her normal inferiority complex, but he wasn't going to get to the bottom of it now. So long as she was being useful enough, he wouldn't push too much until it becomes too much of an issue.