"This is so cool..."
Shizu's constant gasps of awe made Riku smile to himself as he too couldn't help but be amazed at the literal impossibility of what was happening right in front of them. There they were literally sailing through outer space, stars and galaxies as far as the eye could see as Nyx guided their boat through the vast expanse of this new Realm. They didn't know what to expect or what they should even prepare for, only that they were currently flying off to who knows where to do who knows what. They got that they were floating on some kind of space water right now, but the former assassin really didn't want to trust that there was actually something tangible beneath their boat even as the sounds of crashing waves echoed underneath them.
Yeah... Everything just stopped making sense after a while.
"It is, isn't it?" Nyx chuckled from the front of their vessel, her entire body still glowing a faint blackness against the twinkling light of the stars around them. "There's a reason I love this place beyond Big Brother Astra just not really paying attention whenever I'm here."
"This is a literal planetarium on steroids," Shizu almost yelled out in excitement. "And we're somehow floating on water? Space magic? I don't even know what to call it!"
"Just don't think too much about it," the goddess waved his fellow Champion's question away. "The Sea of Stars is a sea made of stars. There's really nothing much beyond it."
"And yet we're still floating around. With a boat that's behaving like we're sailing through a calm sea," Riku casually chimed in as he crossed his arms, leaning on the nearest ledge of the boat as he looked beyond. "I agree. What's we're doing right now with this game is already fantastical as it is. Hell, we're already wielding powers beyond our comprehension. The best we can do is to just not think about it too much and conform."
"That's exactly the right thing to do," Nyx sagely hummed. "Now let me focus as I try to see where we're going."
Riku shrugged as he did exactly that. Not that the goddess even bothered looking at them ever since she began navigating them anyway. Likewise, Shizu was eagerly looking out at the constellations and galaxies that never seemed to end as far as the eye could see. Not that he blamed her. It was indeed an amazing sight to be in outer space. It just got old after a while, and frankly, he was starting to get bored with the silence of the boat ride... assuming he ignored the fact that they were moving at a sedate pace when compared to the speed of an actual motorized speed boat. And the fact that the waves below them only showed up once it crashed against their boat. And the fact that literal tendrils were currently driving their journey forward with Nyx directing them with nothing but a thought of her power.
Right... Best not think about things too much...
Still, if the entire Realm was going to be nothing back the black expanse of space, what else was there supposed to do other than to let Nyx do the navigation for them? It didn't look like the rules of noninterference existed if she was eagerly driving the boat for them, and there were quite literally no buildings around as far as the eye could see. There was just nothing but stars and galaxies around them, and nothing else to look at. Frankly, it almost felt like they weren't making progress if not for the fact that their space ship was moving against the soft waves of the space water... or whatever it was that it was called.
"Oh look, Riku!" Shizu excitedly called to him, grabbing his attention as she made him look at something that she was pointing at. "It's the constellation of Orion!"
Squinting, the former assassin could barely make out the supposed constellation with the amount of stars twinkling all around them. Unlike in the modern world, it was almost like the entire sky was covered with stars, making it impossible to point out any single one constellation for someone that wasn't an astronomer in the first place.
And unfortunately, Riku wasn't gifted with the ability to look at the stars.
"I'm not seeing anything," he shrugged, immediately giving up after a cursory glance.
"Aww~ But it's right there!" Shizu insisted. "Three stars and all!"
Forced to look at the sky one more time, Riku squinted for but a few seconds before giving up once more, shaking his head at the futility of it all.
"I'm not gonna see it even if you tried, Shizu," he softly chuckled. "I'm not really one to look at the stars, unfortunately."
"Huh? But can't you navigate using the stars if needed?" Shizu asked, clearly appealing to his want for usefulness. "That might come in handy in the future."
"It might, but we have Nyx for that anyway," he countered with a faint smirk. "Why bother wasting energy when others can do it for me?"
His fellow Champion pouted at his lack of interest, but she eventually relented as she sighed, "Fine, but I'm sure you can't deny that this entire place looks cool."
"On that, I agree," he chuckled. "Even the waters are made of stars and galaxies, and that's something we'll never see in person back home."
Indeed, once he got used to looking down from the boat, the waters they were sailing on almost looked hypnotic with how much it twinkled and swirled as their boat cut a path for them. It wasn't as much as the skies above them, but the stars beneath them moved almost naturally in his opinion. Like fish swimming across the sea, the world beneath them almost looked like it was teeming with life. In fact, one of the many stars in the distance looked like it was slowly coming near them quicker than those around it.
Actually, the more he looked at it, the star was moving far too close for it to be nothing. It was being a bit too quick. And it was bigger...
Wait-
*SPLASH!~*