"So... what are we supposed to do now?"
Shizu verbal question made Riku's mental one all the more apparent as they all stared at the literal sea of stars waiting for them beyond the dock. Looking out, there were clearly no roads that they could walk on, and even worse, it almost looked like they would fall off and die in the infinite expanse of outer space if they ever so much as stepped out of the small dock they were currently in. Nyx called it a sea, but there was no water of any kind that they'd be able to float a boat in.
"That's... actually a good question," Nyx hummed to herself in thought. "I kind of don't know?"
"Haven't you been here before?" Riku questioned with a frown. "How did you navigate this place then?"
"I floated?" his goddess casually stated. "I'm a goddess, remember?"
The former assassin sighed at that. For once, she was actually right, and he couldn't even refute that. "Regardless, how about the other Champions? You should know what those ahead of us did to get through this place, correct?"
Nyx closed her eyes as a faint glow appeared around her. The black tendrils of chaos almost blended in seamlessly with the backdrop of the Sea of Stars as she replied, "They're... actually going through this place. Huh..."
"And?"
The goddess shrugged. "I'm actually not supposed to tell you how. Apparently, I have to wait for you to suggest it before I start helping."
Riku blinked. That was... That almost sounded so random and arbitrary that he thought Nyx was the one that came up with such a rule. But then again, gods were always known for being random.
"What else did I expect," he sarcastically sighed as he threw his hands up in defeat. "Fine, we'll figure something out."
To his side, Shizu gave him the exact same shrug of disbelief he just did as she opened her own eyes. She probably just finished talking with her own patron god only to be said the exact same thing that Nyx just told him.
"Again, in my defense, I'm not the one making the rules," Nyx smugly reminded him, even as her tone was stained with a bit of her own annoyance of the rules as well. "I'll be waiting for you to tell me what to do, though I'm sure it won't take long."
Well, if that was the case, then they better start thinking. "Shizu, any ideas?"
The fortune teller pouted as she crossed her arms over her chest in thought. "Well, it's outer space, so maybe a space ship?"
"That sounds too easy," the former assassin sighed. "Perhaps-"
"Nope, that's actually correct."
Once again, Riku blinked as he turned to face his goddess once more. Beside him, Shizu was just as surprised at how easily the answer came to them. Or rather, how easy the answer was to the point that it shouldn't have even been a question in the first place.
"Nyx, why even have us Champions trying to figure out what to do if it would be this simple?" Riku asked with a roll of his eyes. "It would've been the same if you just made us a space ship as soon as we got here."
"I don't know, ask my siblings," Nyx sighed at Riku. "Again, I'm not the one making rules. I'm just following them."
Riku pinched the bridge of his nose as he shook his head at the situation. He didn't know whether to laugh at the hilarity of it or scream at the inefficiency of how these gods worked. Again, he knew that he had no right to question literal gods and their thought processes, but seriously, why even bother?
"Well, at least we won't be staying her for long now," Shizu chuckled. "Also, Tyche just told me that I should just share with you and Nyx."
"Oh, you're not getting a ship of your own?" he asked.
"Honestly, I don't mind," she shrugged. "Though I wouldn't have minded having a cool space ship all to myself."
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure my other siblings are with their Champions on this leg of the game," Nyx chimed in as she raised her hand, the black glow of her power pooling on her palm as she stretched it out onto the blackness of space. "We'll likely see some of them here. We're surprisingly close to other Champions right now."
Before Riku could ask what Nyx meant by those words, the black tendrils amassing on her hand shot out onto the edge of the dock. Writhing and undulating, it almost looked like he was looking at forbidden knowledge as the tentacles slowly solidified into something resembling a ship. With black and purple overlays, it almost looked like any modern speedboat except it was made of black wood and lined with purple strips of metal for support.
"Woah..." Shizu gasped beside him, her eyes blinking forcefully as if she just looked at the sun for too long. "I... kind of expected an actual space ship, but this looks great, Nyx."
"We're sailing through the literal Sea of Stars. Of course we won't need a rocket-powered space ship," Nyx scoffed as she floated across and boarded their new ship. "This is my personal design, actually. Do you like it?"
"It looks like a deathtrap, personally," Riku sarcastically scoffed as he walked closer to their new ship. "I'm guessing you'll be the one to power it?"
"It's running on pure Chaos, if that's what you're asking," Nyx grinned as small tendrils suddenly appeared on the back of the boat. "And don't worry, I have full control over this thing."
Riku simply raised a brow as he looked at their newest mode of transportation. Somehow, it was floating on what looked like water even though looking down still made him feel like he would fall to oblivion if he ever fell into it. It looked safe enough, at least, and Shizu was clearly ready to come aboard with how eagerly she was shaking beside him.
Then again, he couldn't help but agree with the sentiment as Nyx used her tentacles to form a bridge in front of them, allowing them to board the boat that would hopefully carry them for this next leg of their adventure. There was just something exciting about sailing, and this fantastical world in front of them just screamed adventure in a way that it almost made him feel like a kid again.
All of a sudden, being whisked away from his restaurant didn't sound too bad. He just had to win this game, after all, and that was all but guaranteed based on what he had seen so far.