Day 4: The Azure Hunter

"Thanks for having me over!" Gura chirped, cracking her back. She was underwater in Atlantis, hanging out with her best friend.

"Hey Gura," Her friend stopped her. "Is it possible for me to meet your wife? We actually have a lot in common, though I don't know why you married a gamer."

"Sure, why don't just come along with me?" Gura asked. "I know a place where we could all hang out and eat! Kiara's going to be there too!"

"Ah, I've always wanted to meet Kiara," Her friend smiled. "Thanks, Gura. I'd love to join you."

"No problem, Arty."

-

'Was that really necessary?' Ryan sighed. Apparently, Edhas learned how to create loud noises is Ryan's head like banging and ringing bells.

"When you're nothing but a figment of your brain that's literally unable to sleep, entertainment comes scarce," Edhas said. "Now get out of bed before I get you out of bed."

Ryan sighed as he got up, picking up his phone. As he did, the phone conveniently started ringing. "Morning Ten-,"

"KIKERIKIII~!!!" Kiara exclaimed through the phone. "Good morning, Ryan!"

'Why do I even try anymore?' Ryan inwardly asked before speaking aloud. "Morning, Tenchou. How are things?"

"Things are going good," Ryan replied. "I mean, I haven't died yet."

"Thanks to me," Edhas said smugly.

'You know, if I was a normal person, I probably would have lived a better life,' Ryan though, sighing deeply.

"Probably," Nyar said. "Now get your dumb ass to work before you get into trouble. That phoenix scares me."

'Wow, someone actually scares you?' Ryan asked.

"Have you met a hostile phoenix?"

'Fair enough.'

-

Ryan ran into the restaurant, soaking wet. The forecast said that today would be sunny, but it was pouring rain. Edhas insisted on using magic, but even though these were peaceful times, using magic wasn't any more accepted, so he settled for running.

"Morning, Ryan!" Kiara walked from the back, exuding an abnormal amount of heat, vapor coming from her body.

"Didn't expect the rain either, huh?" Ryan asked, sighing as he used a spell to create a similar effect that Kiara did, drying himself off.

"Yeah," Kiara sighed. "That means one of two things."

"What are those two things?" Ryan asked.

"Either the forecast was completely off," Kiara then paused, her expression showing a mixture of dread and excitement (somehow), "Or Atlantis's strongest water mage has resurfaced."

-

"C'mon, this way!" Gura opened the door excitedly, gesturing someone in. Then, a woman with pale skin and baggy clothes walked in with Amelia. The first thing that Ryan noticed was the fins on her head. The way she moved was also kind of weird. The way she swayed as she walked, it was almost if she was flowing in water.

"You know, for a gamer, you seem pretty alright," The woman said, turning her head slightly to look at the detective walking next to her.

"Despite all the shit talking about gamers, you seem to be one yourself," Amelia shot back with a smug smirk.

"A," The woman opened her mouth, revealing two rows of sharp, white teeth. "I'm not a gamer! You are mistaken."

"Artemis-chan!" Kiara called. "It's been too long!"

"Oh, it's you," Despite the slightly condescending tone of her voice, the smile on her face only widened. She then looked over to Ryan. "Ah, what's this? You find your own bottom feeder?"

"I guess you could say that," Ryan grumbled.

"Don't say that, my Little Egg," Kiara slapped Ryan on the back, causing him to flinch. "He's an employee here!"

"You know, if you're an egg, then wouldn't Kiara have to-,"

'Don't you dare finish that thought,' Ryan shot back threateningly. Edhas shut up after that.

"My name's Ryan Shade," Ryan introduced himself politely.

"My name is Artemis of the Blue, but that's just a title," Artemis said. "Just Artemis is fine."

"It's nice to meet you." Ryan said as the three sat down.

"So according to the queen, the overworld is now in a state of peace," Artemis put an arm on the counter as she leaned it.

"I told you not to call me that!" Gura pouted.

"You're a queen?" Ryan and Amelia asked at the same time.

"In name only," Gura sighed. "My parents were the king and queen of Atlantis, but ever since… well, then, I've been the only heir, even though I've denounced the role."

"Yeah, the place would be a disaster if we ran it," Amelia chuckled.

"Anyways," Artemis ignored the couple's antics. "Want to tell me about it?"

Artemis's face expression changed only slightly throughout the story. One thing Ryan learned is that she would smile the same smile, even if she was angry or agitated. The thing that changed the most about her was the tone of her voice, which got very aggressive when Amelia told her about how Gura was killed the first time around to the point where Gura herself looked at her with worry. Ryan swore for a second he saw the same murderous lack of light in her eyes that Rushia or Suisei would have when some poor sod pissed her off.

"Don't worry, we killed all of them off," Ryan said hastily. "Plus, all of them ceased to be as soon as Ame travelled back in time."

"That's good," Artemis's tone shifted back to her normal voice as Ryan continued his story, Kiara and Amelia helping out by sharing their perspectives.

"Man, I really wanted to go to the wedding," Artemis sighed as Ryan finished his story. "Too bad Atlantis has been on high alert since… then. We've only lifted up lockdown once we got word that MILF was destroyed."

"Why would-," Ryan started, but his mind flashed back to when Polka, Botan, Nene, and Lamy told Aloe's story the first time around. "Oh."

"Yeah, not one of our proudest moments, but we had to do what we had to do to keep our citizens safe. As one of the stronger mages in Atlantis, I was forced to stay to keep everyone safe," Artemis explained. "It's a real pain, so I took up livestreaming as a hobby."

"That sounds fun," Ryan said. "I would love to do something like that, but I don't really have the time. Tenchou works me sixteen hours a day."

"I do not!" Kiara pouted. "You earned all those hours of overtime!"

"Talking back shouldn't translate to two extra hours of overtime," Ryan grumbled.

"That's two hours of overtime for you!" Kiara cheered, causing Ryan to facepalm.

"You know, overtime shouldn't be mandatory," Amelia pointed out. "Hey Ryan, can you be a dear and make me some tea?"

"Sure," Ryan sighed as he went to the back, pouring some water into a kettle and putting it above the stove before walking back. "The water's boiling."

"Wait!" Gura pouted. "Ame, I should be your only dear!"

"You are, I'm just trying to piss Ryan off," Amelia pinched Gura's cheeks as both of them smiled.

"You better stop that lovey-dovey shit before I shove my tongue down your mouth," Artemis threatened(?).

"Let's not here," Ryan shook his head disapprovingly. At that moment, the sound of a kettle going off was heard in the back room.

"That was quick," Ryan said. "I got it."

As he walked to the back expecting a kettle with steam coming out of it, he wasn't prepared for the sight before him. When he turned to get the boiling water, he saw a small, blonde girl staring back at him with blank eyes and her mouth open in a smile. She had green eyes and wore a headband with a little antenna sticking out of it. As steam wasn't coming out of the kettle, the sound must have been coming from her.

"What the fuck?!" Ryan jumped back, utterly shocked. Out of instinct, he summoned a sword, assuming a battle stance.

"Relax!" The girl stopped her kettle noise, holding up her hands in surrender. "I'm Pikamee, the family-friendly shark mage!"

"What's taking so long-," Kiara turned to see the scene unfold, and her smile only widened. "Ah, Pikamee!"

"Kiara!" Pikamee barreled past Ryan to tackle Kiara in a hug. "I haven't seen you in so long!"

"What are you doing here?!" Kiara asked, smiling down at the small girl. "I haven't heard from you in ages!"

"The kettle summoned me," Pikamee replied.

"Ah, I see," Kiara nodded as if that made sense before Pikamee turned to Ryan.

"I've heard a lot about you from the grapevine," Pikamee smiled at Ryan. "You're quite the bada- butt you know."

"I guess," Ryan sighed. "I guess people are already gossiping about me now?"

"Are you kidding?! You're practically a celebrity!" Pikamee beamed. "You even have your own fan club!"

"Really," Ryan rubbed the back of his head, flustered. "Maybe I should go check it out sometime."

-

"How are things going?" Sabrina asked, stacking a piece of paper as Brianna walked into the room.

"Japan has set up a location for the Ryan Shade Fan Club (RSFC)," Brianna smiled.

"Great!" Sabrina set down the stack of papers. "We will make that the main headquarters."

-

"I actually stopped by the location in The Philippines," Pikamee said. "It's really cool! They made fan merchandise and are waiting for your approval to sell it. They haven't found a way to contact you yet."

Ryan sighed. He might have to apply for a verified tick on Instapound, since he opted for using the username "KFPisnotacult" rather than his actual name (AN: KFP is not a cult. Stop saying it. If I hear anyone in the comments saying it, I will personally donate you to Tenchou to be used for a Calli summoning ritual).

"Where's my tea?!" Amelia shouted. Ryan knew she wouldn't be this demanding if Ryan wasn't the person serving her.

"Shut up, gamer!" Artemis said, spitting out the last word. Ryan had no idea why Artemis had something against gamers, since she was one herself, but Ryan sighed. At that point, the water was actually boiling.

Ryan added some tea leaves into a teapot and brought it out, getting a teacup from underneath the cupboard. "Now, say 'ahhh'," Amelia was holding a doughnut hole close to Gura.

"A," Gura opened her mouth as Amelia fed her the treat. "Yummy!"

"You two should get a room," Artemis sighed.

"Not the break room," Ryan inched closer to the room to the break room, as if to defend it. "There's been enough ground pounding in there."

"By the way, Calli is totally a bottom," Kiara smirked, waggling her eyebrows at Ryan.

"You know, I did not need to know that," Ryan said sternly.

"Damn, what a waste," Edhas said, noticeable disappointment in his voice.

'That's enough about of you,' Ryan grumbled. He honestly needed a nap.

-

"EEEE!" A girl with a tail and small horns was sitting in the new RSCF, squealing at the screen, showing recordings of the war against MILF. Ryan Shade was weaving through soldiers with practiced ease, leaving only severed limbs, dead bodies, and the afterglow from his deep purple eyes. As an explosion went off behind him, the girl saw a familiar looking succubus carrying a blonde girl through the air. She audibly gasped as she saw the woman fly by.

"Aloe's alive?!" She said, tears forming in her eyes. She had to find her friend, now.

After a couple hours of searching, she didn't find anything about Aloe's whereabouts, but did find something interesting. Apparently, Aloe's friends, Botan, Nene, Lamy, and Polka liked to hang out at a certain KFP. Of course, this information wouldn't be available to the net, but such things didn't escape the magical net.

"Oh, so you're going to the KFP, huh?" A voice startled the girl. She jumped and turned to see a familiar brown-haired girl wearing a pink hoodie with a white number 4 on it and skinny jeans.

"Godson-kaichou!" The girl shot up, bowing deeply at the chairman of the RSFC. "Thank you for letting me stay here!"

"None of that," Sabrina waved her hand dismissively. "If you're heading to the KFP, I guess I'll come with you. It's been a while since I went to see that daft idiot."

-

Omake: The RSFC

"Thanks for the footage," Sabrina said, taking a pen drive from Suisei.

"It's only my job," Suisei said with a sweet smile on her face. "Stalking Ryan has turned into a pretty fun hobby of mine."

"I honestly with I could multitask as well as you do," Sabrina said.

"What are you going to do with all that footage, if I may ask," Suisei tilted her head.

Sabrina smirked. "I'm going to make bank."