I do not own Familia Myth or any of the characters.

War Game

Ethan waited silently. They had four minutes before the bell rang. At which point, he and Ryu would be up first. Ryu had brought a couple of special toys to help out in the game, a pair of magic katanas.

"Are you ready?" Ryu asked.

"Beyond," Ethan said. "I can't wait to rip that petty fuck's children apart."

"Remember, you're not allowed to kill," Ryu reminded him.

"I know," Ethan said. "That's fine. There's more than one way to make them pay for all the times they hurt my sister."

Ryu watched him a moment before pulling her mask up, then her brown cloak's hood. A moment later, a gong tolled and signaled the beginning of the War Game. Their three day time limit began. Ryu leapt up to the top of the massive stone they were hiding behind and as soon as she was seen, she threw her cloak off, leaping off the stone and slashing the purple katana. A blast of dust with lightning flashing through it rapidly. As soon as the blast hid him from view, Ethan sprinted out of his place and charged, saber in-hand, Ryu charging ahead of him, though that was according to the plan. As soon as the first arrow or spell headed for her, his skill would kick in, and he'd catch her about level with the castle wall.

The blast she'd fired exploded against the wall, cracking it in some places but little else. A moment later, she skidded to a stop as hundreds of arrows filled the sky, beginning to fall toward her. Ethan's eyes turned red instantly and he raised his arm.

"Blade Rain!" Ethan shouted, spectral sword appeared round him.

All of them were thin, double-edged, guardless, and had the edges simply running from the hilt directly to the point. The moment they appeared, they flashed through the air, the blades shattering against the arrows, but breaking them and knocking them harmlessly to the ground. As soon as his spell finished the arrows and ended, she slashed her red katana and sent a massive blast of flames exploding into the top of the wall. Ethan slowed to a stop beside her and glared up at the wall.

"Thank you," Ryu said.

"Thank you for trusting me," Ethan said. "Mind knocking again?"

Ryu nodded and slashed again, sending a second fire blast exploding up the entire length of the wall. Then, she took off, Ethan following. Once they were away from the gap she'd made, they stopped. The first of the troops Hyakinthos sent after them arrived and Ryu slashed her flame sword again, blasting them and using up the last of the magic in the sword, which shattered. More began to arrive and Ethan prepared himself.

"How many do you have?" Ethan asked.

"Last one," Ryu said, slashing and blasting the next group.

The sword shattered and Ethan stepped in front of her as the Apollo Familia began to stand, even more beginning to flood out of the castle. Ryu drew her stick and Ethan smirked. She could have handled it alone. This was overkill. He could have been with the infiltration team. Still, he was happy to be able to fight with Ryu. Even if he failed to protect her, she'd be fine.

Ethan and Ryu darted forward into the Apollo Familia, both tearing into them quickly. Lissos appeared after a moment, avoiding Ethan's slash and moving to attack Ryu. Ethan began to pursue him, only for Ryu to tell him to focus on the others. He complied instantly, slashing a wide arc through the other Apollo Familia members' guts, only for his blade to break off on the last one's armor. So, he switched to his fists. Several blades scratched him, but he ignored it. He grabbed a sword from a fallen member and began to rapidly beat them. A blade tore through his side, and he cast his healing spell. Several more Apollo Familia members dropped. A blade scratched his back. Another healing spell.

"You're an elf, and yet you're using the accursed magic swords that burned our people's villages!?" Lissos was shouting. "You should be ashamed!"

Ethan's sword shattered against another, also breaking it, and the tip of his own slashed his shoulder as it spun into the air. Then, he was back to beating them with his fists.

"I'm afraid I have more important concerns than my race's hatred," Ryu said. "If helping a friend is shameful, then I'll be as shameful as I have to be! Ethan!"

Ethan spun, catching Lissos's sword, then pivoted, slashing through a sword and twisting his hand at the last second, slamming the flat of his blade into the side of the Apollo Familia member's head. Another stabbed at him with a spear and Ethan spun out of the way, the spear scratching his chest, and he slashed upward, splitting him across the chest shallowly, then the front of his thighs. He cast his healing spell again and looked around, seeing they were already finished outside.

"That was kind of disappointing," Ethan said.

"Ethan, your wounds," Ryu said, staring at the wounds, which were all still present, despite his healing spells.

"It doesn't matter," Ethan said. "It's nothing major, just a few scratches. Let's go wreak some more havoc."

"Ethan, your healing spells aren't working!" Ryu said. "Something's wrong!"

"It doesn't matter," Ethan said. "Wounded or not, able to heal or not, my job is the same."

"Your job?" Ryu asked.

"To protect my goddess and Bell," Ethan said. "That's why I was accepted into the Familia, and that's all I care about. If I have to deal with a few scratches to protect the people I care about, I can do that just fine."

"Ethan..." Ryu watched as he ran for the break in the wall.

He slipped through, stepping out inside, his brown eyes looking around carefully. Lili was just letting Bell and Welf in the gate, disguised as Luan, and Mikoto should be holding a gravity spell off to the right. He turned that way, eyes turning red as he decided to take them all down so she wouldn't have to strain herself. He jumped off the ledge she was standing below and got caught by the spell, streaking downward and crashing down on one of the Apollo Familia members. He grabbed several knives off the guy's belt and spun, hurling them high and sending them stabbing down into the other members' legs. Mikoto released the spell, sighing, and nodded to Ethan. Ethan returned the nod, eyes fading to brown as he turned, running toward the tower Hyakinthos was in. He leapt up onto the bridge leading into it and found the bridge pock-marked with craters and cracks, unconscious Apollo Familia members lying around, and Welf and Daphne clashing viciously. He flipped over the bridge, eyes lighting up red once again, and landed between the two, his blade blocking Welf's and his left hand catching Daphne's right wrist, stopping her stab.

"What are you doing!?" Welf demanded.

"She's my friend too," Ethan said. "Go and make sure Lili is okay."

Welf hesitated before nodding and turning, jogging away. Ethan released Daphne, who leapt away as Ethan turned to her, holding his sword out in front of him, tilted toward her.

"I'm not thanking you!" Daphne snapped. "I could have beaten him!"

"Maybe, maybe not," Ethan said. "I suspect not. But either way, that's not why I stopped you. As I said, you're my friend, and I don't want to see you hurt, Daphne. So I'm going to give you one chance to surrender. We're going to win. There's no reason for you to be injured. Soon enough, you're going to be free of the petty god who forced you into his Familia anyway. You'll be free to go wherever you want. You don't have to be hurt trying to stop us freeing you."

"I have to do my duty, same as you," Daphne said. "And since your eyes are back to brown, I'd say that whatever power-up you were under is gone now. Which means you're weaker than me."

"Last chance Daphne," Ethan said. "There are multiple ways to defend someone. Right now, knocking you out will protect you from Apollo." Ethan's eyes turned red. "Drop your sword, or I attack."

Daphne lunged and Ethan stepped forward, swiping her sword to the side as he twisted, drilling a fist into her gut. Her eyes widened and she coughed before he slammed the butt of his sword into the back of her head, knocking her out. His left arm caught her and set her down gently just as the top of the tower exploded in a massive blast of flames. It seemed Bell was learning to tap into his power-up skill at will too. Ethan sighed, standing and looking up at the tower. He leapt into the air, clearing the edge of the shattered tower just as a shining gold ring of light formed over Hyakinthos.

"Aro Zephyros!" Hyakinthos shouted, hurling the spell at Bell, who Cassandra was holding around the middle.

Ethan's eyes turned a slightly brighter shade of red as he landed, exploding forward and pushing Lili to the ground to keep her out of the way before grabbing both Bell and Cassandra. The spell shot past, shattering the debris as Ethan set them both down.

"Sorry Cassandra," Ethan said. "I'll make this up to you later, I promise."

The spell arced around at Bell, and he turned, shoving Bell aside just in time for the spell to rip into his torso, splitting him easily. However, just as it did, he focused his Blade Rain into a single blade silhouette, sticking it into the ring and spinning, ripping it free of his chest and hurling it into the air, then blasted it with Chain Lightning, once again focusing the spell into a single point, multiplying its destructive power and turning the spell into a massive fireball that hurl him, Bell, and Cassandra all away.

"Not bad," Hyakinthos said, walking over and stomping on Ethan's newest gash, digging his heel in, Ethan screaming in agony. "You're more powerful than I anticipated. But now you've lost. I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill Bell! And then, I'm going to make your sister suffer in your place!"

Ethan felt blood flooding out of his wound. He was bleeding out quickly. But that knowledge was at the back of his mind. In the front was the fact that if Bell died, Hestia would be broken. He couldn't imagine that kind of pain, but he had some idea. He grit his teeth as Hyakinthos drew a dagger at his side. He opened his eyes, which shone a bright, luminescent red.

Hyakinthos leapt backward as Ethan stood, blood splattering across the ground before he clenched every muscle in his torso, forcing his body to hold the gash closed. It was damn-near impossible to clench that hard for that long, but he had no choice. He took a deep breath before looking up at Hyakinthos. He only had one shot at this.

"I'll give you one change, Hyakinthos," Ethan said. "If you can kill me with your next slash, you've got a chance."

Hyakinthos shouted in rage and leapt forward, slashing. Ethan's left hand rose, meeting the blade. His fingers closed around the blade, which sank a tiny bit into his hand before he clenched the muscles of his pal, catching the blade. Hyakinthos's eyes widened massively instantly, only for Ethan to twist his hand sharply, snapping the blade off.

"Game over," Ethan said.

Then, before Hyakinthos could react, Ethan swung his arm up, the back edge of his blade splitting Hyakinthos across the chest. Hyakinthos shouted in pain and staggered backward before collapsing, glowing green as Ethan cast his healing spell on him. His wound sealed completely, but he remained unconscious. And just like that, the battle was over. Ethan sighed, looking around just as Ryu landed to his left. Then, the muscles in his torso unclenched as his eyes faded to brown and blood all but sprayed out of his wound before he collapsed. His vision went dark instantly, and he faintly heard material ripping and Ryu's voice, though he couldn't make out her words through the haze. He felt someone bandage his wound as someone else held pressure on it, but his consciousness was starting to slip. Finally, as he felt himself be lifted into the air, he finally slipped into unconsciousness.

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