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

Gifts

Ethan's eyes creaked open and he looked around the room tiredly. Ryu sat at his side still, thought the rest of the room was empty. Ethan's face fell a bit, seeing that.

"I made them all leave," Ryu said, Ethan's eyes returning to her. "You've been sleeping for three days. Once everyone realized you were back, none of them would leave for almost a day, not even to rest. So I sent them away to rest, though Anya only went to the bathroom. She should be back soon. Everyone's worried about you."

Ethan nodded, staring up at the ceiling in silence. After a few minutes, Ryu stood, walking over to a rectangular box off to the side, about the length of a walking stick, or a sword. She picked it up and walked back over to him, setting it down and opening it. Instantly, his eyes flew wide opened and he forgot how to breathe for a moment. Inside the box was a hieroglyph sword. It had a black, double-edged blade with the edges running straight to the point, a silver guard comprised of a kite shield on either side just below the blade, a flexed, feathered wing reaching backward a few inches for the back half of the guard, a gently-curved finger guard running down in front of the two-handed grip, disconnected at the bottom, a contoured, black grip, a flat silver cap on the bottom of the grip decorated with a kite shield identical to the one above the grip then with two flexed, feathered wings extending from behind it, and a strip of silver running up along the sides of the blades from the top of the shield. Hieroglyphs were scrawled along the edges and the silver of the sides, and when he reached out and took the sword hesitantly, they shone for a moment before fading.

"You...Why?"

"Your sword broke while you were helping fight the Black Goliath," Ryu said. "You needed a decent replacement. And I owed you for protecting me from it when it tried to crush me, so I had this made."

"That doesn't explain why you would have a hieroglyph sword custom made for me," Ethan said. "These cost a minimum of fifty million valis. Probably a hell of a lot more, but I've never asked. And Hephaestus has to make them herself. Why? Why would you make this for me?"

"Because as long as you have this, I won't need to be afraid of losing you anymore," Ryu said, Ethan staring at her, wide-eyed.

"You..."

"I guess I should have stepped out to get mine sooner, then," Anya's voice suddenly said, Ethan's head whipping around at her.

She stood in the doorway holding a black xiphos about two feet long, plus a grip just long enough for one hand. It, like the sword Ryu had just given him, had hieroglyphs along the blade, which had a small section at the base of its blade that was flat on the sides, yet was also flat on the edge sides where the guard should be. Also like the sword Ryu had given Ethan, the flat sections on the sides were decorated with a kite shield with a pair of wings reaching out from behind it. She walked over, offering it to him, and when he took it, its hieroglyphs also shone for a moment before fading.

"Wha...How?" Ethan stared at her. "You're terrible with money."

Anya smiled. "So...remember all those times I told you I was going to a brothel? Yeah, I actually just told you the most ridiculous lie I could. I was actually paying for this in small payments."

Ethan's eyes widened. "But you've been saying that for...years."

Anya nodded. "It took forever, but it's finally all payed off."

Ethan stared between the two blades in silence, eyes watering.

"You're my brother, Ethan," Anya said. "You're the last family I have. I couldn't bear to lose you too. I know you're hurting, but no one wants you to suffer. No matter what anyone else may say, we both would be devastated if you died."

"There are a lot of people who care about you," Ryu said. "All of your friends want you to be happy, and want you to get better. No one wants you to take it all on yourself. It's good that you want to protect people, but you can rely on us too. We'll always be here for you, so you have to live so that you can be here for us too. Even if it means you don't protect us, you have to survive so that we can smile and laugh with you."

Ethan swallowed hard, eyes watering, then smiled. "You can smile and laugh, Ryu? Since when?"

Ryu was taken aback for a moment before laughing, Anya and Ethan both doing joining her. Finally, he set the two blades across his legs and wrapped his arms around the two, both holding him securely. After a long while, they pulled away and sat in the seats beside him, allowing him to return to admiring the weapons. He wanted to test them, but he could barely stand. At best, he'd probably be able to use Ryu's as a cane and swing Anya's about three times before collapsing. He smiled ruefully.

"Not being able to be healed sucks," Ethan said. "How long until I'm healed?"

"You should be able to move around the house tomorrow," Ryu said. "You won't be fighting for a while."

Ethan nodded and sighed, setting his head back. "At least I caught up to Bell's level."

"Uh, actually..." Anya trailed off and smiled sympathetically.

"Oh don't tell me," Ethan groaned.

"He's a Level Three now," Ryu said.

Ethan groaned. "That little brat. How does he level up so fast?"

"You can't really talk about that," Anya said. "You hit Level Two in about the same amount of time he took to get it."

"That's beside the point!" Ethan said. "He's got to have a skill that speed up his status growth, right?"

"It's possible," Ryu said.

Ethan sighed, looking at his swords again before laying back. "I think I'm going to try and sleep a little more."

"That's a good idea," Ryu said, taking the blades from him and setting them aside. "We'll be here when you wake up."

Ethan nodded and closed his eyes, almost instantly drifting off again.

Ethan looked out the window and stopped, staring at the massive crowd outside. He blinked in surprise before frowning. "What's that?"

"Oh, you didn't know?" Anya asked. "Hestia's trying to recruit more people into the Familia."

"I see," Ethan nodded. "Well, I suppose the mansion's definitely big enough. I'm not sharing my room though. I like having it to myself again."

"And I'm not giving up my room either," Anya said. "Now that I'm an official member of the Hestia Familia, I'm keeping my room too."

"There you are," his Guild Advisor said, walking into the room. "Sorry it took me so long to come see you. Normally we'd take care of this at the guild, but since you're unable to leave the house, I figured I'd make a house call."

"What are you doing here?" Ethan asked.

"You have to choose your Development Ability," his advisor said. "I can check to see what you have available, then you can choose a specific one and I'll be able to activate it for you."

"Shouldn't my goddess have to be here for that?" Ethan asked.

"Activating the Development Ability just requires a potion," his advisor said.

Ethan nodded and turned around, his Advisor pulling the back of his shirt up and carefully shifting the bandages to see what he had.

"Looks like you've got a couple," she said. "Magic, which makes all the spells you cast stronger and widens the range, and allows your spells to use less mind. Abnormal Resistance, which negates abnormalities like poison. Spirit Healing, which increases your mind regeneration. And Luck, which does about what you would expect."

"Wait, I can make myself have better luck?" Ethan asked.

"Yes," his advisor nodded."

"I'll take that one, then," Ethan said.

"Alright," his advisor nodded, casting a short spell on a potion before handing it to him.

He drank it, grimaced, and then felt absolutely no different. "Is that it?"

"That's it," she nodded. "Development Abilities can be hard to increase, so you probably won't notice any difference very soon. It should improve gradually over time."

"Alright," Ethan said. "Thanks."

She nodded and left the room just as Hestia began to shout to the crowd gathered out front.

"Do you want to join the Hestia Familia!?" Hestia shouted, the crowd cheering. "Is Hestia the greatest goddess!?"

More cheering.

"Is Bell cute!?" Hestia shouted.

More cheering, and Bell trying to stop Hestia, who was quickly getting carried away. As she continued, she asked about potato snacks being hot, twin-tail hairstyles being the best, and finally shouted "Firebolt," which the crowd echoed. Ethan grimaced, then sighed heading for the front door, Anya helping him walk. Just as he reached the front door, he found Mikoto, dressed only in a white bathrobe, giving Hestia a debt slip for two hundred million valis. The crowd began to murmur instantly and Ethan sighed, stepping forward.

"The debt is mine," Ethan said. "It's for my medical bills, and a gambling habit. I'm a bit of a problem child."

"Ethan!" Hestia gasped.

"Sorry," Ethan smiled. "Anyway, you won't have to worry about the debt. That's my cross to bear."

The crowd continued to murmur amongst themselves before almost all of them left. The only two remaining were Cassandra and Daphne. Ethan sighed, taking the debt slip from Hestia and handing it to Bell, who read it before promptly fainting as he realized how much his knife cost. Ethan shook his head as Cassandra and Daphne walked over.

"The debt's not really yours, is it?" Daphne asked.

"No, but I'll be the one paying it off," Ethan said. "I meant it when I said you all wouldn't back to worry about it. I can manage. Once I'm healed, anyway."

"I suppose that's acceptable," Daphne said. "How'd she get that much debt, anyway?"

"It's a long story." Ethan said, picking up the debt slip and rolling it up, handing it to Hestia. "So, are you two going to join?"

Cassandra nodded. "You and Bell are the only people who ever believed me about my dreams."

"Then welcome home," Ethan smiled. "You two can both have your own rooms again."

Cassandra and Daphne both smiled and nodded, heading inside with Hestia in order to be transferred to the Hestia Familia. As they did, Hephaestus arrived, Ethan turning to her.

"Welcome, Lady Hephaestus," Ethan smiled. "Can I ask you-"

"They're both fully payed off," Hephaestus said. "You should be grateful to them. They both spent their entire life's savings in order to get you those two blades. I hope you realize just how much you mean to them."

Ethan smiled, nodding. "I do. And now I owe both of them."

"No you don't," Anya said. "You're the one that made the money I spent on the one I gave you. You technically bought it for yourself. And Ryu would never accept repayment from you."

Ethan sighed. "You two are impossible, you know that?"

Anya smiled and helped him to one of the closer washrooms to clean his wounds and change his bandages for him. Just as she was finishing, Hestia's voice echoed through the house.

"What do you mean someone payed off half my debt!?" Hestia shouted.

"Speaking of someone spending their whole life's savings," Anya said, giving him a knowing look.

"I'd have payed off more if Apollo hadn't taken the rest," Ethan shrugged.

Anya shook her head, helping him pull his shirt back on before they went to mingle with the rest of the Familia.

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