I do not own Familia Myth or any of the characters.
Gathering
Ethan stared down at the purple and brown leaves below them as they flew.
"What happened?" Anya asked.
"It's Antares," Ethan said.
"He's draining the life force from the world around him," Ryu said. "We're getting close."
Anya nodded. "Ethan, will you be okay to fight? Your Guardian Heart isn't useful right now, is it?"
"No," Ethan said. "Even if it activates, at most my stats might his about fifty each. But my Berserk will be enough. And even without them, I'm not useless. I've got two amazing swords and two very useful offensive spells."
Anya nodded. "Just be careful, alright?"
"I will," Ethan said. He glanced over at Bell and frowned. "Hey Bell!"
"Yeah?" Bell called back.
"I'm just going to make this clear now!" Ethan called over the wind. "When we find this thing, you're not going to be attacking! We're going to take a minute to find out what it can do, how it fights. Once we do, you're not going to mess around! You're going to let us handle distracting it while you charge up a specific skill of yours into that spear!"
Bell nodded. "Agreed!"
"There, do you see it?" Artemis asked, pointing ahead of them. "The Ruin of Elsus."
"Everyone be ready!" Ethan said. "I doubt it'll be that easy to reach it!"
Just then, Artemis groaned in pain, holding her hands to her chest and hunching forward.
"Lady Artemis!" Bell gasped worriedly.
"It's coming!" Lady Artemis said.
Ethan looked around instantly, then up, only for his jaw to drop. Above them, falling fast, were dozens of streaks of bright white light, like arrows.
What is that!?" Hestia gasped.
"Look out!" Welf shouted.
Ethan turned sideways instantly, pulling Ryu and Anya together under himself, holding his left arm over himself and folded up to make as small a gap between the Durandal armor on his upper and lower arm as he could. Then, the blasts began to rain down around them in a massive wave. Within seconds, the dragons had all been forced to the ground as the blasts ripped the ground apart. Several shots slammed into Ethan's arm, and one into his back, though it failed to go all the way through him. Finally, the blasts ended and Ethan groaned, releasing the girls and falling backward to the ground.
"Fuck that hurt," Ethan groaned. "Restoration."
His body shone green and he felt the wound seal, though he suspected he'd have a scar. He pushed himself up and helped the others off of the dragon, whose wings had both been hit, then looked around. The others all seemed unharmed, but their dragons were likewise injured, and Hermes was unconscious.
"What the hell was that all about?" Welf demanded.
"I suspect it was for me," Artemis said. "Or more accurately, it was an attempt to take the spear from us."
Just then, a high chattering noise sounded from off to the side and they all turned, seeing hundreds of scorpions gathered al around them in the trees at the edge of the attack's range.
"The attempt's not over yet," Ethan said, drawing his blades, Ryu drawing her stick and a tanto and the others all drawing weapons as well, Anya running to wake up Hermes.
"We're surrounded," Hestia said.
"This can't be good," Welf said.
"Supporters and gods in the center!" Ethan ordered, all of them complying instantly, Anya supporting a still-dazed Hermes on her shoulders.
The scorpions began to crawl out of the trees and Ethan narrowed his eyes. They were bigger than the last group, and they all had a single eye taking up the front of their head with a vertical red slit for a pupil.
"Are these guys like the last batch?" Welf asked.
"No," Lili said. "These guys are bigger and more spooky-looking."
"Welf, be ready to use your Magic Sword," Ethan said. "We might need it."
Welf nodded.
"Ryu, would you care..." he stopped as he realized she was already chanting. "That's my girl."
She leapt high into the air before finishing her spell, sending the blasts raining down on the creatures before landing beside Ethan again, all of them watching the dust carefully. As the dust settled, Ethan sighed heavily, seeing they'd all been destroyed.
"Figures," Ethan sighed. "I let the best one attack and now there's nothing left."
"You're welcome," Ryu smiled.
"Hey, who's that?" Welf asked, pointing.
They all turned and saw Asfi and a few other members of the Hermes Familia walking toward them, Asfi looking very displeased about something.
"Not here already, huh?" Ethan asked, looking to Hermes.
Hermes laughed nervously.
"Want to fill us in, Master Hermes?" Asfi all but snarled, Hermes going rigid instantly.
"Oh, uh, hi there, Asfi!" Hermes said nervously.
"Of all the idiotic things that you've done, I cannot believe you'd leave us to guard the ruin so you could go home alone!" Asfi snapped, storming over to get in his face.
"Give me a little more credit, Asfi!" Hermes tried to defend himself. "I told you I had to find someone to wield the spear for us!"
"Still, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't just disappear like that!" Asfi snapped.
"Asfi, please try to forgive Hermes," Artemis said.
"Lady Artemis," Asfi said, sounding a little disappointed as she turned toward him. "Hello Bell Cranel." She sighed heavily. "So it was you who pulled the spear. To be honest, I was hoping for a slightly more powerful Familia for backup."
"I am so sorry," Bell apologized.
"It's fine," Asfi sighed. "At least we have Ethan and his Guardian Heart spell."
"Actually, I just leveled up before coming here, so...yeah," Ethan smiled apologetically.
"Terrific," Asfi said flatly.
"Well, Asfi, what can you tell us?" Hermes asked.
"It's only getting worse," Asfi said. "They're encroaching further and further into the forest. The monsters only multiply. All neighboring villages have been completely wiped out."
"What about our assault on the Ruins?" Hermes asked.
"Failing," Asfi said. "We still haven't managed to get past the doorway."
"I see," Hermes said.
"Oh, so there's a doorway?" Bell asked, Asfi nodding.
"Between me and Ryu, we can get you in," Ethan said. "Most likely. But Asfi, I'll need you to give Anya at least twenty Mind Potions."
"How can you get us in without your Guardian Heart?" Asfi asked.
"That's not my only ability, you know," Ethan said. "I have another skill that can partially make up the difference, and I have two useful spells, one in particular will be perfect to get us in the door."
Asfi nodded. "If you say so."
They all turned and walked toward the Loki Familia's base camp, except for Hestia and Artemis, who remained behind for a private conversation. Once they were at the camp and had all put their things away, Ryu grabbed Ethan's hand.
"We're going to go bathe, and we took a vote among us girls," Ryu said. "Would you mind keeping Hermes from spying on us? You're one of the only two people here who we all trust not to peek, but unlike Bell, you will be able to stop the rest of the guys from doing it."
"Sure," Ethan nodded.
She led him to the edge of a pond where the other girls were waiting and Asfi pointed out a low hill to one side where Hermes would be most likely to try and peek from. Ethan climbed up into a tree where he could see over the hill and sat down, ignoring the sounds of the girls washing themselves behind him while he waited. True to Asfi's prediction, Hermes and most of the males in his Familia gathered to try and peek together within five minutes.
"From this night forward, you will be legends!" Hermes told the crowd. "Now listen up! Just beyond this dense foliage lies a lush maiden's paradise! Lili, Asfi, and the other ladies are cleansing the pure skin they were blessed with at birth! And, of course, there's Artemis. Not a soul alive has laid eyes on the stark pristine beauty of her virgin goddess visage. My dream has been squashed once before! But right now, my heart shouts at me that the dream is alive and well! And now I have all of you beside me, true comrades who share my unshakable ambition! To see this glorious pursuit through! A final wall stands between us and our prize, gentlemen, and should we conquer it tonight, we shall come out as heroes and be remembered for generations!" He threw his fist in the air as the crowd cheered, including Welf.
However, Bell, who Ethan finally spotted at the back, looked exasperated.
"Heaven as my witness, grant us your divine protection!" Hermes shouted. "Onward my gallant companions!"
"Blade Rain," Ethan said calmly, sending a magic sword into the ground in front of everyone except Bell, all of them freezing instantly. "Now, Hermes, you know better than that."
"What are you doing up there?" Hermes asked.
"Insurance policy," Ethan said.
"You almost killed Master Hermes!" someone shouted.
"Oh, no, I have no intention of killing anyone, especially a god," Ethan said. "However, there are no rules anywhere about chopping off a certain bit, and I expect that even a god would be rather disappointed to not have it anymore, so this is your only warning. Go back to bed, or the next warning shot might be a little higher, purely by accident, of course."
Everyone groaned in disappointment and turned, walking away as the magic swords faded. When Ethan looked around, however, he didn't see Bell anywhere. He groaned. Bell was going to stumble across Artemis. His luck was that bad.
"Thank you, Ethan!" Anya called up to him.
"You're welcome!" Ethan called back.
After a while longer, Ryu called up to him that they were all finished and dressed and he climbed down, walking back to the camp with her before they went to bed.
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