I do not own Familia Myth or any of the characters.
Familia
Ryu looked around as they neared Orario on their dragons before finally turning to the dragon Hestia and Bell were flying on. "Lady Hestia, can we take a detour?"
Hestia gave her a questioning look but nodded, Bell turning their dragon after Ryu, Ethan, and Anya's. They flew for about six hours, Ryu refusing to tell Ethan where they were going the entire time, before landing a short distance from a small village several miles from Orario.
"What are we doing here?" Bell asked.
"There's someone here I need to see," Ryu said. "And to save time, I'd like to have Hestia there with me."
Bell nodded.
"Bell, Anya, you two stay with the dragons so we don't have to walk back to Orario," Hestia said. "We shouldn't be long."
"You know what we're doing here?" Ethan asked.
"I knew as soon as she asked if we could take a detour," Hestia said.
"Well, would you mind sharing?" Ethan asked. "Ryu wouldn't tell me."
Hestia smiled and shrugged. "You'll see."
Ethan sighed and followed the two women into the village, heading for the larges building there. Ryu knocked on the door, and after a moment, it opened to reveal a beautiful woman with long, straight, walnut brown hair, deep indigo eyes, fair skin, an elegant white kirtle with the top sitting low on her considerable bust, gold at the top in a "U" with two zig-zagged lines extending from the bottom and crossing over one another to form four diamond-shaped openings and with two arms of gold extending diagonally down across her breasts. The kirtle was pale blue on the sides, matching the pale blue running down the front of her simple, white skirt, which reached her ankles. She had detached, white sleeves with the trim on the ends reminding Ethan of flower petals, a gilded, brown, metal belt, and a gilded, blue, metal choker with gold up the front, then two arms reaching around from the sides and ending in points, and black cord reaching from the front, where they were tied together and to the choker, then reaching down under her arms.
"Ryu! Hestia!" the woman cheered, throwing her arms around the two women. "It's so good to see you! Ryu, I heard you got pardoned! That's so wonderful!"
"It's all thanks to Ethan," Ryu said, gesturing to him.
"Do I need to remind you how many times you've saved me?" Ethan asked.
"Less times than you've protected me," Ryu said.
"Ryu, you saved me from my Hero's Sacrifice," Ethan said.
"You have Hero's Sacrifice?" the woman asked.
"I did," Ethan said. "But Ryu made herself my reason to live, so it went away."
The woman's eyes widened as she looked between him and Ryu for a moment before cheering. "That's wonderful! I'm so happy for you, Ryu!"
"Thank you, Lady Astraea," Ryu smiled. "May we step inside? I have a favor to ask you."
"Of course!" Astraea said, stepping out of the way and letting them all in. "I'll make us some tea!"
Hestia closed the door behind him as Astraea darted off into the kitchen. Ethan and the others sat around a small table, and a few minutes later, Astraea returned, passing them all a cup of tea before taking her seat.
"Tell me everything!" Astraea said excitedly. "How'd you meet? How'd he win you over? How good is he?"
Ethan choked on his tea and blushed brightly, and Ryu rolled her eyes.
"Lady Astraea," Ryu sighed. "He's amazing, and that's as specific as you're getting."
Ethan's face darkened slightly as Astraea giggled.
"You've changed so much!" Astraea said. "What about the rest of the questions?"
Ryu sighed. "He used to be in Apollo's Familia, and he was a regular customer at the Hostess of Fertility, where I've been working since I was blacklisted. He became Mama Mia's favorite customer when he stopped an adventurer from hitting one of the other waitresses, Syr."
"That's why?" Ethan asked. "I was just stopping one of the usual assholes from the Apollo Familia from hitting someone for no reason."
"And that's why Mama Mia decided you were her favorite," Ryu said. "Anyway, he was eventually banished from the Apollo Familia and zeroed out. I healed his injuries after a few of his former Familia members beat him on Apollo's orders. Hestia came to find him and recruited him into her Familia, and for giving him a second chance, he fell in love with her."
"Wait, what!?" Astraea gasped. "Then why is he with you?"
"I'm getting to that," Ryu said. "Over the next month or so, it became clear that Hestia was in love with the other member of her Familia, Bell Cranel. Ethan was hurt, but since he'd never been in love before, he didn't know how to react to his feelings, so his loyalty developed into Guardian's Heart, which he still has. however, after a long string of incidents proving how much more important Bell was to Hestia than Ethan-"
"You mean me completely ignoring Ethan, even when he almost died," Hestia said, ashamed.
"It doesn't matter anymore," Ethan said. "You have no reason to feel bad."
"Anyway, during one of the particularly bad incidents, the one where he almost died, I was there with them all, and I saw him, as a Level One with Guardian Heart, willingly fight the Goliath alone so that the rest of us could get past. He succeeded, but nearly died in doing so. A day later, we had to fight a Black Goliath that was a level five, and on the Eighteenth Floor, no less. He used a potion to completely numb his body in order to help us fight and ended up protecting me three times during the fight, nearly dying each time. After the incidents, he finally developed Hero's Sacrifice. That was the last straw to make me fall for him, so I tried my hardest to save him for it. I even spent all the money I'd saved to get him his Hieroglyph Sword. I'm not sure when he started to see me as more than a friend."
"When you gave me the sword," Ethan said. "Though it took me a while to realize it."
"We fought together to save a friend of ours from the Ishtar Familia, and Ethan, despite having next to no experience with love, managed to convince another of our friends to tell the one we were saving that she was in love with her, and then we all went home and from what I've heard, our friends repaid the favor by helping him understand his feelings for me."
"It wasn't just them," Ethan said. "Ishtar was almost more helpful than them."
"What do you mean?" Ryu frowned.
"Ishtar tried to charm me," Ethan said. "But when she did, my feelings for you blocked it, and allowed me to resist."
"Really?" Ryu asked.
Ethan nodded, and Ryu smiled, hugging him. Astraea smiled adoringly at them, and after a moment, Ryu pulled back, wiping her eyes.
"Anyway, we didn't actually get together until former members of the Apollo and Ishtar Familia ambushed me, planning to rape and torture me in order to hurt him and draw him out," Ryu said, Astraea's eyes wide with shock and fear. "Ethan found me and saved me, then comforted me after me. Once I was calm again, he told me he loved me, and we've been together since."
Astraea smiled, wiping her eyes. "Thank you, Ethan. Thank you for being there for Ryu, and especially for saving her."
"I will never let anything happen to her," Ethan vowed.
Astraea nodded and took a sip of her tea, grimacing as she realized it had long since gone cold. "So, shall we get to it?"
Ryu's eyes widened slightly. "You know what I want?"
"The moment I heard you'd been pardoned, I suspected you'd be here at least for me to update your status," Astraea smiled. "Now that I know about Ethan, I know exactly why you're here."
Ethan frowned in confusion for a moment before his eyes widened. "Wait, are you joining the Hestia Familia?"
All three women nodded.
"Would you mind stepping out for a moment?" Astraea asked politely.
"It's alright," Ryu said. "It's nothing he hasn't seen before. I don't mind him being here."
Astraea smiled and nodded, and Ryu handed her a tanto, then pulled her cloak and shirt off. Astraea pricked her finger and squeezed a drop of blood onto Ryu's back, her Familia's crest forming before Astraea began to update her status. As she did, Hestia had Ethan take his own shirt off, using his xiphos to prick her own finger. As they worked, Astraea's eyes went wide before she smiled widely. Finally, she finished and transcribed it to a piece of paper and handed it to Ryu. Ryu gasped harshly and Ethan leaned over to inspect it. She was a Level Five, now. And in addition to that, she apparently had had extra excelia, because her stats weren't all reset perfectly, they'd been increased as well. Her Strength was one hundred fifty three, her Vitality was one hundred fifteen, her Dexterity was three hundred, her Agility was three hundred ten, and her Magic was two hundred fifty. Her Hunter and Abnormal Resistance had both increased from G to F, and her Magic Resistance had gone from I to G.
"Any new skills?" Ethan asked.
Ryu's gaze dropped to her skills for a moment before nodding, smiling widely. "Lover's Bond."
"What's it do?" Ethan asked.
"It increases her stats the more deeply you care about each other," Astraea said. "And when you're fighting to protect each other, it'll increase both her stats, and those of the person her bond is with, who has the same skill. And it doesn't matter if the two people are part of the same Familia or not."
"Really?" Ethan asked.
"Yes," Hestia nodded, handing Ethan his own paper, Ethan seeing Lover's Bond listed under his own skills. "It's a rare skill. And it's said only soul mates are able to unlock it. Your Lover's Bond skills are paired. So long as you're both alive and still love each other, you'll keep it, and it will always be in effect. If one of your feelings change, or one of you dies, the skill will disappear from both of you. It's a type of Twin Skill. A skill that two people have that are linked to each other's."
Ethan smiled widely and nodded. Hestia moved over to Ryu and glanced at Astraea, who nodded, then squeezed a drop of blood onto Ryu's back. In a wave spreading outward from the point of contact, the crest on Ryu's back changed into Hestia's crest.
"It's done," Hestia said. "You're now a part of our Familia."
Ryu smiled widely and hugged both Hestia and Ethan, kissing Ethan for a moment. Then she turned to Astraea and hugged her as well. "Thank you, Lady Astraea. It was an honor being a part of your Familia."
"You will always be a member of my Familia whether you bear my blessing or not," Astraea smiled. "You will always be welcome here. And I wish the two of you the best."
Ethan and Ryu both nodded, tears of joy rolling down Ryu's cheeks. Ethan and Ryu got redressed, and all four finished their tea before they said their goodbyes and returned to the dragons.
"You're back!" Bell smiled. "Did everything go alright?"
"It went perfectly," Ryu smiled, wiping her eyes as they watered again.
"Why are you crying?" Bell asked. "Are you okay?"
"I've never been better," Ryu smiled.
"Are congratulations in order?" Anya asked hopefully.
"Yes, they are," Hestia nodded. "Ryu is now an official part of our Familia."
Bell and Anya both cheered, Anya hugging Ryu as they congratulated her. After a minute, they climbed back onto their dragons before taking off again, heading for Orario.
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