I do not own Familia Myth or any of the characters.
On The Hunt
"Let's hunt!"
Gran roared and charged. "Let's get 'em!"
He slashed at Ranye, but Ethan's xiphos deflected his sword before Ethan's own sword flashed around at him. Gran leapt backward, avoiding being split in half, but suffering a gash across the abdomen instead. Fear took off into the air, her own eyes turning red with black sclerae as she did.
"Ranye, get your people out of here!" Ethan ordered, holding his hand out. "Lightning Spree!"
The electricity exploded into everyone except Dix, who had thrown his spear into the air to draw the lightning away from himself, then caught it smirking as most of the rest of the Ikelos Familia stood, though some were unconscious.
"We're not running away without-" Ranye stopped as Ryu skidded to a stop in front of Four, shoving the Siren into his arms before spinning and extending her arms.
"Luminous Wind!"
The blasts exploded through the ranks of adventurers at the same time as Fear sent a barrage of feathers into a group of them. One of them crashed down in front of a girl in a grey robe holding a silver staff. The girl set it on the adventurer's chest and blue light spread outward from it, healing him quickly.
"Blade Rain!" Ethan snapped, a massive cloud of swords streaking into the cavern.
Most of the Ikelos Familia avoided them, however, as they did, Ethan smirked, swiping a hand. The blades all curved, closing in on the healer and the adventurer she was tending to from all sides.
"No!" Dix shouted, but it was too late. The two of them were shredded by the blades.
"Four, Fear, get the Xenos out of here!" Ethan snapped.
Four grunted and shifted the Siren to cradle in one arm, scooping Wiene up with the other. At the same time, Fear flew down to Ranye, just as she slammed an adventurer down with her webbing.
"We need to go!" Fear shouted over the sound of Ethan and Ryu both firing their spells off again. "They can handle this!"
Ranye growled in annoyance before nodding. The Xenos all turned and fled, Anya remaining at Four's side to help defend the Siren and Wiene.
"Stop them!" Dix shouted.
Several Ikelos Familia members stepped into their way, only for Ethan to spin toward them.
"...and vanish with my foes," Ethan finished, arm extended. "Lightning Spree!"
A dozen bolts of lightning flashed out and arced around the Xenos and slammed into the Ikelos Familia members, exploding and killing them all. Then, as the Xenos and Anya escaped the room, Ethan spun, deflecting Dix's spear rapidly. Dix grinned wickedly, pressing Ethan harder and harder, Ethan unable to strike back.
"You're disappointing me, Ethan!" Dix laughed.
Ethan risked glancing off to the side, seeing Ryu struggling to fend off Gran and the woman in pink, who was fighting barehanded. As Ethan looked, the woman managed to drill a punch into the side of Ryu's jaw, hurling her backward. Ethan sent a barrage of Light Blades at Dix, forcing him to defend himself, then shot after Ryu. Several of the Ikelos Familia members were already holding her down.
"You ruined our chance to enjoy those monsters," a guy in a green shirt was saying. "Now, you're going to have to make up for it!"
Ethan formed a Light Blade over his sword, sheathing his xiphos and gripping his sword with both hands, his hands clenching so hard his sword shook.
"Your mistake," Ryu said calmly.
"Hands off!" Ethan snarled, his voice sounding near inhuman with his rage.
Then, he slashed, splitting all five in half. He spun, transitioning the slash into a block, deflecting Dix's spear before his left hand snapped up.
"Lightning Spree!" Ethan roared.
A single bolt of lightning flashed into the roof of the cavern, exploding and causing the stone to collapse instantly. The moment Dix looked up, Ethan grabbed Ryu and fled. Ryu slashed behind him, Ethan hearing her deflect Dix's spear, then they were out of the room, the cavern continuing to collapse for nearly a hundred meters before settling.
After half a floor of running, Ethan slowed to a stop and set Ryu on her feet.
"You okay?" Ethan asked.
"I'm fine," Ryu said, then slapped him. "Don't you ever do something as stupid as making part of the dungeon collapse again!"
Ethan blinked twice before frowning. "Why?"
Ryu sighed heavily. "Let's find the others, then I'll explain. But you can't tell anyone what I tell you. Ever. I was sworn to secrecy by Ouranos, so I'm not even supposed to tell you about this."
Ethan nodded and they headed for the path down a level, finding a trail of spider silk. They followed it quickly, and soon found Ranye and the others, Ranye arguing with Anya about whether they should keep going or not.
"We need to move!" Ethan said. "I caved in the cavern we were in, but it won't stall them long. Especially Dix."
The others all nodded and they turned, continuing to move, this time all of them moving at a jog. As they did, Ranye began to talk to Gros. Gros was infuriated by the fact that they had been ambushed by humans, and despite Ranye's best efforts to calm him down, he only seemed to grow more and more angry until finally he went berserk and smashed his communication crystal, after declaring that he'd take revenge. Ethan and Ryu skidded to a stop.
"They're going to attack Rivira!" Ethan said.
"He wouldn't!" Ranye said. "That would start a war!"
Four grunted.
"I suppose," Ranye said darkly. "Let's get to the new village. Ray and Lyd should still be there, hopefully."
"We can't," Ethan said, glancing back. "Dix and the others are still following us. Unless we lose them somehow, we'll have to fight them."
"Maybe not," Ryu said. "If Xenos attack Rivira, the Ikelos Familia will go after them."
Ethan considered for a moment before nodding. "Ranye, can you use your crystal to contact Fels, or Lyd?"
Ranye shook her head. "The crystals can only talk to their pairs. Gros had the pair for this one, and Lyd has the pair to Fels' crystal."
"Then we need to meet them on the way to the Eighteenth Floor," Ethan said. "The new village is below us, right?"
"Yes," Ranye said. "If they're trying to go to a fight, they'll take the most direct route. We can take the same route in the other direction and head them off."
Ethan nodded and Ranye turned, scurrying away quickly, the others all following. After a few minutes, they rounded a corner into a pantry just as Gros and most of the other Xenos finished off the monsters.
"Humans!" one of the monsters, a goblin, shrieked, pointing at Ethan, Ryu, and Anya.
"Kill them!" another Xenos shouted.
"You will not attack them!" Ranye snapped, stepping in front of them. "We are alive only because of them! They protected us!"
"And for that, we will spare them this time," Gros snarled. "But we will still kill the humans who attacked you! And any who get in our way!"
"It doesn't have to be that way!" Ethan said. "You don't have to go looking for a fight! You're going to start a war and ruin any chance of the Xenos ever living on the surface!"
"What would you know of wanting to see the surface!?" Gros snapped. "You lived there! You don't understand us and you never will!"
And with that, he stormed past their group, the other Xenos following, except for Lyd, Ray, and a Goblin Xenos named Let, who all rushed over to greet them all and make sure they were okay.
"Ray!" Anya gushed, darting forward to hug her, Ray blinking in surprise. "I'm so glad you're okay! I thought it was you, and then I was worried constantly after that!"
Ray smiled, folding her wings around Anya. "I'm alright. How did you rescue her and still escape without losing anyone but Orde?"
"Because of these two," Ranye said, gesturing at Ethan and Ryu. "They're amazing. They held off the adventurers that ambushed us alone while we all fled."
"That's amazing!" Lyd breathed. "I guess I wasn't the only one holding back in our fight."
"I wasn't as angry in our fight as I was against Dix, the human who led the ambush," Ethan said. "One of the skills I have makes me stronger the more angry or injured I am."
Lyd nodded. "Impressive." He looked after Gros. "We have to stop him."
"No," Ethan said. "Leave that to me and Ryu. You all need to get somewhere the Ikelos Familia can't find you. You and Ray need to protect the others."
Lyd hesitated before nodding. "We need to find a way to tell Fels what happened, too. Gros broke the crystal I use to talk to Fels."
"He'll know," Ethan said. "As soon as your crystal was broken he'd know something was wrong, and as soon as the others attack Rivira, he'll be on his way down to help. Probably with Bell."
Lyd nodded. "Then maybe he can figure out a way to salvage this situation." Lyd sighed. "Okay. We'll take care of the others. You try and stop Gros and the others from ruining everything."
Ethan nodded. "Ray, keep my sister safe, too."
"I will," Ray promised as Anya stuck her tongue out at Ethan.
Then, the Xenos turned and ran away. Ethan and Ryu followed at a distance by unspoken consent, following the Xenos all the way to the safe area where Lyd used a massive boulder to seal the entrance. Then, they turned and raced back up to the Eighteenth Floor. They were too late to stop the attack, but they couldn't have even if they had caught up with Gros and the others.
"While we've got a minute, explain to me why collapsing the dungeon is a bad idea," Ethan said.
Ryu sighed and nodded. "It's a bit of a long story. I'll have to tell you everything about how my Familia died as well."
Ethan nodded as Ryu began the story.
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