I do not own Familia Myth or its characters.

Second Chance

Ethan sighed as he watched the other adventurers head into the dungeon. His supporter was late. As usual.

"Sorry I'm late!" the soft voice he knew so well called out as his supporter ran over, an apologetic but cheerful smile on her face. She had her silver hair over her left shoulder, and her face was scrunched up so that her cerulean eyes were almost closed.

"I don't know why I'm surprised by you being late, Anya," Ethan said. "You're always late."

"I said I'm sorry," Anya pouted. "Besides, you always make plenty of valis anyway, so it's not like it's a big deal."

"Which is exactly why I've never bothered to yell at you," Ethan said, reaching out and messing up the hair on top of her head. "My Double Income skill is probably the most useful."

"I beg to differ," Anya said, fixing her hair. "Your most helpful skill is hiring me."

Ethan laughed. "That doesn't take skill, sis. You're too desperate to say no."

Anya rolled her eyes. "I'm not desperate. You just always look so pathetic I can't say no."

"Mhm, sure I do," Ethan chuckled. "Shall we?"

She smiled and nodded, the two of them walking into the dungeon, heading toward the seventh floor. They walked down the stairs in silence, both of them trying to decide what to do with the money they were planning to make. Ethan planned to save most of his and only buy the bare essentials, like repairs to his armor and sword if needed, and food. On the other hand, Anya planned to go on a shopping spree. As always.

"Anya," Ethan said as they stepped out onto the seventh floor. "You and I need to have a serious talk about your spending habits."

"What about them?" Anya asked.

"You need to kick them," Ethan said.

"Hey, it's my business to spend my money in bars and brothels if I want to!" Anya said.

"Actually, I meant you going out and splurging on clothes and shoes," Ethan said. "But now that you bring up the rest of it, that too. Especially the brothels."

"Hey, I enjoy the brothels!"

"That doesn't make it okay," Ethan said.

Anya pouted. "Why do you even care? You've never said anything before."

"That doesn't mean I don't care," Ethan said. "I just didn't feel the need to talk about it."

"Then why do you now?" Anya asked.

"I don't know," Ethan said. "Maybe I feel like being a good brother."

"Yeah right!" Anya scoffed. "You're never a good brother!"

"Mhm, sure I'm not," Ethan said. "Just admit it. You'd be lost without me."

"I get lost every time I'm with you anyway!" Anya laughed.

Ethan shrugged as they reached the tenth floor. However, as they did, they found an adventurer with white hair struggling to fight almost a dozen orcs. The lumbering green monsters towered over the boy, and while he was able to kill them fairly quickly, he definitely wasn't going to last. Ethan drew his sword, a very plain bastard sword with a flat guard with the arms bent slightly toward the blade halfway along them, brown cloth wrapped around the grip, and a half-dome pommel, and sprinted forward. One of the orcs began to turn toward him and he jumped, splitting it across the chest before spinning and slashing another on the way down. As he landed, he found a monster lure at his feet. He drove his sword down into it, destroying it, then leapt backward away from an orc's fist, which cracked the ground.

"Who are you?" the white-haired boy asked.

"Is now really the time to ask questions?" Ethan asked, ducking aside from an orc's fist and slashing it along the arm, then again across the torso. He looked around and grit his teeth as more and more orcs began to appear out of the fog around them. "Damn. There sure are a lot of them."

Suddenly, a blonde girl with a short white dress under silver armor shot past, rapidly slaughtering the orcs. All of them. Ethan huffed, standing up straight again and looking back, only to see the white-haired boy sprinting up the steps toward the higher levels. Ethan shook his head, sighing, then turned to Anya, who was calmly walking around collecting the crystals the orcs had dropped. He helped her, then they turned and headed deeper again.

"Who was that boy?" Ethan wondered aloud.

"Dunno," Anya said. "But he was an idiot to try and take on so many orcs by laying out monster lures."

"That, or he was set up," Ethan said.

"Eh," Anya shrugged. "Not our problem."

"I suppose," Ethan said. "Still. He seemed in an awful hurry, but it didn't seem like he was just running away."

"Hey, stop that," Anya said. "You promised you wouldn't go playing the hero anymore. Remember what happened last time?"

"Yes, I remember," Ethan sighed. "Alright. You win. Let's just focus on earning our paycheck."

Anya smiled and nodded and they continued down the stairs in silence.

Ethan sighed as he finished off the last of the Imps. He wiped his hair back from his face and looked around, seeing Anya collecting crystals, just as calm as always.

"How can you always be so calm?" Ethan asked.

"I have my big brother for protection," Anya smiled. "You may be hopeless at keeping me out of trouble, but you'd never let me be in danger."

Ethan grimaced. "That's a little harsh."

"Am I wrong?" Anya smirked.

Ethan sighed. "Let's...just get back to work."

Anya grinned triumphantly, only for her smile to falter as a minotaur roared somewhere in the distance. Ethan swallowed hard, tightening his hold on his sword and looking around. He hated minotaurs. Minotaurs had killed both of his brothers, and their parents. Of course, that was a subject he and Anya didn't talk about.

"Maybe we should head back to the stairs," Anya said, trembling.

"It's fine," Ethan said. "I can handle one minotaur now."

"That was what Holt and Ben said," Anya said quietly.

Ethan froze, then grit his teeth, his eyes beginning to water. "We don't talk about that, Anya."

A minotaur stomped out of the passageway to their left and Ethan spun toward it, charging and leaping over its stone axe before slashing it down the front. It roared, pitching backward and exploding into a cloud of darkness before it even hit the ground. As it did, Ethan landed on his feet and turned to look back, seeing Anya looking around nervously. She walked over quickly, collecting the minotaur's crystal, then looked to Ethan nervously.

"Alright," Ethan nodded. "We can go back."

Anya nodded and they turned toward the stairs. However, before they could go more than ten steps, another minotaur stepped into view ahead of them, then one behind them. Then another. And another. Ethan swallowed hard. This wasn't right. There shouldn't be so many. And yet, this was exactly what happened to their brothers. And to their parents before them.

"Why?" Anya asked. "Why are there so many?"

"I don't know," Ethan said, looking around for a moment before closing his eyes. "Don't worry. I'm not going to let you die, Anya. I promise you, I will protect you."

Anya nodded, backing into the center of the room as Cody held his sword out to the side, focusing.

"Light Blade," Ethan said, bright blue energy shining from his blade and cross guard suddenly, growing into a much larger blade silhouette. "Try to stay with me, Anya. I'll carve our way out of here."

Anya nodded, and Ethan shot forward, toward the stairs, slashing a pair of minotaurs with his blade. Both burst into clouds of darkness and an axe shot out of it. Ethan blocked it with his sword, only to go flying backward, bouncing off a stone pillar. He landed on his feet and streaked toward Anya, who the minotaurs had taken an interest in. He spun as he reached her, slashing in a circle and splitting a half dozen of them before shoving Anya toward the now clear tunnel leading to the stairs. As soon as she was away from him, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a monster lure, hurling it across the room onto a minotaur's chest. The others swarmed it and Ethan turned, sprinting after Anya toward the stairs. He caught up with her just as the stairs came into view. They were close. Just a little further.

A loud crack echoed through the cavern and Ethan's gut dropped. Then, the ground fell out from under them.

Ethan staggered slightly, pausing, then continued to walk, breaths coming in labored pants and feet scraping the ground each step. A trail of blood followed him, and Anya's massive pack threatened to send her spilling to the ground from Ethan's back every step he took. However, He kept walking. He pressed on. He could see the light. They were almost home.

He staggered out into the light and collapsed, Anya bouncing and rolling away, just in time for a member of their Familia to catch her by letting her pack hit his foot.

"You look like shit, Ethan," the man said, staring at Ethan in disgust, his brown hair in its usual ponytail with a single lock on the left side, his multiple earrings glinting in the light of the setting sun, and his dark eyes all but shining with hatred. "And you even let Anya be hurt this time. Some brother you are."

"What...are you...doing...here?" Ethan panted, struggling to stand with one hand pressed futilely against the half-dozen gashes spilling his blood across the ground.

"Well, we were sent to see what was taking so long," the man said.

"We?" Ethan frowned, just before more and more of their Familia began to step into view, along with their god, Apollo.

"Oh my," Apollo said, surveying the blood coating the side of Anya's face. "What happened to her?"

"There...was a...cave in," Ethan panted, only to fall back to his knees, coughing up blood. "She...hit...her head."

Apollo hummed, then waved a hand, one of the others moving forward and quickly healing Ethan. "Ethan, I distinctly remember telling you that Anya was my favorite of your siblings, didn't I?"

"Yes, Lord Apollo," Ethan said.

"And yet, you saw fit to allow her to be hurt," Apollo said.

"It wasn't my fault!" Ethan said. "There was a-"

"Yes, I heard your excuse the first time," Apollo said, then sighed. "I have no use for a worthless fool who can't protect one of my favorites. Bring him to me."

Several of the others moved forward, taking a moment to beat Ethan before dragging him to Apollo, one of them cutting his shirt off as they faced him away from Apollo.

"I just want you to know, this is entirely your fault," Apollo said, pressing a hand to the crest taking up Ethan's back.

Agony seared through Ethan, and he shrieked in agony, collapsing to the ground and convulsing, every muscle in his body failing to respond. It lasted for what felt like forever before it finally faded, leaving him gasping and panting on the ground, blood coating almost his entire body from his earlier wounds and then from his beating, his face swollen, nose broken, and his entire body feeling like he'd been run over in a stampede. He opened his eyes, watching the Apollo Familia walk away with Anya, taking everything they'd earned that day as well, leaving only Ethan's sword.

Ethan grit his teeth, curling into a ball and waiting for the rest of his pain to fade. Finally, after a very long while, it did, and he stood, staggering through the city, his sword dragging behind him, before finally reaching his favorite pub, the Hostess of Fertility, owned by Mama Mia and staffed by his favorite people in the city besides his sister.

As soon as he was through the door, Syr, the silver-haired airhead of the group, had rushed him to the back for Ryuu, a half-elf former adventurer to heal. Twenty minutes later, he was sitting at the bar, halfway through his fourth mug of alcohol.

"I can't believe they kicked you out for something like that!" Syr said. "That's so horrible!"

Ethan sighed. "There's nothing that can be done now. It's over. Because it was Apollo, no one will accept me now."

"I wouldn't say no one," Syr said. "I'm sure someone would accept you. You're so strong! You're a Level Two!"

"I was a Level Two," Ethan corrected her. "Apollo zeroed me out. I'll be starting from scratch. No skills, no magic, nothing."

Syr stared at the ground in silence. "Then, why not just be something else? There are tons of other jobs you could do."

"I can't," Ethan said. "I...Being an adventurer is all I've ever known. It's all I can do. If I give that up..."

"Excuse me," a soft voice said behind him. "Are you the boy who was kicked out of his Familia earlier?"

"Damn," Ethan snorted. "Word sure does travel fast. And here I was hoping to get drunk at least once before the insults started."

He turned, raising an eyebrow at the short, young-looking girl behind him, who wore a short white dress with the edges around the collar and arm holes looking ripped, a blue rope wrapped under her rather large breasts, which had a generous amount of cleavage showing in an open section in the front of the dress, then over her arms before being tied behind her, he assumed, a pair of white gloves with the cuff matching the dress's collar, a blue ribbon tied into a bow wrapped around her neck over the dress's collar with the bow sitting in front of her neck. She was barefoot and had long black hair in a pair of pigtails, the pigtails held in place with a pair of hair ties that looked like three white flower petals with blue edges, then a small metal rectangle running through the center of the ties, holding them in her hair. Her own eyes flitted over him, like she was sizing him up or appraising him. He was sure he was much less of a joy to look at than she was. Where she was beautiful and dressed to prove it, he had short, messy brown hair, brown eyes, a plain face, and was wearing a pair of ripped, faded, currently blood-stained pants that had been blue once but currently were faded to grey, and a tattered, once again blood-stained, black shirt that had been long-sleeved before he entered the dungeon and now lacked a right sleeve entirely and had a short left sleeve. She nodded to herself as she finished her inspection, neither of their inspections having taken more than a second.

"How would you like to join my Familia?" the girl asked.

"Which is that?" Ethan asked.

"Mine," the girl said again. "The Hestia Familia."

Ethan's eyes widened a little. "You're Hestia?"

"That's right," Hestia nodded.

"You won't want me," Ethan said. "I'm not sure what you heard, but I wasn't just kicked out. I was banished. Apollo zeroed me out. He stripped me of my statuses, all of my earnings, my belongings. Everything is gone. All I have is what's left of the clothes on my back and this sword, for what little good the thing will do me now. What's left of my money I've already committed to my next hangover."

"So it was Apollo?" Hestia asked, eyes narrowing. "Sounds like something he'd do. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't want you."

"You do realize what would happen if you accepted someone who was banished from a Familia as powerful as Apollo's, right? Your Familia would basically be blacklisted. You'd be shamed just by having me. Your family would be ostracized."

"So?" Hestia asked. "I judge people based on who they are, not who likes them. But first I want to know, why were you banished?"

Ethan sighed heavily. "Because my sister was one of his favorites, and she was my supporter. But then today, while we were in the middle levels, the ground caved in and she hit her head during the fall. Apollo blamed me for not being able to protect her, so he banished me."

"That's awful!" Hestia snapped, Ethan blinking in surprise as rage filled her face. "How could he banish you for something like that! It's not like she died, right?"

Ethan shook his head, eyes still wide with surprise.

"So then what the hell was his reasoning!?" Hestia snapped. "He's acting like it was all your fault!"

"Ethan also left out some important information," Syr said. "When he returned from the dungeon, apparently, he was severely wounded and on the brink of death from defending his sister and carrying her out, pack and all. Apollo had him healed only to then have him beaten again before banishing him. He looked terrible when he got here."

"WHAT! ? !" Hestia shrieked, Ethan's eyes widening even more.

He watched as Hestia ranted about Apollo, most of it being gibberish. He didn't understand why she was mad. It had happened to him, so why was she mad? She had no reason to be getting mad for him, and yet she was. Finally, Hestia sighed, calming herself.

"I'm so sorry for how he treated you," she said. "But, if you want, I'd be happy to accept you into my Familia."

She offered her hand and He simply stared at her for a long few seconds before accepting her hand, standing. She smiled and turned, taking her hand back before leading him through the city to an abandoned church. Once there, he pulled his shirt off and lay down as she drew his sword so she could use the tip to prick her finger.

"This is a lot lighter than it looks," Hestia noted as she pricked her finger.

"I had it custom-made to be light enough to wield one-handed," Ethan said.

"That's really expensive, you must have had a lot of money before," Hestia said.

"I had a Double Income skill before I was banished," Ethan said. "I originally got it when I was desperate to make enough money for my sister to live more comfortably. Even within the Apollo Familia, we had nothing at first."

"Skills are born based off of the feelings of adventurers," Hestia said. "Why do you want to be an adventurer? What is it you seek?"

"Power," Ethan said. "Enough to protect those that are important to me."

Hestia hummed over him, squeezing a drop of blood onto his back. Light shone from his skin as he felt the crest of the Hestia Familia be imprinted on his back. After a moment, she placed a piece of paper against his back, trailing her finger over it for a moment, then waited another second before pulling it off. He sat up and she handed it to him, allowing him to see it. All of his statuses had been returned to twenty each. Considering he'd been a level two with each number in the seven hundreds, it was more than a little disheartening. However, all of the spells he had previously known were still shown, including his split-second cast Light Blade, and Fast Heal spells. Granted, unless he leveled up his magic, he'd only be able to cast the Light Blade spell, and that only once without causing Mind Down, in which case he'd be left unconscious on the ground for any monster that felt inclined to finish him. He sighed, setting the paper aside, then pulled his shirt back on and stood. He picked up his sword and sighed, slinging it across his back.

"Where are you going?" Hestia asked.

"To the Dungeon," Ethan said. "I have a long way to go all over again to get where I was. I probably won't be back for a few days."

"Please be careful," Hestia said, Ethan glancing back at her and seeing worry in her eyes.

He hesitated before nodding, walking out of the church before the frown could cover his face. He didn't like Hestia. She didn't make sense to him. She got mad about bad things happening to him, she didn't care about being shunned for helping him, she worried about him as much as his sister did. He didn't understand her. He'd never known anyone like that that. And he didn't understand why thinking about it was making him feel like he might be getting sick. He sighed, forcing the thoughts out of his mind as he walked into the dungeon, heading down one level and sighing miserably. He felt pathetic. After almost a year of adventuring, here he was going to train on the first floor again. He sighed as monsters began to rise from the floor around him slowly, all of them moving barely above a crawl, and all of them more than enough to kill him, simply because he was so pathetically weak. However, after killing a dozen of them with one strike thanks to his sword being as useful as ever, he decided it was taking too long. So, he turned and walked back to the stairs, heading down several more levels. Monsters began to spawn around him almost instantly, all but swarming him compared to the first floor. He gripped his sword tightly and took a long, calm breath before charging into them, steeling himself for the inevitable pain of being wounded. And they did not disappoint.

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