The Empath Alchemist {Edward Elric X Reader}

8

What just happened?

Greed asked himself that over and over until the phrase sounded like complete nonsense in his mind. Ling was yelling at him inside his head, and though the prince's voice was rather noisy Greed couldn't even hear what he was saying.

The Homunculus had taken cover atop the roof of a large building at the edge of the town, far from where he had encountered (Y/n). It wasn't like him to run, or to even show a lick of uncertainty whilst carrying out a designated task. His teeth ground together as he mulled over previous events. He continued to equip and dismiss his Ultimate Shield in order to feel some kid of false security. To figure out what had gone wrong when (Y/n)'s blade actually made contact into his skin.

At least, that's what he should have been worrying about the most.

But all he could think about was how badly he had messed up the second his hand met her neck.

(Y/n) was of great importance to Father. It had been made coherently clear that no serious harm was to come to the girl, for she was the key piece to the puzzle that he was scheming to put together. (Y/n) was valuable, and Greed's job had been specifically to rile her up- not to try to kill her. That's what would have happened if something in his head didn't scream at him to stop, and it hadn't been Ling's shouts of protests that made him loosen his grip. It was something else- something that practically made his stomach ache when he watched (Y/n)'s eyes roll upward due to lack of air to her head. Something inside him couldn't fathom how he had caused harm to her in such a way, and it would have comforted him more if the only reason he was uneasy about his actions was because it was against his Father's direct command.

But something else inside him was going to make him despise himself forever for even thinking to hurt her.

He could have blamed Ling. The Xingese prince had been interested in the alchemist from the start, so perhaps his general attraction to her was what made Greed feel so remorseful. (Y/n) surely did live up to Envy's tales about her. Clearly she had the ability to rile up not only one Homunculus, but two.

Worst of all, he was starting to understand why Father spoke so highly of her.

These were Homunculi, indestructible beings created from humanity's darkest gateway to immortality. Father created them to be strong, flawless, ruthless, and above human beings. Greed was not meant to be compared to the likes of a human. It was true that he had taken residence in the body of a bratty human teenager who believed his title as a prince gave him more power than he truly held within his breast, but that was no reason for him to be pushed into the same category as Ling. Ling Yao was not Greed the Homunculus, and Greed the Homunculus was not Ling Yao. How dare that girl tell him that he was human? How dare she make him regret his actions?

Still, if Greed was hell bent on proving himself different from Ling, then he had no right to blame the kid for his guilt.

"Don't pity yourself."

Greed flinched when Ling's voice rang throughout his head. It took him a few seconds to realize that he was no longer yelling. His voice was low now, a hint of disdain detectable in his tone. Greed rose to his feet and growled. He clenched and unclenched his fist.

He focused onto the soul embodying his mind, closing his eyes and traveling to the empty space where Ling sat with an apathetic expression. Greed narrowed his blank eyes at the prince. The vast red emptiness that their abstract presences occupied inside his mind seemed to blare against Greed's eyes as his dark, disembodied matter attempted to corner Ling.

"I'm not pitying myself."

"You're forgetting that we're part of the same body, meaning I can feel whatever you feel. So don't try to feed me crap like I'll sit back and take it," the black haired prince spat. His arms were crossed and his legs folded criss cross.