The Empath Alchemist {Edward Elric X Reader}

20

"What's going on with you?"

Greed did as he always did when he didn't want to be bothered by the fifteen year old prince that seemed to have taken the role of his conscience- he ignored him. As he rounded dark corners and scowled as snow fell delicately into his slick, black hair, he pretended he was completely unaware of the voice calling out from inside his head. Greed had no idea where he was going, hell he didn't even feel like wandering around the city in the middle of the night as the air grew brisker. But he needed to distract himself somehow, so he just kept walking.

"Come on, don't start acting like this again," Ling sighed. "The hell has you moping around like a baby?"

Why had everyone been taunting him lately?

Not only were his own thoughts driving him crazy, but on top of that, (Y/n) and Ling were growing significantly vexing. His annoyance with the Xingese boy was rather inevitable, for they shared one vessel and only so much could transpire within their shared mind before one of them lost their patience. It was (Y/n) who he was really having a hard time with. It felt like he was back to square one, back to the day he almost killed her- the day he practically ripped his hair out trying to figure out why she bothered him so much. He could say that their 'relationship' improved over the past few weeks, especially since she was getting closer to Ling. He hadn't been haunted by thoughts of her picking him apart with her wise words in a while, and it was pissing him off that the thoughts were suddenly reappearing.

He never did figure out why he went out of his way to help her. Ling didn't have control over Greed's actions or mindset, therefore his desire to stick by the girl and watch her succeed was his and his only. Greed had accepted that he resented her for some time because of Father's infatuation with her, and the jealousy that came with said resentment that he refused to admit, lingered about. But he'd gotten over it, he swore he had. He was basically on the humans' side now, defying his father and betraying his own kind. Greed joined (Y/n)'s side because he wanted to, and now he was starting to question the reason behind it all once again.

Why did he want to help her?

Listening to Hohenheim ramble on about the greatness within (Y/n), bestowed upon her by a fucking Homunculus didn't sit well with the greedy being. Maybe it was his desire to conquer the world, or the daunting need to prove himself superior over the human race that made him angry with the girl. He wasn't sure, but either way he knew he hated hearing about it. As if everyone wasn't obsessed with her enough, she just had to harvest the power of a Homunculus that challenged Father's impressive strength. What angered Greed even more was the fact the bastard had known all along, and could never be bothered to tell his own 'children' about it. Father was a prick, a good for nothing selfish man that used the label of a father to take what he wanted with the help of those he called his children. To think Greed was willing to get himself worked up over him, to kill a girl because she challenged his importance to him. What an idiot he had been not too long ago.

But if he was completely done with Father, he didn't understand why (Y/n) was frustrating him again. She was a fifteen year old girl who happened to be handed a power that would help her 'save the world'. Anybody would have wanted that. Anybody would have wanted to fight against imposing forces and save the people they cared about. To be viewed as a hero, someone highly respected, after it was all said and done. Was that what Greed was angry about? Did he want her power in order to gain the respect of the creatures he found so foul and pitiful? Did their respect and praise guarantee an easier path to world domination? The more he thought about it, the more confused he became.

Before he met (Y/n), Greed had always been so sure of what he wanted. The desire was in the title he wore so proudly: Greed the Avaricious. The Homunculus who wanted to take over the world, the Homunculus who wanted money, fame, sex, and women. The Homunculus who saw what he wanted and took it without any questions asked. The Homunculus that wanted, wanted, wanted. Took. Took. Took. And even after taking and wanting, everything he obtained would have never been enough to satiate his greed... to fill up this empty hole that he had been lugging around since the minute he was brought into this miserable existence. Now, when he thought about what he wanted- when he thought about what he was promised, what had brought him to Ling Yao in the first place, he saw a great, big, grey area of uncertainty. His objective wasn't clear, his needs weren't clear, his wants weren't clear. When he thought about holding the world in his palm, he felt emptiness instead of fulfillment. And it all came back to that little (h/c) haired girl.