The Empath Alchemist {Edward Elric X Reader}

29

(Y/n) inhaled and exhaled slowly, in a feeble attempt to regulate her rapidly beating heart.

The stone beneath her gloved palms was cold and motionless, though she hadn't expected to sense any form of life within the flat slab of rock anyway. She grew aware of her breath, and the way it sounded when she released it slowly through her puckered lips. With closed eyes, she was able to feel, hear, and smell more. The air was thick, muggy, warm, uncomfortable. The harsh platform dug into her bent knees as she leaned over onto her hands, and the sound of her breathing as well as Edward's soft words blew through the still air.

"Breathe," he'd told her, for this transmutation would not be an easy one.

(Y/n) gulped, her throat clenching in response to the dryness of her mouth and lack of saliva due to her anxious state. She tried to remain calm and collected, to portray herself as unaffected by what she was about to do for Edward's sake. She didn't want him to see how nervous she was, how desperately she wished she could allow her body to tremble or her knee to bounce. A voice within the (h/c) haired alchemist's head told her that she wasn't ready for this- it told that this was a mistake, that not even Truth would help her defeat Father, a powerfully omnipotent being driven by greed.

Her next exhale escaped her mouth more shakily than she intended, much to her displeasure. (Y/n) clamped her lips together and resorted to breathing deeply through her nose, her lashes fluttering at the sound of Ed shuffling across from her.

The two children were seated on opposite ends of the Transmutation Circle. They sat on the very edge of the stone with their hands pressed atop of the edge of the white markings. (Y/n) had grown warm, and Edward could tell by the way she shifted subconsciously within the confines of Maes' heavy blazer, which she had pulled back on moments before. There was no opening for a draft to blow in within Gluttony's stomach, therefore the space remained sticky and humid.

It didn't make for a comforting atmosphere, but then again, how could Edward have complained about comfort when he was sitting within the walls of a Gluttonous Homunculus, staring down at the circle he'd sworn never to draw again?

Breathe, he had instructed her, yet somehow he had failed to follow his own advice. His chest rose as he sucked in the balmy air. He held it for a moment, contemplating his decisions. He reminded himself that he was not remaking a past mistake, that he was not committing the Ultimate Taboo foolishly for a selfish reason. This wasn't for him, this was for (Y/n)- the girl who was willing to give up anything in order to protect the state of the world they inhabited.

Edward drank in the sight of her, looking past the fire resting in the middle of the circle where they had left it. He watched her lips quiver, and her brows twitch. He watched the fabric of her shirt stretch with the expansion of her stomach, and the rise of her back as she breathed in and out just as he had advised her to.

She was nervous. Edward could tell, even from the distance he sat.

He didn't blame her. She had every right to be nervous. (Y/n) was thrusting herself into a portal of uncertainty, of overwhelming truth. She was preparing herself for facing an entity that human beings hardly understood. She was preparing herself for the insanity that would plant itself into her brain upon failing to digest the staggering amount of information that would be forced upon her. She was preparing to lose something, whether it was physical or internal. She was preparing for what she would have to give up.

And it was all for Alphonse, all for Edward, all for Roy, all for Winry, all for the world.

"(Y/n)," Edward spoke up. The said girl's eyes fluttered open, and her pattern of breathing returned to normal as she lifted her head to look across from her. "I'm the one who's had the most experience with this kind of thing, so I'll perform the Transmutation. Alright?"