The Empath Alchemist {Edward Elric X Reader}

35

Ling had found himself in rather strange situations ever since he first stepped foot into the strange country, Amestris. He should have known from the beginning that things wouldn't have gone the way he had so perfectly envisioned them. He had goals before he stumbled upon the Philosopher's Stone. He planned to explore, to find the stone that would grant his suffering people a chance to live- that would grant him a chance to prove his worthiness to take on his father's throne. Having been one boy out of twenty three male children who all thirsted for the power that was the birth right of the eldest son, Ling's drive to find something, anything that would give him the advantage above his siblings was double what it had been before his clan grieved.

Of course, then it all went to hell. Ling had agreed to mold his soul with that of a being who had derived from the very soul he sought, having thought that hiking back home with the Homunculus tamed within his bones would be an easy task. The moment Greed stepped into his body in a less than tolerable manner, in regards to pain, the fifteen year old knew that he had screwed up.

It took the onyx eyed boy a while to even find a way to break through completely, and even longer to remain in control of his own body for longer than ten seconds. Once he did, battling against Greed's avaricious entitlement and stubbornness was even worse than being unable to control the things he spoke from his mouth.

Ling had not expected the two of them to come down to some sort of understanding, one where they could switch consciousnesses like it was absolutely nothing. What had been a horribly difficult and frankly drawn out task became second nature, just as blinking was to any ordinary human being. Ling had not expected an alliance between Greed and other humans on the opposing side of the Homunculi to form either, as well as this newfound emotional vulnerability that the diamond eyed creature allowed to slip.

And above all, Ling hadn't expected to find a girl who never ceased to surprise him each second he spent standing in her presence. Ling had never been a fan of Amestris, or much cared about the state that it was in for that matter. Prior to traveling to the country, Ling had been filled with a simple minded curiosity over his foreign neighbors. The kind of curiosity that would make a person scoff at the sheer ridiculousness of customs and ideals without even educating themselves of them first hand. It was the immature kind of curiosity, where he cared enough to wonder if Amestrians were as resourceful and wise as those in Xing but not enough to wonder whether the ruler was kind or cruel to them. Amestris was a game, a tourist stop, a gift basket in which he'd pluck a bright, crimson stone forged from the genocide of innocent civilizations and skip right back home to his forty-one siblings in counting, and flaunt his find in their envious faces.

But then he met Homunculi, and Greed, and (Y/n). The first two of the aforementioned names showed Ling how utterly fucked the country was, and how close they were to the demolition of their livelihoods. They made him feel pity, whether they meant to or not, and it made look upon Amestris from a different perspective.

(Y/n), however, changed his perspective on not just Amestris, but his entire existence within the vastness of the earth itself. The moment he met her, he wanted to help her. It had been pity that pushed him to feel a sudden urge to protect the (h/c) haired girl when he first laid eyes on her, as well as the fact that she was a foreign beauty, but as time went by, (Y/n) proved to be much more than pitiful and beautiful.

Her pure heart, kind eyes, and sheer physical and mental strength truly reached out and touched Ling's heart. He wanted to help, as much as he could. He wanted to do whatever she told him, as long as she would look at him with grateful eyes and pat him on the shoulder, verbalizing how happy she was to have someone like him by her side.

It was all so unexpected, how fond he grew of her within the span of a week or so. How her genuine personality and unapologetic human grace affected Greed as well, a being who acted only upon selfish desires until he let himself part from Father.