Chapter Text
Ling began to wake up all at once, the aftershocks of a relentless flood of souls tearing through his body leaving a ringing in his ears. He couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, couldn’t feel, there was only the pressing, churning mass of wailing souls- where was he, where was outside, he couldn’t feel his body, what had that face in the souls, that homunculus, Greed, done to him, he wanted, he needed, to see, to breath-
And suddenly he could, he could see, he could feel the ground underneath him again, he could hear, was that Ed? Abruptly aware he was apparently in combat, he rolled to his feet, dodging out of the way of Ed’s metal hand aimed at his face. He started to make out some of Ed’s words through the pounding in his head.
“Down after one punch, Greed? What happened, did being reborn mess you up or something?” Ed started lining up another jab.
Ling’s mind worked double time trying to sort out what was happening; it seemed that Greed had been controlling his body, and been attacking Ed, or more likely visa versa, given what he knew of Ed. He swept his eyes over the rest of the battlefield, there was Envy, and he could see Al, and- was that the scarred Ishvalan from earlier? How did he get here? With a jolt he realized the “Father” homunculus was standing close by, far too close for comfort, but fortunately he seemed to be regarding the other combatants with much greater interest than he was him and Ed.
Ok, ok, he just had to keep the bad guys from realizing Greed wasn’t in control anymore, and where had that guy gone, anyway? Ling couldn’t immediately sense the sin’s face in the anarchy that was currently his mindscape, but he didn’t want to spend too much time and energy on that. He moved to the side and held up an arm to deflect Ed’s next attack and noticed that his hands looked significantly different than last he’d checked.
He groaned internally, this must be the price of being fused with a philosopher’s stone, Gluttony got a freaky stomach-eye-mouth-thing, Envy got to be a Giant Nightmare Monster, and now Ling had some nice grey-black skin and claws. He supposed it could be worse, he could’ve gotten tentacles or something. He just hoped this wasn’t over his whole body, and especially not his face. He felt some relief when he could still see his bangs and feel his ponytail, so at least he still had his hair.
He feinted to draw Ed closer, trying to get a good opportunity to surreptitiously let him know he was still alive and not being piloted by a disembodied, fanged face.
Ed took the bait and closed in. “I know Ling it still in there! Give him his body back!” Well that was convenient timing.
Ling grabbed Ed’s arm and pulled him closer, hissing out, “Ed yes it’s me, Ling! Now start running!”
Ed stood in shock for a second before breaking into a grin. “Ling! I knew it, I knew-“
“Yes Ed, it’s Ling, keep trying to punch me!” Ling made a shushing motion and glanced quickly over his shoulder, but fortunately it looked like Father had decided to take a close interest in Scar. “C’mon, trust me! Run and I’ll chase you, you get Al to follow, and we can all get out of here!” He took another swing, forcing Ed to jump back towards the open door.
Ed dodged backwards before nodding, face set with determination, and turned to begin running, looking around for Al. Ling spotted the suit of armor also running towards the door, carrying someone small in his arms, Scar not too far behind. Damn, that meant the Father guy wouldn’t be occupied, Ling picked up his pace, still letting Ed keep a reasonable lead.
He dashed through the door a few steps behind Ed, following until he could see Al and Scar stopped further down the hallway, in front of- that was a lot of chimeras. He approached more slowly, in case the Ishvalan decided to attack, he wouldn’t know Ling wasn’t a threat. He held his hands out in front in a gesture of peace, marred somewhat by the carbon claws still tipping his fingers. How did he turn this off? And was Al carrying a small Xingese girl? Where did she come from?
At least it looked like Ed was explaining, through gritted teeth, Ling’s situation to his brother and the murderous Ishvalan. And not also murdering said man, good sign. Ling felt some large chi presences approaching and turned his head to see Envy and Gluttony at the end of the tunnel. Great. He started slowly advancing in an intimidating fashion to keep up appearances, while keeping his expression facing the humans as cheery as possible. “Hey, guys, do we have a plan? Think we can take these chimeras fast enough?”
“Not without alchemy…” Ed looked frustrated beyond reason.
“I feel so helpless! We need to get this girl to a doctor!” Al looked like he normally did, but Sounded frustrated beyond reason. He turned his helmet to Ling. “Can you take her? They won’t kill us, we’re important, so we can distract the other homunculi if you can-“
“No way I’m going with him! ” The girl spoke in a pained yet still vehement voice, jabbing an angry finger at Ling’s nonplussed face. “He’s the Yao prince! He’ll just leave me to die!”
“Why would I…” Sudden recognition dawned as Ling looked closer at the girl, she was the Chang princess, wasn’t she? Well, that did make things awkward. He continued his slow approach. Was it his imagination, or were the chimeras backing up slightly as he got closer?
Then Scar spoke up. “We are running out of time.” Ling could feel the two homunculi approaching behind him. “I can’t take her and escape through these monsters-“ he indicated the chimera “-but if you are certain your own lives are not in danger, Elrics, I have an idea.”
“Al, why are we listening to this-“
“Shush brother, we need to get her-“
Before the two brothers could argue further, the Ishvalan stuck his hand in the canal, producing a cloud of vapor before turning to deconstruct a pipe from the wall. Ling coughed instinctively from the sudden particulate in the air, before dodging sideways as Al’s helmet sailed past his head to strike against a pipe close to Envy and Gluttony.
The resulting explosion nearly blew him off his feet. He caught himself in time to barely make out what looked like Al helping the girl into his empty torso, that was smart, but risky. It looked like Scar made a break for it in the water while the chimeras milled in confusion, he should probably follow suit-
It took a momentous effort not to roll out of the way as Envy’s limbs shot past him, pinning Ed and a newly re-helmeted Al against the tunnel wall. Be cool, be cool, if he played this right he could-
“Gluttony! Follow him by his scent-!?” Envy’s distorted, booming voice cut off when they noticed their sibling contorting in pain on the ground. “You idiot! You died too much! Greed!” Ling kept a nonchalant expression on his face as Envy turned their monstrous head in his direction. “Go after the Ishvalan! We need him dead!”
Perfect. Ling saluted the homunculus before turning towards the wall of chimeras, surreptitiously giving the Elrics a wink as he passed. Hopefully they’d be able to meet up later. He paused briefly before confidently striding forward, hoping that- Yes! The chimeras parted to let him pass, this was certainly turning out swimmingly. He picked up his pace, beginning to run down the corridor until he could turn a corner, breaking into a flat sprint once he was out of sight.
He couldn’t keep a triumphant grin off his face any longer. He’d done it! He’d gotten a philosopher’s stone, one fused with his very body, no less! With this immortality, he’d be able to claim the throne no problem. Now he just needed to find Lan Fan and Fu, and they could get out of this awful country. The doctor had said he was taking Lan Fan for medical treatment, he bet he’d taken her to Central, that was the nearest city big enough to have a hospital anyway. She should still be in the city; he’d be able to find her in no time.
If he’d had a mirror, he might have noticed that his gleeful smile was somewhat sharper than it used to be. He couldn’t help chuckling quietly to himself as he began searching for a way to street level; things were finally looking up.
~~~
Who designed these tunnels, anyway? Ling wouldn’t be surprised if Amestris just didn’t have any civil engineers. This many haphazard pipes couldn’t be safe, although he supposed normal people probably didn’t come down here very often and live to tell the tale, for unrelated reasons.
He could tell he was at least getting closer to the surface; he’d left the Chimera Zone a while ago and could feel Central City citizens’ chi getting stronger. He wasn’t even sure what time of day it was, last time he’d seen the sky had been shortly before being transported to an extradimensional hell plane. It had been night then, but time gets a little screwy when you’re sloshing through an endless mire of rotten blood.
He finally started seeing sewer access ladders leading to manholes, and selected one that sounded like it was under an out-of-the-way side street. He cautiously raised the lid, squinting (more than usual) at the sunlight. He considered staying underground until nighttime, but that’s where the homunculi would probably look for him first when “Greed” didn’t come back. Seeing no one around, he pulled himself up to street level, closing the metal cover behind him and beginning to walk like he knew where he was going.
All right, first order of business: food. Wait, maybe clean clothes, he both looked and smelled like he’d taken a bath in a sewer filled with blood. Tasting some water on the air, he turned a corner and spied some streaming from a leaky pipe behind some factory business. Perfect. As he got closer, he realized the water was a little hot, probably boiling hot, judging by the steam, but wasn’t he immortal now? And hot water would get his clothes clean in no time.
He cautiously put a hand under the stream before remembering his hands up to his shoulders were even more immortal than the rest of him; he could barely feel the heat. Curious, he cautiously poked at his face, but fortunately it didn’t feel like this hardened skin extended there, that was a relief. He should probably invest in some gloves, though.
He stuck an experimental leg under the boiling stream and winced at the pain, before withdrawing and feeling the pain diminish nearly instantly to nothing. Hell yeah. Taking a deep breath, he stood directly in the stream, hunching over at the boiling water spraying against his protesting skin, marveling as he could feel the burns healing as fast as they formed. After an impromptu shower, he took off his coat and held it up to the stream, getting the last of the blood out.
He wrung the water out of his coat and ponytail best he could with his claws before donning his much cleaner coat. Now freshly bathed, he inspected the walls of the alley, itching to get to the roofs again. He’d be able to travel faster and sneakier up there. He leapt upwards, scaling the walls, finding that his new hands made gripping solid stone a lot easier; at least they were good for something.
He scurried over the rooftops of Central, staying out of sight with practiced ease as he kept an eye and a nose out for a street market he could “patronize.”
A short while and a few clandestine forays later, he sat in the middle of a rooftop munching on some fried pastry and inspecting the pairs of gloves he’d managed to snag. He was realizing that having very pointy bits on the end of his fingers might not keep gloves in good condition for long, but at least the gloves would make his hands look somewhat more normal. Finishing his 5th pastry, he pulled on a pair of simple black gloves, careful not to jam his new enhanced nails through the fingertips.
Ling paused as he pulled on the left glove, inspecting the red symbol on the back of his hand he’d not previously noticed. Well it looked like he was in the ouroboros club now, all the more reason to keep gloves on. Speaking of said club, the continuing radio silence from the being calling itself Greed was starting to make him nervous.
Last he’d seen, the monstrous face had been yelling something about if Ling was “prepared enough” or something (well it looked like he was, so Ha), before everything had gone dark and confusing, with the raging and pounding of the tormented souls obliterating everything else from his mind. So, what had happened? The sin had clearly been controlling his body, where did he go? Ling couldn’t hear anything behind his eyes except the endless wails of the lost souls; that was going to take some getting used to.
He wasn’t keen to try “poking around” in his new and oh so exciting mindscape, remembering the souls that tore through, not his “body,” but maybe the representation of his own soul; that hadn’t been fun. Maybe biting one in half had shown them who’s boss. “Hey Greed, are you there?” he muttered aloud. No response. “So you didn’t like my body after all? More immortality for me, then!” Still nothing.
After a few moments he let out his breath; maybe the homunculus was gone, destroyed or lost in the souls. Ling smiled. Not only had the Father homunculus just handed him a philosopher’s stone on a silver platter, he’d managed to make it free of his minion’s influence. Immortality, no strings attached.
So, what did that mean, did he even need to eat anymore? He frowned a little at the thought, but he was still Able to eat, it seemed like, so at least he could continue to do so whenever it struck his fancy. What about sleep? He sure felt invigorated, this might have been the best he’d ever felt, a welcome change from his 18 shattered ribs in the recent past. He wasn’t sure he wanted to try sleeping, the maelstrom of souls was a little too loud in his ears, and he didn’t want to risk following the homunculus’s lead and drowning in souls.
Ling figured he’d try to hold off until he could find someone he trusted to wake him up in case he lost himself. And who knows, he might not even need to sleep. For now, he needed to find Lan Fan. He stood up, letting the dragon’s pulse flow through his awareness, searching for his retainer’s familiar chi. The vortex behind his eyes made it harder to feel the flow of energy, but this was enough to get by. Central wasn’t that big, he’d find her eventually, he was sure. He set off across the rooftops, beginning a broad sweep around the circular city.
~~~
Ok maybe this city was bigger than anticipated. Having a decreased effective range in his chi radar probably wasn’t helping either, but even so Ling hadn’t expected to spend more than a day searching. He was tempted to go bother the Elric brothers for her location, but they would probably be under government surveillance, now more than ever if they were being let free to walk around after learning the country’s darkest secrets.
He’d spotted them earlier, making a phone call not far from the Central military headquarters, so at least he knew they were alive. Maybe he’d give it a few more days, let everything settle down, before trying to make contact again. Although by then the creepy powers that be might be looking for him.
Fu should be back in town soon too, he should be able to help find his missing retainer. His injured, missing retainer. At least now her sacrifice hadn’t been in vain, he’d managed to succeed beyond all their wildest dreams. He had the power to return the favor and protect her now, protect Fu, the rest of his clan.
He closed his eyes and savored the evening breeze on his face. The endgame was approaching; he only needed to collect his retainers, and then they could journey back Xing and he could claim his place as emperor. His clan would be safe, secure in its power, and his country wouldn’t fall to civil war. He’d gotten the solution.
He opened his eyes and set off across the rooftops again, honing in on his mission with laser-like intensity, pausing only to snag a bag of day old potpies out of a bakery dumpster.
~~~
Ling knelt on a bathhouse rooftop, massaging his temples. It seemed even with an immortal body three days without sleep was pushing it, and that wasn’t even counting however long he’d spent without rest in Gluttony’s gate. He’d hoped that the soothing steam from the bath vents would help stave off his growing headache, but no such luck. He was beginning to worry he’d missed Lan Fan’s chi in the knotted mass of energy both inside and outside his head; why did he have to lose her in the place with the largest stagnant pool of chi he’d ever seen?
It didn’t help he needed to stay out of sight, plus avoid the strange chi fluctuations that seemed to appear at random. They’d felt like the homunculi felt, but the few times Ling had eyes on where the movement was, he hadn’t seen any creature, human or not. Was this some other homunculus, somehow capable of invisibility? Or teleportation? Or just random artifacts in the dragon’s pulse that came from being above a philosopher’s stone that may house the remains of the entire lost civilization of Xerxes? Either way he’d taken care to stay far out of the way of the aberrant chi, which unfortunately further complicated his search.
He was getting desperate enough to risk paying the Fullmetal Alchemist (and his room service menu) a visit. Making a decision, he gazed over the city, orienting himself before beginning his trek to Ed’s hotel. He was still some way out when he felt a quick-moving chi on the edge of his range, just barely perceptible over his internal noise. Was it one of the anomalies he’d felt earlier? It was getting closer, clearer- Fu!
Ling pulled a hard U-turn, dashing towards his retainer. Fu had found him! This was perfect, they could go get Lan Fan and-
He lurched sideways to dodge a kunai aimed for his face, screeching to a halt next to where it had embedded itself in a chimney. What-?!
“So, you knew I was there, Monster? Be warned, I will not make this easy for you.” The Yao Clan protector’s stern voice rang out across the rooftop.
Ling stood frozen for an instant before realizing, oh right, he probably felt exactly like the undying monstrosities they’d all fought. He stepped into the dim moonlight, holding his hands in front of him, and called out to Fu in their native language. “Fu! It’s me! Your prince! I know my chi doesn’t feel like it but I swear on my ancestors-“
Fu appeared in front of him, eyes wide as he intently inspected Ling’s face. A moment later he sank to his knees. “Young Lord, forgive me. Your chi, it’s like those monsters now. What happened? Where is Lan Fan?”
“Fu, I have succeeded! They gave me a philosopher’s stone! The leader of the monsters, he dwells under the Amestrian headquarters, he just handed me one! They sought to turn me into a servant of the enemy, but I beat them!” He gripped Fu’s shoulders. “I’m immortal now, Fu! We did it!”
The old retainer gaped in a rare show of wonder. “Young Lord, you… you mean…”
“I mean we won, Fu. We can return home, and our country will soon have a new emperor.” Ling grinned. “A Yao Emperor. We just need to find Lan Fan and we can leave this cursed place!”
Fu pushed himself to his feet but turned to look at Ling at his last statement. “You don’t know where she is?”
“We got separated!”
“You didn’t get arrested again, did you?”
“No!” Ling sounded slightly defensive. “There was a homunculus, you know the fat one, and we captured him, but Lan Fan sacrificed her arm fighting against the leader of this country, saving my life! He’s also a homunculus, the leader! This whole place is run by monsters, Fu! And then we all went to a safehouse outside the city, and Colonel Mustang, you know, the Flame Colonel, brought a doctor to look after Lan Fan, but then the monster escaped! And another one showed up, the one that can change forms, and then the fat homunculus, he, uh, you know what it’s a long story, I’ll fill you in later.” He breezed past the uniquely unpleasant parts of the story. “But! At the end of it we both came to Central City separately, and I got this philosopher’s stone,” he placed a hand on his chest, “and I was just going to pay the Elrics a visit to find her!”
Fu, having gone pale at the mention of Lan Fan's injury, took a measured breath, looking like he was repressing some questions with more difficulty than normal. “Very well, Young Lord. You lead.”
Ling nodded, smiling, and they set off again. He relaxed slightly; this was a welcome development, and soon they would all be able to leave this place together.
~~~
Ling brought his retainer up to speed on the likely enemy surveillance of the Elrics’ hotel, and the need for (more) secrecy than normal. They found Ed’s window and made their way inside, Ling opening the window with practiced ease. Aww, how considerate, Ed left it unlocked! Shoes in hand, Ling poked around for the room service menu, but it looked like Ed had hidden it somewhere. Rude. Ah well, he could remember it well enough, and-
“<Young Lord, they will know you are here if you order your usual amount of food.>” Seems Fu had guessed his thoughts.
Ling sighed dejectedly. “<I gueeesssss.>” He joined Fu on the bed, opting for a more relaxed position than his retainer’s ominous stare at the door. After an hour or so of comfortable silence (he did nearly drift off a few times though, he needed to watch that) Ling perked up, sensing Ed’s presence in the building.
A moment later the door opened, and Ling launched himself forward. “Ed! I’m so glad to see you!” He glomped on to the shorter boy, pinning his arms and knocking him backwards into the suit of armor filling the doorway.
“GYAAAH! WHAT! WHO-?!” Ed struggled to bring his arms into a combat pose in Ling’s vicelike grip. After a second, he seemed to recognize his attacker. “LING! DON’T DO THAT, YOU SQUINTY BASTARD!” Ed continued to squirm, attempting to pull away from Ling’s face smushed into his shoulder.
“I knew you’d be happy to see me! Hello Al!” Ling turned to greet the younger Elric.
“Ah! Hello Ling! Are you uh, all right? After everything that happened?” Al attempted to squeeze around the attacker and victim in the doorway and failed miserably.
“Never better!” Ling gave his trademark smile. Ed had gotten an arm free and started repeatedly clonking it against Ling’s head. “Looks like you guys made it out fine too?”
“Nrgggyes we did,” Ed grunted, finally slipping free of Ling’s grip and leaving him hugging empty air on the floor. “Well, mostly. Bastards are keeping their fingers on some pressure points, for sure,” Ed continued, expression darkening.
Ling bounced to his feet, nodding; he understood when blackmail was at work. “So where’s Lan Fan, where did the doctor take her? Is she ok?”
Ed brushed himself off. “Yeah she should be fine. We can take you to her, it’s a ways though. Do you think you could follow if we took a cab?”
“What kind of question is that? Your city planning is so bad we could leave twenty minutes after you and still catch up in two!” Ling reconsidered. “Unless you’re traveling only on the like, eight roads that go in the same direction for more than a block.”
Ed nodded, then crossed his arms, brows knitting together. “Ling, what… happened back there, in that Father guy’s lair? You survived the stone, but it was Greed talking, and then when I was fighting him he collapsed, and then it was you again.” He hesitated. “So, is he gone? Did you kill him?”
Ling ignored Fu’s pointed stares, shooting an “<I’ll explain later>” out of the corner of his mouth in Xingese. He rubbed his forehead. “Honestly, I’m not entirely sure what happened, but once I woke up fighting you he was gone, and I haven’t seen or heard him since. I don’t think he’s the type to lay low and hide, he seems like a pretty vocal guy.” He raised an eyebrow at Ed. “But you already knew that, didn’t you? You’d met this ‘Greed’ before, right?”
Ed and Al shared a look. Ed sat down on one of the room’s chairs, and Al followed suit with a clank. “Yeah we met him. He’d left the other homunculi and was hanging out at a bar in Dublith. He decided to kidnap Al and hurt our teacher, so I can’t say we were on the best terms,” Ed explained through clenched teeth. “He did have some information I might want, so if he was still around… Eh, he didn’t seem to remember that time anyway.” He waved dismissively.
Ling leaned forward in interest. “He kidnapped Al? What did he want?”
Ed laughed. “The same thing you wanted from Al when you found out about him: immortality.”
Ling stared blankly. “But… isn’t… Aren’t homunculi immortal?”
“Yeah I guess,” Ed threw up his hands, “I didn’t really understand it either.”
Al chimed in. “I think he wanted ‘true’ immortality, because even homunculi can be killed if you destroy their bodies enough times.” He shrugged. “And for some reason people keep thinking that ‘disembodied soul in a suit of armor’ is the way to go for that.” His metallic voice colored with a bit of resentment.
Ling was awkwardly aware that both parts of Al’s statements applied to him now. He was still unclear on a couple points, however. “So, if this guy was in Dublith, away from the rest of the homunculi, how did I end up with his philosopher’s stone?”
Ed grimaced at that, and Al looked away, staring intently at the wall, fists clenched. Ed spoke in a low voice, “King Bradley showed up and cleaned out the place, and must’ve taken Greed back to Central to his Father ,” Ed finished with disgust. “I don’t know how Greed’s stone got back… in that creep, and I don’t want to, but yeah…” He trailed off.
Al hadn’t moved, and Ling was under the impression he was fighting some very painful memories. Must’ve been fun. “Well this ‘Greed’ sounds like a great guy, too bad he’s gone now, I’m sure we’d have gotten along great!”
“Pft, yeah you would have, actually. You both set your minions to attack Al and me the first time we met,” Ed smirked.
Ling laughed at that. “Well that turned out fine, didn’t it? Here we are!” He paused a beat before gesturing at the window. “So how about you lead the way to my injured retainer?”
Ed nodded, standing up and stretching. “Sure.” He paused, eyes narrowing in suspicion. “You didn’t order any room service, did you?”
Ling held up his hands. “Not one boiled egg! On my honor!”
Ed narrowed his eyes at Ling’s innocent expression. “Oookay I believe you… We’ll get the cab out front, and we’ll be heading East. We’ll get out of the cab a few blocks away and walk the rest. Meet you there?” He looked back at Ling, but seemed to notice something. “And you’re sure you’re ok? You look like you haven’t slept for a week.”
“Sounds good! Don’t worry about me, I feel fine,” Ling lied, dismissing Ed’s concerns. “Oh and what did you tell Lan Fan about what, ah, happened to me?” Ling asked with some slight trepidation.
Ed rubbed the back of his head. “We just said that you’d been captured and escaped, and that we hadn’t seen you.”
“We didn’t know what your whole situation was, so we didn’t want to give her false hope if something… happened,” Al added.
Ling nodded, at least he got to explain on his own terms now. “I suppose that’s fine. Well, lead the way! We’ll be watching,” he grinned. Ed did a double take, staring at something on Ling’s face. Did he have something in his teeth? He waved goodbye, and he and Fu stood up to make their exit via window, at a much lower velocity than Ling usually left the Elrics’ room. Ed closed the window behind them, and Ling could feel the brothers begin making their way to the front of the building. Ling took a deep breath, the cool night air reinvigorating his flagging stamina; his search was almost over.
~~~
Ling waited in the shadows a few houses down; it was decided that Fu would go first to explain Ling’s new chi presence to Lan Fan, to avoid a repeat of the rooftop scene. Finally, Fu’s face appeared briefly at a window, and Ling zipped to the front door, using all his control to not clamber through said window instead.
The same surly doctor from the safe house opened the door, letting Ling inside to where Lan Fan was huddled on the couch. She sat up when he walked in, looking at him with wide eyes. “<Young Lord, your chi… Is it true? You found a stone?>”
Ling came forward and knelt in front of her, clasping her hand in both of his own, careful not to injure her with his unfamiliar claws. “<We have succeeded, Lan Fan. We have found the secret to immortality.>” He reached out and touched her empty sleeve. “<Your sacrifice bought us so much. Thank you, Lan Fan. Because of you, we can return home in triumph.>”
Lan Fan’s eyes shone in the light. Too overcome to speak, she held her fist to her chest and bowed in reply.
Ling stood back up. “<And don’t worry, I’ll tell you the whole story on the road! Fu’s had to wait too,>” he joked.
“Speaking of the road, we should get moving soon, Young Lord,” Fu suggested.
“Excellent idea, Lan Fan and I are probably wanted by the shadow government now, huh?” How to get Lan Fan out of the city in her condition, though?
Ed interrupted Ling’s thoughts, “Oh yeah, we promised to introduce Lan Fan to a mechanic for her arm!” He turned to grin at Ling. “Winry can set her up real well, and I can get her to give a nice discount!”
“Hmmm that’s a generous offer, but I recall you saying something about ‘pressure points,’ yes? She wouldn’t happen to be one of those the government is using, would she?” When Ed didn’t reply, Ling gave a rueful smile. “It would be rather rude of us to put her in more danger, then.”
“The enemy knows too many of our faces,” Lan Fan scowled.
Al turned to his brother. “What about Granny?”
Ed smacked his palm. “That would work! Winry’s grandmother lives in the countryside of Resembool, far from military eyes! You wouldn’t attract attention there.”
Ling shook his head. “Your offer is very kind, but if your government knows about Winry, who’s to say they won’t be watching her grandmother as well? And besides, we need to get back to Xing as quickly as possible.”
“What? You’re leaving Amestris?” Ed looked startled. “But what about the homunculi? The military plot?”
“Sorry Ed, my country has its own problems, as much as I want to help with yours.”
Ed looked crestfallen for a moment before protesting. “I feed you my shoe and this is how you repay me?”
“You ate his shoe?” Fu looked deeply alarmed.
“Don’t worry, it’s part of that ‘long story’ I’m going to tell you about,” Ling placated his retainer.
“If you don’t mind me being so bold, what situation could possibly warrant that, Young Lord?”
Ling shifted sheepishly. “I was hungry?”
Fu sighed but made no more comment. Ling turned back to Ed. “Again, I truly am sorry, but I have people waiting for me, people I owe it to-“ he glanced at Lan Fan “-to return home and finish what I started. But we do need to find some way to leave the city undetected.” He rubbed a gloved hand on his chin, looking thoughtfully at Fu’s very Xingese clothing and his own half-Xingese, half-Amestrian outfit.
“I might have some clothing you can borrow, if you need.” The doctor’s gruff voice came from the back of the room.
“Would you, Dr. Knox?” Lan Fan asked. “But, would any of it fit?” The doctor had quite a different frame from any of them.
“Yeah, I might have some of my wife and son’s old clothes,” Dr. Knox muttered, almost too quiet to hear. “Hell, some of my old clothes might fit you,” he jerked a thumb at Ling, “and Lord knows I won’t use them.”
Fu brought his hands together and bowed in thanks. “That would be much appreciated, Doctor. We would be very grateful for your help.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Dr. Knox said dismissively, “just come back here, I can show you what I have.”
Ling followed Fu and the doctor to a dingy side room, the closet stuffed with dusty clothes and equally dusty boxes filling the corners. The doctor picked up a box. “Some of my wife’s coats are in here, I’ll take them to the young lady.” He nudged another box with his foot. “Some of my son’s clothes are in there, and my old stuff is hanging in the closet.” He jerked his head to the dusty hangers. “Help yourself.” He left, leaving a lingering trail of cigarette smoke.
Fu opened the box and began rummaging around, so Ling went over to the closet and started flipping through the dusty outfits. Ugh, Amestrian clothing was all so severe, so straight cut and confining, didn’t they care about comfort at all? Oho, what’s this? He pulled out an eye-wateringly yellow vest and shook the dust off.
“<Young Lord, we are trying to avoid attention,>” Fu spoke up behind him.
“<I guess,>” Ling sighed. He glumly returned the cheery vest to the closet and thumbed through the other outfits. After a bit he walked out to rejoin the rest of the group in thoroughly Amestrian style, with a burgundy vest over the white button-up Mustang had provided, plus black slacks and shoes that fit reasonably well. He shrugged into the black coat he’d also gotten from Mustang, quirking a smile; he’d already been through a lot with this coat.
He twirled a black cabbie from the box of hats Dr. Knox had brought in for him and Fu; he was already fidgety under these starched layers. Amestrians just loved pain and suffering, didn’t they. He’d adamantly refused Fu’s persistent efforts to get him to wear any sort of tie. He didn’t care if it would make him blend in better, he would rather die than wear the cursed Satin Noose. Fu followed, dressed in another coat-vest-button-up combo he’d gotten from Dr. Knox’s son’s clothing, carrying his hat of choice, a fedora.
Lan Fan sat on the couch again, having traded her Flame Colonel-issued coat and shirt for a slightly too-big black women's coat and long-sleeved shirt. She looked up from single-handedly lacing some woman’s heels, nodding to her prince. Fu began tucking their Xingese clothing into a travel bundle, and Ling looked wistfully after his nice, loose, comfortable pants as they disappeared from view.
Ed leaned against a wall next to his brother, looking dejected. “Are you sure you need to leave?”
“Hey,” Ling smiled, “Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to tell the tale of ‘How I Ate An Alchemist’s Shoe’ at my coronation, friend.” He became more serious. “But I meant what I said before, this isn’t my country, and I need to look after my own. But I also stand by what else I said. This is your country-“ he jabbed a gloved finger at Ed’s chest “-full of people you care about. You have a lot of strong friends, Ed. You can pull through this. Save your country. Get your bodies back. We’ll be waiting to hear how it went.” He smiled and offered his fist.
Ed still didn’t look happy, but he nodded and tapped his automail against Ling’s hand. The resultant clunk was much louder than expected, and Ed looked at Ling’s hand in mild bewilderment, tapping his fist again to make sure he hadn’t imagined it.
“Ling, are you using Greed’s shield?”
“Maybe?” Ling looked sheepish again. “I, ah, can’t figure out how to turn it off.”
“Young Lord, what is this shield-??”
“Don’t worry about it, it’s fine, I’ll explain on the road.” He waved flippantly at Lan Fan’s questions. He was ready to get out of the city and somewhere he could put on his usual pants, Amestrian clothing was so confining. He smushed the cabbie over his unruly bangs and grabbed one of the travel packs before turning back to Ed and Al. “Until we meet again, my friends.” He held a hand vertical at his chest and inclined his head.
“Tch, you’re so cheesy!” Ed frowned, arms crossed.
“Bye! Good luck becoming emperor!” Al waved.
Fu, having finished buttoning up his vest, turned to the doctor watching the goodbye proceedings. “Thank you for taking care of my granddaughter,” he bowed.
The doctor blustered around his cigarette. “Don’t thank me, I don’t deserve that kind of talk!”
Ling joined Fu. “It sounds like you saved my retainer’s life, Doctor, and for that I am in your debt.” Fu shot him a glance at that, but remained silent.
Lan Fan softly spoke from the side. “Thank you, Dr. Knox.”
The doctor stared for a moment before waving furiously, ranting about kicking them out, but Ling caught Lan Fan and Ed’s small smiles; this man must really be a big softie. Once out the door, Ling turned back to raise a fist in solidarity, and the Elrics returned the gesture. Ling faced forward again and set off with his retainers; they had a city to escape and a country to claim.
~~~
Leaving Central had been a simple matter of taking a cab to just outside one of the little satellite towns and then heading into the surrounding woods. As soon as they were out of sight of civilization, Ling paused behind a tree to cast off the suffocating Amestrian style pants and vest, slipping back into his loose, comfortable, sensible pants and shoes and unbuttoning Mustang’s white shirt to hang open under his coat. Much better. He reconvened with his retainers, and they went over their plan.
“I’ll meet with my contact to secure our transportation at the border,” Fu tilted his head to the little outpost, “and I will meet up with you on the third hill.” Ling nodded and turned as Fu began to make his way to the small cluster of lights, regarding the darkened hills some ways off, far enough that Central forces wouldn’t be patrolling, but close enough to several convenient transportation hubs for the future.
He and Lan Fan set off, eager to put some distance between themselves and their unnatural adversaries in the city. They made good time to the hill, but the trek took a lot out of Lan Fan, and come to think of it, nearly five days without sleep wasn’t treating Ling too well either, immortal body or no. They found an easily defensible tree and sank to the ground at the base, resting in silence for a bit, Ling having finished telling his story on the walk over.
“You should sleep, you are still healing,” Ling spoke after a moment. His retainer probably needed the sleep more than he did. Probably.
Lan Fan nodded, pulling her coat around herself as she curled up on the ground. Ling sat with his back against the tree, letting his mind drift with the dragon’s pulse as he waited to feel Fu’s return.
~~~
Greed was annoyed. He’d existed for all of two minutes before being relegated to some sort of mental dungeon. At first, he’d thought the blond kid’s punch had killed him (temporarily, of course), but when he hadn’t recovered, Greed was forced to realize something else was keeping him from using his body. Was it that other kid? The one who’d been in here yelling about power with an impressive amount of avarice himself? Greed groaned. Don’t tell him he’d somehow been beat by a human , a kid no less. This wasn’t fun, he’d been having the most enjoyable fight with the short blond shouty alchemist, and now he couldn’t do anything.
He’d yelled in indignation for a while, but either the kid was ignoring him or couldn’t hear him. After a while he’d just tried pushing his will against the barriers surrounding his consciousness, occasionally testing out his new vocabulary with colorful swears.
He wasn’t even sure how much time was passing, his reference had been shaky to begin with, and now being cut off from all his senses did not help. This was worse than not existing, at least then he hadn’t been bored. Then all at once the barriers started melting away. What was this? He looked around the mindscape, spotting the brat whose body he’d taken laying horizontal in a space in his souls. Was he dead? Had Greed’s continuous pounding against his mind destroyed him? No, the kid would probably disappear if he died, right? Maybe he was just partially dead?
Greed hovered over the kid’s unmoving form, debating trying to get him to respond to something. Hey kid, what are you doing? The brat stirred slightly but didn’t open his eyes. All right then, probably not dead, and also not confining Greed to a mental jailcell, so he wasn’t going to complain. Maybe the twerp had exhausted his soul’s energy trying to keep Greed imprisoned; served him right, this was Greed’s body now anyway, the kid had given it over, fair and square!
Well, time to take back what was his. With the kid out of the way, it was simple to step back into control, and Greed eagerly opened his eyes. Aw, it was dark. Where were the lights- wait, he wasn’t inside. That meant it was, uh, Night, yeah, and these were, uhh trees, that’s the word. He idly gazed at what he could see of his surroundings in the dim light, undertaking the new task of connecting the vocabulary words tumbling around in his head to their real counterparts, pleasantly surprised that he did in fact Know Things. What a guy that Father was, creating him and giving him knowledge.
Speaking of Father, he supposed he should try to get back to him from wherever this brat had taken Greed’s body. He moved to stand up, pausing when he noticed his arms were still shielded. Interesting, the kid must like his shield then. Well, not much use for it now. He dismissed it with a mental command, feeling the layer of carbon dissolve down his arms. He held up his hands, inspecting his new gloves. Not bad, maybe this kid had some taste. Too bad they covered up his tattoo.
He pulled the gloves off and shoved them in his coat pocket as he stood up. The coat was nice too, but he wasn’t sure he was feeling the whole “open shirt” look, a coat like this needed something complementary underneath. The white shirt would do for now, he supposed, buttoning it. The pants were a whole ‘nother thing entirely, what was this kid doing walking around like this? And these shoes? Absolutely no flair. He’d have to fix that as soon as he got back to Father.
Hearing movement, he peered through the darkness to see what looked like someone laying on the ground, wrapped in a coat. They also seemed to be doing poorly, breathing shallowly, and as they shifted, he could see they were missing an entire arm. Right, humans were inferior, so their regeneration must be super slow. “Hey, what’s the matter with you?” He looked closer, was she a girl?
She didn’t open her eyes, just vaguely muttered something in what sounded like a foreign language. She was probably fine. Maybe humans just all went really weak at night. Well, he should get back to Father. He looked around blankly for a few moments, trying to decide which direction Father was, before picking one that seemed to have some lights off in the distance. Maybe Father was over there. He hoped so, he had some questions, like where he could get more stuff. He walked off into the trees, leaving the girl in fitful sleep on the ground behind him.