All I Know, All I Know Greedling x Reader fic Chapter 9
In a land ruled by alchemy, there are some who would call you a sorcerer. You intend to understand what this means. Along your journey you end up getting mixed up with two strange brothers, a military conspiracy, a potentially world-ending event, and the avarice of something more than human.
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Chapter 9: Amestrian Food Isn’t That Great Anyway
“Ling, you’re kidding.” You were almost laughing. “They found you on the side of the road?”
The young lord took a bite of his drumstick, talking with his mouth full, “Yup! I probably would have starved to death if the Elrics hadn’t found me!”
“Wow, some prince,” you said with a teasing smirk.
“Oh, I’m sure it wouldn’t have been that bad,” Winry said, twirling her noodles. “Your attendant would have found you eventually. Don’t think I haven’t noticed her following us all afternoon.”
The shadows were long and the sunset was red as the three of you sat at an outdoor cafe in downtown Central. You had wandered around the city for a while, looking for a good place to eat, and upon Winry’s words you also recalled seeing a masked shadow move out of the corner of your eye every now and then.
“Why doesn’t your attendant sit with us?” you asked.
Ling shrugged. “Lan Fan doesn’t like to be seen interacting with me in public.”
“Oh, no, it’s not like that! It’s just safer for both of us if she keeps her distance. Unless she’s coming to my defense, that is.
“Well, I’m going to get some to-go for her,” Winry said, pushing her chair back. “What does she like?”
“She’s not big on Amestrian food…” Ling said. “I’d have to see the menu again. You know what, I’ll just come with you.”
The two of them stood up from the table, and you were left alone with other peoples’ chatter filling the air, and the soft, red light of the setting sun starting to fade. Street lights flickered to life one by one.
Your thoughts drifted to Alphonse. You knew he had his reasons for asking you to stay behind, but if something happened to him and you weren’t there…
A weight filled your chest. You started to wonder if maybe you should have been more persistent on going with him.
“What’s with the long face?”
You looked up. It was Winry, her gentle eyes full of concern.
“Just…worried about Alphonse, is all.”
The mechanic sat down across from you and put a hand on your arm. Her brow crinkled. “Yeah, me too. But we have to believe he’ll come back safely.”
“Do you think I should have gone with him?”
Winry shrugged. “I don’t know. But I do think it’s a good thing that you’re here, too.”
You dropped your eyes from her gaze.
Winry reached out to cup your cheek. “Hey, cheer up! Your pouty face is going to make me sad.”
“I’ll do my best,” you sighed. “Hey, where’s Ling?”
“Oh. He’s still inside. Taking way too long. And it looked like you were feeling a little bit off, so I figured I could come back and keep you company.”
You allowed yourself a soft smile. “Thank you, Winry. You really are one of the kindest people I’ve met since coming to Amestris.”
It wasn’t a way she had ever smiled at you before.
“(y/n)!” Ling’s cry split the air.
Had Winry’s teeth always been that sharp?
“Get back! That’s not Winry!”
Your heart fell to your stomach. Winry’s odd smile twisted even more. Red crackles of energy filled the air as the person—the creature—started to transform into someone else.
Before you could jerk away, the once gentle hand on your cheek moved violently to your hair. As the creature’s transformation stopped, you could see that it was one of the people from the Fifth Laboratory, one of the people that Ed called “homunculi”—it was the one with hair that hung down in strands, who had eyes of the darkest purple.
“Nice to see you again, koldun.” Envy’s fist in your hair tightened, and they slammed your head onto the table.
You were vaguely aware of people gasping behind you. You were also vaguely aware of the sound of someone running towards you. Aside from that, all you knew was that the world was spinning.
“Let’s say you and I get even, hm?” Envy snarled above you.
Was that…Ling? He sounded so far away. Envy sounded far too, but Ling must have been off by miles.
You felt your power surge. It was involuntary, in time with your breath and the spots that danced in your vision. Your palm lay upturned on the table, and a wave of purple energy burst from it.
You felt hands on your shoulders pulling you up. “(y/n)? (y/n) are you alright?”
Winry. The real Winry. She pulled you from your chair, keeping an arm around you as she led you away from the table.
“I’m fine,” you mumbled. “Just dizzy.” You felt a bit of blood trickling from your forehead and into your eye.
It was then that you saw Ling standing in front of you and Winry. He pointed his sword at Envy. “You must not be human,” his voice, low and accusatory, was more serious than you had believed him capable of. “What are you?”
Envy turned up their nose at the prince. “Why? Who’s asking?”
Envy lunged at Ling, but Ling sidestepped the homunculus and tripped them with a quick extension of his leg. “Just a curious traveler.”
You could hear the smirk in Ling’s voice.
“Say,” Envy said, picking themself up from the ground, “You wouldn’t happen to know the pipsqueak, would you? Seems like you already know his sorcerer friend.”
Before Ling could answer, you broke away from Winry’s grasp and put yourself between the prince and the homunculus. The world was still off-center, and more blood had leaked into your vision, but you concentrated your energy around your fist and struck Envy with a punch backed by your power. Their jaw cracked and they went staggering backwards.
“Leave him out of this,” you demanded through gritted teeth.
Ling turned to you. “Sorcerer?”
By this point, the other patrons of the outdoor cafe had scattered. Good, you thought. No need to hold back as much.
You flexed your hand and a sphere of energy started to take shape. The next time Envy lunged at you or Ling, you would be ready.
“Whoa!” Ling shouted. “(y/n), that’s amazing! How are you doing that?”
Envy saw the energy gathering in your hand and narrowed their eyes. “Oh? So you don’t know where your power comes from?”
You squared your jaw. Admitting anything to Envy was the last thing you wanted to do.
But even still, your silence was telling.
“Wow, what a waste.” Envy shrugged. “Imagine all that you could be if you did understand your power. Such lost potential.”
“Shut up!” As you yelled, your power surged from your palm and sprung towards Envy. The homunculus twisted out of the way.
You hurled more violet energy at them. Sure, you were angry, but more than that you felt humiliated. You were a pinnacle of magic and might; how could Envy see right through you?
“(y/n),” Ling said. His voice was harsh, but not in a way that was meant to be mean. Only to catch your attention. “Something’s wrong.”
Ling put a hand on your shoulder, stopping you from throwing more magic at Envy. “Not just with…them. It’s Lan Fan. She’s not here.”
You wiped some blood out of your eye and the realization of Lan Fan’s absence settled into your blood like ice. Ling had put himself in harm’s way, she should be here…
It was then that you heard a crash behind you.
You turned to see Lan Fan, her mask on and her hood up, lying between two halves of a broken table. A huge, bulbous creature lumbered towards her. Lan Fan jumped to her feet and brandished a kunai in each hand. When the creature charged her, its tongue spilled out of its mouth and you could see that it had the same tattoo that Envy did. The tattoo also shared with the one called Lust.
Ling sprung forward immediately. “I’ll help Lan Fan, you deal with that one!”
You turned to face Envy again. “What is it you want? Revenge for the Laboratory incident? If it was, you would have brought your other friend with you, and not…that one.”
“Very clever,” Envy said, daring to step closer to you. “I’m sure Lust would have loved to be here, but she’s off dealing with that pesky suit of armor and the Flame Colonel.”
The words felt like a slap, but you allowed no emotion to show on your face. “What is it you want?” you repeated.
“What I want, dear koldun,” Envy took another step forward, “Is to see what you can do.”
