Memories of a Nobody: The Force of Greed
by Teller of Chronicles
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me. Never has, never will. Same with Fullmetal Alchemist.
AN – so… yea. While I'm going through writer's block on my other two current stories, I felt like I might as well try to write out what I have planned for the XIII Order. This is actually in the middle of the mini-series, since eventually I hope to have these one-shots (and other short stories concerning the Order) compiled into a single story under one name by Order rank.
This mini-series fits into the storyline of my main story, but seeing as very little has been shown about the Order so far, I feel that I should explain the premise of this.
It always struck me that the Order remained at a static 13 members, despite the fact that with the spread of the Heartless, you would imagine that more "strong-willed" hearts would be found (and consequently, a Nobody retaining their prior form). So, I've taken liberties to create 8 more members for my main story. I think about 4 are true OC's (although their influence may come from certain series), and the other 4 are based off of other characters from animes and games.
Although the members who die after CoM remain dead, their "slice of life" one-shots will be told. So don't worry about not seeing your favorite members.
Well, for any FMA fans, I sincerely hope they do not kill me for this one-shot. As you can see, this is also an OC, in this case based on FMA. Who exactly should be somewhat apparent from the nickname. Only two choices available. : P Don't worry, that issue will be cleared momentarily.
Enjoy : ) and here's to the ability and time to continue my other two stories and this one.
--
Greed.
The insatiable desire for more.
To what ends will a person go to obtain what they want? To what extent will they lust after a material object? How twisted does a person's sense of reason become?
When motivated by avarice, a person will pursue all avenues. Means to reach the end. Such intense gluttony for wealth cannot be contained by ethics or morals or law; when the only thing they see is the end, obstacles and the consequences of their choices become meaningless. Only reaching the end means anything at all.
A person consumed by greed is a veritable force to be reckoned with.
--
Greed's mind was reeling as he walked along the roads of Central City. He had just delivered a message to the bratty Elric brothers from his "jailor", Ling Yao. And now, he found himself meandering around, trying to claw at the sudden barrage of memories.
He wasn't supposed to be able to remember the past. Father had mentioned he was a new Greed, unlike the other one. Why then, why could he remember these... these monsters former Greed had taken in. These chimeras who served him, who died for him – no, not him, but the former one.
He screamed out loud, venting all his rage in to the skies above Amestris. Citizens walked by him, staring at the foreigner from the East. Calming himself down, he glared back at the people, driving fear in hearts and forcing gazes to be averted, before vaulting off.
He quickly scaled the building, pulling himself up onto the rooftop. He allowed his eyes to adjust to the brightness of the rooftops before leaping between buildings. As he neared the outskirts of Central Headquarters, he was once again assaulted by memories of the chimeras. What were their names? He had never met them in person, and he was sure that they had never met Ling, but somehow… he knew their names. His closest friends. The closest four were Martel, Dorochet, Loa, and … Bido. A number of others. Outlaws all of them. The Devil's Net, their hideout. His mind kept spinning in circles as flashes of memories kept coming up.
His mind flared with pain, and he found himself in the soul of Ling Yao once again. Physically, his body was still moving toward his usual spot on the top of Amestrian headquarters. But here, it was just him and Ling. At the moment, Ling happened to be sitting and meditating, as he had been ever since relinquishing control of his body after writing the message. He wouldn't be a disturbance. Greed had hoped for a reprieve in the recesses of his mind, but no such luck followed him. Here in this form, he held no form, but was just a mask, looking over Ling.
He was about to speak to Ling when a series of particular memories stopped him in his tracks. He had just seen an assault on the place "he" had called home. Or rather, the former Greed. Curses, now he was beginning to become unsure of his identity. But anyways, he had seen the Amestrian soldiers storm in and begin ruthlessly killing his friends. He watched through his eyes as the metal Elric, and his three close friends had followed him into the sewer systems of Dublin.
Bido… had disappeared to somewhere. Bido, Bido… that reptilian face just bothered him so much, like he had just met him or something.
But Bido was cast from his mind as he watched the death of his friends. At the hands of Wrath, no less. No, wait. They weren't his friends. They were his friends, not – curses, this naming confusion was beginning to annoy the hell out of him. Shocked, Greed could only watch through his former eyes as Wrath ruthlessly cut down the chimeras and even himself.
"You are pathetic, Greed." He looked up at Ling, who was now awake, his eyes boring into Greed's.
"What are you talking about."
"You're losing it. Remember what I told you. If you lose a grip on it, I will take back my body."
"Not a chance, I'm in perfect control of myself."
"Then why did you betray your friend?"
"What… I don't know what you mean."
"Cut the crap. I share your memories too. You killed Bido, one of your closest friends. And all because of your pursuit for power."
"I've never met him before!"
"Then whose blood do you think was used to write the message for Ed? Mine? You would never let me cut myself. That would put you at a disadvantage."
"So you're saying I killed them when obviously they have been dead for some time?! What type of– " Outside, Greed/Ling stopped running across a rooftop, fear etched in his face. A memory came up in the soul room, one that was created by him, not the former Greed.
It was shortly after the Elric brothers had left from Father's underground chamber. Somehow, a sentient chimera had gotten into the room of the 'army' after following Alphonse around, he would find later. Greed had confronted the chimera, and was mildly shocked when he had identified him as "Mr. Greed". What happened next was a shock, to both Ling and himself. He had stabbed him through the midsection with his claws, and abruptly pulled him out
Greed watched as the reptilian chimera crawled up to him in the confines of Central, not even two hours after his creation in Ling. He left a smear across the floor as he slowly crawled up to his killer. As pain continued to course through his eyes, his voice trembled.
'Mr. Greed… Why… I thought you were my friend…'
Then the eyes filled with pain and sorrow closed forever. Shut by the man he thought was his Master. Friend.
"Who was that? Was that… O God. That was Bido…"
Inside, Greed was trembling. Shaking. "No. They're not. They're not my friends."
"Then whose friends are they? Don't you get it, Greed? You wanted more, and to get there you chose to betray your friend," Ling's voice was a hoarse whisper, before he looked up at Greed. "YOU CHOSE YOUR GREED OVER THE MEMORIES OF THE FRIENDS WHO FOLLOWED YOU TO THEIR DEATH! THEY PLACED THEIR LIVES IN YOUR HANDS SO THAT YOU WOULD CONTINUE PROSPERING AND YOU SPAT ON IT!"
Greed was at a loss of words. "No… no… Father told me… the mind had been purified. I'm not the old Greed. I'm me. I'm new! I'm better! I have more! Your body is much better than the old's ever could hope to be. I have more friends! I am closer to getting everything I wanted! Who are you to say that these friends are mine? I never knew them."
Ling stood up at this point. Rushing over, he punched Greed in the face. Reeling at the blinding pain, Greed looked up to see Ling right in his face. "STOP DENYING THE BONDS YOU CREATED! YOU CAN NEVER ERASE THE BONDS OF FRIENDSHIP ONCE YOU MAKE THEM! YOUR FORMER SELF UNDERSTOOD THAT, AND THAT IS WHY HE WILL BE BETTER THAN YOU! HE NEVER FORSAKED HIS FRIENDS, EVEN FOR HIS GREED!" Panting, he looked again at Greed. "You… are a monster. You cut down the friends… the family… that you built up and gathered around you. Look at you Greed. You're supposed to be the man who will own the world and everything in it? You're pathetic. You'll never have anything because you failed your closest friends."
Ling turned to walk away, leaving Greed, stunned and trembling. A change in the room's atmosphere alerted Ling to a change in the entity behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see Greed trembling more, his eyes glowing more fiercely, as he began to scream to himself.
"NOOOOO! SHUT UP SHUT UP GET OUT OF HERE! LEAVE ME ALONE!" With that, Greed's face opened its mouth and quickly rushed Ling, and Ling let out a scream as he was swallowed up.
Greed stopped screaming, as he found himself back in Amestris, sitting on a roof overlooking Wrath's office. Wait. Wrath… he was the one who… killed his former self. He would certainly have answers, right? He stood up, claws extending as the Ultimate Shield ability began forming over his hands.
Leaping over to the building, he clung to the windowsill beneath the office as he heard Wrath and another person, a boy it sounded like, talking together.
"Wrath, you need to step up the plan at Briggs. Father is getting a bit tired, having to wait so long."
"Patience, Pride. I know what I'm doing, and so does that foolish Kimblee. I will send him out when the time is appropriate."
"You care too much about when is the 'proper' time. I swear, you really are getting connected to the humans, aren't you?"
"What can I say. The original inhabitant of this body was a human too, was he not?"
Greed almost fell off his windowsill in shock. Wrath was also in a human body? Then he must have similar feelings about- no. Wrath wouldn't. Wrath cared less about obtaining things like friends, and instead opted to satiate his wrath.
"Greed. We know you're out there. You can come up now."
Shaken out of his shock, he looked up to see Wrath and… Pride? (Was that Selim Bradley?! ) They were looking down at him with feral grins on their faces. Selim's shadow over the wall began to stretch down around Ling, little hands extending and beginning to crawl over him.
"Now, why of all places to be in Amestris, would we find you hanging over this windowsill? Not planning on eavesdropping, are you?"
The hands began constricting, wrapping around Greed's throat. His shield extended to his throat, repelling the hands away. As Pride's hands recovered, Greed pulled up on the windowsill, flipping over the two Homunculi and landing in the office. He pulled out Ling's sword, and sunk into a stance, glaring at Wrath. Likewise, Wrath pulled out his own sword, staying in a relaxed pose.
"Why, Wrath?"
Wrath was mildly shocked, the surprise only visible in the raising of an eyebrow.
"Why… am I having these memories? Of you, killing my friends. Tell me why."
Pride took a step forward, his shadow hands slinking into the original shadow of the body, momentarily.
"Is that the problem Greed? You are attacking us over former memories? You really are pitiful. You desire so much that you can't get over your 'past'?"
"Shut it, Selim, or shall I say, Pride. I want it back. No, I know I can't get them back. I messed up there. I want… I want REVENGE for them!"
With a roar, Greed lunged forward, his sword point and other claw pointing at Wrath's chest. Wrath deflected the sword and twisted out of the way of Greed's claw, elbowing him in the back as Greed's momentum carried him past. To the left of Wrath, Pride's shadows flared to life, covering the distance to Greed in a second.
Greed recovered from the blow to his back and deftly flipped over the shadow hands while twisting to dodge a slash from Wrath. He landed on the desk and leaped off again, slashing down at the shadows gathered. Grabbing onto a window drape, he pushed off toward Pride, his claw readying for a strike. He was bulldozed to the side by a sudden charge from Wrath, his bulkier form knocking down the Xingese Homunculi. With Greed pinned underneath him, Wrath took out a dagger from his side and brought it point down on Greed's body.
Unsurprisingly, the Ultimate Shield stopped the blade, bending it up to the hilt. Before he could recover, Wrath was thrown away by Greed, a couple quick slashes and stabs accompanying the thrown Fuhrer. His form knocked Pride down as he flew by, and he gritted in pain as his body recovered from the injuries he had just sustained. Getting up, he looked down to see his shirt torn, but injuries recovered. He looked up for a moment, and found an object being lobbed in the air.
Greed had thrown one of his flash grenades up, looking down with eyes closed. Before Pride and Wrath could react, it went off, lighting up the whole room. Although Wrath's eye would not allow him to go blind as was ideal, an overwhelming sensation of light in the normal eye was not to be trifled with. He clutched his normal eye, looking for Greed.
Greed quickly dashed forward to Wrath, holding himself down low. Ducking underneath an overhead stab, he pushed the blade up with his shielded claw while bringing his sword in an upward arc, hoping to gut Wrath. He screamed in frustration as a shadowed hand had run up the length of Wrath's leg and deflected the blade where it first made contact with Wrath's torso.
Twisting around, Greed delivered a sweeping kick, knocking Wrath off his feet. As his kick ended, he pushed off, positioning his sword for a downward stab. Wrath countered by swinging his sword upward as he lay prostrate, catching Greed off guard. The sword clashed and met Greed's body, but didn't cut through, as the shield was in place. The slash garnered the desired effect, as Greed was knocked slightly off course, his sword puncturing the floor next to Wrath's body.
Pulling it out, Greed jumped backwards, avoiding the flailing arms that Pride had extended. As he jumped, he brought his sword up, as Wrath had gotten up and rushed him in the time span of his jump, sword swinging down. Ling's sword gave way, and Wrath's sword cleanly cut through the Xingese sword, the blade spinning out of control. Wrath's sword continued its path, cutting into Greed's shoulder a little before it was stopped by his claw. Greed pushed Wrath away, grabbing his shoulder wound, panting. Warily, he kept his claws out as he tried to fend off from the forecoming threats.
As Pride stepped forward, Wrath motioned for him to back off. Complying, Pride had his hands stop advancing, only three yards from Wrath and Greed, which Greed noted with careful observation. Wrath held his sword up at a level even with Greed's neck.
"You really are a pity Greed. You weren't strong enough then to protect your friends, and even now, you are still weakened by your ties to them. Your greed has made you soft, and you now will fall to my wrath."
As he swung his sword down, Greed executed the quick plan he had devised. Rolling to the side, he withdrew two of Ling's final grenades and threw them, one at each of his opponents. Not waiting to see the results, he dove out the window, shield protecting him from glass, and let himself freefall. Above him, he heard the boom of the explosion, and wearily smiled.
He landed, catching himself, and began running away. Anywhere. Homunculi or not, he would be wanted now. He had openly attacked the country's leader and his family, as well as a fellow Homunculus. There would be no forgiveness from either the military nor Father.
But he cursed himself. He muttered to himself as he ran. "Still not enough strength. I need more. I want more! More power. More resources. More time! I must avenge my friends! I will do anything to get more power!"
"Anything you say?"
He stopped and turned to face the unknown voice. Before him stood a stranger, with a black cloak he could not associate with any nearby country. The man had an eye patch on an eye, and a scar running down a cheek. He flashed Greed a smile before speaking again.
"Forgive me if I have heard incorrectly, but you said you will do anything for more power?"
Not knowing how to react, Greed nodded. "Yes. I want more. I am Greed incarnate! I want everything!"
The stranger's smile grew wider. "Good. I have a proposition for you. I can make you stronger. In return, would you be willing to do something for me?"
"Yes, yes. Anything for more."
"How about you die." And before he knew it, Greed found a hand in his abdomen. Looking over his shoulder, Greed saw another stranger, in similar garb, behind him. The man's amber eyes bored into his own, and once again in this long day, Greed felt a tinge of uncertainty. Darkness seemed to flow down the man's arms into Greed.
"Accept the darkness I give you. With it you will be able to do whatever your heart desires. Get what you want. Satiate this greed of yours."
Realizing their intent, Greed cast away his fears, howling. "Yes! This is what I want! Give me more! Give it all to me! I will become invincible!"
Suddenly he found himself in his soul room, confronting a wounded Ling. The man's eyes were filled with rage over having been temporarily "eaten" by Greed. The darkness was tainting the room, and with each passing second, the darkness grew. Ling was looking around at Greed, but also staring at the growing darkness. "Don't do this Greed! It will consume both of us! This is not the way to avenge your friends!"
"Shut up, Ling!" Greed screamed. "I will do this, and get everything I have ever wanted. And I will be able to avenge them!"
"No! Not this way. It will get to you more than anything else!" Ling screamed as the darkness began to crawl up his legs! "Think about it! You don't have to do it this way!" The darkness was at his knees now.
"No… I must… no. I want to do it this way!" Greed howled manically at the scene before him. He was soaking in the pain Ling was going through, and soon he would be in complete control of everything.
"Then…" The words were coming out harder for Ling, as darkness began to cover his chest, restricting his ability to speak. "May my blood and your blood be upon yourself. You have done this to us." With that, Ling gave a final scream, the darkness covering the rest of his body. Then Greed watched with fascination and, oddly enough, contentment as the dark-covered body of Ling Yao started to dissipate.
He hadn't realized he was laughing until he stopped laughing. The darkness was beginning to cover himself, he realized. They had already surrounded his eyes, and were getting to work on his nose, consuming him along the way.
He found himself back outside, looking into the faces of his two "acquaintances". "What did you do to me?!"
"What you always wished for. Let it consume you, and be at peace."
With a final shudder, Greed felt the darkness consuming his soul as darkness overset his eyesight.
--
A steady hum. That was the first sensation he heard when he came to. Wait. Just who was he? He had been one of the souls in this body. Which one, he couldn't remember. Memories of both personas were coming into his mind, and he was quickly becoming confused.
Or so he thought. As memories continued to come back to him, he just felt… empty. Sitting up, he found himself garbed in a cloak just like the two people he had last seen. The room was… bright. He couldn't tell if he was looking at a bright wall, or if there was a light around.
He expected shock to come to him, as he didn't really know where he was. But, the feeling of shock never came.
"Surprised? You shouldn't be."
Turning around, he saw one the men, the amber-eyed one, seated upon a throne overlooking him. "You. What did you do to me? You said I would satiate my greed!"
"And you will. We are the XIII Order, a group composed of Nobodies. We have but one goal, to become Somebodies again, almost like deities."
"But… I was already a Someone. Why did you make me accept the darkness? What have I obtained."
"Because once you cast away your body, opting for darkness, your desire would coincide with ours."
"What?"
"To become whole again. Your greed is a powerful asset to our group. You don't feel any greed, but you are still very much goal oriented. Your original greed will be fulfilled when we reach our goal, and then, you can continue satiating your greed.
You are a powerful man already, and your aid would be invaluable to our cause. Will you help us?"
He thought for a moment. If he helped them, he could become whole again. He would want things again. He could feel the thrill of getting it, and then the sudden lust for more. Smiling, he looked up at the man.
"Yes, I want to help you."
The man grinned. "Then welcome to the Order, Number 16, Li Yaxong. You will be our Force of Greed."
--
AN – and that's how Li Yaxong was formed : ).
I realize that this sounds oddly like Chapter 82 of FMA. Well, it is like Chapter 82! Kudos to you who saw that!
Anyways, I had a different dialogue planned out, because I actually did have this planned to go down as the catalyst for Greed's downfall, but ironically, Chapter 82 turned out to be almost like it. Of course, I doubt anyone will believe me, but that's ok, because I've more or less changed it to be more like Ch. 82. Except the timing of when the conversation takes place (pre-Briggs vs. post-Briggs) as well as the detailed pacing. Oh, and of course the end result (Ling sort of losing further control vs gaining back control). Sorry if it seems like a cop-out, but since the mangaka did it, figured I might as well make it slightly more canon. : )
Look forward to seeing Li Yaxong in Across the Stars! If I ever make progress past the rough chapter 3 xD… which needs major overhaul.