Part 13
Ling pulled away from me and looked into my eyes.
"Ling, wh-"
"There's not time to explain now. We have to get out of here. Here, put these on." He shoved a set of sweats into my arms, along with some flat shoes. "Hurry."
I wanted to keep asking questions, but I did as he told and threw the clothes on and slipped into the shoes.
With that he grabbed my hand and tugged me along.
We ran through the building, eventually making our way to an underground system full of pipes and wires. We never ran into any armed forces, but we never stopped to look back or give them a chance to find us.
Finally, we found our way out of the under ground and in the woods at the edge of Central.
We both collapsed in the grass, exhausted and out of breathe.
I lulled my head to side, looking at the panting Ling.
I rested my hand over his and squeezed it.
He looked at me a returned the squeeze.
Moments of silence passed as I was thankful for his company. Judging from the look on his face, he was doing the same.
The, suddenly, he bolted up, tugging me with him.
"What's wrong?"
He took my face in his hands and started rubbing my cheek… the cheek that Greed had slapped that first day. He checked my arms and legs, everywhere. He was making sure I wasn't hurt anywhere else, even though he didn't say that he was.
"I'm fine."
He didn't looked convinced. He rested his hands on my shoulders and looked me straight in the eye. "Did he defile your purity?"
"He never got around to, thank gods."
He sighed with relief and pressed his forehead to mine.
We stayed like that for many moments before we decided to keep moving.
As we walked through the woods, Ling told me about what happened.
"We were walking through that underground passage that you and I escaped through and we ran into an old friend of Greed's. See, there was another Greed that died before this one fused with my body and this chimera, Bido, was a friend of his. At first, Greed didn't know who he was and killed him for the sport. But the moment that Bido died, the old Greed's memories fill the new Greed's head. I managed to use this against and got him to the point where he was so mad that he went and attacked Bradly. Apparently, he was responsible for the death of the old Greed's other friends. Needless to say, Greed is no longer welcome in central, so, while he was confused, I took over and came for you."
"It sounds so complicated."
"Believe me, it was."
We both, suddenly, heard a rumbling coming from his stomach. After all he had been through, I wasn't surprised he was hungry.
"Guess we better find some food."
…
We had been searching and walking around for hours.
Not one edible plant existed in the Central woods.
I was fine but Ling was nearly collapsing from hunger. He tried to act tough but I could tell he was fading.
We ended up at the cabin that we camped out in when Lan Fan was injured. It was still in pieces from when Gluttony went berzerk.
We managed to get to the entrance of the cabin before Ling collapsed. I, immediately, knelt to his side. "Ling!"
"Ling? Kai?"
I looked up and found Ed on the other side of Ling with two big guys standing behind him.
"Ed!"
Ling's stomach growled again. "Hungry. Need. Food."
…
Ling had just finished devouring all the food that Ed and the big guys had. The blond man was known as Hienkle and the black hair man was Darious. I gave them a polite bow while I was on my knees and said, "Thank you for giving him food. Sorry he didn't any for you guys."
"What are you both doing here? I thought you'd both still be in central."
"Well, to put it lightly, Greed had a falling out with the other homunculi, so I took advantage of his confusion and managed to regain control of my body." Ling grunted. "We had to get out of central and we need someplace close by to hide, so we-" He started shaking and moaning in pain and rigidness.
"Ling!"
"What's the matter?"
"It's Greed! He's starting to fight back."
Ling started holding his head in pain as I went to his side, holding his shoulders. All the while, Ed started hitting him on the head, telling him to fight back.
"Ed, stop it!"
"Listen! That guy beneath Central – the one that they call their father – He's gonna open the portal on the day of reckoning. I could be wrong about this, but I think you and Al should jump in when he does; it's the best chance you have to get your bodies back."
I had no idea what it all meant but it meant something to Ed; he asked for the date of this "Day of reckoning."
Before Ling could answer, Ling could feel Greed coming out and had to ask about the message he gave to Lan Fan.
"Sorry, that's it for me. I'm going."
Silence.
"Ugh. Damn. That pain-in-the-ass prince. Needs to learn to keep his mouth shut."
Greed was back, much to my despair.
He started to walk away and, when Ed asked why he wasn't trying to capture him, Greed explained that, just like Ling said, he was no longer welcome in Central. He was just gonna do his own thing.
Then, Ed offered him a place in their group. The offer shocked all of us.
In no time, Greed was laughing at the offer. "Team up with you? You want me to follow you? Thank for the laugh. Up yours, kid! This world is my possession, not yours. Now, it's a different story if you wanna follow me. You're welcome to join my team."
He started to turn and walk away, but then he said, "Of course, one of you…" He turn to me with a full on smirk, "… doesn't have a choice in that matter."
