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and all the things that you never ever told me (and all the smiles that are ever gonna haunt me)
june 24, day 5: myth / heartache / summer
For @edling-week on Tumblr!
Ling sighed, his check smushed into his closed fist. He knew he was being dramatic, but in his defense, he had every right to be. He wanted to get all of his Theater Kid out now before he had to be the Regal Prince of Xing. Next to him, Greed sighed loudly in return.
Across from them, Lan Fan raised an unimpressed eyebrow.
Ling resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at her. Greed did no such thing, scrunching up his eyes and letting his tongue stick out between his teeth. If Ling wasn't in such a funk, he would've laughed at how stupid his twin looked.
Lan Fan kicked him in rebuttal, and Greed went back to pouting, letting out another sigh.
Nothing out of the normal.
Except for that fact that if everything was normal, Lan Fan would've stuck out her tongue at both of them, because Ling wouldn't have resisted. He would have had no need to.
But now he had to be 'professional,' just because he was the older brother! Gross.
If he had known that, he never would've won the tournament.
Yes, he would have. Anything for his family and his clan.
What tournament, you may be wondering?
Well.
Due to the 'Great Emperor of Xing,' Ling and Greed's father, being a man whore (and not in a good way), he had sixty-two children. Yes, you read that right, sixty-two. Ling's sad excuse for a father had at least one child for every single one of the fifty clans in Xing, with six outliers. Four pairs of twins (one of which was Ling and his brother), one pair of triplets, and one pair of quadruplets. In situations like this, each clan had to choose one child to fight all the other children of the other clans in a tournament of sorts.
(Ling was the one sent out, in the end, not that Greed had a choice in that decision. Ling had seen the notice before Greed had, and he had immediately enlisted. Ling would be damned if his baby brother was going to be sent to that Killing Game of a tournament, and he knew that Greed felt the same way about his older brother. They were both protective of each other, and while it was appreciated by both of them it also led to quite a few problems. Greed hadn't spoken to him for almost a week when he had found out.)
Anyways, it was a quite fucked up tournament.
Well, when you think about it, it's more of a large, deadly game of tag. Or hide and seek, depending on how you play compete.
Regardless, it was a horrible, fucked up thing, making your children fight to the death with their half siblings for basic necessities.
The tournament itself was pretty simple. There's an abandoned city, on the outskirts of Xing, and all of the children are sent there to fight. The city itself is barren of most things such as crops and sturdy shelter, but it's part of the competition. To be the Ruler of Xing, apparently it's a matter of strength, battle strategy, and in some cases, the ability to run like hell. Whoever wins gets crowned the next Royal Ruler of Xing. There are two ways to win.
- Hide out until everyone is dead.
- Kill everyone you can and hope to not die.
There are also two ways to lose.
- Get killed.
- Forfeit, and try to avoid getting assassinated by Royal Guards on your way back home for disrespecting the Royal Name.
Ling had played the game, and he had won. Luckily for him, there had been enough forfeits that he hadn't had to worry too much about being over powered. While alliances weren't common, they did happen occasionally. Most of the time, though, it was an Everyone For Themselves kind of tournament. A Kill Or Be Killed kind of tournament. Ling had killed seven people in that small city on the outskirts of Xing, and he only knew the name of four of them.
Sometimes, Ling woke up screaming their names.
But when Ling was Emperor, he would make sure to run Xing very differently. No more Evil Half-Sibling Tournaments. No more Royal Children sneaking into your city in hopes of getting rid of the competition before the game started. No more great cities being abandoned because a twelve year old was killed by a fourteen year old just trying to survive in a nameless city right outside of Xing.
But he wasn't the Emperor of Xing.
Not yet.
The first thing he had to do was get hitched.
Yay!
Sarcasm, if you couldn't tell.
Unfortunately, while Ling was stuck in the tournament, a war had been brewing outside of Xing. It had been spreading, and soon enough, Xing would have no choice but to get involved. That meant, of course, that they needed allies. And the Royal Council, somehow, thought the best way to gain allies was by shoving him at some other Royal Children until eventually they cracked and got married.
It was what he was on his way to do. Stuck in a carriage with a driver, his brother, and his body guard, on the way to his father's palace to mingle and find someone to marry. They sounded like the beginning of a bad joke.
Ling sighed again, and Lan Fan gave him a pitying stare this time.
His brother simply patted him on the back.
They were supposed to be there for a week.
A whole fucking week!
Ed groaned, but Winry showed no sympathy. Betrayal. At least Al winced and patted his back.
Yeah, he wasn't the one being carted off to flash his feathers at some fucking suck it up, know it all prince in hopes that they wouldn't have their country absolutely demolished in the upcoming war. Show some fucking sympathy, Winry. No other way to feel like a man whore when you're sent to go to some rich guys palace in hopes of seducing his son for the safety of you family. Not to mention he wouldn't be the only one vying for his attention.
The fucking Prince of Amestris would be there. Ed hated that guy. And his dad. And his youngest brother. Only the middle one was okay, and that was just because he had gotten Al's Magic Stamp of Approval. (A powerful thing, Al's Magic Stamp of Approval. Ed hated practically everyone, and while that wouldn't change anytime soon, he would begrudgingly be civil with them if they had Al's Magic Stamp of Approval. Take Mustang, for example!)
(Actually, don't. Ed still hated Mustang, and would die before being civil with him.) However, the Princess of Naexáfudelos would also be there, and she was okay-ish. She kept stealing his fucking pocket watch, but otherwise she was cool. Some other bordering countries would also be there, but Ed had kinda stopped listening to what Mustang had said out of pure spite. Hawkeye had mentioned Naexáfudelos, Amestris, and Xing, then passed off speaking rights to Mustang, so Ed figured that was the only important part.
Well, along with the fact that it would be awful.
His only savior would be the huge libraries he's heard rumors of. If Xing was one thing, they were flashy. That directly translated to They Had Enough Money To Be Flashy, which was the main reason they were trying to ally with them. Technically, the ball was supposed to be a chance for everyone to mingle with everyone, but Ed knew that their only goal was to either ally with Naexáfudelos, Amestris, or Xing. Paninya totally had the hots for Winry, so Naexáfudelos was out. Ed would die before marrying Tringham, so Amestris was also out. Ed had never met the recent winner of Xing's Awful Fucking Child Killing Tournament, but if Xing had enough books, he would stay.
"Fucking Tringham is supposed to be there, since he's the oldest and what not," Ed complained, sinking into his seat. He winced, shifting. His metal wing was digging into his back.
Even Al had to betray him at one point, he supposes.
"Oh! Does that mean Fletcher is going?! I haven't seen him in a while!"
Ed groaned while Winry laughed. If she wasn't his automail mechanic, he would've left her back home.
Ling saw the golden haired person on his first day in his father's much too large estate of a mansion. They were practically ethereal, and Ling knew at once that they were from Xerxes. In Xing, they had legends. Of great, blessed, celestial beings made of gold. Tales of the angels sent from above, that would bring faith and good fortune.
They were sneaking off somewhere, leaving another golden hair boy behind with a gentle touch to his shoulder. His brother most likely, given their similar features.
The person turned a corner, and while the palace was his father's, he had never actually been there before. He had no idea where the person had gone.
Ling spent the rest of the night thinking about the golden haired Harpy with two wings, one of metal and one of feathers. Ling spent the rest of the night wondering if they could fly. Ling spent the rest of the night building up the courage to go after them, to talk to them.
Ling failed.
Ed had to get away.
Russell would not stop antagonizing him, no matter how much Fletcher told him off. See, that, there, was why Fletcher had Al's Magic Stamp of Approval. Not to mention Selim just kept giving him the creepy ass stare, his dad behind him doing the same thing with what was probably supposed to be a charming smile. To Ed, it just looked forced.
Ed shivered. The whole family gave him the creeps. There was a reason he hated political meetings with Amestris.
At least Paninya was there. She hadn't stolen his watch all night, but that was probably just because she was too bust flirting Winry. At this point, Winry should just marry her and then Xerxes would have an alliance with Naexáfudelos. That way, Ed wouldn't have to do anything! Problem solved!
Ed had yet to see the Prince of Xing, though that was probably because he had snuck off within the first five minutes of the first night, looking for the Oh So Great Library he had heard so much about.
He paused, going still. He could feel someone watching him. Probably stupid fucking Selim. He shivered, his wings shaking off some spare feathers behind him, and walked faster.
Ling saw them leaving again, the next day. This time, however, he managed to work up the courage to ask their brother where they were.
"The library," Alphonse, the second son of the King of Xerxes had told him. "That's where you'll probably find him. But Ed doesn't like people all that much though, so be careful."
Ling nodded, thanking him, and spent the next ten minutes trying to find the library with a brain filled of the constant chanting of, 'HIS NAME IS ED.'
When Ling finally reached the library, the sun was setting outside. The balls usually started pretty late, after all the Important War Meetings and whatever rulers liked to call sipping tea and gossiping these days. He stopped in the doorway, eyes wide, taking the sight before him.
Ed was beautiful. This was something Ling had already known, but seeing him now, Ling felt as if he hadn't fully grasped it before.
Seeing Ed bathed in the light of the setting sun, his golden hair tied into intricate braids that fell in between his shoulder blades. Seeing Ed's metal wing glinting in the light from where he was sat slunched over a book in his lap. Seeing Ed's eyes flit across the pages, his hand going up to turn the page occasionally. Ling carefully took a step forward, unable to keep himself from blushing.
"Hey, I'm Ling," He introduced himself.
"Uh, I'm Ed," the Golden Harpy said awkwardly in return.
Ling smiled. He had a good feeling about this.