Gajeel POV
Gazing down upon Oak Town, I clicked my tongue and reached into the pile of my destroyed guild before grabbing a random piece of metal to chew on. After the Magic Council abolished our guild, they sent someone to demolish the guild building, and since then, I've been doing nothing but staying here atop the pile of rubble. I had nowhere to go, Phantom Lord was all I knew, and without Phantom Lord, I had no clue what to do now. "Maybe I could join another guild?" The thought crossed my mind a few times, but not only was I hesitant, as it felt like I was betraying Phantom Lord, but I was doubtful if any guild would even accept me, given my past with Phantom Lord.
Sighing, I spent the next few hours snacking on whatever metal debris I could find while watching Oak Town; eventually, night arrived, prompting me to fall asleep atop this hard and uncomfortable pile of rubble. However, just as I drifted to sleep, I heard faint footsteps; at first, I ignored them, but as they drew closer, I was forced to sit up, only to see a man approaching while carrying a large sack, leaving a water trail. "Oi, don't come any closer, this is my territory, punk." Grunting, I narrowed my eyes at the man, expecting him to turn around, though seeing him continue straight for me, I clicked my tongue and stood up before flaring my magic power in hopes of scaring him. "I'm giving you a second chance, punk!"
Despite my threatening words and my magic power, the bastards continued towards me, causing me to grunt as I was about to teach him a lesson on listening, but just as I took a step, he snapped his gaze at me, allowing me stare into his blood red, vertical slit eyes. Although it was only brief, staring into his eyes filled me with fear, causing me to freeze as I subconsciously held my breath; once the man arrived before me, he dropped the sack to his right, and now that he was close enough, I was able to make out the wet sack. 'T-That smell… It's not water… It's blood.' Nervously gulping, I slowly stepped back, only for him to suddenly illuminate the area by tossing a golden glowing stone onto the ground.
"C-Cooper!?" Widening my eyes in shock, I gazed upon Cooper's figure, watching as he reached into his small pouch attached to his waist before retrieving a cuff; watching him fasten the cuff onto his wrist, I nervously eyed him. "Magic sealing cuffs." With an indifferent tone, Cooper glanced at me while raising his arm, yet even with his magic sealed, I was still uneasy; if it weren't for him protecting Lucy, the magic circle hindering him, and his injuries, he would've beaten me multiple times.
"W-What do you want, Cooper?" Cooper didn't respond to my question and unfurled his sack before reaching in it, yet, just as he was about to retract his arm, another, much smaller, figure stopped him. "Gramps, what are you doing here?" "M-Makarov!?"
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Cooper POV
With my revenge being interrupted, I stood to the side and listened to Gramps as he invited Gajeel into Fairy Tail, something I found crazy of him, and while I was more than a bit irritated, I remained silent until he finished. Once we were done, Gajeel left the area after, surprisingly, accepting Gramps' invitation. 'Gramp's is very charismatic despite his appearance.' With a hardened gaze, I watched Gajeel leave the area and then glanced at Gramps, who heaved a sigh before turning around. "Huh, well, I suppose it's good I got to him before you did." Said Gramps as he lightly chuckled, though I just silently stared at him while he shifted his gaze to the sack. "Is what's in there what I think it is?"
Raising an eyebrow, I nodded at Gramps before pushing the sack, causing it to fully open as numerous heads rolled onto the ground; leaning down, I grabbed a specific head before tossing it at Gramps' feet. "He hardly deserved his title of a Wizard Saint… It was a challenge, but not as much as I hoped. Deliora was stronger than him." Scoffing, I glanced at the bloody head at Gramps' feet while he kicked it back towards the sack, unbothered by the numerous decapitated heads. "No one saw you, right? News about someone attacking the Magic Council and Jose's death has been widespread. I don't want our guild to be abolished next." "Hmph, yeah, I ensured no one saw, Gramps." Rolling my eyes, I began to toss the bloody heads back into the sack while Gramps nodded.
"Hmm, have you finished?" "Finished? I was close; I only needed Gajeel's head. I spared Juvia since she seemed willing to die for Gray for some reason… However, everyone else is in this sack." Pointing at the sack full of heads, I tied it close and hoisted it over my back while unlatching the magic sealing cuff before storing it in my pouch. "Why the hell did you invite Gajeel to Fairy Tail?" "The same reason I invited you." "Hmph, but Gajeel is a grown ass man, he's not 12." "Maybe so, but he's still just a kid to me… A very stupid kid, but a kid nonetheless." Said Gramps as he walked down the hill while I trailed behind.
"I doubt anyone at Fairy Tail will accept your decision to invite Gajeel, considering what he did." "Probably. But, if someone everyone in Fairy Tail looked up to vouch for him, I'm sure they could be persuaded." Said Gramps with a mischievous smirk as he glanced at me, though I just scoffed and shook my head. "What makes you think I'd vouch for Gajeel?" "You vouched for Bisca, remember? Even though you disliked her at first, when she joined Fairy Tail, you still treated her as your little sister." I could only growl in annoyance as Gramps was correct; before Bisca joined Fairy Tail, she had been prancing around as a Fairy Tail Mage and causing a ruckus, giving us a bad name.
When Erza told me how Bisca was behaving, I greatly disliked her, but since she joined Fairy Tail and Fairy Tail was my family, I treated her like such; I will say, she did eventually grow on me, but at first, I disliked her. "Tsk, but Bisca never directly harmed one of our own, she only did stupid shit." "Ha, of course, I understand, Cooper, but you'll just have to trust me on this. Despite what he's done, I'd like to give Gajeel a chance to redeem himself and set him on the correct path… I've seen too many youngsters end up on the wrong side of life." Said Gramps softly as he lowered his head with a sigh, causing me to frown deeply as I eyed him. "Tch, fine, since you haven't gone senile yet, I'll trust you."
A bout of silence consumed us as we walked through the streets of Oak Town, only Gramps to break it with possibly one of the craziest questions ever. "Cooper, would you be willing to become the next Guild Master?" I froze in place at Gramps' words and robotically turned my head as I stared at him. "What?" "You heard me, brat. I wanted Laxus to take the spot of fourth guild master, but honestly, he's too immature. You're the next best option; you may be a reckless fool, but I wouldn't need to worry about our Guild's safety." To be honest, I was surprised Gramps was being serious, but at the same time, I was a bit honored by his words, though in the end, I just shook my head. "Erza would be better than me; I'm not the best at dealing with politics." "Heh, yeah, I figured, but I had to at least ask."
"Why not ask Gildarts?" "Do you know when he'll return?" "Touché." "Anyway, I'm returning Magnolia, are you coming?" Shaking my head, I gestured to the bloody sack. "I have to get rid of these heads, I can't return to Magnolia carrying around 100 or so heads… I'll return by morning though." Nodding at Gramps, we stayed together until we left Oak Town before splitting up as I dashed into the distance to quietly dispose of the heads.
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Returning to Magnolia after four days, I first visited Lucy's apartment to shower as I reeked of blood; climbing the wall, I opened the window and entered Lucy's apartment, though I was slightly surprised that I didn't find her present. 'Huh, she's usually a late sleeper.' Closing the window behind, I entered the shower, cleaned myself, and exited; walking around the apartment, I found many envelopes hidden in a cupboard. 'They're all addressed to her mom? Didn't she say her Mom was dead?' Furrowing my brows in confusion, I sorted through the many envelopes before finding a note.
With a curious gaze, I opened the note and read it, only to end up frowning as I read the contents. 'She's leaving?' I understood why Lucy would leave after experiencing everything, but I was still confused as she didn't show any desire to leave, and I highly doubted she'd be able to conceal her true emotions from me. Clenching my fist, I swiftly leaped out the window and dashed to the guild, jumping over the guild hall, I landed in the backyard, creating a small crater as I searched for a certain little sister of mine, though it was easy to find her since she always stayed in one spot.
"Oi, Cana, you're coming with me. I need your magic cards." Scooping the drunk Cana into my arms, I swiftly dashed out of the backyard. "Huh, w-what happened, big bro?" "I need you to track Lucy down. You can do that, right?" "S-Sure, just let me sober up a bit… Do you have a bottle of liquor, actually?" With a twitching expression, I held myself back from flicking her face and left Magnolia with her in tow.