Standing opposite of Porylusica, who was sitting at her desk and staring at me with a dumbfounded expression, I snorted and folded my arms. "So, will you help me?" After a few moments, she regained her usual stern expression before scoffing. "Why would I ever help you, Cooper?" Clicking my tongue, I rolled my eyes. "Let me rephrase it. You're not helping me; you're helping an innocent little girl and harming me in the process. You couldn't ask for anything better." My words seemed to spark something within her as she raised an eyebrow and gazed at me with a pondering expression.
"Hmph, there is a good chance it won't even work, you know. You could very well lose your eye if you follow through with the procedure." "The fact you didn't outright deny it means there is a chance, and that's worth it. Besides, you and I both know I've got an abnormally strong healing factor. If it were a full eye, I doubt it would grow back, but half an eye? Given my past injuries, I don't see why my body couldn't heal from that." Standing firm, I stared back at Porlyusica, who clicked her tongue while rubbing the bridge of her nose.
"For an annoying brat, you have a big heart." Grunting at her stupid remark, I lightly growled in annoyance. "Are you doing it or not?" "Tsk, okay, I'll do it, you brat. Just leave me alone afterward; I would've kicked you out already if I could." Scoffing at her as I also had no desire to be here, I reached into my pocket and grabbed magic sealing cuffs before putting them on. "Tsk, you weren't leaving unless I agreed, were you?" Flashing Porlyusica a grin, I plopped onto the bed, waiting for her to start the procedure, prompting her to stand up and approach me with several dangerous tools in her hand, causing me to gulp.
"Now, don't move; this must be a precise operation; otherwise, you might lose your eye." Narrowing my eyes at the scalpel that glowed with magic, I shifted my gaze to Porlyusica, who I could've sworn was grinning, before reluctantly nodding as I took a deep breath. "Just be quick!" "Yeah, yeah, now shut up." Watching as the scalpel drew closer to my eye, I gritted my teeth and prepared for the pain that was to come.
___
___
Erza's POV
Looking at Porlyuscia, who was supposedly fixing my eye, I patiently waited for multiple minutes, only for her to finally back away while slowly unwrapping the bandage covering my eye; however, although everything was slightly blurry, to my shock, I was able to see. "W-What? I… I can see?" Grabbing my face, I closed my other eye and looked around, yet I was still able to see, causing me to cry subconsciously; I tried to wipe the tears, but they just continued to pour out nonstop.
"T-Thank you, Ms. P-Porlyusica. A-After what happened, I-I never thought I'd see you again." Even with words, I could not fully express how thankful I was; although she didn't seem all that interested in my appreciation, I didn't care. "Hmph, if you want to thank someone, thank your 'big bro'; he's the one who brought up the idea. I wouldn't have bothered treating you if it weren't for him." Grabbing the mirror from her hands, I looked at my new eye, noticing it was bright red with a vertical slit pupil, only for me to furrow my brows in confusion at her words.
'B-But, I don't have a bi– C-Cooper!?' Widening my eyes in realization at what Porlyuscia meant and why this new eye of mine looked familiar, I looked at her in confusion and disbelief. "W-What do you mean, Ms. Porlyusica?" "He asked me to give you half of his eye, though, after the procedure, I'm confident I could've given you an artificial eye without his help, though this one is better, so it's not like his efforts were wasted." At her words, I again felt tears well up in my eyes, though more than anything, I was now concerned for his health. "W-What about his eye? D-Didn't he lose it?" "Hmph, he has an abnormal body; I wouldn't be surprised if his eye heals within a month."
Faintly nodding, I quickly bowed to Porlyusica, offering my appreciation and gratitude once more before exiting the room, where I saw Master sitting down, reading a naughty newspaper; though I didn't care about that, right now, I wanted to return to the guild as quickly as possible… I needed to speak with Cooper. "Ah, E-Erza. Y-Your new eye, it looks, um, familiar? Anyway, how is it? I was thinking of asking Porylyusica if she could give you a new eye; I just didn't expect her to already be working on it." It seemed Master didn't know the truth about this eye, and while I thought about telling him, I opted not to since if Cooper didn't say anything, he probably didn't want anyone to know.
"Yes, it's amazing, Master; I-I just want to return to the guild and show everyone. Can we return quickly?" With a faint smile, I grabbed Master's hands and dragged him off the couch and towards the exit, causing him to chuckle before he lifted me onto his shoulders while exiting Porlyusica's cabin. "Haha, alright, Erza, I got you; we'll return. Just hold on tight!" Grabbing tightly onto Master's clothes, he rapidly grew, using his Giant magic to grow to a monstrous height as he dwarfed the trees before walking to Magnolia in the distance, taking only a minute until we arrived home.
Carefully, Master stepped into the city while rapidly shrinking down his standard size as we arrived just outside the guild, prompting me to leap off his shoulders and dash into the guild, where the first person I ran into just happened to be Gray. "Erza, I demand a challenge– Eh, what happened with your eye?" Watching Gray strip before suddenly widening his eyes while pointing at my eye, I tightly grabbed his shoulders and pulled him closer. "Where is Cooper? Narrowing my eyes, Gray nervously gulped while pointing at the request board. "H-He took several missions just an hour ago; h-he probably won't be back for a few weeks, maybe even a month."
Slumping in defeat, I released Gray and heaved a deep sigh while lowering my head. "Why are you asking about big bro? Did you need something from him? Though I wonder how he injured his eye; he hadn't done any missions lately." Shaking my head, I turned around and sat in the corner, though I felt genuine happiness for the first time in a long time.
"Big brother."
___
___
Cooper POV
Gazing out the window, I suddenly sneezed, causing me to growl, and I immediately blamed it on Porlyusica. "Tsk, old hag probably didn't sanitize her scalpel and gave me some terrible disease." Clicking my tongue, I rubbed the bandages covering my right eye, only to slightly hiss in pain. Lying on my back, I covered my face with a pillow and fell asleep, figuring I might as well recover since I'd been up all night avoiding Erza; I didn't feel like explaining everything to her after that embarrassing moment I had with her by the river.
'I hope the procedure was successful; I would hate to have experienced all that pain for nothing.' Yawning, I rolled onto my side and drifted off to sleep while the train headed to the location for my first of many missions.
___
___
Peacefully sleeping on a table in the corner of the guild hall, I was suddenly awoken from my sleep when I felt an intense heat envelop my body; it didn't hurt, but it was enough of a change for me to wake up, only for fire to fill my vision, annoying me. "Ugh, dumbass, I was fucking sleeping!" Grunting in annoyance, I rubbed the back of my head and stretched while glaring through the fire at one of our guild's newest members, though he'd been here for a year already, so he's long since adapted to the guild's chaotic nature. "NO! Stupid idiot Natsu! You awoke the beast!"
With a twitching expression, I reached through the fire and grasped Natsu's face, forcefully closing his mouth while he looked at me with a mischievous and innocent expression, causing me to grunt as I tossed him at Max, sending them crashing through several tables. Natsu, believe it or not, was the son of a Dragon named Igneel, someone I planned to beat up as he, for some reason, abandoned him. Like Laxus, Natsu was also a Dragon Slayer… A Fire Dragon Slayer, though, unlike Laxus, who was implanted with a special lacrima, Natsu learned from Igneel, his father.
"Tch, stupid brats." Taking a moment to stretch, I yawned and approached the bar, only to spot Erza and Mirajane arguing; the latter was a recent addition who had joined not even a month ago, along with her two siblings. The three Strauss siblings were proficient in Take Over magic, making them fearsome mages in close combat. Mirajane was the strongest, followed by her younger brother, Elfman, and little sister, Lisanna.
Another one who had recently joined was a dude named Mystogan; he doesn't show his face and is rarely here, but I made sure to give him proper discipline. "Haha, ain't that the pot calling the kettle black, Cooper? Just a few years ago, you were the same as him." Glaring at Gildarts, the strongest and only S-class Mage in Fairy Tail, I grunted with a scoff while tossing a cup at his head, though it did nothing. Gildarts isn't here often; he usually only returns from his S-class, SS-class, and even 10-year missions every few months to a year and only stays for up to a week at most; the first time I met him was a year after I joined Fairy Tail, and just like he said, I would constantly pester him for a battle, not caring that he was in a completely different league than me.
"Tch, at least I didn't wake you up from the middle of a sleep; I have tact." "You say that, then you'll punch me in the back of the head while I'm leaving the showers." Gildarts gave me a skeptical gaze, though I stood firm on my statement. "Hmph, you're awake, and if a sneak attack works on you, then that's your fault… You should've been ready."