Outside of the town of Magnolia, there stood a man who seemed out of place. The town itself was celebrating with the Fantasia parade, all colors of light flew about the sky with different spells. There was cheering and joy all throughout, as well as the songs that went in tune with the spells.
Meanwhile, the man who stood from afar looked at his hands as if he was reading a book. There was something coming from him constantly, with the feeling of magic with no weight behind it. His clothes looked like something that would be found on a member of the magic council, only that the fabric was visually moving in a flame-like pattern. His eyes were made of gemstones that revealed things that he would consider to be magical, reveal the true form of anything that had been changed magically, detect the sway of good or evil within a person's heart, and see those who are ghosts or any other invisible creature. It wasn't obvious, but he was casting a spell known as Legend.
What the spell itself did was give information to the caster and kept them alive from either starvation or sleep deprivation, but does not prevent aging. The caster would select something; a person, item, country, or idea and learn about it at the same rate as they would be able to read it. The man casting it read things as soon as they appeared and so could learn the history of the country he stood on. He cast it again, but this time he wanted to learn about the guilds that held the most importance to the country. He came across something he found amusing. That thing was slayer magic. Every prominent guild in the country had at least one slayer-type wizard in their ranks. From what was known, there were three types of slayers. The demon, the god, and the dragon slayer wizards.
The man thought about the festival before him in the town below. Would they know what he is? Would his lack of Ethernano be apparent to everybody there? He had started to walk into town while casting another legend. This time it was about all the currently living dragon slayers. He found information on fewer people than he would have liked, but he did find their names and locations.
"Natsu, Wendy, Gajeel, Sting, Rogue, Laxus, and Cobra." The man stated to himself. He knew about them what the public knew, what their guildmates knew, and what they themselves knew about them. The man stopped to watch the parade for Fairy Tail. Perhaps this is what he needed. He needed to join the ranks of Fairy Tail.
After that parade, the man started to leave the area in search for somewhere to sleep. He walked through the town, looking for an inn or hotel or bar that would have a room he could sleep in. He found nothing. There were only the packed buildings and crowded streets of the town. Growing uncomfortable, he casts the Fly spell and goes up to get a better point of view. A roof would be his bed tonight. He chose the roof of the Fairy Tail guild hall so that once he woke up, he wouldn't have to move more than he had to.
The next morning, the man woke up to yelling. Something about a lunatic with strange magic last night. Something else about the guild hall not being a place to sleep on. Then there was ice. There was ice everywhere and the man was stuck to the roof. This shot him awake and made him use the spell Transmute Material to make the ice into steam. He stands on the roof, looking down to the one who cast the spell. A naked man who had a mark on his chest, the emblem of Fairy Tail.
"Oh hey." The tired man said. "You're Gray Fullbuster, right? My name is Brand. Could you put some clothes on? It's too early in the day to be naked." Brand started to fly down to Gray, yawning.
"You think it's okay to do something like that!? You're not a member, so unless you plan on becoming one I'll have to kick your ass!" Gray looked upset that a strange man who he had never seen before was doing something ridiculous like sleeping on the roof. What kind of a person would do that?
"Actually-" Brand started "No." Gray interrupted. "You won't allow new members after that show you put on last night?" Brand asks. "Because I'm willing to wait it out until you're accepting members." There is a glare between the two.
"Sorry, but I'm not sensing anything in terms of magic from you. But it does feel dangerous enough to warn you not to screw with us." Gray continued the glaring contest with Brand. "I truly do want to join your ranks. This isn't what I'd expect from somebody with your reputation. Besides, I did fly down here without landing on my ass." Brand smirked.
"That's enough!" a gruff, old voice called from lower. Brand looked down, sighing. "You must be Makarov Dreyar. It's an honor to meet you." Brand extends his hand to shake Makarov's. There is only more glaring. "Do you, in your heart of hearts truly believe that you could be of help to Fairy Tail, regardless of your lack of magic?" Makarov asks, seeking to test the will of this strange man.
Brand lets out a sigh. "I have magic. It's not magic from this world, however. You see, I am not from around here. I don't use magical energy the same way you do. Instead of constantly using, transforming, and expelling Ethernano, I simply take power from within myself and let it out. I need about eight hours of rest to be able to fully replenish my supply, followed by one hour of focusing on all the spells I want to cast for the day. If I don't do these things, I will continue to use spells from the previous day's preparations."
Makarov looks to Gray. "You saw what he did to your ice, right Gray? Perhaps we should test his full capabilities before making a judgment." Makarov starts walking towards the hall, unlocks it and enters. "We'll have you fill out some paperwork. Then you'll show us what you can do." Brand smiles at the last comment. "I look forward to it."
Entering the guild hall, Brand sees a bit more than what he'd thought he'd see. More of the members were still inside, rather than at home. One of them was standing at the jobs board, staring at it. Makarov gets on top of the counter at the bar. "Get up, all of you! We've got a day ahead of us!" The hall groans in response. Brand and Gray walk to the counter, Brand sits at the bar while Gray stands behind him.
"So… paperwork is the first thing you want me to do? Is part of it the bills from Natsu destroying parts of towns?" Brand asks, trying to break the ice. He pulls a pen from his robes. The pattern moving through his robes changes from flames to snowfall. "I'm ready to get started." Makarov places two piles of paperwork in front of Brand.
"The pile on the left is documentation for becoming a citizen of the country as well as the paperwork for becoming a member of our guild. The pile on the right is unfilled copies of our damage reports and filing from this last week. This is your first test." Makarov stares at the robes Brand is wearing. The temperature around him changed a bit with the design, getting warmer. Almost as if the flames from before were to ward off all other heat and now that it changed to snow his body heat was being let out.
A woman with light blue hair in an orange dress walks to the counter. "Master, don't you think that's a bit much? He's a new guild member, so why is he being tested like this?" She looks worried. Brand looks at her, revealing his gemstone eyes.
"Sorry. I'm sure he'll double-check all my work once I'm done to ensure that what I'm doing would endanger the guild in any way." Brand's words seemed to calm the woman as his eyes turned back to the paper. Brand started writing through the paperwork faster than most could see. The papers were flying one by one through the air, making another neat pile to indicate filled and empty pages, each getting filled completely each time they crossed the threshold between the two piles. The pages stop with one remaining. Brand hesitates. "What should I put down for my country and town of birth? I don't think the council will take it lightly that more people are coming from other worlds."
"Just put down that you don't know. It's better if you leave out any details of your homeworld. We don't want an investigation about you. But that doesn't mean we won't ask about it ourselves." Makarov says with closed eyes. Brand leaves an X where it asks about peoples' births and nationalities. It made sense, as he knew the penalty for lying on these kinds of documents and that wasn't technically a lie. "The year is x800, right?" Makarov nods and Brand writes in the full date wherever it was needed.
Once Brand finished the paperwork for himself, he looked at the stack of paperwork that was for the damages of the last week alone. "How? How is there so much damage? From one group within a week? Even the dragon's back home weren't this destructive!" Brand stares at Makarov for five seconds. "Now you see what I do for this guild?" Brand and Makarov sigh. Brand starts to wave his hands to cast a spell, but Gray grabs his shoulder.
"What are you doing right now? You're not chanting, you're not using any magic circles, and you're certainly not using any magical equipment besides that pen! So, what are you doing with your hands?" Gray is visibly upset by the way Brand was moving.
"I'm using a spell called Telekinesis? I just don't want to use still spell thoughts right now so I can gain your trust." Brand says, pushing Gray's hand off and beginning to cast his spell again. Gray watches intently as the pages make a sort of wall so Brand could see all of them at once. The pages began to get filled out, from the earliest to the most recent. That wasn't bothering Gray, what was bothering him was that the pen moved as fast as he could watch it go through the words.
"Please verify the information contained within the pages." Brand says, giving the stack to Makarov with a smile. "It should be accurate to the amount that is due. Please tell me if the numbers are off at all." Brand turned to Gray. "I don't use Ethernano at all. I told you. If need be, I could start to learn the magic of this world as to calm you. But that would mean growing a first and second Origin. No telling what would happen after that. What kind of wizard would I become, I wonder?"
Gray sighs. "I guess I finally figured it out." A black mark started to move on Grays' arm. "You smell like a demon. You don't use our magic and you don't use Ethernano. That logically means you use curses, which only demons here use. Tell me, are you a demon? If so, who the hell created you?" Brand looks offended and annoyed.
"The only demons from this world I know about are the demons of the books of Zeref. Otherwise, you'd have to talk to the mountains of demons I killed back home. One of them was a demigod." Brand glares at Gray. "I have a feeling that part of your distaste for me comes from my name. You're an ice wizard so it's only natural that you'd hate somebody whose name translates to fire."
"That's enough out of the both of you." Makarov says. "Your words and numbers are flawless for what I myself would place. It's time we tested your abilities. What kind of magic would you say you use?" Makarov looks at Brand intently.
"If I had to say… evocation? I use some illusion, conjuration, I know some necromancy. But if I had to say my best magic, it'd have to be universal epic magic." Brand states all of this out loud. The woman from before looks at him curiously.
"Hey, I think it's time for introductions. I'm Levy, I use solid script magic. Would you mind letting me know what exactly universal magic is?" She put on some red glasses. "If you have a tome of it, I'd love to read-"THUMP. A heavy book hits the countertop, the cover reads 'W.I.S.H'. Brand looks at Levy, who is baffled at the size of the book.
"That is my spellbook. Its name is W.I.S.H, Wild Intelligence Sorcery Harness. It contains all manners of universal magic from my world. This means that it contains spells that can create other spells, spells that can do things that would normally be considered evil, but make them be dome in a good way." Brand starts his exposition.
"So it breaks the laws of magic where you're from?" Levy asks, concerned. "It is the law of magic where I'm from. There is only one spell that isn't in that book, and I do not wish to speak of it, I also hope I never have to cast it again." Brand opens the book. "Entertain yourself with all of those. Just don't get carried away."
"Well, it would help to have somebody like that in our guild…" Makarov starts placing the paperwork in boxes to send in for approval. "He's undetectable and has magic that nobody else seems to know how to use. That says to me that he'd fit right on in here. He's been completely honest with us."
Brand Smiles. "So, it's all just a matter of time?" "I suppose so." Gray says. "But we still have to see what this WISH actually does. I'll fight you to figure it out." Brand blinks. "I'm not going to fight you. Right now, my robes are making me immune to all cold. May that be weather or the most potent ice spell. I am simply immune to it as we speak. I can change it to something else if you'd prefer. But no, I won't fight to show you all what I can do. Instead, I will cast a spell that can bring the dead back to life. I will also remove any curses that would be on their souls."
The hall fell silent. There were many glares at Brand. A few hopeful looks and one fearful gaze. The only one who didn't turn was Levy, who was consumed into the rules of WISH, learning exactly what Brand had meant by what he just said. "Guys, it's not dark magic. It won't cost the lives of anybody. I will simply recreate their body, then bring their soul back into it. After that, I will break any enchantment or curse or what other affliction they might have. They'd have all their memories, even from when they were a ghost, if ever." Brand defends his words, though it may be too late.
"… You mean that? You can bring the dead back from death and remove anything wrong with them?" A young woman with dark blue hair speaks, her brown eyes filled with hope. "Is it limited to humans?" She asks, her voice filled with air and hope.
"It isn't limited to anything other than the fact that it had to be mortal and is now dead." Brand replies with a smile. "You want the Grandeeney back?" Brand let his information digging secret out by accident. "Because I can bring back the dragons that people ask me to. Which would be a good thing for the world, as it seems to have adapted to the idea of having a few dragons about."
"So you'd just let their sacrifices be for nothing!?" A voice comes from the entryway. A man with pink hair, a white scarf, and a fire in his belly enters the hall. "You'd make them suffer our deaths or make us suffer their death again! There's nothing truly good about that!" Fire coats the man's hand. "Even if there's nothing wrong with the intentions and nothing bad about the act, there would only be a loss in the end! Choose your next words carefully, or else you might get hurt!"
Brand looks at the fire on Natsu's hand, a force that could break parts of his current body. "You could get the answers you never got from him yourself. You could have experiences that you wouldn't have otherwise. Because it's not about inevitability, it's about what could be between now and then."