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Disclaimer I do not own Fairy Tail. Why would I be writing fanfiction if I owned something like that?

Beta Reader: volfwildman

I had caught a ride on the train to the large town of Werson which was around the area that Keen had last been seen. Once in town, I had promptly headed straight to the local Rune Knight station and asked about Keen. They seem off-put by my demeanor, understandable considering how my current state of mind looked now, but they had provided the info I wanted.

It seems like Keen Adams as been rather busy lately. Moving from town to town, spending a good amount of money before moving on. When the murderer would run out of money, he would target a very successful establishment at whatever town he was in at the time and refill his coffers then move on.

With the info in hand, I went to a magical vehicle shop in town and rented a magic motorcycle. It cost a good amount of money, but I really didn't care right now.

I needed to find him.

Over the course of a few hours, I visited town after town that Keen had visited had asked around about the criminal. With each town visited I felt closer and closer to finding him but with that time I started to wonder what I would do. The truth was that I didn't know, I just wanted to find him and then I would decide what to do.

And I would find him.

I had just arrived in the town of Silvermill and I could tell that something had happened. There was a general feeling of despair in the air, people seemed to have a bit of a frown as they walked on the streets.

I ended up asking one of the merchants on the side of the road about it. "Oh, if you must know some mage just robbed the mining company that owns the silver mines in town. Took off with a bunch of money and now the town is going to have some economic problems soon as a result."

I absentmindedly nodded at his words as my mind focused on the first part of what he said. A mage robbing the most successful place in town. "Do you have any idea about the magic this mage used?" The merchant seemed surprised at the edge in my voice but quickly replied.

"Not sure really. I heard it created a loud noise and destroyed anything it hit." Sounds like Blowback magic, the murderer's magic. "Where did he flee to after he robbed the company!?" At my rushed words the merchant raised an eyebrow before pointing towards the hills to the north of town.

"He went over to those hi-" I started moving as soon as he pointed and soon his words faded out of my hearing. I put the magic motorcycle in a safe place and made my way towards the hills. There was a large area that I had to cover and as much as I'd like to use the bike to make things move faster it was too dangerous using it in those hills with no roads.

I explored the hills for a good hour or two before coming across a trail. At this point the sun was falling towards the horizon and night would soon take over the sky but I keep moving forward. I couldn't stop not when I was so close to finding him.

The trail I found was basically footprints in the mud at the base of one of the larger hills. I followed them for a few minutes before they lead into a clearing that was to the side of a large hill that looked like a stone wall, at least from this side of the hill.

I barely paid attention to any of that though as I stared at a man at the base of the stone wall, sitting on a big rock while counting some jewels. He had nice looking clothes if a bit messy, some faded blue jeans, dark purple t-shirt and a black leather vest over it. From what I could see he had small little scars all over his body and face. He appeared to have a bit of a crooked nose and very long messy dirty blond hair.

Keen Adams.

I had found him. Now what? I knew that I had to bring him in but another feeling in my mind told me to do something else. It told me to kill him.

I tried to ignore that part of my mind, but it kept whispering in my head, kept whispering my father's name. Soon those whispers started to get louder and louder until it was all I could hear. Anger did not come to me but that was fine, I didn't need it to do what I was going to do.

As I start to walk the logical part of mind told me to us an illusion to sneak up and take him by surprise. I didn't listen, right now I was beyond logic and reason.

If I could see myself while I walked into that clearing, I would have seen my face, inhumanly neutral and devoid of emotion.

Along with my eyes, cold and emotionless.

(3rd Person Battle Pov)

Keen had been having a rather nice day so far. Ate some great food for breakfast and lunch before he ran out of money. The place where he had collected some funds had been rather generous with their donation too.

So when he saw someone walking towards him and a bad feeling welling up in his stomach he figured that his good day would end soon.

"HEY! You better get out of her bud, you don't want me to rough you up." Bishop just keep walking until he was in the middle of the clear and just stared at Keen. Said criminal was finding the new guy to be rather annoying right now, even if he was slightly nervous after seeing that cold expression on the newcomer.

"Last chance man. Leave or you're going to get hurt!" Keen stood tall with his words trying to give off an intimidating presence. But it was undercut when Bishop spoke, "I am Bishop Vern."

Keen was starting to get rather unnerved right now but refused to show it. "And I should care why!?" Keen didn't know anybody named Bishop, though the last name he felt like he knew from somewhere.

"Son of Derek Vern." At those words Keen froze, he definitely recognizes that name. Suddenly the coldness was making a lot more sense now. "Look, dude. I didn't mean to kill hi-" Before Keen could even finish Bishop moved.

A saber appeared in Bishop's hand from his hammerspace as he ran as fast as he could to cut the one in front of him. He was just 5 feet away from his target when he heard a shout.

"Violent Repellent" As Keen shouted the words he raised his hand and a wave of concussive force shoot out of it as a boom filled the air. Bishop found himself being knocked back several dozen feet thanks to Keen's Blowback Magic.

"I don't want to do this man! I'm sorry for what I did ok! I regret it even now!" Bishop simply stood as Keen shouted at him. It appeared the attack had knocked some sense into the Illusionist as the logical part of his mind finally broke through the whispers and took control.

He near silently whispered both "Vanish" and "Mirror Image". As Bishop disappeared a false copy took his place, and he slowly moved towards the criminal, trying his best to repress his magic. The fake Bishop just stood there and stared at Keen.

"It was a mistake ok! If I could go back and prevent it, I would! WOULD YOU STOP JUST STARING AT ME!" At his last words, Keen violently stomped his foot into the ground, at the same time, a bit of Blowback magic was activated causing a small explosion to happen from the stomp.

From the explosion, several decently large chunks of rocks shoot outwards. Bishop stopped to make sure none of the chunks hit him but found that to be the least of his worries. A large chunk found itself hurtling toward the fake Bishop and before the real one could send a mental command the rock passed right through the fake.

Both Bishop and Keen paused when the rock just passed through the fake and for a good second or two both just stood still taking in the implications of the event. Bishop was the first to break out of the pause as he started to run towards the thief hoping to cut him before he did something. Unfortunately for the Fairy Tail mage Keen found himself unpausing shortly after.

Keen throw both his arms out and proceed to shout out a spell just as Bishop was about to attack. "Raging Shockwave" a violent concussive force shout outward from Keen from all directions and hit Bishop. Said mage found himself once again being thrown back several dozen feet but was able to keep his Vanish up through the impact.

"An Illusionist? Damn, that's annoying and stupid! Good thing I prepared." With those words, Keen held out his hands and took a moment to concentrate. "Momentum's Sonar" As those words were said, more concussive force was sent out in all directions from Keen but this time slowly and it stopped to form a 30-foot-wide dome all around the criminal.

Bishop was just getting up when the spell was cast, and he looked up to see the new dome all around his opponent. From the dome and the spell name itself, Bishop felt like he had a good idea of what the spell did. He tested his idea out by picking up a small rock by his feet and throwing it to the side of the dome.

The second the rock hit the dome it lost most of its momentum and started to fall but soon found itself being destroyed when Keen thrust his arm in the pebble direction and shouted "Violent Repellent"

Bishop watched as the pebble was turned to dust. His theory was right, that spell made not only a barrier to slow down enemies but acted as a way of detecting enemies you couldn't see. Rather smart. The Illusionist soon started to think up ideas about how to get through it.

"Listen, dude. just walk away ok? I'm sorry about your old man I really am but you're really starting to piss me off. So just leave!" Bishop just ignored the shouting and focused on the task at hand. After a dozen or so seconds of thinking an idea came to him.

Keen was just about to shout again when he saw his opponent appear about 50 feet away from him. Said opponent just stood there and stared. "Fuck off man! Stop staring and leave!" At the thief's word Bishop moved but not away from Keen but towards him.

Slowly Bishop walked towards the violent mage. "Dude, stop!" Bishop just kept walking and was nearing the dome. "I will hurt you if you touch my barrier!" Keen pointed his hand towards Bishop but the illusionist just keeps walking and was just about to cross the barrier.

"I warned you!" "Violent Repellent" along with those words a powerful force shot out of the criminals' hands and hit Bishop. What happened next caused Keen to freeze.

The concussive force hit Bishop but the illusionist refused to lose ground but that wasn't what cause Keen to freeze. It was red flying from Bishop's body from the gaping hole in his chest that cause Keen to freeze. Both stood still for a moment as both men just stared in shock at the wound.

Bishop let out a cough of blood before falling to the ground as the life left his eyes. Keen's eyes widened as he rushed to the Fairy Tail mage. "Fuck Fuck FUCK!" Keen stopped talking for a moment once he reached the body and knelt to the corpse.

"This can't be happening again! It just can't! Come on please just stand up! How did thi-" Keen stopped talking as he felt a very sharp pain in his side. He looked and saw a sword tip piercing his side and followed the sword's blade to its user.

Bishop stood beside the thief as he stared down at the Blowback mage.

"How." Said Keen slowly as he looked towards the corpse. From behind him, Keen heard the words "False Death" being said as the corpse seemed to slowly start to fade into nothing. At that moment the criminal realized what has just happened and tried to act.

Keen tried to get back to his feet and cast a spell but the second he stood he found himself wobbling and struggling to stay standing. He found his legs doing a little dance to keep himself up and his mind slowly started to be affected too.

The Blue Waltz was just taking effect and Keen soon found himself slowly losing consciousness. The criminal pumped his magic through his channels to fight off the poison, but it was too late and the only thing that did was buy himself a few more seconds.

Keen ended falling to the ground on his back. Just as he was about to fall asleep he let out a little chuckle before saying. "Guess you got me, dude."

With those words said Keen's eyes close and sleep found him. The battle was over.

(Bishop's Pov)

I let out a sigh as Keen fell unconscious. The fight had been rather annoying, the criminal was rather creative in his use of what should have been a very straightforward magic. In the end, though I had won.

As I looked down at the fallen opponent, I felt the whispers from before start to come back. They had been pushed down by the logical part of my mind for the battle but with said battle over the whispers come back full force.

The more and more I looked at him the more the whispers spoke. I felt the logic part of my mind fight it but it was slowly losing just as my saber was slowly being lifted and pointed to the murderer in front of me.

Even now I felt no sadness or anger, just like when Dad died. This would prove I had loved him, right? I couldn't shed tears, but I could shed blood. And the blood of the thing in front of me would be perfect.

I felt a cold wide inhuman smile carve its way on my face as I raised my sword into the air. So close. This would prove it right? That I did feel love for my Dad? That I wasn't a twisted unfeeling Monster?

That I was Human?

Just as I was about to plunge my saber into its flesh another part of my mind spoke up. Logic had failed to break the whispers, but another part was pushing them away. It felt warm, like a nice cozy campfire. Was this…. My emotional part of my mind.

Images flashed through my head. Mom, Cana, Gray, Erza and even people like Makarov, Macao, and Wakaba. All of them flashed through my mind. Along with a single thought.

What would they think?

I took a step back from Keen, I found myself gasping for air as I haven't breathed for the last dozen seconds. I put the saber back into my hammerspace as my mind finally seemed to calm down.

I had almost killed him. One of the most horrible things to do considered by most people and I was about to do it.

I shook my head a little as I felt my usual neutral tone take its place in my mind once again. I need to get back to town, it was almost dark, and I need to bring the thief back before he woke.

With that mindset, I put Keen on my shoulder and was off.

I had arrived back in town just as night had set in. While the town had no Rune Knight station it did have a jail. I paid a quick visit to the jail where I had made sure the criminal had been thrown into the only magic resistant jail cell.

I quickly went to a nearby hotel and paid for a night. The second my body hit the bed I was asleep. Soon I was awake once again and all I could do was stare at the mirror in my room.

I knew I should be heading home, Mom and the others would be very worried. I just needed to stop by the town of Werson and drop of the magic motorbike and ride the train back home.

But I couldn't stop staring at myself. At the person who had almost killed yesterday. I just keep thinking back to that moment, to the whispers. What had been those whispers? Where had they come from?

In the end, it didn't matter though, I just keep thinking back to that moment.

After a while, I decided to head to the jail. The jailer had been surprised that I had shown back up and had been nice enough to allow me to see the thief in private. The second I entered the part of the building that had the magic jail cell I heard him.

"So, you didn't kill me." Keen was laying on the ground while leaning against the wall. He idly messed with his handcuffs as he looked at me. I just looked back, not sure what to say. I was just scared that I would hear the whispers again.

In the end, I just asked him a question. "What happened?" Keen looked at me in confusion before speaking up "What do you mean what happened man?"

"You said you didn't mean to kill my Dad. What happened?" At my question, Keen seemed to lose a little of his bravo. He let out a sigh as he looked to the ground.

"I had just started out ok. I had no money and no place would give me a job because of all the stupid stuff I did as a kid. I planned to steal and hurt people, yes but to kill people? Never man. When I went to that fancy hotel and was told that they had no rooms I thought if I just ruff them up a little, they would find a room. What happened was a complete accident."

He looked up to me as he continued to talk. "You'll probably never forgive me, but I really didn't mean to or even want to kill him. I have regretted what I did every day of my life since then. If I could go back in time and do anything, I would have stopped myself. For what it's worth I'm sorry man."

I just stared at him as he finished. I just keep on staring while he stared back. The man in front of me was a criminal and a thug but not a monster. He was human.

I turned to the side and went to head out of the room but just as I was about to leave I stopped and looked back. "You're right. I don't forgive you." And with that, I was out of there.

I was just about to head out of town on the bike as I reflect on everything. I might have not forgiven him, but I didn't kill him either. I had felt guilt, satisfaction, and even fear. All of that proved I was human, not a monster.

Right?

AN: Well that totally didn't have me questioning my mental state. Hope the fight came out well and as for the whispers and all that. I'm just going to flat out say that they are a side effect of Bishop's mental problem that's becoming more pronounced now that he's feeling emotion. Bishop's worse fear is the thought that one day he'll end up becoming an emotionless monster that kills without thought, we saw some of this in ch3 and after ch10 he gain the ability to feel fear which has caused all of this to come forward. Or at least that's what I'm going with.

Thanks once again to volfwildman for being a Beta. He just recently redid ch3 of his Naruto self insert and it's a lot better than before so go check him out. Also, thank you to Mr. Writes-a-lot for his messages, it was nice talking with you man. And a thank you to Priatt for leaving a review that just made my day.

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