Kai sat on the steps of the apartment home and watched as vehicles passed by with the hood of his hoodie up over his head. He sat there in thought. He wanted to believe Kyle. He really did, but he was tired of empty promises. Tired of being disappointed. He knew Kyle was only human, but no parent should be this bad at keeping a simple promise.

He let a tear slip as he thought back to before his mom left. To simpler times when his family was actually happy. He missed those days. Even the ones after his mom took off to hide with the sword. Kyle was the best father in the world. In his opinion that is. He looked up to his father, even when it was obvious to the four year old he was at the time that some, if not most, of Kyle's money was dirty to some extent. He still looked up to him.

Now? Now he wasn't so sure. He was tired of the lies and the broken promises. He was tired of his broken family. A mom that left to protect them, a father that was framed for a crime he didn't commit just so he'd have his kid taken away, a grandfather who wouldn't let him have a relationship with his dad, grandparents that were abducted when he and his infant aunt at the time were playing, and all the damn lies.

Lying to his aunt for all these years about being her brother, Kyle lying about leaving the criminal world behind, and him... Lying to himself and the world around him about who he was inside. About the monster he truly was. Did he really think he'd be able to move on with his life and keep the monster caged forever? That no one would find out?

Now he finds out that he's the grandson to the OVERLORD for crying out loud! Information he wasn't so sure how he felt about really. He wished he'd known all along, maybe that information could have helped in the past some how, but at the same time he wasn't so sure he was happy about knowing. Ignorance is bliss as they say, and right now he wished to be ignorant.

He wasn't sure how to handle everything that was happening. It was all so fast. Kyle turning back to crime, Eris showing up, getting together with Lloyd, Kyle turning on him, finding out about his hidden element, getting kidnapped of all things, reuniting with Iris and Molly, meeting Polly after only ever hearing about her since they were kids, seeing Zayn again, finding out about his maternal heritage, what Kyle just told him inside....

He felt like he was going to burst.

Everything was one after another and he didn't know how to handle it. He was so used to just bottling everything up that he didn't know how to just vent. Not properly anyway. He hadn't felt this pent up in years and the last time he did... Well... What happened as a result is what got him kicked out of Darkly's.

He was scared...

of himself.

He could feel his blood rising and the desire... NO... the need for the feeling of freshly spilt blood on his hands growing stronger as his anger, fear, resentment, and confusion piled up. He knew the monster was close to breaking out of it's cage and he didn't know what to do.

The emotions swirling inside from the story he just heard from Kyle and the promise Kyle made that he couldn't trust just made it worse. He felt his hands twitching with excitement from the memory of the last time he went crazy in a rage fueled, bloodlust filled rampage. He licked his lips as his mouth salivated in excitement. The look in his eye was that of a predator anticipating it's next hunt as he started watching the people on the street.

He tried to keep himself on the step and was about to fail as he started slowly rising when the door suddenly opened and he looked back to see Lloyd.

"Kai? Are you alight? I know this must be difficult for you." Lloyd said as he came to sit by his lover and Kai eased himself back down, mentally thanking the green ninja for distracting him from his self destructive and murderus thoughts. "Y-yeah... I'm alright." He said as he rand his hands over his legs. "I just needed some fresh air to think."

Lloyd nodded and leaned his head on Kai's shoulder, relaxing against him. "I just wanted to make sure and to remind you that you can talk me if you need to. I'm always here for you." He said and Kai smiled before gently grabbing his hand. "Lloyd... You are my clarity." He muttured inaudibly.

"What was that?" Lloyd asked, not catching what Kai said. "I said that just you being here helps. I feel calmer when you're with me." Kai replied with a smile and Lloyd snuggled into him more. "Awe, Kai! You're to sweet, but thank you." He responded and Kai chuckled softly. "No, thank you. I love you." Kai said and Lloyd hummed merely. "I love you too."

~•~

Iris sat on the roof of the monastery as Wu and Eris looked for her down below. She sat just on the other side of the steep, remaining out of sight as she looked out over the desert. She was supposed to be meditating with her father right now, but she chose to remain hidden.

She sat there, alone with her thoughts.

She wasn't sure what everyone was expecting of her. It's true, her other self had yet to show herself since she started meditation, but to Iris that just meant it was only a matter of time. She didn't want to hurt anyone again. The guilt she felt from the past was suffocating enough.

The closer she got to everyone, the more and more she regretted agreeing to leaving her mother's old cabin. At least it was remote and she didn't need to worry about hurting or killing anyone when the other Iris came out. She had no memories of what her other self does when she backs out, but based off what Kai and their friends from Darkly's told her, she should be glad she doesn't.

She was a living case of Dr. Jackle & Mr. Hyde and she hated it. She hated herself.

She wished to be freed of the fractured mess that was her own mind and she was getting desperate for solutions. She was tired of being terrified of herself. She was scared to even sleep because her other self would wake up then too. It was traumatizing.

Just as she began to silently cry to herself, she felt a small gush of wind the warmth of a presence beside her, but she didn't look up from where she now had her legs pulled up in front of her with her face in her hands and her forehead against her knees.

The person who sat beside her just wrapped a muscular arm around her, pulling her in for comfort as they set their chin atop her head lightly. "Just let it all out." Whispered Morrow's voice in a soothing tone and Iris just started to sob as she started to clutch onto Morrow's shirt, crying into him as he just held her.

They stayed like that for a few hours, Morrow letteing her just cry it all out as he gently and soothingly rubbed her back while whispering small words to soothe her. He didn't know why she was crying, but he was still determined to calm her and help her work through whatever it was.

When she finally finished and had run out of tears, she pulled back and looked up to him as he looked down at where she was now leaning against his chest. "Do want to talk about it? Getting whatever it is off your chest will help." He said calmly and she nodded, not taking her eyes off his.

"I just... I'm not sure what to do." She started as she let her eyes fall and just leaned the side of her head against him. "I'm sure they already told you about... my problem." She continued as he started petting her hair to help keep her calm. "Yeah, Master Wu explained it to me." He replied softly.

"I don't trust myself. I keep thinking; What if I black out again and seriously hurt someone again? What if the other me kills one of you guys?" Her breathing hitched a bit. "What if she hurts or kills my dad? What if I black out again and never come back? What if-"

"What if you successfully leatn hoe to control her?" Morrow cut her off. "You can't be continuously doubting yourself Iris. You'll just tear down your own will power. You don't want to black out again? Then fight for it instead of doubting yourself." He continued in a tone of finality before putting a hand under her chin and lifting her face to meet his eyes. "You are strong enough to do this." He said as she just stared in surprise. "You're perfectly capable of doing anything you set your mind to Iris. Just stop doubting yourself and shoot for what you desire. Let yourself be selfish and don't stop to think about us. We're trained in fighting and most of us are elemental masters. So what if you black out? We can defend ourselves." He urged and her eyes welled up with more tears.

"It doesn't matter if you're looking at the glass half empty or the glass half full. At least you aren't going thirty." He added with a small chuckle and she smiled as a tear slipped.

"Thank you, Morrow. That.... No one has ever said that to me before." She said, more tears falling as she spoke. "If you ever need reminding, I'm here." He said in response, a smile sitting on his lips that was turned up towards the left and she nodded with a grateful smile before hugging him.

He returned the embrace as he placed a reassuring peck on the top of her head. "I'm right here if you ever need anything." He whispered as they held each other.

~&~

A//N:
I hope y'all enjoyed this rather... In dept chapter. I wanted to take a dive into what was going on inside Kai and Iris's heads and show what was plauging their minds.

P.S. Song up top is one of my personal favorites and a song I feel definitely fits Kai & Lloyd's relationship in the universe of this story. Kai obviously being the perspective of the singer.

The OG of the song is by Zed Foxes and has female vocals BTW.