AN: Hey everyone! This story officially has more chapters than the original! Yay! Finally! Took close to a year to get this far, but I'm ultimately proud of myself.

Chapter 22 Right and Wrong

The trio had found the homeless shelter within no time. Once they did, and Morality was absolutely certain that his new friend would be safe and taken care of, the traits made their way to a restaurant (it had been a while since any of them had eaten, and besides, Determination felt it would be a good idea to talk to Morality in a comfortable environment away from the snow). As they all sat down, Determination took note of Morality's expression. He looked rather… on edge. Determination didn't quite know how to explain it, but he seemed to constantly be checking over his shoulders. It was almost as if he was expecting to see someone, or perhaps felt like things weren't right. In some ways, these looks made Determination feel nervous too. However, he pushed those feelings to the side and just allowed himself to relax. A conversation with Morality would be a lot better if he was less tense.

"So," Determination said. He adjusted his position in his seat, looking right at his brother's trait as he sat directly across from him. "Morality. This, uh…" he hesitated, looking over at Musical for help. What he wanted to say was a bombshell if he had ever seen one. Placing the information of who Morality really was right on top of him was, at best, bound to cause him emotional distress. Determination really didn't want Morality to experience that, as evidently, all of Morton's traits have been through a lot already. "I…" he took a breath. "There's something you need to know. About yourself, specifically." He tapped his foot. "You are… well, see, you are…"

"A personality trait of Morton Koopa Jr."

Determination did a double take. Both he and Musical gawked at Morality, with the former feeling unsure if he had even heard that correctly. "You… wait, you know?"

"I do," Morality said with a nod. He placed his hand gently on top of the table. "I got split up from my other traits because of my brother Iggy." He frowned, looking down at the table now. "What he did wasn't right. It wasn't right at all."

Musical snorted. "Can't help but agree with you there. Iggy kinda went a little nutso when it came to the Personality Splitter."

Morality chuckled. "Yeah." He sunk a little into his chair. "Unfortunately…"

Determination, despite Musical's nonchalant reaction to this, was still having trouble wrapping his head around everything. "Wait wait wait." He leaned forward, looking Morality right in the eye. "How do you know this? Iggy said that you might have amnesia as a side effect from the split!"

A chuckle came out of Morality's mouth. "Yes. Might. I know that some of Morton's other traits got amnesia because I was able to tap into them." A sort of pride appeared in his features. "Fortunately, I was one of the lucky ones. I kept all my memories."

Determination took a few minutes to comprehend all this. When he finally did, he let out a breath of relief. "Well…" he chuckled, looking into Morality's eyes. "That makes our job a lot easier!"

"Mmhm." Morality nodded, looking at the two other traits with a certain quality to his features. It kind of looked like relief, not too dissimilar to the relief that Determination had felt just a few minutes prior. Unfortunately, right as Determination was about to fully appreciate that, Morality's face fell again. He looked scared now, and he even lifted his hand and bit down on one of his fingernails. "I, uh… I'm really glad you guys found me." He faced them, a certain dread present in his eyes. "When I woke up in World 3, I got really scared. I was worried that I wasn't going to survive." He shivered, even though the restaurant was pretty well-heated. "And…" He gripped his hand into a fist. "I really can't see how Iggy thought this was a good idea. I mean, since when is harming someone considered a good thing?"

Musical blinked. "You think the split was Iggy harming you?"

"Yeah!" Morality didn't even hesitate when he said this. "Morton can't exist as five different people! No one can live as five different people! You guys know this; you're traits of Ludwig yourselves!" He trembled. "He used us as guinea pigs. He did something beyond cruel, all in the name of doing some sort of twisted experiment." He bit his lip. "What he did was horrible. And the fact that he did it so quickly and efficiently makes it even worse." He swallowed a lump, probably one made out of vomit. "He might as well have murdered Morton if he was so insistent on affecting his quality of life like this."

Determination and Musical exchanged a look. Determination in particular thought about these words a lot, dissecting them and analyzing them. This… what Morality was saying made sense. Sure, Determination never would've thought about Iggy's actions this way, but his position made sense. Doubly so because he was someone's moral compass, someone's sense of right and wrong. Who could blame him for this position? Who in their right mind would say that Morality was incorrect for saying and thinking this?

The answer to that question was Determination. At least, to an extent; he didn't disagree with any of Morality's words, but he did have a side to the story that Morality didn't have. A side that he was going to tell Morality about right now.

"Yeah, it is bad." He fidgeted with his hands under the seat. "But Iggy did it for a reason." Morality blinked, leaning forward as Determination continued talking. "He wanted to find out the cause of Morton's depression. He… he was pretty serious about that, and he probably believed that splitting Morton up into his five core traits would be the best way to accomplish that goal." He held up his hands. "That doesn't make it right, but that is the position of where he was coming from."

Silence. Morality's face morphed into a look of discomfort. "I… woah." He frowned. "He…" he lifted his head. "He was actually worried about Morton's depression?"

"From what I've observed, yes."

Morality's jaw dropped. "Holy nachos." His eyes grew wide. "I… I thought he wouldn't."

"Wouldn't what?" Musical asked. "Wouldn't care?"

Morality slowly nodded his head. "I didn't think anybody would care." He bit his nail again. "I didn't want to bother anyone with that problem, because I knew it would just make things a lot more complicated. But…" He looked like he was going to pass out. "Oh my goodness, he actually cares!" A small smile grew on his face, and he even shed a tear. "I can't believe it…"

Determination nodded. "Yes. Iggy may be a major nutcase, but he certainly cares." He held out his hand and took Morality's, stroking it with his thumb. "We all care."

Morality sniffled. "That's… wow."

"Yeah." Determination slowly pulled his hand away, all at once thinking about Morality's words. How could he not think that his own siblings wouldn't care about this? On some level, that seemed stupid to him; Determination could say with full confidence that, if Ludwig had been aware of Morton's mental struggles, he would have done anything and everything in his power to help out. So, just because of that knowledge, Determination could easily see that this viewpoint that Morality for some reason held onto was false. But that begged the question… why would he have it in the first place? Where did he pick it up; was it from the internet? Was it from an actual person? If so, who would be psychotic enough to tell a young teenager that their depression didn't matter? Furthermore, who would tell them enough times to get them to believe it was morally wrong for them to talk about it? That wasn't just a wrong thing to do; it was a horrible thing to do! It was actually, legitimately evil, more evil than Bowser could ever hope to be!

"And we're going to show you that we care," Determination said. He looked Morality right in the eye, wanting to show him that what he was about to say was one hundred percent true. "We're gonna take you back to Bowser's Castle and get you comfortable. We're gonna make sure that all your needs are met, and we're gonna make sure we get Morton's Depression back to the castle in one piece too. Then. we're going to do everything in our power to make sure that you never feel isolated again. We're going to make sure that you know (instinctually know), that we won't turn a blind eye to your struggles. We're going to help you, Morality." He smiled. "We're going to help you, Morton."

Morality looked stunned. He looked at Determination, then at Musical. The latter nodded his head, smiling in one of the most reassuring ways possible. Both of Ludwig's traits had the exact same position on this issue, and they wanted to show Morality that this was the case beyond a shadow of a doubt.

And, thankfully, it seemed to work. Morality sniffled. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand while happy little whimpers came out of his mouth. He didn't say anything, just allowed himself to let out tears that were years overdo. Determination liked watching this, watching his brother shed years of strife away. On some level, it was therapeutic to him. No doubt it was therapeutic to Morton too.

"Th… thanks, you guys." He let out a little laugh and looked them both in the eye. "Seriously, thank you!"

"Of course." Determination looked back out at the snow again, frowning when he saw just how thick it was getting. "Um… we'll start heading home once this snowstorm clears up. Flying through this mess would just be a hellish experience." He stood up, and Musical did the same. "Come on Morality; let's go find a hotel to stay in for the night."

Morality rose to his feet too. "Yes, of course!" Right at that moment though, the waiter came up to them with their food orders. Morality laughed at this and playfully slapped his forehead. "Oh, doy, we need to eat first!"

Determination laughed. "Yes, we do." He gestured for Musical to sit back down, and he followed suit. "Can't deal with a snowstorm on an empty stomach, let me tell ya."

Morality nodded, picking up his turkey burger. He sniffed it before taking a big bite. "Oh my word, this is good." He smiled and wiped his mouth before taking another bite. "I'm gonna leave the waiter an extra large tip. I think that would be the right thing to do."

…

Similar to when he was waiting for Roy and Lemmy to return with Chattiness, Iggy waited at the door. He kept looking at his phone, reading through the texts that Ludwig's traits had sent him. This was a practice he had done for the last six hours, not because it calmed his anxiety and impatience, but rather because he just couldn't help himself. The sooner all of Morton's traits could be found, the happier everyone would be, after all.

Letting out a grunt, Iggy typed into the textbox. Are you guys close? Please tell me you're close!

We're getting there, Determination typed back. Don't worry Iggy.

Iggy sharply exhaled. "'Don't worry Iggy?' Does he even know who he's talking to?" He shook his head and put his hand to his head. "Oh, dang it," he breathed out, realizing he was getting the beginnings of a headache. "I really need to take some Tylenol…"

Thankfully, just as Iggy was about to head to his bedroom to retrieve the pills, the Castle door opened. Iggy's face lit up as he saw both of Ludwig's traits as well as Morton's trait come in through the door. Determination looked at Iggy with a mischievous grin.

"Okay Iggy, we're back. You can stop worrying now."

Iggy put his hand to his chest and let out a breath. "Yes, indeed." He looked at Morton's trait, taking note of his white starbite and shell. "It is a pleasure to see you, Morality! You have no idea."

The second Morality set eyes on Iggy, he froze. He looked like he was going to run away as he looked at his older brother. "Oh. Uh… hey Iggy…."