The Strange After-Effect

At the Apex Tower, the group went straight to the infirmary and got a healer to make sure Shiro was OK.
"He'll be fine," the healer said after using a spell on Shiro. "He just needs to rest."
Makoto gave a sigh of relief and sat down next to Shiro's bedside. "Thank goodness," he said to himself. Ryu, however, seemed confused for some reason. "This doesn't make sense," he muttered.
Makoto looked up at Ryu. "What doesn't make sense?" He asked.
Ryu tapped his chin with his knuckle, his brow furrowed. "It's just that... I know this isn't the best time to say this, but when you asked if we knew something strange about Shiro, I forgot one thing." Makoto leaned forward. "What was it?" He asked, curious, while also concerned. "You'll never catch him asleep," Ryu said, still tapping his chin.

"Now that you mention it," Chihiro began, "it is true. In fact, some Paladins say he never sleeps at all." Makoto looked at the brothers, confused. How could that even be possible; Shiro never sleeping? It made no sense. 'He'd have to be a robot to never need to sleep,' Makoto thought, but that gave him an idea that kinda scared him: what if Shiro wasn't a robot or a Human, but was some kind of Abyss creature that looked, acted, and sounded Human?
Just as he was thinking of this, Shiro sat up and looked around the room, confused and half asleep. "Makoto...?" He asked slowly. "Where's Hope?"
"Uh," Makoto stammered, kind of shocked to see that Shiro had already woken up. "He's still at your house, i-in the cellar." Shiro nodded and didn't say anything. Ryu moved closer to the bed and asked him, "Shiro, are you OK?"
Shiro looked at Ryu and nodded. "Just tired," he said blankly.
Just then, the Apex Master came inside the room. "Chosen One," he said, speaking to Makoto. "Where'sー oh, there you are, Shiro."
"Master?" Shiro looked at the Apex Master, slightly confused. "Wh... what happened?" The Apex Master moved to the side of the doorway, revealing that Hope was behind him.
"Pater? " Hope said slowly, some fear in his voice. "Are you OK?"
Shiro nodded and tried to smile at his young son. "I'm OK," he said, still somewhat half-asleep. "I'm just tired is all."

Hope nodded, and the Apex Master said he'd take Hope back to the house safely. "He just wanted to see you," he said to Shiro, who nodded. "That's alright," Shiro replied. "Just make sure he's safe." The Apex Master nodded before leaving with Hope.
After they left, Makoto walked around the halls, lost in thought. 'What happened back there?' He thought, thinking back to the fight with the Abyss King. Nothing unusual had happened just before, and Shiro's eyes always turned red when he fought the Abyss Warriors. But that time, he wasn't fighting with the same precise, flowing attacks; that time, he was fighting with a strange, rough, and dangerous motions that had no pattern to themselves whatsoever.
"I wonder what happened back there," Makoto mumbled just as he bumped into Arthenraed and Lupin.
"You guys?" Makoto said, slightly surprised. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."
"Makoto," Arthenraed said, "I know you might think this isn't a good time, but now's the only chance we have." Makoto looked at Arthenraed with a confused look on his face. "What do you mean?" He asked. "You need to ask Shiro the same question you asked him before," Lupin replied. Makoto's eyes widened, and he shook his head quickly. "No no no, I can't do that now!" He protested. "Shiro's vulnerable right now, I can't justー"
"That's exactly why you need to ask him now," Arthenraed said. "He might lie to you if we wait to ask him when this is sorted out, so we need to do this now."
Makoto knew Arthenraed could be right, but he really, really wanted him to be wrong. He didn't want Shiro to have some crazy secret that could ruin all their plans to defeat the Abyss, he didn't want to have to interrogate Shiro, he didn't even actually want to fight the Abyss at all; he just wanted to have a normal friendship with them all.

But he nodded slowly and walked towards the infirmary. When he got inside, Shiro was sitting in bed still, his expression kinda blank. "Uhhm," Makoto mumbled, not sure how to ask his question. And as he did, Shiro turned his head to look at Makoto almost right away. "Hm?" Shiro looked Makoto in the eye, though he still looked a bit tired. "What is it?"
"Um, Shiro," Makoto started, a bit startled by how quickly Shiro reacted. "I know this isn't the best time to ask, but I wanted to know if you're... I dunno, um... hiding anything?"
Shiro looked out the window, then down, then at Makoto. "Kind of," he said, in a surprisingly straightforward way. "It's Obscurus and Albus, they can't get along."
Makoto, still surprised at how easily Shiro was talking about all this, scratched his head. "Who's that?" He asked Shiro slowly, who replied, "I'm not sure how to explain, but Obscurus keeps trying to take control. I don't know anything other than that Obscurus hates Albus."
Makoto scratched his head again, even more confused. What was Shiro talking about? Who was Obscurus and who was Albus? What did Obscurus want? What did Shiro mean by "Obscurus wants to take control"? None of it made any sense.

Just then, Chihiro, Ryu, Arthenraed, and Lupin walked inside the room (luckily it was a larger room, so everyone fit inside).
"Makoto!" Chihiro said excitedly. "I found out how we can bring Shiro back to normal!"
Makoto turned to face Chihiro, surprised. "You did?" He asked, excited. "What do we have to do?" Ryu handed Chihiro a scroll he had been holding when they entered the room, and Chihiro opened it. "In this scroll," Chihiro said, looking for one particular spot, "it says we have to find the... the Chris- no, the Kristall d- the Kristall der Wied... Weidergeburt. Yeah, the Kristall der Wiedergeburt!" Makoto stared at him with pure confusion. "Wait a second," he said, holding his hands up and furrowing his brow. "The Kristal dear what?" Ryu shook his head, "no, Makoto, it's the Kristall der Wiedergeburt. Kris-tall der Wieder-ge-burt." Makoto face-palmed. "Nevermind, Eldoria has really confusing languages. Either way, what does it do, and how will we find it?" Ryu continued the explanation. "It's name translates to the 'Crystal of Rebirth'. It's found at the top of the Flame's Peak mountain, and it can heal spiritual and physical wounds alike."
"But," Ryu continued, "going up Flame's Peak is dangerous, because there's no places to set up camp, no Humans, and it's extremely hot at the top." Everyone looked at Ryu, worried.
"Well," Makoto said, "if it's the only way, it has to be done."
Ryu nodded, completely agreeing with Makoto. "We can get going tomorrow at dawn," he said, and Chihiro nodded to this.
But just then, Shiro leaned forward in his infirmary bed and said, "I'll come with you."
Ryu blinked twice, shook his head quickly, turned to face Shiro, and said, "no. You're staying here and resting." "I am rested, though," Shiro replied, pouting a bit.
Ryu shook his head again and sighed. "You fight the Abyss King, claim you're fine, then you FAINT, and a FEW HOURS AFTER WAKING UP, you say you're fine again," Ryu said, shaking his head again. "If you really think you can handle it, alright. But remember, I'll watch your back for you, just in case." Shiro smiled a bit and nodded. "OK," he said.

And so, the next day, Makoto, along with Chihiro, Ryu, and Shiro, began their trip to the top of Flame's Peak to find the Kristall der Wiedergeburt and fix whatever had happened to Shiro!

However, the night before they left, Makoto had a dream.

He was on top of a mountain, and it was boiling hot.

"Why is it so hot up here?" Makoto shouted at the boiling air, which only made it hotter.

Then, suddenly, a figure appeared behind him and said something.

"If you really are the Chosen One," the figure said, "then tell me why you can't use your full powers."

The figure had cat-like ears, and seemed to be holding some kind of weapon. But all of a sudden, before he could answer...

Makoto woke up.