The Abyss Tower's Duel

The Abyss Tower loomed above the trio, its jagged spire piercing the darkened sky. Makoto, Ryu, and Lupin stood at its base, gazing upward at it. "He's here, I can sense him," Ryu murmured, his brow furrowed with concern. Lupin stood tall and stoic, his white hair catching the faint light. "Prepare yourselves," he warned. "The Abyss Tower is bound to be crawling with Warriors." Makoto, while still nervous, stood as tall as he could. "We'll get him back," he said, trying to sound brave. And so, the trio prepared for the ascent.

As the trio climbed the steps of the Tower, they noticed there were no Abyss Warriors at all throughout the whole Tower. "It's quiet," Ryu muttered. "Too quiet." They were at the tenth floor when Makoto had to stop to catch his breath. "Lupin, go slower!" He said. "We can't and you know why, Makoto," Lupin replied. Makoto reluctently continued, trying to catch up with Lupin's pace. As they continued upwards, Ryu seemed to sense something. His gaze kept darting from one side to the other, as if he thought they were being followed. Makoto looked behind them, but all he could see was stairs. Lupin stopped suddenly and looked behind them as well, but there was still nothing but stairs behind them. "This must be the Abyss King," Makoto said quietly. "He's messing with our heads."
Soon, the trio reached a large foreboding door - the door that lead to the Abyss Throne Room. "This must be it," Lupin said, clenching his fists. Ryu and Makoto nodded. The door was covered in intricate carvings. Ryu, who knew some of the Abyssal language, was able to decipher the following:

                                    "The Abyss King's Throne shall be occupied
                                                            Forevermore"

"'Forevermore'?" Makoto repeated as a shiver went down his spine. "That can't be good..."
Lupin nodded, his eyes narrowing. "'Gaze into the Abyss, and it will tighten it's grip on your soul'," he said, as if warning the others. "They won't give up Chihiro easily, so we must be prepared for anything." Ryu nodded, clenching his fists, his brow furrowed.
With cautious hesitation, Makoto reached out to try and push the door open. However, though he had barely grazed the surface of the heavy stone, a creak echoed through the hall, and slowly, the door opened, revealing the man who had captured Kaerainus - The Abyss King.

"You! You took Chihiro!" Ryu shouted, his voice filled with anger. The man responded with an evil chuckle. "Yes, I did. And what do you plan to do about it?" Ryu clenched his fists, but didn't attack. "Give. Him. Back," Ryu demanded through gritted teeth. "If you want your little friend back, you'll have to get through me first," the Abyss King said taunted an evil laugh. Lupin signaled for Makoto to stay back, and prepared to fight. But Ryu held his hand up and said "No. This is my fight." And so, the fight began.

The battle began, and with it, a flash of steel and robes as Ryu dodged the Abyss King's strikes. The Abyss King quickly swung his blade, aiming for the vital points. Though he missed them, Ryu dodged with a slight graze. For a moment, Ryu was frozen, instinctively touching the slight cut on his cheek. 'What's going on with me?' Ryu thought frantically. 'Why can't I move??'. The Abyss King's evil laughter echoed throughout the Throne Room. "See? You have no chance against me!" Just then, Ryu muttered something under his breath, angering the Abyss King. "What did you just say?" He demanded from Ryu. A sarcastic and sudden "Hm?" was Ryu's reply, which angered the Abyss King even more. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" The Abyss King shouted, his voice reverberating against the walls with fury and madness. Ryu scoffed, and, seemingly appearing behind the Abyss King in mere seconds, said in a voice that escalated in volume, "I move mountains as easily as pushing you into the ground!"
With this, Ryu quickly used a martial arts technique to slam the Abyss King, back-first, into the floor of the Throne Room and pushing his sword away into a wall.
"Well, not bad, Dragon," the Abyss King chuckled as he stood up, brushing off the dust from his robes. "But, can you defeat your own kin?" In an instant, the Abyss King and his sword disappeared, leaving Ryu confused. 'My own kin? What did he mean?' Ryu pondered. Suddenly, he sensed something behind him, and when he [turned quickly], he saw that it was Chihiro!
"Chihiro?" He asked in disbelief. "How did you—" But Chihiro cut him off, saying:

"You're too late."

Ryu was shocked and hurt by this sudden anger and distance in Chihiro's voice. Then, Chihiro assumed a combat stance, and said "Let's get this over with quickly."

Ryu couldn't believe what was happening: Chihiro was standing in front of him, yet he wasn't there. He answered, yet he didn't seem to hear a word Ryu said. Without warning, Chihiro suddenly charged forward, ready to strike. "Chihiro, this isn't you! Snap out of it!" Ryu shouted to him. "It's me your brother!" But Chihiro didn't listen. He stopped and stood still for a moment and said "You let me get captured. You don't deserve to call yourself my brother." Ryu couldn't believe what he heard. It felt like a stab to his chest. Then, without warning, Chihiro used a technique like the one Ryu used against the Abyss King to push him backwards against the door.
The impact shook him, but not as much as Chihiro's words had. A hiver went down Makoto's spine when he noticed what was happening. "Lupin," he whispered worriedly. Lupin nodded, understanding what Makoto had been about to say.

"He's been hypnotized."

Then, just as Chihiro was about to strike Ryu, a powerful glow emitted from Makoto's pendant and shot straight at Chihiro. When it dissipated, he seemed to have come back to his senses, because when he saw what he had done and was about to do, he staggered back slightly in shock. "R-Ryu?" He asked, his voice shaking. "Did I—" But Ryu wasn't angry at him. In fact, he stood up and walked over to him when he heard Chihiro call. "Ryu, I—" Chihiro tried to say, but Ryu cut him off with a strong hug. "What?" Chihiro asked, slightly surprised. "It's OK, Chi," Ryu said softly. "I forgive you."

Afterwards, the quartet made their way back to the road where they parted ways, the trio to the Apex Tower, and Lupin to his pack. "I must return," Lupin said. "Not only does my pack need my guidance, but your kind of Human doesn't understand me." Makoto nodded. "We understand, Lupin. Thank you." Lupin held out his hand to Makoto. Makoto smiled and shook Lupin's hand lightly yet with certainty. And so, with the Abyss King defeated, the trio returned to the Apex Tower with honor and happiness.