Truth or Lies?

Later that night, at around three o'clock in the morning, Naraku woke Makoto up suddenly. "Where are we going?" Makoto asked sleepily. "You'll see," Naraku replied mysteriously. Makoto was led into the same field Naraku had taken Chihiro to: luminous white lilies filling up the area. "What is this place?" Makoto breathed in awe.
"My garden," Naraku said mysteriously. "Now, there's something I have to tell you." Makoto looked at him, slightly confused. "What is it?" He asked Naraku. Naraku cleared his throat and began to speak. "The Apex want to put me in their dungeons," he said, his expression firm and serious. Makoto, slightly shocked by this sudden topic, asked "Why would they want that? They—" Before Makoto could continue, Naraku finished the sentence, saying "Don't even know me, I know."
Makoto stared at Naraku in confused silence. "Specifically," Naraku continued.

                                       "The Dragon, Ryu and the Seeker, Chihiro."

Makoto stepped back in shock. "W-What?!" Naraku nodded. "And the Son of Warriors, Shiro," Naraku continued. "There's something he's not telling you." Makoto couldn't speak from the shock. Everyone he had come to trust in this world, according to Naraku, had been lying to him all along. 'It can't be,' Makoto thought frantically. 'They wouldn't do that, right?' "Of course, you don't have to believe me," Naraku said nonchalantly, holding up his hands as if to shrug it off. As Makoto tried to steady himself, Naraku said something in an unknown language...

                                                           "Intuere Abyssum,
                                             Et vinctum tenebris animam tenebit.
                                                            Intuere in Apicem,
                                                       Et liber eris ex tenebris."

This made Makoto look up, slightly confused. This language sounded like the one Shiro spoke; in fact, it was so similar, Makoto started to think that it might be the same language.
Suddenly, before Makoto could ask what this chant meant, the enviorment began to swirl and blur. Then, in mere seconds, he heard someone calling him. Someone he knew. At first it was hard to tell what they were saying, but then he began to understand what they were saying and who they were.

It was Shiro.

"Makoto! Makoto, wake up!" Shiro said, breaking through the darkness clouding Makoto's mind. "Huh?" Makoto managed to say, still hazy. "Shiro?" Shiro gave a sigh of relief as Makoto sat up. "Gratias agere astris," he said in a hushed voice. "Are you OK, Makoto?"
Makoto, remembering all the things Naraku had said, managed to say "Uh, yeah." Now, he wasn't sure who he should trust. Shiro seemed to be genuine, but he couldn't read minds, so how could he know for sure? 'Naraku can't be right about this,' Makoto thought. 'Ryu and Chihiro... and Shiro...'
"Puer," Shiro said. "Something's bothering you." Makoto looked up at Shiro, slightly shocked at how he could tell what was going on. "N-Nothing's bothering me," Makoto said, his voice uncertain. Shiro chuckled a little. "Everyone has something that bothers them; even I do," Shiro said with a slightly melancholy smile. "Really?" Makoto said slowly. Shiro nodded, averting his gaze. "Makoto?" Shiro said quietly. "There's something I want to tell you." Makoto leaned forward, confused at Shiro's expression's sudden change. "What is it?" Makoto asked quietly, sensing the solemnity of this conversation.
"When I was ten," Shiro began, choosing his words carefully, "I lived in this small village with my father, who was the leader of said village. I remember, there was a... tall, imposing tower close by that I wasn't allowed to go near." Keeping the details vague, he continued. "One day, my father learned of these... strange people from the tower. They were planning something... threatening," Shiro said, his voice wavering slightly. "I overheard it from my father discussing it with his most trusted guard. That night, my father sent me off to the Apex Tower with only the clothes on my back and an ancient scroll in the Astrian language." Shiro stopped for a moment, then continued. "This memory, it resurfaces every now and then. I... I still have no idea what he was trying to shield me from, but I haven't once lost trust in him, and that's why I decided to learn Astrian; so I could learn about the Chosen One from that scroll."

Before Makoto could react to these words, Ryu and Chihiro approached the scene, completely unknowing to what had just happened. "Morning~!" Chihiro piped up in his usual cheerful tone. "You two were up early!" In almost an instant, Shiro's demeanor shifted to the friendly side of himself as he greeted the brothers. "Salve. Makoto and I just finished talking," Shiro said with a now unnatural-looking smile. Makoto, trying to match Shiro's sudden shift, replied slowly "U-uh, yeah... just random stuff..."
Ryu, noticing Makoto's uncertainty, furrowed his brow. "Shiro," he said, suspicion in his voice. "What exactly were you two talking about?" However, Shiro's facade didn't fall even slightly as he replied "Nothing, just the Principissa and a bit about the Abyss." Ryu turned to face Makoto and said "Makoto, be honest: is this true?" Not wanting Shiro to get in any trouble, Makoto nodded hesitentlly, seemingly confirming Shiro's words.
"Speaking of the Princess," Chihiro said, remembering something. "Her Highness summoned us four to the 'Silent Room' to hear our thoughts on the Abyss!" Chihiro's eye's shone with curiosity as he spoke. Ryu nodded. "Yes, that's why we came to look for you," he said, his voice slightly eager. Hearing this, Shiro put his hands together and, with a subtle smile, said "Well, we can't leave her waiting, now can we? Let us be off!" The others gave a collective nod, and the quartet began walking up the palace to the Silent Room, a mixture of curiosity and uncertainty in the air.

When they reached the Silent Room, they entered quietly to see that the Princess was already inside. "Ah, you're here," she said as she greeted them with a small smile. "Come in, we shall begin."
The quartet, now inside, sat across from Iduna at a rectangular table. The curtains had been pulled over the windows and the door shut tightly. Iduna, her expression now serious, leaned forward. "Alright, I will ask you each what your views on the Abyss are, and you must answer honestly, understood?" She spoke in a commanding yet hushed tone. The quartet nodded. "Alright then. Yamamoto Ryu, begin," Iduna said, nodding to Ryu. "The Abyss is a band of thieves; they do not know words like 'honor' or 'rectitude'," Ryu said, his expression firm. Iduna nodded, any emotions she may have been feeling concealed. "Alright. Next, Yamamoto Chihiro," she nodded to Chihiro who returned the nod silently. "The Abyss," Chihiro started, clasping his hands together to remain calm, "is, as my brother said, a band of thieves. They're always watching, even when we think they aren't. That is the reason the Apex Paladins, such as ourselves, must continue to train, and to defend the people of Eldoria."
Iduna nodded, a hint of a smile peaking through her composed demeanor. "Alright," she said as she turned to face Shiro. "Kamiyama Shiro, begin." Shiro nodded slightly, and, without any hesitation, began.
"The Abyss is a dark force that must be defeated before they take any more of Eldoria than they already have," Shiro said, and while he didn't hesitate a single time, Makoto noticed some kind of secrecy in his voice that Iduna seemed to either not notice or ignore. "Makoto," she said as she turned to face him. "Begin," she said, her expression certain, as if she believed his answer would be the right one, whatever that meant to her.

Makoto cleared his throat, and took a deep breath. "The Abyss is..." Remembering everything that they had been through, Makoto picked his words carefully. "They're... strange. They'll go to any length they have to to get what they want, but... certainly, they must have a human side to them, right?"
Ryu, Chihiro, and Iduna's expressions were shocked at this, all on different levels, with Iduna being most shocked. "I-I mean," Makoto stuttered, "P-Probably not, but if they did, would it be, like, OK if we... um... tried to find a different way to end the war?" The three's expressions remained unchanged. Makoto, starting to worry that they'd all leave him for crazy, tried to changed his answer. "I just think that... well, um... you guys don't want to fight, do you...?"
Just then, Ryu stood and said "Of course we don't want to fight, Makoto. But the fact of the matter is, the Abyss won't stop, so we have to."
Makoto stood and turned to Ryu. "B-But Ryu, they're human, too!" He pleaded. "There must be at least one of them that—" But before Makoto could finish his sentence, Ryu grabbed Makoto by his shirt collar. "The Abyss are MONSTERS, Makoto! How much more SUFFERING does Eldoria have to go through for it to get through your THICK SKULL?!" Makoto couldn't speak from the fear that ran through him, though he tried. 'W-What's going on with Ryu?!' Chihiro's mind raced, trying to find an answer. Iduna got up ran behind her chair to shield herself from whatever had taken over Ryu.

"Ry—" Makoto tried to speak, but before he could, Ryu slapped him right across the face, forcing him to the ground. Before anything else could happen, though, Shiro ran up behind Ryu and held him back, though Ryu fought back. "Ryu, desiste!" He shouted, trying to change the course the situation was going down. "Shiro, let me GO!" Ryu screamed, practically gone mad. Iduna hurried over to Makoto to help him back up. "Makoto, are you alright?" She asked, concern evident in her voice. Though he couldn't speak at that moment, he did his best to nod 'yes'. Chihiro ran to in front of Ryu and use some kind of spell that seemed to calm him down. "Ryu, calm down," he said quietly, an eventually, Ryu calmed down enough that Shiro could let go of him. Ryu's eyes reflected a mix of confusion and regret as he took a few steps back. "Ryu," Chihiro said, placing his hand gently on Ryu's shoulder. "I'm not angry, but please come outside with me, OK?" Ryu glanced over at Makoto, then nodded to Chihiro slowly. As the brothers walked out of the room, Iduna went over to Makoto. "I'm sorry, Makoto," Iduna said quietly, concern in her expression. "I didn't think that talking about the Abyss would lead to all this." Makoto shook his head and managed a weak smile. "It's OK, Iduna. I wasn't thinking, and I went overboard with that."
With Ryu and Chihiro out of the room, Shiro silent, and Iduna leading Makoto back to the guest room, Makoto's mind whirled with unanswered questions as he went over the recent events. Though he still had no idea who he should fully trust, he decided he was going to make things right again.