The Masked Order

“You’re finally awake, huh? It’s been some time.” She immediately said while approaching me, then motioned for me to go back down into the room. “It’ll be easier to get comfortable in there.”

I obeyed her and went back down where I came up from, then plopped up on the bed and crossed my legs as Esmeralda went to sit on the couch all the way across the room. Giving me a look, I immediately got up and made my way over to her, then sat on the opposite side.

“So, where to begin, huh?” She began. “Well, you know the most basic stuff I guess, which is not much, truth be told. You know that strange things have been happening, but why exactly, and why us? Well, to be honest, these things have gone unchecked for too long, everyone here is a victim of some sorts, which is why we formed this organization.”

“Looks more like a cult.” I commented.

“Call it what you like, the point is, we all have faced the threats the darkness has to offer, yet no one in a position of power has done anything about it, government officials and politicians alike are keeping quiet, corporations ignore it entirely, and the guardians, who are supposed to be the peacekeepers, are utterly failing in the duties they have been assigned: Magical beasts and dark creatures are unchecked and are free to roam around as they please, harming civilians. Natural disasters are being labeled as “unavoidable” and people affected by them are not even being sent the bare minimum of reliefs, as they are apparently a “waste of resources that are better served elsewhere.” These bastards would rather fill their pockets than actually do something about all of this! Which is why we formed The Masked Order: To bring order where there is none. To bring back peace where the current one has failed.”

“Okay, but why are you called The Masked Order?” I asked cheekily. “I get the order part, but you don’t wear masks.”

“Good point, but masked order sounded cooler than hooded order, to be honest. Anyways, to get back to what I was saying, the point is, we can’t rely on these people to help us anymore, we can only rely on ourselves to stop this.”

“How do you do that?”

“I’m glad you asked, it’s simple: There are multiple angles to our operations, the first one is defense and protection, to protect innocents from these creatures that have been increasing in numbers over the years. The second is relief, since those aren’t provided by the actual people who should, so we have no choice but to take matters in our own hands. The third, and possibly the most important operation, is codenamed “Root”. The reason for this is because this operation exists to strike at the very root of the forces that have condemned this world, the roof of the darkness that has formed and caused a massive shift in the balance of Obrillis.”

I listened closely to her explanation, nodding every few seconds to show my interest and focus…yet for some reason, deep in myself, for a reason I couldn’t explain….I knew she was lying. There was something she was omitting, something big, and I knew it. It wasn’t anything she did that gave it away, there was nothing suspicious about her. But I simply just knew, like it was a well known fact that couldn’t be disputed. However, I decided to listen to her for now, and brushed that feeling of mine aside. Perhaps we would be in a different position had I decided to go for my gut instinct, but to this day, I still don’t know why I felt like that, at the time. It was like everything was wrong, and I’ve never felt that way ever since then.

She continued to explain in precise detail about each operation and what they entailed, and I kept listening intently, yet that feeling never went away. It remained there the entire time, I ended up slightly over exaggerating my facial expressions to cover it up, to show myself that I totally believed her and what she said was correct. Yes, it had to be, we’re here to save the world, save Obrillis, a noble cause.

Later, I ended up being assigned to defense and protection, in order to be trained and hone my skills. Esmeralda told me that perhaps with time, in a few years or so, I could be reassigned to roots, the main objective, if I proved myself capable. And so, I decided to work hard.

Every day, I would walk from school directly here, making sure no one I knew saw me. At first, I wouldn’t go on any missions, rather I would train under the tutelage of several different masters, each specializing in their own areas. These training sessions would make me suffer and would leave me completely sore, and when I got home completely exhausted, I would tell my parents that I’d be out running to gain some fitness, and sure enough, they bought it. If they paid more attention to me, they’d have noticed the different bruises I had every day.

Esmeralda was kind enough to heal the major wounds I would suffer in my training, but she made it a point to not heal the minor injuries, in order to get me to toughen up, but I never complained, because I wanted to show I was made for this, to prove she didn’t make a mistake recruiting me. I rarely every saw John or Henry, despite Henry being the leader of the relief operations and John leading the defense and protection faction, the one I belonged to.

After about a couple of months, after mastering many different forms of magic, I finally was able to go on missions. At first, I was sent against fairly weak and simple creatures alongside a mentor to help me. But the more I defeated these ones, the harder the missions I was assigned would get, which was exactly what I was looking for.

And finally, after almost a year, I was given leave to go on a dangerous mission on my own, without any help. I was trusted enough to take care of a dangerous creature by myself, and I succeeded with flying colors.

“Impressive,” Esmeralda remarked as I reported to her. “Perhaps you’re finally ready to be reassigned to roots.”

“I am.” I affirmed, prompting her to raise an eyebrow.

“You’re really dedicated to this huh?”

“Yes.”

“Very well, in that case I’m officially reassigning you to roots, effective immediately.”