Crimson Darkness Trilogy: Book 2 - Redemption

Chapter 1: In the Beginning

A monk had to take the vow of absolute silence, which forbade them from ever discussing the nature of the brotherhood to another soul. No women were allowed to join the brotherhood, although the change of this rule had been reviewed every once in a while but with no actual consequence. The first members of the brotherhood had believed women incapable of keeping secrets, and were always gathering to indulge in gossip and plot against each other. 

However, the world had changed and had bore witness to the most powerful women the brotherhood had ever seen rise. Nonetheless, most members of the brotherhood were old and did not take to liberal ideas. A few young members were added every three years and trained to become strong members of the High Order. 

After taking the sacred vow, they drank wine from the same chalice to symbolize their unity and that they were joined till death. There was no other way to leave the brotherhood. Any crime including deserting was punishable by execution, unless circumstances forced a hearing which was decided by the 5th Decree. 

Upon membership, each new entrant was assigned a code name in Japanese which they used to hide their identities if their messages were ever intercepted. All the brothers however, retained their real names in the world in order to blend in, though this tradition was starting to fade as some retained nicknames derived from their own names.

Taisei had seen brothers come and go, had lost friends and watched as rivalries formed and died in the brotherhood. Thinking back, he could not remember his early days as The Oracle, that part of his mind was shrouded in darkness. All attempts of medication and meditation had failed. 

His mind had simply refused to remember. .yet, it had had an easy grasp on everything else. He had watched four High Priests die and several Keepers of the Scrolls too. The 5th Decree was the tenth and The Gatekeeper the eighth. Time and time again, he had flashes in his sleep, memories of sorts. It was as if his subconscious was trying to tell him something. But it never came out as a conceivable concept. In it he saw a golden throne, a forest and a face of a woman he could not remember and then it would fade into the distance and a foggy presence blocked it all and woke him up.

He had gotten used to it. After each waking moment he would meditate, pushing away the nagging feeling that there was something his mind was trying to tell him. He was a man with no identity in the world. He spent all his time in the caves. His existence to the world would raise eyebrows and stir unwanted attention to the brotherhood. All he needed was provided. Over the years, the High Order had embedded itself in the world. 

From world leaders to the man driving the milk truck in the neighborhood, they waited and watched for any signs of trouble that might steer the world into discovering that the earth was not at all how it seemed. Some of the common folk would have frowned on this of course if they knew, insisting the world was ready to handle such things and it was just the High Order's way to gain control. There were already such protests from a group called The Panel who had made themselves known to the world as freedom fighters and liberals. 

They did not know who exactly they were liberating the world from, but they knew a secret organization or two was involved.  The High Order had taken care to gain more ground in the world and eventually set up an organization within the police departments around the world disguised as profilers in order to arrest and detain these activists. This meant hiring unsuspecting people as well to do their dirty deeds. 

Although they were nowhere near to getting close to comprehending what they were up against, they did pose as a nuisance at times when secrecy and undercover work had to be done. It was not always innocent work to protect the world, but it had to be done nonetheless. And many of the evil that the High Order had fought had been sent into the underworld domain known as Purgatory, which was a prison for the deadliest creatures known to the High Order.