Order of the Black Roses

Chapter 1: Welcome to the Order

I looked out the window of my new room to gaze at the city below. It wasn't the biggest city, but it certainly seemed that way at times. There were lights that spanned from one side of my eyes to the other, the cars looking like toys from back when I was a kid. The skies were beginning to grow dark, and a little bit of orange light hit my eyes.

I took a look at my room. It was dark, and kind of lonely. A bed which... wasn't bad, but wasn't good either, a desk, a counter, and a t.v. The bathroom wasn't all that big either. I walked into the bathroom, making sure my long brown hair was out of my face, , and straightened my blue tee before going back out.

I opened my two suitcases, and began removing my clothes and organized them into the drawers, shutting them with a firm 'thud'. Next came my photos: Me with my dad and sister hanging out at a park, annother me of me helping my girlfriend making a deck, and another one of us at the docks at Starlight Beach. I stared at them, memories coming back to me for a bit, before I set them on the desk.

There was a knock on the door, “Solider Smith, are you in here?” Came a yell at my door,

“Yes SIR!” I responded with a hup, and opened the door, saluting. My eyes scanned his wrinkled face, to the cropped black hair, and finally to the badge on his shoulder that marked him as a Rose Paladin. “ Easy, this isn't the army. You don't have to salute here. Come with me, Mr. Smith. You're uniform is ready, and you'll receive a tour of the order now.”

I nodded my thanks, and he began leading me down the hall, I passed other people wearing more or less the same uniform: Almost all black, with different color trimmings, and a silver lapel on the shoulders.
“Are you aware of The Order, Mr. Smith?”

“Only that everyone has a mandatory 1 year stay once they hit 18.” I replied

“Are you aware of the signers, Mr. Smith?” He asked, and I shook my head. “Its been about a century since the events leading to this happened. Every few thousands of years, an ancient seal breaks on the king of the netherworld's prison. When that happens, five signers are chosen by an ancient deity known as the crimson dragon. It is their job to find and seal the agents of the nether world. Each Signer had a dragon: Black Rose Dragon, Stardust Dragon, Red Dragon Archfiend, Black-winged Dragon, and ancient fairy dragon. They succeed in sealing away the dragons, and began making this world a better place.”

“I...am sorry, but that's a lot to take in, let alone believe at once.” I admitted, m brain fighting to wrap itself around this concept.

My guide smiled, and we took a sudden right, coming up to what I already knew was an important room, because the doors were bigger than usual. As soon as we walked inside and took a few steps, dim red lights appeared on the glow, with increased in brightness slowly, to reveal a sort of a temple, witch partly explained why the building with 6 stories tall. My guide made a motion for me to go up the stairs leading up. A took a breath, and walked up to the top.

There was a young woman up there, encased in what seemed to be a crystal of sorts. She was beautiful... long, strawberry red hair flowing down, a red and black dress, with black gloves. Her eyes were closed, and she looked at peace. One hand was at her chest,, hugging a card, with the image of a black and red dragon. I saw here, and I forgot to breathe for a moment.

My tour guide walked behind me and looked at her, This is Akiza Izinski, one of the 5 signers, as well as her signer dragon: the Black Rose Dragon.”

My eyes shot open, “Why is she...?”
“In a crystal? No one knows for sure, or why shes in this dress. All of the signers ended up like this a few years after they finished their jobs. This was unprecedented. After a while, arguments began to leak out over the direction they should take the world in.

Eventually, ideas and arguments clashed, and the world was divided into five sections, each with their order, and each took one of the signer's crystals and placed them in similar temples like this. These orders are The Order of Stardust Nights, The Order of The Red Dawn, The Dark Winged Order, The Ancient Sancturary, and us, The Order of the Black Roses.

… We are at War, Mr. Smith. A five way clash for control of the world. Each section has their own ideas on how things should run, and its a battle of will. We're at a standstill now, but who knows when that fragile balance is broken?... Come, we've wasted enough time.”

I was speechless... how was I never told this before? Did you only learn this after enlisting? At any rate, I felt a shock down my spine at this sudden information, and we hung in silence till I reached a small room entitle 'Outfitters'

“There's five ranks here in the order. Solider, Warrior, Knight, Paladin, Hero. The better you do and act, the higher youll move up. You getter better accommodations as you do... Hey, Gin, mind setting up the new guy?”

A man rolled out from a wheelchair, surprising me. We had silverish hair, and he had something resembling a cigar in his mouth. “You Solider Smith?” When I nodded, he reached over, and handed me a freshly dry cleaned uniform. “You wont get any lapels or badges until you rank up, so not much to worry about there. Go change and let me look at it once youre through.” He said, pointing to a small curtained area.

I put the uniform on: Mostly black with etchings of sliver and dark red in it, with a large black collar. When I got out, he looked me over, then nodded, “Nothing too tight? Too loose?” Whe I sok my head, he rolled his chair to a cabinet, opened it, and tossed me a duel disk, with matched the suit, and it came with a deck. “There you go. Take care.” He s aid

The guide let me off in the next building, “Your meals are paid for, so there is no need to worry about that. Go on and grab a bite. There are lots of people there who know a lot, so just ask them if you have any questions.”

I nodded and said , “Thanks.” Before walking through to get in line for my tray: Mashed potatoes, Gravy, and some ham. Not a bad meal, in my opinion.

As I began looking around for a table – the place was pretty packed, I heard someone call out, “Hey, new guy!” I looked for the source, and found a few people motioning for me to come sit with them.
I sat down next to them, “Thanks.”

“Not a problem. We're all more or less new, so we knew what it must feel like.” Said the man who had waved at me. He had spiked up black hair and green eyes. Like me, his uniform had no lapels on them “Name's Brandon. Nice to meet you. These are my friends Frost, Lightning, and Blitz.” HE said, pointing to each one. I nodded to each one of them.

“So, what are you doing after this?” Frost asked. He seemed to live up to his name. I felt chills when he spoke, like it had suddenly gotten cold, though he was nice enough. “In the mornings we have drills, in the afternoon we duel and other stuff, but the nights belong to us, so long as me make it by curfew. We're all going to the movies later. Care to come?”

I nodded and said, “That sounds pretty good to me. I'm Tyler. Tyler Smith. Nice to meet you all.”

After we ate and laughed around for a little bit, we changed out of your uniforms and headed outside the building. Lightning, a young woman with dark red hair said, “Oh, I wonder if no ones actually said it yet.”

She turned around, holding her hand to the pitch black building they had just exited from, with large fields on either side of it, towering above the city below. “Welcome to The Order of The Black Roses.”