Jacob’s grandfather was mostly silent for the rest of the night, as well as the next morning. Jacob tried to stumble through an explanation that night, but the elderly man waved it off.
“In the morning” his grandfather said, before grabbing a sleep card off the counter. He didn’t say another word as he made his way back to the couch; settling in and immediately equipping the sleep card. He was asleep in an instant, leaving Jacob unsure of what to do next. Jacob packed away the cards back into the remnants of the foil and left it on the kitchen counter, before walking to the back of the couch. He reached under it and pulled out the sleep pad he used every night, settling in himself before equipping his own sleep card. The effects of the card were heavy, forcing Jacob into an immediate and restful slumber. He woke up the next morning preternaturally refreshed, getting out of bed exactly 8 hours and 37 seconds after he had fallen asleep. No one knew why sleep cards added those 37 seconds. No one was really complaining.
Jacob’s grandfather was already awake when he got up, sitting at the table with a cup of tea. In front of his grandfather the 12 cards from the Shadow Pack were arranged in a line, where he was studying them. An inscrutable expression was on his face; he was deep in thought, and seemed troubled.
“Morning.” Jacob said, stumbling up from his sleep pad. His grandfather didn’t acknowledge him. Jacob stashed the pad back underneath the couch and moved to the kitchen to make his own tea. He found the kettle already lightly simmering on the stove, with a tea decanter dropped inside. Jacob poured himself a cup and savored the bitter warmth for a moment. He looked back towards his Grandfather, fully lost in thought, then glanced at the small clock that was hanging over the front door. 6:42 am. Just over an hour to get to the station for his 8am shift.
Jacob finished his tea in a single massive gulp, then rushed to get ready. He washed himself quickly in the basin before moving to the dresser to pull out his outfit. He wore the same Agency Officer standard uniform every single day: a pair of fitted black denim cargo pants with a pocket on the thighs of each leg, and a single shin pocket on the right side. This was paired with a basic undershirt, a loose white button down that he normally wore untucked, and a black tie that like the shirt hung loosely from his frame. How he wore the uniform was technically against regulations, but Station enforcement was lax. No one wore the uniform properly, and Jacob quickly adapted. He pulled on the final pieces of the uniform: standard black battle boots and an officer belt holding his badge, equip deck, and Agency sidearm, then checked the clock again. 7:10. Plenty of time to get to the Station. He began to move towards the door, when his grandfather finally spoke.
“Sit down.”
Jacob turned and looked at the man, who was staring at him. Jacob noticed a small rag wrapped around his grandfather’s right hand, and that his tea was only half drank. He joined his Grandfather at the table, where the elderly man kept staring at him.
“I take it you did more than just bump into the Order of Aman’thea yesterday.” Jacob’s Grandfather spoke softly “Given you now have one of their cards.”
Jacob recounted his encounter from the day before to his Grandfather, who sat quietly and listened. His grandfather’s hands were folded together in front of his face, covering his mouth. He didn’t seem disappointed or frustrated, remaining deep in thought. He nodded every now and then, and then sat silently for a moment when Jacob finished. He stood up after a moment and walked over to a drawer. His grandfather pulled it open and reached inside. There was a clicking noise, and the sound of wood scraping. A light latching sound followed, and his Grandfather returned to the table with a small box. He put the box down and slid it over to Jacob, who opened it delicately.
Inside was the dulled shape of his grandfathers Agency badge, a few awards from his time fighting the insurrection, and a small deck box with roughly 20 or so cards. The deck box was worn and battered, and as Jacob pulled it out he could already tell it held a mixture of government and shadow cards.
“When they first formed the agency.” Jacob’s grandfather began “The world was in chaos. The insurrection had just ended. A few years before that the portals opened. Cities were in ruins. Countries had disappeared. Islands had vanished and been created. Mountains moved. The world was fundamentally and literally changed. We were the second to form a card agency. The North Koreans were the first. No cards of their own, but they were the first. Wanted to beat the South, so they formed an Agency. We saw that and immediately formed one of our own.
Shadow cards were the reason. Officially they didn’t appear until after the insurrection. Unofficially, those cards in your hand got me through the war. We didn’t know where they came from, just that they appeared when the machines did. And that the Order of Aman’thea appeared with them. All of them wielding cards that looked like that.”
His grandfather pointed at the Card of the Gods on the table, whose dragon appeared to have turned its head to look at Jacob. Jacob looked at it, then at his grandfather. He opened his mouth to speak, but the old man cut him off.
“The dragon has been staring at you all morning. It’s head moves to follow you.”
Jacob swallowed heavily “I didn’t know that was possible.”
“Neither did I.” His grandfather sighed “When you asked me yesterday about the Order, I only told you half the truth. I never dealt with them during my time at the Agency; I did deal with them exactly once, in the military, during the battle of Star Mountain. They appeared in our encampment the day before the worst of it. Said they were looking for something. The guards that tried to stop them never recovered. Permanent burns over 50% of their body that never fully healed. The only thing that could turn them away was the shadow cards. But even those were no match for those sacred types.”
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“What happened to your hand?” Jacob pointed at the cloth wrapped around his grandfather’s hand. The old man smiled.
“The dragon did. Burned me the moment I tried to touch it.” His grandfather pointed to the deck box “Take those out, but handle them with care.”
Jacob pulled out the cards gently and began to shuffle through them. They were all in light protective sleeves; the Agency discovered in its early days that the cards didn’t need to make physical contact with the equippers to function, they just needed to be placed in the proper slot. Sleeves had become a popular way to provide some protection, though Jacob had never owned cards valuable enough to protect. The cards his Grandfather had hidden away were old, and clearly targeted towards battle. 10 creatures, 5 snares, and 5 spells. Not enough to get you through a proper duel, but enough to get you through a fight. The government cards were dingy and battered, but the shadow cards looked almost new.
Most of the government cards had since become standard issue. Basic creatures and snares designed to get you through most matches. His grandfather had one or two rarer cards, including a Major Water Lord Labubuan and an obscure snare called Battlefield Wormhole - the latter had been banned from Agency use due to the level of danger presented. It obliterated all creatures, snares, equips, and spells in use regardless of who cast them; many early Officer injuries were attributed to improper use. Despite this, it looked the worst for wear, like it had been cast more times than any other. Agents almost never encountered one now as the only machines that produced it were government ones, and they hadn’t manufactured any in over 20 years.
The shadow cards on the other hand were much more interesting. His grandfather had 5 total within the small deck, none of which Jacob had heard of. Many of the earliest Shadow Cards were known only by name, if even by that. Advanced documentation was only really possible a few years after the agency started. The early days were too chaotic. All of the Shadow Cards were water based, save for one. Unholy Tsunami, Avenged Water Demon, Eye of the Storm, and Crystalline Ice Rain; all were decently powerful, and made sense for where his Grandfather had served. He had fought the insurrection along the coastlines, securing ports and critical naval infrastructure that was needed to push back the rebel armies. The last one however was a surprise, and Jacob felt his breath catch again.
The final card gleamed and shone just as his dragon did, though the power he felt from it was significantly smaller in comparison. It had a symbol of a hand covered in mystical symbols on it, while sharing the metallic border and gleaming feel. Of all the cards in the deck this one somehow appeared untouched. The case it was in was just as battered as the rest, but the card inside was somehow pristine.
Hand of Aman’thea - Unlimited Equip - SACRED type - This equip can be stacked with any other. While equipped the power of your deck is equivalent to the power of your faith. Trust in the cards, and they will trust in you.
Mystical, vague, unusual. Just like the order which bore the card’s name. Jacob looked up at his grandfather in surprise, who smiled knowingly back at him.
“I was one of those guards. Unlike them, I recovered. Because of that.” His grandfather took a sip from his cold tea “My partner and I locked into a fierce fight with one of the priests. In the end it was a stalemate. The priest was winning, but daylight was approaching. Before he left he gave me that, and my burns recovered. He warned me never to tell anyone about it. Shortly after the battle the regulations on Shadow Cards were put in place. So I hid it away.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jacob looked down at the card again.
“You weren’t ready.” his Grandfather leaned forward and looked at Jacob with severity “These cards have power. Real, raw, unfiltered power. In the wrong hands they have erased entire countries. As far as I know, you and I are the only ones outside of the Order itself that have any. If the Agency finds them, they will confiscate them. What they do with them, who knows. Nothing good I would guess. The only way to keep yourself safe, is to keep them a secret.”
“How many other secrets have you been keeping from me all these years?” Jacob smiled as he asked, looking at his Grandfather with mock suspicion.
“Oh countless.” His grandfather replied, leaning back “I have a life outside this house you know.”
“Uh-huh.”
They both smiled at each other, before his grandfather became serious once again “Take those cards. They’ll help you.”
“I can’t do that.” Jacob put the deck box back where he had found it “These cards are too rare, too valuable, they mean too much to you.”
“Take them.” his grandfather reached into the box and pulled out the deck, pressing it into Jacob’s hands “There’s no one on this Earth I would trust to use them, other than you. And it’s not like they’re going to be issuing you a battle deck any time soon. A sacred card called to you. You were destined for them.”
Jacob hesitated, then closed his hands around the deck box. He contemplated it, then slid it onto his Agency belt next to his equip deck. He reached forward for the cards on the table, and his Grandfather pointed at the original box again. Jacob peeked inside, and saw a small pack of unused card sleeves. He gave his grandfather a sarcastic look, then pulled them out. He put the cards into the sleeves one at time, then slid them carefully into the deck box. There was a whirring sound as they were magically shuffled, then the soft sound of cards being dispensed. Jacob looked at the deck box to see two cards sticking out. He drew them, and felt power thrumming in his hands. He had drawn his two newest equips: The Hand of Aman’thea and Insight of Soul.
“I don’t know how you Officers do it now.” Jacob’s grandfather opined, sipping down the last of his tea. “But back in my era we put our equip cards in our equip deck.”
Jacob rolled his eyes, and slid the cards into his equip deck box. There was a soft sliding sound as the box accepted them, locking them in next to the government cards he had gotten last night. His equip deck was close to being full, but Jacob expected that to last only a day or two before he had used up last weeks focus pack. Agency Officers had become notorious for relying upon them, especially in their first years. He was no different.
Jacob looked over at the clock to check the time. 7:23am. It was going to be tight, but he’d just barely make it on time to the station. He got up and quickly ran his hands over his uniform, checking he had everything. Shirt, tie, badge, sidearm, equip deck, new deck. He nodded at his grandfather, then moved to the front door. He grabbed a light black jacket off the shelf where he usually left it, and opened the door.
“Remember.” His grandfather said as he was heading out “Trust the cards. Trust no one else.”
Jacob looked back and nodded at the elderly man. “I will.”
share it in the comments. I love hearing from readers about what they pick up and where they think the story is going. Pretty soon I’ll be asking questions in the polls that will directly affect how the story plays out, so also pay attention for those. As this story progresses, it should become more and more familiar to its readers, I look forward to seeing your guesses as to why. One element that I will give to you is that it is very intentional that Jacob’s Grandfather drinks so much tea. I wanted him to be an amalgamation of a variety of the older wise men characters we see in fiction, the tea is an homage to one of my favorite examples. I hope what you’ve been liking so far, and I look forward to seeing all of your guesses going forward about the elements I am including.
trust in the cards…
What type of Starter Pokemon would you choose
