Episode Jacob: Chapter 1: Abode

Chapter 1 of Jacob's story

A Name

Is A Strong Identifier

It Singles You Out

To the World

But How Do You Respond

When It Stands for Two Ideals?

 

 

 

Two Months After the Graduation of Team JCTB

 

The Kingdom of Mistral

 

The Former Strohl Residence

 

 

 

Jacob slashed at another wall and began searching through the planks inside for anything.  But there was nothing.  Not a single hidden book or file or anything of the like.  The Kingdom had already seized most of the possessions of his father and mother after the battle of Vytal, and he had already gone through each of them.  But he could never shake the feeling that there was something else.  Something more that his father had hidden away from him.  Like the fact that he was a member of the Order of the Four Seasons.  The fact that he was attempting a coup to try and take over for himself.  So many things happened in a few short days, that Jacob tried to push that out of his mind for the rest of his schooling.  After his final battle with his father, he didn’t even set foot in Mistral so long as he could avoid it.  The authorities ransacked the house looking for answers about the remains of the Order and asked Jacob to consult on the process, but he declined to set foot in the house stating that “it was too much” instead offering to go over the findings back in Vale.  But after his graduation and his friends all went off on their own journeys, he felt like he needed to put this last piece of his history behind him.  Without the authorities, without his friends, just himself and his resolve.  The house itself while having been cleaned out by authorities didn’t sell it to new owners right away, wanting to wait and see if Jacob wanted to hold onto it as he was listed as the primary heir to his parent’s estate.  But he kept deflecting.  Refusing to say a word.  He normally opened up to his friends about many things, but this time he seemed to simply revert back to how he was during his freshman year.  For reasons unbeknownst to Jacob, the house wasn’t sold and was left in the same state as when the authorities ransacked it looking for answers.  There was furniture covered in drape, tables turned over, the usual ruin of a house in this state.  But for some reason, the walls hadn’t been touched.  They were still as solid as the last time that Jacob had set foot in this house.  So that was the first place he looked.  He tore through the walls, the ceiling, the floor, every place that could have potentially something hidden.  And this was a big house.  One of the few built high up in the mountains near Haven Academy.  Jacob had already spent several hours combing through walls and floors but had yet to find a single thing.  And he was still on the first floor.  He cut through one last wall by the back door, and searched through yet again to find nothing of interest inside the walls.

“You know, there are easier ways to deal with this kind of investigation” a new voice cut in.  Jacob turned around and saw Pyrrha Nikos, his cousin that while he had mended some of the old wounds of the past and was on much better terms with had not reached out to in regards to this particular task.

“Leave me alone” Jacob said as he continued to rummage through the walls.  “I told my teammates I want to do this alone.  No friends, nothing like that.”

“First off, I’m not even sure you didn’t ask your friends for their help in this situation, and second, I’m even more surprised you didn’t ask for my help.  We’re family Jacob.  And I for one want to know why you’re tearing up your old house after I’ve fought so long to keep Professor Lionheart from tearing it down.”

“You held off demolition?  Why?  I don’t care about this place.”

“You never relayed that to the authorities.  You just told them to stop bothering you about it for four years.  So they defaulted to me as the closest relative of yours and I told them to search it but leave it standing.  And here you are, destroying the walls and the floors as if they didn’t use scanning technology to find anything out of place in the walls or the floors?”

“You don’t know my parents.  My father would have had some secret piece built into the house itself so that it wouldn’t have shown up on scanners.”

“Everything your father owned related to the Order was taken to the forensics lab years ago.  It’s probably locked away in storage.  If there was anything to find, it would be there.”

            “What makes you think I haven’t looked there already?”

            “The fact that the records state the last time those pieces of evidence were handled was right after the initial investigation?”  Jacob finished rummaging around behind the wall, and groaned after finding nothing once again.  He then got up and brushed past Pyrrha and headed upstairs.  Pyrrha sighed and followed him up the grand staircase.

            “If you finally want to process what happened, fine” she said reaching for his shoulder.  “But I think it’s better if you had somebody to help you process everything.”

            “What, like you?”

            “If you wanted me to, I can help.  And I do want to help.  They were my family too you know.  But your teammates are the ones you have bonded with over these many years.  I feel like you could stand to benefit from being with them.”

            “If I wanted people here, I would have brought them” Jacob said as he shook off Pyrrha’s hand and started cutting into the wall.  “But I don’t, so leave me alone.”

            “Jacob…..” but before Pyrrha could finish, Jacob held up his hand to silence her.  He then reached inside the wall and brushed off a bit of dust to reveal a wooden safe built into the foundation of the house.

            “My father was always paranoid” Jacob said as he pulled out some of his smaller kunai to try and pry the door open.  “When I was growing up, we were constantly moving.  Constantly changing homes.  Never staying in one place too long.  He always told me it was because he was trying to give me the experiences of the world so I could become the ultimate Huntsman.  Now I see it was just because he was just running from being found out he was in a secret society determined to take over the world.”

            “And what about your mother?”

            “What about her?”

            “Jacob, you barely mentioned her after what happened all those years ago.  Every time that incident comes up, you always shift the conversation to your father, never mentioning your mother.”

            “He’s the one who went neck deep in the Order, so he’s the one that I will ensure didn’t leave anything behind that could destroy the world again.”

            “He was planning a coup, not an invasion” Pyrrha said as she pulled out her own spear to help Jacob pry the safe open.  “If we’re going to find anything in here, it’s probably going to be unmarked bills or emergency passports or…..” as Pyrrha continued to list off possibilities, the safe hinges cracked and the safe flew open.  Just like she predicted, there were several bills and documents lying around inside it.  Everything needed in case the family needed to leave in a hurry.  But there was something else.  A small flash drive with a small note on it that read “For Jacob” on it.  Jacob pulled it out and plugged it into his Scroll.  After a few moments, an image of Jacob’s father appeared on the screen.

            “Greetings my son” the voice of Peter Strohl suddenly boomed through the speakers.  Jacob winced at the loud volume and quickly turned it down.  “If you are watching this, then I am dead.  And either you managed to do the impossible and defeat Lord Mortem in battle, or he is victorious, has found this tape and is using it to mock you as he begins his reign of terror.  If he has won, then what I am about to tell you is pointless.  But if you were victorious, then listen well.  The Order has several contingency plans set in case they are ever defeated and exposed to the world.  The first plan if they are discovered is to launch their global operation to cripple the world under the foot of the Order.  But if that were to fail, there are others.  The most likely of these programs is the Olympus Has Fallen Program.  Nobody truly knows what Olympus is, the history is that some ancient member of the Order thought it sounded like a grand city or kingdom never before seen on Remnant.  But I digress.  As I was preparing to overthrow Lord Mortem, I made sure to have insurance to make sure that if found out, I could keep my head long enough to keep you and your mother safe.  I failed to keep your mother safe, but hopefully you are still alive and can create a better path than I ever did.  But enough moping.  To what I have hidden.  In each of our old homes, I have hidden several different tapes and hard drives each containing critical information about the Order and its contingency plans.  Hidden bases, weapons caches, politicians they have on their payroll, etcetera.  There are four tapes total.  You’ve already found the first one as it is embedded on this flash drive that I have provided.  This drive in particular lists safe houses that the Order have hidden all over the world, as well as businesses and organizations that will harbor them if need be.  You know where we lived, so you will find the rest at those locations.”  With that said, the video ended, and revealed the files that Peter was talking about.  Jacob clutched the phone in anger and turned to leave.

            “Where all have you and your family lived?” Pyrrha asked as she began to pull out her Scroll.  “I can call ahead and get a search party to investigate knowing what we know now…..”

            “I’m doing this alone” Jacob said growling at Pyrrha.  “If my old man wants me to go on some crazy scavenger hunt, so be it.  So long as it means we get closer to stopping the Order.”

            “Do you have an official warrant to search those houses?”

            “It’ll be just like this house.  Empty and abandoned, I can just waltz right in.”

            “You can only waltz into this place because of the fact that it is the last house your family owned and as such the Kingdoms left it to you.  But a house in Atlas may have been taken over by a new family, or a house in Vale could have been torn down and so on.  Face it: you need me to help mitigate some of the red tape that surrounds your family.”

            “The medal I got from Vytal alleviates me from all that nonsense.  I can do…”

            “And what will you do if there’s a family playing a board game on family night and you come in and start breaking down their walls?  Let.  Me.  Help.”  Jacob sighed, then motioned for Pyrrha to follow.  She strolled up next to him and made a few quick calls.

            “Where are we heading first?” she asked.

            “Mantle” Jacob said taking a deep breath.  “The second place I ever lived.”

Author's Note

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