Power and Money

Otis opened his eyes and looked at the familiar wooden ceiling of his room. His hands touched his soft mattress as he pushed himself up to start his day. Otis yawned and headed towards the bedroom door. He turned the knob and entered his bathroom. His eyes moved towards the clean mirror and a pair of green eyes stared back at him. The tan looking face looking back at him had sharp facial features, a thin nose complemented by a well defined jawline and perky cheeks. He had messy black curly hair on his face that fell right above his eyes. One could say he was rather handsome.

His body looked like it belonged to a healthy young adult. It was around six feet, and skinny but healthy with some faint ab lines showing. Otis reaches out his long slender fingers to pick up the toothbrush on his right. He put some toothpaste on it and began brushing back and forth. After brushing his teeth and washing his mouth he went to the kitchen and made some pancakes. Otis was not the best cook but years of living alone has forced him to learn a thing or two. He put the fluffy pancakes on the silver plate and walked towards the wooden table in the middle of the kitchen. The square table had four corners and each side had a chair. Otis sat in the same chair he did every morning and picked up the newspaper on his left. His eyes scanned down the newspaper and the paper ruffled as his fingers flipped through the pages. He took a bit out of his pancake and picked up the coffee cup to take a sip, when he put the cup to his lips-

Cough! Cough! Cough!

Otis started coughing as he read the next heading of the newspaper.

Hales City suffers major losses in the last battle with the purple forest.

Otis read the heading and desperately scanned down the rest of the newspaper hoping that it would go more into detail but it didn't. All Otis knew was that the battle his dad participated in had suffered major losses. All Otis could do was pray and hope his dad was ok.

After finishing his breakfast he washed the dishes and walked to his room to get dressed. He opened his closet and looked at the clothes he had. All of them were dull in color, the only people allowed to wear extravagant colors were the nobles. However he looked at a particular outfit that had clean black dress shoes, black dress pants, a nice white long sleeve collared shirt, a bright red suit jacket and to top it all off a nice red tie. These are clothes that no normal commoner could get and would get in trouble if found wearing, however for Otis's destination he needed to wear them.

Otis walked towards the front door and opened the door but before leaving he put on a tan trench coat to cover his red jacket and put on his black flat cap. When Otis arrived in front of his house he saw a familiar black car in the street. He walked towards the 1800's looking buggie car. The chauffeur opened the door for him and Otis sat in the car. The chauffeur then got in and drove towards their destination.

As they passed the streets of Hale Otis looked at the familiar settings. Tan and brown buildings everywhere of all shapes and sizes, shop buildings huddled up next to each other, the familiar scene of people bumping into each other on the sidewalks and the dangerous alleys that led to dark areas could be seen everywhere. Otis looked off in the distance and saw a tall brick building with 6 stories of class windows on it and a giant ticking clock on the side of it. This building was the pride of Hale city.

Hale city was one of the most successful metro cities in the Boston Kingdom. Boston kingdom was a vast and strong kingdom that resided in the punk realm. The purple realm lacked as many spirits as the other realms but because of this, the kingdoms in the purple realm had better technology than the other realms. The king of Boston valued Hale because of its ability to make money and fund his endless pursuit of technology advancements.

Otis looked at the clock that showed a time of nine o five.

Shit, i'm gonna be late he thought

"Drive faster" Otis commanded

A second later the chauffeur's feet stepped harder on the pedal and the car started moving faster.

Upon arrival the chauffeur got out of the car and walked around to open Otis's door, when the door opened Otis stepped out and gave the chauffeur a nod. The chauffeur bowed and walked back into the car.

I'll never get use to being treated like a young master

Otis took a breath and got out of his own thoughts. He raised his eyes and they set on a tall and strong mountain in the middle of nowhere. He walked towards the mountain and stopped when he arrived at a particular spot.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

He knocked on a smooth and flat part of the mountain. The smooth surface suddenly slid to the left and a pair of brown eyes could be seen through the hole Otis rolled his purple eyes and said,

"Power and money"

The brown eyes disappeared and the smooth stone moved back to its place. A moment later a large rock moved out of the way like a magical door and a man in a red suit jacket could be seen welcoming him in.

Otis calmly walked into the mountain and when he arrived inside he could feel the red carpet and the cold smooth stone walls. The ceiling had golden chandeliers hanging from them. Wood tables were everywhere, and it even had a bar. There were two separate floors that looked like it separated the wealthy from the poor. It was obvious that this mountain was not a normal place.

Otis walked past all the colorful tables with cards and chips on them, he heard people cheering and some people crying. He had gotten used to this scene many years ago when his uncle asked him to work at this casino. He was sixteen when he started to work at this casino. Casinos are illegal in the Boston kingdom and typically run by underground crime lords. Which is why they are all hidden like this. Despite knowing this he continued to work here. At first he did it for an easy source of income but the longer he stayed here the more fun he started to have.

Otis does not consider himself a bad person but when it comes to tricking people and fooling those who are proud he gains a thrill that he can't get anywhere else. So when he started to enjoy the deception of casino work he came here more often until eventually he came here everyday till the age of twenty-eight

Otis arrived at the wooden steps and stepped up the stairs, his shoes making a soft clanking noise with every step. He reached the top and a he locked eyes with a tall strong strong man

"Ayy nephew how have you been!" The gray bearded man exclaimed

"I'm great this morning Mr. Ross."

It would be even better if you weren't here

Otis' lips went limp and his sparkly mood suddenly went dull when he saw Mr.Ross. Seeing this Ross smiled and walked towards Otis. His steps were heavy and the floor cracked with every step. He stopped two feet from Otis and put his bear hands on Otis's shoulders

"Aww don't be like that nephew, we are family after all."

Family my ass you, only leach off of my uncle and beg for more money

But Otis's didn't dare say that in front of the big bears face so he put on a smile and replied

"Where is uncle?"

Seeing that Otis wanted nothing to do with him Ross sighed and replied

"I don't I came here looking for him too we have something to talk about"

You mean you came here to beg for more money

After hearing Ross's reply Otis turned around and walked back down stairs. He walked towards a desk with a young man behind it. The young man put on a smile and said

"Hello young master, which table would you like to work today."

"No table today. I want to know why Ross is here."

The young man tilted his head to look in Ross's direction only to be interrupted by a loud voice

"Don't look at him Henry, just tell me what he is doing here." commanded with an authoritative tone.

The young man fiddled with his fingers and his eyes looked down before replying

"I don't know"

"You forget Henry, Deception is my forte, and you are particularly bad at it." Otis said as he dropped five golden coins on the table.

"Tell me what I want and they are yours, don't tell me and you're fired. Simple right."

Henry hesitated for a bit until a whisper came from his mouth

"You can't tell anyone I told you this because Ross paid me money to stay quiet."

"I would never." Otis said as a small smile appeared on his lips.

"Ross told me to tell him when you leave" Henry whispered

Otis tilted his head and squinted one

"That's it?" he questioned

"Yes." Henry scanned his surroundings making sure no one else heard what he said.

"Well thanks anyway." Otis said as he sighed and put the five gold coins back into his pocket.

Henry's eyes narrowed and his brows scrunched together,

"Hey! What happened to the money you promised!"

"Money!" Otis replied putting on confused face

"Yes if I don't get the money im gonna- "

"You're gonna what? Tell?" Otis said as he pointed towards Ross

Following his finger Henry looked at Ross and his face relaxed and he looked down at the floor. Seeing henry's new state Otis walked away while laughing and shouted,

"Seeya tomorrow Henry, nice doing business with ya!"

After realizing that his uncle was not here and Ross was. Otis had no intentions to stay here. He walked towards the exit while thinking about his interaction with Henry.

Why would he tell Henry to do that? He thought

Before walking out of the stone rock he took a glance at the booth Ross was in but he could not see anything so he continued to walk past the exit. Outside he saw his reliable chauffeur, when their eyes met the chauffeur quickly got out of the and ran to open Otis's door, Otis stepped in the car and sat on the nice leather seats. The driver got in his seat and asked

"Where to young master?"

"Take me to the library." Otis replied

Besides being a scam Otis also had an interest in knowledge he loved reading and learning new things. But his downfall is that he is an absolute lazy bum who does not like to do anything that requires a bit of effort.

The car started moving and Otis leaned back and rested his head on his hand. He took in the nature around him and thought it was a shame that there was nothing like this in the city. Hale was void of nature, even grass was replaced with stone floors and concrete streets no source of nature was safe in Hale.

While he was in his thoughts he saw a black car far away speeding at him on the wrong side of the road. The chauffeur swerved to the other side of the road, but the black car did the same, the chauffeur once again swerved to the other side only to be mirrored by the black car this time the black car started driving even faster. Otis became nervous not knowing what was happening

Thump Thump! Thump Thump!

Otis's heart started to beat faster and faster he started breathing heavy

"Move! Drive in the Grass if you have to!" Otis shouted at the chaffer

The chaffer quickly turned his steering wheel causing the tires to squeal and turned into the grass. The black car did the same following them at full speed.

Huff! Huff! Huff!

Scared, Otis began to Hyperventilate he put his palm to his chess as an attempt to calm his breathing. Then suddenly he remembered something

Ross told me to tell him when you leave.

Otis thought of Henry's words and put some pieces together,

That piece of shit

Otis cursed Ross in his mind before snapping out of his thoughts. He looked at the black car that was now ten feet away from them moving faster than it ever has.