Chapter 524: Land o’ Dream


    Friday the 12th – the day began per the downpour of rain. A disturbance in the weather was reportedte at night. The extent of the rainfall eluded even the weather reporter’s mind.


    Whatever happened didn’t matter, suitcase in hand, backpack on the shoulder, and weapons on the table. An unbranded cap kept the hair from moving; a cheaply made long-sleeved dark-brown shirt, skinny jeans, and less than presentable shoes. For someone owning a lot of cash, caring about materialistic things could have been less of a worry.


    “Igna?” the door stumbled with minor yelps.


    “Anna!” opening the door, “-why are you moving about?” she fell into his arms.


    “Don’t,” said she trying to stand, “-I felt normal a few minutes ago. Got dizzy, that’s all.”


    The exnation went in one ear and out the other, “-congrattions.”


    “For what... oh, wait,” for a brief second, her hands braced for an eventual fall, “-huh?”


    .....


    “Stop moving around so much,” said Igna holding the youngdy, “-heavier than you appear.”


    “Ha-ha,” the sarcastic remark followed a pleasant smile, not overbearing or under shadowed; a perfect bnce. “Nomotions outside,” said she.


    “The rain,” he pulled the curtains, “-pouring cats and dogs.”


    The television toggled to show the early morning news. Igna headed on to pack his bags, though, he did so before the day. Cross-checking was but a diversion. A less than gratifying sleepless night of utter insult and self-degradation left him exhausted mentally. The eyelids waned per each blink, the eyeballs itself burnt, uncontroble yawns and achy joints, ‘-not the best start for today.’


    *Knock, knock,* mmed the door.


    “Coming,” replied he.


    *Knock, knock,* mmed the door yet again.


    “Said I’ming,” a brute pull had the visitor stumble inside on her knees. “Damn it,” cried Igna, “-you’ve soiled the entryway.”


    “Shut the hell up,” red  quickly sorting her revealing outfit into more of a respectable one.


    “She’s back for more,” cried the local hoodlums, “-Ay, Igna,” waved a certain familiar face.


    “What’s up,” returned he.


    “The girl’s got stripes pink and white panties man,” theyughed obnoxiously, “-don’t get too close, else you’ll end up in jail like Papa John.”


    “Got it, thanks for the advice,” returned he courteously. Before closing, the door halted with an escaping wink and thumbs up.


    “Was that necessary?” returned she with a listless visage.


    “Not my fault you decided to wear skimpy outfits on a rainy day,” he held her bags, “-thanks for moving in. Anna’s going to need the help of someone trustworthy,” he guided till his room, “-you’ll stay here, I’ve cleaned up the ce.”


    “Awesome,” she entered, “-I’ll take a shower, see you in a bit.”


    “Alright,” he moved to the kitchen and readied a simple dish as well as lunch before leaving. Meanwhile, a documentary on the mour of the Alphian’s entertainment lifestyle had Anna clutching her pillow. Multiple famous figures gave snippets and interviews for the world to know. It looked like a fantasy, hanging out at the side of popr people, gaining their trust, learning about the secrets hidden deep within.


    “Excited for the journey?” wondered Anna half-an-hourter.


    “Referring to the documentary?” asked he doing the dishes.


    “Obviously, a friend of mine is going to the ce of dreams. Can’t help being hyped.”


    “Quiet down,” said he pulling a bowl, “-have some soup. My rides on the way.”


    At 09:30, éir received the call for departure. “I’ll be off then,” he stared into the hallway leading to the living room. Green-hair stood leaning over the tall-shoulders of , the duo was pleased. ‘Time to head out then.’


    “Take care on the travels,” said Anna.


    “Break a leg,” added  a bit too literally.


    Off the metal stairs and inside the restaurant, “-Mr. Kord, I’ll be leaving.”


    “No worries kid,” said he reading the special dishes, “-go there and conquer the world. The Academy is too small for someone who has so much potential. Don’t forget, cooking doesn’t have to bind you, do what the mind feels like doing – you’ll eventuallye across what was meant for you.”


    “Thanks for the advice.” And so, a little sprint across the road led into a big-ck car. Anna stared from on above, she waved and so did he. Rain mmed harder on the metal body, “-hello Igna,” said Lia sat with legs crossed.


    “Good morning.”


    “Let’s go, driver,” ordered Mr. Amsey. The Adventuring grew distant on the rear-view mirror. Heavy clouds atop felt more of a curse. How would he have known that the day he left; things wouldn’t be the same ever again. The tension of those in the shadows had Leko and Haru bound to no ends. Lady Elvira’s help was requested.


    “Where are we headed?”


    “To Odgawoan, thend of cinema and entertainment empire of Scaica.”


    “Wasn’t Melmark the center of attention?” wondered he.


    “No, at one point yes... tis not that clean-cut. The growing market of entertainment needed a town of their own. Thus, rich businessmenid im to a small vige a few decades ago and build tall buildings. More and more productionpanies, idol agencies, you name it, and most moved to Odgawoan. Tis mostly because of the independent rule – the town is its own state. Money talks, and here, it ordered.”


    “Alright,” seeking no further information, éir took matters into his hands and researched the particr town. It went as far as to dig up a shady past;


    “Odgawoan, nestled near the Fuda Mountains, was previously thriving mining vige that suddenly stopped about thirty years ago. The reserves were exhausted as stated by officials. The vige remained dormant for the bitter part of two years until clever businessmen adventured deep into the Fuda Mountains. Many came and went; most were interested in easy money and bidden adventuring farewell. Not until estate agents wanting to reim the ghost vige wandered about, traversing the forest and arriving at a valley. A gentle slope cut itself up the mountain, a pathway into and of unknown. Stood at the peak, what they saw couldn’t be described nor showed. And of utter beauty, the trees were unlike anything they’d seen – some vige’s folk referred to it as thend of fairies. Then and there, thend was imed and built to be a private refuge for the wealthy. So on and so forth, things led to another and Odgawoan became a ce of pleasure and gamble. The elusive Cimier ruled the town for a decade until the rise of the entertainment market. Musicians, actors, directors, moviemakers, all needed a ce to call home – Melmark did but few things, and thus, the gambling den evolved into the town of dreams. Active Raven Pictures, Golden Media Films, and Ecliprises were a few of the major names who did the first move.


    The cruise from the Adventuring Academy passed through the Azure-pass and northward. The more ground gained, the farther seemed the cloudy weather, and after a while, the weather came to a steady grey hue. The closest airport was one at Rosespire, a drive that would take more than 12 hours. Instead, the car pulled into a curving road off the highway. Here, the roads were narrow filled with overhanging trees. Thetter was so overly present the road seemed as if a triangr tunnel. Long story short, a detour led to a small vige where waited a helicopter. The journey took shy of one and a half hours. A private jet bearing Phantom’s crest waited on a vacant airstrip. Numerous passenger nes were about, somended and some taking off.


    “Here we are,” said Amsey taking off headphones, “-the journey back to Alphia’s going be in style.”


    “Phantom’s sponsoring the trip?” wondered Igna.


    “Obviously,” heughed, “-as the sponsor of Cle, they tended to our needs. I must say,” he smiled, “-the arm’spany is friendly and amodating,” a red-carpet stretched to the jet.


    “Anything toment?” wondered Igna to Lia.


    “Yes,” she snapped out the dream-like gaze, “-I’ve called someone to be the liaison in Alphia. Since Lord Asmey’s decided to have you be a model, you’ll need assistants to help score jobs and stuff. Going on interviews per thy behalf, someone capable.”


    “I see,” he smiled.


    They were off the grounds in mere minutes, the long trip to Alphia began. Igna decided to sit farther back to enjoy private time. The duo up front didn’t ask why or how, the boy being there sufficed.


    ‘Let’s get to work,’ thought he pulling out aptop, ‘-thanks a bunch Anna for letting me borrow this.’ The keyboard had heart-stickers and bunnies scattered around.


    “Good,”mented éir, “-I’m connected to theptop. What’s the order.”


    “I’d like to know more about Odgawoan, the idylld of dreamments isn’t doing it for me. I smell a dark underlying truth.”


    “Well-spotted,” countless files and reports shed onto the screen – all of which were deleted after Igna finished reading. Copies were stored on the phone instead. ‘Murders, mysterious killings, ack of integrity by the officers and unheard witness testimonies. The case file of ir Riley, isn’t that the movie Aceline was supposed to do?’ further digging showed up a few interesting details, ‘-the productionpany went broke at 90%pletion. Ecliprises decided to oust the directors and producers on drug-abuse charges half-way across. Not many people knew of the project. Thest message ever sent by the director was, ‘-we’ve done it, it’s a wrap. I’ming home to celebrate, dearest baby Be’, kind of a weird thing to say.’


    “Any more reports I can examine?”


    “No,” said éir, “-I’ve dug deep into the police report, nothing came up. Not even a missing person’s case. I did find a thing,” a new article from a lesser-known publication stated, ‘-The Case file of ir Riley, myth or truth?’ The subheading read, ‘-is the world of the dream as innocent as it seems?’


    “éir, how’s the underworld faction of the town?”


    “Cimier ruled from the shadows for a decade, they could well still be controlling the town. Police officers are corrupt.”


    “I see,” he paused, “-who’s in charge of drug distribution in Alphia?”


    “Lerado; they’re only importers.”


    “I see,” more he thought, the cloudier grew the picture. ‘What could have happened to the filming crew. I remember the script went into details about Luna and the crimes done by the Patek’s I think. People seem to think Aceline was murdered. I know she’s alive, or was alive since we revived her... maybe leaving her alone here was a mistake. Six years is a long time, gathering information’s going to be hard.’


    “I found a hidden report,” voiced éir, “-it’s not rted to Aceline.”


    “Go on,” said he.


    “It reads that on May 7th XX96, the body of a starlet Nesse Williams was found dead in her apartment on Huston Boulevard. The cause of death was ruled as natural. What’s interesting is the investigation led by a private investigator named Engn Codd. He soon found the cause of death wasn’t natural, instead, drugs were found in her body. The coroner, closely tied to the police and the underworld, most likely kept quiet. At some point, after following a very damning lead, brought Ecliprises under scrutiny. The evidence went on to show the leaders were in cahoots with Gyo Tune, a notorious mob-boss who’s still prowling the streets. The investigation ended shortly as Engn Codd would die the same death as did the starlet. The case is closed, nothing more can be done, officially. Codd had a son, Odgar Codd, who’s also a private investigator working in Melmark.”


    “Where did you get this information?”


    “Odgar Codd was a member of Lerado’s family. He’d hope to go against Gyo Tune using force as he believed they killed his father.”


    “Did he say that?”


    “Yes, he bluntly stated why he wanted to join and was weed by the family. The mystery of Odgawoan is thicker than you might ept.”


    “Lord Amsey, where are wending?” he asked thinking it’d be Melmark.


    “Odgawoan.”