Last Ruler Of The Empty Throne

Palflic University

One of the rooms in the male dormitory, a scene that had played out many times before was unfolding again.

"JOE! WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE A PICTURE OF MY SISTER ON YOUR PHONE?" A tall, light-skinned boy with curly hair, named Alex, bellowed at his roommate.

Joe, unfazed by Alex's outburst, glanced up from his bed and shrugged with infuriating nonchalance, "So?"

Joe was a tall, handsome, dark skinned young man. His plaited hair and earrings now accented his looks to another level. He had the body of an athlete, the kind of guy who seemed to naturally attract attention from women.

And that was precisely what was driving Alex mad.

It wasn't just the idea of someone having his sister's picture; it was the fact that Joe had it. Alex knew his roommate far too well, and he understood just how bad of an idea it was to let this continue.

But what could he do besides shout? And shout he did. Over and over.

Palflic University was located in South Africa, and renowned across the globe for the strict discipline it instilled in its students and the opportunities it promised to those who made it through. Students from all over the world came to Palflic, lured by the prestige and the promise of a bright future, especially when it came to sports like cricket, soccer, and baseball .

At least, that was the image the university sold to outsiders. However, inside these walls, things could be quite different, something Jon, another occupant of the room, knew all too well.

Jon shared the same dorm room with Alex and Joe. They were all studying the same course, a deliberate arrangement by the university to foster familiarity and collaboration. But for Jon, the setup felt more like a punishment than a benefit even though they were all his friends.

Lying on his bed, Jon sighed as the shout ongoing between his roommates dragged on for a good five minutes, after which he couldn't take it anymore.

With his frustration boiling over, he sat up and yelled,

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Then, Alex and Joe responded in unison with their voices dripping with every bit of annoyance.

"SCREW YOU!"

"FUCK OFF!"

Jon ground his teeth in anger, with his thoughts running wild.

'Two more years... I have to live with these guys for two more fucking years.' Collapsing back on his bed he muttered heavily.

As he lay there, trying to drown out the bickering, Jon's phone buzzed.

A notification flashed on the screen saying two messages had come through.

Opening it, it showed;

'A bank alert… and a message from Dad?' His pulse quickened. Whatever this was about, it couldn't be good. Being a bit nervous, he chose to check the bank alert first.

[Credit Alert

Sender: Mr. Whyte

Amount: 5,000,000

Current balance: 5,067,500]

"WHAT THE-" Jon sat up so fast he nearly dropped his phone. His shout echoed even louder than the ongoing argument, causing Alex and Joe to pause, only for a moment to look at him before they resumed their verbal war.

Staring at the numbers on his screen, Jon couldn't believe it.

'Five million?'

He immediately powered his phone off, then back on, just to make sure it wasn't some sort of mistake.

However, there was no change. It still showed the same five million. 

'Okay, Jon...Calm down,' he took a deep breath and looked at the message again.

"Wait, I also had one from-." He had almost forgotten, he also go one from his father.

"Phew...as expected it must have been a mistake." Now with a more confident guess of the situation, he opened his father's message.

[Sender: Mr. Whyte]

[Hey son, use the money we sent you wisely. And don't forget, your mum loves you (not me). Meet us soon.]

Different.

The message he was seeing was different from what he had expected.

After accepting the fact it wasn't sent by mistake, he was now trying to process the bizarre message.

"WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL?" His confusion turned into anger that boiled over, and he shouted again, and this time the room was quiet.

His roommates then shot glances at him like he'd lost his mind.

However he wasn't paying attention to that. He stared at the message, reading it over and over.

The message was so random, it didn't make sense at all, and strangely that was how he knew it was his father.

'But, a message, now?' His father's messages always made him a bit nervous. It meant something was going to happen and soon.

Still, there was something that comforted him, five million in his bank account. Maybe that was his dad's twisted way of making up for his weird messages, but Jon decided, almost immediately, that he would blow the money.

Why not? The message was ridiculous, so why not punish his father by using the money however he wanted?

Yet, as his thoughts wandered, they circled back to the strangeness of the whole situation.

Only a year ago, he had been in South Africa, living a relatively normal life. Then suddenly, his parents shipped him off to the southmost part of South Africa to study at Palflic without providing much of an explanation. And now, out of nowhere, they sent him enough money to live comfortably for the rest of his university days.

He hadn't even been in contact with them for months and he had started to believe they had abandoned him and now they send this…none of it added up.

'I'll have to confront them when I go home,' Jon thought, though he knew that would be a long time from now.

He shoved the phone into his pocket and tried to forget about it for the moment while lying on his bed.

With his new wealth in his pocket, he slept thinking of several things to buy.

…

It was Tuesday morning, and classes at Palflic had started as usual.

Jon had left the dormitory earlier than normal as he usually did to secure good spaces for his roommates and get the best seat in the class, the back of the class. It was the best place to zone out while the lecturers where teaching and also where one could think without worry of getting attention.

And today was no different, but at the same time it was different.

There was a heavy question was on his mind, 'What am I going to do with all that money?'

This wasn't something that was strange at all.

Living things always had numerous thoughts of what to get when they had the money for it, however upon getting that money, their previous wants won't seem so appetizing again, after all they could now get something better.

That was the type of insatiable desire every living thing had, and Jon wasn't an exception. The things he used to fancy no longer sounded and felt as fancy and the things he wanted were suddenly raised to a whole new level. It was to the point his current wealth couldn't even cover it.

Like that, the hours went and it was 4 p.m. and the day's lectures were over. 

Now, the students were free to do whatever activities they wanted.

And with no immediate want coming to him, he decided to treat his roommates to something special, so he led Alex and Joe to the campus's largest supermarket, Pal-Mart.

"Why are we here?" Alex asked, eyeing Jon curiously.

"He finally remembers us." Joe grinned as he pulled Jon closer over his shoulder.

"Well...my parents sent me a lot of money and I figured I'd take my friends out." Jon shrugged as he said in a nonchalant manner, however his thought was saying a different thing.

'Chocolates, Ice cream, wait...I haven't tried that.' His mind was already thinking of things to buy as he saw them.

And his roommates, who still couldn't understand his thoughts started teasing him.

"So, you're now like a rich kid now?" 

"Yeah, how did you get that money."

Not wanting to engage in their teasing act, Jon just left them and started shopping.

"W-Wait, we are still asking-"

"Stay there if you don't want anything." Jon cut off Alex's shocked words with his retreating voice. 

"I like him." Joe smiled and began his own shopping, and unwilling to be left out, Alex sighed and followed his friends.

The trio found themselves buying so much that the cashier paused when she saw the total, unsure if they were serious. However, she simply shrugged. If you had the money, you could buy half the supermarket if you wanted.

The boys returned to their dorm that evening with their arms loaded with bags. After organizing their purchases, Joe left to train with his athletics club, Alex headed off to his art lessons, and Jon? He went straight to bed.

Strangely enough, Jon was just as fit as Joe despite barely exercising. It wasn't that he trained; it was more that he slept a lot.

In fact, ever since he'd turned nineteen, his dreams had become so captivating that he couldn't wait to sleep just to experience them again. At first, it had been unsettling, but after a while, it became normal. The content of those dreams? Well, that would reveal itself in time.

And that was how their week continued, after lectures, they would go to the mart to shop.

By the end of the week, Jon noticed something odd about his body. He was getting a bit sluggish, and he noticed his body becoming a bit wider. It wasn't wrong to say the food was the cause, and because of that he decided to head to the sports arena that Sunday evening.

"Oi, Oi, Oi, am I seeing right or did bitch Alex spoil mine?" Joe said in disbelief just seeing Jon in sports gear.

"Yeah," Jon shrugged. "I felt like jogging after all the junk we've eaten this week."

"YOU ASSHOLE!" Alex, who suddenly realized the insult at him, launched his own tirade of curses and another hours of agonizing argument began, the second time that day.

Jon just shook his head and left the room.

Before long, he was out of the dorm and walking towards the sport arena.

The sports arena at Palflic was impressive. It was designed to support the university's focus on discipline and excellence, from standard football fields to basketball and tennis courts, in case the students wanted to continue on that particular activity, it wouldn't be so difficult to get used to it as the equipment were similar.

Today, Jon decided to jog around the field. It was just a light exercise that was more of a warm-up, but he still went with it. 

With another glance around the field, he began running.

…

"Haa...Haa..Haa"

It didn't take long to realize just how out of shape he'd become.

After only a lap, he was panting heavily and his body was rebelling against him for rest. Succumbing to his body's condition, he went up to the raised platform around the stadium and collapsed onto one of the benches to catch his breath.

'Not a bad idea to do this once in a while,' he thought with a light smile as he glanced around the stadium. A cool breeze swept over him as he gazed absentmindedly at the other students doing their various activities.

Then it happened,

CRACK… CRACK… CRACK.

A series of loud, unnatural sounds shattered the tranquility and reverberated through the sky above.

Jon's heart immediately started racing as he looked up.

CRASH… CRASH… CRASH.

It was like the sky itself was shattering to pieces, but strangely, no one could see what was happening. 

Then a blinding light engulfed the stadium, forcing everyone to cover their eyes

And then came the voice.

The voice so horrifying, so bone-chilling, that it made everyone's skin crawl and their heads pound with an unbearable pain. It was a voice they all wished they never heard.

[START]