The Golden Throne

The Visionary

Ripley's Point of View:

I have waited too long for this moment. Years upon years of delicate planning and it's finally here. I put on my ceremonial robe for tonight and examine myself in the mirror. There was a knock on my door.

"Lady Ripley," a maid called out. "Are you dressed? We have to do your hair."

"Give me a minute!" I replied.

My brother was taken away from me when I was 13. His name was Florian, and he was just five at the time. I remember the day it happened. We were having a picnic near the woods, just Florian, me and a guard who was stationed to look after us. We snuck away when the guard fell asleep and wandered into the woods.

Then, everything happened so fast- a group of armed men appeared out of nowhere and grabbed hold of me. Florian, as little as he was, came to my rescue and began hitting my attackers. They whacked his head with the hilt of a rifle and he fell down, unconscious. I remember screaming as loud as I could for help. It didn't matter from who, I just needed somebody.

Our guard heard my screams and came to my rescue. He fought valiantly to protect us, and finally the man who was holding me released his grip and I ran behind our protector. In a last ditch effort, they scooped up Florian's unconscious body and fled.

A bandit group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and issued an 800 million dollar ransom on Florian. If the payment was not made, they would behead him.

Florian was too young to go through all that. In a heartbeat, the Emperor made the payment. A squad of Silver Guards went to the rendezvous point to collect Florian, only to find his mangled body in a ditch.

I was so overcome with grief. Florian was my brother, my only friend. I loved him like he was my world. I cared for him, I thought him how to swim, how to ride a bike, how to read. I gave him everything I could offer. I was his big sister, his guide, his protector. With father being so busy with work, he was the only one I had. He was too young to die. It should have been me, not him!

I saw the world very differently after that. I was still unable to believe that it was tainted by such evil. I wanted to give it a chance to redeem itself, so I set out on my own, to search for the meaning of our existence, and the nature of good and evil. What is the value of life, if we are all meant to die? What is the significance of light's triumph, if darkness will always exist? In my travels, I was hoping to be inspired by what is good in the world.

Instead, I found only darkness. I have encountered the most despicable of humans- Giovanni, a ruthless crime lord who will stop at nothing for power and money, Cyrus, a man with a God-complex who believes that it is his destiny to reshape the world in his image, Zultan, a deranged psychopath who only seeks to kill my people, Mustapha, the devil who thinks he runs the world with his little, secret society, and many, many more.

This world is in need of a cleansing. It needs a worthy leader to lead it into an age of light. I believe that with my knowledge in philosophy this is my calling. I see it now. Fate has played all the events of my life in the correct order for me to realize my destiny. Philosophers are the most worthy rulers, this is my destiny.

It all comes down to tonight.