29 May 1453
The narrator speaks as we see the great capital of the East Roman Empire being destroyed: "Constantinople has been breached for the second time in its existence. We can see the ruins of destroyed walls with cannons being heard in the back. For 53 days, the combined forces or the east and the west Christian churches fought together but it was too little too late".
Next scene: One of the demolished rooms of the main palace. Varangian is resting on a pile of dusty pillows bleeding heavily. One of the cannon balls hits him straight in the chest. He breads heavily and only manages to quietly utter: "I'm sorry. I failed you".
Byzantium, who is nearby, seems calm, almost peaceful. She is wearing her favorite purple dress and has her hair and make-up done as if she has been preparing for a lavish dinner party. Cleaning his face with a wet scrap of drapes, she shushes him soothingly: "It's alright. You were phenomenal." She leans in and softly kisses his face but because of the angle of the frame we cannot see exactly where. He smiles. "It's been fun" he says. Byzantium nods reassuringly. She caresses his silver wavy hair and says: "May your afterlife be all you imagined it to be." And with that Varangian turns his head, closes his eyes and becomes dust.
Romanos who was outside overseeing the escape of the lucky few Constantinople inhabitants and members of the royal family. The emperor did not make it. He enters the room and only sees Byzantium. "They managed to reach safety before the enemy ships could catch them" he says serious.
Byznatium is looking at herself in a small mirror. Turning towards him, she seems unusually serene. She extends her arms towards him calling him into a hug. He obliges although unwillingly. "It's over my dear" she says to which Romanos flinches away.
"No, it's not. We can escape, regroup, rebuild...It's not over" he says shaking. She calmly takes him by the shoulders and says: "Romaons, I'm tired. This was one siege too many."
"No!"
"Yes!"
"Mother..." he pleads as she hugs him warmly. Her arms are very dry. Her skin stars to fall in flakes.
"I'm sorry" she whispers and sheds a tear. A cannon ball falls nearby covering the frame with dust and rock residue. When the dust clears, we only see the young adult coughing. He looks around searching for Byzantium.
"Mom!" he calls out a few times checking the other rooms. "Mom!" he calls out louder. Another cannon ball falls with a horrifying sound. When the grey cloud disperses, he sees a black shadow. Hoping it is her, he runs toward it only to be thoroughly disappointed when he sees it is Ottoman followed by his army. The two representatives look at each other coldly as the soldiers start pillaging in slow motion.
World Academy W (present)
The office of the large man with a cat. He is in the shadow but visible enough we can see him shaking as he takes deep enraged breaths. His cat is also electrified, hissing at someone.
Arthur is standing on the complete opposite side of the office with his head bowed. He is trying very hard to keep himself together.
"You have failed...miserably" the big scary man growls.
"I..." Arthur starts before he is rudely interrupted. "I don't want to hear your excuses! We had an agreement. You work for me and get everything you want. And now, everything is ruined!" the man continues as his eyes start to shine red.
Arthur keeps his head down, too scared to look at the man. "You are completely right. I simply couldn't cope. Please forgive me" he starts with a slightly trembling voice.
The man calms down just a little. "No matter. I already have something else in mind." His cat jumps from his lap and onto the table looking at the young student as if he is mocking him. With heavy steps, the man approaches Arthur who finally looks up.
"But first. I'll deal with you" we hear the man say and see his shadow covering Arthur's terrified eyes. The frame turns dark as we hear him scream.
Next scene: Next day was a Saturday. Yasna has seen that her roots are shoving and has planned to visit her hair-dresser that day. Passing the store display, she looked at her self and adjusted the part of the hair with the pin so that it falls behind her ear. Her reflexion shows a confident teenager with great potential. Despite all facial features staying exactly the same, the face that once presented a lonely nervous wreck, now stood a smiling image of loveliness.
She gets to the see-through salon door when a sudden voice stops her dead in her tracks. "Please dye it in the exact color as in this picture" a voice sounding a lot like Arthur's is heard.
"I see. This picture looks recent. When did this happen to you?" Julios asks getting the hair dye bowl.
Yasna hides behind the large house plant in front but still observes and listens to everything happening inside.
"Sadly, I have a condition. Please do not tell anyone. I feel slightly ashamed of it" Arthur, who has already sat down, says. His hair is completely white. Worst off is his traumatised expression as if something terrible happened to him.
"Do not worry your young little head" Julios says doing his magic. "If you knew how many students come to me for hair treatments, you would fall off from that chair from shock."
Upon hearing this, Yasna casually walks away. She has heard enough and decided to do the glaze another day.
Next scene: At the language club meeting. Several of them have been held in the amphitheatre and everyone is enjoying the change. The many students are all sitting comfortably with the students of similar languages.
Yasna is sitting with the Balkan Slav group but is far enough not to have to interact with all of them. She observes Arthur, who is presenting the topic of the day. "Unbelievable. He looks exactly the same. As if what I saw a few days ago was just a dream" she says deep in thought.
She turns slightly to the left and sees Alfred, sitting a few rows bellow. "I wonder what else happens that we have no idea about. How many people changed so drastically but still appear completely the same."
Alfred is reading the questionnaire everyone has been given for that meeting. He takes off his glasses to clean them and turns as if sensing he is being watched. He sees Yasna looking his way, smiles and waves. She waves back and quickly looks away. Alfred turns again and continues reading the paper without his glasses.
