Dresden, 13th September 2019

Pale and cold, the neon lights shone down on the heads of class 8a and bathed the classroom in their unnatural light. According to the weather forecast, the dense cloud cover would not break up until the afternoon and the sun would shine for a few hours. The class was already looking forward to this, because today was Friday and the students were longing for their weekend. The summer holidays were already a month ago and the autumn holidays were still another month away.
In the meantime, the school had resumed normal operations. But while there was lively discussion in most classrooms, there was almost absolute silence in the Latin room. For apart from the rustling of a few leaves, the familiar scratching of fountain pen tips and a few heavy breaths, there was no sound to be heard. Some smiled to themselves, others bent low over their assignment sheets. One student in the front row stared uncomprehendingly at his paper, frantically trying to remember what he had learnt the night before. Again and again, some students glanced nervously at the clock, trying to weigh up the remaining time.
But none of the students were nearly as nervous as the intern who sat at the teacher's desk supervising the class while they wrote the paper the intern had worked on over the weekend and revised according to the ideas of her mentor, the actual Latin teacher. In the far back corner, the mentor sat and watched with interest as the theory she had trained for years unfolded in practice.
Only with difficulty could the trainee prevent her fingertips from drumming nervously on the tabletop in front of her. Wild as a frightened horse, her heart galloped in her chest, the blood rushed in her ears and Aurelia was sure that the students in the front row could hear nothing but her racing heartbeat. Under no circumstances did she want her anxiety to spread to the class, so she forced herself to smile confidently, remembering a funny video she had come across on YouTube sometime in the middle of preparing for a lesson.
Checking, Aurelia's gaze flitted to the clock and was surprised to find that the last five minutes had arrived. Not wanting to disturb the class, she relayed her realisation in a quiet voice. Immediately, a student jumped up and rushed to the front to hand in her work. Only with difficulty could Aurelia prevent herself from rolling her eyes at Tabea's impatience. The girl had already asked ten minutes ago if she could hand in her solutions yet and with a sideways glance at her mentor, Aurelia had put her off. No sooner had Tabea put her collection of sheets down in front of Aurelia than three more students stood up in perfect harmony and came forward to hand in their work as well. Smiling, Aurelia accepted the papers and in one fell swoop she knew how to thank the class for their good cooperation and friendly behaviour.
Casually, Aurelia wiggled the computer's mouse and opened the internet browser. Without taking her eyes off the class, she first called up a very specific website and then typed her query into the search bar as quietly as possible. It was only four words: Ave Me Giulio Cesare. The soft clack of the keys caused heads to jerk up in the front row and curious eyes to scrutinise the intern. Smiling, Aurelia withdrew her hand and registered out of the corner of her eye that her search had been successful. Now she just had to wait patiently until the time was up for all the students.

Seven minutes later, Aurelia stowed the collected short checks in her folder and put it in her work bag. While the class quietly exchanged their solutions, she unconsciously brushed a tangled strand of blonde hair out of her dark blue eyes and tucked it behind her ear. But the very next moment she closed her bag, picked up the remote control and activated the beamer.
Suddenly the conversations fell silent and she alone had everyone's attention. Confused, her mentor frowned and took a close look at her lesson plan. But she remained silent, raised her eyes and studied the new phase of the lesson with growing interest.
Aurelia briefly checked that the sound was on, then she gave the children her friendliest smile and explained: "Now we will watch a short film clip in which a language is spoken that has developed from Latin over time. I would like you to let the scene sink in and then briefly explain to me which film the scene is from and which language is spoken.
Full of curiosity, the class watched the video and in one fell swoop the performance review was forgotten. Aurelia grinned silently as she watched the students' faces. In the first round of evaluation, the title of the film came up immediately. Then a small discussion broke out as to whether Spanish or Italian had been spoken in the scene. But at the latest when Juan rolled his eyes and explained in a few words why this language could never in a million years be Spanish, the class agreed on Italian. With a delighted nod, Aurelia confirmed the class's assumption and played the sequence one more time.
This time, most of the students took notes on a scratch sheet and wrote down the words they thought they recognised. Aurelia was no less surprised than her class at how many Italian words they could intuitively match to the corresponding Latin vocabulary. In her seat in the last row, her mentor leaned over her table with a small smile and added a small addition to her assessment.
 

With a good feeling, Aurelia left school that day and got into her car. She had barely left the school grounds when her brother Max called. Grinning, Aurelia took the call and leaned back in her seat.
"How was your last day at school, sis?" her younger brother Max teased her lovingly and immediately the events of the day bubbled out of her. Her brother simply understood her like no one else in the world and since he was studying in Augsburg, they spoke on the phone at least once a day.
Her elation only disappeared when he asked the one question to which she herself knew no answer.
"What are you going to do now?" his voice echoed in her thoughts and Aurelia would have preferred to close her eyes to keep a clear head. Instead, she directed all her attention to the other cars and concentrated entirely on the traffic. But Max did not let up and asked if it was still her turn.
"I'm sorry, the person in front of me suddenly braked, I just had to concentrate on that," Aurelia replied, surprised at how easily this lie came from her lips. "What did you just say?"
For a heartbeat Max remained silent and Aurelia hoped that he didn't see through her or at least let the subject drop. But of course Max didn't let her off so easily and repeated his question. Inwardly she cursed herself and looked for a way out, but she just couldn't find one.
"I don't know," she confessed after a while and sighed. "I've been so focused on my internship that I don't know what to do with myself in the three weeks between school and university."
Max clicked his tongue impatiently and Aurelia knew that her brother was rolling his eyes at her. She quickly refrained from commenting and braked cautiously as the traffic light was just changing from yellow to red. Impatiently, Aurelia drummed her fingertips against the steering wheel and earned another disapproving sound from her brother.
"We both know that's not true," Max returned. At that moment the traffic light turned green and Aurelia stepped on the gas. "Aurelia, it's been almost three years. Stop waiting and start driving. I'm sure she wouldn't have wanted you to give up your dream because of her, and now don't start again about how you were going to make this trip together. For as long as I can remember, that's all you've talked about, begging our parents every year to at least take us to Venice or Aquileia if we're going to spend the summer close by. I know the trip was supposed to be Grandma's graduation present and I'm really sorry that she got so sick then and now you'll never have the chance again. But do you really think she would want you to wait any longer? Go home, talk to our parents and come to me for a few days. Together we can book the hotels and organise everything and if you still don't want to, you can just stay in Augsburg for a few days.
Aurelia thought about her brother's words for a while as she left the city behind and continued on the country road towards her home. Then she promised her brother in a matte voice that she would think about it. Again Max clicked his tongue, then hastily said goodbye and abruptly hung up. At that moment the cloud cover broke and the autumn sun blinded Aurelia. Groaning, she fumbled in her centre console for her sunglasses and put them on routinely. Then she leaned back in her seat again and shortly turned into the small side street where her childhood home was located. It was not a particularly large house. Neither modern nor old. Just a house with a big garden in the middle of the green. But for Aurelia there was no place where she felt more at home.
Just as Aurelia turned off the engine and enjoyed the brief moment of silence in which only the muffled chirping of birds reached her, a most disturbing thought occurred to her. Hastily, she grabbed her bag, left her car and returned home for good.
As soon as she opened the front door, the familiar smell of freshly fried schnitzel hit her nose and now she was sure that her family had conspired against her. Her mother only fried schnitzels for two reasons: Max was at home and demanded his favourite meal, or a member of her family was going on a long journey and needed schnitzel rolls as provisions.
Shaking her head, she greeted her mother, cast a pained glance at the pan and then trudged to her room to pack.
As soon as she pulled her suitcase shut, her mobile beeped, announcing that she had received a new message. Sighing, she stopped the music and skimmed Alice's message. Alice's family owned the holiday flat below the flat that Aurelia's family booked for a fortnight every summer. Alice had just moved from Udine to Padua to do her Master's degree. Smiling, Aurelia typed a reply and left her room to prepare dinner with her mother.

 During dinner, Aurelia frantically tried to steer the conversation in another direction. She talked about her lesson in great detail and asked her parents so many questions about their day that she almost thought she was safe. But then her father suddenly said: "I am so happy that you are finally going on the trip that my mother always wanted to take you on. I'm sure she'll be with you all the way."
Blinking, she looked over at her father and only now noticed that she had barely touched her food. Smiling, he patted her on the shoulder, then Aurelia quietly presented her ideas to her parents. Together they refined the route. For the first time in four years, it didn't feel like a betrayal of her grandmother.
The next morning, she started her engine with satisfaction, waved to her parents one last time and drove confidently towards her first destination. She still didn't know whether she should hug Max in greeting or slap him in the face.

 
Capri, 23rd September 2019

Even when she closed her eyes, she could see nothing but a pile of stones. The ruin was not reassembling itself into the beautiful palace it once was. Frustrated, she pulled out her mobile phone and typed a quick message to her parents. Her trip had been really nice. She had finally visited all the cities she had raved about to her family and friends. She had never thought she could visit so many cities within a few days. But Max's absolute will to make her trip perfect had made the impossible possible.
But the further south she drove, the stronger the feeling of being too late became. In Rome it had been particularly bad. For years she had dreamed of this city, but as she went from one ruin to the next, the sadness inside her grew. Nothing lasts forever. We humans tell ourselves we can create things for eternity. But sooner or later everything is shadow and dust.
Despite this growing melancholy, she simply could not turn around and start on her way home. Something drove her to continue on her way and again and again she caught herself looking around in all directions. Her heart told her that she had missed something important. With every kilometre, it screamed at her that she had lost something important. But no matter how much she racked her brain, she just couldn't remember what she was missing. 
When she looked up from her mobile phone, her group had disappeared. Cursing inwardly, she looked around searching, but she could no longer spot Aurelia. Great, she silently praised herself and glanced at her wristwatch, a present from her parents for her twentieth birthday. It was almost nine o'clock. Only with difficulty could she suppress a yawn. Looking for her group seemed pointless, since the guide had only explained things she already knew and his tour must surely be coming to an end.
So, with a quick decision, she turned around, left the ruin behind her and climbed down a small path that would hopefully lead her to the sea. Because despite the black sand, she just wanted to run her feet through the water and enjoy being here.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the sea glittering beside her and allowed herself to be distracted for a brief moment. Her next step went nowhere and she lost her footing. Everything happened so fast that she didn't even have time to scream. Aurelia slipped into a crevice in the earth and all at once it went dark around her.
"Where am I?" she asked when she finally landed and her voice echoed off the high stone walls. She breathed a sigh of relief because, apart from a few scrapes on her hands, she felt no pain. But then she remembered that she had fallen into a dark cave all alone and no one knew where she was. Hectically she felt for her mobile phone, but it was no longer there. She buried her face in her hands, but then she pulled herself together. If she gave up hope down here, she had already lost. By now her eyes were halfway accustomed to the darkness. Wasn't there even a faint light back there?
Aurelia closed her eyes, counted to three and stood up. Carefully, she put one foot in front of the other and listened intently into the darkness. But apart from the echo of her footsteps, she heard nothing. After what felt like an eternity, she suddenly had a cymbal in front of her. Startled, she backed away. One more step and she would be inside. When her heart had calmed down to some extent, she approached the pool and finally knelt at its edge. It was definitely the source of the light she had followed so far, and she thought she could see edges around the rim - she prayed they might be tidal rings.
Sighing, she took off her shoes, a pair of airy sandals, and fastened them to the belt of her skirt. All at once she was glad that today was going to be such a warm day and that she was therefore only wearing a black, thin, sleeveless blouse and a maxi skirt. Because that way the weight of the clothes would not unnecessarily hinder her later. Nevertheless, she took the precaution of tucking the ends of her skirt into her belt so that her legs would be free.
Slowly she let herself slide into the water. Its warmth tempted her to simply relax and rest. But she just wanted to get out of here. Determined, she took a deep breath and dived. She found the exit immediately. She could clearly feel the warm current that led through the tunnel at the bottom of the pool back into the sea. Carefully, she followed the current into the tunnel. After five seconds, a cold current suddenly brushed her arm. Surprised, more air escaped her mouth than she had planned. The warm current gently brushed her right foot as if saying goodbye. Then she was grabbed by the cold current and pulled out of the tunnel.
For a moment, she had no idea which way was up or down. Then her instinct took over and led her to the surface. She gasped for air. There was land in front of her, slowly she swam towards it. Finally she had reached it. She was safe.
Gasping for breath and shaking all over, she wrung out first her hair, then her clothes. She took her shoes in her hand as a precaution.
All at once she stopped in mid-motion. Something was wrong. She looked up at the sky and was startled. Now that the salt water was no longer clouding her eyes, she could clearly see the stars and the moon glittering above her. How was that possible?
A scream behind her finally brought her back from her stupor to the present. Slowly she turned to the voice and what she saw shook her to the core. Charging towards her was probably the most beautiful young man she had ever seen. His face, distorted even by rage, was breathtakingly beautiful. His eyes sparkled darkly and menacingly and their intense gaze took Aurelia's breath away. But what irritated her most about him was his tunic. Were there any historical spectacles planned for tonight on the island?
Three steps away from her, he stopped abruptly and examined her closely. He looked like a Roman god and something about his face was painfully familiar. She had seen it somewhere before, but she couldn't put a name to it.
All at once she became aware of how her wet clothes stuck to her skin and how the cool evening wind made her body tremble. Shivering, she wrapped her arms around herself. When their eyes crossed, the expression in his eyes softened and she thought she was sinking into them. Where had she seen his beautiful face before?
"Quae es?" his raspy voice asked her surprisingly gently. Confused, she blinked at him. Was he one of those actors who lived their role fully and didn't shy away from Latin himself? Maybe... a little voice in her head spoke up, but her mind immediately silenced it. That was absolutely impossible.
She shook her head to finally detach herself from those fascinating eyes and let her gaze wander over his shoulder. Perched gracefully and terrifyingly at the same time high up on the cliff was a gigantic Roman villa, its outline illuminated by soft torchlight. She tilted her head in disbelief, then dared a fleeting glance over her own shoulder and was completely overwhelmed by the darkness that surrounded her. Over there, the lights of the cities around the Gulf of Naples should be turning night into day. Her heart skipped a beat, only to immediately race in her chest. Eyes wide, she looked up at the beautiful man who was eyeing her with concern. Slowly, inevitably, realisation seeped through to her. Again and again, driven like a frightened animal, she looked back and forth between the villa and his ancient tunic.
Full of horror, she finally looked him in the eye again. It simply could not be. Suddenly the thundering surf sounded strangely muffled, while her breathing sounded preternaturally loud and heavy. All at once, everything began to spin and the world around her sank into darkness.