Ignite the Jewel

Chapter I: History never forgets

        The old teacher looked around the classroom. She could not believe that it had already been so long. The world around her looked so different. But same the old woman, who just a lifetime ago wanted nothing more than a day like today, could not decide if the peaceful world around her today was any better than the world she had endured all these years ago. The desks hovering above floors who could sense the students' emotions and transmit it to her as a teacher, helping her see how well each student was learning or paying attention without the students ever even realizing. The old lady sighed, so much technology had made education so much different from what little she could remember after so many years of pain she had seen.
"Today class," She started in her croaky voice, "we're finally discussing The Dialandian Wars."
She could see most of the students' faces light up. Though there were still some who were just staring at her absentmindedly but most students even some that had been bored all year were now leaning on their arms, their eyes twinkling with intrigue.
"Our countries today were so much different, students. In fact if you go back just another short two thousand years back in time then you'll not see our countries or even anything else you may think to see in between. In fact you will see-"
"One empire!" A student screamed from the front row.
The old woman could not help but smile to herself. It was strange yet strangely satisfying to see that the young children of the world were far from how she remembered children being back in her own day.
"Close enough, dear, if we go back two thousand and ninety years then we'll see a universe much different than we see today."
She had to take a deep breath and pause for a moment before starting the slideshow for the lady did not believe that her old and weak heart would be able to handle the cumbersome images she had not seen in so long. She glanced at the class's excited eyes and soon her own excitement grew as well. She clicked on the small swipe screen and braced herself for what she was about to see. The screen covered the entire wall and soon the pixels grew into perfectly clear images that she could hardly tell apart from reality appeared on the large screen. The students' eyes widened with excitement as each photo faded in and out of their view. The old lady could recognize each and every one of the photos vividly. The old abandoned and collapsing buildings, the bodies, the deserted cities, the bruised children, they were all so familiar.
"Ma'am, how long did the war last?" A student asked.
"Almost forty years, dear." The old teacher replied.
As she was about to start explaining, the last photo appeared on the screen. The old lady felt her heart skip a beat. She knew that the image was an edited version of several different images but she knew each and every single one of the familiar faces that she had seen every single day growing up. Those faces had once been the only hope she had left in a world that was so dark and in a tunnel with blocked exits. She yet again became that little girl and joined her students as they awed at the beautiful glittering diamonds and jewels on the calm and composed faces. Even all those years later, she still understood how those calm faces provided such relief and hope to a society that was in such dire need of it at the time.
"Oh what happened?" She muttered to herself.
But she knew exactly what had happened for history would never forget.