Felix forced a chuckle. “It’s a remarkable place. Hard to imagine something like this ever disappearing.”
Disa’s eyes slid to Felix, her smile widening as though she found his comment amusing. “Oh, nothing lasts forever, Mr. Goodman. Not even something as grand as this.” Her voice was calm, almost playful, but Aida knew nothing was playful about her.
Aida stepped in quickly, trying to steer the conversation. “It’s incredible how the Colosseum has endured for centuries,” she said, her voice a little too bright. “People still come from all over the world to experience it.”
Disa let out a soft, almost mocking laugh. “Endured?” she repeated. “I’d say it’s survived just long enough to witness the world around it crumble. People build things, Aida. But they also have a knack for tearing them down.” She turned her gaze back to the ancient structure, her fingers trailing along the stone railing. “Civilizations fall. It’s inevitable. They just need the right... push.”
“The world’s more stable than you think, Disa,” Aida said, her voice steady with the help of the aegis. “Things don’t just fall apart.”
“Don’t they?” Disa replied, her eyes bright with dark amusement. “All it takes is one small invisible thing. One change and everything you know comes undone.” She turned her gaze fully on Aida, her expression unnervingly calm. “That’s the beauty of it, really. You never see it coming.”
Aida’s breath caught in her throat. Disa wasn’t speaking in hypotheticals. She was hinting at something dangerous, something Aida suspected she’d already set in motion. The realization hit her like a slow cold wave. Disa was planning something catastrophic. Not for the first time, Aida was grateful for her aegis, because without it she wasn’t sure she could hold her emotions together.
Felix, beside her, gave a strained smile, his voice tight. “Well, let’s hope nothing like that happens anytime soon.”
Disa’s gaze flicked to him, studying him for a beat too long. Then she smiled, as if she’d decided to let him off the hook. “Yes, let’s hope.”
Aida forced a laugh, despite the calm she felt. “What can I tell you about this project? I’m happy to give you a rundown of my last few weeks.”
Disa tilted her head. “Oh, I can’t stay. I have other matters to attend to. But I’m glad to see you are working in earnest on this project.” She stepped back from the railing, her gaze lingering on Felix for a moment before she smiled at Aida. “I want you to finish early. Make sure you’ve uploaded all your research before you leave today. Then take a long vacation, why don’t you?” With that, she turned and sauntered toward the stairs, her eccentric outfit glittering absurdly in the sunlight.
Aida began a stilted conversation with Felix about the ancient graffiti on the nearby wall, which they kept up until Disa was out of sight and the calm of the aegis gave way. She cloaked her MODA phone, then signaled to Felix that they were okayto talk, and he let out a breath he’d been holding, his shoulders sagging with relief. “Oh my fucking god.”
Aida nodded, her heart still racing. “Yeah,” she said softly. “That was a god.”
“Why was she here?”
“She’s the goddess of discord. Who knows. But it definitely wasn’t for anything good.”
“We’re going to lose this place, aren’t we?” he said, looking out over the ancient stones below.
Tears rose to Aida’s eyes at the thought. “Yes.”
Felix kicked the stone wall in front of him. “Fuck this.”
There wasn’t anything that Aida could say, for she felt the same.
She was finished when the Colosseum closed, an hour before sundown. After saying goodbye to Felix, Aida decided to detour through the Roman Forum and stop by the Umbilicus Urbis hoping that Vulcan or Aggie might notice her lingering at the railing that separated the tourists from the brick structure. They didn’t, despite the prayers she whispered:Please, don’t let them take the Colosseum.
Reluctantly she left and decided to head up to the Campidoglio overlook next to the Palazzo Senatorio, Rome’s city hall, one of the best views of the site. The fading sunlight cast a warm golden hue over the sprawling landscape. From her vantage point, the grandeur of the Roman Forum stretched out before her, its ancient stones glowing amber in the dying light. Beyond the Forum, the iconic silhouette of the Colosseum stood majestically against the horizon, shadows deepening between its weathered arches. She took a few photos, hoping they wouldn’t be her last. Then she stood there, a dull ache inside her rising while she endeavored to memorize every part of the view, burning it as much as she could into memory.
A strange rumble shook Aida out of her reverie. At first, it was a sound like a jet plane coming closer, or the heavy murmur of asubway moving below. Then the ground began to shake violently beneath her, the ominous rumble growing until it became a deafening roar. She watched in horror as the Colosseum, that iconic symbol of Rome’s enduring legacy, began to crumble.
“No, no, no, no, no!” she screamed. “No!”
The tallest part of the structure, the imposing outer wall that had stood for millennia, groaned. Stones that had weathered countless battles and earthquakes for thousands of years now cracked and split. Chunks of the ancient limestone tumbled from the upper arches, where she had stood less than an hour before, cascading like rain onto the tiers below. Dust and debris filled the air in a choking cloud, swirling through the last rays of the daylight sun.
Aida’s hand clamped harder on the railing, her knuckles white, unable to tear her eyes from the ruin unfolding before her. This wasn’t just stone falling. The world was breaking apart, history being stripped away by invisible hands.
The topmost arches, once the crown of Roman ingenuity, buckled as their keystones dislodged, collapsing into the void beneath. A thick crack snaked its way down the length of the wall, sending shudders through the massive structure. The distinct rumble of shifting earth, once distant, now became an unbearable crescendo as the outermost edge of the Colosseum crumbled away. The collapse was slow at first but then faster and faster as entire sections of the ancient monument caved in, sending rubble crashing to the ground with sickening finality. Although the Colosseum had closed, Aida was sure there must have been some workers who died in the wreckage. The thought stabbed into her heart.
The rumbling stopped, and the sound of sirens cut through the eerie quiet.
Aida’s phone vibrated in her pocket. Shaking, she pulled it out. It was Felix. She hastily responded that she was okay.
Then she ran.
But there was too much distance to cover, and by the time she got close, emergency crews had already blocked off the street and weren’t letting people get any closer.
