Mo’s eyes seemed to light up momentarily. “I wanted to make sure you could get in without any hassle. But apparently, Trista also thought it prudent to send your bumbling guide friend along.”
Felix was about to say something, but Aida broke in before he could set Mo off. “Trista is good at her job. Felix is one of the best guides in the city. He’s been crucial in helping me catalog everything to Lady Ozie’s specifications.” She turned to Felix and held out an elbow for him to bump. “Good to see you again.”
“Thanks,” he said, connecting his elbow to hers.
“This lockdown is becoming tiring. Something must be done about it,” Mo said, almost more to himself than to Aida and Felix. He put his hand on the door. “London’s calling and I must be away. I think London should be calling you again soon as well.” He winked at Aida, then disappeared through the door. The blanket of calm that surrounded her abruptly ended.
Felix sagged in relief. “What a colossal asshole. Seriously, one of the biggest jerks I’ve ever met.”
“For some reason, he seems to like me,” Aida said. “What did he say to you?”
“He was standing at the door when I arrived. When I said I was there to meet you, he ripped into me, interrogating me. It was unnerving. It was clear he didn’t want me to be there at all. I would have left, but I was worried about leaving you alone with that guy. Despite his damned good looks, everything out of his mouth was sarcastic and downright acerbic.”
Aida had to chuckle. “Well, he is the god of sarcasm, after all.”
“Wait, that was Mo?” Felix covered his masked mouth with his hand.
“It was.”
Felix could hardly say anything for a moment. When he finally did, it was with a curse. “Fuuuuuck.I don’t like this god thing. I’m so glad I didn’t say all the things I wanted to.”
“Lucky for you, he’s unable to hurt mortals directly.”
Felix snorted. “Directly. But perhaps he could compel the woman who opened the door to fetch her gun and put a bullet in my head?”
“In theory. But that would mean she already had a gun, and it’s not so easy to get one in this country.”
Felix looked at her, incredulous. “Aida! You know what I mean.”
“I do, but I really think Mo is mostly all talk. His power is in his biting words.”
Felix led Aida through the magnificent palace, which was now the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, including some of the oldest paintings in Rome. When they reached the Grand Salone, they stood in its center looking up at Pietro da Cortona’s Baroque masterpiece, a fresco that Felix informed Aida was called theAllegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power.
“It’s one of the most important paintings of the seventeenth century,” he told her. “That woman in the center, that’s Divine Providence. Time and the Fates are below her, and she iscommanding the personification of Rome above her to put the papal crown on the Barberini coat of arms.”
“I should take notes, I suppose,” Aida said, reaching into her bag for her notebook.
Felix stopped her. “No, just look at it with me. Please.”
They admired the fresco in silence for some time. Staring up at Cortona’s masterpiece, Felix seemed lost in his own world, his eyes tracing the intricate dance of figures across the fresco. The silence between them stretched, filled with the unspoken magnitude of the artwork above.
Finally, Felix turned his face away from the ceiling. Aida was glad for the reprieve and took a moment to stretch her neck.
“Thanks,” he said.
“For what?”
“For indulging me. I needed the silence to think, and admiring art helps me gather my thoughts. I’ve always appreciated this fresco for its artistic merit, but today, I’ve realized this scene is more than a grand display of Barberini’s power or a tribute to divine providence. It’s about the human spirit, our enduring quest to find meaning, to assert ourselves against the chaos of existence. It’s a reminder of how people have always grappled with forces larger than themselves. The gods, fate, now this pandemic... They’re all part of a larger narrative of human experience.”
“It’s funny. Humans are always painting the gods, but the gods are nothing without us humans,” Aida said, glancing back up at the divine figures above her.
Felix turned to Aida, his eyes reflecting a mixture of resolve and introspection. He motioned for Aida to mask her MODA phone. “That’s exactly it. That’s what we’re facing now with MODA, and trying to find Pandora and Effie is another chapter in that narrative. Our actions, our choices... they matter, just like those of the people who put the painting on that ceiling. We’re part of something bigger, and that’s both terrifying and incredibly humbling. And the gods... they can’t eliminate us completely because if they do, who will glorify them?”
“Maybe that’s why Mo mentioned the pandemic was becoming tiresome,” Aida mused. “I’ve been thinking about that. I wonder how much of this is him going along with his sisters, and not his own idea. If humans are locked away, it must be pretty boring for someone like him.”
“Well, he did say that you may be returning to London soon. Maybe you’re right, and he’ll find some way to ease the lockdown.”
“I hope so,” she said as she took her notebook out to get to work.
