Chapter Fifteen - Part Two: The Gym

"Ah, yes! Simon's assistant. Please, come in."

Everyone turned their head when the door shut and Dr. Galloise returned with a young man in a discrete gray Henley shirt and jeans close behind.

Hazel eyes locked with Leta's briefly before casually looking around the room.

"Everyone, this is Koa. Koa, this is our dig team."

A chorus of 'pleasure to meet you' and 'good morning' echoed around the room as Koa nodded to the group.

"Leta, your task for today is going with Koa to work with Doctor De Mar with the Archaeological Museum. You need to actually be doing work to get those scholarship credits, so you can't be sitting around with the rest of us. Doctor De Mar does a lot of work with the Archaic collection and, while it isn't the prehistoric era that you're hoping to specialize in, it's still museum experience that will help you get those credits."

"Am I going to get in any trouble leaving the house?" Leta inquired, hinting at her and Dr. Galloise's stint at the police station not long ago.

The doctor shook her head. "You'll be shadowing Koa and Dr. De Mar, so you won't be unsupervised or anything. So, finish up and get going. Koa, can I offer you a cup of coffee while you wait?"

"No, thank you, Dr. Galloise." Koa bowed his head in thanks, smiling. "But, if you would be okay parting with some of your tiropita…"

Leta ate quickly, finishing her meal and packing a tote bag of essentials in record time.

Koa kept everyone distracted by speaking a common language- ancient history. By the time Leta was slipping her feet into sneakers, the group was laughing about the wonder and absurdity that was a recently uncovered 2,500 year old piece of obscene graffiti.

Koa was friendly the entire time but kept her in his peripheral vision, excusing himself from the bantering when she was ready to go.

"A pleasure to meet you all, truly. I hope to see you all again soon." He waved goodbye.

A few more farewells and they were out the door.

"The Archaeological Museum?" Leta mumbled as they made their way out of the apartment building.

"He's been digging around historical sites since World War II. It would make sense that he hasn't lost his love of the past." Koa shrugged.

"Wait, what?" Leta stopped in her tracks.

When Koa gave her a confused expression, she continued, "He's been an archaeologist since World War II? Really?"

"Allister reminded you that our kind age slowly, yes?" Koa pointed out, picking the pace back up as they made it to the streets.

"Yeah, but there's aging slowly and then there's that."

"How old did you think he was?"

"I don't know, late thirties? Early forties?"

Koa smirked. "I think our aging equates to a one to ten ratio for us. For every ten years that pass, we only age a year, or there about. Gives you something to look forward to, yes?"

Leta shook her head. "I don't think so."

"No?"

"No. My entire life has been reading and exploring history, and a lot of that history is blood and tragedy. If He was an archaeologist during World War II, that means he's been around to see over 280 armed conflicts as well as two global pandemics."

Koa shrugged, "But in that same breath, he watched humans go to the moon and see sunsets on another planet. He has seen miners that were thought dead trapped beneath the earth be returned to their families. He watched his brothers and sisters grow old and have talented, beautiful grandchildren. He has survived long enough for technology to shed a better light on the history he so cherishes. There is so much that is awful in history, yes. But there is also such good as well."

Leta mulled that over, not exactly agreeing but could see his logic.

They walked for some time when Koa finally handed her a metro card and pointed to a bus stop. "Here."

She recognized the numbers and frowned. This bus line didn't go to the Archaeological Museum.

"Seems like a weird route to take to the museum." She commented

"We're not going to the Museum?"

Leta looked at him, brows furrowed. "Huh?"

"We're going to the cinema." Koa answered with such a nonchalant response that Leta was left gobsmacked.

"But you said-."

"Atreus ordered that you go to the gym. That is where we are heading. Our gym is not at the Archaeological Museum."

Leta blinked. "It's in a cinema?"

"Beneath a cinema, yes."

She shook her head. "You guys live crazy long lives, seen countless historical moments, but you put your secret hideouts in the weirdest places."

"Hiding in plain sight is one of the best ways to keep people off your track. Let me guess, when you thought about where a society of powerful supernatural beings would hide, you're first thought was a sewer?"

Smirking, Leta shrugged. "Blame it on a lifetime of watching superhero cartoons. It's usually a somewhere underground or penthouse of a skyscraper surrounded by armed guards."

"That is usually what is shown on TV. Unfortunately, neither of those options provide optimal security or exits if one needs to evacuate. Having the ability to live a very long life is a wonderful gift, but if your killed easily it wasn't of much use, was it?"

The hiss of brakes signaled their bus had arrived, and the pair settled into comfortable silence as they passed through the historic parts of town and away from the bustle of tourists.

A handful of times they hopped off and took a different bus, each stop becoming more local and urban. Five star hotels and walk tours gave way to overpasses covered in graffiti and overgrown weeds until Koa announced that they had arrived.

It was still another block before he opened the door and ushered her into Villa Cinema.

Koa pulled some navy blue card from his wallet and showed it to the ticket attendant, who only gave it a cursory glance before waving them in with a bored expression.

He saw the confused look on Leta's face and clarified, "The Chosen own the business. Sect members have a special card that is given that allows us to 'watch any move we'd like to see'. You'll get one too, eventually."

Koa took her by the elbow and led her into Theater Five, which was showing a car movie that was all loud engines and testosterone.

Leta felt an odd tingling on her skin that reminded her of when she entered the Sect's penthouse as she crossed the threshold into the theater.

On the other side was the typical long, sloped hallway that would lead up into the theater chairs, but Koa instead headed for a single black door on the hallway wall.

Leta squinted at it, seeing the door waver and come in and out of focus like a fever dream.

"It's illusion magic." Koa said over his shoulder as he pulled a set of keys from his pocket, "The barrier keeps Blessed and humans from sensing it."

A click of the lock later and the door opened silently, only to reveal an old school elevator Leta was sure she'd seen in buildings built during the Soviet era.

"After you." Koa said with a gentleman's hand forward.

If Leta had been skeptical of the elevator from the outside, it was ten times worse being inside it. The cart could only fit three people with everyone touching shoulders and moving at a snail's pace. The gears squeaked and groaned worse than an old man's joints as it tried its best to keep the ride as smooth as possible.

"Was Simon around for this contraption?" Leta grumbled, pressing up against one of the walls and watching the concrete walls of the elevator shaft slowly pass through what amounted to livestock paneling.

Koa chuckled, "Not here. I think he had been stationed somewhere in Canada when this was built. Eriene, though? She's been at this Sect the longest, so most likely this is her contraption."

Leta hadn't even thought about the elderly Eriene. She looked to be in her late 70s, how old did that make her?

Suddenly Leta really wanted to ask her about her life and all the things she'd seen.

After what felt like an hour but was most likely five minutes, the elevator let out a sharp screech as it hit bottom.

Leta nearly pushed her companion out of the way she was so eager to get out of the metal death trap.

"Worst amusement park ride ever." She huffed before taking a look around where the elevator had dropped them at.

The room was massive, probably the size of an opera theater, with concrete walls covered in artistic foam paneling to dampen the echo.

A track ran around the perimeter, with various exercise gear stationed in neat rows centered around four different sparring rings. An old school raised boxing ring, a dust covered pit that looked similar to Sumo rings she'd seen in Japan, a padded fencers ring, and an asphalt square provided terrain options on which to test one's abilities.

If anyone could describe the gym of a secret superhero society, they'd nailed it with this room.

"How'd you get the elliptical down that death trap?" Leta asked, thumbing over her shoulder at the old elevator.

"Vera' carefully and in multiple pieces." Boomed Allister, who swaggered in from what looked like a locker room on the side, Afra following right behind.

Leta knew she was in trouble when the pair were kitted out in uniform clothing - Allister in all black jogger shorts and a tank top that showed off his bulging muscle, and Afra in a form fitting black crop top and yoga pants that put her athletic form on display.

The mischievous smirk Afra had twisting her lips only made it worse.

"I'm not going to like this next part, am I?" Leta groaned.

"'Fraid not, lass." Allister chuckled, throwing her gear similar to Afra's that mostly ended up on the floor due to Leta's flustered catch.

Allister crossed his arms over his barreled chest, mustache twitching as he watched her fumble to pick up the clothing articles before he grunted, "We've got a lot to do here… Go get dressed. I think you're in for the roughest day of your life."