literature

Mythanthrope, Wanda's Story, Part 5

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The building was one of those slick ultramodern numbers. It resembled a confluence of geometric shapes and sharp curves, steel and glass plates juxtaposed with laminated wooden panels and windows. There appeared to be a large three-storied central interior with a few smaller two and single-storied additions on its west and east faces, though given the building's lack of symmetry this would only become apparent after careful examination. It was the kind of structure that might hold luxury condominiums, a concert hall or megachurch. Or the Chrysalis Corporation Training and Enrichment Center.

"Nice looking place," commented Wanda's mother pleasantly as she turned into sprawling parking lot.

"Yeah, I guess," said Wanda. She gazed out the passenger side window at the center, idly scratching the scales on her face. The Chrysalis building was situated in the center a recently constructed upscale shopping center adjoining the freeway. There were several chains, a wholesaler megastore, a home improvement depot and a luxury hotel. Row after row of trim ranch style homes could be seen lining the hills north of the center. Almost half the shoppers and workers present were mythomorphs.

After driving through the parking lot for a minute or two, Wanda's mother found an empty spot and pulled into it. She shut off the engine.

"All right, I'll meet you here in an hour and a half," said Wanda's mother, digging through her purse for her cell phone. "We can go out for dinner afterwards. You'll probably work up an appetite afterwards," she added, tapping on the phone's surface.

"Uh, yeah," said Wanda, grimacing slightly.

"Those workout shorts still fit you, right?"

"Christ, mom, I wear them for P.E. That was only last quarter."

"Just making sure."

Wanda and her mother climbed out of the car and carefully made their way through the congested lot to the Chrysalis Center. Wanda peered up at the massive edifice, shielding her eyes from the glare of the afternoon sun reflecting off its glassy surface. She wasn't sure if she was impressed or repulsed. Sighing, she adjusted her gym bag's shoulder strap and walked up to the entrance. She stopped mid-step, turned and glanced back at her mother, who was several yards away staring down at her cell phone, tapping away.

"Oh, uh, sorry honey; got a text from work," said her mother distractedly. "I, uh, I'll see you in a little bit." She managed to tear her gaze from her phone long enough to look up and give Wanda an encouraging smile. "Good luck, Samantha."

It took a modicum of effort, but Wanda returned her smile and entered the Chrysalis Center.

The main foyer was bright and airy. It spanned all three stories. Wanda could see people walking along railings above. The interior, unsurprisingly, was also ultramodern - flat geometric surfaces, glass and steel predominated. Abstract art littered the walls, corners and alcoves, though there were also quite a few posters of happy, satisfied mythomorphs going about everyday life - much like those she saw at the Chrysalis center at the mall. There were also a few 'before and after' posters depicting clients that had successfully reached stage three or higher and what they had looked like before undergoing their transformation. Needless to say, their human alter ego always looked unimpressive and, well, downcast in comparison to their mythomorph form.

There was a short line at the front desk. Wanda walked up and waited. A few minutes later she was next.

"Hello, what can I do for you?" chirped the secretary - a comely middle-aged female mythomorph with bright blue wings and feathery hair. Maybe a harpy?

"Hi, I'm here for the four o'clock session for, uh, new mythomorphs," said Wanda.

"Oh yes," said the secretary, smiling almost manically. "You must be new." She paused, cocking her head. "Are you a...a dracomorph?"

"Um, yeah, I-"

"Congratulations!" said the secretary happily. "In that case you're probably over in room 120C instead of 230A." She motioned to her left with a taloned finger. "Go down the hall, take a left at the end and it will be the first door on your left. You can't miss it. The class will be starting soon so you'd better hurry."

"Thanks, uh, Stefanie," said Wanda, reading the secretary's nametag. "So, what's happening in room 230A?"

"Huh?" said Stefanie, blinking.

"You said I'd be going to room 120C instead of room 230A. What's going on in room 230A?"

"Oh, it's a slightly different course," said Stefanie. "Chrysalis carefully tailors our programs to fit our clients' profiles; rare, unique or otherwise exceptional mythomorphs, such as yourself, benefit from specialized training."

Wanda gave the secretary a look. Her voice had an unusual cadence that brought Wanda to mind of a parrot. The bright blue coloration certainly didn't help.

"Okay," said Wanda for lack of anything better to say. "Thanks again."

"Thank you for selecting Chrysalis," called Stefanie as Wanda headed off down the hall.

Finding the room proved easy enough as each was clearly labeled. Wanda walked up to the door, took a deep breath, pulled it open and stepped into what appeared to be an aerobics room or dance studio. It had all the usual accoutrements - mirror-lined walls, bright overhead lights, laminated wooden floors, shelves stacked with yoga mats, free weights and exercise balls. There were a few dozen people in their teens to early twenties - all stage one mythomorphs - sitting on floor pillows. Every one of them glanced up at Wanda as she entered.

"Um, hi," said Wanda, issuing a diffident wave. "I'm not late, right?"

"Nope! You're just in time!" boomed an enthusiastic voice from behind.

The door burst open. A large figure bounded inside.

"Hi everybody! Ready to get mythical?"

Wanda stared. At first she thought the newcomer was just wearing an elaborate mascot outfit as she couldn't fathom anyone wearing anything so loud and, well, cheesy. Her ensemble consisted of a shocking pink short-sleeve shirt stretched tightly across her impressive bust with matching pink sweatbands on her hands, feet and head and a pair of loose-fitting shiny white nylon shorts. She wasn't wearing any shoes or even socks; Wanda doubted there existed a pair of either that could fit around her padded digitigrade feet let alone accommodate her clawed toes, which, like her fingernails, were painted pink. Not to put too fine a point on it, the newcomer was a mythomorph, at least stage three, and Wanda had no idea what kind of mythomorph she was even though she looked vaguely familiar. She superficially resembled an anthropomorphic dog, or maybe a lion. She was about six feet tall and her entire body was covered in a coat of fuzzy yellow fur. Her hair - that is, the hair on her head - in contrast, was enormous and fluffy, extending all the way down to her ample posterior. It was a lighter shade of yellow and stylized into large curly locks. Her tail - yes, she had a tail - was the same light shade as yellow as her hair. Curiously, there were also tufts of curly light yellow hair running along the sides of her ankles and forearms. Her canine (leonine?) head featured a short muzzle, pointy yellow ears and a jaw full of shiny white fangs that would have looked quite fierce were it not for the seemingly permanent goofy smile etched upon her face. That and the pink eyeliner she wore over her sparkling blue eyes.

"The name's Kaylah," exclaimed the mythomorph, paws on hips. "Great to see so many fresh new faces here today! Just in case you wandered into the wrong room, this is Physical Conditioning for Uncommon Stage One Mythomorphs. Unless you're a rare or uncategorized mythomorph you should probably head on over to 230A. No biggie; people mix the two classes up all the time."

She looked expectantly around the room. No one rose from their seat to leave.

"Great! So, first off, I'm a foo dog, guardian lion, komainu or shisa depending on who you ask. Not many of us around - just like all of you. See, the reason we divide stage ones into two groups is because we don't have a program specially tailored for rare morphs you. We know fire elementals benefit from hot yoga and saunas and most fey mythomorphs thrive on a high fiber, low protein diet, but what about, say, a tengu, or a bunyip, or just a mythomorph that has pale blue skin and dorsal bone ridges? No other identifying marks or characteristics? Simply put, we're going to try a lot of different things, closely monitor your progress and see what sticks. But before we get started let's go around the room and introduce ourselves, starting with, uh, you!"

Besides Wanda there was one other dracomorph. Not the boy from school, Wanda noted. This one was skinnier and had blue scales. He looked like he was in his early twenties. The rest were either uncategorized or ones she didn't recognize, with a few exceptions. There was a red-haired, red-eyed teenage boy who was apparently on his way to becoming an ifrit or phoenix and a white-skinned, white-haired woman who could potentially be a snow maiden, shinigami or dullahan. Chrysalis wasn't sure which.

"Great!" said Kaylah. "Fair is fair, so here's a little bit about me. I used to work at an accounting firm downtown. I wasn't happy with my job or my life in general. Then, one of my girl friends," she chuckled "Well, my only girl friend then, told me I should try shif-...mythomorphic conversion. I was skeptical. I mean, I thought it was just something teenagers and weirdos did. But look at me now!" the trainer posed, standing on one foot, flexing her burly right arm, grinning. She winked. "I've never been happier. I love my job and I love who I am. And I have my friends here at Chrysalis to thank for all this."

"Sounds like someone drank the cool-aid," murmured one of the attendees not quite under his breath. Kaylah's right ear twitched but she did not otherwise react.

"Now, I'm not sure what you've heard about our training regimen," said Kaylah. "But here's the real scoop. Progression through the mythomorphic stages can be easy and, dare I say it, fun. It's all about attitude. Some people struggle to put in a half-hour at the gym every day but will play basketball until they're blue in the face. If you can find a way to enjoy this, well, my job's already done. You'll be stage threes or even fours in no time. How awesome is that?"

To Wanda's surprise and embarrassment, Kaylah actually jumped for joy, causing a not insignificant part of her anatomy to bounce up and down for a couple of seconds. The collective gaze of nearly every male in the room shifted up and down. Wanda rolled her eyes.

"We're going to start by doing some basic calisthenics and stretches," said Kaylah, "Nothing too strenuous. I just need to get an idea of where you all are, physically speaking."

'Nothing too strenuous' turned out to be quite strenuous indeed, at least for Wanda. First came the circle run, then the crunches, the side-ups, the rolling push-ups (which Wanda really despised), the squats...by the time they were finished Wanda was red-faced (well, more so than usual) and panting for breath. It was worse than gym. Well, maybe not quite as bad; at least her classmates here had to be civil to her.

"Not bad, not bad," said Kaylah cheerfully, seemingly obvious to how fatigued some of her students were. "Now that we're all warmed up let's loosen those joints." She raised both paws into the air. "Do as I do. Reach up to the sky..." she bent over "...then touch the Earth."

The class followed cue, to varying degrees of success. Wanda grimaced and prayed her shorts would survive the ordeal without tearing. It had happened before.

"Now lean to the side...and the other side," said Kaylah, doing just that.

The stretches proved to be not nearly as bad as the calisthenics, lasting only ten minutes and ending with a minute of half-lotus. Wanda sighed with relief.

"Okay," said Kaylah, rising from the floor. "Just sit and relax. Long, steady breaths. You're all doing great." She produced a small clipboard from somewhere on her person. "I'm going to take some time to talk to each one of you so we can start planning your individual regimen. Then we'll be done for the day."

Wanda wiped a trickle of sweat from her scaly brow and glanced up at the clock, already considering dropping out of the class; she wasn't sure she could stand the workout (and annoying instructor) two times a week.

"Hey there," whispered a voice.

Wanda blinked and looked up. Kaylah had taken a knee beside her. It seemed that the furry yellow mythomorph could move quite stealthily if so inclined.

"I couldn't believe it when I read there'd be not one, but two dracomorphs attending my afternoon class today," continued Kaylah happily. "But here you are! Awesome! You're Samantha, right?"

"Uh, yeah," said Wanda, trying not to stare at Kaylah's long, pointy teeth. "But I go by Wanda," she added, somewhat to her surprise. "My middle name."

"Sure thing! So, I confess, not counting your scaly green classmate, I've only worked with one other dracomorph before," said Kaylah. "From what I've read dracomorphs benefit from both physical and mental conditioning. As far as we can tell there are no specific set of exercises, diets, or other tricks that can accelerate progression through the five stages for a dracomorph." She hesitated. "Though in your case I think we should try some of the treatments we use on fire elementals. Your body temperature is much higher now, right?"

"Yeah, over 135," said Wanda uneasily.

"Wow, you are smokin' hot, girlfriend," said Kaylah jovially. "Yeah, let's get you scheduled for a sauna sometime in the next week and make it a part of your regimen, at least for the first month or so," she said, scribbling on her clipboard.

"Alright," said Wanda, perking up slightly.

"I'm going to email you a tentative weekly workout plan. You don't have to follow it to the letter. Heck, you shouldn't try. See how much you can get done in a day. You do need to push yourself but as long as you do a little bit better every week you'll be on track. There's a meditation and mental exercise course for stage ones starting next week. We normally emphasize one over the other, depending on the mythomorph, but in your case I think you should attend both classes - rotate weeks, that sort of thing."

"Uh, okay."

"Great, that just about covers it," said Kaylah happily. "Looking forward to having you in my class Sa-...I mean, Wanda," she said, winking.

"That's it?" said Wanda, somewhat surprised.

"For now," said Kaylah, nodding.

"I'd thought there'd be more...I dunno, testing and analysis. Don't you need more information?"

"I've got you covered, don't worry," said Kaylah, smiling.

A few minutes later Wanda exited the studio and wandered out into the hallway in a bit of a daze. All in all, she felt better than she had expected. Maybe it was the adrenaline. Or maybe she was just happy it was over. Her mother was waiting for her when she stepped out into the foyer. She looked up at her daughter from her cell phone and smiled warmly.

"Hey there, honey," she said, rising from her seat. "How was it? Did you work up a sweat."

"Obviously," said Wanda, wiping her face with towel. "It was basically P.E. on crack with mythomorphs. Well, more mythomorphs than usual. The instructor can be a bit too...chummy, too."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, honey," said her mother sympathetically. The two began walking towards the exit. "So, it's a no-go?"

Wanda shrugged and waggled her fingers in the air.

"Ehhh...maybe I'll try a few more classes, see what happens," she said. "I mean, it's free, and they're throwing in a weekly sauna."

"Nice," said her mother.

"Yeah, it's pretty sweet," said Wanda. "I mean, even when I turn the knob all the way to its hottest setting the shower still isn't warm enough for me anymore. Maybe now I'll..." Wanda trailed off.

"What is it, honey?" inquired her mother.

"My classmate..." she whispered.

"What was that?"

"How did she know about him?" muttered Wanda, to herself. "I mean, did he take her class too? But then, how would she know we met in class?" She slapped herself on the forehead. "Oh, duh, she was talking about the other dracomorph in class. Right?"

"Huh?"

"Nothing, mom," said Wanda, opening the front door. "What are we having for dinner? I'm starving."

* * *

The office door swung open. Kaylah stepped inside. She was still wearing her workout ensemble and carrying a clipboard in one paw and a bottle of water in the other. Nodding at her coworkers as she passed them, Kaylah stepped into her cubical and flopped into her chair. Her cubical walls were festooned with news clippings, scientific articles, photographs of paintings and artwork and pin-ups of muscular male mythomorphs. She took a long swig from her bottle, reached over and gently tapped the escape key on her computer with a clawed digit. A few seconds later, the screen lit up.

"Let's see here," murmured Kaylah, stretching her arms.

The yellow-furred mythomorph scooted her chair closer to her desk and started typing. She opened a database program and started searching through profiles. Eventually, she brought up a file with Wanda's portrait on it. She scrolled the down to an empty text box and started adding notes.

"Needs...encouragement," she muttered to herself. "Naturally suspicious, defensive, possibly related to being a single child of a divorcee. Can't let another dracomorph slip through."

"Hey, Kaylah."

Kaylah's ears twitched. She swiveled around in her chair. A handsome man with striking emerald eyes wearing a smart grey business suit was leaning on the side of her cubical wall.

"Oh, hello Mr. Mondale," she said cheerfully.

"How did your afternoon class go?" he inquired.

"Pretty good, pretty good," she said absently. "Oh," she said, eyes widening. "You're asking about the, uh," she made a little motion in the air with her claws.

"Yes, the, as you put it, 'uh.'"

"Well, I think the guy is interested," she said uneasily. "And I was just adding some notes to the girl's profile. She seemed a little...ambivalent, which fits in with what the counselors over at our branch at the mall wrote about her. Don't worry, I'll reel her in."

Mr. Mondale was silent for a moment. He gazed down at the ground then back up at Kaylah, who was looking at him expectantly.

"Just don't put too much pressure on her," he said finally. "Or the other one, for that matter."

"Yes, of course," she said, nodding. "We might drive them away if we push too hard."

"Well, yes, but until we learn more about them we don't necessarily want them to start progressing through the stages," said Mr. Mondale evenly.

"Huh?"

Mr. Mondale raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, yes," said Kaylah quietly. "Er, I actually recommended the girl take the psyche and mental conditioning courses."

"Good, good," said Mr. Mondale, nodding. "Keep me posted."

With that, Mr. Mondale left. Kaylah slowly turned back to her computer and exhaled.

"It's certainly been an interesting day," she murmured to herself, saving the changes she had made to Wanda's profile.
The fifth part of the first story set in my fictional universe/series, Mythanthrope. Wanda starts her training.
© 2016 - 2024 Heliotroph
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pelourinho's avatar
Really enjoying this one. Do you think you'll ever write more on this story?