/\/\Chapter 11|University of Rome|1941/\/\
University of Rome, 1941
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"And this is campus!" Sparky turned around with the best flair a kid like him could give, "Yeah, people like to compare this place to the others, but I think it's pretty great."
It was a very prestigious school- a fountain presented itself in the middle of it, and there were kids walking and running about in the park like place, sitting on benches... Whoever got the privilege to attend must've been either very smart or very rich.
Thank God Dr. LaPara offered to pay.
"My family's been attending this place for years," Gianna added, "My father even-" She then caught herself. Probably due to Indiana's backlash aimed at that very man. "I have a lot of connections."
"Let's talk with Dr. LaPara." Marcus suggested, shrugging, "He should know more about this place than us."
"Naturally." Indiana silently commented.
"Yeah, that's a great place to-" Sparky looked down at his watch, and back up at the other two, "He's teaching right now."
"Yes. But he should be done soon!" Gianna piped up, "In... An hour."
"So?" Indiana crossed his arms, "An interruption couldn't hurt."
But as the Archaeologist was making his way through the campus on his own time, Sparky caught up with him. "Sir! It's very rude to interrupt a class like this- maybe we can come back later, when he's packing up. Then we can get a cappuccino, and we'll-"
"Spark." Indy turned around, glaring exasperated daggers into his boy's skull, "You've been to Barnett. How many times has Marcus barged in?"
Silence.
"Exactly." Indy turned around, his eyes landing on the word "Archeologia 101".
Archaeology 101.
LaPara's gotta be here.
"But sir-"
The opening of the door turned the muffled chattering into full blown lecturing as Dr. Milo LaPara stood at the front of the class. The Professor shot a look at the door, his face initially full of annoyance, but his eyes widened at the sight of the Joneses and their other two friends. He turned back to the class, chuckling.
"Non preoccuparti. Mi aspetto molto dal tuo duro lavoro. Assicurati che i tuoi saggi siano ben pensati."
Nevermind that. I expect a lot from all of your hard work. Make sure your essays are thought-out.
Indy, Sparky, Marcus, and Gianna all stayed to the side. Indy felt a sense of embarrassment and familiarity- he was used to a singular Marcus Brody interrupting his classes, but never four people entering- a mute, a ticking time bomb, a magical necklace girl, and the man who got lost in his own museum.
He chuckled to himself at that last memory.
Marcus, you smartass bastard.
It was going to be a long class, however. Gianna had said to expect an hour of LaPara's teaching time.
So they waited.
* * * *
RIIING!
"E questa è la campanella! Oggi non sarò più in ufficio, quindi per favore, se avete bisogno di me, fatemelo sapere venerdì!"
And that's the bell! I won't be in my office anymore today, so please, if you need me, tell me on Friday!
As the last of the students filtered out, LaPara immediately shut the door, locked it, and whipped around to the four adventurers.
"Milo." Indiana and Marcus nodded.
"Dr. Jones. Brody." He nodded to the adults, "Dennis... Signora. Mariani..." He seemed to shake off the fact that Gianna tagged along. Probably because Sparky and her were so close, naturally they'd partake in the same journey.
"LaPara." Indy mouthed.
"You're all back." His eyes narrowed, "What happened?"
"Turns out, it's not a Greek myth." Indiana mouthed, approaching LaPara's desk, as if searching for something.
"What-"
"-He's saying it's not a Greek myth, Dr. LaPara." Gianna responded, approaching her teacher, "It's Roman. It's all here, in front of our eyes, and we didn't even notice!" She pulled out her journal and flipped through it, "These scriptures and rituals- Latin, Latin, Latin, Roman... And besides, we always know that the Romans played copycat-"
"Yes, but they were bad at playing copy..." LaPara paused, looking at his star pupil, "Cat... Gianna, you're saying-"
"The Door of Reflection is in Rome," She smiled, "Everything was copied from the Greeks. It's all in Latin."
LaPara took the journal- gently- and flipped through it, making a few grunts and hums of appreciation and realization. "You're right. This has been in plain sight all along..." He then looked up at Indiana, "This is marvelous! See, I knew we'd get somewhere. Recruiting your son was the first step, Dr. Jones, and look where it's got you."
Silence.
"What? Say something, amico mio, you're saved!"
"Not... Really." Sparky piped up, "His voice is still gone and we had a bit of a run-in with the Pipe of Wit."
"Oh... Oh." LaPara looked at Indiana.
Indiana nodded, pointing at his throat for what seemed like the upteenth time already. LaPara frowned.
"I thought you all had it under control. You were all very close to the Door in the beginning."
"So were the Nazis." Indiana mouthed.
"But you still seem sharp."
"We reversed the Pipe's spells." Gianna explained, "And... We actually have something for your strange artifacts collection... That is, if you really want this out in the open..."
Sparky nodded and reached into his satchel to pull out the Pipe of Wit, "Untouched... And somewhat used, Dr. LaPara." He proudly presented the artifact to his professor, "Is it all you expected it to be."
He's a schoolboy.
"Dennis..." LaPara gasped, carefully taking the Pipe into his arms, "È bellissimo... Come dicono i libri..."
It's beautiful... Like how the books said...
He looked up and grinned back at his student, "I'm considering giving you an A for this find." He then nodded to Gianna, "And you as well, Mariani. I made you his tutor for a reason."
"I don't view myself as a tutor anymore... More like a partner in crime." Gianna smirked, "Spítha and me make a lot of mischief."
Indiana was almost caught up in his son's giddy expression when Marcus made an "ahem" sound, making all heads turn to him.
The old man chuckled, "I don't mean to intrude- it's a very touching moment- but we should discuss the elephant in the room: The Nazis are after us, aren't they?"
"When aren't they?" Indiana silently commented to himself.
"Ah, yes. We were hoping you could help us with the location of the Door." Gianna held her hand out for her journal, which LaPara handed back.
"Ah, this is exciting!" LaPara smiled, walking back to his desk, "Ah, bene, bene, ottimo lavoro, cominciamo."
Good, good, marvelous work, let's get started.
He then turned around, "A real adventure like how the other men crave when talking about the great Indiana Jones." He flashed a prideful glance at the archaeologist, "It's exciting to be caught in the middle of it."
It gets old, buddy.
"Now... Where should we get started? What's the first location?" LaPara questioned, taking out a huge file- it seemed to be about the Door, with how tucked it was behind the bookshelf of dusty textbooks. He then pulled down a map of Italy, eagerly turning back to face his guests as they all looked at each other, wondering who would go first.
Indiana stepped forward, "We were thinking Lacus Cruitius."
"What?" LaPara squinted.
"Lacus Cruitius, sir." Gianna recalled, "Isn't that some folklore-affiliated place?"
"Ah, yes, I do know a few bits about it..." He walked back to his textbooks, flipping through one about Roman Mythology- it was the most untouched one, probably because... Well, one doesn't study mythology much in such a class like Archaeology 101. It was probably there for LaPara's sake. It was also stacked on top of a Greek myth book. "Lacus Cruitius, Lacus Cruitius..."
After a while of looking, LaPara looked up from his papers, almost sheepishly, "It might be time-wasting, but can I go and adventure with you all?" He winked, "I can be skilled with a fencing sword."
Indiana groaned internally. Another person to drag along and protect from a potential hostage situation. This was too familiar.
"Sure!" Sparky and Gianna smiled.
Great.