Hallowed Kaline (1) (MANUSCRIPT)

Issue # 13 Mourning Introductions

               "Thank you for coming, Cardinals. The whole school has been on lock-down as of this morning. I'm glad you could make it in before this place was completely sealed off." Father Agnus's teeth chattered as he gripped his black wand.
            "What's going on?" Max stood close to Natalie on a foggy morning as Titanium-Corps Academy had filled itself to the brim with strangely red-robed individuals.
             The burgundy-cloaked figures also wore masks which had spirals in the middle of them with merely just the few holes needed for seeing and breathing. 
             "Someone apparently died last night." Natalie put a hand to her collarbone as she stood in the wide coliseum of the academy. "It- It's spooky. I don't know who did. Dad was supposed to have gone on his mission as of last night, so he can't help us out now."
            Max nodded. "Makes sense."
           "Cardinals, please begin the spell." The headmaster then turned to Max and Natalie. "You two might not want to be here for this."
          "Why? We want to... help. In any way, if we can." Max raised up his right hand.
        "That's very flattering, young man. But the men I've gathered here today are a special force who deal with the supernatural. They're from the local 'Complexia Portia'." Agnus nodded his head over to one of the masked figures.
           "Complexia Por- What now?" Max squinted as he dressed in his usual black shirt, blue pants, and darkly green jacket.
            "It's a local establishment which prides itself on piety. A religion. The members of the Complexia Portia are religious. They worship a god of some kind and they know 'cleansing' spells. You see, we're going to try to find whoever committed this murder by cleansing the area, thus focusing on only the criminal's tracks."
             "Everybody, please be advised to hold your positions." One of the red-robed men spoke in a low and muffled voice as he put two fingers up to his nose, looking down at a long piece of parchment which had symbols written over it. "This spell will hurt all of the evil things in the room. Any sort of evil essence will be damaged, and from there, we'll see if it was any of them who came last night, if my guess is correct."
             Father Agnus nodded. "Understood, Cardinal Shinnaffray."
             Max raised his eyebrows. "'Them'?"
            Suddenly, the large coliseum went jet-black. Only a suffocating purple aura, with the harshest smell of mint, raced through the surrounding corners.
            His muscles going limp and aching at the same time, Max's eyes widened. Sounds of distorted screams pulsed through the arena.
          "N- Natalie, d- do you feel that?" The young hunter began to notice beads of sweat flying off his forehead.
           Natalie turned, her face confused. "What? Feel what? I feel fine. It's almost like nothing even happened. Are they done yet even? Did they even start?"
            "I- It s- sucks." Max put a hand to his throat as tears began to fall out of his eyes. S- Something is sucking the life out of me.
           "Calm down, Max." Natalie shook her head, her blonde hair tied in a ponytail. "It's a thing that was supposed to hurt 'evil things', remember?"
             His eyes closing, Max saw a purple-haired man grinning in a dark room. "They won't find me here but for so long. Hm! My brothers are foolish."
           "Y- You. You're the one I saw that time I k- killed M- Malechor!" His mouth closed tight just then, as Max put two hands to his head.
           The ghostly grape-haired man, his skin a dark cinnamon, turned to Max from the seat of a couch and smiled. "Hush."
           "Max!" Natalie threw her hands around Max's face.
           "Huh?" Max blushed incredibly, his face transitioning to a salmon pink from looking gaunt and pale.
           "Are you alright? You looked like you were getting dizzy."
           Suddenly, all the strange and negative-colored lights went away as the arena turned to normal. Max put a hand to his right arm. Feeling his nose bleeding slightly, he tilted his head back quickly to avoid any sort of humiliation. 
           "I'm f- fine."
            From near the headmaster, Cardinal Shinnaffray's head snapped to Max's direction. The alien-like mask bobbed as the Cardinal's head moved with Max's movement.
           "Why did he get 'dizzy' from that spell? That shouldn't have happened, unless-"
           "Cardinal Shinnaffray, what seems to be the issue?" Agnus's red eyes pierced at his friend.
          The Cardinal quickly shook his head. "Nothing. Well, I do have a favor to ask, Agnus."
          The headmaster of Titanium Corps nodded, crossing his arms as his wand stuck out from under his elbow. "The 'CP' has had slow business as of late and, low on your van's fuel, you want to stay here for a day or so. Is that it?"
            "How... did you know we drive a van?" Shinnaffray bowed his head.
             "Ah, good question. I guess I'm just good at guessing." Agnus's hair fell back some as he shot a prospecting glance to the ceiling of the arena. "Very good at guessing."
          "Cardinal Shinnaffray, can we take our masks off now? It's hot in these things!" Came the feminine voice of another masked agent.
           Agnus's eyes widened. "Oh my? That voice sounds familiar! It's been awhile, Cardinal Au-"
            "Aubrey, I know we've completed the spell but quit being whiny." Cardinal Shinnaffray slowly took off his mask, undoing a knot in the back of his short black hair.
            The wooden façade slipping off, Shinnaffray's face looked on as a long and pointy one. His chin sat cleft, forehead massive, as a stubble decorated his olive-colored skin. His eyes blinked with two different colors, the left shining a dark blue and the right shimmering a veiny green. Etched into the right side of his cheek sat a deep scar.
           "Shinnaffray, of course you can stay! I'm in no position to not offer hospitality to you after you've helped cast a purifying spell in this area." Agnus laughed, his glasses moving further up his nose on their own.
            "I take that as a 'yes'?" Cardinal Aubrey, the other agent whose mask's strings went around her neck-length black hair, sighed.
           "Quit whining, Cardinal." Shinnaffray spat at Aubrey's red robe.
            Agnus shook his head. "Easy now. If she is as I remember her, she is still so young. You all took her in when she was just a little girl, correct?"
           "Correct. She's an adolescent, as of now, though. An irritating adolescent." Shinnaffray turned to Agnus, his receding hair flapping a bit. "I know I can be hard on her, but I only want her to become a great Cardinal. After all, Lector Ruthven expects a lot out of us."
            "Quite. I remember meeting this Lector Ruthven very briefly. Hm. He has some big shoes to fill." Agnus walked over to Aubrey just then.
           "I can't get my mask off! The strings are stuck again. Ugh!" Aubrey danced about, placing her fingers between her jawline and the façade.
          "I've noticed that for the past few seconds, dear. Let me help." Agnus pressed his hand to the back of Aubrey's head.
             In a matter of seconds, the girl's mask detached itself from her.
            "Wow! Thanks, Headmaster Agnus." Aubrey turned around and bowed.
            Coming up from her graceful stance, her face revealed itself to be a rounded one. Freckles also dotted a path across her nose and her eyes reflected a generic blue. The top of her hair, contrasting the sable bottom, showed an impregnable auburn.
            "Lector Ruthven does indeed have some shoes to fill, Agnus. The CP is an ancient religion, perhaps as old as mankind itself. Being a 'Lector' means you preside over the entire church. Traditions and rituals must be kept standard and never break rule in order to appease our God." Shinnaffray tossed his mask up and down with his right hand.
           "Right." Agnus nodded.
            "Max, are you sure that you're alright?" Natalie put a hand to Max's shoulder, her eyes nurturing his.
            Max tightened his lips and jumped up. "Y- Yes! I'm fine! I- I'm s- sorry. I didn't mean to sound irritable just then."
           "Okay, if you say so." Natalie shook her head.
           "Seriously. I'm sorry." 
            "Well, it looks like we're gonna have company. Those cardinal-guys are gonna stay here for a day or so." Natalie smiled.
            "Isn't one of them a girl?" Max rubbed the back of his head.
           "'Guys' can be a general or unisex term!" Natalie stuck her tongue out and then walked away. "I'm gonna go tell her that her makeup looks nice."
           "Ugh. Girls have it so easy. Y'all can befriend each other on the slightest of things." Max shook his head, looking up and smiling. And that is something I'm not too good at myself.
            "You betcha!" Natalie teased up the back of her hair.
            "Actually, Natalie Carwell, may I speak with you in private?" Headmaster Agnus suddenly locked his eyes on Natalie.
          "Um. Sure?" The huntress froze.
          "Huh? Oh, hey! I don't know who you are, but your makeup is nice!" The young Cardinal Aubrey waved towards Natalie.
          "Hey, thank you! I was just about to tell you that." 
         "No way."
         "Way."
        "Way?"
         "Like. So totally way."
         "I'm... not gonna barf, actually." Max bit his bottom lip. "Even though keeping track of all these 'ways' could make a man absolutely nauseous!"
          Why do I not have a good feeling about this? Cardinal Shinnaffray rubbed his stubble as he scowled at the headmaster. It's self-evident to me that Aubrey and this girl are going to be good friends, sure. That much is apparent. But what does Agnus want to say to this... Natalie? Could he be going to tell her the truth?
          "Well," Max crossed his arms. "I guess I'll just go find Kyle and Tony. Later!" The young Kaline waved at everyone.
          "Huh? Oh, bye. I think. Whatever." Aubrey nodded over to Max.
           See what I mean? Max slumped his shoulders as he strutted out of the arena. Anyways. I wonder what Kyle's up to, if he even made it here today.