Hallowed Kaline (1) (MANUSCRIPT)

Issue # 21 Grandfather, Pt. 1

              The sun set low for the night as Max sat wide awake in his bedroom. On his computer, he tried to message his friends on Skoops. His hands shook as he typed. 
             I'm- well, I guess I'm really excited. Today was too much. I went back to Titanium-Corps just in time to see that everybody was alright. Natalie. Kyle. Cardinal Aubrey... Shinnaffray... and Lector Ruthven are all doing well, too. What hurts though... is that we ultimately couldn't salvage the relationship between Sean Changris-Pon and... Tori. Tears fell from Max's eyes. All too easily... I see what could become of Natalie and I in those two. It... is scary. 
           "Max," Max's grandpa, Thomas Kaline, knocked on his door. The big house they lived in, by the sea, had many doors and rooms. "can I come in?" 
          "Sure, grandpa." Max quickly wiped his face. 
         "Max. Is everything alright?" Thomas clicked his tongue as he ran a hand across his liver-spotted face. "When I allowed you to go to Titanium-Corps... I thought it'd bring meaning in your life. I thought it was what you wanted. It seems recently that you've been stressing." 
        "What? No, no. Really, I'm fine. I- uh- actually... wanted to ask you a question." Max tightened his lips. "Again. I think you know... what... it... is." 
       Thomas sighed, flaring his nose to reveal the nostril hairs. "Yes?" 
       "Did you ever... have a friend named... Hosanna?" 
       "Max... I told you already-" 
       "I know. I know you did but... something just doesn't sit right with me." Max hunched his back as he sat over his wooden desk, the moonlight outside drowning in through the window. 
       Thomas walked to the door of his grandson's room. "I... may have. It was long ago. And I wasn't his only friend, I can tell you that much. A jazzy era of music we enjoyed. Ohohoho!" 
         "Oh?"

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       "What do you see in there, Nay-Yim?" Iona de'Navra teased her long light-violet locks as she huddled near a bush in the dark of night. 

       "For the last time dear, it's 'Naw-Hoom'." Nahum de'Navra rolled his eyes as he held a pair of binoculars in his glove-saturated hands. "And it's just the boy talking to one of his legal guardians, it seems." 

       "Whatever." Iona shrugged. 
        "Spying on Maximus was supposed to be a fun bonding experience. Let's not let it go to waste, huh?" petting the grass with his tan hands, Ashka de'Navra breathed in deeply. "The night air is so calm and still. I like it. A touch of humidity for good spice, at that. Say, Iona, would you like to see a... magic trick?" 
        "Hmph. The only magic trick I wanna see is that kid's face shoved in the dirt." the floppy belly of an older man puffed out. 
        "Braggar, will you ever lose weight?" Ashka rolled his eyes as he sat cross-legged behind a giant bush. 

        "Hell no!" Braggar de'Navra flexed his biceps. "Besides... look at these perty things." 
        Ashka yawned. "Well, the least you could do is put on a shirt." Out from one of his pockets, the youthful de'Navra pulled out a deck of cards. 
       "I'm sorry we all don't wear tuxedos like you." Braggar narrowed his eyes as he pushed his bald head closer in Ashka's personal space. 
        Nahum quickly raised his right hand. "I wear tuxedos-" 
       "Ah," Ashka smiled. "Mhmhmhmhm. Truly, nothing reflects the beauty of the moonlight quite like your receding hairline." 
         Braggar twitched his left eye. "Why you-" 
        "Calm down. We are the de'Navra. Ancient hybrid race of faerie-humans. I would advise that you do well to remember that." A brown man with long purple hair poked Braggar in the back with a bony finger. Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his other hand, the fellow wore a brown jacket and blinked with a pair of vermilion eyes. 
       "Yes... Z- Z- Zarkadda." Braggar coughed. 

      "Oh, you made big brother pissed now." Iona winked and stuck her tongue out. "Nah, nah, nah, boo, boo! Whatchu gunna doOo?" 
       "Ugh. I wanna go home already." A tan teenager with platinum blonde hair stood above the bush, his hands delicately hidden in the pockets of his jeans. His hair parted in the middle, Temuri de'Navra sighed. His neck was graced with an iron necklace of sorts that drooped down into the emblem of a circle with two triangles going through it, their pointy ends touching. "I got a hot date, remember?" 
       "You always have a hot date." Ashka raised his right eyebrow as Iona huddled near his cards. 
       "So? Is there somethin' wrong with that, bro? You slut-shamin' me?" Temuri looked down at the grass. 
        "Pffft. You think you're so cool, don't ya, Temmy? Your modern button-up shirts and your hands in your pockets. Look like a male clothing model for some store that sells a fuckton of cologne or somethin'." Braggar crossed his arms. 
        "Mhm. Exactly my aesthetic, bro. How'd you figure me out so well?" Temuri smirked as he looked off into the night sky. 
       "Big Brother Temuri has always been up-to-date with the latest fashion trends." Iona smiled. "I value that in a man. At least, I think I do." 
        "Oh... my, my. The boy is getting a tad emotional with his... legal guardian." Nahum licked his lips as he stared through a pair of binoculars. 
         "Zarkadda, why are we looking through a pair of binoculars when we're the freakin' de'Navra?" Braggar narrowed his eyes toward a purple-haired man. 
        "Hmph. Good question, Braggar. If we cause a scene... then the Complexia Portia will know of our whereabouts. They already tried to harm the boy once before. I don't want them laying a finger on him. On Hosanna." 
        Iona shook her head. "That's not Hosanna, Big Brother Zarkadda. That's Max." 
       Zarkadda shook his head. "Hmph. A little girl you will always be. The spirit of our dearly departed brethren-"  
        "I know that Hosanna's spirit lives inside Max... but Max is... Max." Iona blushed. 
        "Oh, don't tell me you actually recognize him as anything other than a host for our Apostle?" Zarkadda widened his eyes and gagged a little, his glasses falling a tad. "Disgusting. We will cause the next great Flood which killed all the other de'Navra those thousands of years ago. Once Hosanna is awakened... Maximus D. Kaline will be no more." 
       

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