The Ordinary World
Marc wants a version of him who Randall’s still alive for.
He has Perry, of course, but Perry’s different. Perry is still *real*, but he knows Marc created him, even if he always forgets RoRo’s dead. Perry goes away the second Marc’s mom or dad or even teacher calls his name, or when the bell rings at the end of recess. Marc wants a version of him who lives in the real world, or *a* real world, anyway. Or at least thinks he does. And Marc’s Hebrew name, Malachi, is still sitting there, unused.
That’s how Ky is born.
. . .
Marc’s dad decides to send him to a different school after the cave. It’s not easy to change schools so close to the start of a new school year, but after a major family tragedy like that, plenty of people are happy to help his dad pull strings to get him to a place where nobody knows what happened. Just as many think Marc should be in a familiar environment, but when his dad asked if he wanted to go to the same school, Marc said no right away, and that helps sway some people, especially when Marc says he wants to go someplace different.
For that reason, none of the kids at school question the new boy talking about his little brother like he’s still alive, because they don’t know that he isn’t. Only his teacher, the school principal, and the school counsellor know, and somehow, he manages to never say anything to rouse their suspicions.
. . .
For Ky, for his immediate family, they all use their Hebrew names. His father is Eliyahu, Eli for short. His mother is Levana. Of course, for him, they’re just Mom and Dad.
Randall is the only one who always goes by his American name, for Ky. Of course, Ky is very American, but it’s a nickname for Malachi, spelled K-Y so that people will pronounce it right.
No one asks many questions when he asks to go by Ky at school. He’s a new kid, so it’s an easy adjustment to make. They only wonder where the name came from, but he tells them it’s short for Malachi, his Hebrew name, and there’s enough Jewish kids at his school that they know about that. When they ask why he’s enrolled as Marc, he tells them that he had gone by Marc before now, but now he wants to go by Ky, which is true for both Ky and Marc at this point.
Even his dad doesn’t question it much at first when he asks to go by Ky. It does catch him off-guard a bit, but once Marc explains, he figures his son is just tired of his old name, which doesn’t seem that weird to him, or that with his brother gone, he just wants to start fresh on some level, which also doesn’t seem weird to him. Admittedly, though, he has a hard time getting used to it. Wendy, meanwhile, never uses the name, rather out of not remembering or not caring about her son’s feelings is difficult to tell. Eventually, both Marc and Ky decide he will still be Marc at home, but not at school.
Randall is the only one in Ky’s immediate family who isn’t known by his Hebrew name (Raphael, in his case), or some variation or nickname. He always remains Randall.
. . .
Jake fronts when Marc’s mother is beating him, transforming her into his stepmother. For Jake, Wendy is his stepmother, Levana being his real mother’s name.
Marc has no knowledge of Jake’s existence.
Steven believes he is the only one living in his head, or the only *real* one. For Steven, the others are imaginary friends, Randall being a little brother he made up because he always wanted one but never had one. Steven fronts at school occaisionally, but not too often, and his teachers and classmates always think he’s just playing a game.
Perry is aware of the others, even Marc, aware that he lives in a world of make-believe. He also knows that he himself is real, all the same. The only thing he doesn’t know is that his little brother drowned in a cave. Just like Ky, Perry believes that Randall is still alive. Perry does front at school sometimes, but rarely outside of recess or free choice time.
Randall never really grows up for Perry, though. For Perry, Randall is always a five-year-old boy. He is for Steven, too, of course, but since for Steven Randall was only ever imaginary, he doesn’t question this. Somehow, Perry never really questions it either, perhaps because Perry knows that his whole world is invented, and because he falls largely silent over the years, though he never dies.
Ky is mostly the one who fronts at school. It becomes all that much easier for Ky being the name his teachers and fellow students know him by.
There’s not much to say about Ky, really. He lives a normal life with his parents and little brother Randall. Both boys go to school and attend Temple school Sundays and Wednesdays. Both go to Synagogue with their parents every Saturday. Both continue to grow up. And they live ordinary, quiet lives. Both grow up to join the military, with their parents’ blessings. Both serve terms overseas and come home. And both then reunite with their parents.
. . .
When the system comes back from the Field of Reeds, it’s Jake who serves Khonshu as the Moon Knight. But when his work is done, Jake falls silent, and Ky comes to the forefront instead.
Ky has no knowledge of Moon Knight, or Jake Lockley, or anyone else who lives inside him, except as imaginary friends. Ky simply lives a quiet life in an apartment with his younger brother, Randall.