Nat Nataline

History/Bio

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  Family History
  
  The Levanine family was..something of a odd-duck in the higher-tiers of society. On one hand, their were few who even knew of their existence as a legitimate high-class family, and fewer yet who know the why.
  
  They started off as a small merchant family, with some records showing a vague tie back to the earlier days of the founding of Rome. While they managed to remain relatively well off, somehow managing to survive the various events, and avoiding complete collapse like happened to many a merchant during the Punic Wars, the family's rise didn't occur until the Roman Empire started adopting Christianity, and their enforcement of it upon the European cultures...some of the ones many tie as involved in the ideas that found modern Paganism.
  A member of the family led a small group in helping with the establishment of one of the early roman outpost in what eventually what would become Britian. As they were unloading supplies, they noticed that a patrol approaching the gate. This moment..is what led to them becoming what they are now.
  The patrol was one sent out months ago, before the gates were finished being assembled, and many thought dead..however to them..only a matter of hours seemed to have gone by. After some questioning, the Tesserarius(equal to a modern-day Staff Sergeant) responsible for the patrol, agreed to lead a few of his superious to where they believe they seemed to have..lost track of time. This early-Levanine was able to find his place amongst the men, via..wordplay that was lost to their records. Upon arrival to the location, one of the men noticed what seemed to be a cave, lit with varying torches and primitive(in their eyes) looking candles. Inside were varying treasures. To interest of the Levanine however, was a select few tomes, and what appeared to be jewelry..things that some of the Roman-contingent believed the natives too primitive to create. Initially, the Outpost commander intended to destroy it all per orders. However..the Levanine had it all sent back home in secret, sure their was something more to it all.
  It may have taken the family a generation or two..and many more smuggles relics, but they eventually managed to learn that the items..were not quite what they seemed. While a few of the jewelry items seemed..void of any true spark to them, many still retained a power about them. The tomes helped to explain some of the items..while the others described rituals, spells, incantations....various things thought horrid in the changing eyes of the world, but they simply called it all by what one line referred to them as...magical. More out of curiosity than anything, this became the family's purpose for the longest time, the collection of any item they believed, or felt to be magical..and by the dissolution of the Roman Empire in 1453, they had items from almost every known culture..including a few special items from the indigenous peoples(later known as Native Americans), procured from some of the relatives, of the first person to set foot in The Americas as they became to be known..Leif Eriksson, a Viking.
  
  By time The Americas were being settled by British colonist, the family's focus started to shift less from acquiring the oddities..to studying them. They felt, they had such a mass of magical relics and tomes..why not understand the power they had hidden away? Via contacts they developed, and a few members of the family who were already dabbling in the research, by 1743 they had managed to develop a understanding atleast of all the tomes..despite the Salem Witch Trials over in Massachusetts causing quite the hiccup and fear in continuing this line of thought for the family line. However, by 1812, they didn't see the purpose, and outside consolidating a lot of the tomes and some relics to one location(what would later become the family home in Montgomery County, North Carolina), all but gave up on major research into magic and the occult as a whole..satisfied with the massive wealth of knowledge they had.
  Leading up to the Modern Day, what few families who know the Levanine's as a high-class family, assumed they were simply a family who rose to their station due to smart business decisions during the founding days of the country. The fewer yet, who know of even a fraction of the truth, simply agree to one thing....it's good for one's health, to stay friends of them.
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  The creation/birth of Natsu and Nataline
  
  The story of Natsu and Nataline isn't quite your typical one.
  Arthur and Silvia Levanine were brother-and-sister...yet, oddly enough, also husband and wife. To help cultivate more powerful magical lines within the family, marriage was a very selective process. Rarely would one marry outside of the family, more often than not however, one's cousin or sibling would be required to get closer to help facilitate the process...as creepy as it often would sound.
  Another family tradition, was that female's would often head the family-line, with Silvia being next in line..with the condition that she had a daughter, as the head must have a successor..although this tradition was often skipped over in-lieu of power-plays from within the family itself(hey, maybe the 5th cousin 3-times removed wanted a shot at glory?). When she finally was with child(pregnant), Silvia was estatic~! Not due to the prospect of having a child..well not entirely, but mostly due to being at the head of what she felt was one of the more powerful magical-families. Displeasure was had however..when it turned out to be a boy.
  
  This son, never truly knew the love of a mother, and barely knew the love of a father. He often spent more time with his caretakers than either of them. Even the current Family Head(his grandmother) would often spend time with him, whenever family-duties or high-class affairs/events didn't occupy her time. As he grew older, the distane from his mother turned more..physical, often lashing out at him with whatever was at hand...which yes, would include magic if nothing physical was within reach. By time he was eight, he was something of a emotional wreck of a child. As he grew older, the distane from his mother turned more..physical, often lashing out at him with whatever was at hand...which yes, would include magic if nothing physical was within reach. His grandmother took notice...and while unfortunaly, she couldn't stop her daughter's behavior..perhaps she could help the boy's mood.
  
  On his 9th birthday, his father managed to get his mother to let him leave with grandma for a few months, under the guise of trying for that daughter again or something...the child's memory was foggy about this point. Leaving for the family home, the grandmother told the child she had a plan. While it was true typically women led the family, their have been rare occasions a male would hold the seat..IF he was worthy, and had the head's approval..neither of which, she promised, would be a easy thing to manage. The first few days, were calm...letting him try to gather himself as best a child could..then the studies~! Every day, a few trusted mages would train him, in both the art(practical application) and the knowledge('dem books yo), that he'd need to reach the skill necessary to lead the family. He struggled in the art, but the knowledge itself was what intrigued him more than anything.
  One night, while up late in a old-wing of the home's library, he found a rather moldy looking book. It was one of the first tomes penned as the family began studying what they had obtained. In particular, it focused on artifacts, and a belief held by the Natives in the Americas, of Twospirit.
  Two-Spirit referred to those who identified with both gender-roles, and the author of the tome, believed it was due-in-part to a odd development in the soul. The passage went on to describe theories, cite a example or two, but at the very end...it held a experimental ritual, one he thought could change one such person to match the other if need be. At this moment, the child felt he finally found a solution! If he could do as the man wrote, perhaps he could be the daughter his mother wanted, and finally get that love from his parent's almost any child wants~! A child's logic though, is...more than often wrong.
  The night before he was due to take his grandmother's final test, he finished his preperations, and initiated the ritual. At first...it seemed to work. All the reagents were reacting properly, and he felt the energy slowly wash over him..and then he felt pain..and then nothing.
  
  It wasn't until the next morning when one of the maid's noticed him missing from his room, that a alarm was raised. A member of the cook-staff, and one of the janitors, were the ones to find him. Or to be specific...his corpse. When his grandmother was brought to the room however..instead of mourning, or becoming a emotional wreck, she demanded a detailed search of the home AND the grounds, instead of the frenzy they had. Why? She was familiar with the ritual, as it was one she studed..and was warned against. Quite a few family members tried, and all have died..but those who died, left a mangled corpse..instead of a oddly clean one. A note on the final page of the tome, would have warned the boy...the ritual, as it turns out, was intended ONLY for Twospirit individuals..any normal person, would simply die.
  
  It took another 3 days however, before they were found. As preperations were made for a burial of the body, Natsu..was the first one to be seen. He resembled the boy almost perfectly, outside his eyes...which took the staff by surprise, as they were digging up where his grave would be. Not too long after, a young girl was found next to the body in what was a defacto-morgue...Nataline. Immediately, they were both dragged into the grandmother's study, and were asked a simple, yet complex question...,"Who are you, and how are you here?"
  They took a moment, but slowly they began to speak, and answer. At the moment of the child's death, they were born. For some reason, they both had his memories, yet knew they weren't him. Natsu was able to explain how he seemed to take the bulk of the boy's spirit, thus the appearance. Nataline then explained to her what little they knew about how they seemed to work. It was all...odd, even for the grandmother. By all rights, neither should exist..yet they do. Not only that, but whatever would have been born should have been weaker..yet, they both surpassed her grandson by miles as far as she could sense.
  Then..a smirk found it's way onto her face...she may have her successor after all....
  
  Much to Siliva's displeasure, Nataline AND Nat were announced as the next family-heads, after her passing of course. She tried to argue, the boy was her child, and if they had enough of him, by association, THEY were her kids. However, Natsu was the one to rebuke her,"You..were never our mother. Nor his...you denied him anything but the most basic of essentials to live, you gave nothing but pain and torment to him." Nataline would step in, elaborating further,"As he was the one who cast the spell that brought us into being..while we are him, we are also not him, we could even be considered his children, in a sense. You carried him, us, and tolerated us..that leaves you no claim to us."
  Since that day though...in a way, their original being got what he wanted..love. Their grandmother was there like Silivia should have always been. The staff were more like cousins at her home(although Nataline, and the more snide/manipulative nature she developed, believed it to be due to their possible position soon enough), hell..even friends were managed. On their 17th birthday, they were presented with a few gifts. First..was a address for a place to call their own, the key included. Second, was a account..linked to the family-finances, which..as proper heirs, was felt they deserved. The third gift...was what they seen as a staff. The servant who brought it to them explained, that this staff..wasn't a staff, yet it wasn't not. No one could be sure of the nature of the weapon. The only thing they knew, was the form varied based on whom it was intended for.
  
  Since then, they've lead a decent enough life. They continue their studies, traveling aboard to further their own knowledge, and just..live the life that was given to them. Every now and then their mother attempts to win Nataline over, but it tends to fail. When that doesn't work out, Natsu will typically find trouble(which they suspect is Silivia trying to force them to, or act in a manner that'd put her in a position to take the family mantle)...but it tends to yield..messy results.
  Regardless, Natsu and Nataline have hold true to a promise they made to their grandmother..stay true to themselves, never betray the other..and live as her original grandson would.