ALPHA - CHILD OF EREBUS

[ALPHA]

ALPHA
CHILD OF EREBUS

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FULL NAME: My name is Alpha XII. Just Alpha, nothing more, I have no last name as humans do. The XII is the Roman numeral for 12, as I am the twelfth Alpha to have lived.
NICKNAMES/ALIAS: If I wish to pass as a human, my alias is Alexio Cali, a typical Greek name that my predecessors often used when mingling with the mortals.
AGE: Immortal, but like my brothers and sisters, I look around the age of 30.
BIRTHDAY: I was brought into live on 14th March, 1832, the date the previous Alpha was murdered.
BIRTHPLACE: I was born in the shadows of London in England, hence my British accent and appearance.
OCCUPATION: I have no job. I have no need for money really so it seems pointless getting a job.
GENDER: I am a male, a Son of Erebus.
ORIENTATION: I am heterosexual, though romance and love is rarely on my mind.
LOYALTY: My loyalty will forever be towards my brothers and sisters. Other than that, I suppose I'm neutral.
SPECIES: I am one of the six Children of Erebus
REGISTERED?: I am not registered. I doubt the government even knows I exist.
FACE: I have been told that I look a lot like Henry Cavill.

EYE COLOR: The irises of my eyes are black, as all Children of Erebus’ are. They are almost as dark as my pupils. From a distance they’re not noticeably unusual, but they seem to unnerve some people when they look into them up close.
SKIN TONE: I am quite pale. Since I never go out in the sunlight, I suppose that’s not really a surprise. I admit, that’s not something particularly beneficial for a being that manipulates shadows, but it hasn’t caused me any problems so far.
HAIR COLOR: Short and black, nothing particularly strange in this area. My hair never grows though, and if I cut it, it will return to it’s original length almost instantly. All I can really change is the style, but I have very little leeway with that, so it almost always looks the same.
HEIGHT: My height is around 6 feet and 1 inch, making me quite tall, but not in an unusual way. It does mean I can be quite intimidating if I want to be, so I do appreciate my height.
WEIGHT: I am approximately 130lbs, lighter than most humans of my size and build, but not unusual for a Child of Erebus.
FASHION STYLE: Like my siblings and my ancestors, I have a preference towards formal clothes, and always dark colours. Humans find it odd to wear entirely one colour, so I will wear the odd white shirt or light colour to balance it out. I will most often wear a simple black suit, nothing too boisterous, so I can blend in easily with other humans.
APPEARANCE: Alpha pretty much fits the description ‘tall, dark and handsome’. With his dark clothes and hair, his height and his quirky smile and suave attitude, he can very easily come across as the attractive bad boy. This is far from his intention, but his appearance is one thing he can’t control.

The classic appearance of a Child of Erebus is dark hair, dark eyes, dark clothes, and always as unremarkable as possible. They are meant to blend in without drawing attention to themselves, and Alpha is no exception. Though in personality he may not be as quiet as was preferred, his style is always very simplistic. You could be walking down the street next to him and not even notice he was there.

Unlike most people, his appearance very rarely changes. His whole physical form, from hair to muscle size to scars, cannot change due to his species, so other than the odd change in style, there’s not much he can do to affect his appearance. His clothes are dark and chosen to allow him to blend in, so these rarely change more than perhaps a new shirt every now and again. You could meet him once, and he would look exactly the same 50 years later. Since his general fashion style is formal and simple, he rarely needs to update it. If fashion suddenly veers off in a weird direction, and it became unusual to wear a suit, he would change to blend in with the crowd, but other than that, his appearance will probably stay the same for years to come.

FAVORITE HOBBY/ACTIVITY: Hobby… hmmm… I suppose I like to practice and explore my power, particularly when I’m bored and there’s nothing better to do. I will either toy with it on my own in an empty space where I can’t bother anyone, or I will subtly affect a passing human and watch their reactions to what I do. I suppose I shouldn’t really, but that was always our job in the past, to mess with the humans: it seems silly to waste these powers when their main use is so easy to do.
PERSONAL STRENGTHS: I like to think that I have a good control over my powers, more so that perhaps some of my siblings do. I don’t know if this is true or not, we don’t tend to compete, but I do spend a lot of time practicing my abilities. I have quite good people skills too, which is unusual for a Child of Erebus, as we are normally quiet and shun social interaction. Well, recently anyway. The first couple of generations were as fun and free as I'd like to be. But that’s a different matter, where were we? Oh yes, the fact that I’m unafraid of people and confrontation would probably be one of my strengths.
PERSONAL WEAKNESSES: Ha, well, I suppose my main weakness would be my inability to take anything seriously. According to our myth, Erebus wanted his children to be mischievous like him, and I definitely fill that quota. Not so much anymore, with all the friction between the supernaturals and the humans pushing us even further into hiding, but I have a powerful curiosity that may just override that and bring me back to my old ways. My confidence may well be a weakness too, as the Children have gone unnoticed for centuries, and my, shall we say, boisterous nature could jeopardise that.
QUIRKS/HABITS: I guess you could call my greeting a quirk. I tend to greet people with “Salutations” as supposed to ‘hello’, or something normal like that. I’m not entirely sure why; I just like the word, and it gives an interesting first impression. Oh, and I like to twirl shadows round my fingers like they’re smoke if I get bored or irritated.
FEARS: Bright lights, and any lights at all really, so in a way I suppose I fear death and vulnerability, as I’m sure most people do. Also, I… very much dislike crowds. I wouldn’t say it’s a fear as such… well maybe. They just make me feel very uncomfortable, and I would much rather be in a group of two or three. Any crowd with more than ten people… I just don’t like it, that’s all.
WISHES: I deeply wish that things could go back to how they used to be, with the supernaturals all hidden away, and the humans peaceful and unsuspecting. It made things a lot easier, and I was in a lot less danger of being discovered. It meant I could mingle with the humans as much as I liked. Being trapped in the shadows can get rather dull.
SECRETS: My secrets? Surely if they’re secret, I should keep them to myself. Well, you won’t tell anyone will you? It’s very difficult for me to keep secrets, since my brothers and sisters know everything I think and feel. The fact that I want to interfere with this squabble with the humans and the supernaturals, the fact that I find myself causing trouble again as I used to after specifically being told not to, the fact that I doubt the decisions of my family when I’ve forever sworn to be loyal to them, they would all be secrets if I could keep them. I try to push them away from my main thoughts so my siblings don’t suspect anything, but I doubt that works very well.

PERSONALITY: Alpha is much more like the original Children than some of the later generations. He is mischievous, confident, fun and powerful, the qualities that used to be associated with the Children of Erebus before they shrank back into myth and legend. His siblings may not massively agree with their brother’s outlandish attitude towards life, but there’s very little they can do about it, apart from warn him away from dangerous encounters.

They are a very tight family. Alpha loves his brothers and sisters more than anything, and would give his life for any of them in a split second. They share thoughts and feelings, giving them a strong link that no-one has been able to break. There’s friction in any family, and there have been arguments and even fights before. Alpha and Delta were not on speaking terms for quite some time, and Beta and Gamma were constantly at each others throats for what felt like years. Even so, when Epsilon was in trouble, all five of them raced to rescue her with no thought for their own safety, and all issues seemed to resolve themselves. This doesn’t mean they always obey each other, and Alpha has been more and more tempted to disobey the strict orders his siblings have given him to stop interfering with the mortal world until the situation has died down.

First impressions of Alpha would perhaps make you think of him as posh and proper. He has a British accent, greets people with “salutations”, and dresses like he is constantly going to a formal event, so you would be forgiven for thinking of him as a little pompous. He is far from it in truth, but likes to keep that little charade up if he can (he sometimes likes putting on a false persona when he meets someone new, and that persona is usually the overly posh guy who looks down on you, because people’s reactions can be quite hilarious). In reality, he’s immature and ‘quite frankly uncivilised’ according to his sister, Delta. You can make your own mind up on that matter.

MOTHER: None
FATHER: Alpha XI | Child of Erebus | Deceased
SIBLING(S): Beta | Child of Erebus | Alive
Gamma | Child of Erebus | Alive
Delta | Child of Erebus | Alive
Epsilon | Child of Erebus | Alive
Zeta | Child of Erebus | Alive
OTHERS: None
PET(S): None

HISTORY: On 14th March 1832, at the exact moment that the light left Alpha XI’s eyes, Alpha XII was brought to life, created from a swirl of shadows in a dark alley of London. No-one saw his creation, no-one saw the fully grown man, dressed in suit and tie, step out from a dead end passage without ever entering it, no-one questioned the rather dazed expression on his face, nor the way his eyes seemed surprised by everything around him. It was late at night, and the humans were eager to get home, so their interest in periphery things was limited. So as another man appeared from the darkness, dressed in the same general attire, and guided him away, no-one so much as glanced at them.

The second Child was Gamma, who had sensed the presence of his new brother, and had come to welcome him to the world. A Child of Erebus is born fully grown. fully powerful and fully prepared to take on the world, but it can still take a while for the shock to wear off. As the previous Alpha had done to him, Gamma checked this new brother was healthy, brought him up to date with the politics of their family and the world itself, and learned the general personality of the Child. For almost a year Gamma stayed very close to his brother, teaching him, training him, protecting him, but when he was sure everything was in order, Alpha was allowed off on his own.

The siblings stayed in constant contact with each other, Alpha and Zeta specifically spending a lot of time together, since their personalities seemed to fit together like a jigsaw. With their ability to move between shadows, the Children could live anywhere in the world that they wanted to, but Alpha found himself drawn to three countries more than others: England, his birthplace, Greece, the place of his species origin, and America, a fast growing country that was catching the attention of the world.

Two world wars, various smaller battles, massive leaps in technology, equality of races, equality of the sexes, and radical new fashions, laws, opinions, everything; Alpha lived through it all, watching with such interest, as though the humans were fish behind glass to be observed at leisure. He occasionally stepped in, more adventurous than some of the previous Children of Erebus had dared to be, but if there was so much brilliance out in the world, why should he stay hidden? The world seemed almost ready to accept something new, and Alpha had an inkling that the supernaturals would soon be a much more obvious part of this great planet.

And he was right, in a way. Just not the way he’d hoped. In 2008, a boy broke cover, and the whole of the supernatural society was drawn out into the open. The Children of Erebus had always been hidden from the humans, and they decided to keep it that way, staying out of the spotlight, not declaring themselves in this new world. They were practically a myth by now anyway, not even the other supernaturals could be sure they existed. Alpha was not thrilled with this decision at first (he’d always liked the big advances of the world, and to him this was just another step forward), but it soon became obvious that to stay alive, they would have to stay hidden for a while longer.

Alpha had never been good with the whole ‘lie-low’ strategy. His curiosity kept him in the general vicinity of Oregon in America, where the ground-breaking academy had been set up, where the main force of the rebellion still lived, and where the Vires headquarters was situated. Alpha had always been loyal to his siblings, and would respect their decision if he thought they all felt strongly about it. But he could feel their doubt, and the temptation to mix with those dangerous humans, and those volatile supernaturals was almost too much to handle.

REACTION/FEELINGS TOWARDS SUPERNATURALS: Apart from my brothers and sisters, I have no strong feelings for the other supernaturals in the world at this moment. I neither love nor hate them, support nor oppose them. I do, however, agree that the supernaturals should not have to hide, but I am unlikely to help them achieve their goal of equality. If my siblings or I become threatened though, I will step in.

MENTIONABLE BELONGINGS: Nothing overly important. I dislike weaponry, so I will not be carrying anything like that with me. I don’t particularly like jewellery or other unnecessary items that cost a lot of money, and I have no real sentimental items that I would keep with me. At least not at the moment.

OTHER: Nothing notable.

ROLEPLAY SAMPLE: Post for Barty Crouch Jr, another character of mine on a Harry Potter site. They’re not always this long, hehe:

Seven years on, and Barty Crouch was still impressed with the spread the House Elves managed to prepare for every breakfast, lunch and dinner. Winky was great and everything, but she was clumsy and not the best cook in the world; there was no way she’d be able to prepare meals like this three times a day, every day, for the whole year. At home, Barty’s mother did a lot of the cooking, purely because she loved doing it, and Winky only helped out occasionally. It was quite funny to think of Winky running about in the kitchen’s down below with all the other house elves. How long would she last? She never was that sociable, and she lived for the Crouch family. Without them, well, let’s just say Barty couldn’t see her being particularly happy in any other employment.

Lost in reverie about house elves and the Hogwarts kitchen, Barty hadn’t noticed his scrambled eggs getting cold, and received quite a shock when he lived them to his lips. With a little jump, he spat them back onto the plate and blinked down at his food as though it had suddenly morphed into slugs or something equally disgusting. Not the prettiest sight in the world, seeing Barty spit his food out, but there weren’t many people around him so hopefully no-one had noticed. He blushed nevertheless, and quickly spooned more on to his plate, continuing to eat as though nothing had happened.

There was a commotion from the top edges of the room, and Barty lazily let his gaze float to the ceiling, watching the owls fly over him. A small smile twitched the corner of his lips as he saw a group of nearby first years watching and pointing in wonder. They’d been here for months and still the simplest things excited them. It was likely they were muggle-born and hadn’t experienced these sort of things before, an idea which was strange to pureblood Barty. How could people live without magic, how did they survive? He did quite pity muggles and their almost primitive lifestyle. Of course, that sympathy extended as far as thinking of their deaths as a good thing: their life was so terrible, what was the point of them living, really? They were just taking up space on the planet (that was quickly running out) and not doing anything useful. Getting rid of them was a great benefit to wizard-kind. But that was dangerous territory to be entering in to, and breakfast was not the time to be mulling over genocide.

He let his eyes scan the various owls with an almost nervous gleam to them, looking out for the pale brown feathers of the family barn owl, Amets. He wasn’t expecting any mail, so when the owls began to thin out, and there was still no letter in front of his plate, his gaze slipped back to his food. Finishing off the rest of his breakfast and inwardly breathing a sigh of relief (unexpected letters rarely brought good news, he knew that from experience), Barty placed his cutlery down on his plate nice and neatly, before pushing it away. One set of fingers instinctively ran through his hair, half messing it up in an attempt to check it was neat, whilst his other hand placed itself on the table in front of him, ready to push down when he went to stand up.

Before he had the chance to do so however, he felt the brush of fingers across his arm, and a familiar voice calling his name. He turned to look up at the owner of the hand and the voice, to see Mary MacDougal standing over him. His brain barely had time to register her identity before a small piece of paper was offered to him. His hand automatically took it without being told to, and his chocolate eyes were soon darting across the surface of the letter without so much as a ‘hello’ to Mary.

The urgency of her approach, and the state she was in when she arrived had led him to choose the letter over pleasantries with the girl, but he soon realised that that hadn’t been necessary. He felt a selfish twinge of relief as he finished reading; it was terrible news for Mary of course, but it didn’t directly affect him. The heart is a selfish thing, and once his knew it was safe from harm, it stopped caring quite as much. Selfish, yes, but true.

Still, Barty knew full well how she must be feeling, he’d experienced it himself more times than he cared to count: the letter he’d feared receiving only moments before would have contained very similar news. Part of him wanted to hug her, tell her it would be ok, that her father would get through it, he’d been through it before and come out fine, hadn’t he? Forget what her mother had said about it being worse - she’d been wrong in the past, she could easily be wrong now. And, to be honest, if they weren’t in the middle of Hogwarts in front of hundreds of other students, he probably would have done. But he had a slightly different motive at the moment that was keeping him from expressing his compassion towards her.

“Well,” he finally said after a long pause, still not looking up from the letter, “your mother certainly has her priorities straight, doesn’t she?” He half pointed to the beginning of the letter, referring to the fact that the first half of the letter was about trivialities, whilst the important thing was pushed to the end. That was possibly not the response Mary would have wanted from the letter, but it was all she was getting for now.

ALIAS: Alpha