Nine Lives and Bad Luck

Xander

      Braxton Zagan grew up with an uncle. His father was an only sibling, and mother grew up not knowing any family. Those two mismatched sentences could exemplify  the general chaos his family had always existed in. It was a mess in the best of times, spells flying every which way and people shouting back and forth.

That wasn't to say his family life was unhappy, his family loved each other very much, they just.... hadn't grown up. At all. His mother with her springy blonde hair and infectious laugh was always in motion, singing, humming, dancing, and bouncing around. She was always ready to offer support or a smile, yes, but that didn't change the fact that she acted as if she was still the twenty something she looked- if not even more immature. His father with his ruffled light brown hair and large puppy like brown eyes would without fail get caught up in the madness that was his mother and join the duet, twirl her around, and always brought her to dances and concerts. He was always at her side, gazing adoringly and bringing small gifts to Braxton and his mother.

The child and the puppy was how he had scornfully thought of them as a rebellious teen, and when he voiced it to his uncle they had only laughed and within the month said it to straight to their faces. They too had laughed, complimenting Braxton on the comparison. For that was his uncle's role it seemed. The older teen brother who had been saddled with younger siblings when the parents were gone.

Braxton learned later on how accurate that observation had been when he finally heard of the Zagan Coven. The Sire of the coven; Braxton Zagan was known for sending one of his own 'children' to watch over the descendants of his human family, and his 'uncle' had been who got saddled with the task this generation. Braxton Zagan, that was to say, Braxton's several thousand year old ancestor and namesake. If one of his descendants expressed a wish to join the coven they were allowed to do so, but his own parents were too caught up in their own world to care for such petty things as immortality.

It had been a hard hit for him when they died in an apparition accident when he was sixteen and he was determined not to make the same mistake. Yet, he also couldn't stand being around the too carefree 'uncle' or the patronizingly welcoming Braxton Zagan the first, and there was another annoyance of his, not even his name was his own. It had led him away from the Zagan's as he sought to change himself. Zagan became Xander, Braxton, Johnny.

Johnathan Xander was a respected member of society. A firm person, but always fair. He dressed sharply and held a strong disregard for the muggle attire Braxton's parents had once loved so. Too casual. He was painstakingly careful in every assignment he was given and never drank. And while he held a dislike to those of creature blood he never displayed it too openly. To much of the ministry he was seen as the model of a perfect ministry employee. Yet beneath it all, his hatred seethed and broiled in a tight ball. He found he had his solution when he heard an all too familiar name. Ambroglio Zagan. The precious little babysitter.

Apparently the vampire had decided to take up a new hobby now that his task had been completed. Dueling.

    Johnathan had never shrunk away from hard work in his life and that now the spite inside had an outlet he took to his new self-appointed task like never before. Within the year he declared himself ready and challenged the filthy leech. Johnathan was promptly defeated. And what was more the beast had dared to approach him after, wide smile and a greeting from his lying, fanged mouth. As if they were old friends, family even.

Johnathan set himself to his task again, this time with a ferocious rage like never before.

I have no schedule-keeping self control. In my defense though, I am on chapter 28 not including these duelist intros. If you are recognizing some names and wondering if you'll see all of them, then yes, I think, it'll take awhile though, for some you'll meet and then have the duelist intro.  -T.A.L.A. 

Oh, and in case it wasn't clear, this story has vampires capable of using wand magic and has them using the last name of their coven rather than the one they used when they were human.