Name: Mateo Navarro
Nickname: Matty
Age: 43
Faceclaim: Oscar Isaac
Circle: Mortalis
Occupation: Hunter of the Navarro clan
Mateo had never known his father. His uncle had told him that he was strong, stronger than most other members in their family who had indulged in their gift. He had lasted longer than everyone else before him, an impressive three years, and the family thought that maybe he was blessed to surpass the curse. But he had lost his mind shortly before his son’s first birthday. His uncle had been the one to end him.
“Just because our name is cursed, it doesn’t mean you are.” His uncle’s favorite words to him and the mantra of the Navarro clan. Based in El Paso, Texas, the Navarros have prided themselves in being the strongest of hunters due to the nature of their family curse. After all, how many hunters have heard the call to power and said no? Others are quick to remind them that it might be the fear of insanity that prevented them from reaching for said power, but that was neither here nor there. Still the connection they once had to magic had them attuned to the supernatural world around them and even though they can no longer access those powers, they vowed to use their lives for the betterment of others and their own.
That was how things were for the Navarros. You ignored the whisper, the call to something dangerous and consuming. It was a constant presence until the curse and all that comes with it would eventually fade from your mind, usually before you left your teenage years. And once it passed over you, that’s when your real life began. All Mateo wanted was to join his aunts, uncles and cousins in the family business, pushing away the hum of magic and reaching for a different sort of weapon.
The family trained to fight those who abused their powers specifical, mostly within the Power circle, but they made sure other creatures still saw their end once if they deserved it. But their most important task was finding other Navarros, ones who could not deny the temptation, and put them to rest. It was a somber affair, but an honor to be chosen. And every few years, one would be chosen to leave the home base and track down any other Navarros across the world to release them of their misery. Some were against these trips (particularly because there were rumors that not all who were slain had reached insanity yet), but the vast majority agreed that it was a necessary kindness.
Mateo yearned to be chosen for such an important task and trained with a fervor. He wore every scar as a badge of honor and pushed himself beyond what any hunter was capable of. His ruthlessness was off putting to some, but he believed it necessary. He would not allow more children to be orphaned due to the recklessness of powerful people.
He refused to ever set his weapons down, not for the woman he claimed to love or the three children she gave him. Not even when she threatened to leave him if he went on yet another year-long journey to kill members of his own family. He was a hunter. He was a Navarro.
Until his daughter used magic for the first time. The resulting year was a blur of anxiety and dread, but he held her in his arms when her time came. He put her out of her misery.
One last trip, he told himself. He would make sure not a single stone was untouched and he would track down every branch of their family tree. Only then would his work be finished and he would finally let himself rest.
It took him six years, but he did it. He had one last stop in Las Vegas before returning home but there was so much wonton corruption and misuse of power and he was still a hunter. Until he tracks down the last member of his family, one Leticia Navarro, perhaps he will help fix this Midnight Underground.