Bethany Breen is a fifteen-year-old witch. She is part of the Breen clan and after losing both parents, has been re-adopted into the family via her second cousin Bryn Breen.
Biography[]
Early Years[]
Bethany came to the pair on the fifteenth of May, healthy and small at 6.4lbs. A long-anticipated birth, the Breen clan was excited about their newest edition.
Naomi and Nathan Breen had nothing but help in the first year of Bethany's life. Beth was a fairly happy baby, rarely making strange with newcomers, a good trait seeing how often she was passed from one set of arms to the next.
Not two years passed before tragedy gripped the Breen family when Naomi grew ill. Doctors claimed there wasn't much they could do and she was gone before Beth's second birthday. Devastated, Nathan withdrew from the family, pouring himself into his work, performing readings for the locals and writing books on his own studies of the tarot and runes. It ebbed the pain and allowed him to continue being a father to his toddler, who was now spending more time than not being watched over by aunts and uncles.
By the time Beth had turned three, Nathan had packed them up and moved across the Country to settle in Grayson, Georgia. Nate's excuse was that the move was for work, "To branch out, gain more coverage," he had told the family. Whispers told otherwise, the general consensus being that Nathan was separating himself from any memory of his late wife.
Paris[]
As Bethany grew up, all sign of magick disappeared from the home. Nate's cards were tucked away, spellbooks were replaced with whatever the newest best-selling novel was in stores, and where crystals once stood now held various decorative pieces or bottles of alcohol. Soon enough, Nathan stopped talking about the craft, his coven and what he had left behind all together.
Not long after settling down, Paris Bryant came into the picture as the new girlfriend. Paris was as 'normal' as someone could get, and she wasn't one for children, still, she dealt with Bethany and seemed to make Nathan very happy.
The years went by, Nathan dropped his old profession and moved on to selling houses, a rather dignified, 'normal' job. Beth went to school, made friends and got into mischief but was overall a pretty good kid. She loved doing all the things other kids did, playing video games, riding her bike, climbing trees, swimming in the local pool, reading through the latest book series everyone was talking about and the like. Beth was good at fitting in, she didn't have much trouble besides the colours. For as long as she could remember, she could see soft, glowing rings of colour, of energy, surrounding just about everything from rocks to plants to people. Beth learned pretty early on not to mention these rings after disapproving looks from her father and teasing from other children. Pretty soon it was just something Beth kept at the back of her mind, forgotten about.
When Beth was eight, they had a big elaborate wedding. Paris wore a beautiful white wedding gown, and even Beth had to admit she looked like a princess. The pair went on a honeymoon for a week after, (Nathan wouldn't leave his daughter for any longer,). Beth remembers that time as a fun week of freedom, not hearing a single shrill whine from Paris the entire time about mud in the house, too much noise or dirty clothes. Unfortunately, that week came to an end, and Beth started spending a lot more time playing outdoors.
Over the next five years, Beth's relationship with her father grew more distant and the one with her stepmother soured. Snapping remarks and arguments between Paris and Beth weren't uncommon occurrences. After a while, Nate didn't even seem to care to stop them anymore, having learned that getting in the middle did nothing but make him the bad guy. Instead, he tried to provide his daughter and wife with distractions to keep them off each other's backs and give himself some much needed peace and quiet. Beth was signed up for a multitude of activities; art classes, soccer, summer camp, book club... She took them all gladly, anything to keep her away from her step-monster and spend more time with her friends.
Nathan's Death[]
At the age of thirteen, Beth was spending her summer at camp when she got a call to come home to attend her father's funeral. Nate had been caught in a multi-car pileup and was counted as one of three deceased. Despite their somewhat distant relationship, the teenager was devastated. She stayed in her room for weeks. She didn't unpack her bags from camp, she barely ate and any interaction with her step-mother quickly escalated to shouting. Bethany was angry. She was angry at herself for not being home, angry at the world from taking her dad and angry at Paris for just being there.
September came around, and Beth went back to school. Instead of the bubbly girl her friends had come to know, Beth was quiet and withdrawn. Unintentionally, she pushed away the majority of her friends who weren't quite sure how to handle the new situation. School was lonely, home was hell. Beth was caught between the two and her grades, normally in the high eighties, quickly dropped until she was just scraping by.
Return to Oregon[]
Cresting on the beginning of the third month after Nathan's death, there was a knock at the door. Two older women stood on the porch, inviting themselves in despite Paris' revulsion. Beth stood in the stairway, listening best she could to the heated conversation that followed just a room over. She heard her father's name tossed around quite a few times and finally Paris emerged with a wrinkled nose and pursed lips. Pointing her finger up the stairs, she ordered Beth to pack her bags without much other explanation.
Kit Breen and Marty Breen, the two women who helped Bethany with her things before whisking a confused teenager out the door, did a much better job of explaining. They were her grandmothers, Nate's parents. It had taken some time of the news of Nate's passing to reach the pair, but the moment it had fallen on their ears the decision had been made to retrieve their granddaughter.
Things went quickly for Beth, it was a blur. Moving across the country, meeting or rather, reuniting with a plethora of family who she didn't recognize and definitely didn't remember, all of whom offered their condolences.
Through the chaos, it was decided that Bethany's cousin Bryn Breen, who already had a daughter of her own, would open her home to the teenager. By the end of the same week, Beth was moved into a rather cozy older house on the top floor, her room sandwiched between Bryn and her boyfriend's room on one side, and her daughter Fern's on the other.
Beth withdrew for the first few days. She barely spoke, just taking in her surroundings and her new situation. The chaos died down, and her long lost family gave the girl some much needed time to breathe. It was another short time before Beth started to explore the house. It was as different as night to day from what Beth was used to. Things here were... odd. Very blatantly magical without even the slightest attempt to hide spellbooks, crystals, wands and various symbols that speckled the home.
The real saving grave was Bronwyn. Bryn was a lovely, soft-spoken woman with pale light hair, sparkling green eyes and a plethora of freckles dotting her nose, neck, and shoulders. She began by treating Beth with the same warmth she showed her own daughter. She gave her space, answered questions and reassured the teenager she was welcome in her new home. Under Bryn's guidance, Beth's anger at the world began to diminish and the quiet, sad teenager slowly picked up her old self. It wasn't long until she began to smile again.
The Custody Battle[]
Not long after Beth was whisked away was Paris back in touch. It turned out a large amount of Nathan's small fortune, the majority of his prized possessions and property on which he and his late wife had once lived which in itself had been sold and turned into even more money, was all left to Beth. Once she turned eighteen, she would have full control over all assets but until then, the responsibility was to go to the girl's guardian.
Naturally, Paris had come to the heartbreaking conclusion that she very suddenly and desperately missed her step-daughter and would like her returned.
Having none of it, Beth's grandmothers and Bryn met this request with a full legal battle that spanned nearly a year. In the end, the courts ruled in the Breen family's favour, and Bethany was legally adopted by her cousin in order to ensure no more loose ends concerning legalities in the future.
Discovering her Abilities[]
It didn't take long after moving back to Oregan for Beth to become acquainted with the magical lifestyle her father had clearly opted her out of. Things were strange at first, but then grew fascinating and soon Bethany felt right at home amongst the various alters and smell of sage in the air. She begged to learn and was quickly put to work reading books, meditating on crystals and beginning to master the basics. Beth made it known she would much rather start learning how to control the elements from the get go, but despite her excitement, everyone in the coven insisted she busy herself going through tomes and grimoires before even working on a surrender.
Beth felt things went slow, but the information was interesting and she had a lot of time to catch up on. Over the next two years, she slowly began to make sense of things. Her 'colours' she saw were explained to her, auras they called them, and no, not everyone could see them as clearly as Beth could. Information about her parents began to surface, her mother was a fantastic healer while her father dabbled in tarot and various other forms of divination. Beth even got a hold of his old deck which she practices with on a daily basis.
Abilities & Magic[]
Bethany has always had the gift of seeing auras of those around her. This has been happening for as long as she can remember, to the point that she finds it just a normal part of life and doesn't realize that not everyone can see 'the colours' as she puts it. Bethany's first real encounter with magic that she can remember was when her mother Bryn demonstrated a fire summoning cantrip in order to prove magic existed to the teen.
Naturally, Beth gravitates toward crystals and earth related magic. She's also trying to focus on learning the Tarot like her father, with the deck that she inherited from him.
Relationships[]
Nathan & Naomi Breen[]
Bethany's biological parents Nate and Naomi met when they were young and were both members of the coven. Naomi passed away from illness when Beth was barely a year old and Nathan later on when Beth was in her teens. Nate did his best to be a good father, but their relationship was strained none the less the older Beth got.
Bronwyn Breen[]
Bryn is originally Bethany's cousin on her father's side, but recently adopted Beth as her own daughter soon after Nathan passed away in order to fufil her role as Beth's godmother and offset Paris' plans to keep Beth in order to spend her inheritance.
Beth and Bryn's relationship began a little rocky, with Beth being quite cautious of this mysterious woman who came into her life, but as weeks and then months went on, the two became close and Beth truely does think of Bryn as her mother.
Fern Breen[]
Bethany and Fern
Fern is Bryn's daughter and Bethany's adoptive sister. She's small, excitable and Beth loves her to bits. Never having had a sibling before, Beth has taken to the role of big sister fairly naturally and often likes to keep an eye on the excitable little bundle.
Paris Breen[]
Paris and Bethany are the opposite of friends. Despite being the girl's step-mother, Paris never had any affection for Beth and made it quite clear. Things were civil when Nathan was alive but soon after his death when it was made known that his small fortune was to be inherited by Bethany at the age of eighteen, Paris was quick to drum up a court case for custody of the teenager.