ABIGAIL BELLWEATHER

DOSSIER.

BIOGRAPHY.

trigger warnings: Death, Violence, to be added if requested.

☆  I’m Abigail Bellweather. I come from a long line of witches who have served our country in the army. All I ever wanted was to live up to that legacy. To be successful and thrive. I was excited to take my oath and follow in the footsteps of my many ancestors.
When I got to Fort Salem, though, I was put in a unit with Tally Craven and Raelle Collar. Tally was fine, but Raelle…well…I thought that she’d mess things up for me. We didn’t get along at first because she wasn’t taking anything seriously, and I couldn’t have that. I even asked General Alder to assign me to a different unit, but she refused.
Raelle and I decided that we didn’t have to be friends in order to work well together.
Things go okay for a while, but then Anacostia Quartermaine punishes me because of Raelle’s tiredness. I’m upset, and though Raelle offers to heal me, I decline. Then we perform windstrikes together and end up blasting through solid metal.
Anacostia congratulates us and tells us that we’re going to Salem Town. While there, Raelle and I agree to stay away from each other’s problems. We even get along for a while until Scylla shows up, and Raelle leaves with her.
When civilians freak out over a Spree balloon, Tally, another cadet named Glory, and I try to calm them down. But Tally ends up windstriking a guy who blames all witches for the actions of the Spree. I cover for Tally when Anacostia hears about the incident.
The rest of my unit and I, along with Glory and Libba Swythe, my biggest rival, drink in our room. I even get along with Raelle and Libba. Then comes Beltane, and the male witches, along with the Witchfather, visit us.
I’m excited to see them. I flirt a bit with a young man named Clive, and his friend Augustin. I end up getting with both of them before Beltane ends. My mother wants me to do better and ensure that I get into War College. She tells me to invite my unit to my cousin Charvel’s wedding, so I do.
While we’re there, I try to connect with the generals and the Dean of War College. I eventually realize, much to my dismay, that what I say and do doesn’t really matter. I’ll get into War College either way because of my family’s reputation. But I want to make my own way in the world. I want to succeed based on what I’ve done, not what other Bellweathers, including my mother, have done.
I go to check on Charvel only to find her dead. Killed, presumably by the Spree. I fight two Spree assassins but am unable to vocalize, therefore unable to do Work. My mother saves me, though I still end up with a stab wound.
After the events of the wedding, I feel a mixture of shock and guilt. If only I had gone in sooner, I might have saved Charvel. I realize then that war is a lot more complicated and traumatic than I thought. However, I still keep up a facade of being excited about it, so as not to appear weak. I push everyone away, including my unit. And pretend to be fine. At this time, since it seems the Bellweather line was targeted, my mother assigns me a bodyguard named Bridey. I refuse the help at first but eventually come to relate to her, as she’s a decorated veteran in her own right.
Soon after that, I get to know Adil, a young man from the Tarim whose sister Khalida is so sick that even our best Fixers can’t treat her. Adil and I disagree on the Army, but we do like each other and even kiss. When Adil tells me about his sister’s plight, I offer to ask Raelle to use her Work to heal Khalida. I ask her and she agrees.
Then comes Citydrop. It’s our final exercise before graduation, a simulation of a real combat situation. Unfortunately, my unit and I are preoccupied because Raelle finds out that Tally told Anacostia that Scylla is Spree. I’m furious that Tally would know that Scylla might be involved in my cousin’s murder and not tell me, and equally furious that Raelle brought Scylla in the first place. Raelle, though, insists that Scylla is innocent.
Due to our distraction, we fail to disarm any mines on the street we were assigned. We do accidentally trigger a bomb in a car which causes us to suffer a minor case of plague. One of the officers suggests we go home to heal, but I don’t want to fail, so I say no. Tally and I have to search for Raelle at night, and take down two pretend Spree. Unfortunately, I’m reminded of my first encounter with the Spree and continue fighting even once the officer is incapacitated. Tally has to restrain me, and I’m given a warning to stop fighting once the enemy is defeated.
I’m then even more determined to prove myself and get into War College. I’m still feeling angry and upset but am able to put it aside and focus on the mission. I even gain Libba’s respect. And then we’re called to fight real Spree. We succeed, but not without a price. Libba loses her life. And I yell at her to wake up, unable to accept the fact that she’s gone. I end up crying for the one who was my biggest rival. I’m devastated.
Even more so when Tally tells me that there were civilians in the truck with the Spree that we destroyed. At first I can’t believe that Alder would give us the order to destroy it anyway. I’m so upset and disappointed. How could Alder do that? My trust in her is further shaken when she addresses the nation about the attack and lies about or doesn’t mention certain aspects. Like the fact that we weren’t finished with basic training. Or when she said the Spree killed the hostages. She even misrepresented the circumstances of Libba’s death, all to make the army look better. I give a speech at Libba’s memorial, and I speak from the heart
Then my unit and I graduate basic training. We’re expecting to hear that we were accepted to War College but instead we’re deployed immediately. Alder blocked our acceptance so that we could go on a mission to find the Tarim. My mother pulls some strings to get me into War College, but I don’t want to abandon my unit. So we go with Alder and Adil to find the Tarim.
We all confront Alder about her wrongdoing, but don’t get very far. Then we find the Tarim in a cave. A young boy is suffering from the same sickness Khalida had, and Raelle is able to heal him. We leave the cave, but are surrounded by the Camarilla, the ancient enemy of all witches, returned. We fight them, and I even manage to slit one’s throat.
When Raelle gets out of the helicopter to help the young boy, I follow her. I try to heal her when the Camarilla gets her, linking us. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work. We’re left alone to meet our fate, and I tell Raelle that I love her, Luckily, we do survive.
But why? At the time we didn’t know, but it was the Mycelium, protecting us. It saved our lives, and killed all the Camarilla surrounding us. We eventually get back to Fort Salem, and they want to find the source of these abilities of ours. Turns out the abilities are mostly Raelle’s.
Anyway, we arrive just in time to see Tally getting un-biddied. We’re so glad to see her and she’s glad to see us alive and well. The three of us start War College, and we’re introduced to our coven and its leader, M. When Raelle is asked to show her abilities, I’m happy for her. But it’s hard for me too. I wish I had something special like that to do.
We’re chosen to protect the first testing center for new witches. Things get a bit intense there, but we handle it. All of us compete for a chance to speak to anyone dead on Samhain. And we win, luckily! Things also get intense when Adil comes home with me. I deal with a lot of pressure from my family to marry, and marry well. But I want to make my own way in the world, and not be forced into anything.
Adil and I decide to go after the Camarilla. They are enemies to all witches, after all. Then Tally leads us on a mission to find Nicte Batan, the leader of the Spree. Raelle, Scylla, and I end up arguing due to Nicte’s Work, but we get her in the end.
Tally and I want change in the army. We don’t trust Alder due to all she’s done and so we try to push for that change. When Tally defends Nicte when Alder’s about to execute her, Raelle and I join her. Can’t leave our unit sister alone, after all. When the Camarilla come to Fort Salem and poison Penelope, we’re forced to make a difficult choice. We try to help her, but it’s impossible. And we can’t let what she has spread. And so we do the only thing we can do. But we do so reluctantly.
Of course, we’re accused of killing her, and so we, along with Nicte and Scylla and Adil and Khalida, have to leave Fort Salem. Anacostia and my mother arrange for us to leave and we go into hiding. Initially we stay at a paper factor that is a front for dodgers, but we have to leave when the cover is blown. I lead all of us in a raid against the Camarilla, and it’s successful. However, it means we have to go further into hiding in the Cession.
Raelle is taken by the Mycelium to heal and the rest of us miss her. We’re caught by one of the Marshals in the Cession and brought before the Council of the Great River. We manage to convince them to let us leave the Cession, but only if we never come back, including Raelle. We’re attacked by Camarilla, and manage to win with the help of Alder, who has been brought back by the Mother Mycelium.
The new President, who is a member of the Camarilla himself, orders an attack on the Cession to get us out. I lead an attack on the forces, with the help of one of the Council members, Thelma Bearkiller. Through it all, I become close with one of the cadets, Lupe Cortez. Unfortunately, she dies. I am horrified.
I decide that we should turn ourselves in, before any more Lupe Cortezes happen. And everyone else agrees. My mother praises me for knowing when to surrender, something she still has trouble with. We’re brought to a “trial” but keep getting interrupted when we try to speak. I ask if one of us can speak uninterrupted, and am granted my request. I tell Raelle it should be her, as she has a foot in both worlds. She reluctantly agrees.
Her speech is great, but ultimately has no affect. However, at that moment, former President Wade arrives alive and well. She takes the Presidency back and exonerates all of us. Raelle and Scylla decide to get married, and after a lot of coaxing, Adil and I join them.
All of us are happy, and relaxing, listening to Raelle sing, when we get the bad news. Fort Salem has fallen to the Camarilla. We immediately head there to fight. As we’re fighting, Adil and I discuss our honeymoon. Gotta love multitasking.
We finally reach the chamber with the Mycelium and Raelle seems like she’s going to activate the Witchbomb, just like in Tally’s vision where she destroys the world, when Alder shows up. She reveals to me that my ancestor, Jem Bellweather, was one of the stewards of the First Song. And that that song is still inside me. All of the stewards sing the Song and Raelle activates the Witchbomb. The combined power changes the world by making everyone have a small part of the power of a witch.
We’re devastated to learn, after the battle is over, that Anacostia perished in the fighting. The Mother addresses us, through Alder, telling us that we’re going to be known as goddesses. Alder says goodbye to all three of us and warns us to be worthy of the name, before fading away.
And with my husband and my unit sisters and Scylla and of course Khalida by my side, I think that I can be. So maybe I made my own way in the world, after all.

STORIES.