Cursed: Epilogue
"And we're here!"
The blonde farmer threw out her arm enthusiastically, presenting her newly cleared field with a flourish.
There wasn't a cracked boulder, rotting stump, or even a stray weed in sight – just fresh green grass bordered by a log fence, a brown horse and three contentedly clucking chickens kept within, and rows of recently tilled earth along the edges, just begging for crop seeds to be planted there. On their other side stood the old wooden barn and stables, now covered in a fresh coat of paint that shone in the sunlight, barely recognizable in a good way.
Sunshine Farm was now truly a real farm.
It had been a lot of work, that was for sure, but it was definitely worth it. Especially when she had friends to help her with the task.
"Welcome to your new home, um…"
She turned back to the little group gathered behind her – her older brother Jack, looking at her with his usual air of exasperation, though she was fairly certain he was just feigning it this time; her elderly neighbor Barley and his excitable young granddaughter May, a pretty spotted cow being led behind them; and Cliff, looking somewhat awkward and out of place like he normally did, struggling to hold on to her eagerly squirming little dog, Bailey.
The blonde stepped back toward them and gave the new black and white cow a loving pat on the head. "…What should I name you?"
"How about Cookie?" May suggested, giggling with a hand over her mouth. "I like cookies. Especially the chocolate ones."
The farmer cocked an eyebrow at the girl teasingly, looking back to the gentle farm animal as though they were exchanging an amused glance. "Not bad, but I was thinking something more like… Mirabelle?"
An image of the sweet little orange clementine flashed across her mind before she settled on the tiny yellow mirabelle plum. Not the same, not a replacement, but close enough.
Cliff nodded in agreement as Bailey wriggled out of his grasp and ran to the farm girl, barking once happily. "That's a good name, Claire."
Claire smiled back at him in gratitude, blushing slightly. "Mirabelle it is, then."
The newly named Mirabelle let out an appreciative 'moo,' and Claire felt a sudden wave of emotions wash over her, as though reliving in those few seconds everything that happened to them all in the past weeks. So much lost…
But so much gained. And Claire never would have experienced any of it had she not decided to move to Mineral Town.
Claire blinked a tear out of her eye as she watched her brother step up to pet the new cow somewhat apprehensively, though not without some quietly amused words of encouragement from Cliff. Barley stood beside them, babbling on about how the farm girl should try saving up to buy a sheep from him next.
Below her, Bailey ran circles around her feet before darting back out into the grassy fields, and May chased after him with a peal of laughter, her long black braids whipping out behind her in the breeze. Claire's horse, Thunder, raised his head to watch from behind the fence, his ears pricked forward in interest.
It was just one step out of many on the road back to normalcy.
oOoOo
Shhhhh… BOOM!
"…Oh, that was a nice one!"
Claire grinned as she watched the firework whiz upward into the velvety night sky, leaving a shimmering trail behind it against the dark starry backdrop before bursting high above the spectator's heads with a resounding boom, releasing a torrent of crackling red and blue sparks. Her face was lit up briefly by the flash of bright colors, and they reflected off the surface of the ocean waves as the crowd gathered on the stretch of sand below 'oohed' and 'aahed' appreciatively, their applause echoing along the beach.
The remainder of the summer was a time of healing for all of Mineral Town. A time to move on from the town's dark past and work together to restore peace and prosperity at last. Not to forget what happened, but to learn to accept it.
And there was no better way to begin than with the end-of-summer Fireworks Festival.
Claire was perched on the stone wall overlooking the beach beside her date for the fireworks, her feet dangling off the side as she watched the show from her high vantage point (a spot where she could also see everyone else gathered to watch, easy to make out in the light of the pyrotechnics, which had been imported straight from nearby Forget-Me-Not Valley).
Cliff had shyly asked Claire to the festival earlier that very day, after the explanation that it was often seen as a romantic opportunity by the young people in Mineral Town, and the farm girl had quickly accepted his invitation. There was nobody else she would rather watch the fireworks with, after all.
Just below where she and Cliff sat comfortably up on the wall, Claire's older brother was seated on a striped beach towel laid out in the sand. He shared a bag of popcorn with Ann, who sat cross-legged beside him, her long braid hanging over one shoulder as she leaned forward to snatch some more of the salty, buttery snack from him. He raised the bag away from her as she stretched out to reach it - and they were both smiling.
Jack had come to visit Mineral Town for the second time as soon as Claire called him after the funeral. Before she could even attempt to explain the unbelievable resolution to the mystery, he had a ferry ticket from the city and was on his way.
He could barely believe what happened in Mineral Town since his last visit when Claire told him all that she and the others had found out, but was relieved by the reassurance that his sister was now truly safe in her close-knit countryside community. And Claire couldn't believe it when he told her that their baby sister Jill apparently had her first real boyfriend – though she was being very mysterious about it all – and that she was to come with Jack on his next visit to Mineral Town, just in time for the Music Festival in autumn.
All in all, the two siblings were getting along much better now. Jack had even helped Claire fix up Sunshine Farm, along with many of the other villagers she had befriended over the summer.
But from the looks of it, it seemed that it wasn't just his younger sister that Jack was worried about all this time. Ann's story must have somehow captivated his heart.
As it turned out, Ann had been an exceptionally special case. Her injuries from the werewolf attack had been severe, and she was left with more than just physical scarring, though she somehow hadn't become a werewolf herself. Maybe it was because she had only been scratched - not bitten, or because the time simply had not been right for the curse to fully pass on. Maybe it was just pure luck; but Ann was left with only her wolfish side effects, restricted to strange anger outbursts and carnivorous cravings.
They could work with that. She was still Ann.
On a soft quilted blanket a bit further away, the young nurse Elli sat with the doctor Trent, her injured arm still encased in a stiff cast. She didn't seem to mind, however; she was paying more attention to the dark-haired young man beside her than to the fireworks themselves, and didn't even notice when Stu splashed a whole bucket of water at May a few meters away to reprimand him as she normally would.
Claire now realized that Elli and Trent had both known that there was something up with Lillia, and later Ann. All their secret conversations, the meaningful looks shared... Though they weren't aware of the full truth right away, they knew that something strangely sinister was going on in Mineral Town.
At the very opposite end of the beach, Karen and Rick were seated on two separate beach towels, laid out next to one another's, close but not touching. They were on much better terms now, it seemed, after all that had happened. Karen was definitely furious with Rick for keeping secrets from her - she was still mad about it, mind you - but as it turned out, this secret had been far more than the young woman had ever expected from her childhood friend.
She still didn't know whether she could fully trust him, but at least this was a start. She knew she couldn't be angry with him forever.
Not far from them, Rick's younger sister Popuri sat at the end of the dock with Kai, her magenta hair practically glowing in the combined light of the twinkling stars and flashing fireworks, their hands clasped together and feet dangling off the edge of the pier just over the water. They would be announcing their engagement any day now - okay, that was a joke, but Claire could see it happening someday. Despite his imperfections, Kai made Popuri happy, and that was something she desperately needed at a time like this.
For her sole benefit, Kai and Rick had finally decided to put aside their differences and make up in light of what happened; there were more important things to worry about than their silly, bitter rivalry. That wasn't to say that they actually liked each other, but they could at least tolerate each other's presence, which was a start.
...BOOM BOOM!
Claire's blue eyes reflected the sparkling light from the golden fireworks as she turned to gaze back into the sky. As the glittering metallic sparks faded away into the night, she felt Cliff touch her shoulder tentatively. "Claire?"
"Hmm?"
He pulled his hand away sheepishly. "Er... I just wanted to say... Thanks for coming to see the fireworks with me."
Smiling, Claire leaned her head against his chest, her gaze still fixed on the sky, and she felt him jerk back in surprise before settling down again. "No... Thank you. This is perfect."
Near the water's edge, Gray and Mary sat side-by-side on a blanket in the sand, holding hands with both their faces tilted upward toward the night sky. They were officially dating now, though when asked about it, they would blush the exact same tomato-red shade that just about proved it.
Claire had visited Mary at the library the day before with Cliff, Jack ,and Ann, where they found the dark-haired librarian with Gray at the front desk, together poring over that huge, ancient book on curses and werewolves and Goddess-only-knows what else. Just seeing the strange book again with its worn yellow pages sent a chill down Claire's spine, and she suppressed a shudder.
Gray immediately mentioned his desire to burn the book, offered to take it to the blacksmith's right then and there and toss it straight into the forge, but Mary vehemently refused - how could she ever allow a book of any sort, even a cursed one, to endure such a terrible fate? - so instead, she locked it away into a secret safe in her desk drawer, promising to find a better place for it later.
That book told of everything, Mary explained, translating to the small group gathered before her all she could decipher from the ancient text, though not before apologizing profusely for not telling them what she knew earlier. It all lined up perfectly with Lillia's own story, the details flawlessly matching what they knew of Lillia's curse.
It wasn't Lillia's fault, Mary had emphasized. She was merely the unfortunate victim of an ancient evil. Lillia was a werewolf, yes; but her werewolf form was a separate entity from her human self, the curse taking control of her body and mind, effectively possessing and transforming her each full moon. This curse of lycanthropy could only be passed down onto a human host during the total lunar eclipse.
That had been easy enough for them to accept, for they had already figured out most of it - and Claire doubted she could ever think of the sweet, sickly mother and the bloodthirsty wolf-like monster as the same being.
Whether or not the book itself was cursed was a completely different story, Mary said; but how could she ever willingly destroy it, when it contained such vital information? What if, someday in the distant future, it happened all over again?
Claire caught one final glance at the tome's faded cover before the librarian locked it away.
Cruentus Luna...
The sky exploded in a crackling burst of light and sound, illuminating the night sky in a thunderstorm of flashing colors and glittering sparks whose booms echoed across the beach. The finale to the Fireworks Show was truly a fantastic sight, one that Claire was thankful to be able to witness.
Mineral Beach erupted into applause one last time, until finally the crowd began to disperse. The dark silence after the spectacle had come suddenly, and the now detectable sounds of insects chirping in the night sounded oddly muted and out of place. Still, they were much preferable to werewolf howls.
Claire and Cliff met up with Jack, Ann, and her father Doug on the way back home, and for once, they could laugh and joke as loudly as they wanted without having to worry about being watched, or stalked, or attacked on the darkened streets. For the countless seasons to come, Claire felt could truly consider Mineral Town her one and only home.
Some say that howling can still be heard from time to time in the forests surrounding Mineral Town during a full moon, though the truth in those statements is debatable. But it still makes one wonder... There isn't a blood moon coming up anytime soon, is there?
A/N: So, some more background info: the idea for this story came from my own personal headcanons regarding Lillia's sickness/Rod's departure to find a cure, as well as the wild dogs that roam your farm at night sometimes in the game. I remember being creeped out by them when I was younger, especially since I didn't like dogs in the first place. Eventually these two things connected in my mind and I kind of just ran with the idea, until finally this fanfiction was born. When I first planned out the story, its genre was intended to be distinctly horror, but as I continued writing, I realized that Cursed was going to turn out much different from how I originally imagined it. And as it's still not perfect, I may someday go back to reread and revise again.
As for Ann, her situation was somewhat inspired by Bill Weasley from Harry Potter - cursed wounds from an unusual werewolf attack, but not full lycanthropy. I hope that answers your question; I'd also say it was too early to determine whether Elli would have similar wounds, but if she did, the effects would most likely begin to show themselves very soon.
Thank you all again so much for reading; I hope you enjoyed the full fanfic! If you ever want to read more of my writing, I've written many other stories for Harvest Moon as well as for a few other fandoms, so feel free to check them out sometime! I'd appreciate it. :)
-CCM