The Curse of Crockett Hill

It was evening on June 19th, 1461, the last day of Lena Duchannes’s life. The members of Aífe MacMurrough’s coven dragged her to a tree, tied her up, and chanted a magical incantation, so that they might rid themselves the murderous Dark Caster that had been plaguing them for the last three days.

 As they chanted, a stray thought entered the back of Charlotte Delaney’s mind: “Where had it all gone so wrong?” It seemed impossible to believe that the woman in front of her had once been the nicest girl she’d ever met, a powerful mage with a warm personality, a loving heart, and the greenest eyes she’d ever seen. 

 And then, just yesterday, all that had changed. Lena had been unmasked as a witch hunter, and a burgeoning friendship was forever splintered. Those green eyes had turned gold, filled with cruelty and hate for all Mortals. She was the darkest Dark Caster there ever was, and she made sure everyone knew it.

Lena ignored the chanting, focusing all of her considerable magical ability in one final Cast. If she was going to die, she was going to make sure she would be remembered… and feared, for all time. She began to chant in Latin, her curly black hair whipping around as if caught in a windstorm, her golden eyes glowing with power.

 Finally, the incantation was complete. Black flames sprung from the ground, consuming Lena’s body. The Dark Caster screamed until she couldn’t anymore, the scent of burning lemons and rosemary filling the air around them all…

And then it was over. Lena was dead.

But that wasn’t all, it seemed: Witch 3 collapsed and died, while Ace was caught in an inferno of her own thanks to being a victim of a witch trial. Where she had stood, there was now a pile of ashes. 

 Then came the final words of the Cataclyst herself:

 “Good evening, foolish Mortals.”

 “You may have managed to kill me, the most powerful Cataclyst of all time, but let’s see how your victory tastes! Is that blood on the floor? Do I see corpses? Could it be?”

 “YES! WE DID KILL TWO OF YOUR ALLIANCE! It’s only fair, after all. You killed me and Harrowhark, so we killed Ace and Witch Three in return. Something ‘wicked’ this way comes, indeed. And there will be more witch blood to spill tomorrow.”

 “Put another way? Caster vengeance is a dish best served hot.”

 “Now, then. I can’t speak for my fellow villains, but I can tell you why I came here. And believe it or not, the reasons weren’t even entirely selfish!”

 “First thing? My boyfriend, Ethan Wate. I received a prophecy that said YOU PEOPLE were going to attack Gatlin, where we live, and kill us both! I couldn’t let that happen… so I came here and hid myself among you, pretending to be Light. You know the rest.”

 “But there’s another reason too. Our great and powerful friend Aífe has a future, and she can’t get to it unless the rest of you all die! Sounds weird, I know, but that’s the way time works. Or so I’m told.”

“Last thing: to my teammates, good luck. Harrowhark and I will do what we can to assist. Remember: Never give up, never give in.”

 “And as for you mewling quims? Get ready, because we’re going to make your lives a LIVING HELL! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! THE DARK FIRE WILL COME FOR YOU ALL, AND THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP IT!”

 As the last echoes of Lena’s voice faded, the surviving members of the Coven came together to plan how they might find the last two witch hunters before they were all slaughtered. 

Another day passed, and the coven succeeded in finding the remaining Witch Hunters, though the act of doing so meant spilling more innocent blood… just as Lena had predicted.

For even as the survivors celebrated their victory over the Hunters, they heard the ghostly sound of cruel, malicious laughter, and the scent of lemons and rosemary blew in on the wind.

The curse of fatal death may have come for Lena Duchannes… But every curse can be broken. One way or another, she would have her revenge.

Nine hundred and forty years later…

“Captain’s log, stardate 79029.5: While I am pleased to report that Lieutenant Commanders Cloud Kicker and Magdalene Lykos have settled in to their new roles aboard the Endeavour, the search continues for a permanent executive officer to replace Emerald Wave, who is filling that post on an interim basis. Meanwhile, there are still some loose ends from Emerald’s immediate predecessor that have yet to be tied up.”

Gemini Shadow was in her quarters, paging through Coven na Banshee for the first time since Aífe had left. With how busy Gem’s schedule had been over the past six months, it seemed impossible to believe that this particular murder mystery, and the part she had played in it, had happened… and yet, here it was.

As she reached the last chapter in the book, Gem placed her bookmark in between two pages and shut the volume, putting it back on one of her many shelves. She began to pace, as she so often did, staring thoughtfully at the stars outside her window. She knew, by now, all too well what happened in Kilkenny, Ireland over nine hundred years ago. But now, she had begun to wonder what had happened next.

She sat down at her desk and faced her computer terminal, then said: “Computer! Show me the historical records for the human settlement Kilkenny, in the country of Ireland, starting from the year 1461 AD.”

The requested information appeared on her monitor, and she began to scroll through it, reading intently. Nearly two centuries after the massacre of the coven by Lena and her fellow witch hunters, the town of Kilkenny itself was the site of a heated incident in the autumn of 1650, when Oliver Cromwell and his soldiers attempted to burn a nearby forest (home to a local wolf pack) to the ground.

The attempt failed, and the wolves of Kilkenny soon moved on to a new den, though it was not to last - the last wolf in Ireland was shot and killed in 1786.

“What a terrible shame…” Gem whispered to herself. “And what cruelty… no creature deserves to be hunted to extinction.” Sipping her tea, she read on through the centuries. But when she reached 2024, she stopped. 

“No data available…” Gem mused. “Why in Equestria could that be?”

Puzzled, Gem called up another information display: the Duchannes family tree. As she read through the names, her gaze fell on one in particular: a Ms. Jeanette Louise Duchannes, born and raised in Kilkenny, mayor of the small village of Crockett Hill, beyond the old city walls… right where the coven had been so many centuries earlier.

Gem now knew beyond a doubt what she had to do next: somehow travel to 2024, again, and speak with Jeanette herself. But how?

Then, she smiled. She knew exactly who to talk to.

Jeanette Duchannes heaved a sigh as she looked out her window. Night had just fallen, and in the distance she could see the houses on Main Street with their windows lit. In the center of the town square, a Solstice tree was glowing in the light of the full moon. 

It should’ve been beautiful. It should’ve cheered her up. But with the full moon came the distant howling of wolves, and all Jeanette could think about was the curse.

Trying to put the wolves out of her mind, Jeanette turned up the music and went to make some cocoa, hoping that might help improve her mood.

As she turned on her electric kettle and began heating up water, someone knocked at her door. Grunting in annoyance, Jeanette stormed over to her front door and threw it open… but what she saw made her stare in shock.

Standing there was an honest-to-god unicorn. She was tall, with light grey fur, a brownish-grey mane and tail, and green eyes as bright as any Light Caster’s. She was dressed almost all in black, except for the red shoulders on her tunic. Four gold pips rested on her collar, and on her left breast, there was a gold and silver badge of some sort.

“Good evening,” the unicorn said, in a really posh English accent. “My name is Gemini Shadow. You are Jeanette Duchannes, correct?”

Jeanette nodded, unsure of what to say next. This was a dream, right? 

It wasn’t. “I knew your ancestor, Lena,” the unicorn continued. “May I come in please?”

With a statement like that, she couldn’t say no. So instead Jeanette moved over and let the unicorn inside. “It’s either that or the wolves will get ya,” she said. “So… come on in.”

“Thank you,” the unicorn said, taking a seat on Jeanette’s couch. Jeanette herself soon brought over two mugs of cocoa, which Gem took in her magic.

“So…” Jeanette said slowly, looking suspicious. “How the hell does a unicorn in a Star Trek outfit know a woman who died five hundred years ago?”

“Because,” said Gem, “I was the reason that she died in the first place.” She scanned the room, and looked out the rear window of the living room to the backyard. A tree stood over a simple gravestone that read:

Lena Duchannes

1994-1461

She stared at it intently, and finally asked: “Is that… where she was burned?”

Jeanette nodded. “Near as we can tell, anyway… not exactly good record keeping in Ireland back then, you know.” She scowled at Gem. “Tell me everything.”

“Once upon a time, a dear friend of mine was in trouble,” Gem began. “A mutual acquaintance dropped her off in a small patch of woodland just outside the town of Kilkenny. My friend was there, a year before I met her in a haunted castle, and Lena was pledged to protect her.”

“But what you must not have known was that Auntie Lena was Dark,” Jeanette said, picking up the story. “Strongest Cataclyst ever. Not just in our family, but in the entire Caster world.”

“But she wasn’t,” Gem insisted. “She was cursed, corrupted by magics even I could not make sense of. I am not a Caster, but I am an archmage… so when somepony of my magical caliber can’t untangle it…”

Jeanette nodded. “I got it. So she was born Light, but became Dark?”

Gem nodded. “Precisely. But that is where my knowledge ends… what happened next?”

“Aunt Lena cursed the coven as she died,” Jeanette said. “Dying Casts are rare in our world, but if one is used, it’s unbreakable. But depending on the incantation, it can take a while to notice the effects. My branch of the Duchannes family has stayed here ever since, watching for signs… We ended up building this village, Crockett Hill, and invited other magic users to live here, Caster and Mortal alike.” She smirked a bit. “Auntie Lena would’ve hated this place.”

The black-haired woman sipped her cocoa, staring at the unicorn in front of her. “Why are you here?” she asked finally. 

“Guilt,” Gem answered. “The people your aunt murdered… their blood is on my hands. I must atone for that crime, however I can.”

Jeanette snorted. “Believe me, that ship has sailed. If you want to help… just watch over us. From a distance.”

Gem chuckled softly. “Now that, I can do. Goodnight, Ms. Duchannes… and good luck.”

And with that, the unicorn shimmered out of existence. Her part was done… it was all Jeanette now.