Paradise Lost: Daughter of Gensokyo

by Maziodyne

Chapter 11: Thorned Rose

Immediately after waking up, I find Rainbow Dash and explain everything I learned yesterday to her. After I finish, Rainbow Dash looks at me in silence for a few moments.

“I'm going to be blunt,” she finally says to me. “I'm definitely not the brainy type. Most of that stuff about Tokens and… Displaced? Anyway, most of that stuff went way over my head.” I nod awkwardly, not sure how else to respond to that. Rainbow Dash continues. “But… I understood enough to know that you'll probably make one of these Tokens eventually, and once it's made, you might be called away without warning.” I nod in understanding, then Rainbow Dash continues. “Whenever that happens, make sure you don't do anything stupid. And I mean nothing stupid. It sounds like there are some really dangerous places out there, and I'm technically still supposed to be a sort of guardian for you. I'd never forgive myself if you went off and died because I was too carefree.”

“Don't worry,” I say reassuringly to Rainbow Dash. “I'll be careful.”

Rainbow Dash lets out a sigh of relief and nods. “Good.” She then grins as she changes topics. “It's nice to hear that you and that doll have something in common though,” she says.

I smile as I answer. “'That doll' has a name: Medicine Melancholy.”

“That's a bit long,” Rainbow Dash says. “How about I just call her Meddy?”

I sigh and shake my head, a smile still on my face. “Sure. But, it is nice to know that there's another Fairy like Shanghai. I'm hoping to be friends with Medicine eventually.”

Rainbow Dash nods. “Anyway, what are you going to do today?”

“I'll probably try to find Medicine and talk with her,” I say.

Rainbow Dash grins. “Heh, alright. I hope you and Meddy become good friends.”

“Thanks,” I say before I step outside, waving to Rainbow Dash.

I begin making my way towards the Everfree Forest, but before I can make it very far, something yellow below me catches my attention. I look down and see… sunflowers. Lots and lots of sunflowers. A huge field of them right below Rainbow Dash's house.

Something about the field of sunflowers nags at me. For some reason, the sight of them makes me feel uneasy. My curiosity gets the better of me though, and I head down to investigate.

I stop my descent just above the tops of the tallest sunflowers. I slowly float forward above the flowers, looking for any clues that could tell me why these flowers are here. I instinctively avoid coming into contact with any of the flowers, but I just can't remember the reason why. Why? I think in frustration, I know the significance of these flowers. Why can't I remember it!?

A figure comes into view among the flowers. I stop short, my train of thought coming to a screeching halt the moment I see her.

She has green hair and red eyes. Her outfit consists of a white, long-sleeved button-up shirt, a red plaid vest and a long, red plaid skirt. She's carrying a pale violet parasol.

I instantly recognize her, and everything in my mind becomes clear. This is Yuuka Kazami. If she thinks you're trying to hurt her flowers, then she'll bring you within an inch of death in less than a heartbeat… without the Spellcard system of Gensokyo, she would undoubtedly kill you. I'm not sure if she'd kill anyone here in Equestria, and that scares me a little.

Yuuka finally notices me. “Ah, Alexandria,” she says in a pleasant, casual tone, a warm smile on her face. “Did you come to admire the flowers?” A hint of malice enters her voice as she continues. “I trust you didn't hurt any?”

“Of course not,” I say to her, maybe a little quickly. “The flowers never did anything to me. I have no reason to hurt them.”

“Of course,” Yuuka says, giving me a pleasant smile, though I find it somewhat chilling.

I decide that it's time to move on, since Yuuka shouldn't be a problem as long as everyone respects her flowers. I decide that just leaving would be rude, so I think of a polite way to tell her that I have plans. “I was just wondering,” I begin, “I'm looking for Medicine. Have you seen her?”

The expression on Yuuka's face tells me that she apparently finds this amusing. “That's quite a coincidence,” she starts. “Medicine came through here just a little while ago.” Yuuka then turns and points as she continues. “She should still be just a little ways in that direction.”

“I see,” I say, a little confused. “Thanks Yuuka.”

“Any time,” Yuuka says in her usual pleasant tone.

I travel in the direction Yuuka pointed me in for a little bit. Suddenly, the flowers below me change from sunflowers to small, white, bell-shaped flowers hanging down from bent-over stalks.

I stop and look behind me, seeing the sunflowers there. There's a clear line where the field of sunflowers ends and the field of white flowers begins. I hadn't noticed this other field of flowers before, because the sunflowers had grabbed my attention before I saw this field. I recognize these white flowers: they're Lily-of-the-Valley flowers. Now I understand why Yuuka told me to come this way. I continue forward, deeper into the Lily-of-the-Valley field.

It doesn't take long before I see Medicine further ahead. She's not facing me, instead she seems to be staring into the distance, possibly lost in thought. I approach her, still in midair above the flowers, not wanting to anger Yuuka. I clear my throat to get her attention.

Medicine jumps a little before turning around. She relaxes once she sees me. “Oh, it's you. You startled me, dammit,” she says a little upset. “But, what are you doing here?”

“I just wanted to talk with you,” I say to her. “Maybe try and get to know each other a bit better?”

Medicine glares at me for several moments. I begin to think maybe I misinterpreted her. Then she sighs and her expression softens just a little. “I…” she begins before hesitating. After a couple more moments of silence, she asks a question. “Why?”

I'm surprised and confused by this. “I don't know what you're trying to ask,” I say in confusion.

“Why are you trying to be friendly with me?” she says to me. She looks genuinely confused and frustrated. “I tried to kill you. Everyone hates me. So, why do you want to be friends with me?”

I blink at this. I realize that what she said sounds similar to my situation had been. “Because,” I start, “I know what it feels like to be hated and to have no friends.” Medicine looks at me in surprise. I continue. “Because I'm Seija's daughter, nobody wanted anything to do with me. Everyone hated me by default. But then Alice decided to give me a chance. It's because of her that I was able to make more friends. I don't care that you tried to kill me, I don't care that you've been a jerk, I don't care how many people hate you. I want to give you a chance to redeem yourself, a chance to make some friends.”

Medicine stands in silence, staring at me. After a few moments, she begins to tear up a little. “I…” she begins, “I've… never been treated nicely before. I… don't know what to do.”

I smile. “Saying 'thank you' is all you have to do,” I tell her.

Medicine wipes the tears from her eyes. “Um… thank you… I guess,” she says awkwardly. She then looks at me with a frown. But I can tell that it's half-hearted: just a front to make her seem mean. “But we can't talk.”

This catches me off guard. “Why not?”

She smirks before answering. “We still haven't had a true rematch yet. We can't talk until we've done that.”

“Right…” I say, slightly exasperated.

“It'll be us and our Fairies,” she says. “A battle between two like Yokai.” Then she adds, “a fair, non-lethal battle.”

I stop Medicine just before she begins shooting at me. “Wait!”

Medicine gives me an irritated look. “What?”

I gesture to the flowers. “Shouldn't we do something to protect the flowers?”

“They're Lily-of-the-Valley. My poison won't hurt them,” she answers in confusion.

“But what about my attacks?” I ask her.

“Oh,” she says in realization. “Right.” Medicine thinks for a few moments. Then, she rises up above the flowers. After that, she creates a blue Danmaku border over the flowers. “There,” she says. “That should be enough.” She then turns to me. “Now we can have our rematch.”

With that, Medicine then begins shooting bullets and poison clouds at me. I note that the bullets that hit the Danmaku border get reflected instead of nullified. Shanghai shoots at Medicine while I dodge, though Medicine has definitely been practicing since she dodges Shanghai's bullets fairly easily.

Eventually, after a while of dodging each other's bullets, I find myself starting to get worn out. Medicine seems to notice this, and attacks with an extra complex pattern. I try to dodge it, but because of my weariness, I make a poor judgment and find myself trapped. I panic and - not wanting to lose - I decide to use a Spellcard.

Repulsion Sign「Push Away」

At the last moment, a magnetic field is created, centered around myself. All the bullets that approach me are pushed away. This catches Medicine by surprise, and she is unable to dodge her own bullets.

Pichuuu~n

“What in Hakugyokurou was that!?” Medicine shouts in bewilderment as she returns back to the ground, the Danmaku border disappearing.

“That,” I answer, tiredly, “was my magnetism magic.”

“Magic?” Medicine asks in confusion. “I didn't know you could use magic.”

I decide to explain to Medicine about my capabilities, explaining my lightning magic, my magnetism magic and the ability I inherited from my mother. Medicine listens very intently. After I finish my explanation, Medicine looks thoughtful.

“So, would that mean your dad could use magic?” Medicine asks suddenly.

“I guess so,” I answer. “Nobody really knows anything about my father except that the traits I couldn't have gotten from Seija came from him. We know that he was a human that could use magic, that he probably had brown hair, and had purple eyes. Other than that, nobody but Seija knows anything about him.”

“Huh,” Medicine says. “I didn't know that you'd never met your dad.”

“Because I never met him, I don't really think about my father much,” I say to Medicine. I look up and notice that the sun is low in the sky. I look back to Medicine. “Anyway, it's getting late. I should probably be getting home.”

“Oh. Uh, alright,” Medicine says awkwardly.

I grin at Medicine. “But I'll be sure to come talk with you from time to time.”

Medicine looks away awkwardly. “Uh, yeah, sure.”

I smile as I leave to return home. It'll probably take a while, but I have a feeling that Medicine will eventually get used to being friends.

End of Chapter 11

Author's Note:

Here it is, chapter 11. Finally, the true rematch with Medicine. Also, half the reason I brought Yuuka in was to give Medicine a Lily-of-the-Valley field to hang out in. Also, a little bit of additional backstory for Alexandria.
I decided to just omit end-of-day conversations between Alexandria and Rainbow Dash unless something important would be mentioned.
Chapter 12 is already a WIP, so if you enjoyed this chapter, look forward to that.