Your poison is my paradise. Won't you play with me in paradise?

Shadows descend as night falls. The temperature drops and a haunting chill sets in. The dim light of the moon peeking through the clouds is the only illumination out in this wilderness.

I can't help but feel a little bothered as to how quiet it is. There are no machines here, no city lights in the distance. It's just this empty field and this hill over here. Nothing more.

This place… just what is this place? This can't possibly be a world of demons that she was talking about can it?

I shake my head and continue up this hill. No reason to worry yet. I don't even know where I am. Hopefully I can spot a landmark or a person up here soon.

I reach the hill and begin to walk up it. Its height isn't spectacular, but it's certainly better than where I was.

I turn around on this slope and look behind me. Ah, much better view. Although… it doesn't tell me too much more. It's just a field around here, and mountains and forests over there. Maybe I should walk around to the other side and see everything I can see. The moon is good enough, so maybe I can find something.

I turn back and continue to walk up until I near the top. The top quickly smooths off and becomes more flowery. Near the very center of the top is a dense flower field.

Flowers… it's been a few months since I've seen flowers. Never this many before though. Rare.

Curious and slightly entranced, I walk towards the center. I'm about to walk through the flower patch when I suddenly stop. A warning chill hints at danger. Instead of walking through, I crouch down and peer at the flowers.

I recognize them. They're lilies of the valley. Poisonous.

I sigh. Dang. I finally see some real flowers again and it's these stupid poison lilies. I was hoping for a soft place to sleep tonight, but I guess it's not here. I'd best not walk through. Wading through that many would make me sick. I'm surprised I would see the same flowers here though. I wonder if there are any other similarities between this world and mine.

I stand up and begin to walk around the flowers. Well, I don't need to go through that anyways. I'll just walk around and view the world until I figure out where to go.

I begin to walk around when I suddenly hear something. Something sounding like a voice. Something sounding like a laugh.

I quickly spin back to the flower fields. I am shocked to find a person.

A girl? Who?

It's a young girl, only a child. Blonde with a red ribbon and wearing a black and red dress outfit. A puffy bow on her back stands out against all her dark colors by being pink.

She's merrily spinning around and dancing in the flowers, completely unaware about their dangerous nature.

I hope she realizes-

At that moment she reaches over and picks a little berry from a ripe flower and pops it into her mouth. She smiles and giggles as she savors the taste.

What? No! Those are poisonous!

Instinctively I shout a warning to the girl. "Hey! What are you doing? That's dangerous!"

She stops and looks over at me, cocking her head sideways in curiosity. I note her eyes are an odd shade of blue. I've never seen someone with such brilliant, almost glowing, eyes.

Immediately, I get another severe warning.

This girl is not human.

She begins to joyously skip to me. I tense up and take a step away.

Damn it. What have I done? I should have ignored her! What was I thinking? This girl is probably some demon with a guise of innocence to lure fools like me into the poison. Ugh, how could I be so careless?

She nears me at the edge of the flowers, smiling brightly.

Before anything is even said, she thrusts a hand out to me. She has a bundle of the lily's berries.

"Want some?" She asks with a smile.

I notice her hands are not like a person's hands. The joints are distinctly segmented, with each of her fingers being individual pieces on revolving hinges. Her arms are the same; joints and blocks of an artificial, yet soft material.

Automaton. A constructed being of some sort. Yet this is unlike anything I've seen. She could pass for human. This is… amazing.

She speaks a little louder, thinking I did not hear. "Want some berries?"

I step away from her. "Fruit of the lily of the valley is poison. Are you feeling ok? How long have you been eating those?"

She shrugs. "Dunno. I do it all the time. I feel fine. You should really try it they're-"

"No… no thank you." I quickly reply.

She shrugs again. "Suit yourself."

With that, she gobbles the small cluster of berries.

This girl is not human. She could not possibly withstand eating these berries on a regular basis if she was.

I then notice something stranger still. Something in the air next to her. It looks like a little toy doll with wings, but it seems to be moving on its own accord. It's dressed just like her. As my eyes set on it, it waves hello at me.

Some kind of familiar? This is definitely not good. Her power must be immense to command her own familiar. There is no telling what she is capable of. I need to get out of here, now.

The girl steps a little closer to me as I slowly retreat. "Hey, where you… wait… are you human? Humans run, and you're running. You're human aren't you? Are you? You are! Stupid human!"

Not good. She does not seem to care for me. Should I run? Convince her otherwise? Fight back?

Too confused to act, I hesitate. "Err… Um… I… it's just…"

The girl looks angry while she continues to talk to me. "You human scum! I can't stand you! I hope you choke and die! In fact, I'll see to that right now!"

Looks like I just chose fight back.

Then, the strangest thing happens. She begins to hover. Floating just a few feet off the ground. Her increased elevation gives her a more intimidating appearance.

The air around her begins to hum. An unnatural power drifts around her like a strange black mist. She has magic alright, and she's not afraid to use it.

Yet I do not fear her. I've seen worse horrors. The Nightcaster's minions are the most hideous undead abominations, and my travels have put me against disgusting sub-human parasites before that. This girl, this automaton, is nothing to the things I've faced. I'm a Slayer; monsters fear me, not the other way.

Before she can even react I quickly reach for my pistol on my jacket and aim at her. Thanks to a lot of practice, it takes me less than a second to quick-draw my gun.

This handgun utilizes some old, yet reliable, automatic clockwork technology to fire bullets in semi-auto fashion. Plated bronze like most standard guns, this pistol chambers nine low-caliber anti-personnel bullets and I can fire them all in about five seconds if I shoot quickly.

I pull the trigger, causing the lead cast bullet to shoot out and striker her. A loud boom and a painful jolt, and another bullet goes out to her. It takes me just a few seconds to fire off all the rounds into her, and not a one misses.

But I quickly realize something is wrong. This mysterious girl does not even feel my attack. With a somewhat metallic ring, each bullet bounces off her and ricochets to the ground. She sustains no injury.

She seems confused as to what just happed. "Ow… that was loud. Why'd you do that? Trying to scare me? I'll show you scary!"

I lower my arm to my side. This is not good. It's just like all those other times. The Nightcaster's power protects her from mortal harm, and it seems this creature is no different. Only heavy raw force can hurt her, or at least lower her defenses.

If it were any other way, I wouldn't need this knife. Good thing I brought it.

I stow my pistol, but before I can bring my knife out she makes a move against me.

Sickly purple mist forms around her hands. Then, almost like one would blow a kiss, she blows the mist off her palm and onto me. I try to throw myself down to let it pass over, but the mist quickly spreads and surrounds me. I have no choice but to breathe in this toxic matter.

Immediately, I choke. "Ugh! Guackl Agh! Argh!"

My eyes inflame and water, my throat burns, and my skin crawls. I cannot breathe, and I cannot see.

A single panicked thought runs through my head. Poison. Need to get out.

From somewhere ahead I hear the girl laugh at my struggle. She is invisible to me through my pained tears and distorted vision.

Hoping for some kind of clearing this way, I duck down and run to my right. I am relieved to find the area of the poison to be contained. The effects slowly begin to subside as I step into clean air.

I reorient myself to the girl, who is still hovering over her field of lilies. She has a look of disgust and anger when she sees me. Her intentions are clear: death for the human.

But I have no desire to die now. I quickly draw the great knife out of my side sheath and rush at her with it, crossing into the lilies and towards her.

My knife isn't so much a knife as it is a shortsword. Two inches wide at the blade's base and about a two feet long to the tip. Custom made from a titan-steel alloy, it's sharp enough to cut through a light sheet of metal armor and tough enough to not need sharpening.

I'll make short work of this monster. I'll slay you like I've slain countless others!

She tries casting another cloud of toxic mist at me, but I duck under it before it settles over me and close in on her. She tries to grab my rising arm with her hand; a bad mistake. Her attempt to stop my attack only brings herself into range. I easily overpower her small arm and bring my blade down across the side of her face.

She recoils back from my slice. "Yeowch!"

Before she can retreat, I take another step forward while turning the blade backwards in my hand. I grab her by the arm and twist to the ground before bringing my blade down on her chest. The blade plunges deep into her cloth-like body. She chokes up in agony.

Then, I get another warning from the back of my mind. I think I just made a bad move.

As my blade sinks in, something shoots out of her. A fine powdery dust, looking to me like black flour, shoots upward. It simply dissipates on my blade, but it immediately begins to hiss and burn as it melts onto my hand. It decomposes into an acidic liquid, burning hotter and hotter.

Damn it! I retract my blade and hand in shock and pain. The substance I received from the girl dissolves into me. My fingertips begin to go numb, and I can see my veins begin to turn black.

It's poison. She's covered in the stuff. Just touching her has infected me with a deadly toxin.

This is looking bad. I don't know what this will do to me, but I'm not sure if I want to find out. How can I hit her if I'm going to get poisoned for hitting her?

"Ah… Ow… ow ow ow…" The girl moans as she gets back up and hovers back into the air.

She stops and looks down at the bloodless cut in her chest. She carelessly pokes it and puts her hand in it, curious as to how deep it is. She doesn't seem to feel any pain as she digs deeper and deeper into her artificial body. After a few seconds, she reaches her entire arm through her chest and out her back where my blade impaled her.

She glares at me. "Ah! You put a hole in me! Grr, you scummy little human. Now I'll have to go talk to that idiot doll maker to get sewn up! I can't believe this! I'll poison you until your eyeballs fall off!"

I take a hesitant step back. She's not even weakened yet! She didn't even notice the cut on the side of her face either. Any person would be dying, from wounds like that. What's more, I've absorbed some of her poison.

I… don't know if I can defeat her. This fight is not going well. I think I need to get out of here.

She withdraws her arm out of the now widened hole in her chest and advances on me. A small amount of moonlight shines through the gaping hole, but she does not care about it. She's out for my blood now.

Before I can move away from her she strikes at me, attacking me in a new way. She casts her hand out at me and sends forth a lance of solid energy, also purple like her poison. The projectile goes whirling past me and erupts as it crashes in the distance.

Whoa! Did she just shoot at-

Another missile goes whirling by. She is shooting at me. Her aim is sloppy, but she's using some serious magic on me.

"Mmph! Stupid arm, why won't you listen? Aim!" The girl curses at herself.

I need to get out of here before she does get her aim straight. I can't lose her in the open. It looks like the forest is my only option.

I take a short breath. Ok. One two three GO!

Without saying a word, I spin around and turn to the forest. I sprint down the hill, using my downward momentum to increase my speed.

By my attacker is not going without a chase. I can hear her following me, flying after me with her magic powers.

She taunts and laughs me as she chases me off the hill. "Aww, look at the scared man running from the little girl. Hahaha! Ruuuun! Run away human! HeheheHAHAHAHA!"

There is an explosion in front of me, followed by a poisonous cloud. I fall down and let myself roll down the hill for a few seconds. My low profile sends me under the cloud safely. I quickly push myself back up and continue to run.

I speed back up to a sprint as I reach the bottom of the hill. The forest is just a short ways away, but I have a whole empty field to cross, and a ferocious magic caster to escape. I can lose her in the trees, but I have to survive this first.

It's just right over there, don't stop!

My attacker just continues to laugh aloud as she shoots poison blasts wildly in my direction. "AHAHAHA! Come on human, take your poison!"

Keep going! I mentally shout to myself.

Suddenly something, flies in front of me. The tiny doll I saw with her earlier zooms past me and drifts in front of me. She waves her arms around in the air, spreading more of the poisonous powder I sustained earlier.

More? If I take any more I'll be dead for sure! I can't let myself get hit!

The doll dances about in front of me, casting deadly toxins into the air. The powder slowly descends to the ground, forming a curtain of poison in front of me.

It's a risky move, but with a grunt I dive forward, skidding along the ground and under the curtain before it falls completely and blocks my path. I waste not a second more and immediately get back to my feet and start running again.

My pursuer simply bursts through the poison wall and keeps after me.

Joseph whatever you do, do not stop! I silently tell myself.

I can hear my pursuer breathing heavily right behind me. "I'm almost there human. I'm gonna grab you and give you your poison."

She's enjoying this pursuit. She clearly has something against humanity, and she's more than happy to vent her frustration on me.

But she's not going to get to any longer. I break through the first line of trees in the forest. I quickly spin around a tree and break her line of sight from me. She cluelessly continues into the forest for a second before she realizes she's lost track.

I don't risk standing around for her to see me again. I run in another direction away from her. She tries following the sound of my running, but the dense trees hide me from her.

"Yeah, you better run human! Don't ever let me see you again you scum!" She calls out, trying to sound tough even though she lost sight of me.

I don't respond. I keep running into the forest, blindly. I want to make sure she stands no chance of spotting me again. After a minute or so, my lungs begin to burn so I stop.

I lean up against one of the old trees here and take a few heavy breaths.

That was insane. I've never seen someone that strong that looked so… normal. The way she just ignored getting stabbed was impossible, nothing like I've seen before. I think I've just learned that I'm seriously underprepared for this. If everyone is this strong then I'm in trouble.

I take a few more deep breathes before standing upright.

I notice something is wrong with my hand, the one that was poisoned. The veins in my hand are black, and I can't feel my fingers. The effects seem to be spreading through my blood, taking away the life from me.

What's happening? My hand feels dead. It looks like some kind of blood poison. This could be deadly if it gets to my heart.

I look around through the forest. There is no one here again.

Damn. Nothing here to help. I'm going to have to take a risk and look for some help, or I'm going to die. The forest doesn't seem to promising, but that girl lived in a flower patch, so maybe someone in here will help me.

I hope…

I take a hesitant glance around the forest again before setting off. I take a quick second to reload my pistol just in case. I eject the bullet casings and grab one of my bullet slides and load it.

The bullet casings are magnetic, and can be connected to each other to form magazines or belts without the use of a cartridge or other wasteful containers. Saves time when needing to quickly reload in a fight.

The gears on the handgun click rapidly as the bullets are inserted. Then, with a turn of a switch, the gun closes with a metallic snap. Done.

It takes me a little effort to use my poisoned hand. The sense in it is almost completely gone, and it's getting worse.

Have to hurry. The poison is spreading.

I sigh as I begin to walk blindly into the forest. Man… great start, really. Poisoned in the first hour on this place. I've learned I'm at a serious disadvantage though. Magic is much stronger here, and everyone has it. I'm going to need to get an edge if I want to survive out here.

I look at my sickening hand. First things first. I need an antidote.

I quicken my pace. I keep my gun in hand for self-defense, but it is a shallow comfort to me now. I'm underpowered, outnumbered, and low on time. My situation has become grim in a very short time, but I'm not giving up yet. Someone, somewhere, has to know what to do about this.

No time to waste. Off we go.

The forest begins to become thicker as I enter deeper into it. I don't know what I'll find here, but I have to hope it's something will save me. Something other than another demon. Something that will heal me.

I hope it's something that will help me survive. It has to be.

A/N

Thank you for reading my second chapter. Finally got it up...

And so I introduce our beloved Medicine Melancholy (although she never said her name to Joseph). This wasn't really a first fight, but rather just an event that illustrates what Joseph is currently capable of skill wise, how he thinks in a struggle, and what he is up against. In another story of mine, Ancient Arcane Curse, the protagonist is a youkai with a unique power that gives him an advantage over some of the other youkai. But Joseph is human, and I wanted to set the stage for an idea as to how powerful youkai are compared to him. Even though he has some talent as a fighter, he is underpowered from the start, and this will hopefully make for some interesting encounters as he progresses.

And now we're moving the story to the Forest of Magic. In my other story I wrote about this location already. While I don't want to duplicate my world from that story, I really want to keep some of my good ideas I put down. One of the things i'm going to be fighting quite a bit is whether or not to use the same personalities and elements from my other story because they worked, or come up with new interpretations to be original. I'll probably end up doing both as the story goes on, but even if I do that the story is still different, so expect to see a few alterations, twists, or alternate perspectives when I decide to re-use certain elements i've already come up with.

Anyways.

Thank you for reading. I hope to have the next up soon.