The little boy found himself back in the entrance of the cellar that he had entered with his little sister, Hershey, when they left home and ran away.
The little boy looked around as he remembered this dreaded place, he then looked at the door that had led to all their suffering inside.
"Hershey!!! Where are you!?"
The man had hidden them inside this place, each in their individual rooms then locked them inside. Frotus was worried about his little sister so he went to the door and started banging it, trying to break it open but alas, with his malnourished and abused body, he could not do so.
He gritted his teeth and looked around in the room, trying to find some tool that could help him open this blasted door and save his sister.
Although he could not understand why he had gone back here, he knows that this was a chance, a second chance.
Just as he thought of that, something materialized from behind him.
[Who gave you that chance?]
Frotus looked behind him and saw a monster covered in black sticky goo.
It had a feminine body but its body was not made of flesh but rather with the sticky black goo. It raised its head up and looked at him, forming a deformed smile that resembles a smile. [Who was it? Was it me? Or was it your nonexistent God?]
Frotus' eyes shivered in shock as it slowly opened its 'palm' and grabbed his face before clenching it, making his head explode into blood mists.
[Wrong, it was her.]
-
Frotus opened his eyes again, and looked around, he then saw that he was back to where he started and looked around in alarm.
'What in the world is going on? Why am I still alive?'
[Because I made it so.]
That was his only thought when he felt something stabbing him through his chest, he looked back and saw a beast with its hand pierced through his chest. The boy coughed up blood and slowly lost his sense of sight as he reluctantly welcomed the cold death.
-
Slowly, the boy realized, he wouldn't be able to die.
It took him 1000 deaths to realize that, those deaths had impacted him and resonated something within him.
[Death is quite a gift, no?]
Then it took another 1000 deaths to break free from that room, another thousand to avoid the other beasts, another thousand to learn how to fight against those beasts….
[I do wonder how your sanity will endure all this?]
Over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over.
Until he found his sister after a million deaths.
"Brother? Is that really you?"
"…Hershey.."
She was curled up in the corner just like he had found her back then, his dead eyes affected by the repeated deaths softened and he softly picked up his little sister.
The two experienced countless deaths and rebirth, again and again and again and again.
[I am the ruler of this labyrinth.]
They met the being countless times, they learned to survive, they learned how to live.
[I cursed you to never die.]
They learned how to fight back, they learned how to deal the most damage with the smallest movements and efforts.
[Your efforts are wasted, work even harder and even smarter.]
Slowly, they started to resemble like machines, programmed to do anything perfectly according to their code.
[You cannot survive this place with just those meager moves.]
They discovered a library and the two learned how to write, read and speak all by their own.
[Learn.]
Then another thousand deaths passed and they met the other children who had also experienced the same thing as them, they learned together to survive and share.
[Survive together]
The boy had finally felt comfort, love, care and trust from their interaction.
[Feel.]
Until that day.
[Be happy.]
Jay was nowhere to be seen when they woke up, they searched for him for who knows how long before they finally found him.
[Until I take everything away from you.]
He was turned into a doll, behind him was the being, smiling at them gently and whispered into their ears,
[Im done with him.]
Frotus had felt despair yet again.
That was where tragedy struck once again.
[Have you learned what I taught you?]
More and more beasts appeared and they couldn't keep up with their numbers, forcing them into hiding.
Jamaica went missing after a few deaths and turned into a doll.
[Practice it, become even stronger, become tougher, become smarter. Be Perfect.]
Then it was his little sister's turn, she turned into a doll. Frotus had cried a lot that time. He cried not tears, but blood, his eyes filled with hatred and injustice to their situation.
[Be strong, my children. Mother doesn't want useless deadweights.]
He was then turned into a doll, and that was where the memory stopped.
[Mother will always love you.]
***
Rueben looked at the ashes on his palm and softly scattered them into the air.
Although the information that Frotus Doll had gave him was not what he wanted, he had gained a lot of understanding how this entire place works. Basically, this labyrinth was a separate space with its own rules, mortality was invalid here, meaning, nothing can die.
From his memories, with such a rule, it meant quite a lot of things. The beasts and monsters here were beings that had died over and over and over again before reviving and continuing the cycle. He doesn't yet know how everything works but if that were true, then this would be quite complicated but he was thankful.
'This means that Sara is still alive somewhere. I need to find her.'
Although he doubted the credibility of the memory because there he found that Sara was capable of fighting anything with just a knife when his Sara couldn't even do 10 pushups, he was still thankful for the information.
With little hope rising through his chest, he continued forward, to find the other remaining dolls.