Episode 29 : Frostina's Past (1)

Once upon a time, there used to be an ice kingdom on top of the highest snowy mountain, standing tall as ever to display the healthy people of the ice kingdom.

Since a kingdom needed a king and a queen, there were two of them within the castle, ruling over their kingdom with their noble hearts.

As time passed without any corruption, a child was born to celebrate the 20 years anniversary of the ice kingdom's everlasting tranquility.

A child of snow white hair, eyes of that of a frozen lake was named by her parents as Frostina Iclyn. From then on, the kingdom should have been a safe place for a child to live in and grow up to be a wonderful person.

It was what Iclyn's parents both thought…

…It wasn't until the day the 'Creators' came to ruin the peace that the ice kingdom had built in the last 20 years, robbing Frostina's marvelous future in a matter of moments.

Citizens were turned to NPCs, monsters spawning in to be of use to the players grinding for EXPs. Places that didn't exist before inside the ice kingdom, were constructed out of nowhere.

…Everything and everywhere were turning to that of an unknown place instead of the familiar kingdom that they once lived in.

The Iclyn family, unable to defend against the new monsters that the 'Creators' brought into life, were forced to retreat with their only child, leaving behind their own citizens in the blink of extinction.

As it was extremely regretful and shameful of the Iclyn family to do such a thing to their people, they felt resentful toward the 'Creators' who were the ones to blame for this unforeseen circumstances.

Everything, everyone, everywhere were destroyed and reconstructed by the hands of those 'Creators'.

With thoughts like those, the Iclyn family engraved them into their heads like a screw, because they wouldn't want to forget about this terrible moment.

…When time passed and countless players came forth, the Iclyn family were surviving by hiding from everyone, living among themselves and taking care of Frostina in the process.

And it was only a matter of time that they were running out of ways to hunt their own food and drink for the whole family…

Which led to Frostina, at the age of 7, to witness her parents pleading in front of players for free food, kneeling down to those Earthlings just to give her some food to survive.

..She disliked watching her parents this way.

..She also hated the 'Creators' as much as her parents, and at that point, she found a source to direct her hatred to.

Her immature mind which was already filled with the story of why her kingdom fell, started to pour all those hatred toward something else.

…It was her unbelievable hatred for the players…

———

And to continue Frostina's story, the maze of reflections began to unveil all of Frostina's unfortunate past in her viewpoint.

"Please.. give us some food for our daughter.. I'm begging you.. kind sir.."

{ '..Father..' Standing beside her father in a ghost like body, Frostina frowned with deep despair. }

As her father, Zane Iclyn begged with his hands together and knees on the cold floor, he endured it all just to have a chance to get some food.

{ Heartbreaking to see this, Frostina pondered. 'How many times have I had this thought?' }

And behind Zane, a child was standing there while viewing this scene with a puzzled expression.

This child was none other than Frostina Iclyn…

{ 'I was naive.' Depressed, Frostina thought. }

"Get your own food, old man!" A player bellowed before kicking Zane aggressively to knock him away.

"Dear! Are you okay?!"

At that moment, Frostina's mother, Snow Iclyn was quick to be by Zane's side, holding him firmly before glaring her gaze at this cruel player.

"Did you have to kick him, young man?!" Snow bawled, angered by this player.

{ 'I was naive..' Frostina repeated that thought again. }

"Ha?! If you want food that bad, eat each other or whatever! Dumbass NPCs!"

The player scowled, disgusted by the NPCs as if he thought they were only there just to take his food away.

"Please.. we just need a little bit of food.. Even if it's leftover, we'll take it.." Zane begged on before getting back on his knees.

Snow, saddened by Zane's attempt to get food, broke her heart a lot by how much of a devoted and loving father Zane was.

"Dear.. Stop, you don't need to do this.."

"I must.. for our daughter to survive." Zane uttered with slight difficulty in his breathing.

Expression that was too disheartened, Snow stared at her husband who resumed pleading to the player.

{ Meanwhile, Frostina thought again and again. 'I was too naive..' }

Out of a sudden, the child walked up to Snow before asking questions about why Zane was acting this way.

Snow, as a mother, couldn't bring herself to say anything to her child, so the only thing she could think of was to embrace her child affectionately.

Eyelids quivered like that of leaves blowing in the wind, and as to not show her expression to her daughter, Snow struggled to keep a composed look while looking at her child.

Eventually, Snow whispered to her child. "Everything is alright, daddy will bring you food, so be patient.."

At that moment, the child unexpectedly went forward to the player as she held his pants with her cold hand, she then begged him.

"Mister.. Please don't be mean to my daddy."

"Honey! Come back here quickly!" Snow exclaimed as she didn't expect her child would run up to a complete stranger.

"Mommy?"

{ "I… I was truly naive." Frostina cried out, almost raining down tears from her eyes.

Her usual behavior of coldness was falling before this past of hers, unable to put up a strong look on her face, Frostina had tears flowing down her downcast eyes.

'Mother.. Father..'

Expecting something to happen, Frostina turned around to not take a look at what was going to occur.

When she slowly but surely covered her tearful glance with her trembling hands, she suddenly heard a horrible sound from behind her. }

SLASH!!

…

Thud…

…Noises that didn't mean good, was accompanied with her mother's scream of terror and the savage snicker of a murder.

{ 'Why was I that naive..?' Frostina asked herself. }

"Daddy..?"

The child, shocked and confused by her father hugging her, unexpectedly found herself in a bloody situation where her father was…

"Dad?!" The child called out with her head being flooded with splattering blood.

Standing upright as if she was baffled by the red liquid dying her face, the child heard her mother's shouting for her to leave that spot.

"Run..! Frostina, run!!" Snow yelled while sprinting toward the child.

SLASH!

In almost no time, the child's eyes widened larger and larger when she laid her eyes on Snow, witnessing her mother getting cut in half by a mysterious blade-like strike.

"...Mommy..?"

{ '...' No words to say nor think about, Frostina stood still, clutching her hands tight to cause bleeding with her nails.

As though Frostina was trying to endure her past's torment, her tears slowly flowed down on her pale cheeks until it reached her lips that were being bitten hard.

"I'm not a good daughter, father.. mother.."

Upon speaking with quivering lips, Frostina covered her ears to not let herself hear any of the sound that her past self made. }

"Eeekk..! Mom!!!!" A scream resounding from the child's lips, was filled with misery and disbelief.

"No! No! Please be okay!! Ahhhhh!!! Mom!!!"

At a loss for words, the child exclaimed a deafening cry to unleash her sorrow, hugging her mother's body which led the child to be painted with the blood of Snow.

"Oi, oi, oi. Kiddo, don't forget about me."

Out of the blue when the child realized she wasn't alone, she embraced her mother's corpse and glared her daggers eyes at the player, warning him with her threatening yet depressed glance.

{ 'I was scared..' With a frown, Frostina mused before removing her hands from her ears. 'Not until I met him..' }

"Not another step!! G-Get back!" The child frightfully tried to threaten that player.

"Haha!!! And what are you going to do?! Tickle me to death?! What a joke!"

It was during this moment that the child became aware of her death's door opening before her.

The child, scared for her life, kept hold of her mother as she prayed someone would come to save her from this gruesome nightmare.

"Urkk!!!"

All of the sudden, the child shrieked painfully when her hair was being grabbed by the player, lifting and pulling her small body up like a toy.

..It wasn't enough that he was doing the most painful thing to a little girl, he even swung her around in the air, brutally tossing her around and inflicting injuries upon her fragile body.

"S-Stopp! L-Let go!!" The child yelled.

Not once did he care about this child's well-being nor the elimination he caused to her family, he continued to hurt her until she would finally die from suffering this torture.

"You shouldn't have been born if you were going to die anyway!" The player sneered as he lifted the child to force her to see his ugly and cruel face.

"You're right."

Out of nowhere, a voice not from the child, nor the player was soon echoing around them.

Bewildering the player, he bawled. "Huh?! Who was that?!"

During the same time the player was searching for the source of that voice, the child who was groaning from all the damages the player did, was having problems keeping her eyelids open to see what was happening around her.

{ "...If it weren't for you, I would have absolutely died a horrible death." Frostina spoke with gratitude as she turned around to have a glimpse at her savior. }

At that exact moment, the child's eyelids, unable to stay up, fell down faintly as she was attempting to peek at her savior.

Out of the blue, the child felt herself dropping down, being caught by someone who was holding her tight with his cozy embrace.

With this warmth nuzzling her tight, the child fell deep in sleep after catching a slight glimpse of this strange person who saved her.

"Who...are you…?" The child's words left her pale lips before she had gone to sleep.

Not that the child will have the chance to hear or see when she's asleep, this strange person spoke.

"I'm here to rescue you."

{ "My savior.." Smiling happily and sadly at the same time, Frostina walked closer to her savior.

Upon arriving near him, Frostina wanted to caress his cheeks with her ghostly hand, yet her hands that went through objects, wouldn't be able to touch him.

..Since Frostina was still undeniably in the maze's reflection..

"..You're the reason why I survive for another day." Frostina said before continuing on.

"..That's why I will put my life for you."

Hesitating on what she was about to say next, she took a deep breath and beamed a loving smile at her savior.

..Even if he was just a mirage made by the maze, she still felt hesitant from uttering these three words.

Those words being…

"I like you."

Blushing when these words exited her lips, Frostina became flustered although not to the point of ignoring the past that was replaying right in front of her..

In spite of the situation she was in now, it wouldn't be the right time for her confession. Yet, this was the only time where she could say these words confidently without fearing for the real person's denial.

A frown on her face, Frostina looked at the child, almost as if she was staring at herself.

"I'm such a coward and a fool.."

The reason why she badmouthed herself so much, was clearly because..

..Whenever she was in the maze's reflection, unlike her usual cold self, this place was where she would express her love and her fragile self without anyone noticing her.

For others, this maze was an imprisonment, but for Frostina, it was both prison and her comfort zone.. }