Hineni stands out in the deep forest, further away from the cabin. Water shimmers before him, catching dancing rays of moonlight. He stares down at the pond, looking at the tepid waters. Hundreds of small frogs sit all around the edge of the water, or on lily-pads and rocks, croaking their frog songs.

— He lifts his hand, getting ready to snap his fingers.

But he doesn’t.

They’re just some wild animals, minding their own business.

It’s not right to hurt them for existing. Hunting for food for an owl is one thing, but just killing them for the sake of killing them is cruel and unnecessary for someone holding onto the threads of the human spirit.

Hineni sighs and lowers his hand again.

“Why?” he asks. “Why did they kill her?” asks Hineni, referring to his birth-mother. “Because of the ash magic?” he asks.

There is a loud croaking from the side of the pond. “Because, Nini,” starts Nekyia.

“— You don’t get to call me that,” replies Hineni. “That was the name my mother used for me.”

“Your mother, our mother, died here,” she replies.

“No. My mother died when I killed her myself for whatever damn reason,” replies Hineni. “Whoever this woman was… I didn’t know her.”

“She died to protect you, Nini~” replies the big-frog. Hineni narrows his eyes. “People are afraid of what they don’t understand,” she explains. “You know this. Look at your face,” she instructs.

Hineni looks down at the water, staring at the burnt man who stares back up at him.

Nekyia hobbles over and bends down, pressing a finger against the surface of the water to distort their reflections. “People like us are different, and so we range,” she says. “— We range from being fully invisible to the eyes of those who are around us to being a point of focused revulsion. There is little else in between.”

“Dunno,” says Hineni. “I think I was a pretty cute baby.” He shakes his head. “Anyway, I’ve come to terms with the way I look. This is me. I’m fine.” He watches his reflection waver in the water. “You’d be smart to figure that out too, instead of being such a downer your whole life.”

“You were,” she replies. “— 'Fine'. But what those elves thought was ugly and fearful then was not your skin or your face; it was just your existence, just like mine. Ribbit~.”

“Ash-magic isn’t that big of a deal though,” says Hineni. “Rhine told me a while back that there are lots of other people with it.”

Nekyia reaches out into the water, pulling out a water-lily that a frog is sitting on. It hops off, finding a different perch, as she pulls the flower out of the water and holds it up to him to smell.

Hineni finds this gesture rather offensive in a way that he simply can’t explain. He turns his head to look off to the side.

“— You still don’t know the truth of it all, do you?” she asks.

Hineni rolls his eyes, looking back towards her. “How the hell am I supposed to if everyone around me is always cryptically vague and mysterious?” he says, waving his fingers in front of her face. “Bunch of wobbly-woo,” says Hineni. “Nobody can ever just form a straight sentence and get to the point. It’s all ‘secrets this’ and ‘spooky that’.”

Nekyia, seeing his indifference to her gesture, smells the flower that she’s holding herself. “Did you ever think that if people wanted to be honest with you, that they would be?”

“Sometimes I wonder if that’s even possible,” replies Hineni. “With you gods always messing with people’s minds,” he shakes his head. “When I look at the effect you or Obscura have on people, I wonder…” says Hineni. He looks back at the pond. “What effect do the other gods have? On everyone?”

The god of death, the god of the forge, Avarice — the god of wealth, these prominent figures and all of the other hundreds and hundreds of gods. Each and every one of them exudes a mind-altering influence over those who are close to them, those who follow them, and even just those who spend too much time around them.

So what influence is taken on the city by Avarice’s bank being its core? The tower-district, in which several elemental gods live? What influence does it have over the people when the temple of the literal god of death is in their midst?

“Is there even one, single, free thought in the whole world?” he asks. “Or is it god-fuckery all the way down?”

He listens to the frog-song, singing out through the night, a serenade with nobody around who would dance to it.

“This is the nature of the universe,” replies Nekyia. “There are things which are apparent, but we are not able to speak of them because the words do not reach the tips of our tongues. Ribbit~” she sets the flower back down, pushing it off into the pond with a finger. “There are visions dancing right in front of your eyes, but you can’t see them because, well…”

“Well what?” asks Hineni. “See? You’re doing it too. Just tell me what the problem with the world is and get it over with.”

“You saw it before,” says Nekyia. “You’ve heard it before. You heard it when we were last together,” she explains. “— When my vision of our future was collapsing. The hint that the universe had to give you. Ribbit~”

“What?” asks Hineni. He steps towards her. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Nekyia holds out a hand to him, and he looks at her warily. “I will tell you in simple words,” she says. “For a dance.”

“No,” replies Hineni. “You’re weird and you smell like frogs.”

Nekyia frowns. “A kiss?” she asks.

“Again. That’s a weird thing to ask,” he explains. “You realize how strange that is, since we’re related, right?” he asks.

Nekyia holds her arms out to her side, smiling a smug smile. “See?” she asks him. “The owl’s magic is beginning to wear off. You believe me about our relationship,” she says.

Hineni narrows his eyes, looking at her. It’s true, he might actually be buying the whole them being brother and sister story now. It all lines up too well to ignore. It fits all of the missing pieces together. “Want to know about frogs?” asks Nekyia.

“I really, really don’t,” says Hineni. “Really.”

“Can I tell you something anyway?” asks the big-frog.

Hineni sighs. “Your priestess in the north, Anura, already told me about them at great length,” he says. “She’s a nice person, by the way. I did her wrong.” He looks at the frog-god. “Do me a favor and find her a nicer place to live.”

Nekyia smiles and spins once before reaching him and placing her hands against his chest to lean in closer towards him. “The thing is-” She looks up at him with her emerald eyes and smiles. “— When they’re young, frogs eat their siblings,” whispers Nekyia, her long tongue coiling out of her mouth to lift up towards his face.

“Sorry. I’m overcooked,” replies Hineni, lifting an eyebrow.

She laughs, stepping back from him. “You’re so funny, Nini~” says Nekyia, wiping her eyes as she laughs. “I used to think about eating you often,” she says. The big-frog clasps her hands together. “Every day. I never stopped thinking about it. That’s how I could make us whole again, you know?”

“Uh… huh,” replies Hineni. “Just gonna leave that one there as is.”

“— But then I thought about how sad I was losing you the first time, and then how sad it would be to lose you a second time,” explains Nekyia.

“Two more times and you win the game,” he replies.

The big-frog steps towards him. “But then I thought, I can just make you mine and we can be together again.”

“Or,” starts Hineni. “You could have written a letter and invited me to brunch?” he suggests. “You know? Hug and a cup of tea?” asks the man. “Why does everything have to be kidnapping and dream-magic?”

“Because the owl won’t allow it any other way,” replies Nekyia. “She’s using you as a tool to get to me,” says the big-frog. “You’re just a useful idiot to her.”

Hineni lifts a hand, pointing at her. “You’re talking about my wife to be. Rein it in before I get mad.”

“See?” she asks. “I can threaten and harass you and you won’t say a word. But as soon as I mention her, you get angry.”

“That’s because I care about her more than I do about me,” replies Hineni. “It has nothing to do with magic.”

“— What happens after she eats me?” asks Nekyia.

Hineni lowers his hand. “…What?”

“After your wife murders and eats your sister in front of you, what happens then?” she asks. “Do you really think that she’ll need you anymore?” asks the frog-god. “Why would she need or want you, Hineni?” Hineni looks at her. “You think that a god, someone who could have any strong, perfect mate in this world, would want you?” asks Nekyia, pointing down at the water.

Hineni looks, staring at the reflection of a scarred person, staring back up his way.

“— Horseshit,” replies Hineni, looking back at her and pointing at himself. “You’re looking at a premium cut of man right here,” says Hineni. “I think you’ve been drinking too much pond-water.”

Nekyia smiles, clasping her hands. “There it is, Nini~,” she says excitedly. “You said the magic word. Keep this conversation in mind, will you?” asks the frog-god. “When everything happens, you’ll understand.”

Hineni sighs, rolling his eyes and walking off into the forest. He waves a hand over his shoulder. “More cryptic nonsense. Make some flash cards next time, so you can get to the point instead of whatever this was.”

He shakes his head. “So, was this number four?” he asks. “Can I just… go now? Or do I have to wait to be rescued again?”

Nekyia points towards the north. “You can leave,” says the big-frog. “But I think that, at the very end, you’ll find your way back to me when you have to make your choice.”

“Uh huh, noted,” he replies, not sure what that means. Hineni looks over his shoulder. “Before I go, back then, why did those elves kill that woman and want to kill us too?” he asks.

“Because,” replies Nekyia, stepping a step back into the pond. “They were afraid of who you would choose, Hi~ ne~ ni~ hi~”

She steps back and vanishes into the water.

It's quiet. Hineni stands there, staring at the ripples, wondering if she’s just… sitting under there, waiting for him to leave, in an attempt to look mysterious as he goes.

He crosses his arms, waiting at the edge of the pond. The man tilts his head.

– After a minute, half of a froggy face pops up out of the water.

Seeing him standing there, she quickly vanishes again, diving back down.

“Yeah. I thought so,” sighs Hineni as he turns and starts walking back home.

Why are gods all like this?