Frog Entrance

"Aren't you going to sleep?"

"I will once you start sleeping."

Faye's eyes glistened with some kind of excitement as she rubbed her cheek onto my shoulder, pressing in as she slowly lowered her eyelids.

"Goodnight," She muttered, her mouth slightly raised into a smile.

"Mhm…"

…

(Faye POV)

Helu definitely got no sleep. She tried to hide it with mud, but those eye bags that hung under her great spheres of vision were… apparent, to say the least. She might have even run into something last night that forced her to stay awake even longer, not even giving her a chance to rest. But seeing how determined she was to get through this day, I said absolutely nothing.

"So…" I trailed off, locking my fingers behind my back and walking next to the stunning woman. Her smokey gray eyes flickered with long stretches of stress. They darted around the jungle at every creak and groan we heard. "... About the angels… Can you tell me more about them? And maybe expand on the topic of these portals that keep appearing across the living world."

She glanced down at me, a hint of annoyance flashing through her expression. But upon understanding that I wouldn't stop asking until she gave me a proper answer, she let out a long groan resounding with the ribbiting of nearby frogs.

"Angels are the servants of various gods. I'm sure you know about gods… right?" I nodded in response to her request for confirmation. "Well, these angels have created their own domains apart from the god domain. We call these worlds created by angels, Realms. The one we're in right now is the Realm of Smoke. They're all named and created respectfully under the guidance and shaping of the overseeing angel."

"So, the angel overseeing this realm specializes in smoke or something?"

"Mhm… You can say that. They specialize in smoke, fog, and of course, aether. Do you know what aether is, or do I have to explain that as well?" The woman asked in a slightly annoying tone as if trying to taunt me.

"I'm aware of what aether is, so stop being so rude to me. I'll listen to you and do whatever you say, but can't you treat me with even just an ounce of respect?"

Her cold eyes glanced over me, sending a shiver down my spine, serving as a signal for me to stop talking. And seeing how she knew so much about this place and how she was practically the only person I could rely on, I stayed obedient and dropped my gaze.

For a while, we walked through the jungle, still cloaked with shadows. Helu continued searching for any signs of this frog that would allow us to access the layers of the tower below while I just kicked the grass and turned over rocks, seeing bugs scurry their way out from under their damp and dark homes.

But eventually, we did reach it. The frog. And as Helu stood over the normal-looking frog, which had slimy green skin and big red eyes, she reached down towards it. I got ready to catch it in case it scurried or jumped away, but for some strange reason, the frog just sat there. It was calmer than both of us right now, who were sweating bullets.

Ribbet…

Helu picked up the frog with ease, its skin beginning to release a bit more mucus than before, but other than that, there was nothing else that felt looked to be changing. This allowed both of us to calm down as Helu proceeded with the next step.

Ribbet…

"Here, hold it for a second," Helu strangely smiled, handing the frog over to me and then proceeding to reach into her bag. But as a bad feeling began to spread through my mind, I looked down at the frog, staring me right in the eyes. "Open."

Ribbet…

At the ordering words of Helu, the frog suddenly began to convulse, and the thick amount of mucus it had released coated both of my hands. And it burned. It burned really fucking bad like I had just poured acid all over my hands.

I attempted to shake the slimy amphibian off of me, but the mucus glued its body to my hands. So, I turned to Helu for help, but she had already backed away, at least a few meters from me, clearly knowing this would happen.

"H-Help… please… i-it hurts," I whimpered whilst activating as many healing spells that I could conjure. Not only was I in pain, but the pain actually began to match with injury as the slime burned the outer layer of skin off of my hands, and the frog began to triple- quadruple- no, quintuple in size, dragging my hands down to the ground with its monstrous weight.

Its mouth opened, revealing a black abyss that swallowed everything in a ten-meter radius. The pain that was eating away at my hands suddenly disappeared, and I lost feeling in every square inch of my body. The darkness surrounding me was mind-numbing, to the point where I could hardly tell the difference between seeing with my eyes open and seeing with my eyes closed.

"Helu… I'm sorry… please… help me…" I barely managed to conjure my own voice, but as these words somehow echoed back at me in the seemingly endless abyss, I regained my vision. I was in the mouth of the frog with its saliva nearly causing me to slip as soon as I regained feeling in my legs and feet.

A pair of pale white arms helped me to retain my balance, allowing me to crack a smile as the woman continued to grin at me. It felt good seeing her smile, but as a chill was shot down my spine, the creaky voice of a foreign being echoed through my mind.

"As the activator of my domain, your life shall be sacrificed for the group," a voice resounded through the slimy and fleshy chamber of mucus.

I turned towards Helu, my face as pale as the midnight moon.