Part 1: Denial - Episode 12

The cabin went silent; flat, it felt matte, in a way. “I don’t understand how you think that could work out,” Lloyd began. “Shut up,” Elias groaned in exasperation. “Don’t fucking say that,” Lloyd spat. In turn, William kicked Lloyd's foot under the table. Lloyd audibly groaned. “But why tamahagane? Are you aware of how crazy that sounds: a ring from a legend made of an extremely rare material, apparently capable of killing an out-of-this-world, immortal being. On top of that, that conclusion was drawn from a Sally Smartee book!” Leaning on his palm, Lloyd scoffed, “I was alive when the first Sally Smartee book was fucking released!”
“No one cares that you’re old,” William spat. At this, Lloyd turned to him, “I’m only thirty-three.”
“Shush up for a sec,” Elias murmured. “You said Thy Bad Habits was not from this world, and neither is that book, set in some alternate universe, yeah?”
“Your point?” Lloyd responded begrudgingly. “We’re finding that ring, doesn’t matter if it won’t kill Thy Bad Habits; it’s legitimately our only hope to get out of this forest.”

Again, a thick silence followed Elias’ statement. “Elias,” Lloyd coughed once as he spoke. “The reason we cannot leave this forest is because of how big it is. I came to this place fresh out of university, before Thy Bad Habits was here. It took me days to find this place. Even travelling to Hope is ridiculously dangerous; Hope’s house is a few minutes away. Going to Fool’s Cove is deadly, so to think you’d want to possibly go to the other side of the forest is just idiotic.”

. . .

“All my friends at Centre Region talked about it!”
“I was your friend at Centre Region, Abel,” William scoffed, pressing a loving kiss onto Abel’s head. “Yeah, but we were never in the same classes since your family made you take religion,” Abel groaned, “High school life was batshit because of that..” In turn, William slipped his arms around Abel’s waist, pulling the two closer together. A small blush crept up Abel’s cheeks as he put his face in the crook of William’s neck. “You have me now,” the latter whispered warmly.

 . . .

The light gently broke through the thick canopy; the morning wavered as the clouds shadowed the sun. Nonchalantly, William walked, though cautiously, through the forest. Elias lagged behind, grimacing, holding his wound. Hearing a pained grunt, William was reminded of the dull ache that had been echoing through his torso for the past week. The path ahead was damp; trodden on. From afar, a low buzz was audible, sending a biting shiver down Elias’ spine. Thy Bad Habits was near. Though, the eeriness of the surroundings felt unreal – like they were in a story, or a film. Like they could defeat the terrible monster. Through the power of friendship. Lloyd thought otherwise, Elias recalled. With Hope’s cabin in view, Elias exhaled quietly, automatically looking at William ahead of him – studying each movement.

Opening Hope’s door, a thick wave of warmth brushed past William and Elias. “Boys!” Hope grinned warmly, “What do you need to order?”
“We’re not here to order anything,” Elias sheepishly admitted. “We came for advice, per se? Info!” He corrected himself bashfully. “We need to ask where to find the tamahagane ring.” At this, Hope tilted her head in confusion. “What?”
“Tamahagane,” Elias said, “A rare metal found in Japan.” As Elias spoke, Hope simply stared blankly. “Rare, and in Japan. No can do,” She scoffed. “Why would you want something like that?”
“To kill Thy Bad Habits,” William interrupted. “Did you speak to Lloyd before coming here?” Hope queried, visible confusion was present on her face. “Yeah, several times,” Elias groaned. “Can you at least find out where the ring is so we can find it? Or help us look?”
“No,” Hope replied flatly. In turn, William croaked “She has a point.”
“On God, whose side are you on, William?!” Elias snapped – audibly irritated; though his statement was just met with silence. 

Piercing through the awkward silence, Elias mumbled, “I want to go home, and Thy Bad Habits is stopping me from doing that.”
“What I’m hearing is that you’re so blinded by your want to go home that you’re not thinking straight. You’re delusional.”
“Yes. You’re not being rational,” William contributed. “Did Abel not want this?!” Elias exclaimed angrily. “What did you just say?” William aggressively spat. After a long moment, Hope said apathetically, “Calm down.”