Ford gets ready for the walk with Arias. He is truly ecstatic for this walk, as they haven't had a full conversation in 2 weeks.
He walks out and is greeted by Arias-
Arias: "Alright, you ready?"
"Yeah!"
Ford said that with a huge smile on his face to signify his excitement for this walk. That is completely understandable though, as he had not had a real conversation with her in 2 weeks. Two long weeks, and only small talk.
Until now.
************
Ford and Arias would proceed to walk on the dirt trail just outside the walls of the Capital. That just so happens to be the direction to the Devoted Cult's side of town.
"Let's go left"
Ford proceeded to say while forcefully pulling Arias' hand. His facial expression suddenly turned serious, as if he knew something bad was going to happen...
But... He hasn't died yet. That would mean he doesn't have any knowledge of what the Devoted Cult could be planning. So how would he know if they're planning something?
Call it a... Gut instinct.
He instinctively knew something was going to happen soon, and he had to act fast.
So, that is why he forcefully pulled Arias' hand, but, she didn't know that.
Arias: "Ford?! What's wrong?"
"Huh..?"
He looked over at Arias and realized what he had did.
"Oh my bad! I was out of it there!"
Arias: "my... Bad?"
"A less formal way of saying 'I'm Sorry'!"
Arias: "oh.. okay."
"Anyway... Come with me, I want to check out the Devoted Cult's side of town."
Suddenly, Arias' facial expression looked surprised, as she said-
Arias: "What?! Why?!"
"They're planning something.. I KNOW they are..."
Arias had seen a side of Ford Reski that she had never seen before. She could tell that he had harbored a huge hatred toward this cult.
A part of Arias understood where Ford was coming from though. She could tell that Ford had a terrible experience with this cult, she just didn't know the full extent.
She wouldn't be able to understand the full extent though, as she has no knowledge of Ford's Death Reset power.
Anyway, as they continued trotting the dirt trail over to the Devoted Cult's side of town, Ford suddenly found himself slipping away from Arias.
His hand let go of hers, and he continued walking without taking a look back.
Arias wasn't angry at Ford, though. She had somewhat of an idea of what was going on. She knew that Ford was unconsciously making decisions.
She just watched as Ford continued into the distance.
***************
Ford had snapped back to reality. He looked around to realize Arias was no where near.
In front of him was a ruin. The ruins of the Capital. He knew what this was. He was standing directly at the entrance of the Devoted Cult's side of town.
He was shaking, unable to move forward. Suddenly, an arrow came flying out.
He was able to dodge it, to his surprise. That wasn't all, though. More arrows came flying out, until there were too many to dodge.
One of the arrows lodged Ford straight in the head.
He had died immediately on impact.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••
Arias: "Alright, you ready?"
"Huh?.."
Arias: "The walk... Are you alright?"
Arias had noticed Ford was pale. He looked sick, like he had just been diagnosed with the flu.
He looked around, and started wobbling a bit, then...
Fainted.
He died... He died... He died... He died... He died... He died... He died... He died... He died... He died... He died again...
2 long years without a single death, just to die, again.
He opened his eyes, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Arias was there, a worried expression on her face. He can almost hear her voice, muffled, calling out his name.
He let out a smile, and-
"I love you"
He closed his eyes again.
************
He opened his eyes. It was dark out, foggy dark clouds surrounding the capital. Like a scene straight out of a horror movie.
The only thing he could notice, were the lights of the Capital, outside the window.
He got up, and noticed that everyone else was gone.
??: "Save me"
"Huh??"
He looked around, and saw no one..
??: "Save me, Save me, Save me, Save me, Save me, Sa---"
"STOP IT! SHUT THE HELL UP!"
He couldn't focus, he didn't know where the voice was coming from, all he could hear, was "save me" over and over.
The voice he could hear was clearly female.
Save her... Save her... Save her... Save her... Save her... Save her... Save her... Why won't you save her?
??: "Save me"
Suddenly, he heard it right next to him, directly in his ear.
The voice, saying-
??: "Save me"
*************
He woke up.
It was another nightmare, his nightmares started up again as soon as he made it to the Capital.
Upon waking up, he was greeted by Ladis, Arias, Redis, Reed, and Cecilia.
Nobody knew what had happened to him.
But HE knew one thing:
He had to stop the Devoted Cult.
That is what he would intend to do.
That is what Ford Reski would intend to do.
____________________