The next day Regis tells the Council about Ignis being declared missing and soon the three fall into a new sort of routine, when suddenly one day everything changes once again. Gladio, Noctis and Prompto were quickly dismissed from the day's meeting because they were clearly still struggling with the recent decision to declare Ignis as presumed dead, as for Ignis' uncle he wasn't even in the room having been ordered to take bereavement leave a week earlier that was to last at least a month (this was due to the fact that while Ignis had not been legally declared dead, nor had a body been found Ignis' uncle had already attempted suicide twice despite the fact that he knew about the guard after his first attempt, his second attempt was actually right in front of his one guards, add in the fact that bereavement leave was officially three months long due to an issue during Mors' time and it still gave Ignis' uncle two whole months of bereavement leave if officially needed). Eventually Regis knocked on Noctis' door and was allowed in
"Noctis, Gladio, Prompto, I have a question and I want you three to be honest with me, do you think it was too soon to declare Ignis as presumed dead?"
"Yes and no dad, I get why you did it, after all it's been four months since...since that day and there's been no sign of him, but I guess after everything we've been through, it will always seem like it's too soon"
"Not quite Noct, granted you weren't around for ten years and as such you weren't aware of the policy that was developed early on, you were declared missing within a month of not being heard from at all, not even sightings by civilians, you were declared presumed dead within a year, and within a year and a half you were legally dead, still hurt though no matter how much time passed, and a few of the ones declared dead turned out to be actually alive and not turned into a daemon, just cut off from everyone for a long time, one person actually came back from the dead three years after being legally dead, and I mean three years to the day, that was towards the end of the ten years but still...the celebration that happened that day...I'll never forget it"
"What about the others?"
"They came back within a couple of days of being legally declared dead, the longest time before the three years was two and a half months"
"I see"
Regis speaks up
"In any case I should let you know that while he's being presumed dead he won't be legally dead for a while longer, I promise, after all...you four have gone through enough things that it's definitely harder to kill you four"
"Thanks dad...are you...are you having people keep a lookout for him?"
"Not directly no, but his description is out there and the people on tag patrol know about what happened and promised to spread the word to Hunters, the Hunters don't know that the people who came to them work for the Crown and they don't know the person we're looking for works for the Crown, and you three know why it has to be this ways"
"Yeah dad, we know"
"By the way, we're using the cover name the four of you agreed upon after you guys came back from your sabbatical when you first came back and graduated from high school"
"Oh, the incident at the town of the safe house we went to to just...heal as we so desperately needed"
"Exactly"
Another two months pass with no word from anyone about seeing or hearing from Ignis and the Council was starting to try and pressure Regis into declaring Ignis legally dead when suddenly the door opens and a Glaive enters the room
"Your majesty"
"Glaive Dranto, you know the rules"
"Yes sir but..."
The Glaive suddenly has his hand to his ear and is clearly switching frequencies for some reason and then simply sighs and says something that will temporarily confuse everyone in the room
"Are you certain?...I see...I'll tell them"
He looks directly at Regis
"There's someone here who demands to see you sir, I would normally announce their name, but they wish to announce themselves for...specific reasons that you will understand"
And so two minutes later a person is directly beside Dranto clearly being escorted by Libertus, and the person was cloaked, the only reason no one was taking up arms (meaning Cor, Regis, Clarus, Noctis, Gladio, Prompto, and Monica) was because the person was clearly unarmed and because of the escort, once the person was standing still Regis spoke, using very specific words that were required and needed at the moment
"May We ask who disturbs this meeting without being announced to Us? We certainly need to know what has caused Our Glaives to forget protocol"
The person speaks up in a clearly disguised voice (which wasn't actually a disguise though they didn't know that initially)
"They have not forgotten protocol King Regis, indeed they are actually following protocol to the letter, or have you forgotten the protocols you yourself put into place whenever a code Crowned Sunburst is declared?"
Regis, Cor, and Clarus each suck in air which makes a hissing like sound and Regis once again spoke
"All but my son, his Shield, my Shield, the Marshal and Glaives and Crownsguard are to leave"
A council member then speaks up trying to sound important not knowing something even after nearly a year of it happening
"Come along then Argentum"
"Sorry sir, but my King has ordered me to stay, I am staying"
"Your...king has ordered you?"
"Indeed, after all I am a Crownsguard member and thus have been ordered to stay"
"King Regis..."
"His oath was not made public for reasons that are well known to Us"
"Understood sir"
Once the room was cleared Regis spoke up again and this time spoke normally
"Okay, who are you and why did you declare that particular code? I know for a fact that there are very few people who know what that code is supposed to mean"
"Because you taught me that code yourself the day I swore service to your son, granted I was only six years old and didn't fully understand why I would need to know the code, but once I became a member of the Crownsguard I understood quite clearly why such a code would be needed"
With that the person takes off the cloak and only training kept everyone from fainting because underneath the cloak was one Ignis Scientia, missing and presumed dead for six months to the day even if the presumed dead part was more recent, but what was more glaring was the various wounds he had, including one on his throat which explained his voice being raspy, soft, and almost completely unrecognizable in regards to words being spoken at times
"Crowe, get Ignis' uncle, I dismissed him not knowing who was underneath the cloak, though I should've suspected all things considered"
"No...I don't want him to see me, not yet"
"Ignis..."
"Sorry Noct, but first, I need my injuries healed plus...King Regis I am formally declaring myself as a partial security risk and demand that you take me into custody immediately after being medically cleared until your magic can be run through me and clear me completely, I may be an unwilling spy or more likely an assassin"
Three hours later and Ignis' voice is back to normal, but he was still in a special prison within the Citadel designed for assassins who might have access to magic through Regis or some other way mainly through his own insistence because Regis tried to put Ignis in a lower security cell
"Specs, how long must you remain here?"
"Until I am deemed safe Noct, that will have to happen once your father has actual time and energy to make sure I am not a danger to anyone"
"You've been gone six months, but with the way you look why do you question your loyalty and believe yourself to be an unwitting spy or assassin?"
"Because there are periods of time during these past six months that are a blank to me Noctis, until we can ascertain that those blank periods do not make me dangerous it is safest for both you and King Regis that I remain locked in a special cell that will allow me no access to magic"
"And your uncle still believing you dead?"
"Better for him to remain me as believed dead than to find out I'm alive only to be forced to witness my execution if I am a spy or assassin, you know full well that any council member who is informed of such situations, especially if it is a family member is required to attend the private execution"
"Fine, but I know you are not a danger to Lucis"
"Until your father can prove it I say I am"
Three days later and Ignis was cleared of all suspicion of being an unwitting spy or assassin, it turned out his blank periods were combinations of mild concussions that caused him to pass out for a day or two because of what he gave himself to help heal his injuries (he didn't access Noctis' Armiger which would have let them know he was alive for the main reason that he had been cut off from it in the middle of the incident that caused him to go missing in the first place) and the fact that before he escaped his situation he had been drugged unconscious and kept that ways for short periods of time
"You're clean Ignis, shall I call for your uncle and allow you two a private reunion?"
"Yes please"
And so fifteen minutes later in the main throne room Ignis and his uncle were reunited, and then both disappeared (meaning Regis gave them fifteen minutes to themselves and then had Cor secret the both of them away to a hidden location) for three days and then the next Council meeting began and a council member asked where Ignis' uncle was
"He shall be here soon, I deliberately asked him to be a few minutes late to today's meeting so that he could take care of something for me"
Fifteen minutes later just as coordinated Ignis' uncle enters the room
"Your majesty, I have taken care of the business you requested of me, apologies if I took longer than expected, but...the situation was a little more complicated than normal"
"No matter, the matter was important, now then I do believe that we are missing someone"
"Ah, they are waiting sire, shall I introduce them?"
"Indeed you shall"
"Then esteemed council members, may I introduce, or should I say reintroduce Ignis Scientia adviser to Prince Noctis"
And with that Ignis enters the room, gives a bow to Regis and then takes his rightful place in the meeting seeing as how Noctis was unavailable to attend that day, though not before he and Regis go through a formality that was required by tradition if nothing else
"My apologies King Regis for being so late to the council meeting, I shall submit to whatever punishment you desire for dereliction of duty for the past six months and six days"
"We shall decide that at a later date, however We do require that during this meeting you explain where you have been for the past six months, We shall allow the six days to be considered on duty since We know that you have been dealing with required paperwork regarding getting you declared alive again to institutions that have believed you dead for these past six months while We have held out hope for your survival, and part of that paperwork was paperwork that We required to allow you your security clearance to be given back"
The council was unaware of the fact that this would be the second time Ignis would be telling the story since the first day after his return was spent doing major debriefing as part of the process to try and determine if Ignis was a deliberate threat. Ignis of course knew that the council would have to be told what happened to him over the past six months which would normally mean being interrogated by the King in front of them but everyone had gotten the story straight during the three days Ignis and his uncle spent just being together again
"Yes sir, after the main issues are taken care of"
"Understood, We shall tell you what you have missed later, but for now here's the agenda for today"
And so both Ignis and his uncle are given the agenda and for the next hour and a half that's what was discussed but finally one of the council members decided it was time to get down to business
"Ignis Scientia, you've been missing for six months and presumed dead for two of those months"
"I know, and I will explain what I remember, however due to a few concussions and what I used to treat injuries there are parts of my memory that are spotty at best, the King has proven I am loyal however"
And so Ignis tells what was mostly the same thing he told Regis and the others, just with a few details edited so that there wasn't more suspicion than already noticed due to prolonged absence and with that the meeting was over with and Ignis could go back to his normal life
The reason why blood work wasn't used to confirm Ignis' identity in this story and yet was used in the other story was because of the fact that while they could have used blood work to confirm it was Ignis in this story the code phrased used here did not only mean a missing soldier thought to be dead has come home but it is someone who knows that they have probably been thought dead and that they have more to say in regards to the situation surrounding their circumstances. Ignis knew that the fight meant he would have been thought dead and the fact that he was unconscious in enemy hands meant that he knew they could have done something to secretly get control over him at any time