"So...who had what happen to them?"

"They bound me quite tightly three different ways including one way being magical, still got in a few hits"

"They deafened me, also drugged me back unconscious pretty quickly but I think I managed to get in a few hits too"

"They gagged me, cut me off from my magic unintentionally I think, and made sure I couldn't access the gun I keep out of the Armiger next to my beside by binding me as well, think I got in a good kick or two"
Ignis remains quiet and then Noctis speaks up

"Specs?"

"They thought I wasn't a threat when they blinded me, I...I don't know the full extent of what I managed to do but I do know that they were surprised at how good I fought without my sight"

"Today's debrief was incomplete, but dad said that a more thorough debriefing would be tomorrow, something about the fact that not everyone involved in the test was available for debriefing at the time"

"Ah, okay that make sense, still...how do you feel about the sudden testing?"

"In all honesty surprised it didn't happen sooner, think about it Specs, I'm the Crown Prince of Lucis, and I still live on my own, plus I haven't been tested since shortly after moving out in the first place, dad gave us some slack these past two years since we've been...adjusting to everything and you've been lost for a period of time as well, this is perfect timing on his part if I were to be honest with myself and dad"

The next day it was time for the full debriefing

"Now then, everyone now knows that what happened yesterday was a test for four of the group here, Noctis, Gladio, Prompto and Ignis managed to pass their test, as for the Guard and Glaive...while you didn't necessarily fail, you also didn't do that great in the unannounced test, all four of them gave you guys injuries, while most of them were mild the team that abducted Ignis Scientia...you underestimated him severely, several broken bones, nearly being an amputee, internal injuries that would have been worse without Potions. And then when they were captured Scientia was underestimated again in regards to how loyal he is to his friends and just how...what did the report say?, oh yes it called his style a mixture of bar style brawling, Crownsguard training, and...oh yes plain and simple dirty fighting, I would just call him a scrapper of a fighter, as for the other three they escaped and you couldn't get past Scientia, and I'm willing to bet if you had you wouldn't have gotten past Amicitia due to plain exhaustion from the Scientia fight"

A Glaive speaks up

"Sir, just how is Scientia capable of fighting blind?"

"If he wishes to explain he can but otherwise leave him alone"

"Yes sir"

Ignis speaks up

"In regards to how I can fight blind I am not speaking, however in regards to what I did to everyone while being abducted and afterwords I apologize for the severity of the injuries I caused"

The rest of the debriefing went on to explain not only what went wrong for each group but also what went right for each group. And then everyone was dismissed but Noctis and co decided to stay behind

"What is it?"

"Dad, we need to talk"

"Okay"

"Look, there's...there's about six months before a Hunt that we want to take on before...well before it becomes an official Hunt"

"Ah yes, I remember the Hunt, I want Cor to join you for this one"

"What for?"

"You finish and then I'll do some explaining myself"

"Fine, we've decided that we're going to do the Hunt before it officially becomes a Hunt, a Hunt that takes too long and too many losses to succeed in"

"When?"

"Two months from now"

"Okay, the reason I want Cor to go with you is not just because it would seem irresponsible of me to send very young people out unescorted but because you guys need teamwork for the future, especially if Cor actually survives this time past Altissia"

"Okay, I can agree with that, Cor you may be the Immortal, but you got killed doing something you weren't ready for as you heard us say, this Hunt...it is not just so that we can observe your skills and see where you might need work, it is also so that a comrade in the future doesn't go through something again, something he barely survived and yet...and yet was so determined to not see other suffer the same thing he volunteered for this Hunt every time the requirements were met, he won't remember the Hunt since we're in the past, but Gladio, Prompto and Ignis, remember for him"

"Wait, why don't you remember?"

"Because they heard the story during the ten years I was in the Crystal"

"And they recently told you the story that they themselves heard"

"Yeah, look guys the thing about our comrade...he's a Hunter who takes his duties seriously, but...he also has a side of him that you don't see often, and didn't come out a lot until the ten years of darkness"

"Gladio?"

"Sorry Noct, but...this is something that I'm not comfortable with, primarily because I wasn't the one who witnessed his hidden side the most, another member of our group did"

"Then who..."

"Me Noct, he took me in and helped me learn after...well after everything"

"Yeah, Gladio and I...we were there for Iggy, but maybe not as much as we should have been especially the first two years after..."

"After everything that had happened"

"Exactly"

"Well, Talcott told me that you four didn't work together often when he picked me up"

"Aranea helped me as well but our Hunter comrade was a bigger help those first two years"

"He took you on Hunts and helped you relearn alongside Aranea didn't he?"

"Yes he did, he was also the first one to actually trust that I could fight despite my blindness. He was gentle yet tough, he...he guided Iris and Talcott through the years even while Iris...well I'm sure Talcott told you what her nickname became. He took the losses even more personally then before during the ten years of darkness because he knew that there wasn't a thing he could do to protect anyone from anything too dangerous anymore. He also managed to organize the Hunters even further during those ten years so that the Glaives could create codes with them with an ease that was earned"

Regis speaks up

"If I ever have the chance to meet him I will give him the respect he's earned without giving away your secrets, in the meantime give me an exact date when you have it and the five of you shall take care of a problem before it becomes a problem"

"Right" (turns to the other two that knew the story in a way not even Noctis knew, and would certainly confuse the three that knew about the time travel) "for Dave?"

The other two nodded and said the same phrase at the same time

"For Dave"

Once the two who knew Dave in a way he didn't agreed with Ignis Noctis spoke up again

"For Dave indeed, and...for the three of you who were told the story he most likely had to force himself to tell even after all that time"

"Noct..."

"No, you three were doing your best to keep hope alive that you would survive until I came out of the Crystal, to hear that story...it had to of affected you three, now then about the date we're setting"

"Your place Noct, our arguments can get...loud if you recall"

"Right, that one argument...good thing it was at a Haven"

"Agreed"

"And it's a good thing your apartment is soundproofed princess"

"It's why the incident happened in the first place, the reason behind the testing"

"Good point, how they managed to get into the house is...no wait it's not beyond me now that I think about it"

"Clarus?"

"Yep, dad"

The group heads to Noct's apartment and it was indeed a fight about when to do the Hunt so that Dave would never face the loss that he had that day in the original timeline, and part of the argument was if Cor, Clarus and Regis would learn of the story or not so as to understand the history of the Hunt a little better, but the majority of the fighting was when in the next two months to take the Hunt down before it actually became a Hunt but finally all discussions were over