"Hm, he wasn't...oh wrong city guys, think about it"

"Oh...yeah you're right, the story is going to have to wait for a little bit then"

"Wait what?"

"Yeah, we'll go into further detail later but once we're in Lestallum we're going to expand on something we told you and the three who knew our secret, think we should include Cor?"

"No, not unless he survives this time around"

"Got it, for now though we should get some sleep, and then..."

"Yeah, we head back to Insomnia"

"Not before I come back with the paper even though we know what's to come"

"Yeah, can't be seen knowing what's going to happen before it happens"

The next day Noctis and Gladio both wake up before Ignis due to their PTSD but they let Ignis pick up the newspaper anyways since they didn't want to change things too much in that regards, besides that they knew that Ignis would be able to remain the most calm out of the four of them even with the knowledge known beforehand this time around

"So, we heading back now that Iggy's brought us the news we already know?"

"Yeah, we're heading back"

And so the group heads back and simply goes straight to the location they did the first time they came across the blockade and fought to get to the same lookout point as originally, but finally they reached it and Noctis got through to Cor

"Cor...are you heading to the tomb?"

"Yes, but I was going to tell you to meet me in Hammerhead"

"I know, time travel remember? I need you to go to Hammerhead and stay there, either that or Hunter base that I know you left Monica at to tell us you were at the tomb"

"Your Majesty..."

"Don't even think about disobeying Cor, this is an order, and by the way don't call me Majesty yet, I know I'm now the king, but we need to keep my survival as low key as possible despite the fact that we're going to be destroying Niflheim bases soon"

Before Cor could respond Noctis hangs up the phone and the group heads back to Hammerhead to leave the car in a safe place

"Come on let's go"

"Right"

When they arrive at the Hunter location that started it all though all they saw was Monica, who reported that Iris was headed to Lestallum like they already knew and then Noctis spoke up

"Where's Cor?"

"He's not here your Highness"

"I gave him a direct order, is he at the tomb?"

"No sir, we were heading here when trouble struck, he stayed behind to give the rest of us cover"

"I see, where's his last known location?"

"I can show you on a map, but he may no longer be there, or if he is he might be..."

"I wouldn't worry about him Monica, he has his nickname for a reason"

"But Noct..."

"We're discussing that later guys"

"Understood"

Once the four time travelers were alone in the Regalia Noctis spoke up

"Okay let me have it"

"Telling Monica not to worry should not have been said considering that we know for a fact that Cor died shortly after Altissia"

"Except for one thing, first of all I plan on having Cor with us on that trip, might help with the evacuation and keeping someone from doing something stupid, and second of all you guys never did find out what actually killed Cor did you?"

"Noct..."

"No Ignis, you knew that the ring was only for the line of Lucii, though somehow you and Nyx both managed to use it, one losing their life and the other losing the use of their eyes, I am not letting that happen again, and I know for a fact that you would do it even knowing that Ardyn is immortal"

"That's not what I was about to say Noct, you need to let me finish my sentences sometimes"

"Okay what were you actually going to say then?"

"We found out what killed Cor during the ten years of darkness"

"Wait, what? I thought you guys didn't find that out, I mean when you told the story you never said..."

"Yeah, we...we didn't want to go into further details with Cor because we know how he is"

"Haven story?"

"Haven story, without Cor because Cor was with us a couple of times in the early days"

"Good point"

"In the meantime we have a Marshal to rescue don't we?"

"Yeah, let's just hope he's still alive when we get to his location, at least...as far as I know he wasn't planning on disobeying my order"

"We can ask him once he's safe"

"Good idea"

"By the way, you never mentioned Dave helping you at the same time Aranea was, why is that?"

"Because of the fact that Dave kept his involvement in my relearning a secret from almost everyone else, add in the fact that he's a private person and Dave being involved wasn't mentioned until more recently since I felt there should be some people who should know about his help even if they are now lost to us"

"Oh, wait does that mean that while she helped you hunt it was more Dave going with you than Aranea?"

"Not entirely, there were times when Dave was unavailable and so Aranea went with me and vice versa and there were times when they were both on the same hunt as I was while I was getting back on my feet"

"Oh, now then first we find Cor and then we get to camp and make sure that he's okay"

"Good idea"

They eventually find Cor, he was in rough shape and still fighting but alive. The four time travelers joined the fray and ended the fight quickly and that's when Cor's body decided it had had enough and he collapsed, and remained unconscious even after two Potions

"Let's get to the Haven"

"Right"

Cor had to be carried by Gladio but eventually the group got to a Haven where Cor remained unconscious for the rest of the night and half of the next day but finally Cor showed signs of waking up and he woke up fully only minutes later

"Your Highness, I apologize for the need of being rescued"

"It's okay Cor, you were outnumbered, that you survived is all that matters right now"

"How long was I out?"

"All of last night after we rescued you until now, eat and then I have a couple of questions that need answered"

"Well I can actually answer one question already, if I had made it to the Hunter base with the others I would have obeyed orders and stayed, I actually remember you saying you had the Royal Arms already and thus you don't need to take that journey"

"I said I had access to the Armiger, when did I say I had the Royal Arms?"

"You never overtly stated it I don't remember, but in your last fight before this journey you subconsciously used the Royal Arms and I don't think your companions realized it either considering the looks they're giving me"

"Oh...didn't know that, okay then at least you would have been there as ordered, other questions can wait until after lunch"

"Yes sir...are we staying here another day?"

"No, we should make it to Hunter base by nightfall if we leave right after lunch, we have the Regalia so explanations about everything else can wait until we're on the road"

And so the group eats lunch and then once in the Regalia Noctis asks about not only the evacuation plans that his father had fought the Council on but also about the Kingsglaive in general

"The evacuation plans went about as well as they could, I know for a fact that Regis and Clarus were still fighting when I left, as for the Glaives...I don't know really, I also don't know if Nyx Ulric survived this time around or where the Ring is"

"Okay...okay, we'll deal with things as we continue for now though let's just get back to the base and go from there"

"Understood...Prince Noctis you should know something about that night, your father didn't just manage to get the evacuation plans going, he managed to prove that Titus Drautos was Glauca just an hour before the signing was to begin, but...I don't know what happened due to that"

"I see...at least...at least those loyal knew the truth before the end"

"To a degree yes, so...what are you going to do since you don't need to gather the Royal Arms?"

"Not entirely sure actually, there's a lot that needs done, but for now I think we're just going to get to the Hunter base and make plans from there"

"So...following general timeline then?"

"Yeah, we are, now then Specs you are not driving even though you normally would, I want to take the wheel for a bit"

"Understood Noct"

Noctis gets the group to Hunter base before nightfall and Monica is relieved to see Cor, yes Noctis had informed Monica of his survival, but all things considered Monica had to see Cor for herself

"It's good to see you Marshal, we weren't sure if..."

"I know, but if I had to do it again I would, did everyone else manage to get to their locations alright?"

"Dustin is still heading to Lestallum last I knew but everyone headed here is safe, you were the only one missing and in an unknown condition when we reported to the Prince"

"Okay, now then what's next?"

"I'm not sure sir, the Hunters could probably use our help but..."

"Oh I think I know what to do"

"Noct?"

"There's a base we need to take care of alongside Cor"

"Good point, let's get to it then"

"Wait, what?"

"We'll explain later Cor, for now though we have work to do"

And so the group handles the base and then the four time travelers head to a Haven so that they could have a desperately needed talk because Noctis could tell that they were hesitant on leaving Cor to go off on his own

"Okay you three, what's going on in regards to what happened to Cor?"

"Right, you do need to know that, and we did say we discovered the full truth during the ten years of darkness"

Prompto sighs and signals that he was going to start the conversation that needed to be had

"You already know that Monica was told about Cor's death by Hunters and that it hadn't been long since his death when it was discovered, what you don't know is that those same Hunters wanted to know what killed Cor the Immortal and so went looking for that information long after the years of darkness began, and they did, five years before you returned we finally found out what killed Cor. It was a combination of daemons and Niflheim soldiers, he fought Noct, he fought long and hard against his enemies but eventually his strength gave out and he was killed, a couple of Hunters got to his location about an hour or so late, but they had heard the commotion, just didn't know what caused the commotion or able to completely identify the components of the commotion"

Ignis then speaks up

"There's more though, they not only found out what killed Cor but they also discovered a few more things about that area that were kept hidden for a long time that were related to what happened to Cor, why he had to fight there in the first place, turns out that there were loyal Glaives in the area that he'd heard rumors about, add in the fact that there were a couple of Hunts also in the area and he went"

Gladio then picks up the story

"Hurt to hear everything regarding Cor all over again, but we were glad to finally have answers, helped us a lot too considering...well let's just say that you're going to have to keep us under control when we get to Lestallum and come across Vyv"

"Why would I have to...he's the one isn't he? I remember you guys mentioning having a guy being thought dead for three years, this was during that time period wasn't it?"

"Yeah, he'd just recently been declared legally dead and all of us were having a hard time coping with it and wishing Cor was there to try and help us deal with the loss, having closure regarding his death...it was a big help for us to know why we lost one comrade when we had questions about why we had to lose someone else, even if the answers were for a comrade long since dead"

"And then when he ultimately turned out to be alive..."

"Yeah, he came back about two years before you did and the celebration was huge, I might also like to admit no one let him out of their sight for longer than absolutely necessary for him to get certain necessities done each day for a year and a half, and even in the last six months before your return he had to check in regularly with someone"

"How regular?"

"Initially for like the first month it was once a day, eventually it got to the point where it was once a week and that's where it stayed up to when you came back"

"I see, when we get there I'll keep you guys under control I promise, for now though I believe it's time for us to get some sleep"

"Indeed"

That night all four of them had a PTSD flare up because of everything they had been through recently and with the fact that they'd already had a nightmare recently they knew what this could possibly mean

"Right, everyone is to keep an eye on each other, looks like being back in the timeline that we remember is affecting us more than we thought it would"