"Talk to Gentiana and then arrange a meeting with us"
Ravus doesn't look happy about that and leaves when Ardyn forces him to, but they all hope that Ravus listens to their advice
"So...what now?"
"Considering the fact that we can't head to Altissia yet I guess it's Hunts and dealing with other stuff, including getting the Mythril, you leaving us this time Gladio?"
"Yeah, I need to face him again for reasons I can't explain"
"Hey uh guys...we have a problem"
"Oh?"
"Yeah, we know what Ardyn's after but...while I don't think he has his memories he's acting...off from the original timeline"
"Could it be our own actions?"
"Might be, we'll have to see what he does once we talk to Ravus and hopefully get him on our side"
"Is that when you're going to tell Luna as well?"
"Yeah, I think it is"
"Still, she knows that we can't reach Altissia for a bit if you do so"
"I know, but I might actually be able to save her if I can warn her, and by the way what I said four years ago still stands Iggy, you are never putting on that ring again"
"Understood Noct"
"Still...we might have to start investigating Ardyn soon"
"So long as we keep the secret from him, he does not need more ammunition against us"
"Agreed, we also really do need to meet up with Aranea again"
"Specs?"
"There's something I wasn't telling you about her Noct, while we never married she and I became...well I guess you could say we became close while she was helping Dave teach me how to fight again, I was hoping to start that friendship up again, and maybe...maybe have her as an ally much sooner than last time around"
"I see...well I guess we could try, but not without permission of the Astrals"
"Understood"
"Wait, why can't we bring in too many people?"
"Think about it Prompto"
"Okay yeah, guess you're right, and I guess we really should keep the timeline relatively the same, at least up until Altissia"
"Yeah, and then we're changing everything that we can change at that point, though Prompto's right about investigating Ardyn, very, very carefully so that we don't make him suspicious"
"So...how shall we go about that anyways?"
"For now...let's just focus on waiting to hear from Ravus and go from there"
"Good point, we really need to figure out a few things first, wait for other things to be aligned properly and let's face it, we need to do Hunts again, we're getting a little low on funds"
"Good point"
And so the group decides to join a Hunt with multiple Hunters and when they saw the group they all froze in shock because of the fact that it wasn't just Dave involved in the group Hunt, but also a very specific group of people that they had never personally met and yet had managed to save. They already knew that Dave wasn't weighed down by the loss of fourteen good Hunters but they had never expected to meet the group that they had inadvertently saved by doing the Hunt themselves with Cor's help all those years ago
"Noct these guys are..."
"Yeah, I think they are"
"We know they are Noct, Dave...Dave showed us a group photo once, you never saw it but..."
"But you guys did...or well you and Prompto anyways seeing as how Iggy..."
"Yes we did, however..."
"Noct, shortly after we returned to the past the Astrals allowed me to see the same picture as Prompto and Gladio had seen...at least I think they did"
Suddenly Gentiana appears
"The one who sacrificed his sight for his king did indeed see those fallen before you, as thank you and a warning of what would come if you chose not to deal with the issue when you did"
"I see...thank you Gentiana for allowing me to see those we saved before meeting them"
And so the group joined in the Hunt with Dave being surprised that they did due to what he now knew about them
"Oh and Dave, the one person said yes to my request, I'll give you their contact information so that you know them by sight and number"
"Got it"
"Hopefully it won't come to it but..."
"Better to be prepared just in case"
"Exactly, so...how bad is this Hunt for you fifteen to officially be part of it before we joined in?"
"Bad...especially because of the fact that quite frankly it's a two part Hunt, one part during the day, the other part during the night and you four know what that means..."
"Daemons, just perfect, so you heard about our recent late night jaunt huh?"
"Yes I did, granted I know you four didn't have much of a choice but still wasn't a good thing or idea"
"No kidding, still this is going to be a pain to deal with if it's a two part mission"
"Let's get to it then"
When the group saw the first half of the target it was Ignis who acted unlike his usual self, in more ways then one
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me! I thought we took care of this thing already Noct!"
"We did! I think this is a different one"
"Nope definitely the same one guys"
"What makes you say that Prompto?"
"Oh, just the scar that I recognize from the last fight"
"Just perfect, okay guys follow the lead of the Hunters"
And so the fight was an epic fight, the Hunters seeing the group use Lucian magic, being afforded it's use via Potions, Elixirs and Antidotes and overall simply fighting and being a coordinated group, though admittedly Ignis helped with that
"So...what exactly is this second half that needs to be done at night?"
"The part where we need to kill this thing a second time along with whatever daemon spawns with it"
"Oh great, that wasn't in the Hunt description the first time"
"Uh Noct? I don't think we got a description the first time with this thing"
"Good point now that I think about it, we simply ran into the thing originally, no wonder we didn't actually kill it like we thought we had"
"Still a few hours until nightfall though, what are we going to do to pass the time?"
"Hunt for an early dinner and then get ready for the second half of the mission"
A few hours later and it was officially night time and thus time for the second half of the Hunt to commence
"Alright now, you four handle the daemons if they get too close but for the most part join in when you can"
"Right, hey Iggy we good on what we need?"
"We're actually a little low on Elixirs, Potions and Phoenix Downs but we should be alright if everyone's careful"
"Got it"
The fight was intense and there were indeed daemons involved in the fight but eventually the fight and thus the Hunt was over with and except for general exhaustion everyone actually made it through the fight without needing any boosts from the Royal retinue
"Okay, that's done with, everyone back to the Crow's Nest, we need food once more, that took a long time, long enough that it's actually reaching sunrise"
Everyone looked and saw that the Hunter was correct
"Okay, eat and then sleep, we need it desperately"
"Agreed for once Noct"
When they get there though the Hunters are confused at seeing someone who appeared to be blind, but the four that had joined them instantly went into semi-alert mode when the person simply shakes their head and walks away
"Guess we'll see her later then"
"Guess so, wonder if..."
"We'll find out when we meet up with her later guys, I'm sure of it"
The group eats an early breakfast and then crashes in the caravan for twelve hours straight for Prompto and Gladio, Ignis was out for fourteen hours while Noctis was out for a full twenty-four hours
"So...how far behind did we put ourselves with this stunt?"
"Not too terribly far behind but we really need to hope that Gentiana meets with us soon since she might have word regarding Ravus"
Three hours after they leave they meet up with Gentiana again and this time Ravus was with her
"I know you wanted to arrange a meeting but this is the only chance I currently have, is what Gentiana told me true?"
"What did she say?"
"That the Astrals sent the four of you back from the future where Lunafreya and I were dead and Noctis sacrificed his life to bring back the sun?, she also said that you four remember that future"
"Yes it's true, we came back four years before the present to change things, and while I was asleep the Astrals told me that you would be a part of helping change the future of Lunafreya, and maybe even Iggy's future as well, though I think I also helped with that via giving him an order"
"Not only you Noct, King Regis backed your order with his own and added to it as well"
"I see...I will do what I can, and will break away from the Empire when possible, but we must all be careful, Chancellor Izunia is becoming dangerous, doing things on his own that make no sense"
"Oh, we know all about Chancellor Izunia...because...well...Gentiana can he know the truth?"
"To not know the truth would harm the future at this point"
"So I can tell him?"
"Yes"
"Okay, good, Ravus, Chancellor Izunia is going by a false name, at least partially, his first name is indeed Ardyn, but he's not Ardyn Izunia, no his true name is Ardyn Lucis Caelum, brother of the Founder King, and the person who forced everything that happened, at least to a degree, he's also the reason behind the Starscourge, he's why I had to die originally, but while Ardyn still has to die, you, Luna and I don't, and Iggy doesn't have to lose his sight"
"How did you lose your sight Scientia?"
"I put on the Ring of Lucii to save Noct, you were there when Luna died, I fought you to protect Noct and then Ardyn showed up disguised as Gladio, but you didn't fall for his trick, after he temporarily knocked you out is when I put the Ring on, you called me reckless and then you went to your death after declaring Noct the one true king and trying to give Noct his father's sword, granted that was a disguised Ardyn who gave the final killing blow but still...you acknowledged Noct in the end"
"I see...I agree you shouldn't put on the Ring then, in any case I will do what I can to keep Lunafreya safe, shall I tell her you'll be meeting her in Altissia when the time is right?"
"Yes, and...tell her I might be giving her a note through you or Gentiana before then, I don't know if I will be allowed to tell her or not"
"Understood"
With that Ravus leaves and the group decide to go to Ravatogh because even though they didn't need to get the Royal Arms there they decided that they still needed to climb it to make sure about other things