"Do not take the path to the water city yet"

"But Gentiana, the timeline..."

"Look to a dangerous friend for more information"

The group waits for word from Dave because that's the only person they could think of that would be called a dangerous friend and two days later their suspicions are confirmed with Dave making contact and saying that the Empire made a statement saying that the wedding was indefinitely delayed due to Lunafreya taking the death of her brother hard

"I see...that might be only part of the truth though"

"Hopefully the notebook comes"

"Agreed, by the way Aranea, you in contact with your guys?"

"Yeah, with this news though hopefully they tell me what's up themselves soon"

And so later that day they got word from Biggs and Wedge the full story, turned out that the Empire was only telling part of the truth regarding the delayed wedding, but the two were waiting for permission from Lunafreya to give the group the whole story and Luna had been waiting for word from Gentiana about it

"Okay, so I just got the full story, turns out that Lunafreya's mental condition is only part of it, the other reason why the wedding has been delayed is a combination of it being a trap for you possibly and the fact that quite frankly Lunafreya disappeared only three days after the announcement of her brother's death"

"I see...what about the person in charge of Altissia?"

"From what my boys tell me she's keeping Lunafreya away from the Empire as much as possible considering their situation, apparently...apparently this is at the request of Ravus, did he know...?"

"Yes, we told him everything, including...including how he died in the original timeline"

"I see, so what's the plan then?"

"The plan is to continue taking on Hunts and requests for the time being until I receive word that it's time to head to Altissia, and Ignis you're still under the rules"

"Don't worry Noct I won't put the Ring on again, I promise"

"Good, hey Aranea, I actually need you to contact Biggs and Wedge and tell them that if Luna appears to be getting extremely weak then to let me know so that I can have you drop something off"

"Will do"

That night Noctis was visited by the Astrals via his dreams and was basically told that they would do what they could to keep Luna from weakening any further until he could get to her, but to be ready with his plan b just in case it takes too long to bring things back on track in regards to meeting Luna in Altissia. The next day the group decides to to back to Ravatogh, though with Aranea this time, not just to visit the tomb for reasons unknown to anyone but Noctis but also to do some requests from Vyv regarding the volcano

"So, which one first, the tomb or the requests?"

"Hm...I'm thinking the requests since I plan on getting there at night, however you guys should also be in the decision, especially since we're still getting used to Aranea and her getting used to us"

The group talk in detail about what they were comfortable with and what they weren't and it was decided that the requests would be done after the tomb which meant getting to Ravatogh during the daytime and doing the climbing that was needed during the day and then camp at the nearby Haven that night

"Okay then, we're agreed, but first, we need to do a Hunt, now then normally I would simply say let's just stay here for the rest of the night but I'm afraid that's not doable this time around, and not because we're going after Hunter tags, there's another reason I want, no need us to go on this Hunt"

"Agreed, oh by the way...I know this isn't something on the radar right now but it might be if any one of us starts having feelings for each other, and I get the feeling that might be Specs and I, you need to know that there's no risk of a pregnancy"

"Aranea?"

"I...you guys know that I was part of the Niflheim army, what you don't know is that they drugged me repeatedly and made it so that I could never bare children ever again it's why I haven't bought particular supplies since we got together"

"I see, and you're certain there's no way to reverse it?"

"Positive, Biggs, Wedge and I have tried ever since we found out what they did"

"Understood, however if something develops I am requiring both parties to take the necessary precautions to prevent pregnancy even if it isn't likely, this is only because of the fact that quite frankly Aranea you never know what could happen in the future, plus if everyone's agreed I want to link you to the Armiger"

"Wait, what?"

"While you never became part of the group originally I feel that considering the change in circumstances I want you to be an official retainer"

"I'm...I'm honored but..."

"If you need time to think about it I won't force you into a decision"

"Yeah, I think that's for the best"

"Okay, now then let's get to where we need to go for this Hunt that we need to take on, once we get there I hope you understand just why this Hunt is so important"

And so the group heads to the Hunt location and when they arrive they hear the sound of fighting already going on, and while they don't recognize the voice due to the distance they did recognize the exhaustion and desperation in the voice. Noct immediately went into warp striking and as soon as the rest of the group was close enough the three from Insomnia recognized the Glaive uniform if not the person wearing it

"Thanks!"

"No problem, you need anything?"

"Potion?"

"Coming right up, how are you weapons wise?"

"Down to this one, already lost three pairs and lost the twin to this dagger yesterday"

"Right, hey Iggy, the Glaive needs your spares!"

"Understood"

"Don't worry Scientia, I'll replace them if they get too badly damaged"

And so the fight goes in quick order with six people involved, even though one of them wasn't in the greatest of shape even before the fight had begun and had needed a potion just to keep fighting

"Come on, there's a Haven nearby that we can relax in, and I guess our trip to Ravatogh is going to be delayed a bit"

"No...no need to head to the Haven, I can make it to where you guys were originally planning on staying"

"But Glaive..."

"Your Majesty, I have been on my own for this long, staying up for days on end to get to a relatively safe location, even when injured, exhausted and practically starving. Your father making sure that Hunter locations are fully stocked and also making sure that Havens are stocked has been my only saving grace a few times, and the Hunters don't even realize who I am since I don't stay long enough for them to ask questions most of the time"

Noct realizes that it's pointless to argue and so the group heads back to their camp, but Noct realizes that the person wasn't going to simply relax for one reason and one reason only, he was now under Noct's authority and though Noct would completely understand them simply going into the trailer they rented the Glaive was waiting for orders in case anything needed to get done first before getting sleep. As such Noct signals to Gladio to stand behind the Glaive and then goes in front of the person who stands at attention to await orders which Noct gladly gives considering it was the only order he was going to give to the exhausted person at the moment

"Stand down Glaive"

With that the Glaive simply collapsed into Gladio's arms seeing as how Gladio had also seen how exhausted the Glaive was and thus was ready to catch them the moment Noct gave the order to the Glaive that he could let down his guard

"Ignis, I want you to take care of him tonight, make sure that he's not hiding any serious injuries that even he might not be aware of, once that's done the four original group members need to talk in private Aranea, so I want you to watch him carefully for any signs of him waking up so that we can be there when he is actually awake so that we can explain things"

"Might think of me as an enemy huh?"

"Exactly"

"Understood"

The four original members of the group head to a secluded area and then Ignis is the one to speak up

"What is it Noct?"

"That Glaive we just saved?, his name is Nyx Ulric"

"Wait...what?"

"I...I don't get it Noct, didn't he die?"

"That's what I thought too, I thought that his death was one of the ones that were unchangeable ultimately since he was needed in the city the day it fell and yet the Astrals recently told me in a dream that I would know when to take a particular Hunt and that there was to be a special surprise waiting at the Hunt location, they didn't give me full details but they did say that someone in the service of our family had been rewarded and that we would meet the person"

"And tonight was the night huh?"

"Yeah"

"So...what's the plan now?"

"To be honest that's up to Ulric, he may decide to go to Altissia to protect Luna, he may decide to stay with the group or he may decide to see if he can't join up with Cor and the other Guard and Glaive members, I just don't know yet"

"He may even decide to go solo since he's been alone for so long"

"We'll find out later, but for now we're all taking watch so that Aranea isn't the only person waiting to see when the Glaive is going to wake up"

The next day the group simply waits for Ulric to wake up and it started with Aranea's shift, and he actually came too quickly afterwords, and came up punching between the fact that Aranea was the closest person and he only knew her as an enemy and the fact that he was so tired he forgot he was with allies and honestly thought there was other enemies, but Noct put a stop to that right quick