Waking up, truly waking up for the first time in centuries, was jarring. More so, when one felt themselves in a body that wasn't aching with every breath, that wasn't tired all the time. Noctis, for the first time in a long time, did not feel the pull of the crystal solely on him. Instead of the leaching feeling, it was more of a humming at the back of his head, giving him a faint headache, but didn't make him feel nauseous and old before his time.

'Good morning, Noctis. I believe it is time for you to wake up,' a voice inside Noctis head laughed and it took him a moment to place it.

"Luna?" he asked and was startled just how young he sounded. The laughter increased.

'I am here, but maybe you should try not to talk to me out loud. It would make you look rather...curious. I can hear your thoughts just fine, even though some are a bit jumbled. It should be fine once you get used to this situation.'

"Alright…," Noctis mumbled, elated that Shiva had kept her word and confused at the strangeness of having another soul residing within him.

'I do believe it is time to wake up, nevertheless. We need to find out just where in time Shiva has placed us.' Noctis nodded to himself, crawling out of the temptingly warm and soft bed. The t-shirt had a stain on the seam, he noted, once he stood and stretched to open a window. That in itself already gave Noctis an idea just where in time he'd returned to. His suspicions were proven correct when he opened his bedroom's door into the living room.

'By the Six! Noctis!' screeched the indignant voice of Luna as Noctis laid eyes on the state his apartment was in. 'How could you allow this mess to become this...this big?' Noctis shrugged, eying said mess. He was impressed with his younger self. This wasn't just a mess anymore, this was a war zone.

"It never seemed that important, but then again nothing really did back then. I was on my own for the first time, it was something along the lines of rebellion. Dunno what I rebelled against, but...well...you lived with me for nearly a thousand years, you should know by now that I'm not the tidiest person!"

'Do I ever. Still, we hardly can allow poor Ignis to tidy all of this up. Get to work!'

"Dear," Noctis tried to reason. "Don't you think we have more important things to do? Like writing out a plan of attack or something like this?"

'You may get back at me about your plan, once we can see a surface in this mess to write on. Preferably one that isn't sticky.'

And so Noctis spent his first three hours back in the past, with his friends alive and well, with his father alive and well, cleaning. Luna instructed him on how his washing machine worked ('Really, Noctis. All the buttons are clearly labeled…') and what had to go where. In the end, his apartment was nearly as clean as the time he'd first come back to find it cleaned by his Chamberlain. She even made him redo the homework that had been buried underneath a pile of trash on Noctis' desk. Only then was she satisfied with the current state of his life and allowed him to focus on their plan.

'With me here with you, Noctis, you now not only represent the crown prince, future of Insomnia, but also take the role as current Oracle. You will need to pay attention in what to say, how to act, how to move. People will constantly wait for you to slip up. In such trying times, people need you to be without fault or they'll start doubting. Doubt leads to a hope lost which in turn leads to revolts. With Nifelheim at our doors, we can't risk internal conflicts. But I will teach you what I can and having the blessing of the Six will give us an amazing advantage. Yet with the physical me gone, this also means that our alliance is not possible anymore. No impending marriage. Which also means that the Court of Insomnia will have little motivation to send their crown prince outside the safety of the Wall. We will need to find a new reason to leave, ideally earlier than last time, well before the attack on the crown.'

"What about acting as mediator? A prince has to learn how to be a diplomat at some point."

'They would not risk neither your life nor the precarious situation for you learning that craft. Also, they'd never let you leave by yourself or even accompanied by your friends. You'd constantly be surrounded by seasoned diplomats and ambassadors.'

"Huh...what about taking my role as the new Oracle, then? I mean other than us two and the Six, nobody knows that we already have the blessing of the gods. A pilgrimage across Tenebrae, surrounded by the Oracle's most trusted surely wouldn't be that strange." Luna was quiet for a moment, contemplating his words.

'It could work if there can be no doubt about your status as Oracle. My mother chose me, and she was chosen by the previous Oracle. Oracles don't just appear out of thin air, and never male ones.'

"I am certain Shiva...Gentiana...whatever she prefers to be called right now could help us with that."

'She has little to do with the choosing of an Oracle. But she could name you her champion. A title which would give you the possibility to ascend to Oracle-status, should you achieve the approval of the other gods. Still, it would be frowned upon to see a man chosen for this task. You would be under close scrutiny from both our people and the people of Nifelheim. Shiva could, however, ask Leviathan for help. He has approved and disapproved Oracles in training before. Should we play our cards right, we could make the world believe that Leviathan chose you.'

"Don't make it sound like it'd be such a surprise. I'd make a great Oracle."

'You'd be a terrible Oracle! You're lazy, unorganised and forgetful. You're headstrong and trained to make great, changing decisions where an Oracle is there to support the people, not lead them.'

"Thank you for your confidence in me…," Noctis deadpanned, Luna could hear the amusement this bickering caused in him.

'Don't misunderstand,' she said anyways, because she wanted to clarify. 'You are a great king. A strong king. A king that puts the need of his people, his friends before himself, choosing an eternity in complete isolation -'

"Not complete," Noctis interrupted. He heard Luna sigh.

'But you did not know that I'd be there for you when you chose to accept your fate and battle Ardyn. You were strong, knowing that people needed your sacrifice, that your friends would not survive otherwise. You met your father's blade without hesitation. But everything that made you a good king would make you a bad Oracle, now. Do you understand? If you were to accept this role as Oracle, you'd have to constantly downplay your leading qualities.'

"You're worried that, if I become Oracle, I can't be king."

'Yes.' Noctis hummed in thought. It was true, the two roles were complimenting each other. Embodying the two roles at once would not be easy. Sacrifices would have to be made on both sides. An Oracle travelled through the land to help people, a King usually stayed at the Capital to be available to his advisors, diplomats, heads of executive parties, Kingsguard and so many more. A king could not constantly travel, whereas it was more or less expected of a good Oracle.

"It will be difficult. We knew that when we accepted the deal. I can't promise that I won't mess up some time during all of this, but I know you're here to guide me where I struggle."

'Of course I will.' her voice was soft, as it always was when Noctis displayed just how much he trusted her.

"For now, I'd still focus on becoming the Oracle. We can worry about the execution of these roles afterwards. Let's think in small steps. If I...well, when I mess up as Oracle, you'll help me and when I mess up in my role as prince, I have Gladio to knock some sense into me...well and Ignis to tell me exactly what I did wrong. Probably with a full presentation, charts and everything to boot." Noctis heard Luna giggle and felt rather accomplished at that.

'Very well. We will talk to Shiva in the evening. She will want to check on us, whether our sanity is still intact after the merge, anyways. For now, we should get you ready for school.'

Wait...what? Noctis glanced over his shoulder, towards the kitchen where a clock hung on the wall, displaying the time '6:46'.

"You want to tell me that I woke up at 3 in the morning?!"

'Half past three, actually. But technically, you didn't really wake up, seeing as you weren't actually asleep. Your soul entered back into this time, merging with your existing one. This process took time, yet you did not sleep. I do not know if you will actually have to sleep. We will have to see about that.'

"Oh, I'm gonna sleep whether I have to or not. I've missed this."

'We would save so much time if you wouldn't.'

"As long as my name is Noctis Lucis Caelum, I will spend at least eight hours per day fast asleep."

'Is that a challenge?' Luna's voice was pleasant, yet Noctis had a schooled ear for the steely undertone that her voice adopted when she was displeased. Noctis knew that, should it turn out that he did not actually need to sleep, he could kiss his pillow goodbye.

'Again, we will see about that, later. Now off into the shower with you. We will be late, otherwise.'

Noctis sighed and accepted his fate. He grabbed a fresh set of his old college uniform (and wasn't this just a nostalgia-trip in itself) and shuffled into the shower.

'I forgot just how adorable you were when you were a teenager. Why couldn't you have stayed this adorable?' Lunafreya complained. Noctis simply raised his eyes skyward as if praying to Bahamut to strike him down to save him from this one-sided conversation. He, by now was dressed in his uniform with his hair towelled dry haphazardly, bag packed and phone -

Noctis jerked violently in his seat, nearly toppling off. With hurried steps, he went into his bedroom where he knew he'd set his phone for years every evening to charge overnight. It took him a bit longer to unlock his phone than it had taken him to remember where he'd put it. In the end, it was Luna's birthday that unlocked it, which didn't help cease her giggling.

Prompto had called, Noctis noticed, vehemently ignoring how terribly his hand shook while looking at it. It had been the first proof that he truly was back, that his friends were indeed alive, that he could see them! He nearly dropped the phone twice during the time it took him to type out the simple phrase 'Sorry, just woke up. Talk later?'

'Forgive me. I have pushed you so much already. This is going to be far more trying for you than for me. Do you think you are ready to meet them?'

"Absolutely not. Nor will I ever be. But I want…gods, I need to see them. Alive and well and not damaged as physical proof of how badly I fucked up the first time around. I need to see a Prompto that is grinning at me without a haunted look ghosting through his eyes. I need to see an Ignis who isn't traumatised by whatever happened to him in Altissia, need to see him see. I need to see Gladio wear another expression than grim bitterness, hear him laugh without mirth. I need to see my father alive and complaining about his leg, need him to talk to me, hear him talk to me, listen to me tell him how much my father means to me, what he's done for me. I want to thank Nyx for all the times he's prevented me from pulling some stupid stunt or from all the consequences of dumb things he saved me whenever he hadn't managed to prevent me from doing something immensely stupid. For saving your life and getting you to safety. I want to thank Cor for being my father's support, his right hand come hell or high water." Noctis had to admit he'd gotten carried away with this one, raking his fingers through his hair until it stuck up in a complete chocobo's nest. For a few long moments, everything was quiet except for Noctis' labored breathing.

'Noctis,' murmured Luna, but Noctis had already thrown his phone, wallet and homework into his bag and proceeded stalking towards the door.

"We need to go," Noctis grumbled as he threw the door shut behind them, locking it twice. "We'll be late."

The words 'to save them all' went left unsaid but Luna knew.

School looked still as drab as he remembered it. Most people were still staring at him like he'd grown a second head, something that didn't help his suddenly plummeted mood. It also didn't help that the first class of the day, according to his timetable, was calculus.

"Noct. Noooooct! Noctooooo!" Noctis turned around and was almost bodily lifted off his feet when a blur of yellow and black crashed into him with the force of a freight train. Well, a fairly bony and weak freight train. Still, his ribs were going to bruise, he was certain.

"You're alive!" Prompto yelled with such relief in his voice that, for a moment, Noctis was certain his heart would give out. Did he know? Did he remember? Was he, maybe -

"When you didn't answer the phone, I thought they've kidnapped you, dude! Talk to you later? You always call back immediately! Were you being kidnapped? Were you with someone? Oh gosh, you totally were, weren't you? Ignis is gonna murder you!" Prompto started cackling and Noctis sighed, both disappointed and elated. Disappointed that Prompto did in fact not remember and elated that this meant that Prompto really was Prompto again, that he did not suffer from what they'd lived through, elated that Prompto was alive.

"Prompto...that's how rumors start," was all he was able to say without his voice cracking. He breathed in deeply a few times to calm himself. Prompto let go of him, jumping upright again.

"See? You're not denying it! You totally were with someone!"
"Prompto….I wasn't with someone. I was, in fact, asleep." Prompto gave him a horrified look.

"Was...in fact...dude! You're spending too much time with Ignis. You're starting to sound like him! You're spending the afternoon with me, that'll bring you back to normal."

Noctis had to resist the urge to smile, because if he did that, Prompto really would think something was wrong.

"'m afraid I'll have to pass, Prompto. I want to talk to my dad, today," Noctis spoke. It wasn't a complete lie, he really did want to talk to his father. That, however, would have to wait until after their conversation with Shiva. Still, Noctis felt something inside him break a little when he saw Prompto's face fall in disappointment. The blond quickly caught himself and was nodding at the crown prince the next second again.

"Alright, I get that. Your old man's pretty busy these days, huh?"

"He's always busy," Noctis sighed. "Not that I can fault him for that. He's trying his best to prevent a war." Noctis wouldn't have thought it possible, but he watched as his already pale friend grew a few shades paler still.

"Huh...is it that bad?" Prompto asked in a hushed voice. He probably had realised that Noctis was telling him more than he should. His question received a lazy shrug.

"Who can really tell? I know things are tense what with Luna captured and used as leverage against both Altissia and us."

"Luna?" Prompto blinked owlishly and received an incredulous scowl in return.

"Luna. Lunafreya Nox Fleuret? My best friend...well, other best friend since childhood? Current Oracle?" Partner in crime. Wife. Better half. The half with common sense.

Prompto shrugged helplessly.

"Don't know what you mean, dude. For all I know, there hasn't been an Oracle in years." Noctis didn't really know how he felt about this new bit of information. Mostly, he was dreading just how much this time travel business would make things worse in the long run. If there was no Oracle, people everywhere would be desperate for just about anything to give them hope. Be it a male Oracle or a revolt to get rid of the king that hid himself safely behind his wall of light and magic. He needed to speak to his father now.

However as it turned out, this talk would have to be postponed to some unknown point in the nearer future. As Cor informed him on the phone during lunch-break (Noctis had tried simply calling his father's number to request meeting up with his old man), his father was busy dealing with both the constant threats from Nifelheim as well as the fact that unusually heavy rain was causing a bunch of problems all around Tenebrae. Floods, ruined crops, an increased amount of strong fiends that only showed their ugly hide during rain, all problems the people wanted their king to find solutions for. Noctis assured Cor, who then asked if everything was alright and whether or not he could help the prince himself, that everything was indeed fine and that he'd merely wanted to check up on his father and not to worry. There was only so much trouble he could cause in school, after all. All the while, Noctis had looked out of the window. It had indeed begun to rain quite heavily and he had to swallow the bile as images from his past life threatened to burst forth.

An inhuman screech shattering panes of glass throughout the entire town.

People being swallowed up by a gigantic wave, ripping through steel and human flesh alike, like tissue paper.

The pain of his wounds paired with the agony of his bleeding heart from watching Luna die.

His friends' screams of terror in the distance…

"Nocto!" he had to suppress a scream as a hand carefully shook his shoulder. He twirled around, hand raised and the sword of his father so very nearly summoned, when he saw Prompto giving him a worried look.

"I've been calling you for like five minutes now, buddy. What's wrong?"

Noctis shook his head. "It's fine, I was miles away. You simply startled me." He watched as his friend's expression grew stormy.

"I know I'm not the brightest star in the sky but don't think that I'm blind enough to miss when my friend isn't acting like himself. Now you better tell me what's up or I swear I'm dragging you home and call Ignis that something's wrong with you."

"I'm fine -"

"You're not fine!" Prompto yelled and the noise in the hallway where they still were standing died instantaneously. Prompto wheeled around and gave the few unfortunate people in the hallway a dirty look. "Get a move on, there's nothing to see here."

Noctis was stunned and ever so slightly afraid of the blond in front of him. It wasn't like him to ever really grow angry. Usually he was either happy or whiney, not furious. Never furious.

"I'm your friend, Noct. Not someone who hangs out with you because you're the prince or whatever, but someone who gives an actual shit. Someone who doesn't like the idea of you keeping secrets that harm you. Have you looked at yourself today? You look like death warmed over. You are jumpy for no apparent reason. This morning when you looked at me, I was worried that for a second you'd keel over."

"It couldn't have been-"

"What? That bad? Well, newsflash for you, it looked just that bad. That look of anguish isn't something I'm going to forget that fast, believe me. So either you tell me what traumatised you so badly or I'm starting to make some calls." For a while, all Noctis heard where Prompto's laboured breathing and the hushed whispers down the hall from curious students. It took a few tries but finally, Noctis found his voice again. "I died."