Author's Note:

Hello and welcome to the second chapter. This time, we see some of Boyd's captivity as well as what's going on with the rest of the Greil Mercenaries. I hope you all enjoy the chapter.

I own nothing.

Chapter 2

"The King wants to see you. We are here to guide you to the royal palace."

Oliver had stayed out of the conversation that came after the two laguz came to their aid and beat back Daein's assault on the fort but at Lethe's words, he stepped in, "Commander, we can't leave yet. Boyd is still missing!"

The young warrior had vanished sometime during the night and they were all just about to search for him when Daein's soldiers had attacked, Oscar had been hard-pressed to remain focused on the battle with his brother missing and he'd prayed that Boyd would come through everything unscathed.

Ike nodded at him, "Right." He faced the two laguz again, "One of our company vanished before the battle started, we need to find out what happened to him."

Lethe simply nodded silently while Mordecai's face creased with concern, "Mordecai can help with the search."

The young commander wasted no time giving orders, "Thank you. Titania, Oscar, search to the north and the east, stay together and keep alert, we don't know how many Daein soldiers may still be out there, me and Soren will take the south and west."

Eager to be searching, Oscar answered briefly, "Yes Commander."

As he turned and hurried out of the fort, Titania close behind, he heard Soren speaking to their leader, "Ike, if Boyd was out there then it's likely the Daein soldiers have already killed him."

Oscar ignored his words and kept going, not wanting to think that way.

Beyond the Gallian border, in the recently conquered Crimea, Boyd was being taken further and further away from his family.

As he'd said he would, Izuka had removed the Silence spell via the use of some foul-tasting potion but it did him little good, being able to use his voice again would not get him out of his predicament, he was now well beyond the hearing range of his comrades. Eager to get far away from the remaining Greil Mercenaries, Izuka and his men pushed their steeds hard and were not appearing to stop anytime soon.

Boyd was stuck on a monster of a horse, with a monster of a man sat behind him who was clearly there to keep him from trying to escape, it was the man who had control of the reins leaving the young fighter little choice but to accept where he was being taken. Surrounding them were about six other men, each with their own mount, while Izuka was sat awkwardly on a horse up at the front of the group. The mage would often be muttering to himself but Boyd couldn't hear what he was saying, everyone else seemed to be used to it and didn't react but he could see them occasionally giving their captive odd looks as if they were trying to work out why their leader needed some random Crimean mercenary.

The men themselves seemed capable fighters, the Greil Mercenaries were far from the only mercenary group around (though they were one of the few with a moral code) so it was likely these men were hired by Izuka. They had no colours which tied them to any country but that didn't mean they weren't somehow working for Daein, however, that didn't explain why they'd kidnapped him.

They'd ridden in silence the entire journey but suddenly, the man riding beside Izuka spoke almost tentatively to the mage, "Sir, we should make camp soon. The horses will run out of strength if we don't stop, we should be more than far enough away from the boy's company."

Izuka snapped his head around at the man, "What! Oh, yes, I was just contemplating the very same thing. We'll halt at the next suitable site."

He resumed his muttering while the mercenary (who Boyd guessed was the group's commander) swiftly nodded and called commands back to his men, "There's a good campsite with a stream just ahead, we'll set camp there and resume our journey first thing tomorrow."

The group gave various noises of assent and soon, said campsite came into view. With ease, the men dismounted and began setting up camp, naturally taking various jobs and further demonstrating their experience. The man sat behind Boyd dismounted and hauled him off before dragging him over to Izuka and the commander, the mercenary leader spoke in a warning tone, "I'll only say this once boy so listen up. If you behave we'll treat you decently but there will be severe repercussions if you try to escape or otherwise cause trouble. Stay quiet and obedient and this'll be a hell of a lot smoother for you."

Izuka leered at him, "And just remember that I can stop you with but a single word should you try and run. Attempt an escape and I'll inflict any number of aliments upon you."

The commander nodded dismissively, "Now, go help water the horses and know that we're all keeping an eye on you."

The hulking man, who seemed to be his assigned guard, began pushing him towards the horses but a last speech from Izuka halted them.

"Oh, if you're hoping that your group of sellswords will come after you, I made sure to throw them off our trail."

As he and Titania searched Gallia's forests, Oscar was growing increasingly worried.

He knew that Boyd had left his axe in the fort and he desperately hoped his brother hadn't encountered the Daeins while unarmed. If they were lucky, the soldiers might have missed him entirely or the fighter had hidden himself until he was sure it was safe to retreat to the fort. If they were unlucky, Boyd might've been captured by Daein forces meaning they'd have to rescue him or it was the worst-case scenario, which Oscar really didn't want to consider.

Keeping alert for any remaining Daein troops, he and Titania scoured the forest, determined to find the missing fighter. Oscar could tell the red-headed paladin was as worried as he was, Titania had become something of a mother figure to the younger members, especially since all of them didn't have their real mothers anymore. While they usually treated her as the Deputy Commander she was, it was moments like this where her more motherly side came out, a worried frown was etched on her features and he was certain she was praying that Boyd was safe the way he was.

The heavy smell of blood reached their nostrils and they both shared a single, fearful look before running towards the smell. As they ran, Oscar prayed frantically, hoping that they wouldn't find what they were fearing. Perhaps it wasn't Boyd, perhaps he was injured but only a simple staff wave away from being fine!

It was a mess.

Blood was everywhere and the ground was churned up indicating a huge struggle, the heavy metallic scent of death hung over the air and it would've made many gag or throw-up at the smell, Oscar and Titania however had been in many fights and had long since learned to ignore the gore that came with battle.

But maybe not this time.

The body that was the source of the blood was unrecognisable, it had been hacked and smashed so much none of its distinguishing features were left but there were certain items that identified who it was.

A pair of shoulder plates, battered and dented, lay amongst the remains. Scraps of red cloth and the leather straps that had held it in place were scattered throughout. Bits of overly familiar green, from trousers Oscar had mended many times before, could also be seen and a bloodstained headband sat in the middle, confirming the ruthless, harsh reality.

Beside him, Titania let out a sob, "No, not Boyd as well, this can't be!"

Oscar could only stare, his body numb and his voice gone as all his hopes, all his prayers crashed down around him.

Darkness had fallen upon the continent and Boyd sat staring into the fire, contemplating his situation.

As promised, his kidnappers had treated him decently so long as he behaved, he had freedom of movement and could roam the camp within reason. Wherever he went, the same man would be close behind, making sure he didn't try anything and he'd get a growled warning if he went too close to any sort of weapon. All in all, it wasn't too bad as far as captivity went, he wasn't restrained or locked in some dingy cell and he was getting decent meals, but he was still a captive and he didn't know why they wanted him.

The commander approached him and spoke curtly, "Izuka wants to see you boy."

Boyd obediently stood (he got dragged and shoved about a lot less that way) and followed the man to Izuka's private tent. The commander held the tent flap open and gestured inside, announcing his arrival as he did so, "Here's the boy sir."

The mage was squatting upon his bedroll like a gargoyle, pouring over a large tome, he looked up and smiled with a sinister eagerness, "Good, now leave us."

The commander did as ordered without a word and Boyd stood near the entrance, eyeing Izuka warily. The man put his tome aside and stood, he pointed to the centre of the tent, "Sit."

Knowing he didn't really have much choice, the young fighter did as commanded and the mage give another, brusque command, "Shirt off."

Boyd's eyes widened and he hesitated, this was seemingly heading in a direction he did not like and he was well aware of the fact he was a prisoner and this man was his captor. Izuka however, did not care for his concerns, "Do it now boy!"

His tone suggested consequences if he did not comply and Boyd clearly remembered Izuka saying that poisoning was in his magical abilities, slowly, the fighter removed his shirt. His shoulder plates, arm wraps and headband had been taken off him when he'd been kidnapped leaving him fully topless when he took off his shirt. He gripped the material in his hands and hunched over, feeling very exposed and nervous.

Izuka didn't seem to care and the man stared at him intensely, then, he slowly began to pace around his prisoner, his eyes moving as if searching for something. The longer this went on, the more nervous Boyd became and he gnawed his lip worryingly as the mage moved behind him.

Suddenly, the man stopped and let out a pleased exclamation, "Aha! Here it is."

Boyd turned his head around and saw Izuka staring at the back of his left shoulder, wearing a pleased expression as if some sort of theory of his had been confirmed, and the fighter frowned.

That was the place his birthmark was.

He'd been born with a mark upon his back that looked remarkably like some sort of symbol. His father had told him it was best to keep it hidden but his only explanation upon being asked why was only that people could mistake him for being a Branded, when Boyd asked him about it he'd simply said he'd tell him more 'when he was older'. His father had died before he'd reached 'older' and his questions about it slipped into the back of his mind, it was simply a birthmark.

So why was Izuka so interested in it?

The mage was muttering once more, seemingly too focused on the mark to care about his prisoner.

"It appears to be Diablos, I thought Odin or Gilgamesh would've been more likely due to the subject's warrior background but…yes…gravity magic…increased power…perfect! This will do nicely!"

Izuka shot over to a pile of books and began rifling through them, waving Boyd away dismissively, "Begone boy, I must look into this development."

The young mercenary whipped his shirt back on and hurried out of the tent, not wasting any time in getting away from the mage. The moment he was outside, he was accosted by the commander, "With me boy."

Not waiting for an answer, the man pulled him over to another tent and pushed him inside. Without ceremony, Boyd found his hands swiftly bound behind him and he was forced into a sitting position where they also bound his feet. The commander nodded in satisfaction, "This is to stop you trying anything while we sleep. We've a long journey ahead so rest up while you can."

Without another word, the commander strode out of the tent, leaving him sat there. The young fighter awkwardly lay down to rest, his mind trying to understand what Izuka wanted.

The mage was definitely interested in his birthmark and had mentioned something called Diablos, what these things meant he had no idea but he was certain he didn't want to know what Izuka was up to. He closed his eyes but his mind was still working.

He had to find some way to escape but despite his relative freedom, it was going to be difficult, that and he was miles away from the others without a fully clear idea of where he was. Travelling unarmed, with no provisions in a Daein occupied Crimea was going to be tough, even if he did find a way to get past both his alert captors and Izuka's strange magic.

He sighed, for now he needed rest, hopefully an opportunity would present itself soon.

PS-A little more information as to what's going on. Please let me know what you thought and I'll hopefully update soon.