General Boudicca Pt. 2

A/N: Just a reminder, new chapter here officially means new chapter over on the P atreon now, where my patrons are currently voting on the future direction of this story!

-x-X-x-

He looks directly at Summer as he finally speaks, despite her being blind and him wearing a mask. He nevertheless maintains eye contact, even as his words are clearly meant for Pyrrha and her mother.

"Fine. Don't try anything."

He doesn't even say the 'or else'. It's unnecessary. He's confident Pyrrha wouldn't believe any threat he made anyways, while Boudicca will make up all sorts of threats in her head no matter what he says. The Mistralian General has walked herself right back into this corner with her insipid inability to understand that Jaune was never even holding her daughter hostage in the first place!

Now, he was stuck with them. Why that didn't fill him with rage, he wasn't entirely sure. It wasn't like he'd set out to do all of this, after all! He'd only ever intended to get the lay of the land, and now here he was, having inadvertently taken over a Bandit Tribe. Well, no more of that. They were leaving that bit behind. But just when he was getting one yoke off of his neck, it would seem he was putting on another. And this time, he wasn't just taking over some bandits. He was kidnapping a General of the Mistralian Army… in FRONT of her army.

Sweeping his gaze across said army, Jaune can admit that they don't look like they're going to muster much of a resistance against him. Oh sure, they've all got horrified looks on their faces at the thought of Jaune just walking off with their defeated General, but not a single one of them tries to get up off their knees and fight him for her. They can't. They know it, too.

After all, General Boudicca wasn't just their leader, she was the strongest of them. If she couldn't win against him, and it had been made abundantly clear that she couldn't, then what hope did any of them have?

Rather than having to fight a fighting retreat through the scattered remnants of the General's Army, they walk right past them all, without nary a whisper from any of them. Jaune pretends not to notice Pyrrha policing her mother's sword and helping Boudicca to her feet as the older red head walks on shaking, trembling legs. He doesn't know what the hell he's going to do now, but one thing is for certain… he's going to do his best to ignore his new 'prisoner'. Certainly, he has no intentions of Pyrrha's mother finding out any more than is necessary.

They leave the area rather slowly, until Jaune looks back and can see not a single Mistralian soldier still watching them. Then and only then does he focus his attention on the group, eyes narrowing behind his mask.

"We'll be moving quicker now. Keep up or get left behind."

With that, he moves… and to his mild chagrin, all of them move with him. He really wouldn't have minded if the General took this opportunity to grab her daughter and break away. Sure, they could have probably caught the two red heads quite easily, but… he wouldn't have bothered. Unfortunately, Boudicca seems to have taken 'Don't try anything' to mean don't try to run either. Which… fair.

Likewise, Raven knows better than to try and break away as well, it would seem. Which was good, because Jaune was less inclined to just let her go at this point. Especially since… well, she just might be his easy ticket home.

They travel for an hour, moving deeper into Mistral's wilderness, though also closer to the coast. Once Jaune deems them far enough away, he finally stops, causing the group of women to all come to a halt as well. Turning to Raven, he pins her with his gaze.

"You and I are going to have a talk, Raven."

Looking terrified, the former bandit leader freezes in fear.

"W-What? About what?!"

"Your Semblance. And how it might be of use to me. How YOU might be of use to me."

Trembling now, Raven is quick to nod. She wants to be useful. She's afraid if what will happen to her if she's NOT useful. Good, Jaune can use that.

-x-X-x-

Boudicca was not used to being laid low. There was a reason her soldiers called her the Queen of Victory, for all that the Mistralian General did not encourage such titles. She was… undefeated on the battlefield. It had been a long, long time since anyone had bested her in battle. As far back as when she was still a child and working hard to train her skills, as a matter of fact.

And yet, here she was. For the first time in a long time, she hadn't been enough. Her Semblance hadn't been enough. She'd failed her troops. She'd almost failed her daughter. And all because of this impossible man, this… Jaune Arc. She didn't know who he was. More than that, she didn't know what he was.

Staring down at her hand, Boudicca tries to hide the tremble in it, even as she flexes the fingers. She felt it, when her blade sunk into his flesh and hit his bone. It didn't make any fucking sense. She hadn't felt a lick of aura, when she'd made the blow. It wasn't that his aura was so weak that she'd shorn right through it, it was like it was nonexistent.

But that couldn't be possible… right? Perhaps an auraless bandit or even an auraless spy would make sense. But not one so fast and so skilled at fighting. And certainly not one who's bones were capable of withstanding the full might of her Semblance-Enhanced Blade. The only reasonable explanation that Boudicca could currently think of was that he'd turned his aura off for some reason.

Maybe he'd done it all the way back when he'd first gone undercover, in order to fully sell the explanation that he was just passing through? And maybe he couldn't turn it back on at the drop of a hat or without some sort of external device. If so, she was left wondering even more who he was and where he'd come from. Except… she knew already, didn't she? He had to be from Atlas. And that… well, that actually explained everything.

The epiphany hits Boudicca like a train. Her jaw drops open, as she watches Jaune Arc talk with Raven Branwen. Well, not talk so much as browbeat into submission. Their current conversation was taking place in hushed tones, and Raven was looking quite uncertain… but also too damn afraid to do anything. Somehow, he had made the former bandit leader, one of Mistral's toughest, most irritating thorns, his bitch.

Except not somehow. Not if Boudicca's theory was correct. Her eyes wander across Jaune's body. From the bandages covering every inch of what WOULD be exposed skin, to the Grimm mask he's wearing over his face. The lack of blood from the wound she KNEW she'd delivered to his hand only further confirms what Boudicca is becoming surer and surer of.

Jaune Arc was a-

"M-Mother. Um… I have your sword here."

Blinking, torn out of her thoughts, Boudicca looks over at Pyrrha, at her beloved daughter. She would move Heaven and Earth for this girl… she HAD in fact, in her rush to save Pyrrha from the Branwen Tribe. She'd been completely out of line, taking her army over to deal with a simple group of bandits. Even if Raven Branwen was a thorn in Mistral's side, she was JUST a thorn. Nothing worth risking Boudicca or her army upon.

Except, truth be told, Boudicca's loyalty was not to Mistral. It was never to Mistral. Joining the Army and leveraging her skills as a fighter to rise to the rank of General had simply been her way of escaping her marriage with Lord Nikos. While it left her unable to see Pyrrha most of the time, it was the best of a whole lot of terrible solutions. She couldn't continue to live as that man's pampered trophy wife. She refused.

Mistral might have given her the ability to escape via exemplary military service, which of course was in turn rewarded with MORE demands and MORE responsibility. But Mistral also cultivated and nurtured the environment in which young women like Boudicca herself were sold off to noblemen like Lord Nikos, forced to give birth at young ages, their healthy risked all for the sake of progeny.

So no, secretly and privately, despite being Mistral's most successful General, Boudicca had NEVER been loyal to the Kingdom itself. She was only ever loyal to her troops and her daughter. The people put under her command… they were all like Pyrrha, in a way. Children who Boudicca would do anything to protect.

It was why she had been willing to agree to Jaune's offer for a duel. It only made sense, in the end. The least amount of bloodshed. Though, if she was correct about Jaune's true nature, only her blood ever had any chance of being shed…

"Mother?"

Ah, she'd got caught up in her own thoughts again. This time, Boudicca flushes in embarrassment, before glancing down at the sword in Pyrrha's hands.

"… I'm not sure you should be giving that to me, Pyrrha. I feel like rearming myself might fall under the definition of trying something…"

Pyrrha shakes her head at that, smiling slightly.

"You don't know Jaune like I do. He wouldn't… he doesn't want to hurt you. Not me either. He wasn't holding me hostage, mother, he was just making sure I healed properly. Here, take it. I promise, so long as you don't raise your blade against him again, nothing will happen."

… Slowly, Boudicca takes the sword from Pyrrha's hands. She frowns slightly, not quite liking the way her daughter is talking about the masked 'man' across the clearing.

"… If he raises his hands against you, I will raise my blade against him again. You know that right, Pyrrha?"

"M-Mother… he wouldn't do that. Jaune is…"

No, Boudicca supposes he wouldn't, would he? It wouldn't be 'logical', would it? Hmph. She knew what Pyrrha was going to say before her daughter even said it, so she goes ahead and bitterly finishes her sentence.

"A robot."

"… my lover. Wait, what?"

"Wait, what?!"

Boudicca's own befuddled response is loud enough to draw every eye in the clearing over to her. The two bandit women both go wide-eyed at seeing Boudicca rearmed with her sword, while Jaune stares for a second… and then looks back to Raven, seemingly uncaring. Boudicca gawks for a long moment, eyes flickering between Pyrrha and Jaune and back again. Pyrrha is doing her own impression of a goldfish, before ultimately letting out a giggling laugh.

"A robot? M-Mother! Where did you get such a crazy idea?"

Sputtering, Boudicca gestures to her own hand.

"He doesn't have aura, Pyrrha! But his so-called 'bones' are strong enough to stop my sword, even enhanced by my semblance! He's obviously a new mech designed by Atlas to infiltrate our Kingdom! Probably powered by dust!"

Pyrrha just stares at her blankly… before letting out a peal of laughter. Somehow, Boudicca gets the impression that her daughter finds her very, very funny indeed. Thinking over her own theory… and Pyrrha's words, Boudicca blushes profusely.

"… You laid with him? You saw his true face under that mask? He's… really just a man?"

For a brief moment, Pyrrha freezes up… but Boudicca is too lost in her own thoughts to notice. Because if Jaune IS just a man, then… then she was beaten by a man. Utterly defeated even. And not just that, she was defeated by the man who had taken her daughter's virginity. What was Boudicca supposed to feel about that?!

"Y-Yes, mother. Jaune is… just a man. Ahem, albeit a very special man. But he IS a man. Not… not a robot. Don't be absurd."

Well, now Boudicca just feels silly. And also strange. For a moment there, she had convinced herself that Jaune Arc was nothing but a facsimile. Not a real person, but instead an Atlas Mech in disguise as a human being. Dangerous and horrifying to say the least, but… no. She's not entirely sure HOW to feel, now that she knows the truth. That Jaune is a man… a man who not only beat her, but also was having sex with her daughter.

Boudicca was supposed to be enraged, right? She was supposed to be up and arms about that. So then why did she feel all strange and tingly? What was this sensation in her abdomen?

"I don't care. Do it anyways, Raven. Give it your best and I promise I will not punish you. But I DO want your best. Summer, get over here and help her."

Blinking, Boudicca refocuses her attention on what's going on across the clearing. Raven Branwen looks strained, to say the least. Still, she also looks resigned, as the blind one, Summer, gives a simple smile and a simple nod.

"Of course, Jaune. Come Raven, you can do it. Together, we'll make it work alright?"

"… I'm telling you; I've never been able to make a portal to Glynda Goodwitch before. I'm not sure why I would be able to do it now. There's just no way…"

"You have ME helping you. That's why it'll work now. Come, focus up."

Boudicca watches, Pyrrha at her side, as Raven nods sharply and waves her sword about. Nothing happens for a moment, and she grimaces before trying again. Once more, nothing happens… but a glance at Jaune shows him watching, and the bandit leader flinches before trying a third time. Finally, something begins to take shape. A shimmer, if you will.

Blinking, the Mistralian General soaks in the sight, as Raven's arm trembles, her sword outstretched. She's using her Semblance, Boudicca belatedly realizes. And Raven's semblance… is making portals? That would certainly explain a lot. Still, there must be some hard limits, because this portal is not coming easily. A small tear in the middle of the air slowly appears, bit by bit… but its slow going.

At the same time, even as it wobbles, Summer is there to grab Raven and hold her steady. She helps Raven keep her sword arm straight, and something that the blind woman is doing seems to help stabilize the portal. Slowly, it begins to grow from the size of an apple to the size of someone's head. Bit by bit, it actually looks like… she might actually do whatever Jaune wants her to do.

Boudicca tilts her head to the side, nothing more than a spectator at this point. Whether this works or not isn't up to her. What happens next… isn't up to her. For the first time in a long time, the General doesn't get to decide anything at all.

-x-X-x-

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