*The Chronicles of F.R.E.E. Earth's Knight- Ruth Watson* PART 3 - Mournstead

Chapter Four - Rebecca

*Asuna's POV*
The phone line wouldn't stop ringing and I cried out in frustration.
"Where is that useless waste of space?!" I shouted and ended the call.
Atkinson wasn't answering his phone. He has been avoiding me for the few months since I last spoke to him. I was now growing tired of his games.
I bent my head down and sighed.
When I last spoke to Atkinson, I berated him for not filling out his report in full and carrying out his own sentencing rather than waiting for us to advise further. He hadn't told me that Watson had acted in self defence and was protecting her friend from a rapist, nor that she had run away. Nor had he told me that he had already given her a sentencing. It hadn't been until Watson herself had let everything slip to Needham and he called me to tell me, that I found out the truth. I was furious. How dare he disregard protocol and go with his own initiative! I called him that night from the apothecary and told him he will soon be leaving, so he was told to pack his things and get ready to leave after three days.
The thing was that, the very minute the call with Atkinson ended, Rebecca had been in contact to instruct me on telling Watson more about FREE and it's inner workings. Atkinson had been pushed to the background while I told Watson everything I knew about FREE, the Overseers, Order of Verdicts, the Realms, everything I could think of. Watson didn't listen to a word of it. She couldn't give a damn that she was destined to have a life of protecting and serving others. She was more interested about looking after the subjects of Earth and making sure they went home with their memories. That was never going to happen, but she seemed to think threatening me was going to make it happen.
Sorry, love. Not a chance.
I found myself warming to Watson in spite of myself when I was in Astrovia. She had made many friends, she had earned her respect by being kind and caring, not by kicking arse and bullying. She was friendly, loving and funny. Everyone seemed to be drawn to her. She had gone through the worst start while on her training, and it affected her badly sometimes. The incident with Stainton had given her a fear of being seen as the villain, which wasn't the case at all. No one who knew her would call her or even think of her as the bad guy.
Rebecca stated that this was the only thing that was holding her back from reaching her true potential. Once she shook off this paranoia, and realised that she can be the one to make a difference, then she will become the knight they need her to be. But she had this stubborn attitude of wanting to protect her friends that was also holding her back. She wouldn't leave them alone and go out to build her skills and become stronger solo, instead she opted to grow stronger with them in tow. This was making the process longer than it needed to be.
Watson is nothing like how her dopplegangers are. Rebecca is strict and bossy, but of course, she is protecting the Realms. She comes across as intimidating but has a heart of gold. Ruby is a loner. She prefers her own company and couldn't care less about others. She has a lazy attitude, but does put the work in when she knows it's needed. Rhianna is bloody scary and threatening. She had taken the longest time in Astrovia before she was ready to join FREE because she lacked the humanity and compassion needed to be a knight there. She still technically did lack the compassion but she had stopped killing just because someone had made her angry.
"Felicity!" I called out to my secretary.
"Yes, Asuna." She said, appearing at my office door.
"Have you managed to get through to Atkinson on your end yet?" I demanded.
Felicity shook her head. I balled my fists up.
"Right, I'm going to pay him a little visit!" I snapped, gathering my files to put away.
"Oh, Asuna. Before you go, Rebecca wanted to meet with you." Felicity said quietly.
I spun round to look at her, my eyes wide. Rebecca wants to meet with me? Why can't she do it over the phone?
"Did she say why?" I asked timidly.
"Yes, she said she want's to go to Astrovia with you next time you go."
"Shit!" I knew why she had come here. She wanted to know whether I had got rid of Atkinson yet. "Ok, fine. When is she coming?"
"I'm here now." Rebecca said, coming into view in the doorway. She wore a purple corset with a black cloak around her shoulders, a pair of tight black trousers, and her sword, CometFell, hung at her hip. She looked slightly older than Watson, but only from all the scars on her face, not from age and her hair was shorter as it was shoulder length, not waist length. Felicity tried to duck out of the room and Rebecca let her leave. "What's been going on over there?" She folded her arms, leaning on the doorframe.
"Atkinson has gone AWOL and decided to sentence Wa-Ruth with execution even though we hadn't given him any sentence yet." I gave her the short explanation rather than the long one, and grabbed my watch and small black satchel from the desk drawer. "Have you...?
"I have my watch, Sugo. Thank you." Rebecca had one of her eyebrows raised as she watched me.
"Right, well I thought I would start in Ozryn and surprise him at his office." I said, putting my watch on as I spoke and avoiding her glare. Suddenly, her hand clamped over my wrist tightly and I slowly raised my eyes to meet hers. I couldn't help but wince at her tight grip.
"I know about that. I meant with Bowers and Alpin!" She said through gritted teeth.
"Oh, Alpin is currently in Narthwich dungeons and Bowers disappeared." I said to her.
"You haven't removed him yet?!" She snapped at me.
"Well, no. You wanted me to teach Watson about FREE. That kind of took over. When I came back here after it was rumoured he was with-"
"You still shouldn't have left him there, Sugo! Haven't I taught you anything?! Does Ruth know?"
I shook my head, nervously. "No she doesn't know that she caught him for us. Just that there is a rat out there."
She spun herself around and took her phone out of her pocket. "What are you doing?" I asked, nervously, as she raised the phone to her ear.
"Telling Natalia I won't be back for a while. You've let things slip too far now, Sugo. There's too many cats among the pigeons." She said, giving me a stern look.
I felt a pang of guilt mixed with failure and disappointment in myself.
"Hello, darling." Rebecca said, smiling as she spoke to her wife. "Look's like things haven't improved, so I'm going to have to comb the area out... No, that won't happen, I'll be sure of that... No, you're not! You're staying right there!"
She turned away from me and wandered out of my office so she could talk in more privacy and I took a couple of deep breathes. I rubbed my forehead trying to massage out the headache that was starting to form.
"Call Moreno and let her know you will be visiting her shortly," Rebecca appeared back around the corner, she had the mouthpiece covered on her phone so Natalia couldn't hear. "Don't tell her I'm coming with you!"
I nodded but internally groaned as Rebecca disappeared back behind the door frame. I disliked Moreno greatly, but Rebecca had selected her for the job personally, so we had had no choice in the matter. I took my phone out of my pocket and called Moreno's number. She answered after the first ring.
"How are you, Asuna?" Moreno's soft voice said in greeting.
"Moreno, I will be coming to visit today." I said curtly. I heard her squeal, and thought I better mention something before she said anything else. "No parties!"
I heard her groan. "Not a teeny, weeny, incy wincy party to celebrate your arrival?" She said silkily.
"No!" I snapped at her, the headache starting to intensify.
"Ok, sweetness. I just don't get to see any of you," She sounded disappointed, but I didn't let it affect me.
"We won't be staying for very long. I'll let you know when we're on our way." I said and cut the line.
I sighed. I really didn't want to visit Moreno. What did Rebecca see in her?! I snatched up my cloak and threw it over my shoulders.
Rebecca then chose to reappear, looking fed up. "Let's get going. The sooner this is over, the better."
In unison, we fiddled with the dials, changing the location, and pressed the sides of our watches. A split second later and we were standing in a foot of snow with the bright, early morning light blinding us slightly. The thatched rooftops of Ozryn peeked over it's surrounding fence that was just in front of us. I pressed another button on my watch and took the form of my younger self, but Rebecca didn't bother doing the same.
We forced our feet to walk through the snow and approached the main gate, that were flanked by teenagers in rusting armour.
"Who goes there?!" One boy shouted as they saw us. Rebecca hung back in the shadows.
"P-please, help!" I called out to them, pretending to be lost. "W-we need a place to stay warm!"
"Let them in!" The same boy called out and the gates opened to let us in.
We both walked through the gates, unable to stop shivering from the cold. Rebecca put her hood up, and pulled her cloak tighter around herself. The place felt dreary and, even though it looked picturesque in the snow, it was a dull place. No where near as alive as Narthwich. The subjects dragged their feet, looking weary and depressed. Not the most promising start to seeing Atkinson's pride and joy he had boasted about for so long.
We walked up to the hall at the far end and let ourselves in.
"Wait! You can't just come in here..." An angry voice shouted as we closed the door behind us. A boy with greasy, dirty blonde hair, a thin white shirt, dark trousers that were held up with a bit of string and brown sandals stood in front of us with his hands on his hips. He looked at me, then over to Rebecca. His eyes widened.
"Watson?" He whispered slowly.
Rebecca lowered her hood and smiled at him.
"What are you doing here?! Atkinson will have you executed!" He panicked, taking her hand and pulling her through the busy hall, keeping close to the walls and through double doors into a wide corridor.
"I'd like to see him try." Rebecca said, lowly. "Where is dear Atkinson? Him and I need to have a little chat."
The boy stopped and looked round to her, confusion on his face, "What's happened to you?" He asked quietly, his eyes travelling over the scars on her face.
"Altercations with Coffinhounds," she lied. "Now, where is Atkinson?"
"H-he's not here. He left a few months ago. He sent four groups out to look for you almost six months ago, now. Hodgson and Perkins were one of the groups. Did they find you?" He took a step towards her.
"What's your name?" I asked him, curtly.
"Styles," He answered me, giving me a strange look.
"I could have told you that!" Rebecca said, looking at me amused. She was choosing to impersonate Watson. "Right, we will take a little look around Atkinson's office and then take our leave." She spun on her heel and burst through the double doors back to the main hall.
The humming of voices ceased immediately as Rebecca walked back into the hall, and headed for the door on the right, leading to Atkinson's office.
"WATSON! HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" A voice bellowed from the top table on my left. Three boys leapt over the table, pulling out their short swords.
Without hesitation, Rebecca removed her cloak and flung it away from her, turning slowly to face them while removing CometFell. She held the long, glittering, silver sword above her head, pointing upwards.
"Hello, lads!" She smirked round at them all. "Who's first?"
The three boys faltered, staring at her in bewilderment. I knew they were looking at her in her corset and tight trousers. I shook my head, typical teenage boys. I looked around at the other boys in the hall, and they were all staring at her silently, their eyes wide. Most of them were looking shocked, while there were others looking worried or amused. A few were even glaring at her, angry.
Rebecca lowered her blade, pointing it towards the three lads that were frozen to the spot. "Is there no one who dares fight me?" She challenged, a scary smile crossing over her face. "The knights of Ozryn are scared of a girl?!"
That seemed to work on one of the boys. He ran forwards, raising his sword to attack, but Rebecca easily slid her sword to the side, before swinging it to meet him. She caught him in the stomach with her blade, lifted him up and flung him across the room. The boy screamed in pain and fear before tumbling into some of the tables, rolling to a stop, whining in agony.
The hall went silent, all eyes were on Rebecca. They started to all back away and whispers started to fill the hall.
"She has gone mad."
"What is she doing here?"
"Look at that sword."
"She's going to kill us all!"
Rebecca cleaned the blood off her blade with a cloth from her pocket before raising it above her head again, smirking at the terrified faces.
"Anyone else want to try?"
No one moved. There was no sound apart from the injured boy's whimpering.
"Oh, come on! Your master has spoken hasn't he? I'm up for execution, am I not?" She teased, cockily twirling her sword in one hand. "You're not going to disobey orders, are you?"
Still no one moved, so she sheathed Cometfell, looking satisfied. "Sugo! Give that kid a potion, will you? I'll meet you upstairs." She turned and went into the door towards Atkinson's office.
I shook my head, smiling slightly. I took a small phial of green potion from my satchel and approached the boy. He was bleeding badly from the stomach and looked very pale. He was trembling as I came closer to him, his terrified eyes following my every move.
"Drink this, then someone take him to his room to rest!" I ordered.
The boy didn't take the bottle. He was like a statue, laying on the floor, staring at me, not trusting me. I sighed and rolled my eyes.
"Fine! I don't have time for this." I snarled and pinched his nose. His mouth opened as he gasped for air and I tipped the phials contents into his mouth, before snapping his jaw shut, releasing the hold on his nose and using both of my hands to clamp over his mouth.
I waited until I heard him swallow before letting him go. He wretched, coughing and spluttering and his 'friends' knelt down beside him.
"Get him to bed. The wound should heal within an hour." I snapped, turning and following Rebecca's route through the door.
Reaching the top of the stairs, I entered Atkinson's office to see Rebecca rummaging through his drawers. It looked a mess in here. Papers were everywhere, drawers, cupboards, wardrobe were all open and empty.
"Looks like our little friend made a quick exit," Rebecca said, her eyes looking up at me from where she was bent over at the desk. "He's taken his phone but he's conveniently left this behind."
She lifted up his watch.
"So we can't track him..." I whispered in realisation.
She nodded, and took out a pile of papers from the drawer she was looking in.
"He was very thorough with his... 'Research'." She mused, raising an eyebrow at the papers while she flicked through them, glancing at each one.
"Yes." I nodded and approached the desk. "His reports were impressive from the very beginning. He never missed a beat the first few months. He decided to miss out that Watson had run away after she had that incident with that Stainton boy, though."
"He held interrogations with all the subjects after that, it seems." Rebecca handed me a piece of paper.
I took a closer look at Atkinson's hand writing. He had names written down followed by a brief account of their alibi's on that evening. I scanned down the page and noticed a name I recognised. Perkins.
'Perkins - Adament he had been in hall at dinner time, then retired to his bedroom early. Green's boyfriend, very protective and defensive of her. Possible he could have taken action if Stainton said anything that could have been misinterpreted as aggressive or flirtatious. Not the suspect, but possible accomplice.'
I raised my eyebrows at his notes.
"He seemed to have suspicions on three boys. Hunter, Perkins and Hodgson." Rebecca said, looking closer at another piece of paper.
I nodded. "They arrived in Narthwich while I was there. Needham had been told the story from Watson, and immediately relayed it all back to me after she told him. I knew she had been accused of murder by then, but didn't know the whole story because Atkinson didn't know himself. He seems to think this Stainton is as innocent as they come..." I pulled a disgusted face at Atkinson's stupidity and ignorance.
Rebecca threw the papers over her shoulder carelessly, before taking a seat in the wooden chair and putting her feet up on the desk, picking up his watch as she did so. She fiddled with the dials and studied it closely. I put my hands on my hips and walked to the wardrobe behind her.
"Interesting," I heard Rebecca muse behind me. I turned to look at her back and she showed me the watch without looking round. "He received two calls from an unknown number a few months ago. Since then, it's only been you and Felicity that have been trying to contact him. Moron doesn't realise we can see his call log from this, obviously." She chucked the watch at me, and I fumbled to catch it.
Rising to her feet, she stretched before taking Cometfell from it's sheath to look at it. It glowed slightly before it flashed blindingly and returning to normal.
"What are you doing?" I asked her.
"Sending a message to Ruth. She needs to know that danger is coming for her." She smiled, pleased with something before turning to me and sheathing her weapon again. "Let's go to see Moreno." She smiled knowingly.
I groaned.
"What?" She shot me a toothy grin. "I thought you liked Moreno?"
"No. I can't stand the woman!" I folded my arms and pouted.
"Oh stop being such a teenager!" Rebecca chuckled, looking at her watch. "I like her. She's... special." She snorted. She pressed the buttons and disappeared.
I let out a very heavy sigh and followed her lead. I was transported to the forest just outside of Swindmore. The snow hadn't managed to penetrate through the forest canopy.
"Brrrr," Rebecca said, wrapping her arms around herself and rubbing her hands over her shoulders. She looked down and tutted. "Forgot my cloak, be right back."
She pressed the buttons and disappeared, then reappeared a few moments later with her cloak, her laughing high pitched and contagious.
"You should have seen their faces!" She squeaked out before throwing her head back and laughing harder.
I tried to hold back a chuckle of my own. I could imagine the hall full of already freaked out lads breaking into chaos as she just appeared, picked up her cloak, probably made a snide comment at them before disappearing again.
She used her cloak to wipe away her tears of laughter, her other hand resting on her stomach, before thrashing her cloak round and putting the cloak back on her shoulders. She pulled it closer to herself and started to walk forward, still chuckling slightly.
I shook my head, a smile finally stretching across my face and followed her quietly.
"Oh, will you just fuck off!" She suddenly shouted, and drew her sword, swiping at something to the left of her. A Razorsnare fell to the ground, sliced clean in half and convulsing. "I don't have time to deal with these things! I have a date to get back in time for!"
She wiped the blade on the inside of her cloak and returned it back to it's sheath, resting her hand on the hilt as she continued walking.