*The Chronicles of F.R.E.E. Atania's Knight - Raquel Festow* Part 1

Chapter 8 - Meeting the Astrovian Crew

*Raquel Festow POV - Earth*

Perkins arrived early the next day to come and take us to Dean and Hewitts house. He had brought some clothes with him for us to change into, because the clothes we had from Atania were pretty much destroyed. He handed me a purple top and black trousers, Clara he gave a yellow top with blue trousers and Xavier he gave him a blue patchwork type top with black trousers. We put them on, but I had to admit, I was not liking the trousers. They were clinging to my legs so uncomfortably and riding upwards. I might have well been naked.
"We're just waiting for the doctor to discharge you, and then we'll go." He told us as we waited in my room. He looked a bit hesitant about something.
"What is it, Perkins?" I asked him encouragingly.
"Errr... Well, have you guys heard of a car?" He asked us, rubbing the back of his head and looking like he was dreading the answer.
"No. What is that?" Clara looked up with interest from where she was sitting with Xavier as they studied his phone. She had been eager to try his phone out for herself, after I had told her about the things called pictures on there. Xavier had been excited to give it a go too. Perkins had shown them that there was more than one picture and how to move from one to the other.
"It's a vehicle. Something that we use to get to other places that's much quicker than walking and running. It's a large metal box on wheels..." He seemed to struggle with how to explain it to us.
"A metal box?" I said in awe.
"Does it have pictures too?" Xavier asked him eagerly.
Perkins laughed awkwardly. "Um, no. But it has seats and then you travel along the roads to other places." He told us.
We all gaped at him for a moment before squealing in excitement and jumping around together. Perkins chuckled uncomfortably, looking like he was regretting something.
"Good morning, Raquel, Clara and Xavier." Came Audrey's voice as she came into the room holding some flat paper. "We just need you to sign some things and we can let you go."
Xavier, Clara and I all nodded, beaming with happiness that we were leaving to see more of the Realm Earth. It was incredibly exhilarating to experience a new world for the first time.
Audrey laid out three oblong sheets of paper on the bed and handed us each a quill, but the glass tube with the black line in it just like Perkins had used when I first met him. They were fiddly to hold because they were so rigid and uncomfortably straight. Quills bent gently to the shape of your hands so were much more easier to write with.
I finished off writing my name with a flourish, grinning widely at the paper before looking at Audrey. She looked sad.
"What's the matter?" I asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Oh, I'm just going to miss you lot. You have made the last week so entertaining with your quirkiness. It was refreshing. But I am glad you all made such a fast recovery." She gave us a warm smile that didn't reah her sad eyes and her Aura was fading in and out.
"You're lying." I pointed it out. "Your Aura is telling me so. What's really the matter?"
Audrey froze, not expecting me to pick her up on it, before sighing and letting her face fall. "Chelsea has handed her resignation in this morning. She met a patient and has fallen hard for him, and he has for her too. She was the only thing that was bearable about working in this place before you showed up."
I gave her a stern look. "You're upset because she has found her soulmate?" I accused her. "Do you realise how selfish that makes you sound?"
She stared back in shock that I was telling her off. "N-No, I didn't mean it like that. I was just saying how sad it was that everyone who has made this place happy and bright is now leaving. This will just make this place a little difficult to deal with now." She tried to explain. "I'm not jealous, I'm just going to really miss them and not looking forward to how much this place is going to change after she goes."
I sighed. "I know you're not the jealous type. Your Aura tells me that you're pure and true, but you have to be careful. The most negative of thoughts can change your Aura and turn you red. Once you change to red, it's a lot more difficult to turn back to gold and a lot easier to change purple, from which there is no return." I advised her, my face very serious.
Her face stared blankly, trying to make sense of what I said. "Er, ok. I will keep that in mind..." She didn't sound like she would, but I was more interesting in trying out the car Perkins had mentioned.
"Can we go?" I turned to Perkins who had been watching me speak with Audrey in speechless bewilderment.
"We- Yeah. Yeah, let's go." He nodded and picked up a rattle and took his phone off Clara and Xavier, much to their disappointment.
We followed him back along a white, long hallway to a set of silver metal doors. They looked very ominous and threatening. He pressed the first circle I had seen for a while that was on the wall to the side and waited. There was a single bell toll and the doors opened by themselves. Xavier, Clara and I all stepped back in horror. We hadn't seen anyone open them... How did it know we were waiting?
Inside was a small room with no furniture or rugs, but the walls were mirrors.
Perkins put his hand inside and beckoned for us to get inside. Hesitantly, we followed his instructions, gripping hold of one another in fear, wondering why we were going into a doorless room.
Perkins followed us inside and looked at another lot of circles on the wall just by the side of the doors. He pressed the bottom one, turning it red and stepped back, letting the doors shut and lock us in. Xavier and I looked at each other in terror. Clara, however, looked closely at the circles and then pushed her finger against them all. Perkins realised what she was doing and tried to stop her, but they were all already red.
"Oh for fuck sake, Clara! You're worse than Taylor!" He snapped at her, looking very angry. She cowered away from him and I stepped in front of her.
"Don't make me change your Aura, Perkins." I threatened him.
"It's going to take ten times longer to get to the ground floor now, Raquel!" Perkins complained.
"She didn't know that, though, did she? You really do not want to upset me, Perkins!" I shouted at him.
Perkins gave me an exhasperated look, before turning away and scowling. There was another single bell and the doors opened, revealing another long hallway, but more empty. We stared out in amazement before the doors shut again.
The doors opened seven more times, each showing a different hallway, some busier than others until the doors opened for the last time and there was another huge, oblong entrance with a pole in the middle where you could see straight outside. Perkins ushered out of the small, mirrored room and we watched the doors shut behind us.
"It was a portal room!" Xavier breathed out in awe, staring at the silver doors.
I nodded in agreement, just as surprised as he was. We both turned to the oblong archway and saw blurry, huge objects fly across it. Clara couldn't wait any longer and ran to it, ignoring Perkins attempt to stop her. She crashed into something and fell back. Xavier and I ran to her side to make sure she was ok.
"It's blocked!" She cried out, rubbing her nose. "We can't get out. It's a trap!"
Perkins was bent over laughing at her. "It's a glass door." He explained, wiping his eyes and opening it up.
Xavier and I helped Clara to her feet and took her outside.
All we could hear was a rushing noise that was overwhelmingly loud, sometimes a strange honking noise would be heard along with the humming of hundreds of voices all talking at once. Black smoke was coming out of fast moving, huge, shiny blocks that sped past on black ground and people, dressed in all sorts of clothing and colours with serious looking expressions, were walking beside them on a raised platform. The buildings surrounding us and the straight strip of ground, had more than one floor and rose high above us towards the sky in big rectangular shapes with squares for windows leading all the way up the sides. The sky was grey and cloudy and the whole atmosphere felt sick and dying.
Xavier, Clara and I cast wary looks at each other. Maybe this wasn't such a wonderful place after all. Perkins led us towards a place where some of the boxes we could see travelling past us at fast speeds were at a stand still and lined up in numerous neat rows of two.
"These are called cars." He explained to us loudly over the roaring noise as he walked towards a silver coloured box. "This is called a car - park. This is where we park cars when we're not using them."
The 'cars' were very much like how Perkins had described when we were back in my room waiting for Audrey. They weren't quite oblongs, and they seemed to be two shapes on top of each other. The corners more curved and it was quite low to the ground, resting on circular black wheels with a smaller silver circles in the middle. There were glass windows like the door Perkins had led us outside through, meaning you could peek inside and see two seats towards the front with high backs with a pillow for your head and two black sticks in between them. They seemed to be pushed up to a very narrow table, about the width of your hand before it met a large glass window, with one seat having a round handle to rest your hands on in front of it, a lot of little black squares on a small wall in front of the sticks in the middle and there was a gap underneath to put your legs. Behind the two front seats seemed to be a comfortable looking bench that allowed three people to sit on. There were no cushions but the fabric that covered it was in a patchwork to show where you could sit. The front of the car jutted out, like your bottom lip does when you pout, and there was round circles on the front with shiny mirrors inside and a little ball in the middle. The rear end of it seemed to round off with more circular shapes that were red and white.
"It's like a cart with more seats but with no horse to pull it..." Xavier murmured, walking around it with his mouth gaping open.
Perkins rubbed the back of his neck. "Should have used that to describe it instead." He muttered to himself before he clapped his hands together looking at us all. "Right, let's get out of here. Xavier, Clara, you two will be sitting in the back. Raquel, you will be sitting in the front with me. Do not touch ANYTHING!" He strictly warned us, pointing his finger at us.
We silently nodded and Perkins helped us into our seats one by one. We had to have black belts go over our laps and across our chests when we sat down, Perkins telling us that they were for safety. We exchanged expectant looks with each other, wondering what was going to happen next.
Perkins sat in the seat with the round, circle for a hand rest and took out the rattle from his pocket. I furrowed my brow as he chose one of the objects on the rattle and blindly put it somewhere making the car roar to life.
Xavier, Clara and I screamed in terror as the seats started vibrating and humming loudly.
"What's happening?!" Clara screamed, gripping hold of the belt across her chest in fear.
"It's ok. Calm down!" Perkins shouted over our screams. "I've just turned it on. I suggest you keep quiet from now on. No screaming, yelling, shouting, or... Actually, you know what, close your eyes and keep them closed until I tell you to open them."
We did as we were told, and all clenched our eyes shut. We felt a lurch and we could tell we were moving because we swayed with the motions and pull when we turned corners.
Suddenly, we could hear soothing, gentle music that had violins, guitars, a harp and a piano playing. 'When did he manage to fit a band in here with us?' I thought, and fought the urge to open my eyes and look around. We obediently stayed quiet and listened to the dull, gentle music for over an hour.
"Is this music alright?" Perkins voice finally spoke to us.
"Umm." Xavier responded.
"Can you ask them to play something a little more cheerful?" I asked, turning my face blindly to where I knew he was sitting. "Although they're playing beautifully, they are kind of boring."
Perkins snorted loudly. A split second later, the band had changed to playing a much better, happier tune that now included pan pipes and a drum. I couldn't help but sway along with the rhythm of the music.
"That's better!" I complimented. "You are all very good."
Perkins burst out laughing and I opened my eyes. We were moving without anything pulling us. People and buildings were rushing past us in the opposite direction as we followed the road especially for cars it seems, and I was shocked to discover there was no band in here with us.
"What?!" I blanched. "Where are they?"
"Who? The band?" Perkins asked, struggling to keep a straight face.
"Yes! I wanted to watch them play and thank them." I said, looking around to Xavier and Clara who still had their eyes shut and curious expressions as they listened to us talking.
"I thought I told you to keep your eyes shut?" Perkins smirked, shaking his head slightly, but not moving his eyes away from what was in front of him. He was turning the hand rest and it seemed to be turning the car in the direction he was pulling it. I looked in front of us and saw the rear end of the car in front of us.
"Where is the music coming from?" I said, looking in all the directions that it was coming from. It seemed to be playing from all around us.
Perkins sighed. "I'm not going to get into it, because I have to deal with enough of the 'why', 'what' and 'how' questions from my daughter when I'm at home. Although, it's a lovely change to have someone listen to what you tell them to do and they do it without complaining." He mused, finding a positive and making his Aura glow brighter.
I smiled at him. "Where are we?"
"We are just about to go through Dartford, along the M25. Could you close your eyes again until we get there? It will help stop anymore difficult questions coming up about what you see." He seemed to be begging me, so I obliged again, but I still wanted to talk.
"Are we going to see Dean and Hewitt?" I asked.
"Yes, along with a few others that want to meet you. My fiancée, Robin and our kids, William, Darren and Taylor. Sawyer and Ashdown. Ryder and Edwards are coming but they're leaving the kids with their parents. And finally, Hunter and Gerri." He explained.
I tilted my head as he spoke. "What are they all like?"
"You'll like them." He reassured me. "We all went to Astrovia together along with Watson and Hodgson, so have known each other for at least twelve years now. They're all eager to meet you three. Some more than others, though."
"What does that mean?" I furrowed my brow.
"Well, we have met a couple of people from Atania before. Thing is, while some of us find you amusing and funny, others tend to find you... intimidating..." He seemed to trail off.
I opened my eyes to see him and shook my head. "I can't see why we would be intimidating. I mean, we're the happiest Realm of them all. We're peaceful and loving. What's not to like about us?" I asked.
"Don't worry about it now, ok. Just try and give good first impressions." He advised and I nodded my head.
I had to admit I was feeling nervous about meeting so many new people all at once. I preferred to meet them individually so I got a feel for the person's Aura and personality, but that is made quite difficult when you're meeting a large group. Will they like us? Were they all good? Would they be able to find out what happened in Atania and check if everyone was ok for us?
I closed my eyes again and lent back in the vibrating seat, smiling as the sensation was slightly comforting.
"You know? I quite like being in a car. The vibrating seats are really quite pleasant." I said to Perkins, smiling in his direction but doing as I was told and keeping my eyes shut.
He cleared his throat loudly, almost sounding like he was covering up a laugh.
"Is that right?" He said, his voice higher in pitch.
I hummed back as a way of saying yes and we slipped back into silence as we continued on the journey.
"We're here!" Perkins said eventually and we opened our eyes as we felt ourselves coming to a stop in the car.
We were down a very grey, narrow road with a wall that had doors leading off it on either side, stopping us from seeing more of what was around us. Perkins took his belt off and got out. I watched him walk around the front of the car, grinning excitedly, before opening the door and helping me take my belt off and get out too. I stepped towards the front of the car and let myself stretch out. Bending at the hips and gripping my ankle, deciding to do a quick Tension Release while Perkins helped Xavier and Clara out of the car.
"Ok, we re- Raquel? What are you doing?" I heard Perkins ask me in an amused voice.
"What does it look like I'm doing? There wasn't any room to do this in the room I stayed in. This is the first chance I've had to do any stretches since arriving here." I said, calmly, my eyes closed and concentrating on the pulling of my muscles as they stretched and relaxed into the different positions. But it didn't feel right and I sighed, giving up and letting my arms fall by my sides.
"What's the matter?" Perkins called over, sounding confused.
I turned to him and gave him a defeated look. "It's not the same doing it with clothes on. The clothes are creating a barrier that the tension can't release through. I should really be doing this naked."
Perkins suddenly seemed to be choking on something. Clara and Xavier were patting him harshly on the back while I watched in horror. I ran towards him, but he waved his hands to stop us, coughing but breathing.
"Perkins. Are you ok?" Clara said, rubbing his back gently.
Perkins, still coughing violently, nodded harshly with his eyes looking anywhere but at me. I scrunched my face up, feeling a little hurt and upset that he was avoiding looking at me. What had I done wrong? Perkins turned away from us and led us through a doorway in the wall through a little garden towards another door. There wasn't any flowers, just flat, hard, pale ground.
He reached the door and started banging his fist on it, desperately.
There was a clonking sound and the door swung open to reveal Dean looking very concerned for her choking friend.
"Perkins, are you ok? Why are you coughing?"
"Don't... Ask..." Perkins said, pushing past her to get inside.
Dean watched him go, then looked back at us, her face changing to a beaming smile. "Hello, guys! It's lovely to see you all again, please come in!" She said, warmly and moved out of the way to let us come in.
Clara and Xavier went in, nodding at Dean, cheerfully, as they passed.
I stepped up in through the door and forced myself to smile at her. I was worried that I had nearly killed Perkins just then and wanted to apologise, but I didn't know what I had done or said that was wrong.
Dean noticed that I was acting a little strange. "Raquel, are you alright, hun?"
I sighed and hung my head. "No." I admitted. "I need to say sorry to Perkins for nearly killing him, but I don't know what I did that was wrong..."
Dean looked shocked. "How did you nearly kill him? You haven't got any weapons." She pointed out.
"I was trying to explain why the Tension Release wasn't working and then he suddenly started choking. I feel so guilty, Dean."I admitted to her sadly.
She gave me a reassuring smile. "I'm sure you just made him jump and something went down the wrong way or something. Now, come and meet the others. We're all here, apart from Hunter and Gerri. They're getting the train so will be longer."
I nodded, pretending to understand, but I had no idea what a train was. Dean placed a hand on the small of my back and led me, with the others behind, through another door.
"Everyone, I'd like you all to meet Raquel, Clara and Xavier." She said loudly.
I looked up and saw many faces all looking strangely at us. We were in a large room with tables and chairs pushed back against the wall, making it feel very untidy.
There was Hewitt, smiling widely, giving us a small wave. Perkins was standing next to the lady who had been in most of his pictures, Robin I think he called her. There were three children, one not much younger than us. Then a giant man and a tiny woman were holding each other, grinning excitedly, with both their hair was the colour of fire. Then finally a very tall man with black hair and grey eyes standing with an arm protectively around a small, petite lady with blonde hair pulled back away from her face, her eyes sparkling green and bright smile. They all had different shades of golden Aura's and I felt my concerns melt away.
I bowed to them all slightly and smiled. "Relxa." I said. "I am Raquel from Wacchica, Atania. This is Clara and this is Xavier, both from Alzicante, Atania."
The small crowd greeted us back and started to come over to introduce themselves.
The firey red haired couple approached me first.
"Hey!" Said the giant man first. "My name's Edwards, and this is my fiance, Ryder. We're so excited to meet you all! I can't believe you're actually here."
He pulled me into a one armed hug and I awkwardly returned it. I noticed their Aura's were connected to each others but the girl, Ryder, had a dark, almost orange Aura. I frowned at her.
"Why are you scared?" I asked her.
She started, not expecting me to ask her that. "I-I'm not." She lied.
"You are. I can see your Aura is almost orange. Something happened to you didn't it. You haven't been able to let it go..." I trailed off when I saw her face fall. Horrified I had upset her, I quickly tried to turn it round. "But it's great to see you found your soulmate. I have never seen soulmates who have had the same hair colour before." I gave them my best grin and they seemed to forget what I had said before and smiled widely.
I inwardly breathed a sigh of relief when the man with black hair and the blonde lady approached me next.
"Hi. My name is Ashdown and this is my husband, Sawyer." Ashdown said brightly.
I had never seen such bright Aura's before. Sawyers was practically as bright as the suns back in Atania and Ashdowns only a touch dimmer than his. They radiated love and compassion for each other. But I frowned when I noticed Sawyer looking me up and down warily.
"It's nice to meet you. I see you have married your soulmate too. It's great to see you have all found the other half of yourselves. Very promising." I grinned widely at them and Ashdown chuckled.
Sawyer made a low noise at the back of his throat, raising an eyebrow. I could tell he didn't like me, so I tried to change that.
"You're an interesting one." I said to him, smirking. "Brightest Aura I've ever seen, meaning you have given yourself a duty of protecting others, but what you are lacking is trusting people when you first meet them." I cocked my eyebrow, smugly.
He raised both his eyebrows before his smile broke through and he let slip a chuckle.
"You are like her." He grunted.
"No, she's not." Perkins said, suddenly appearing next to him with his fiancee.
I blinked at him and frowned. I hung my head, showing my shame. "I'm sorry."
Perkins shook his head and put a hand on my shoulder. "Don't apologise, I just wasn't expecting you to say that. Like, ever!"
"Say what?" Sawyer asked, his face falling back to a frown.
"I told him my Tension Release wasn't working because I was still wearing clothes. But it's against Atanian rules for a girl under sixteen to be naked in front of a man."
"Damn right, too!" Sawyer said, nodding. "Wish Moreno knew that when we visited Swindmore."
"You knew Clemency Moreno too?" I asked, eagerly.
Perkins wife, Robin, nodded. "We met her in Swindmore when we were in Astrovia."
"How do you know her?" Sawyer asked.
"She was the one who sent us here by giving us the Portal Bracelets. I didn't leave on good terms with her though. I had thrown a bowl at her head because she was speaking into a box when we were trying to find my parents." I looked at Perkins. "It was just like your phone."
"You threw a bowl at her head?" Sawyer chuckled.
I nodded. "She was annoying me."
"Even other Atanians can't stand her!" Sawyer laughed.
I turned to Perkins Fiancée. "Relxa, I don't think we've been properly introduced. I am Raquel." I bowed to her slightly.
She giggled. "You can call me Green. It's nice to finally meet you. I've heard some very interesting things about you. And I will never forget our first phone conversation."
I gave her a bashful smile. "I'm sorry I shouted at you. I didn't know if you would hear me."
She laughed and pulled me into a hug. When she released me, she had tears in her eyes and her Aura was flashing alarmingly, warning me that she was very close to turning red if I wasn't careful. I gave her a timid smile, feeling very aware that I needed to be careful around her. She turned and beckoned to the three children to come over and see them.
"Raquel, I'd love you to meet our children. This is William, he's eleven, Darren who's nine and Taylor who's six."
I smiled at the children who stared back in awe.
"Dad, she looks just like her!" William breathed.
I frowned. Again I was being compared to the Watson they knew. I had an idea.
"Perkins, do you have any pictures on your phone of Watson?" I asked him.
The atmosphere suddenly felt very tense. It was Dean who spoke next.
"Raquel, come and look at this, here." She called me over.
Clara and Xavier, who had been meeting the others individually too, came with me. She was pointing at a drawing on the wall. It was just at head height but it was behind some of the tables and chairs, so I wasn't close enough to see it properly.
"Can you get it down for me?" I asked.
Dean nodded and took it off the wall before handing it to me.
With Clara and Xavier looking over my shoulder I looked at the drawing. It was all of them in armour in front of a two storey house in the middle of a forest. There was Dean and Hewitt holding each other, Sawyer and Ashdown looking lovingly at each other, Edwards and Ryder were poking their tongues out, and Perkins was standing next to Green with his arm around her and the other over her belly. She must have been pregnant when they drew this. Then there was four people I didn't recognise. A light haired boy with a dark skinned girl grinning widely and a dark haired boy with... ME?!