Chapter 28: Retrieval

There was a knock at the door. "Come in." Mal answered. She was alone in her room at the moment, laying on her bed and drawing in her sketchbook.

Evie had promised Dizzy to take her out for ice cream and Ben had to attend another charity event of the brand-new villain kid orphanage they had helped to create. Mal had been there to introduce all the kids to their new home and had made sure that it would suffice for all their needs but had left all the official business-related things to Ben.

The door opened, and Freddie entered the room.

"Hey Freddie." Mal greeted as she closed her sketchbook. "What's up?"

"Nothing much." Freddie said as she fidgeted with her sleeve. "I just had to ask you something."

"Alright. What about? Are you okay?" Mal said as she paid more attention to the way Freddie fidgeted with her sleeve.

"What? Yeah, of course. I'm fine. That's not what I want to talk about." Freddie said.

"Is this about Archer again?" Mal asked with a bit of hesitation, she honestly had had enough of involving herself in Archer and Freddie's love life.

"What!? No! Everything Archer-related is going great. I just wished people would stop bugging me about that, it's like they expect me to be completely heart-broken or something." Freddie answered as she dropped down on Evie's bed.

"I just asked to be polite." Mal said. "I know you're fine and I actually like to keep my nose out of other people's romances."

"I know you do, and I love that you do it, or don't do it, whatever. But I'm here to ask your help for something."

"Anything." Mal said as she sat up straight. "What do you need?"

"Has anyone told you already that Lance and I have been looking into magical receivers? You know, to enhance my magical abilities." Freddie asked.

"Ben has mentioned it." Mal said. "Why, have you found any?"

"In the sense that we know where one is, yes." Freddie answered. "But I need your help to get it."

"Ooh, an adventure, fun. Will there be some magic ritual for me to perform?" Mal said as she slid off her bed and conjured up sparkles with her hands.

"Not necessarily." Freddie said as she started fidgeting again. "It's not getting the receiver that's troublesome, it's getting to where the receiver currently is."

"Why? Where is it?" Mal asked, not a bit suspicious.

"The isle." Freddie answered.

"The isle!?" Mal exclaimed loudly.

"Yeah, the isle." Freddie said timidly.

"How do you even know that there's one on the isle?" Mal asked.

"Well, me and Lance were scouring through books in the library looking up known magical receivers and we found a list of more recent ones. I recognized one charm that was shown, my dad had it in his room on the isle." Freddie explained.

"Are you sure?" Mal asked, just to be certain.

"Yes, I'm sure. He made me clean the house countless times and I've had to move that trinket all the time. I'm sure Mal, it's there." Freddie said.

"And you actually want to go and get it?" Mal asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah." Freddie softly said.

"Are you out of your mind!? Going back to the isle!? Just for some trinket!?" Mal blurted out.

"You don't understand!" Freddie said loudly as she jumped up from Evie's bed. "All my life I've felt the magic inside me, unable to use it inside the barrier, and now I finally can. But it's so hard to learn, even with Lance and you teaching me whatever you know. Lance had told me that nearly every magic wielder has had to use receivers when they started out, especially those that only learned later in their lives. Please Mal, I want this so badly."

Mal hesitated. "Is there no other way? There have to be more of those receivers out in the world."

"None that we can use." Freddie said. "Please Mal, these things are so rare! The chances of finding one are second to none. It will be quick, just in and out. Please."

"Have you talked to Lance about this, or anyone else?" Mal asked.

"I have. I told Lance about the charm, but he says he can't perform such an operation himself, at least not without permission from Archer or another high-ranked officer. But they know nothing of the isle, they've never been there. They can't take me, you can." Freddie said.

"Freddie, I can't go back to the isle! Not again! They hate me there. Especially with all that Uma business around cotillion, Harry Hook would love nothing more than to make me walk down the plank." Mal said almost hysterically.

"I'm not asking you to come with me, just to get me there." Freddie said.

"How would I? I don't know how to drive that fancy limousine." Mal told her.

"I'm not saying that we should take the limousine. I've done some research, there is a special unbreakable teleportation spell that can be cast over certain objects." Freddie said excitedly. "We can use it from here, set the time for the spell on about an hour so that I have the necessary amount of time to find the charm, and then I'll just teleport back. As simple as that."

"Great, so why don't use it yourself?" Mal asked with a bit of sass.

Freddie saddened. "I can't. As I said, I don't have sufficient control of my magic yet. I can't perform a spell like that yet, but you can."

"Freddie." Mal groaned. "You're asking me to break pretty much every imaginable law here, and I'm the king's girlfriend."

"Come on Mal, it's to help me. With something I really want." Freddie begged. "And I know you, you're not a perfect goody-two-shoes yet. You like some mischief, some wickedness. Just look at this as a fun adventure."

"In a fun adventure we go out into the mountains or on sea, not to a place inhabited by literally every person in the world that wants to kill us." Mal said.

"It's not like I want to go on vacation there, just teleport there, get the charm and get out. Simple as that. It will be completely safe. When I find the charm, I will simply hide for the rest of the hour and after that you can activate the spell from here and get me back." Freddie reassured her.

"How would that spell work?" Mal asked.

Freddie was excited now that Mal seemed a bit intrigued. "You enchant an item, preferably something small, and then you can send me to any location whatsoever." Freddie said.

"Anywhere? Just like that?" Mal asked.

"Yeah, well, it helps if you know the location. Mages used it before to simply quickly travel home whenever they would need to. It's harder to teleport to a place you haven't visited yet. But you know the isle Mal, just like me, you can just teleport me into my old room!"

"And how would I get you back?"

"We agree upon a time, say one hour, and that's when you activate the spell. The item which I then possess will start to glow and I will need to hold it in my hand before I will be teleported back to right where you are." Freddie said.

"Will the spell even work inside the barrier?"

"As long as it is activated here, yes. The spell is unbreakable, as long as you are here to call it."

Mal turned away from Freddie. On the one hand, she really did want to help her. Freddie had had a tough time arriving in Auradon, especially with all the Archer business, and she really seemed to want this. But on the other hand, even thinking about going to the isle, even for a simple retrieval, pretty much bordered on insanity. Even with Uma gone, there were still plenty of people that would want to hurt them.

Mal then found herself thinking about ways to avoid trouble in spite of herself. If Freddie would simply stay in her room, or at least in her house, she would actually have a fairly large chance of going unnoticed. Freddie's father was still on the isle, so his stuff would probably still be intact. No one would expect her, no one on the isle even knew of this sort of magic. All in all, it would probably work if they planned this right.

"Alright, say I will help you." Mal began and Freddie sat up straight with a hopeful look. "Can we at least inform some people in case something goes wrong?"

"Nothing will go wrong if we plan this out correctly." Freddie said quickly. "Please Mal, you know Ben, or Lance, or Archer would never let me go to the isle."

She was definitely right about that. Especially about Ben, after his own harrowing visit to the isle he would never allow Freddie to go. But Freddie was a villain kid, she grew up on the isle, she knows how to stay out of trouble and behave herself.

"So, on top of everything, you ask me to keep this hidden from Ben?" Mal asked as she crossed her arms.

Freddie's shoulders sagged. "I know, it's horrible of me. But you know he would never allow this."

"You're asking me to lie! And I have promised Ben that I would never lie to him again." Mal complained.

"I'm not asking you to lie. Not telling him of our plans is not lying, it's just, you know, not telling something." Freddie said unsure of herself.

Mal sighed. "How badly do you want this?" she eventually asked.

"More than anything, I want to practice my magic to its full potential." Freddie replied.

"I will need a promise from you." Mal said.

"Anything." Freddie eagerly replied.

"You cannot leave your house, under any circumstances! You have to try to keep yourself hidden from everybody! You get to the isle, locate your little trinket and then just hide!" Mal demanded.

"Yes, yes! Of course! What did you think? That I would like to be ambushed on the street by the gangs, of course not!" Freddie quickly said.

"Then alright, just this once I will break the rules to help you, but don't expect anything for your birthday." Mal said.

Freddie shrieked and pulled Mal into a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"We still need to plan this out, do you have any idea when you wanna do this?" Mal asked.

"As soon as possible. I see no reason to wait that much longer. You would just need some time to maybe practice the spell and then I'm good to go." Freddie said.

"I will look into the spell." Mal said. "Come back here this evening so we can plan everything out, if I'm satisfied with everything you can go tomorrow, we won't have school anyway."

Freddie shrieked again and tried to pull Mal into another hug, but she stuck out her arms.

"No more hugs, please." Mal said.


"So, you know the plan? It's simple enough. I teleport you, you find your charm and just stay hidden afterwards. Try to not interact with anyone while you're there. Try not to make any sound! Just act like a freaking shadow, then no one should notice you." Mal said to Freddie.

"Jeez, I know Mal. I was there when the plan was made." Freddie replied.

Mal pulled up her eyebrows. "Are you really getting snarky with me right now?"

"No! No! I wouldn't dare." Freddie replied with a smile.

Mal and Freddie had prepared to their upmost for Freddie's trip to the isle. Freddie had exchanged her Auradon clothes for something a little more isle-like, she would take a small bag with her to put in any items she wanted to take back as well. They had agreed that Freddie would get exactly one hour on the isle to find what she was looking for, before Mal would teleport her back.

Mal had used a simple keychain on a necklace as the item Freddie would use to teleport. Freddie could simply wear it around her neck, so it wouldn't get lost and Freddie would easily notice when it would start to glow.

In the case of an emergency or accident which would cause Freddie not to be able to travel back initially, Mal would try again every ten minutes for one more hour. If Freddie wouldn't answer, due to something horrific or whatever, Mal would call upon Ben and the righteous sons to get her out of there.

Mal was quite nervous, but also excited. It had been a long time since she had last broken the law and she did feel as though she and Freddie had taken every possibility into account.

"Are you ready?" Mal asked.

Freddie swallowed. "Yep, just do it."

"It's 5 pm right now, so I'll get you back at six. Please check the time regularly and don't fall asleep." Mal said.

"You got it boss." Freddie replied.

"Good luck." Mal said and she and Freddie shared a brief hug.

"Three, two, one, go!" Mal said loudly and she made a small hand gesture at the keychain around Freddie's neck.

It started glowing and emerged Freddie in a bright, white light. Freddie would now have to fully concentrate on her destination, her room, and she would get there. Suddenly, the light disappeared, and so did Freddie.

Mal breathed out loudly, hoping that her spell had worked. It would be quite embarrassing to have to retrieve Freddy out of the sea or a high tree or whatever.