Chapter 31: Panic
Mal carefully checked her watch. Only a minute before it would be precisely six o'clock and she would have to activate the teleportation spell again. The current situation had made her quite restless. Just the thought of not knowing anything about what was happening on the other side frustrated her. She could only hope that Freddie was okay and that she had found everything that she'd been looking for on the isle.
There was also the issue of having to make sure the room was empty when she would get Freddie back. Luckily for her, Doug had chosen this evening to take Evie out on a date. Ben had an official royal visit to Charmington, something she would have otherwise hated. Jay and Carlos had a late tourney practice and Archer and his righteous sons had chosen to watch.
At the exact moment the time changed to six, Mal concentrated her magic and performed the spell to teleport Freddie back to her room.
A bright, white light appeared in the middle of the room, and Mal calmed down a bit when she saw a person appearing in the middle of it. Just as she turned away, she noticed that the person that had showed up in her room was definitely not Freddie.
Mal turned around with a shock as Harry Hook materialized right in front of her.
He apparently took a moment to take in his surroundings, before directing himself to Mal with a broad grin.
"Malsie, what a nice surprise." He said with a small, sarcastic hand gesture.
"Harry!?" Mal exclaimed as she stepped back in complete shock. Harry Hook was in her room! Harry Hook!? Mal still couldn't quite grasp what was happening as the reached behind her for anything she could use as a weapon. "Where is Freddie? What have you done to her?"
"Oh, don't worry. When I left, she was still alive and kicking." Harry smiled.
"If you hurt her, I swear to my mother Harry…" Mal started before Harry shushed her.
"Now, now. Calm down a bit. I have some things to tell you and then I'll be on my way."
"And why would I let you go? You do know that you're in a school!? There's hundreds of people here, who would all help me in taking you down." Mal replied.
Harry chuckled. "I'm not totally sure if you would want to do that. You want to see your pal Freddie again, don't you?"
Mal tried to calm herself down. "What have you done to her?"
"She's on the isle, my guess is that she's currently in captivity. And there are certain demands you have to oblige to for her release."
"Really? Blackmail. Again? Even you have to admit this is getting old." Mal complained.
"Ooh, but it is so much fun." Harry enthusiastically replied.
Mal thought for a second. On the one hand, she had absolutely no desire of falling into one of Harry Hook's traps again. But, this did concern Freddie in a major way. She just couldn't leave her to her fate. Freddie was all the way over on the isle. There was nothing that Mal could do to help her now. As much as she hated it, she had to agree to his terms.
"What do you want?" She asked with clenched jaw.
"Good girl. It's quite simple. You have to be at the Lost Revenge, tomorrow at noon. No excuses and all alone. If we even slightly suspect that you brought along other people, Freddie might not see the light of day again." Harry explained.
"Is that it?" Mal replied as she crossed her arms. "I don't have to bring fairy godmother's wand again?"
"That was not one of the demands." Harry said thoughtfully.
"What do you want with me? Arrange a nice and cozy public execution?" Mal asked sarcastically.
Harry pulled up his shoulders. "I don't question the orders, just passing along the message."
"So, you are following orders?"
"You should really think twice about being cheeky right now, Malsie." Harry said as he pointed his hook at her. "Or your dear friend might lose some body parts."
Mal swallowed. "So, if I come to you, Freddie will be released?"
"Of course. With not a hair out of place."
"Whose idea was this?" Mal followed up.
"Sorry?" Harry replied.
"There's no way that you did this all on your own." Mal said to him. "You wouldn't know a teleportation spell from a piece of moldy cheese. Who helped you? My guess is that it's not Gil, he knows even less."
"Ouch, now that hurt Malsie. Oh, and you're definitely right. I couldn't have done this alone, I have my associates, but I'm not about to burden you with all that information." Harry replied.
"You're a son of a bitch." Mal said grinding her teeth.
"All that foul language coming out of such a pretty mouth." Harry teased. "It's just not right. But I have yet to hear you agree. Tomorrow at noon, the Lost Revenge."
"Trust me, I'll be there. I am so done with playing nice to you all." Mal angrily replied.
"Excellent." Harry said as he threw his hands in the air. "Now go and send me back to the isle."
Mal pulled up an eyebrow. "Why would I do that? Instead of letting Auradon authorities take you away right now?"
"Oh, have I not mentioned this? If I'm not back on the isle by, ehm, seven, dear Freddie will meet an untimely and unpleasant demise." Harry said with an evil smirk.
"What? You want me to teleport you back to the isle?" Mal asked indignantly.
"Exactly. And before seven, we wouldn't want ol' Freddie to have to walk the plank, right?"
Mal was fuming. Not only had Harry, and whoever else was involved, kidnapped Freddie and wanted her to go to the isle to set her free, she now also had to use her magic to send Harry back!
"You know that you will pay for this." Mal breezed. "There is no way that this will end well for you."
"We'll see about that when we get there. Now, chop, chop. And there better not be a hair out of place when I get back."
Mal angrily snatched the keychain out of Harry's hand, spelled it again, and gave it back.
"Here, you hold this and concentrate on your destination."
Harry looked at the keychain with a mix of doubt and fear. "What will happen if I don't?"
"You will most likely end up in the ocean, or on a mountain or whatever. But, since Freddie's life is at stake here, I would appreciate it if you could just end up where we want you to." Mal said annoyed.
Harry grinned. "Good to know that you're still worried about me after all these years."
Mal couldn't contain herself and slapped Harry across the face, hard. Harry's head snapped back, but when he turned back to her he still sported his trademark grin.
"It's such a shame. You and I would have made a hot couple." He remarked.
"You disgust me!" Mal spat.
"Sticks and stones, princess." Harry replied before stepping back. "Tomorrow, noon, Lost Revenge. Print that in your memory."
Mal couldn't stand to look at him for another second and thus activated the spell. A bright, white light once again emerged from the keychain, consumed Harry and then disappeared along with him.
Mal let herself fall back on her bed. She started breathing heavily. All the panic that had erupted inside her now burst out. She had not wanted to seem weak in front of Harry but could now no longer contain herself.
Freddie had been captured. Freddie had been captured! This was all her fault. If she had simply told Freddie that she would not teleport her to the isle, this could have all been prevented. But now Freddie was at the mercy of Harry Hook and whoever he worked alongside with. If she would have just insisted that Freddie had to bring someone along, she could have gotten away.
Mal didn't know precisely how long she sat on her bed in confusion and fear. She had to find a way to get Freddie to safety, but how? If she would actually go to the Lost Revenge tomorrow at noon, she would most likely be captured herself and maybe killed.
She needed a plan. A plan that would get Freddie to safety while also not endangering her own life too much. But how would she be able to escape when she would most likely be surrounded by a whole horde of pirates? She quickly realized that she could not do this alone, she needed help.
Who could help her? Ben and the VK's were the obvious answer. Ben would do anything for her, she knew this, but she was scared of his possible reaction. If he would find out that she had sent Freddie to the isle without any of his input or approval, he would be angry with her, or worse, disappointed. The same actually went for the VK's. Jay and Carlos would be mad, but Evie would be inconsolable if she found out that Mal had basically let Freddie go to the most dangerous place in the world all by herself.
Mal knew that it would be terribly egotistical of her to not tell them in order for them to not get mad at her, but she was actually really afraid. Her relationship with Ben was going better than ever, they had even discussed marriage and kids briefly. What would he do if he found out that he had not told her of something this huge. Would he ever trust her again? Was their relationship strong enough to survive this?
The fact that Mal could not answer these questions infuriated her. Ben was her true love! She knew this. He knew it too. It should have thus seemed a forgone conclusion that he would support her whatever the situation. But she wasn't sure. If Ben would find out that she hid something from him, and especially since that something thoroughly endangered someone's life, would he support her or even forgive her?
Mal naturally liked to assume that Ben loved her unconditionally, but was she really willing to risk their relationship? No. Not for anything. Ben meant the world to her and she wouldn't be able to live without him.
Was she, however, willing to sacrifice Freddie's or her own life to protect her lie? Of course not! Whatever would happen to Freddie was her fault and she would do anything in her power to keep her from harm.
She took out her phone and was about to call Ben. But then the feeling of insecurity came back, was there really no other way?
Then she thought of something that could have very well been her last hope. The righteous sons. Surely Archer and his friends would help her. Archer liked Freddie and he and his troop had sworn fealty to her, that they would be at her disposal should she ask for it. They would also most likely be up for a fight and Archer had said himself that he would love to visit the isle some time. The knowledge of possibly going to safe Freddie with arguably Auradon's best warriors at her back also gave her an increased sense of security.
Mal quickly pushed any doubts aside and left her room. Any minute that passed might be a minute that Freddie's life becomes more endangered. Mal walked to Archer and Lancelot's room as fast as she could without looking too suspicious.
When she arrived at their room, she loudly knocked, impatiently waiting for the door to open. Aden was eventually the one who opened up, his hair still wet from an after-training shower.
"Hey Mal, what's- woah." Aden exclaimed as Mal pushed herself past him before he could finish his sentence.
Archer sat at his desk writing in a journal, while Royce sat on Archer's bed watching Lancelot and Alex play chess. Archer looked up when Mal entered.
"Hey Mal." He greeted with a smile. His look immediately hardened when he saw her face however. "What's wrong?"
Mal tried to calm herself but could not stop herself from starting to hyperventilate and tearing up. Archer hastily stood up and approached her.
"Mal! What's wrong?" He asked again and when Mal did not answer and kept hyperventilating, he grabbed her by the shoulders. "Mal!?"
Mal let herself fall against Archer's chest, where she started sobbing.
"She's having some sort of panic attack." Lancelot said as he stood up.
"I'll get fairy godmother." Aden said before heading towards the door.
"No! No!" Mal yelled and Aden was stopped dead in his tracks. "It's not… I don't… I need your help." She eventually managed to weakly state.
"Come sit down." Archer quickly said as he directed Mal to the most comfortable chair in the room, where she was then surrounded by the troop. "What's the problem? Why do you need our help?"
Mal quickly tried to calm herself, carefully breathing in and out. "It's Freddie." She eventually said.
"Aww, is she lovesick? Does she need some of that sweet Archer affection?" Royce joked, which caused him a hard punch to the shoulder from Alex.
"What's wrong with Freddie?" Archer asked.
"S-she… she… she has been taken." Mal stuttered.
"What!?" The entire group exclaimed loudly.
'What do you mean, she's been taken?" Archer asked pressingly.
Mal once again got overwhelmed by emotions but forced them aside so she could explain the situation to Archer. "Freddie has been taken, by someone from the isle. And now they're holding her for ransom."
Everyone in the troop gave each other confused and astounded looks.
"You're joking, right?" Aden hesitantly asked. "I mean, there's no way. How would they even get here? There's the barrier, and security…"
"They didn't come here, Freddie went to the isle." Mal explained.
"Freddie went to the isle?" Archer asked perplexed. "Why? Did she want to go back? Was she not happy here?"
"How did she even get there? She can't get in through the sea and she needs official permission to use the bridge." Lancelot added.
"Stop!" Mal yelled and everyone in the troop got startled. "Please, I need your help."
"Alright, alright." Alex said calmly. "Please calm down and tell us the story. We need the details."
Mal slowly breathed in again. "Yesterday, Freddie came to me about magical receivers." She explained.
"Magical receivers? Yes, we have been looking into those and she… wait, no!?" Lancelot exclaimed as he moved back a bit.
"What is it?" Archer asked. "Lance? What's wrong?"
Lancelot pointed a finger at Mal. "You helped her, didn't you? You helped her get to the isle!"
"What do you mean, Lance?" Royce asked.
"Freddie told me that she recognized one of the magical receivers that we had found! She said that she knew it was on the isle, and she wanted to go get it." Lance explained. "I naturally told her no, but she pressed on about wanting to use teleportation to get there."
"That's idiotic. The isle would be way too dangerous." Royce replied.
"That's what I told her, but she remained stubborn until the end. But maybe she got help from another magic wielder?" Lance questioned.
The rest of the troop looked at Mal either shocked or accusing as she buried her head in her hands.
"She practically begged me to. She wanted it so bad. She knew for sure that there was one on the isle and wouldn't take no for an answer." Mal pleaded.
"Y-you sent her to the isle!?" Archer exclaimed. "How?"
"Unbreakable teleportation." Mal softly replied.
"Unbreakable teleportation!?" Lancelot almost yelled. "To the isle!? That's extremely dangerous! When the caster is on the receiving end, like you were, he or she has no control over who or what gets teleported back! You should know this Mal!"
"Lance! Calm down!" Archer said with authority before addressing himself back to Mal. "What happened on the isle? Where did you teleport her to exactly?"
"To her old room. The magical receiver Freddie talked about was in her old house, owned by her father. We figured that, if I sent her directly to her room, she wouldn't need to go outside and would not be spotted. She talked me into it." Mal rambled.
Lancelot put his hands in his hair as he turned away from the group.
"Then what happened on the isle?" Aden asked.
"I don't know. I couldn't see." Mal replied.
"Then how do you know that she's been taken?" Royce asked incredulously.
"One of them used the teleportation spell to travel back here!" Mal spat. "Harry Hook, the son of captain Hook. He told me that he had kidnapped Freddie."
"Where is he now?" Aden asked as he stood up. "Is he still here?"
"No. He forced me to make another teleportation spell to send him back. They would kill Freddie if I wouldn't." Mal replied.
Archer hung his head in deep thought. "You said they held her for ransom, what is the ransom?"
"I have to go to the isle, tomorrow at noon, alone. Then they'll give Freddie back." Mal replied sadly.
"No way. You can't go all by yourself, then they'll just kill you instead of Freddie." Alex exclaimed.
"Well, we can't leave Freddie to die!" Royce intervened.
"I'm not saying that!" Alex shouted.
"Guys!" Archer yelled, and the two stopped squabbling. "I'm sorry Mal, but there's no way that we'll let you go there by yourself." Archer told her.
"I have to, for Freddie. It's my fault that she even ended up there." Mal pleaded.
"We'll come along." Aden opted. "We'll help rescue Freddie, or you after they let her go."
"You can't! If they see me go to the isle with anyone else, Freddie's as good as dead." Mal said panicking.
"Archer! We cannot let Mal go in alone, but we can't leave Freddie there either. What do we do?" Alex asked.
Archer stood up and stroked his chin. "How about we sneak onto the isle, apart from you, Mal? We go in either before or after you, wait until Freddie is safe and then help you escape."
"That's a plan." Aden pointedly said.
"Could that be possible? For us to set up some kind of ambush on the isle to get you out?" Lancelot asked.
Mal slowly nodded. "I think so, there are plenty of small passages and places to hide."
"That could work. We set me up one a roof to create a funnel with arrows, and then the rest of you go in hand-to-hand and take Mal out of there. Easy as pie." Royce said.
"How do we know when Freddie is safe?" Lancelot asked. The rest looked at him questioning. "I mean, when they let her go, in exchange for Mal, where does she go? She can't get through the barrier. How do we get her to safety?"
"Why not use another teleportation spell?" Alex proposed. "When you exchange yourself for her, Mal, you give Freddie another one of those teleportation items. Then you give some sort of signal, after which Lance can teleport her back to Auradon."
Everyone looked at Alex dumb-founded.
"Alex! That might be the single-smartest thing you have ever said." Aden said admiringly.
"Just one problem, how would I teleport Freddie away when I'm inside the barrier with you?" Lancelot asked.
"You can't." Archer answered. "I guess you should stay behind then."
"Not a chance." Lancelot protested. "I am part of this troop and I will not willingly send the rest of you into danger."
"This is important!" Archer grunted. "Lance, our goal for this mission is to make sure both Freddie and Mal are safe. You have to admit that what Alex just proposed is a good plan. Please, we need you to do this."
Lancelot bit his own lip. "Fine. But I will join you as soon as I've made sure Freddie is safe."
"As long as you don't die trying." Archer smiled.
Mal had followed most of the conversation with open mouth. All she had done was explain the situation, and immediately the troop had started making plans to make sure everything would turn out fine. There were little to no accusations towards her, or Freddie. All they wanted was for everyone to turn out okay.
"Who else is joining us, besides Ben of course?" Aden then asked, which caused a breath to get stuck in Mal's throat.
"Ehm, n-no one. It's just us." Mal eventually replied weakly.
Aden raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Of course Ben will join us. You're his girlfriend! He's part of our troop."
"I haven't told him!" Mal said with more power this time.
This seemed to shock the troop even more than some of her previous outbursts.
"You haven't told him? What do you mean you haven't told him?" Royce asked incredulously.
"I did not tell him about teleporting Freddie to the isle and I also have not told him that she's been taken." Mal quickly said.
"Why not?" Archer asked coolly.
"Freddie asked me to!" Mal hastily said. "She knew that Ben would never approve for her to go to the isle, you know, after what happened to him."
"And it now appears that his suspicions were quite correct." Royce said loudly. "Archer, we can't do this without approval from Ben. I mean, he at least has to know about it."
Archer kept looking at Mal with his blue eyes, and she saw something resembling disappointment in his eyes. "I have to agree with Royce here." He eventually told her. "Ben must know, he's our king, and more importantly, our friend."
"No! No! Please! I'll tell him after, he has to hear it from me." Mal pleaded.
"That's not how any of this works!" Archer shouted.
"You pledged your sword to me!" Mal yelled as she stood up. "You all did. You said that, should the need arise, that you would all be at my disposal. You swore to that!"
Archer looked kind of taken by surprise by Mal's outburst and gave his friends a perplexed look.
"Well, she's got you there dude." Aden eventually said. "We did kind of make ourselves her personal little soldier squad."
"Damn me and my good intentions." Archer mumbled. "Alright, you are right. You command, and we serve, though I am not fond of this."
"Do you think I am? I hate lying to Ben, but this is something I have to solve myself." Mal explained.
"Very well." Archer replied. "So, the plan?"
"How do we all get to the isle?" Aden asked.
"I can just spell my scooter to get me across the water, that's what I did last time." Mal said.
"We do have to alert the authorities." Lancelot said. "We can't all cross the bay just like that."
"I'll speak with them, I still have the authority to tell them to let us pass." Archer said. "We'll just have to get there by boat I guess."
"The barrier can be penetrated from outside." Royce added. "So that shouldn't be a problem."
"We should only go in after Mal." Archer said. "You can bet a pot of gold that they'll have lookouts. After Mal has arrived, they'll probably lower their guard."
"They'll probably follow along in hopes to see me get killed." Mal said begrudgingly. "I'm not that popular on the isle right now."
"So, Aden, Alex, Royce and I will first infiltrate the isle. We wait until Freddie is safe, and then look for an opportunity to get Mal out of there." Archer clarified.
"Pretty much." Royce said as he let himself fall on Archer's bed again.
"What will be the signal for to know when to teleport Freddie back?" Lancelot asked.
"Something simple, that can be spotted from a distance." Aden said.
"How about a flare?" Mal proposed. "Just get me one from the coastguard, and when it's time, I'll light it up."
"That's good. You will be able to see that from far away, Lance." Archer replied.
"I agree, it will probably work." Lancelot said. "Just don't forget to tell Freddie that she has to focus on Auradon, otherwise I might not get her safe."
"I won't forget." Mal reassuringly told him.
"After Freddie is safe, you stand guard outside the barrier, Lance. When we retrieve Mal and head back you have to temporarily open the barrier for us. We will use a flare to signal you then as well." Archer said.
"I won't fail you." Lancelot replied.
"What time did you say that you had to be there?" Aden asked.
"Noon, at the Lost Revenge. That's the pirate ship of Harry Hook and Uma." Mal explained.
"Uma!?" The troop said loudly.
"You don't think she had anything to do with this?" Alex asked.
Mal shrugged. "Maybe, this does fit right in her street."
"Then she might have returned to the isle, right under our noses." Archer contemplated. "Anyway, we'll deal with all of that later. Right now, we need to get some rest. We get up early tomorrow to prepare."
The rest of the troop nodded and left the room one by one. Eventually, only Mal, Archer and Lancelot remained.
"Thank you." Mal softly said. "For helping, I mean."
"It's kind of literally my job." Archer replied with a small grin. "Don't worry Mal, we'll get her out, it will all be okay."
"I know. I trust you." Mal replied before leaving as well. Though she did feel somewhat reassured by how well Archer and his troop seemed to be able to handle situations like these, she could not help but stressing out about it all. Tomorrow, she would most likely have to fight for her life again.
Okay, so things are about to go down in a major way.
Upcoming chapters require a bit more time to write, so please be patient.
A big thank you to everyone who has been keeping up with the story.
As always, feedback is appreciated.