Z22
The Ghost Walks Again
By Marzena
Chapter 3: Decisions Are Made
The next morning, Amy's vision was all over Headquarters. And they didn't like one bit.
"If I could just talk to her," Rick said.
April rolled her eyes at him. "And do what?" she shot back. "Looking at her with puppy dog-eyes is surely not very helpful, brother."
"You being a bitch isn't helpful either," he muttered.
"Cut it out, you two!" Flash shook his head at both of his kids. "We've lost a close friend and teammate. Don't you have any respect for that?"
April and Rick didn't say anything more after that, but when Rick passed Amy down in the mansion later, he stepped in her way.
"Are you sure?" he asked, and she didn't have to inquire what he was talking about. It was written all over his face.
"Well, she was wearing the uniform," she replied. "What else could it possibly mean?"
Unfortunately, Rick didn't have an answer to that, and neither did LJ, to whom he spoke later.
"You know Jedda as good as I do, Rick," LJ said. "It does seem like her to do something like that. I've heard Sheila talking to Mandrake and Lothar this morning. She mentioned twice that Jedda was raised for this very moment. It's different for us, Rick. We might have footsteps of our fathers we can follow one day, but Jedda ... she's got this whole legacy-thing on her shoulders. She's next in line. Without her, there will be no more Phantom legacy."
"I wish you hadn't said this," Rick sighed. "It's so absolutely true. She'll walk right in here any second now, declaring that she's ready to fulfill her destiny. And it's not even our place to stop her."
"Well, I guess there's no harm in talking to her, if you think it might help," LJ said, but sounding doubtful. He already knew the outcome of this conversation. Jedda could be very stubborn and once she'd set her mind on something, she usually pursued that down to the very end.
Worried, Rick went off in search of Jedda, carefully avoiding his sister on the way. He didn't feel up for April's mockery right now.
Walking down the corridor to Jedda's room he met Sheila, and his step-mother's expression told him all.
"You talked to her?"
"I did."
"Amy was right then?"
"Oh, she certainly was. When I walked in, Jedda had the uniform in her hand, holding it close against her body. She didn't even seem surprised to see me walking in. It's like she expected it."
"She's her father's daughter all right." He looked down at the polished floor. "I came here to try to talk her out of it, but somehow I don't think I can anymore."
"You can try," Sheila replied, but she didn't sound very encouraging.
Rick took a few steps closer to Jedda's door, and Sheila kept walking in the other direction. She was very worried. Jedda was being stubborn, but Sheila could understand the reason behind her decisions. Not only was Jedda the only one left to fulfill the Phantom legacy, but also in doing so, the young girl obviously tried to keep the memory of her father as close as possible. Taking over his duties also meant that somehow, he'd remain by her side.
Mandrake appeared in front of her, and she shot him a dark look.
"If one more person will ask me about Jedda, I'm going to scream," she said through gritted teeth.
"Well, I wasn't going to ask." He smiled at her. "And you, my dear, should get yourself some hot tea or coffee and sit down for a while. The situation is not going to change with you fretting over it."
"I'm not fretting."
"Whatever you say, dear."
Mandrake escorted her to the cozy salon and some time later they were both drinking Mandrake's favorite English tea. Indeed, Sheila felt a bit better now.
"She's taking off," she said, looking out of the big windows, but not really seeing the beautiful view of Mandrake's gardens out there. "She's taking off on her own to face her father's enemies, to take over his mission, but ... she's a young girl, Mandrake. She think she's ready for this, but she's not."
"You can't stop her, Sheila. And neither can I. In fact, I've tried too. I offered to come along, to aide her, to support her."
"Let me guess – she refused?"
"She's not willing to accept help from any of us. It wasn't the way the Phantom handled things. She wants to do this on her own. She thinks she has to. She wants to make her father proud."
"There's nothing wrong with accepting help, Mandrake!"
"I know that. And so does Jedda, but ... well, she's grieving, she's hurt, she's in pain. She focuses all that on battling her father's enemies, the ones responsible. She can't help it. It's a natural reaction."
"But ..."
"She doesn't think we understand. He was our teammate, our friend, yes. But he wasn't family. Right now, Jedda feels isolated with her pain. She wants to confront it, but I have to say, this is not the right way. There will be too much pain and loss to focus on. The enemy will soon have the upper hand."
"Did you tell her that?"
"I tried, but ..."
Sheila bit her lip, putting her cup carefully back down on the table. "She needs someone who can relate, and someone to look after her," she slowly repeated.
Inquiringly, Mandrake looked at her. "You seem like you have an idea?"
"More like ... a hunch. There's someone here who's grieving more than she'll ever let on. And it's someone who never let emotions cloud her better judgment."
There was a glint in Mandrake's dark eyes, and he looked at Sheila, his hand with the teacup paused in mid-air. "You're not saying ..."
"I'm saying exactly what you're thinking right now."
"Oh, but she'll never ..."
"She will. Either on her own, or I will drag her out to do it."
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