Z24

The Ghost Walks Again

By Marzena

Chapter 5: Unlikely Allies

"What are you doing here?!"

Walking in, ready to take the Skull Copter to fly back to the secret hiding place of the Falou, fully dressed in the purple Phantom getup, Jedda came to an abrupt halt when she saw Queen Hadea standing next to the Skull Copter, wearing one of her revealing white dresses, holding the staff that carried the magic of Netherworld.

"Now what do you think?" Hadea curtly replied, not moving an inch.

"Whatever it is, it will have to wait. I am leaving now," Jedda said, and stepping closer, she opened one of the doors of the copter. But to her surprise, Hadea reached over and slammed it shut again.

Irritated, Jedda looked up. She really didn't know what to make of Hadea. The woman was the only one that hadn't reached out to her after she'd come home with the devastating news. And she chose now of all moments to make conversation? Or rather, to force conversation?

"What do you want, Hadea?"

"Isn't it obvious?" the Queen of Netherworld asked back. "I'm joining you, girl."

She – what! Stunned, Jedda stood still for a moment. She certainly hadn't expected this. Why would she want to come – which was out of the question anyway!

"No", the girl firmly replied, glaring at the older woman. "And now please move aside and make way. I need to leave immediately."

But Hadea again didn't move an inch. "That is not up to discussion, Jedda Walker", she stated. "If anyone's leaving, it will be the two of us."

Finally, Jedda's temper exploded. She didn't mean to. True, she didn't like Hadea very much, but since the woman was part of the Defenders of the Earth and Sheila's sister she'd been nothing but polite around her. But right now it was all too much. She was the Phantom now. She had a mission. And the one thing standing between her and that mission was Queen Hadea, blocking her way to the Skull Copter.

"Get out of my way! If I want to leave, you cannot stop me! You don't have the right to stop me, Queen Hadea! So do me a favor, mind your own business!"

"That's exactly what I'm doing right now."

Not losing her icy cool for one second, Hadea grabbed Jedda's arm and forced the girl to look up to her. Jedda was rather tall herself, but to a really tall woman like Hadea she still had to look up. That made her pissed again. She was getting pissed easily these days.

"Tell me what you are feeling right now, Jedda," Hadea demanded to know, not letting go of her arm.

"Annoyance with you?" Jedda snapped, glaring at her. What did she want?

"You're angry," Hadea stated matter-of-factly. "And you're sad and you're devastated and you're ..."

Finally Jedda managed to get free, stepping back but still holding Hadea's gaze. She would not give in to that woman. She was way to proud for that.

"Of course I am! My father just died, remember?!"

"And that's just my point. You are in no position to go out there on a mission, facing the ones that are responsible for what happened."

"So you decided to, what? Accompany me and babysit me? Did the others put you up to this?!"

She was pretty sure they had. To give them some credit, they hadn't much tried to talk her out of becoming the Phantom. But her going on his mission hadn't sit well with any of them. Rick had tried to offer her to come along, but she had politely declined. It was something she had to do on her own. But now Hadea didn't even ask, she just assumed that Jedda would take her along.

"You're the Phantom now," Hadea replied without answering her question. "That's a right that's absolutely yours and a choice only you can make. It's what you were trained for. But it's also a responsibility you have to grow into and a title you have to earn by making the right choices. And storming into battle because it's what keeps you from crying all night isn't the right choice. And neither is avenging your father because that's the last thing he would want for you to do."

Jedda listened to all this in silence, and she was smart enough to know that what Hadea said was right. But she was also stubborn – and the Queen of Netherworld of all people giving her advice on how to handle things?

"You're right," she finally replied. "I am the Phantom now. And I can assure you, I'm not seeking revenge. But someone has to protect the Falou. This has always been the Phantom's job. And now it's all up to me."

"And rightfully so. Your father would be proud. But you don't even know what's going on there. And just to prevent you from making a mistake ..."

"I'm not going to make a ..."

The Queen sighed, and, rolling her eyes, she stepped aside and opened the door again that led inside the cockpit.

"After you, darling."

"Didn't you hear me say ..."

"I heard you. Now, after you."

For a moment, Jedda considered leaving her and trying to sneak out later. But then she reminded herself that she was an adult now. The Ghost Who Walked did not sneak out. He took his copter when going on a mission like all the other adult Defenders did, too. She would not start her first job as the Phantom with behaving like a teenager. She had too much pride for that.

"I'll take you along", she said between gritted teeth, knowing there wasn't much she could do about it. She couldn't possibly attack the other woman, although she would have loved to. But it was out of the question to attack a teammate, no matter how annoying she was. Besides, Hadea was way to powerful to mess around with. And an action like that would only prove to her and the others that Jedda wasn't ready for the job.

"I never expected anything else", Hadea replied, nodding, obviously satisfied with the outcome of the situation. She climbed into the copter right after Jedda did, leaving the girl to handle the controls, something which Jedda was thankful for. She just couldn't sit around doing nothing during the rather long flight, only having her thoughts for company. And knowing Hadea, there wouldn't be much conversation.

"You do know it's a secret hiding place?" she asked, a warning tone in her voice. Technically, the Defenders already knew the place because Dynak kept track of all their vehicles and their whereabouts and because they had to search the gorge for …

"Don't worry, girl. Your secret's safe with me," Hadea said, interrupting Jedda's thoughts just at the right time.

Jedda just gave her a knowing look – Hadea's track record with secrets wasn't exactly the best – and then the copter took off, leaving Monitor and heading towards their destination.

----------

Next

Previous

Article

Author