Z28

The Ghost Walks Again

By Marzena

Chapter 9: Reunion

Jedda flew into her father's waiting arms the moment he stepped out of the copter. He looked horrible, with his clothes all torn, badly wounded and rather dirty. But it was the Phantom alright. And father and daughter hugged each other tightly, sharing a long moment that nobody dared to interrupt.

"I thought you were … gone!" Jedda cried, still holding her father tightly, not ever wanting to let go. "We searched and searched, but ..."

"I was unconscious, got washed up ashore pretty far from here", he replied, not letting go of her either. "Had to make my way back here through the jungle … and as you can see, I'm still not in great condition, I'm afraid. I … barely made it."

"But you did make it, Father! You are alive!" she exclaimed, overjoyed and happy.

They were interrupted by Hadea dropping her staff and seating herself on a rock, sighing.

"Don't mind me, but all this standing and moving about doesn't go well with my leg at the moment, so ..."

"Hadea," the Phantom merely said, nodding his head.

"Phantom," she replied back, allowing herself a small smile. "Back from the dead, I see?"

"Barely," he said, cutting the conversation short and telling her with one little word how close a call it had been for him.

"I'm just so glad you are alive, Father!" Jedda interrupted, hugging her father again.

Half an hour later they were in the half-destroyed hidden village of the Falou where a medicine man had tended to their wounds and a woman had brought them some food and water. But everyone's main concern was young Partha now, lying on the ground, his wounds tended to but still unconscious.

"He's barely alive," the medicine man announced, sounding worried.

Jedda, who'd taken the mask off now, was kneeling beside the young man. She was very pale herself, blaming herself for what had happened. If she hadn't told Partha to save his people, maybe he wouldn't be lying here right now. But then again the little boy might be dead if Partha hadn't been there to save him.

"Get the last flask of elixir from my hut!" the chief commanded one of his men. "Quickly!"

The man ran for the hut and disappeared, and the chief sighed and looked at the Phantom. "With Ming knowing about the elixir, the Falou will never again be safe. There will be no more elixir left, but just in case Ming will come looking again, we will find ourselves another home as soon as my son's well enough again."

The Phantom nodded in agreement. "With the elixir you cheated life," he told them. "We must all do the best we can with the time given to us."

Some of the Falou didn't look to happy about hearing this, but some of them nodded. None of them spoke. But Hadea was finally getting the picture.

"So the elixir makes them immortal," she stated. "They live forever!"

So it hadn't just been a mere health elixir, healing the sick and wounded. It had made them unable to age, unable to die! No, even she hadn't known about this. Otherwise … well, it was a tempting thought, wasn't it?

"That means, Partha is … ancient!"

That came from Jedda, who, obviously, had been in the dark about the true power of the elixir as well. She looked up at her father, who nodded to both what Jedda and Hadea had just said.

"That's right," he just said.

They didn't wait around for Partha to gain conscious. He would do so eventually after being healed by the elixir, and he would have some explaining to do to his people as well. But on the bright side, if there was any with so many people dead and wounded, the Falou were now finally free. They would age, but they could also join the world now and be part of it, erasing all their traces here so nobody would be able to track them down again. And if someone did, well, that was still what the Phantom was for. To protect them.

"It's time to go home, Jedda," the Phantom announced, leading the way to the Skull Copter.

"Yes, Father," she agreed, following him.

Hadea did follow, too, but she kept her distance, knowing fully well that she didn't belong to their little family and never would.

There was barely room in the copter for the three of them, but they managed. Jedda proudly took the controls again, and they rose high up in the air, finally flying back home.

The Defenders were thrilled to have the Phantom back, and after the three of them – the Phantom, Jedda and Hadea – had taken a bit of a rest, they met up in Monitor again. Jedda was back to wearing civilian clothing and from the look her father gave her it was clear that he was immensely proud of her. He'd also taken a minute to thank Hadea – with a simple "thank you", but she knew him well enough to know that in a way, he was proud of her, too. And thankful for keeping his daughter safe. Although Jedda had proven to be more than capable and hadn't needed much safekeeping at all. But Hadea was glad she'd come along on the mission nevertheless.

There was a smile from Jedda as well. "So I did need a babysitter," she said, passing Hadea on her way out of the room.

"Not really," the older woman replied. "You did fine on your own. You just needed a friend."

"You're not my ..." The girl blushed, realizing what she'd been about to say was downright rude, but Hadea just laughed because that was the kind of conversation she was used to and could easily handle.

"No, I'm not," she agreed. "But we've made a pretty good team, at least that one time. And let me tell you this, Jedda Walker. You've made a very good Phantom."

And that was nothing but the truth.

Jedda opened her mouth to say something but Hadea kept on walking until she was out of the room. Approaching her father later, Jedda was still thinking about what Hadea had been saying.

"I think Hadea just paid me a compliment," she said. "She told me I've been a very good Phantom."

"That indeed you were," her father agreed, putting a strong arm around her shoulders. "And you still are. You don't need the costume to be the Phantom. You just have to have faith in yourself and in who you want to be. I am very, very proud of you, my daughter."

She smiled happily at him, and he returned the smile, a rare thing with someone as serious as the Phantom. But he was truly happy to be back with his daughter and the rest of his extended family. Someday it would be Jedda's time to take over the mantle of the Phantom, but for her sake and his he was glad it wasn't today.

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