Melinoe stumbled along behind her frantic mother. Sam didn't seem to know which way to run except away from Leto. Once Melinoe regained her senses from being pushed through countless walls, she pulled her mother to a stop in the hallway. Sam panted breathlessly but turned to her daughter worriedly.
"Mel, we can't stop here," Sam urged, pulling on her daughter's arm.
"We came in the speeder. We can get away in that. But we have to find Tucker and Danny first," Melinoe informed her mother. Sam blinked and nodded.
"Lead the way. Quickly," Sam prompted.
"I don't know which way Danny or Tucker went though," Melinoe admitted.
"Let's find Tucker. Danny will be able to make his own way," Sam suggested, even though both women knew Sam didn't want to leave Danny behind. Melinoe nodded obediently and pulled her mother down the corridor, poking her head randomly through doors as she tried to get her bearings. She grinned when she finally found the room with the open window.
"That's our exit," Melinoe announced. Sam followed her daughter and gave a curt nod.
"You go ahead then. I'll find Tucker," Sam decided, turning to leave.
"No way. I just got you back," Melinoe protested.
"Mel, you're the one in the most danger. We can handle ourselves," Sam retorted.
"But mom, I came all this way to find you and bring you home. I'm not leaving without you," Melinoe argued firmly.
Melinoe scowled with determination at her mother as Sam surveyed her worriedly.
"Fine. But if things go south, you run through the walls back here. No questions, no arguments. There'll be a radio in the speeder. Call Mr and Mrs Fenton for help," Sam instructed. Melinoe nodded in agreement and unhooked her gun and handed it to her mother. Sam blinked at the weapon before smirking.
"Follow me," Sam ordered, and they crept back into the hallway. Melinoe glanced behind them. She was worried about Phantom. The ghost had looked really hurt and Danny's words the other day assuring her that ghosts could feel pain and could die was suddenly hitting home. But as her thoughts drifted to Phantom, she also recalled the strange conversation between the ghosts and her mother. They had all believed her to be Phantom's daughter. That was impossible. Firstly, Danny Fenton was her father. Secondly, could ghosts even have children?
A loud thud came from a room a short distance down the hall and Melinoe squeaked in alarm, covering her mouth a moment too late to muffle the sound. Sam glanced back at her daughter before leading the way towards the thud. Sam breathed out a low breath before nodding to her daughter and pushed open the door. Melinoe shrank fearfully away from the open door.
"Oh, come on guys, that's no fair. You can't use your powers!" Tucker's voice complained. Melinoe blinked and peered into the room. Sam lead the way into the large room filled with ghostly children all throwing balls at Tucker while giggling happily.
"You're an adult. How's that fair?" a little ghost boy who couldn't have been older than five when he was alive shouted over the laughing and yelling.
"You're ageist and humanist!" Tucker accused but his grin told everyone watching he didn't mean it. Despite many of the children playing being too young to understand the terms, they all laughed before bombarding Tucker with balls of all sizes, footballs, basketballs, baseballs, even the odd golf ball.
"Having fun!?" Sam called over the commotion. Tucker blinked at the voice and tried to dodge the numerous balls pelting him to see who spoke.
"Time out kids!" Sam added, taking pity on her friend.
"Aw!" several voices moaned but the stream of balls stopped.
Tucker lowered his protective arms over his face and grinned in Sam and Melinoe's direction, Melinoe was watching in bewilderment while Sam smirked in amusement.
"So, while Danny's been busy playing the hero, you've been playing babysitter?" Sam commented.
"Sam! You're okay!" Tucker exclaimed and rushed across the room, darting between the ghostly children and stepping over the balls littering the room that appeared to be a gym of sorts, complete with basketball hoops at either end and goal posts painted on the walls. Like the rest of the orphanage it was grey and depressing with flashes of colour lightening the dreary atmosphere.
"Yeah, but it's home time now," Sam replied before Tucker could try and hug her in relief. Tucker raised a confused eyebrow while the children crowded around the room cried out in disappointment.
"Okay," Tucker mumbled, finally noticing Melinoe.
"Tucker can come back to play another time," Sam called to the room, steering her friend and daughter out of the room, ignoring the cheers from the ghostly children.
Once the door had been closed and they were creeping back down the hallway towards their exit, Tucker glanced around with a frown.
"Where's Danny? In the speeder?" Tucker asked.
"Not exactly," Sam mumbled.
"We don't know where he is," Melinoe added with an apologetic shrug.
"Shouldn't we find him, or at least know he's okay with us leaving before we go," Tucker pointed out.
"We have to get out of here now Tucker. Leto is after Mel," Sam retorted, glancing at Tucker meaningfully. Tucker seemed to understand everything in that glance and took the lead. They soon reached the bedroom with the open window.
"You first Mel," Tucker decided and waited for Melinoe to climb out the window.
"Mom first," Melinoe corrected and turned expectantly to the woman. Sam raised an eyebrow before rolling her eyes and hopped onto the bed and dropped to the ledge outside.
"Can you see the speeder Sam?" Tucker called out the window.
"Yep. I see it," Sam confirmed outside and turned to Melinoe hesitating in the bedroom.
"What about Danny?" she asked, it didn't feel right to leave the man behind.
"Danny's tough. He knows how to handle himself Mel. Once we get you out of here, we can come back and collect him," Tucker promised. Melinoe chewed her lip, glancing at the ajar door behind her.
"What about Danny Phantom?" Melinoe inquired, turning her conflicted green eyes onto Sam's purple ones.
"Phantom is tough honey. He's a hero. He can handle himself. He got hurt stopping Leto getting to you. She wants you. So, we have to get out of here," Sam reasoned. Melinoe nodded in agreement and obediently crossed the room and stepped up on the bed, Tucker offering his shoulder to steady her.
"There you are!" a voice growled from the door. Tucker, Sam and Melinoe gasped in alarm, spinning around to see Leto looming in the doorway.
"Children! Two humans are trying to steal one of the children!" Leto screamed. Tucker gasped and stepped in front of Melinoe.
"Mel! Go! Those little kids have some big powers!" Tucker exclaimed. Melinoe gulped nervously and nodded obediently. Sam helped her daughter through the window and lead the way along the narrow pathway, struggling not to fall. The hatch was wide open, and Sam jumped in and held a hand out for her daughter. Melinoe took a deep breath and jumped, trusting her mother to catch her if she fell short.
"No!" Sam shrieked fearfully as a blue aura surrounded Melinoe. Melinoe screamed in fear as she was pulled away from her mother's hand inches away and back towards the orphanage. Somehow, she managed to turn around in the blue energy holding her captive to see a little girl with bright electric blue eyes pulsing, her skeletal hand extended towards her. Tucker had been backed into a corner in the bedroom by several larger children, each with glowing hands held threateningly towards him.
"Get away from me! I don't want to hurt you!" Tucker shouted desperately, brandishing his gun at them.
"Take the human to the cafeteria. But bring the girl to my office. I think I know exactly where she belongs," Leto ordered with a small smile at the little skeleton girl leaning out the window. The girl nodded and manoeuvred Melinoe's captive form through the window without hurting the teen.
"Mel! No! Mel!" Tucker screamed desperately and tried to charge through the ghostly children only for two of the biggest children to grab him by the arms and shoved the man through the door, removing his gun as they went, turning themselves intangible to avoid Tucker's flailing legs. The skeleton girl dropped Melinoe on a bed and Leto slammed the window shut. Melinoe scrambled off the bed and charged at a wall at full speed, recalling her mother's words.
"Grab her!" Leto commanded and three small ghost children leapt on top of the teen, tackling her to the ground.
"It's okay. You're safe now. Those humans are gone, and Madam L will protect you. She's found you a new family," a little boy by her head soothed Melinoe.
"No! I have a family!" Melinoe exclaimed, struggling under the chilled bodies holding her down.
"Poor child. She hasn't accepted that death came to her yet. Mandy, please help me bring her to my office dear," Leto interjected, her voice dripping with false pity.
"No! She's gonna kill me!" Melinoe shouted fearfully, as she felt herself rise off the floor, once again enveloped in a blue aura.
"Delusional. I tried to explain what happened and she got the wrong impression," Leto reassured any children who believed the teen.
The skeleton girl, Mandy, walked alongside Leto manipulating the blue aura around Melinoe to float down the hallway and into the room Melinoe found Leto in originally.
"Thank you, Mandy. That will be all for now," Leto threw over her shoulder and Mandy lowered Melinoe gently to the ground and the blue aura disappeared before the ghost girl left. Melinoe turned to the nearest wall but before she could start running, Leto grabbed her arm and shoved the girl into a small, wooden chair opposite the large desk. Leto propped herself against the desk and frowned at the teen sitting in front of her.
"Even if you get out of my office, you won't get out of my orphanage," Leto warned.
"You don't know that," Melinoe spat.
"You think I haven't dealt with runaways before?" Leto retorted, raising an eyebrow. Melinoe pursed her lips worriedly.
"Not all children are patient enough for me to find a family. But they're not safe out there. There are dangers everywhere. The halfa. Other ghosts. Ghost hunters if they made it out of the Ghost Zone. The only safe haven for these poor orphans is in this building with me," Leto reasoned.
"Really? You couldn't protect your son," Melinoe pointed out spitefully. Leto's yellow eyes darkened with anger.
"You know nothing child. The world may seem wonderful and colourful but underneath it is dangerous. Death is the only certain thing, even for ghosts," Leto growled.
"Maybe, but that doesn't mean it isn't wonderful and colourful too," Melinoe argued.
Leto narrowed her eyes at Melinoe before pushing herself away from the desk and strolled around her captive to peruse her many files. Melinoe gulped down her nerves as she tried to think of what she should do. While she knew she could run through all the walls in the orphanage and Leto couldn't follow her, she also sensed that Leto hadn't lied, and the ghost would be able to stop her escaping. Leto had a small army of ghostly children, each and every one capable of doing things Melinoe couldn't even begin to imagine. Melinoe was a normal teenaged human with a single weapon strapped to her wrist. It wasn't enough. True she might be able to find Danny, or even enlist Phantom's help if the ghost weren't too injured, she couldn't guarantee that neither of them hadn't already left believing she got away. She didn't question that her mother wouldn't leave without her daughter, but she also knew of Madeline Fenton's warning, she would activate her Fenton Magnet thing and pull the speeder back before dinnertime. Melinoe didn't know how long she had before then. She also knew that somewhere in the building Tucker was captive too.
"Why haven't you killed me yet?" Melinoe whispered, turning to watch the ghost fearfully. Leto paused in her search through the files and glanced at her.
"I vowed to make your father pay for what he did on the spot I lost Kendis. That wasn't in the Ghost Zone," Leto answered calmly.
"Danny Phantom isn't my father," Melinoe retorted carefully. Leto frowned before turning to Melinoe.
"If you weren't the halfa's child my children wouldn't have found you. I may not be able to follow ectoplasmic trails or scents, but I do have children here who can," Leto corrected.
"Halfa?" Melinoe repeated in confusion. She had heard the word before, but it was starting to dawn on her that the ghosts expected her to understand what it meant.
"What does halfa mean?" Melinoe ventured. Leto blinked and turned away from her filing cabinet.
"You don't know?" Leto asked. Melinoe hesitated a moment unsure if she should admit her ignorance, but she decided that she needed to know and shook her head.
"I always assumed that Phantom would have told his child what he was," Leto muttered as she returned to lean against the desk in front of Melinoe.
"A halfa is a strange creature dear. Capable of great power and that makes them dangerous. As far as I know there is only one, but Phantom has made a big name for himself. There may be more hidden in the shadows. It is a creature that walks the knife edge between life and death. Half a ghost. Half a human. Danny Phantom is one such creature and I know he also happens to be your father," Leto explained.
"If I've never even heard the term before, what makes you so sure," Melinoe retorted, hiding her confusion at the revelation.
"My dear, you have ectoplasm inside you. Just as human blood runs through your veins, so does ghost energy. How else could I have found you?" Leto chuckled.
"Ectoplasm?" Melinoe breathed, she knew what ectoplasm was. Ghost blood.
"You could be wrong. It might just seem like I have ectoplasm but maybe I was just too close to a ghost," Melinoe reasoned hopefully, refusing to believe what Leto was trying to tell her. Leto laughed, it wasn't cruel or sadistic, just pure amusement at her ignorance.
"My dear girl, ghost residues don't act the way you are suggesting. Besides, I've had children lured to your home for years. They always returned empty handed as they couldn't pinpoint the source of the build-up of energy in the walls. It was only recently that Ivan was able to follow the trail directly to you," Leto corrected.
"But if you're telling the truth… that means if Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom are both my father… they're the same person," Melinoe gasped. Leto nodded in confirmation.
"That's right dear. The halfa is a trickster. I had thought for some time that he didn't have any children, but I searched regardless, out of hope. Turns out he wasn't smart enough to fool me," Leto agreed with a proud smirk.
Melinoe wasn't listening anymore. She was panting like she had run a marathon, her mind swirling in turmoil at the revelation. It explained so much. Everything mere minutes ago with Phantom and Leto, speaking about Melinoe being his daughter. Why Tucker called in Danny when she needed help finding her mother. How he knew so much about ghosts. How he got into the kitchen when Rosie attacked. Why Tucker trusts Danny so much. Why Danny sympathised with ghosts. Why Rusty liked Danny Fenton so much as well as Danny Phantom, if Danny told the truth about saving the dog's life. It made so much sense. But at the same time, it made no sense at all. A human who was a ghost as well. What did that make her? Was she human or a ghost? Did her mother know? How was it possible? Melinoe shook her head slowly, the information just wasn't clicking into place. Even though she came to the realisation by herself, it had felt like someone else said those impossible facts.
"You're lying," Melinoe decided, she couldn't accept that she was the daughter of a weird human-ghost hybrid. She had met both of Danny's parents and they were both living and breathing humans. They hunted ghosts. If their own son were a ghost, surely, they would know. Surely, they would have fixed him long ago.
"I'm not lying dear," Leto assured, flipping through files again.
"But it's not possible!" Melinoe shouted, surging to her feet and spinning to face the ghost defiantly.
"Sit down girl. You're only making a fool of yourself," Leto ordered without stopping her search through her files.
"No! I'm not gonna sit down or do anything else you say. I'm leaving. You can't stop me," Melinoe growled and turned to the wall.
"If that's the way you feel, perhaps you should have a nap," Leto muttered and before Melinoe could retort or break into a run, Leto began to hum tunelessly. Melinoe blinked as her eyelids suddenly grew heavy. She shook her head and stumbled forward the grand total of five steps before she dropped to her knees in exhaustion. Leto strolled away from the filing cabinets, still humming and knelt beside the teen. Gently the ghost eased the teen down to the floor where eventually Melinoe fell asleep.
Yep, it's not fully explored in the story but Leto does have powers that help her look after the many ghostly children in her care, including the ability to hum lullabies to help them sleep, even if they don't want to sleep.
But we get to have another special chapter now. Any guesses who's perspective we're going to?
Until the next chapter.