I took way too long, I apologize.
On with the story!
Escaping the hospital was actually easier than he would have assumed.
Nobody asked questions as he rushed past them towards the exit and even the receptionist didn't seem to recognize him or if he did didn't interfere with Jaden's plan to get out of here.
The doctor as well as his parents would be worried and angry above all, but he didn't care, he had other priorities right now.
He stepped out into the cool evening, immediately regretting not taking his jacket as a strong breeze hit him.
Still, he couldn't go back and lose any more time, so he set off down the street towards Chazz's mansion.
How he planned to get in, he didn't know, but he would manage somehow.
Winged Kuriboh was several blocks ahead of him, turning around every now and then to make sure he was still there and keeping up before letting out an impatient noise telling him to hurry.
''Jeez, calm down! If I could fly, I'm sure I would be faster, but guess what? I can't!''
A few people on the street gave him a weird look as he seemingly shouted at the air, but thankfully, none of them pressed the matter and they all went back to caring about their own business while he ran past them.
There were a few close calls with cars that completely ignored the emergency situation he was in and would have surely hit him if he hadn't been as fast, but he made it to the mansion in less than ten minutes.
This was half the time it usually took for him to get there, so naturally, he was more than out of breath when he arrived, yet no matter how desperately his body begged for a pause, he wouldn't give into it.
As he'd established before, he had other priorities.
His gaze trailed up the pure white frontage which made him just the tiniest bit jealous, but he suppressed it, beginning to walk around the front garden, looking for a possibility to enter the mansion.
There were no open windows, unfortunately, like there always were in movies and he bit his lip, considering the option of breaking one.
It would attract unnecessary noise, that was for sure, and if the neighbors saw anything, they would call the police and if Chazz's brothers returned to the mansion, they would-
Kuri!
Winged Kuriboh gave him a look of reproach as it attempted to scratch Jaden's cheek.
''Yeah, you're right, no time.''
Without wasting another second, he picked up a rock from the ground and threw it right into one of the windows on the ground floor – well, at least that was the plan.
In actuality, he missed the window by a few inches and instead managed to throw the rock against the frontage of the mansion where it left a denting.
His aim was obviously not the best.
He nervously looked around, scared of someone having heard him, however, when everything continued being quiet, he went to retrieve the rock and made a second, successful attempt of breaking a window with it.
''I swear, if you tell Chazz how I messed up that first attempt, I will never speak to you again'', he warned his duel spirit who seemed a bit too amused by his failure.
He approached the window, carefully removing some of the shards in order to climb in without too much harm done to him.
Of course, he managed to mess that up too, ending up with a long cut on his arm -he really should have gotten his jacket- that was bleeding quite a bit.
Other priorities, other priorities, he kept telling himself, his body screaming at him to get rest before he could seriously hurt himself.
Where was the thing he was looking for?
Winged Kuriboh had taken the lead again, guiding him through the long hallway which was decorated with family pictures and awards Chazz's brothers had gotten for their stories.
He'd never looked at them, mainly because Chazz never showed him certain parts of his mansion and he was more interested in the dining room anyway, but something about these pictures was off, now that he was right in front of them.
Still, no time to examine that.
Jaden sped up, despite his body's protests, and rushed up the stairs, almost instantly sensing a change in the atmosphere that gave him goosebumps.
There was a massive presence nearby and he didn't like it one bit.
Winged Kuriboh also appeared slightly uncomfortable as it stopped halfway up the stairs, looking back at him for some kind of reassurance.
The brunette couldn't give any, so he drew a breath instead and marched up the rest of the stairs to a room that was ajar, almost as if it had been waiting for him.
He pushed the door open, immediately catching sight of an enormous opened book lying on a desk in the room.
It was emitting something similar to stardust that dissolved into air the closer it got to the door.
Okay. Clearly magic, that much was obvious.
Slowly, he stepped to the desk to inspect the book closer.
The pages from where the stardust was emitting were empty and he took the page between his fingers to turn it, stopping when he felt the presence draw nearer.
It was in the house.
And apparently not happy about the fact that he was here as well.
He backed away from the book to brace himself for whatever was coming for him, but nothing could have prepared him for what actually stormed into the room and pinned him to the ground in an instant.
It was definitely a person, a man, that was holding a sword to his neck, but he... he actually recognized this man.
''Who are you?''
This long, silver hair, the old-fashioned outfit, even the glass shoes he had seen on The Roommate's doll...
''...Cinderella?''
The person's expression changed from hostile to surprised and then to suspicious.
''You know me?''
Jaden nodded, finding no appropriate words to phrase the many questions that were racing through his mind, along with his panic because wow, this guy had a sword and he could kill him right here with it and by the looks of it, he was about to.
Would begging for his life help or should he try explaining what he was doing here?
Either way, his only option was talking, so he opened his mouth, trying to come up with anything to say, only to find that he was speaking all on his own.
''Why are you in Chazz's house?''
God dammit, of all the questions he could have asked, it had to be that one.
The most irrelevant of them all.
To his surprise though, Cinderella withdrew the sword from his neck, examining him almost curiously.
''You know him?''
''Yeah, we're friends'', Jaden answered, smiling slightly. ''I'm here because he's... uh, well, missing and I'm worried about him.''
''I apologize'', Cinderella said immediately, standing up and bringing a reasonable distance between himself and the brunette. ''It turns out we are on the same side.''
Same side? So he wanted to find Chazz too?
''How do we get to where he is?''
''I can bring you to that place, but it's dangerous there and someone has to keep an eye on the book as well.''
Jaden's smile widened and he reached for his phone. ''Oh, I know just the right person to call for that.''
That's the last chapter of exposition (hopefully).
I want to get into the good stuff already, aka completely ruin Chazzy's life.
Not that his canon life isn't already kinda ruined... anyway, until next time!