"Ah!" Jade instinctively tried to let go, but a solid golden beam, as bright as a pillar of light, suddenly shot from the top of the completed Millennium Puzzle!
The beam ignored every physical obstacle. It pierced straight through the closed window and vanished into the night, streaking toward the distant horizon too fast for the eye to follow!
The golden glow in the room swiftly faded, leaving only the dim light of the desk lamp. The Millennium Puzzle lay quietly in her hands, still cold to the touch.
Jade stood frozen, holding the puzzle for several seconds.
She blinked, looked at the undamaged window, then at the seemingly unchanged puzzle in her hands. Finally, she exchanged a bewildered look with Tailmon.
"D-did I just cause a disaster?" Jade's voice trembled. Her excitement and curiosity had given way to overwhelming dread.
"Tailmon! Quick! Before anyone notices, put it back exactly where it was!" She hurriedly thrust the Millennium Puzzle toward Tailmon, her voice tight with panic.
Tailmon realized something was wrong too. Without hesitating, she picked up the chain in her mouth, darted out of the room faster than she had come up, and slipped silently downstairs. From memory, she placed the Millennium Puzzle precisely back on its cushion at the counter, then hurried back to Jade's room.
Jade had already cleared the desk, switched off the lamp, and burrowed under the covers. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to breathe slowly and evenly, as though she had never woken up.
Tailmon curled up beside her pillow, while Samehada seemed to have turned back into an ordinary weapon.
Everything appeared to be as it had been. Only Jade's pounding heart and the image of that golden beam bursting through the window, replaying endlessly in her mind, reminded her that