The day progressed and my condition only got worse; my joints were significantly weakened and my thoughts came more slowly. In addition to this, my magical powers were severely hindered. I considered the possibility that it was somehow linked to Midnight's steady staring that morning, but I prevented myself from confirming the conclusion.
Nevertheless, I performed another spell. Mr. Grey supported me by donating some of his power. This helped a bit, but I was still affected by all of my other symptoms. A few seconds later, I began to stagger. Most likely anticipating it, Mr. Grey rushed to pull me back up. My vision began to spin, causing me to close my eyes before any nausea could firmly set in.
"Are you alright?" Mr. Grey asked. The answer was obvious, but I'd insisted on carrying on with the lesson many times before.
I opened my mouth to conjure a response but was held back by the urge to vomit. Not wanting to do so onto my teacher's expensive clothing, I held back with all my strength. This was enough of a response to Mr. Grey, however; he began to hoist my limp body towards the school. As he did so, a portal began to manifest itself in front of us. An instant later I underwent another wave of dizziness and squeezed my eyelids shut. Gripping Mr. Grey, I felt him take me through the portal and quickly slump my half-conscious body onto the soft surface of a bed. The last thing I heard before passed out was the rushed and desperate speech from Mr. Grey.
Waking up, I felt a cold, hard surface underneath me. Hoisting myself to a sitting position, I first realized that my illness had been cured. Second, I noticed that I was inside a reddish cave-like structure. Standing by gripping one of the mahogany rocks, I noticed that almost all of my joints were painfully sore. Not knowing what to do, I started to aimlessly wander the numerous dark twists featured in the cave.
Miraculously, I saw a few lamps lighting the area the moment I followed a turn. Breathing a sigh of relief from the realization that I was not in the middle of nowhere, I investigated what new details I could make out with the increased amount of light. Disappointingly, it was more of the same inconsistent terrain. I then realized that while someone had installed lighting systems, I was still lost with no sense of direction. Shaking my head and breathing a ragged sigh, I began to walk around once more, being careful not to venture anywhere there wasn't any light shone on the rocks.
The transition from walking to lying down was jarring. Before I could properly adjust to the cave setting, I felt my eyelids rip open as fabric surrounded most of my body. Groaning from the sudden change, I looked around, not knowing that Midnight was already in front of me. "I'm sorry," he almost whispered.
"Sorry...?" I blinked, my eyes still adjusting to the bright lights of the infirmary. "For what?"
"I should've been there sooner," Midnight continued, "should've intervened."
"What's happening with me?" At this point, I was at my wit's end and Midnight's vagueness was not helping with the situation at hand.
My principal's expression snapped to an informal, friendly one. "I'm sorry. It's just that while I was in your labyrinth last night, I stumbled upon something and done something that I shouldn't have."