Approximately ten minutes later, I noticed something out of the ordinary that stood out from the mahogany rocks that surrounded us; no more than one hundred meters in front of us was a clearing. Approaching it, Midnight and I saw a large metallic palace, which had several tunnels extending out from its main tower and several others that surrounded it. Its height was unlike anything that I had ever seen before, with it guaranteed to tower over Midnight's school even if it were stacked thrice on top of each other.
As we both slowed to a halt, Midnight realized before I did that the night was unfortunately ending. My principal swivelled around to look at me and confirm his suspicions as I kept staring at the tower, noting its excessive amount of detail and an absurd surplus of extravagant stained glass windows. Squinting to get a better focus, I began to make out a figure within them, but to my dismay couldn't get the chance to recognize it due to its distance between me.
I opened my eyes and finally awoke in my bed. The first thing I noticed even before doing so, however, was my aching legs. I was confused, as I would normally be unaffected by anything that I would do inside of the labyrinth: my body would repair itself even if I sprinted from the moment I fell asleep, performed numerous strenuous tasks, or even, in one case, accidentally trip while running and crack my skull. The last scenario caused a shiver to ripple down my spine as I brushed off my blankets, preparing to head to class once again, the pain from my legs frequently interrupting my daily activities. Also, the vivid image of the palace remained in my head, intent on sticking to my train of thought.
I slumped into my desk chair, creating another sharp jab of pain in my lower back. This, in turn, caused me to moan softly with agony, something that was obvious to Boingo, who was sitting next to me.
"What'd you do to hurt yourself like that?" He inquired, his voice a bit shakier than usual.
"Midnight and I both ran endlessly through the labyrinth. It shouldn't be this bad, though..." I shifted my weight towards another spot, which relieved a small fraction of the pain.
Boingo, out of the corner of my eye, avoided making eye contact with me, most likely remembering when I told him about the plan that Midnight and I constructed. "Sorry..."
"It's nothing." I started to gather my notebooks, being careful not to strain my lower back or in extension any body parts that I didn't need to move.
As I painfully shifted my body position once more, Boingo asked another question. "Did you even have anything interesting to look at while you ran?"
I shook my head, then shrugged. "Not really. Well, I suppose that there were some interesting rock formations. Sometimes Midnight and I would be forced to squat low to move forward, but other than that, it was fairly barren."
Boingo inflated his chest and regained his confidence despite looking saddened only a few seconds earlier. "Well, I'd easily run past you two! I can easily move faster than you in the hallway!"
Rolling my eyes, I decided against retorting and instead prepared myself for class as Day brought the class' attention toward himself. His sudden call for everyone to stop chatting with one another caught Boingo off guard and the small creature scrambled to retrieve his notebook and ready himself.