I held a knife in my hand, carefully looking it over. It was the largest one that I could find from the kitchen and something that would be at least somewhat useful at the palace. I began to think of all the possible uses for it, which included prying open doors and cutting through certain obstacles. As I continued to think about it, I eventually decided against bringing that particular item, realizing that I could very well stab myself while I was asleep. Sighing, I began to look around once more. It'd already wasted a bunch of time trying to look for a suitable item, and a quick brainstorming session earlier had yielded no results. After exiting the kitchen and searching through my room once more, I finally decided to bring a wooden doorstop that I normally didn't use. It could be used to wedge some things open and it seemed fairly durable. I knew that I was going to have to look the day after, but for the moment the doorstop seemed like a fine choice.
After accidentally releasing my grip on the door stopper a few times, I began to feel myself fall asleep. A few moments later, I awakened in the labyrinth. However, instead of waking up in the cave as I had before, I was instead transported to the small alleyway that Midnight and I travelled to before. Hoisting myself up and smiling with relief, I investigated my surroundings, once again mesmerized by the immense scale of the palace.
"You're awake," Midnight's voice echoed behind me, causing me to instinctually turn around. My principal was casually leaning against the sheer metal wall, which he promptly pushed himself off of. "You know," he started, "this is the first time I saw you or anyone else wake up in here."
"Yeah?" I brushed myself off, the limited amount of dust from the ground still managing to catch to my new set of clothes. "Come to think of it, I've never seen anyone wake up here either."
Midnight nodded. "It was surreal. First, space rippled as if a portal was manifesting in that small area, but then your silhouette emerged from it. At first, it was entirely black, devoid of any light, but your features slowly became visible with the help of deep red light. About... ten seconds passed before all the light returned to your slumped body, which you just woke up inside." Midnight didn't wait for me to respond as he changed the topic, looking downward. "Did you bring anything?"
With a start, I remembered the plan and realized that my fist, the one that I was holding the doorstop in, had been clasped the entire time from my determination to hold it. I quickly unrolled my fingers and I could see nothing but my palm in the small space that I was grabbing. "It's... not there." I looked back up at Midnight, who was already displaying a frown. He tilted his head.
"I shouldn't have expected anything to happen," Midnight sighed. "After all, it would probably give us a huge advantage. If we were to run into a decently strong wall that blocked our path to a specific area, then we would simply wake up and you could bring in a sledgehammer or something that could deliver a significant amount of force." Yet again, Midnight dismissed the subject and move onto another. "What were you going to bring in, anyway?" Hesitating slightly, I decided to tell my principal the truth. He didn't seem surprised by this either. "Well, a doorstop might be useful, but not terribly so."
I hung my head as Midnight peered down the alleyway. "I suppose we should start exploring this palace place instead of wasting time. If anything, we can continue talking while we move." With this, he began to move. I proceeded to follow Midnight, who attentively looked out for the two of us. While walking, I both decided to turn around every few seconds in the case that someone were to confront us and investigate the upper levels of the palace once more. The only new thing that I could see on the numerous panes of glass, though, was the existence of the figure's horns. By now I had some suspicions about who might be depicted on the palace, but there was no way to know for certain but to climb the palace itself. I exhaled and continued to follow Midnight.