A hot wind blows my hair in my face. I desperately try to wipe the locks from my eyes but still I am blind. For what seemed like ages the world is only dry wind and bright orange light. And then the sun falls behind a wall and my sight is returned. I am back in the Labyrinth.
All around me stone walls stretch into oblivion. I wait to feel fear, urgency… anything. For a few heartbeats I simply stand, staring at the never-ending wall before me. Then, slowly, I feel myself turn and walk.
I walk for a long time: longer than it takes for the sun to set completely, basking the strange, glittery walls in darkness. I seem to follow some route, turning automatically at landmarks I do not recognize. The paths look different than I remember too- cleaner, better cared for. The weeds and broken branches I had once tripped over are missing. My long skirts brush soundlessly over clean cobblestone. The twilight deepens into a true night, but still I walk on.
Minutes become hours. A pale crystal moon rises slowly over the walls, lighting my path in blues and greys. The ground gradually becomes smooth and the walls turn into well-trimmed hedges at some point in the night. I do not hurry. As much as I seem to know where I am going, I am also in no rush to get there. Then I turn once more and find myself in the most beautiful garden I have ever seen.
More flowers than I could name in a lifetime gather around me, pouring out onto paths of pure white sand. Somewhere I hear a fountain, its water calling out like a language I have never heard before. Now I wander. My steps are more random. This is clearly what I was walking towards. Looking up I find that I am just outside the castle, but this does not appear to concern me. I am relaxed. This place is mine.