Falling Back to the Labyrinth

Death?

The world goes a little wonky during an accident. Time seems to both speed up and slow down. You don't see it coming, but once it is happening, everything seems to take forever.

That's how it felt, lying under the truck in a crumpled mess. One second I was crossing the street, the next flying through the air to tumble before the wheels as they overcame me. Everything went from fine to excruciating pain as every part of my body screamed at my brain.

I could see the blood around me on the asphalt, but I couldn't feel it's warmth as I probably should have. Instead I was getting colder as the pain became less severe. Was this how shock felt? I knew the signs to look out for but was this it? I was loosing too much blood. Maybe from my head? I couldn't move to check.

An inexplicable sense of calm enveloped me as I came to the realization that this was it. There was no coming back from this. My body was far too mangled and blood leaving my body far too fast. The good samaritans rushing around the truck couldn't get to me to stop the bleeding and an ambulance would not be here in time. Plus they still had to get me out from under the truck somehow without making my injuries worse.

I mustered all my courage and took a deep breath. A new wave of pain ripped through my chest.

"I wish the Goblin King would take me away right now..." Despite my efforts, it only came out as strained and breathy, so I had no clue if I was even audible.

It was getting hard to keep my eyes open. I had been trying to keep focussed on the feet running around, but it was becoming just too much. Even with my eyes open, my vision was fading around the edges and unfocussed.

It couldn't have been that long since the initial impact, but I was fading fast.

Finally everything... went... black...

~!~

I have a couple hazy memories of waking up for short stints after blacking out. No visuals, but I remember the pain and hearing voices.

"Shhhh, you're going to be fine. Go back to sleep."

"I think she's conscious again. We still have some bones to set."

"Give me a second to knock her out again before we continue. I don't want her to feel any more pain than she needs to."

~!~

I awoke for real, finally, to find myself in a large bed. The sheets were soft around me and for a moment I thought the accident was all just a bad dream. But this wasn't my little twin bed and I was far too sore for it to be a normal morning.

I opened my eyes to a fairly plain room and pretty pastel pink bed set. My eyes were instantly drawn to my left, were a coach was set up against the wall. Laying on his back there, was the unmistakable figure of Jareth, the Goblin King. His puff of a bleach blonde head was rolled back over the arm and his face was slack. No crazy eyeshadow or outfit this time, just a flouncy white shirt and classic grey tights. His tall black leather boots were up in the air as his calves were resting on the other arm.

"Don't worry about him. He's just tired from working so much pure magic." A voice startled me from my right.

I quickly looked over to see a beautiful young woman sitting in a chair beside me. She had flawless dark skin and short curly hair pulled back with a intricate green headband. Her legs were crossed under her green dress and her thin frame was in a regal posture.

"Who..." My voice was raspy and soft.

"Karent, the Fairy Queen. I rule the land just outside of the Labyrinth and Goblin Kingdom known as the Fae Kingdom. And this is my palace. The Goblin King over there brought you here in horrid shape and needed my help healing you." Karent leaned back in her chair. "You see, he is what we call a Neutral Magic Creature, so it takes a lot out of him to do a lot of Pure Magic. I, on the other hand, am a Pure Magic Creature, so I have no problem performing healing magics. And you needed a LOT of it."