I was lying on my cot, staring at the ceiling. I don't know how I've maintained my sanity in this dreadful place. I craved to see the sun again. I was pondering all of this when someone started banging on the wall of my cell. Probably a fellow captive, I thought, but what's so urgent? I shifted the wall and allowed the visitor entrance. It was Folio, a hobgoblin that I despised.

"Folio, it's a pleasure," I said sarcastically. He sneered.

"If I were you, I would hold your tongue and save your nonsense for later," he growled. "I have news that may be of interest to you." I was ready to unleash the brightest light I had on him, but curiosity got the best of me.

"Let me hear it," I said, bored.

"What have you to offer me?" That was a no-brainer.

"You can have each of my dinner meals for a week." Folio weighed his options. Hobgoblins are suckers for anything remotely edible.

"I suppose that would be a reasonable payment," he said, composing himself. "The Sphinx is heading this way, as we speak. I'll be expecting my first meal at nightfall." And with that, he skulked out of the room. I could hardly believe the news. I haven't seen the Sphinx in centuries and I mean that quite literally. I need to contact Seth. I'll just have to use the coin I gave him. Just before, I could get a hold of him, he beat me to it.

There you are, I said telepathically. I was just alerted that the Sphinx is descending into our section of the dungeon. All things considered, he's probably coming for you. Don't relax around him. Keep your guard up. I'll extinguish the coin.

Thanks, he replied.

Don't mention it. And you don't have to concentrate so hard, just let your thoughts flow to me. We'll talk later. I shut out the connection and prepared for the worst.

~*~*~

One thing you should know about me: waiting is not my forte. After what seemed like ages of useless planning, I headed in the direction of Seth's cell. The walk was short and I made it there in good time. I shifted the back wall of his prison cell and entered with my shining stone.

"Did you hear me?" Seth asked me suspiciously.

"Hear what?"

"Talking to myself?"

"No," I replied sincerely. "But don't worry, most of us end up chatting with ourselves on occasion. All part of the fun. How did it go?"

"He took me to meet Nagi Luna." Impossible. This must be a hoax.

"You're teasing," I said conclusively.

"I wish."

"Are you all right?"

He shrugged indifferently. "They didn't beat me or anything. She kept screaming in my mind. She can talk like you, telepathically. She acted like she wanted to team up against the Sphinx. What she really wanted was to get inside my head. Wait a minute."

"What?"

"When I use that coin, you can read my thoughts, can't you?" I pondered this for a moment and answered.

"Yes. Mostly just the thoughts you send to me." Seth sat himself down on his cot.

"How do I know that's true? How do I know you're not scouring my brain for secrets?" He is clearly brighter than he gives himself credit for. Now I am convinced.

"I guess you don't," I replied, measuring his expression. "You don't have to use it." Truthfully though, I hoped that I would soon gain his full trust.

"What's with everybody reading minds around here?" he muttered.

"You could hear her, but she couldn't read your mind unless you let her."

"Like I let you."

"I see your concern." And I did.

He leaned back and positioned his hands behind his head. "Now I feel like I'm talking to a psychologist." I smiled.

"Tell me about your childhood," I teased.

"I've heard wraiths and zombies in my mind. But I've never mentally talked to a friend. Kendra used to describe what it was like talking to the Fairy Queen." The Fairy Queen? How could she have possibly… Things must be very different since I have last walked outside of this dungeon. Kendra must be his sister.

"Your sister? She spoke with the Fairy Queen," I asked with sincere fascination.

"Whoops. Maybe I shouldn't get into that. I guess it's no big secret anymore. The Sphinx knows that she's fairykind." I must have heard him incorrectly.

"You mean fairystruck," I asked, clarifying.

"No, fairykind. The Sphinx was the first to diagnose her, actually. I probably shouldn't talk about that stuff. Sounds like Maddox and the others haven't." I couldn't believe my ears. I helped Seth up off his cot.

"Whether or not the Sphinx knows about your sister, you're right that you should keep that kind of information to yourself. As a unicorn, I know the significance of a human becoming fairykind. That status is very rare, and shows a tremendous amount of trust from the Fairy Queen. She has never bestowed trust easily."

"Do you know her?" I briefly considered telling him, but decided that now was not the correct time. It would be terribly uncomfortable.

"All unicorns know the Fairy Queen." I smiled and clapped him on the arm. Time to show him the room. "Come with me, I want to show you something. I figured you could use some cheering up after your interlude with the Sphinx."

I led him into a new passage and down a hidden hallway.

"I'm about to show you my favorite place," I told him quietly.

"Okay."

"I mean my favorite place in the dungeon."

"I get it," he replied anxiously.

I turned the two stone and gained access to the game room. There were five pinball machines, three dartboards, a pool table, Foosball, and a massive television. Seth looked absolutely awestruck.

"No way," he said dreamily. Suddenly, a new Foosball table appeared in the room. Seth made a beeline to it. Indians versus cowboys.

"Recognize it?" I asked mildly curious.

"Why?"

"Because you went straight to it, and it just barely showed up."

He nodded. "I think I played Foosball against the Sphinx on this table the first time I met him. Or one just like it. Kendra did too."

"This room is our best evidence that the Sphinx knows that we sneak around down here," I explained. "In fact, with what you mentioned about the Foosball table, we can consider it a certainty. He uses this room to incentivize good behavior. If we act up, things disappear. Sometimes the room is left empty. As we behave, items show up. It has never been openly acknowledged that this place exists. Welcome to the dungeon rec center."

"Does the TV work?"

"Everything works. The TV gets a lot of channels."

"How did he get electricity down here?"

"Wires?" I tried not to make it sound obvious.

"Right." Seth started to play a game of pinball.

"The yellow button starts the game," I said.

"Who has the high score?"

"Me. On all of them," I said, deadpan.

"I'm going to take you down," he declared, facing me. I sniggered.

"I'd like to see that. I have pretty good reflexes, and I've bee playing for almost forty years." He frowned.

"I bet you're pretty good at pool." Was I ever.

"I've had a little practice," I said humbly. He shrugged.

"I can live with getting schooled. It would sure beat sitting on my cot listening to the water drip."

"Agreed."

He trotted over to the pool table. "If we start a riot, all of this will go away," he realized. I walked over to a wall and picked out a cue.

"This room will be empty for years. And they'll do their beset to seal up as many passageways as they can find." Seth followed my lead and selected a cue of his own.

"Do we have a chance of succeeding?" I lightly chalked the end of my cue.

"Not much," I replied, "but I'm not willing to let the world end without a fight so I can keep playing ping-pong."

"Then we should probably enjoy this room while we have it." I put on a bit of a show with my renowned cue-twirling expertise. "My sentiments exactly." With that, I aimed with the cue ball, fired and sent the other flying.

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