"You left the assistant in the Quiet Box?"
"Correct."
"How did you explain that?"
"With a fabrication. I said the assistant jailer had joined us in the catacombs, that Funi had shoved him against a cell door, and that the wraith inside had devoured him, body and soul. I explained that I had killed Funi as punishment. I had the needle ready, but there was no need to use it that day. The chief jailer wanted to cover up his injudicious sharing of the key, so we made some alterations to my version. We decided that Funi had attacked and killed the assistant, hurling him into a deep shaft, so I killed Funi, and that became our story. But I digress into obscure details."
"I don't mind," Seth said. "It's interesting."
"I used my counterfeit key to visit Nagi Luna from time to time. She taught me what I needed to know to overthrow the preserve. And she made me into a shadow charmer."
"You're a shadow charmer?" Seth exclaimed, rising to his feet.
"There are not many of us, Seth. In fact, you and I may be the only ones who remain. My abilities as a shadow charmer, and the alliances Nagi Luna helped me forge, proved essential to my taking over Living Mirage and eventually uncovering the Font of Immortality."
"I'm evil," Seth said numbly, plopping back down on his cushion.
"We're not evil," the Sphinx said.
"Demons are evil."
"Yes."
"Where is Nagi Luna now?"
"Still down in her cell, hemmed in by her ring of constraint. I can't release her yet."
"Why not? Aren't you the guy who wants to release all the demons in Zzyzx?"
The Sphinx sat down beside Seth, his wrists resting on his knees. "Here is what I have learned, Seth. Here is what life has taught me. The best way to avoid being the slave is to be the master."
"Okay ... that kind of makes sense."
"You believe that I hate you. That I hate your grandfather."
"Seems that way."
The Sphinx furrowed his brow. "You must understand: I do not view Stan Sorenson as my enemy. He is merely my opponent. I like your grandfather. He is a good man. And he is an obstacle. I have to best him. We do not see eye to eye on the opening of Zzyzx."
"You keep getting people killed," Seth said, sick of his enemy's pretenses.
The Sphinx sighed. "I go out of my way to avoid killing those I respect, including you and your sister. But yes, this is a bloody business, and sometimes people have to perish. To be honest, in the end, if killing Stan is what it takes to open the demon prison, I will kill him. He would do no less in order to stop me. This is not because I hate Stan, but because he stands in opposition to my cause, and I believe in my cause."
"Releasing demons? You admitted they were evil!"
"Zzyzx cannot stand forever," the Sphinx explained. "That which has a beginning must have an end. When wizards try to make anything permanent, it becomes brittle, fallible. Invincibility is impossible. Attempts to attain it always fail. So instead of creating an impregnable prison, they created a nearly impregnable prison. That made the prison as strong as possible, but it also means that eventually somebody will open it. I have spent my long life preparing myself to be the right person to release the demons on strict conditions, and rule over them. Heed my words: With or without me, eventually that prison will be opened. Where others would fail and unleash ruin upon the world, I will succeed. In time, I will use the power of my position to reinstate balance in the world so magical creatures won't have to cower in preserves and prisons. By virtue of my position, I will use evil to bring about good."
Seth lowered his face into his hands. "Let's pretend everything you're saying is straight from the heart. How can we possibly trust that you're the right person to open the prison? Wouldn't it be safer to try to make sure it never gets opened?"
"Only in the short term," the Sphinx said. "Eventually, even if it is well beyond our lifetimes, the prison will be opened. It is inevitable. And if the prison does not open on my terms, it may well mean the end of the world."
"But you can't live forever," Seth said. "Even with a Font of Immortality. It breaks your rule that everything with a beginning has to end. If you release the demons, what happens when you die?"
The Sphinx grinned. "Good thinking. I will live as long as I can. But if a full week ever passes without a sip from the Font, I turn to dust. No matter what precautions I take, given infinite time, that will eventually happen. Which is why I must set up a system, a kingdom, a new order, that can persist long after I am gone. It is all part of my plan."
"Grandpa Sorenson doesn't trust that you're the guy to do this. And neither do I."
"Which is your right, and his," the Sphinx acknowledged. "I would not trust anyone besides myself to do it, so I can understand how others might not trust me. This is why I don't hate your grandfather, why I simply view us as being in a state of disagreement."
Seth balled his hands into fists. "You get that he's right, don't you? You get that you're overestimating yourself, that the demons will trick you or overpower you? If you succeed in opening Zzyzx, you're going to destroy the whole world!"
"I have confronted these doubts and overcome them," the Sphinx said calmly. "I have prepared. I am certain. I have been a slave, Seth. As master, I will release the prisoners and create a world without slaves."
Seth shifted on his cushion. There was something disconcerting about the Sphinx's expression, an overzealous-ness. "Here's what I don't get: if you open Zzyzx, when do you get to negotiate with the demons? Once they're out, where's your bargaining power?"
"A reasonable concern. There is a time before the prison fully opens when communication will be possible. If they will not agree to my terms, I will close the gate. I am fully prepared to walk away, and they will know this, and so they will compromise."
Seth studied the Sphinx suspiciously. "How much of this is Nagi Yoma's idea?"
"Nagi Luna. It was her aim from the start, from our first conversation, to eventually free herself and the other demons."
Seth sat up straight. "Then how do you know she didn't trick you into feeling so confident about it? How do you know she didn't brainwash you?"
"I have done all the research myself," the Sphinx said. "It has taken many lifetimes, but I am sure of my course."
Seth shook his head. "How much do you rely on her?"