The Mirror's Prophecy

A Horse-Man Wrecks The Apartment

Nico's eyes flutter open for the third time in twenty-four hours. He's filled with confusion when he wakes up, because he's in a bed in an unfamiliar room, when the last thing he remembers is watching Friends in Morgan's living room. There's a door on the other side of the room, though, right smack in the middle of the wall. Nico slides off of the bed, and opens the bedroom door. He finds himself in the hallway that leads...to the living room? He walks down the hall and into the living room to find Will Solace slumbering in one of the recliner chairs, and a feeling of disappointment settles in his stomach. Why wasn't both of them in the same bed?

Nico turns around to go back to the extra bedroom when the door right next to it swings open. Morgan drags herself out of her room. "I heard footsteps. Why are you up so early? It's like 5am," she complains.

Nico regards with a questioning look. "Did you put me in the bedroom?"

Morgan scratches her back and nods. "Yeah, why?"

"Why didn't you put Will in there, too?"

She shrugs. "I don't know. I was tired, and didn't feel like carrying two teenage boys. You were the lightest, anyway. Why do you care?"

Nico blinks. Why does he care? "I...I don't. I don't care."

Morgan smirks. "Okay, if you insist...Hey, since we're both up, I'm gonna go make some waffles. Wanna help me?"

Nico thinks for a moment. "No, but thanks for the offer."

Morgan crosses her arms. "Aw, sweetheart! It's cute you think that that was an offer." She grabs his hand and pulls him into the kitchen. "You know how to make waffles, right?"

"No."

"Then I'll teach you!" she exclaims. "Go get out the eggs and the milk. I'll get the waffle maker and Bisquick box."

Nico begins to stroll toward the fridge when he and Morgan hear a knock at the door. They look at each other. "Who could be--"

"I don't know," Morgan interrupts.

The daughter of Aphrodite goes over to her knife drawer, and pulls out a long bronze butcher's knife. Nico's jaw drops. "You still have monster weapons?"

As she stalks out of the kitchen and approaches the door, she bows her head to indicate 'yes.' "Go to your room and hide. Now," she warns.

Nico does run to his room, only to return a moment later in the living room with his black Stygian iron sword. "No. I'm not leaving. What if there's some huge giant out there?"

Through gritted teeth, she replies, "Then. I'll. Kill. It."

There's suddenly another round of knocks, and the two demigods inch closer. Morgan leaps at the door and whips it open. Standing behind the door is...a centaur. Morgan and Nico stumble backwards. "What the--"

All of a sudden, the centaur gallops into the apartment, and Morgan and Nico dive to the side. The centaurs stares at them. "WHERE IS THE CHILD OF THE UNDERWORLD GOD?" he bellows.

Wow...Two days into the quest, and already something's gone wrong. That's got to be a record or something, Nico thinks. He slowly stands up to face the horse-man. "I'm...I'm the son of Hades," he confesses.

The centaur grins with malice. "You accept your forth-coming death so gracefully? I admire that."

Morgan stands up, too. She growls, "You know what I'll admire? The moment you turn to dust after Nico and I kill you!"