Joe's POV:

"We have a security system all around this room, is that enough for a warrant of a search?" Mari said with impatience in her voice.

"If we have the clear face of the suspect." The police officer said, taking notes of the whole situation.

We sat on the edge of the fountain walls, Beef muttering to False.

"I am so sorry; I know you are really looking forward to this visit..." He said to the spaced-out False.

False suddenly looked panicked and sprinted to Mari, "What has been stolen again?"

"Atropos' Blade? Why you asked?" Mari said, still talking with a few cops.

"Atropos... gods my head is blanking right now... she's... Atropos is one of three Fates." False said.

"Oh... she's the one that cuts the string of a life, ending it as a result." I recounted Xisuma's one lesson about the Fates.

"Yes, basic knowledge by now. What's your point, Truth?" Ex rubbed in. (Rude)

"Name's False but whatever. My point is... does he know anything about... you know-" She pointed at herself, "-us? If he's a shapeshifting monster working for someone, it may mean the end of the world."

"Calm your roll False, you went one to a hundred with your guess," Ren said.

"For all we know, he may just be a Greek-speaking theft," Zloy said.

That didn't seem to calm False's nerves at all.

"If let's say he is a regular theft, that would weigh a 30.48 kg, if the scissors were the size of a normal pair of scissors." She continued.

"He may just be a ripped man; I like myself a ripped man," Ren said in awe. (And he calls himself straight as I kiss him goodnight as a homie, the dude has said... questionable things)

"And the Fates were huge, they are like 20 feet tall," False said with no emotion.

"Ok, that will a big pair of scissors." Doc agreed.

"Now if that was a demigod or some type of monster, It will be a lot lighter." False alleged.

"Why is that?" Zloy asked.

"Magic, if infused with other metals can be held by mortals, but as it is condensed into the metal and doesn't react to a magic touch It is really heavy to mortals; but it reacts to our touch so it will be much lighter," Xisuma said. (World-building is fun)

"Ok, now it sounds more likely that he may be a demigod." Keralis nodded.

Zloy nodded and wrote something into his notes and False turned to the cops.

"Is there a search party for the theft yet?"

"No, but in a day or two, we will have a team searching. For now, we are just trying to identify the theft if we do run into him." The cop said.

"Sir, look at the fingerprint records!" Another cop said, with fear and panic.

I followed behind, eavesdropping on them.

"That's... impossible." The first cop exclaimed.

"If the records are correct, it means... this person doesn't exist at all."

...

"Spy!" Tango gasped after relaying the info to him.

"Tango, you have been watching too many True Crime cases again." I shook my head. (Buzzfeed unsolved is a good series, not going to lie)

We have traveled back home at this point; Cleo, Xisuma, Xb and I were just retelling what we know.

"So, is that why Beef's not with us for dinner?" Scar asked.

"Yeah, needed to console his mother. Poor guy." Xb sighed.

Cleo sipped on her cherry soda, legs on the table "That's why we need to get to the bottom of this." (Very Bi of you to not seat properly, Cleo)

"I heard they are going have dogs, we have a bit of cloth that belonged to that sneaky criminal," Ren said.

"More of a cat person myself, but that's fine." Scar said.

"I hope we can at least bring Mari some justice, it sounds terrible," Jevin added.

We rumored who this theft could be, from Ixion to even Salmoneus, but we can't seem to fit the Fates into the whys and how's, but in the end, we just decided to sleep on it.

The next day can't come closer, we rose up bright and early and drove to the site of the crime.

Five German Shepherds were working already, smelling around, and looking.

"Aww..." Stress whispered.

"Don't pet the dogs, Stress," TFC warned. (Look at TFC being the responsible adult)

A few more police arrived, talking, and walking around the scene, then a younger cop with a younger German Shepherd walked out.

"Puppy!" Stress yipped.

"No, not even the puppies." TFC sighed.

The German Shepherd jumped out of his arms and ran up to us. (Stress was about ready to kidnap the dog)

"Teddy! Wait, you can't-" exclaimed the young cop, running towards us.

"Oh, so sorry! Teddy is too trained yet. I-" The young cop, a woman near her mid-twenties, with coffee-brown hair and the fringe dyed a pale blonde which houses a greyish-blue beanie, she wasn't in a full cop uniform, only with a grey cop jacket and a white undershirt; pale jeans and running shoes.

"You... you group of people look..." She continued; her face unsure of what she is looking at.

"Pearl! Over here!" One of the elder cops ordered.

"Yes! Uh... coming!" The cop called Pearl ran off.

"Hm, weird," Doc said, narrowing his eyes at Pearl.

Then one of the dogs' got a lead and started barking at some wild fields near the east.

We walked with the cops in silence, we focused on everyone we passed, trying to remember the theft's face.

Pearl slowed down and looked at us, and quietly asked "Can I ask a few questions?"

Grian nodded.

"Does one of your friends have goat-like horns or am I way too tired?" She asked.

We looked at each other and a wave of panic spread.

"You did put the Mist on us, right?" Ex quietly asked Xb and Cleo.

"Of course!" Cleo whispered, "Could she be one of us?"

"Wouldn't be the weirdest thing we have seen lately," Ex murmured.

Pearl sensing the panic in us, laughed "Sorry, weird question."

"No, no, but you know... you remember at school, we were taught about Greek mythology, right?" Grian charmspoke a bit, trying to ease into the topic.

"Yeah, I always liked mythology more than the history itself." She laughed softly.

"Gods, you will take forever for a full introduction, Greek gods are real, demigods are real! There! Take that in now!" Ex grumbled.

Pearl shook her head, "Funny joke! But I don't really get it."

We scorned at Ex.

"Haha, so yeah, the Greek gods and maybe other gods from other mythologies are real! All those Gods you learned... they are real... surprise!" Grian started to visually panic.

Pearl looked in disbelief, "No, is this some kind of sick joke? If so, it's not funny."

Scar elbowed Xb, "Take off the mist, just for a bit."

"What! No! You're insane!" Xb whispered.

"Just trust me! This is only for a while." Scar continued.

The mist was lifted off the satyr, Scar looked at Pearl.

"I am a Satyr, child of Pan. In history, all gods were alive. They were real but only for as long as people knew their myths, they stay in areas in where their influence is strongest." Scar said, "It takes a while for most new demigods to take it in, so ask any questions." (More world-building, great job Scar)

We walked for a while in silence, Pearl finally opened her mouth at last, "How do you know so clearly if I was you know a demigod."

"You might be a clear-sighted mortal, but do weird unexplainable things happen if you are in an extreme emotion?" Xisuma said.

"Ah, that does seem to explain a lot of things." Pearl nodded.

Teddy, her German Shepherd barked at something.

It was a clearing near a river, nothing but the hood of the theft was here.

Pearl and the rest of the cops put on some gloves, some scanned the area, and some investigated the coat.

"There is a note, more Greek," Pearl reported to the cops, and she looked at us.

"Do any of you happen to know Greek?"

"In fact, I do," I said, curious about the note.

Doc waved a 'Dude, what the heck?' hand gesture at me.

I waved back a 'Later, I will tell everyone' symbol.

"Joe is your name, right?" Pearl asked.

"Yeah, Name's Joe!" I nodded and looked at the note, it was poorly written as if the Theft was in a rush, there were blood smears as if the Theft's hand was bleeding.

I cleared my throat, "Yfel stealdan done êower task, what fyr r¯æran êow gafol hebban sê shattered brêostloca? hwý and rif mîn lufiend locked into ðêah rûmian, âlecgan âdrencan hearra cries mid fultum−an? yfel âcêlan hlystan sîn galan.

But ðætte does n¯ænig pro intingaêow êower, êow friclan drêor lôc êower styrman mîn benemnan. Samðe in phrase samðsamð oflangian geond êow sellan mîn côpenere, yfel spr¯æc fullfyligan.

I dôm turnian âwyrcan dôð nêarra task, âpinsian sê tîma êower âstillian âgnod grundlêaslic wine."

They looked at me with confusion but that I understand, as this crazy nut of a Theft used old English to write. (No, Shakespearean English is not old English, that is Early Modern English)

I pushed up my glasses, "Do you want an English translation?"

"How in the worlds did you understand that?" B-dubs said in shock. (Because I am the main character, duh)

"Alright, 'I have done your task, what more do you want from this shattered soul? Why take my lover locked in that room, to drown her cries for help? I still hear her scream.

But that does not matter to you, you seek blood, and you call my name. As long as you have my love, I will obey.

I will go do the next task; measure the time you still have great lord."

"I have to say, he's a great writer. He sounds like you at times, Joe." Ren said, raising his eyebrow. (Author is that meme of Obama awarding Obama)

"It looks like he's not alone." False added.

"It's strange that he writes in Old English," Pearl said to her cop friends.

"Collect the bloody note." The elder cop said.

"But it may have been sitting out here for too long, therefore the blood can't be biologically traced back to this criminal." Pearl included, and a few other cops agreed with her.

"It's also strange that he left this note here as if he wants someone to find it." Cub rubbed his beard thoughtfully.

"You are a genius!" Scar clapped his hands excitedly.

"I am? I mean... uh... of course, I am!" Cub chuckled softly.

"Hear me out, this was clearly meant for someone, so we wait and see who comes along and pick it up?" Scar continued.

"It may seem possible in theory; we may station one here." One of the police said.

"I'll stay, if I may." Pearl looked at us.

"Can we station ourselves here?" Zed popped in.

"Yeah, you can do whatever you want to except for touching the scene of the crime." The elder cop said.

"Deal!" Zed went in for a handshake, which the cop didn't take, so he silently put his hand down.

"Pearl, report every hour for us alright? Keep Teddy under control."

"I will," Pearl said, signaling her walkie-talkie.

"Alright, we will leave you alone now. We have a distress call down block 14." The cops marched off.

The air was thick, for a while we just stood still, not moving a nerve. Until...

"We haven't properly introduced ourselves, I'm Xisuma, these are my friends, we call ourselves the Hermits," Xisuma said breaking the ice.

"You group don't seem like hermits," Pearl said coldly.

"Oh, we are open within the group, but the rest are pretty shy outside." Xisuma elbowed Ex.

"I am not shy! I am just anti-social."

"Right, so about the whole my parent is a god thing?" Pearl asked.

"Have you stomached that yet?" Grian asked.

"Yeah, I think. It does explain my single father." Pearl nodded. "Do you know who my godly mom is?"

"No, we can't say for sure. But if we get to know you, we may have a very clear guess." Hypno said.

"Magic that you can naturally do may also help!" Impulse said, "I got claimed when I first try to do fire magic!"

"Claimed?"

"Oh, claiming is when your godly parent recognizes you as their child. But don't think that they will visit you more often." Grian sighed. (Still as salty as ever but can't blame the guy)

"Are you all claimed?" Pearl asked.

"No, Beef, Zed and Grian haven't been claimed. For Grian we are pretty sure his father is Hermes." Mumbo added.

"Hestia did point us her champions." Beef said, remember that one encounter with her.

"Haven't heard from her in a while. I miss her letters." Zed added.

Once a week, Hestia will send a letter to Zed and Beef but for this past week or so she has gone silent, actually, all the gods had gone silent.

"It's worrying, nothing from the gods at all." Scar shivered, "The plants have gotten cold, no signs of Demeter or Pan's essence in them at all, they feel... dead."

"How do you know that?" Pearl asked, kicking at the grass.

"Just touch them! They are usually warm... homely, now they feel dead, the birds and other animals also have noticed, hear there are no birds around at all?" Keralis added in.

Pearl touched the nearest tree, "I don't feel anything, it's just tree bark."

Impulse butted into the conversation, "Can we please continue this later, we have to set up a camp for this wild theft!"

We taught Pearl the ropes, it's weird teaching someone how to set up a campsite, we have been so experienced that trying to change that instinct into words was weird.

"Then we just rub our hands together and heat just ignites from my palms," Zed explained fire magic to the newcomer.

"Woah, you are glowing!" Pearl said.

"Aw! Thanks for that compliment." Zed grinned.

"No really, you are glowing, it's not clear but it's there," Pearl said.

"You are really sensitive to these things you know? Magic when released, does produce a fade glow!" False informed, offloading some wood with Jevin.

TFC nodded, "Eyes like yours are quite rare, protect them. We can't actually see the magic unless we focus hard."

"The mist still semi affects us, so you must be a hundred percent clear-sighted," I said, drumming my Ukulele.

We settled into the night, we took shifts of watching who is going to come and claim the note.

On mine and Cleo's shift, something happened.

We heard the thrusting of leaves, someone or something was walking near.

Then, it came out and stepped into the moonlit clearing.

I wasn't expecting this... not at all.

TLDR:

Chasing the little crime boy.

Author's note:

First, Cub and Ren are still described as his old skin in this fanfic, but I may have an idea to change that to their current skins, though it may take a while. It may not even happen for the sake of trying to keep it simple.

Second note that I do not post any of my written work anywhere else. I only have one Wattpad account, and my other social accounts are mostly art.

My main active socials are:

YouTube (•Tree Animates• )

Reddit ( u/Tree_Animates )

Twitter ( @TreeAnimates )

Wattpad ( @TreeWritez )

I have other accounts, but they are inactive.

So, if there is a new account posting my stuff that is not my linked account.

That is not me. Be safe and keep your accounts secure.