???'s POV:

"I do understand your commands, my liege. However, that still feels a bit extra to me." I said, my voice barely a whisper.

"Do it or your fair lady will be cursed back to the depths of the Underworld." His voice commanded and echoed.

I stared at the stone throne where he sat upon, his eyes not meeting mine, I tried to think of something to convince him not to murder her in cold blood.

"Are you going now or what." He asked as he stared maddeningly at the wall of the cave.

"... Very well, I'll do it for her," I said, getting up from the ground and dusting off the rocks.

I stepped into the light from the cave entrance, it was the perfect place to hide, I admit.

It was a middle of nowhere place, alone dirt path tied our hiding spot to the world and from the dry condition of it, it doesn't look like it's used much. Nothing is alive here, no birds chirping, no wind, nothing, like all time stood still.

A sudden loud bark scared me; I hear people talking. They were walking a dog.

I needed to go, I needed to do my duty.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joe's POV:

"One more time Tango, your fingers need to be steadier and blow into it."

A weak sound came from the Ocarina that Tango held onto.

My blond friend stared at his new aqua Ocarina with his red eyes and grunted,

"I just wanted to play the Temple of Time."

"Grian should have never introduced you to that game." I sighed.

"But the game is so good, and the G-man was tired of being in bed all the time."

Grian is our good pal, he got into a bit of a near-death situation nearly a month ago and was in bed for doesn't two and a half weeks after that, Tango visited him once when he was playing Ocarina of Time on his DS. (That he somehow stole)

"Just one more time? I can do the opening perfectly!" Tango plead.

"I really don't understand you sometimes but do as you please, we also got to meet Beef soon." I signed, taking off my glasses, taped together by a layer of flex tape. (Zed's idea, don't ask where he got a huge roll of flex tape.)

So, Tango played the first bar, it was going great, no mistakes until...

"Tango! Joe! We've been looking everywhere for you!"

That startled Tango who then let go of some of his fingering and played a high D#.

"That scared me False... gods I was doing so well too!" He grunted, putting his face in his hands.

False, who had her flight goggles high on her head, looked at the ocarina in Tango's hands.

"Don't you think teaching Scar the flute enough? I can't bear another instrument being brutally murdered." She asked, putting her gloved hands in her new olive-green jacket.

"Hey! At least I play better than Scar!" Tango puffed at her.

"I have to agree on that. He does play better than Scar." I added in.

"You see, two to one. We win!" Tango giggled.

False rolled her sky-blue eyes, "Beef's mom is going to company us to the museum, she works there and can show us more of the V.I.P stuff."

"V.I.P?" Tango said excitedly with a gleam in his eyes.

"I know right? I feel so honored to know more about these artifacts!" False sighed dreamily.

"Well, let's not stay here and chit-chat. Tango, can I have back my ocarina?"

Tango handed me the ocarina and sighed:

"I named it too..." He kicked the rock in front of him as we walk.

"Don't tell me you named it Zelda or Link?" I asked.

"Uh... Welp."

"I already named it before you."

"What is with you and naming stuff?" False asked. (Who I ignored)

"Its name was Omori, 'weight'."

"I actually really liked that name. Mm... I might just keep that name!"

We came to the front of the Camp; Ex's house laid a bit west and waiting there was most of the Hermits and Zloy with a camera in hand.

"So, Pixlriffs is not coming?" I called out to Pixlriffs.

"He got like some important gig for a TV show called Empires or something, so no, unfortunately," Zloy said with a heavy British accent.

Zloy was somewhat of undead like Cleo, he got moss green skin with the most piercing of yellow rotting eyes; He wore a short-sleeved suit with a sleeveless vest. He and Pixlriffs are the best of friends and are rarely seen apart.

"Sounds fun, I'm happy for him." False clapped.

"I don't think the museum allows cameras..." Tango said uncertainly.

"No problem, I've already asked Beef's mom and she says yes!" Zloy rubbed the camera's lens with his fingerless gloves.

"Speaking of my mom, there she is!" Beef pointed at the car pulling over.

It was a small car, nothing too flashy but functional; the door opened to a woman in her early forties.

Beef's mom looked rather young for a woman her age; she had the same dark brown hair as her son tied as a simple ponytail limp over her shoulder, her amber eyes contrast Beef's navy-blue eyes. She wore a semi- buttoned bouse, a business jacket, and a simple pair of jeans

"Oh, Beef? Gods, you look so grown up!" Her eyes sparkles in joy, she walked around her son, brushing his hair.

"Geez, thanks! Uh- Mom, meet my friends!" Beef's ears grew red.

"Greetings... Ms....?" Zloy said.

"Just call me Mari," Mari said, grinning at us with the warmest smile. "You... have very interesting outfit choices."

Zloy beamed, "Thank you! Honesty's just really comfortable."

"Made with Nappa leather, eh? Good choice, looks like it's straight of the 19s!" Mari looks closely at the leather.

"Has anyone seen Mumbo? He's late... again." Grian asked.

Everyone (except for TFC, Cub, Scar, Mumbo, Jevin, B-dubs, Hypno, Pixlriffs, and Ely who wasn't there or weren't going to visit the museum) looked around to try and find our mustached friend.

"Hey! I'm here, sorry! Jevin had to show me something cool." His voice came from my left.

Iskall giggled, "Well, you can tell us that a bit later, I really want to go to this museum."

"Well, how are we going to fit in that small car, no offense or anything." False asked.

"Dear, do you still have your old van?" Mari asked her son.

"Yeah, gave it to Mumbo who renovated it a while ago." Beef egged Mumbo lightly.

"Yeah, still got the van keys, I'll go drive it here." Mumbo dived into his pockets and fished out his keys. (That man keeps some weird stuff in those pockets.)

Impulse stared at his half-brother's footsteps, "He really needs a list of things to guide him through his day."

"I agree, time management is very important to maintain a healthy lifestyle." Mari nodded. (I am staring at you, readers and the author who is writing this at 1 am)

"I CALL SHOTGUN!" Zed said to Mari.

"But why, it's my mom's car." Beef said, clearly wanting the front seat.

"Because I called shotgun first! So, I win right Ms. Beef's Mom?"

"Zed is part of the family, same with the rest of you; we are all family here. So, yeah, this is his car in a way." Mari sighed looking at Zed's nonsense.

A short few beeps came from my behind, without looking back, I knew it was Mumbo doing the morse code for E, aka three short beeps.

"Welcome aboard the 'Beef-Van'!" He called out jokingly, opening the door.

To no one's surprise, it smelled like beef. (The meat not the person)

After splitting the groups into two, I stepped into the van's back, and let me tell you, it was dark. From the small amount of light that enters the vans' back; there was an empty mattress near the back and a box full of metal bits that Mumbo left behind.

"Gods, Beef when did you wash this last?" Stress chokes on her words and giggles.

Beef's face turned red, and cleared his throat, "Yes. So, Mumbo! Do you need any help? Any buttons that are stuck?"

"Nope, I'm fine here mate-" Mumbo said and got cut off.

"Oh okay! I'll help you!" Beef rushed into the front seat and slammed the door.

We stared at the blurry Beef through the window and busted out laughing.

"That was a situation and a half," Cleo said, finding a cozy place to sit.

Grian ruffled his wings, "Man, it feels good to finally step out of the camp boulders!"

We were all pretty near to Grian as those wings are the only source of illumination in the dark van back.

"You know, this is a perfect spot to practice some fire magic." Impulse said, staring at Zloy.

"I rather not fail thank you." Zloy said, "Plus, I'm only a quarter of a god, I don't have too much magic in me."

Tango (who was digging near the back) popped his head out and started chanting, "Do it! Do it! Do it!"

Zloy huffed and mumbled something, "Okay. You jerks."

He rubbed his hands together really hard and produced a small flame.

"O- You are getting the hang of it!" Cleo said.

The flame wavered and died out; Zloy sighed, "I don't think there is enough oxygen in here."

"That's fine! We can try again if you want!" Impulse patted him on the back.

Tango poked his head out, but he had big red goggles that matched his eyes.

"This has night vision!" He exclaimed, pointing at his goggles.

Impulse snapped his fingers and a bright flame danced on his palm, "Those goggles look normal."

And it was the truth, it just looked like normal goggles, in fact, the lenses were thick enough to make it look like Tango just has really big eyes.

"No, trust me, here! Try it!" Tango pulled the goggles off and handed them to Etho.

Etho backed away "That is very interesting but no thank you!"

Tango put it back on, "Suit yourself."

Grian stared at Tango's face, "You know that just made you look like you have huge eyes."

Tango gasped, "Maybe Keralis and B-dubs will let me in their secret club." (Don't ask, it's difficult to explain.)

"When did B-dubs and Keralis have a secret club?" Ren asked, curious about this rabbit hole. (Curiosity kills the cat, Ren. Well, in this case, Dog.)

The van pulled over and stopped, Impulse discharged the flame he had, and said, "That's why it's a secret."

Outside the Van and was a parking lot, and there was Keralis who was just chatting with Xisuma.

"What on Gaia did you put on your face Tango." Exy, the twin of Xisuma, asked.

"It has night vision!" Tango grinned.

Keralis's eyes (somehow) grew bigger, "Your face is beautiful!"

Xb walked into the conversation, "Where on Gaia did you find that?"

"It is buried in your mountain of trash! Didn't Mumbo clean the back?" Tango pointed at the mustache lad.

"I was asked to fix it, not clean it!" Mumbo bumbled in.

"Anyways, can I have the pass to join in?" Tango pushed in.

As Keralis was whispering something into Tangos' ears, Mari came around and saw the googles.

"Is that one of the googles I that lost like a year ago?" Mari grinned at Xb.

"Yep, but it seems like in the last month or so it got infused with magic or whatever."

Mari nodded; she doesn't have clear sight from what I remember but knows that these things have a connection with the Gods. So, she might not fully grasp how bad a situation is, but she trusts her son's judgment. (which is really sweet, trusting Xb fully and blindly)

I was truly surprised by how amazing the entrance was, pillars of marble covered in fake vines leading to paintings of Zeus exposing his full glory to... you know... ahem. All around are statues of minor and major gods. Hero stories hung on walls, a grand fountain releases mist that covers the bottoms of our soles, sunlight twinkled in engulfing the air with a holy vibe.

We were just in shock, at how great and real all the statues look, and for most of us, this will be the closest we will be to our godly parents.

Mari continued leading us to a smaller hallway that led to a room that wrote: "V.I.P AND STAFF ONLY."

"We have one artifact in there that we are truly proud of, 'Atropos' Blade'" Mari said, opening the door with a key she had hidden.

A cold wind blew over, we sweated in anticipation. (Felt really off to be honest.)

We looked in.

...

And someone was looking out.

He had a brown hood and a dusty brown cape; he was staring at a glass stand and moving slowly.

"Hey! Timmy, is that you?" Mari called out to someone seemly is a co-worker.

He turned around; shadow covered most of his face, but he had black hair that went into a thin ponytail.

"Oh, wait no that is not Timmy." Mari stood still, trying to remember all her co-workers, "Are you that new guy?

His face remained blank, and he looked at the group of Demigods and suddenly looked panicked.

"Oh, no don't worry. They got my ok to come in here."

"Θα φύγω τώρα." The stranger muttered. ("I'll just go now." is the translation, you are welcomed for the mighty Joe)

He looked at the glass, then he broke it.

He broke the glass, took the Blade inside, and broke out of the window.

The sirens flared off and we all stood in silence shook.

"Oh my... no." Mari covered her mouth.

Wels looked out the broken window, "He's gone!"

The similar siren of a police car fades into the madness of us arguing, and soon a single strong voice called out,

"FREEZE, OR WE WILL SHOOT."

TLDR:

Museum visits are always bad.

Author's Notes:

Man, it feels good to be writing again.

Took way too long with this one chapter because... Exams and whatnot.

Also new HermitCraft season with two new faces!... I'll find a way to put them in here.

(All hermits expect from TFC in this AU is around 20, that's why Beef's mom was around her 40s)

Fun fact: I also wrote the beginnings of the last book during exams.