Night had fallen and the moon was rising through the sky. From far away, it looked like a small white circle, but everybody knew that it was Artemis driving her chariot through the night. Anyone who thought otherwise was just stupid.

Despite the rapidly approaching night, Olympus had in no way settled down. If anything, it was livelier than during the day. Gods didn't have to sleep, so they had to find something to do with themselves all the time.

Lord Ares, god of war, was of course, no exception. Pulling down on a torch next to his fireplace, he watched as it turned to reveal a tunnel to his secret headquarters. Ares had built it after he had been sure Athena was cheating when they practiced their war games. She said that it was just "good strategy" and that he "was so predictable". Ares fumed remembering her snobbish expression as she beat him once again. She could blab about good strategies all she wanted; he knew she'd managed to take a peek at his war plans.

However, the headquarters were being used for a different purpose that night. Ares had a secret date with Aphrodite and the last thing he wanted was one of the other gods finding out. That nosy Hephaestus was always snooping around for evidence that they were meeting, and the last time he'd caught them, it wasn't pretty.

Coming to the end of the tunnel, Ares looked over his shoulder before turning back to the door. It had special enchantments around it, ensuring that not just anyone could open the door. You had to know how to do it. Lord Ares hefted his spear and, making sure he was aiming in the right places, plunged the spear into the door. It was indestructible, save one tiny spot near the upper left corner. If that was hit, the entire door crumbled. It was a bit tiresome to have to rebuild the door each time he came down here, but it gave him great satisfaction to watch the door crumble. Maybe next time he'd paint Athena's face onto the door. Then he'd have double the fun breaking it.

He stepped over the rubble and entered the room. It was home to his most precious items his most valuable being his prized spear. He loved that spear even more than he loved Aphrodite, which was a lot, considering she was the goddess of love. He turned to the pedestal where the spear was kept, thinking maybe he'd polish it one more time before he went to see Aphrodite . . .

The spear was gone.

Lord Ares froze for a second. But only a second.

Not bothering with the door, he smashed right through the wall and onto the streets of Olympus, forcing a chariot driver to veer sharply to the right and crash into one of Demeter's many gardens. Ares ran off, brandishing his fists and yelling at the top of his lungs, destroying everything in his path as he went to find the fool who stole his spear.

I watched all this happen, grinning at the look on Ares's face when he'd discovered the missing spear. Man, that in itself had been priceless. I looked at the big brown bag next to me, thankful that my invisibility helmet worked on it too. Nimbly I hopped out of the hole and set off in the opposite direction of Ares, mentally patting myself on the back for a job well done. Not everyone can steal from the war god and get away with it. In fact, I don't think anyone else could have pulled it off. I laughed, turning a corner into a deserted street and heading towards my house.

"Autolycus."

I froze. I was still wearing my helmet, so there was no way anyone could see me. Except . . .

"Hi, Dad."

I turned slowly, pulling the helmet off. Yep, there was my dad, hovering a few feet above the ground like he always did, crossing his arms and frowning at me, his caduceus dangling from one hand.

"What did you take?" His expression told me he already knew.

"How's it going with you? I'm good, thanks for asking. But enough about me, why don't we talk about you for a change?"

"Autolycus."

I sighed and handed over the bag. He took a look inside it and groaned, like I'd just confirmed his worst suspicions. Then he snapped his fingers and the bag and spear disappeared, presumably on its way back to Ares. Sometimes having your dad be the messenger of the gods can get really annoying. Then he turned back to me and I knew I was going to get it.

"Why?"

"I don't know. Because."

My dad sighed and rubbed his forehead. "So you didn't even have a good reason for stealing it?"

I shrugged. "It's what I do. And you only have yourself to blame for that."

That almost brought on a smile, which encouraged me. Maybe I wouldn't get such a bad punishment after all. I mean, you can hardy punish your son for being the prince of thieves when you're the king.

Dad sighed again. "I just wish . . ."

"What? That I'd be more like Pan?" Pan was my older brother, or I guess you could say step-brother, since we had different moms. "Good luck with that. I'll let you know if I grow hooves. Or horns. Or fur."

"No, I don't want you to be like Pan. I just wish," he looked around, as though the answer would appear. "I wish you knew where to draw the line."

"What?" I said, offended. "I know where to draw the line."

"Autolycus, you stole the most prized possession of the god of war. This is different than stealing from nymphs or satyrs. Ares would kill you if he found out you took his spear."

"But he wouldn't find out, that's the thing! He never saw me or-" I stopped and watched my dad, who was ruffling through his mail bag that he carried with him. "What are you doing?"

He found what he was looking for and pulled it out. "Take a look," he said, handing it to me. I grabbed it; it was some sort of pamphlet.

"Olympus Reformatory Institute for unruly young demigods, nymphs, satyrs, spirits and other divine beings," I glanced up at my dad. "You're not serious."

"Autolycus, I've been thinking about this for a long time. This is for your safety more than anything else. You can't steal from the gods without consequences. Sooner or later, you will get caught. Besides, there taking new students tomorrow. It's the perfect time. You'll fit right in," he sighed, looking all sympathetic for me, but I knew that look in his eyes. Part of him was enjoying this.

"Dad, I'll be good, I promise. I don't need this institute, I've learnt my lesson. Come on." But I could see that he'd already made up his mind.

"Sorry son, but this is for your own good." He grinned.

"Well you know what? I refuse to go. So there." I turned and started to head off down the street, the image of my dad grinning still in my mind. And I knew why. The fact that I didn't want to go really meant nothing at all. My dad was a god, and gods had a way of getting what they wanted.