As promised, the three brothers agreed to let the others go out, with guardians. And when they mean guardians, they tagged along, to the others dismay. Hades decided to bring them to what the humans called "shopping malls", which one of it was near their place. When they arrived, the boys, except for Hades, were amazed by the inside of the two-floored building. Then again, for the people who have visited this mall were not "amazed" like the boys were. The only thing that's eye-catching about it was the glass ceiling and the wide garden-like surrounding the place.

Zeus asked his brother "Have you been here before?"

Hades nodded. "A few days ago."

He asked again with a grin. "So, you're gonna tour us?"

"I don't know half of this place. I only went to a few shops." He turned to the others who were almost scattered when he called their attention. "We're going to separate into three groups, Poseidon, Zeus, and I would be the ones to look after you boys. Now, who wants to go with whom?"

Hephaestus and Hermes went to Zeus while Dionysus and Ares went to Poseidon's side, Apollo was about to go to the group of Poseidon when Ares blocked him. "Now, now li'l bro, we don't want Uncle Hades to be alone now, and besides, there are already three in this group."

"B-But that's-!"

Poseidon cut him off. "He's right Apollo, go with him."

The boy sighed in defeat, and slowly walked to Hades' side, while his brothers snickered.

Hades said to his brothers "By the way, take these with you." He handed them each a small, flat card and said "It's called a credit card. It's like money, but the transaction is somewhat made easier." Then he instructed them how to use it. "Alright, we'll meet at that restaurant over there at exactly six. Enjoy yourselves. Apollo, come."

And with that, they disappeared among the crowd.

"Where do you two wanna go?" Zeus looked back to see none of his companions. He quickly looked among the crowd until he saw Hephaestus by the appliance store, watching a movie on the T.V. display. He went to him and said "Hephaestus, I've been looking for you! Where's Hermes?"

He looked at him and pointed at an arcade. "…He's over there… There he is now." They saw Hermes elevated among the small crowd.

While walking, Hermes saw the Video Arcade and was intrigued by one of the machines inside. He left the two and went to the small crowd surrounding the said machine. He noticed the two people dancing, he guessed, and the crowd was cheering for them. Because of his small frame, he easily managed to get in front. Then he asked the girl beside him "What's with the crowd?"

"Leaders of dance clubs of different schools are battling, man! It's Synergy of Miami Phoenix and Psyche of Florida Grace! It's like the battle of the century!"

"Ok then…" He watched them until it was finished. Then, an older looking boy went to the platform and took the other boy's hand and raise it up and said "This one goes to the~ Psyches!" Half of the crowd cheered while the other booed. The boy continued "Alright! It looks like a tie, are there any of the members of each club that would like to take the glory?" A brown-haired boy from Psyches went to the platform and gave the other group the finger. The crowd cheered while half of it urged the members of the Synergy to stand up to him, but none of them moved.

"As expected. If I was a Synergist, I would call quits, that guy Marty is like the prince of dancing!" said the girl to Hermes.

"So~ no one's going to challenge him?"

"Nope. Oh well, it's just a random dance battle anyway. They should be embarrassed when it's the championship or somethin'"

Hermes thought about what the girl said, and then suddenly, he raised his hand and said "I volunteer! I volunteer as... as… their dancer!"

"Well come up here! You must be new. We'll see why the Synergists took you in li'l bro!"

The Synergy group was confused and one of them said "Hey! He's not with us!" but she was ignored.

Hermes ignored his nickname, went up and faced the screen. "So~ I just do my thing, right?"

"Daisuke!"

He turned around to see his father and Hephaestus in front of the crowd. "Hey da- Liam!" He sighed. That was a close one.

"What are you doing?! Let's get out of here already!" shouted Zeus.

"Give me five minutes! I'll just beat this guy over here." Hermes then faced the screen.

"Your name's Daisuke huh? Alright then boys and girls, let the final battle begin with Marty and Daisuke! Hit it!"

A popular song called Domino came from the arcade machine and the two boys started to dance. A minute passed and the crowd was cheering for Hermes. Zeus and Hephaestus were surprised to see him dancing like that. Even Hermes himself couldn't believe what he was doing.

(Yeah, just imagine him dancing or something…)

The song finished with Hermes as the winner. The crowd cheered his name while the older-looking boy went to the former and raised his hand. "And here is your winner! Daisuke! Synergists, you won this battle!" The said club went to Hermes and crowded him. Their leader, Sync, said "You're the new kid, right? You definitely must join us! We could've lost if it wasn't for you!"

Hermes grinned. "Maybe, I'll ask my da- I mean my friend over there."

"Oh come on."

"It's kind of like a bro code. Anyway, see ya!" He jumped off the platform and went to where the two were. "I was great, wasn't I?"

"Yes..." said Hephaestus, who smiled a bit.

Zeus sighed. "I must admit, I'm impressed, but don't you ever walk away from me without my consent you two, are we clear?"

The two said "Yes."

"By the way pops, since I won, I want to buy something…"

The group of Poseidon was at a sport store where Ares was looking at some shoes. The other two got bored, so they went outside and saw an ice cream stall. They checked it out and saw an array of colorful ice cream.

Poseidon asked the vendor "Excuse me miss, what are you selling?"

The woman looked at him funny and answered "Ice cream."

"Ice cream?"

"Yes."

"It's cream that's been frozen?"

She snorted. "Look kid, I don't have time for one of your jokes, here you either buy or get lost." She went back with her scooping business.

Dionysus noticed a violet-colored ice cream and asked "What's that?"

"It's grape-flavored."

"Did you say grape?"

The woman rubbed her forehead and answered "Yes."

The boy looked at his uncle with pleading eyes, and of course, he got the message. "One grape ice cream…and that blue one too." The woman gave them their orders and Poseidon offered his credit card.

"We don't accept credit cards, sweetie."

"Huh? Well, I guess we use the human money." He paid and they went back to Ares and his pile of shoe boxes. "Haven't you chose yet?"

Ares was choosing between two sneakers and answered "The black or the red one?"

"I don't know, just choose something."

The boy stared at one pair to the other until he made his decision. "This one!" The clerks around them sighed and went to get the boxes.

"Damian, here." Ares gave the shoe box to his Uncle, almost dropping the latter's ice cream. The three went to the counter and lined up. Ares noticed his brother eating some ice cream. "What's that?"

"Ice cream, it's sweet, *lick* want some?" offered Dionysus.

Ares was disgusted. "No way! You already licked it, and I hate sweets!"

"Suit yourself."

Poseidon paid for the shoes and they went outside and went with the crowd, until they came across a huge clothing store and decided to go in. The store was almost crowded because it offered clothes for both genders and there was a sale. The three boys went to the male section and Poseidon started looking at some "smart casual" clothes.

Ares said "Hey Damian, what's with those kinds of clothes?"

Dionysus thought and said "Haven't we bought clothes last week?"

The older boy, while looking at a long-sleeved polo shirt, said "I like it, it looks mature than the clothes you wear, besides, there's nothing wrong with more clothes in your room. Anyway, I'll just try a few of these, I'll be quick, you boys can look around." He took ten hangers of clothes and went to the fitting room.

"Yeah right, we'll be stuck here in the next few hours. Eladio, come on." The two boys walked around the store, looking at some of the clothes while women turned their heads to the boys whenever they passed them. They came across the underwear section and they noticed a different kind of underwear from theirs.

Different types of lingerie surrounded them, and Dionysus decided to pick one up. He rubbed his thumb, feeling the texture of the piece of clothing. "This is soft. It's softer than our boxers."

Ares picked up one that was made of silk and it was a bit skimpy. "This is an underwear? It barely covers anything!"

By now, the women and girls in that section were looking at them. The girls were giggling while the women seemed disgusted.

"Marko, check this out!" Dionysus showed him a purple bra with black laces. "It's grape-scented." He took a sniff and he smiled warmly, like he's high. "You should try it!" He shoved it on the boy's nose and the latter took it from him.

"Stop it- woah! It does smell like grape! What the hell is it?"

Dionysus took another one and took a sniff. "Nothing… It must be some kind of hat…It's squishy."

"How the hell is this a hat? I swear it's for the eyes, try it."

The younger boy placed the piece of clothing on his face and said "I can't see." He took it off and continued "It's a hat, here." He put it on top of Ares' head and locked it. "See! Now you're beautiful!"

The two boys continued with their shenanigans. The next thing that happened, Poseidon found them outside of the store surrounded by a mob of angry women.

"We still have an hour, Zach. We can go to anywhere you want. I must apologize for taking most of the time."

"I-It's alright Uncl- Ji-hun."

The past few hours, the two had spent most of the time with Apollo following Hades to different stores. They went to an Electronic store where the latter bought some gadgets and more laptops. Hades answered his nephew's silent question, he was going to teach the boys "the wonders of the internet" in the next few days. Then they went to an eyeglass store where Hades got his new eyeglasses. Apollo noticed these past few days that something was wrong with his uncle, even if he tried to avoid him. There were times that he had to squint just to look at something far from him. His Uncle explained what those glasses were for.

Now, they were wandering around the mall, looking at some shops. Hades asked Apollo again. "Where do you wish to go?"

Apollo did not answer. He prayed to Chronos, no, not his grand-father, but to the god of time to quicken the hour.

"Do you want to go to the bookstore?" Hades got his attention, and he knew he got him.

"Y-Yes, if that's alright w-with you…"

Hades did not say a word but headed for the nearest bookstore with Apollo following behind. Unlike the other shops, only a few people were there. They went inside and Hades said "You can get anything you want. I'll be at the science section.", then he went the other way.

Apollo headed for the fiction section and was amazed by the wide collection of books. Every time he read the summary, he wanted to put it in his basket but decided to control himself. He was looking for a specific book to add to his "almost complete" books when he heard someone.

"Why this one though…"

He looked to his right side to see an old woman looking at a black book. Then, Apollo remembered her. "M-, Mrs. Richardson!"

She looked at him and smiled warmly. "It's nice to see you again, young lad. How are you and the others?"

Apollo smiled "We're doing fine, thanks to you."

Mrs. Richardson laughed softly. "I didn't do anything, dear."

"You helped us get out of that place. We are in your debt, madam."

"Oh you. Stop making this old woman blush."

"By the way, I haven't introduced myself, my name's Zach Toulson."

"What a nice name. Perfect for a handsome face like yours." She looked back to the book she was holding and handed it to him. "Here, I think this is the one you are looking for."

Apollo took it and read the title. It's a black book and the cover was a pair of pale hands holding a red apple.

"Temptation is dangerous. A simple apple can lead to someone's demise…"

"Excuse me?"

The old woman smiled. "I must go now. Enjoy your books."

"Wait Mrs. Richardson, the card you gave us, it only has you-"

"It's alright dear. Anyway, we don't want your handsome friend here to wait for you any longer."

"What?..." Apollo turned around to see Hades' face inches from him, which made him take a few steps back. The shock made him blurt out "handsome", the last thing he heard.

The older boy cocked his eyebrow and said "You are shocked by my appealing physical appearance?"

"N-No U-Uncle- I mean Ji-hun! I don't mean it l-like that! I'm not s-saying that you're not handsome, y-you're very handsome and I don't m-mean it in that w-way! I mean it a-as your n-nephew." Apollo stuttered quickly. He tried not to look at him as felt the deep stare of the boy.

Smooth Apollo, smooth.

"Who were you talking to seconds ago?" asked Hades.

"Huh? Oh wait- Mrs- She's gone!" Apollo was confused, she was there seconds ago. He turned back to Hades and said "Mrs. Richardson was here. Didn't you see her?"

"No. I only saw you muttering to yourself."

"B-But, she was here! I swear, she must have gone out already."

"I see… that book…"

Apollo looked and saw him looking at the book he was holding. "Oh t-this? It's one of the books I want to buy." He handed it to Hades and the latter inspected it.

"…I have a bad feeling about this…" muttered Hades.

"What?"

Hades gave the book back to him and adjusted his new eyeglasses. "Nothing. Are those all the books?"

"Yes."

"Alright, let's pay for those and get going. The others must be headed to our meeting place."

The boys met at the designated restaurant, and there they took their dinner. They talked about what had happened and what they bought. Most of them bought a lot, especially Poseidon who has seven shopping bags.

"Damian, that's a lot. What did you buy?" asked Zeus.

"Clothes. We found this store that sells my kind of clothing, smart casual. Next time, I'll take you and Hades there, you guys would love it." said Poseidon.

"Uhh~ great, I guess."

"And by the way, my companions did something ridiculous. They got kicked out of the store we visited."

Zeus cocked his eyebrow and looked at Ares and Dionysus. The two went silent and continued eating their food. Zeus' eyes narrowed and said "What did you boys do?"

They looked at one another, then, Dionysus turned his attention to Zeus, smiled and said "It's a long story."

A/N: I've been playing too much FF13. O_o

By the way, check out my "somewhat" short spin-off of this story called Dearest Mother.