Hello, everyone. I'm just putting a little warning here! CW/TW: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS AN INSTANCE WHERE SEXUAL ASSAULT IS MENTIONED. PLEASE DO NOT READ IF SEXUAL ASSAULT OR SIMILAR TOPICS CAUSE YOU DISTRESS OR TRAUMA. AGAIN, PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS CHAPTER IF SEXUAL ASSAULT TRIGGERS YOU. I WILL MAKE SURE THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE EASILY UNDERSTOOD EVEN WITHOUT READING THIS CHAPTER.

We strolled back to the bus stop and looked for a taxi to take us to a hotel. The driver, a young woman with blue hair and the prettiest brown eyes I'd ever seen, smiled welcomingly at us and nodded. "Hey, guys. Aren't you three a little too young to be traveling alone with no parent supervision?"

Anusha just shrugged, grinning at her. "Yes, yes we are."

"Where to, guys?"

I spoke for us, smiling sweetly in that way most 'good kids' do when speaking to adults. "The Quarry Hotel, please! The one on Fourteenth Street. Thank you!"

With a quick nod, the woman pulled into the main road and went about her business, checking the street before turning and switching lanes. Anu kept a careful eye on her, but Tlato and I relaxed. I had a feeling it was partly her new mistrust of women because of her mother's betrayal, but that might also have been me looking too deep into it.

When the taxi pulled to a stop in front of the hotel, I paid the woman with my card. I think she had Square or whatever that mobile credit card swiper thing is called, and she thanked us with a smile. Anusha just frowned and got out of the car silently after Tlatoany, biting her lip. Tlato thanked her too, waving as she drove away. He and I turned to stare at Anu as we entered the hotel. "Anu, what was that? Aren't you usually the one that's all manners and big smiles?"

She shook her head, scowl still carved into her face. "That woman smelled like a monster."

I choked on my spit. "I'm sorry, what-"

Anu sighed, wrapping both arms around herself. "She smelled like a monster. I said what I said. I could smell it on her. She must have smelled me too, though. That's why she left us alone."

Tlato huffed at her response but chose to not comment too harshly. "You've been able to smell monsters, and you didn't warn us back in that factory?"

She let out an irritated groan, shaking her head. "I don't know how to explain it, okay?! I just…I don't know how to tell you what it's like. But suddenly, as if my sense of smell suddenly returned after a cold, I could smell her. Like burnt sewage and old gym socks. I could just tell."

I raised an eyebrow at that, now wondering what else her nose told her. "What do I smell like?!"

A smirk. "Axe body spray. And sugar cookies at Christmas time. Oh, and like, new clothes. That's a weird one."

Tlatoany also asked what he smelled like. She grinned at that. "You smell like pine, campfires in general, and something sweet. Maybe cinnamon. Or possibly vanilla. Some kind of confection." He smiled wide, sniffing at his shirt to see if he could smell that. To his disappointment, he could not.

"How are you able to smell all that on us?" I wondered aloud, poking at her nose. Anusha smacked my hand away but offered her theory.

"I think it's about the things you spend the most time around. Tlatoany spends a lot of time training in camp around the forest and hangs around the amphitheater a lot. And he uses this really nice body wash that's like a mild vanilla scent or something. I've noticed it before. And you, Reggie, you smell like what you smell like because you have a lot of fancy clothes and love dessert. And I think you use fuckboy deodorant."

I couldn't help but laugh at her response and nodded in agreement. "I mean, you're not wrong. What do you smell like?"

She shrugged. "How the fuck would I know? Anyways, let's go. I don't like being out in the open. Too vulnerable, honestly."

Something about that clicked for me. Maybe it was the part about being vulnerable, but I started piecing together Anusha's mindset and mentality.

Tlato didn't seem to notice anything, though, so we kept going, and the two besties followed me inside, clinging onto one another's hands for some reason. Anu probably needed the reassurance because she'd rarely been away from her mother without any other adult supervision. And Tlatoany probably wanted to feel safe in a city where there were probably no Native American people whatsoever. I mean, no one can provide better safety than anusha, who could literally wipe out half a small country with an angry huff. Still, I thought it strange that the strongest (physically, not magically) and smartest member of our trio was so nervous.

I tried not to focus on that too much and handled getting the room on my own, letting them stand behind me and just stay quiet. I hated that because of the social implications, but they didn't seem keen on talking. But Anu kept glaring, just at anyone who came near her and Tlatoany. They hurried away when they caught her eyes.

The man behind the desk gave me a weird look but quickly focused on his work when he saw my credit card, eyes flitting back and forth between my face and his computer. I spoke to my friends when the guy turned around to get a key from the board. "Anu, what's wrong? Why are you scowling so much?"

She just shook her head. "I'll tell you once we get inside," came her icy response. She kept one hand on my shoulder with the other squeezing Tlato's. He and I said nothing, just taking comfort in her iron grip and radiant heat. The receptionist handed me the key we needed, smiling nervously as we walked away. And when I turned to glance at him as we hurried to the elevator, I saw him speaking on the phone to someone, eyes frantic. I hated that. I didn't trust that.

When my friends and I found our room, - after a lot of getting lost, actually - we sat down and spoke, having sensed Anu's hesitant energy.

Tlato and I looked at her cautiously, not taking a moment to waste on unpacking. She spoke stiffly, sitting down on the chair slowly. "This whole place reeks of mint."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why do you say that like it's a bad thing? Mint smells good! Well, kinda. It just smells fresh."

Inhaling deeply, Anu locked eyes with us, lips pursed. "You guys remember when I said we had to go into that factory?"

"And then had us fight for our lives against those monsters? Yeah, I haven't forgotten," Tlatoany huffed.

"I realize now why that place seemed so familiar to me. Mint. It was the smell of mint. The whole place reeked of it, like someone had dumped mint perfume all over the building. And just now, when I was waiting behind you, Reggie, I smelled mint around me everywhere."

I groaned. "Anu, why are you basing your gut instinct on mint?"

She threw her arms up. "Okay! Let me finish! Oh my fucking god. Okay. So the reason I say all that mess is that my mother was obsessed with mint. She refused to wear any perfume that didn't smell at least a little bit of mint. I'm ninety percent sure that my mother, who is the supreme ruler of all control freaks, would force her followers to wear mint or smell of mint to know who they are. Or she would force it on them. I, personally, hated mint. The only flowery scent I ever liked was jasmine. And rose. Those were my favorites."

My face frowned before I could control it. "Are you sure?"

Anu bobbed her head in agreement, lips pulled into a scowl. "Without a doubt. My mother was obsessive about some things. Primarily, the way she smelled, and the way she sounded. She would teach me different voices. Leader voice. Follower voice. Teacher voice. Mother voice. Doctor voice. Lawyer voice. I learned a lot. And smell? Only mint. Always mint. I don't know what that was about, but I have no doubt in my mind that she's incorporated mint into her whole mess."

I bit my lip, nodding at her. "Um, so how do we know it's them if we see one?"

She sighed. "This whole place is crawling with her agents. I'm probably the only one who can smell them. Delos, baby, come out please." The snake hissed a greeting, slithering out of her clothes and hanging around her neck to greet us. "Delos will be able to tell you, but he doesn't particularly like or trust either of you at the moment. For now, we just need to stick together and trust my nose."

Tlatoany gazed at both of us closely, eyes narrowed. He breathed out an exasperated sigh. "How much can we bet that the guy was calling other members of the army?"

My face went into my hands. This situation kept on getting worse. "A hundred percent."

"So," Anu began, "Do we stay, or do we go?"

She and I turned to Tlato, who bit his lip, kept quiet for a solid three minutes, and responded after going through his plans, I think. "We stay. Two days. Reggie needs his binder, and all of us need rest. Anu can keep us safe. We'll sleep in rounds. We go shopping and get everything we need today. Otherwise, eight-hour shifts of staying awake. We leave tomorrow." Agreeing with the plan, we got refreshed and relaxed before heading out to the store.

We brought all our stuff along for the trip since none of us trusted the staff here. Once again, as we left the room, Anu glared away anyone who smelled to her like an enemy. One tall businessman got especially close, so Anusha bared her teeth, gold-spotted eyes starting to shimmer green as she drew disease to her. His eyes widened, chin quivering with fear. She hissed at him (literally!), and the guy sprinted away like an Olympic athlete. I couldn't help but laugh at that. "I love watching you strike the fear of God into grown-ass adults," I admitted.

Anu just winked and smirked. I would be lying if I said my heart didn't hurt a little at seeing that smile melt into something painful and sad. She said nothing, but I could see it on her face. This girl wore her heart on her sleeve.

Tlatoany leaned over and murmured something in her ear, making her chuckle and hum. He pressed a kiss to her cheek, and Anu shoved at his shoulder. "Shut it, drama queen. We all know how you reacted when you saw me again after that friendship hiatus."

"Oof!" he exclaimed with fake surprise as we strolled to the elevator. "You didn't have to do me like that, Anu."

"You guys are weird," I commented before I could shut myself up. I could already feel the guilt and embarrassment setting in, but they just shrugged.

"Weird is a social construct, and so is everything else," Anu resigned. Fair enough. The elevator opened, and the three of us hurried in, but not before a young man with blonde hair and the most charming smile I'd ever seen on a human being.

He slid right in front of the doors and tried to put a hand between them to make sure they wouldn't close. "Sorry, guys! Could I get inside? Kind of in a hurry," he pleaded with a sheepish grin. I nodded and pressed the button to open the doors, and he stepped in with a kind of bounciness in his gait. I could appreciate that. Takes a lot of energy to even walk happy.

But to my horror, Anusha pressed herself into one corner of the elevator, tears rising in her eyes. She said nothing, just shaking and shivering as she watched the guy. I couldn't understand what that was about. He seemed fairly normal. He was taller than me, but not taller than Tlato. Wavy blonde hair, really pretty brown eyes, even the same tan skin as Apollo's! Hell, he could have been a child of Apollo if he were a demigod. "Name's Leroy. Nice to meet you guys!"

Leroy held a hand out to me, and I shook it, smiling. "Nice to meet you! Name's Reggie. You from around here? I mean, not sure why you'd be living in a hotel if that was the case, but…"

He laughed. "No worries, man. Yeah, I'm from around here. Moved here only two years ago, though, so I haven't had a chance to travel much and see the town. You?"

I grinned. "Just a little cross-country trip with my friends. This is Tlato, and in the corner over there is Anu."

The guy leaned back and waved to my friends with a warm smile lining his cheeks. "A pleasure!" He moved forward again and patted my shoulder. "Just be careful, though. Heard there's been a recent spike in the crime rate around the city. Don't stay out too late, yeah?"

"Yeah, for sure. Thanks, man." I nodded, and he got off on the third floor. Two floors to go before we could head out to the store. After he left, the doors closed again, and Anu crumbled to the ground, hugging her knees and shaking like a leaf in strong winds. My stomach plummeted all the way down to my knees. She wouldn't respond to any of Tlato's questions, just pushing him away weakly and crying like a lost child who was too stubborn to show their fear. But I could see the fear in her eyes. When we had to leave the elevator, she rubbed away her tears, removed any sign that she'd been crying, and walked out with a mask to hide her feelings. I had no clue what had happened, but apparently neither did Tlatoany because he stared at me, eyes wide and eyebrows furrowed.

"I don't know either, man…" he promised sadly. We followed her, staying close behind so she wouldn't run off without us. She had a habit of sprinting away if she felt hurt or scared.

While we waited to get a taxi, I kept prodding at her, trying to get her to tell us what had happened. When I finally got on her nerves, she shoved me away, hugging her hoodie closer to her and pulling the hood over her head. "Don't fucking talk to me." And then she was quiet for the rest of the ride. Even when I tried to apologize, she hid from me and curled into a ball on the seat.

Something had scared her about that interaction with Leroy. I couldn't deduce what had happened, but thank the gods she told us eventually. Eventually meaning after we entered Chicago and found her friends.

Let me give you a quick overview of what happened that day!

Okay. We found a mall downtown with the exact store Anu wanted to go to in New York. She found the exact sports bra thing she said I needed. I bought it. We went to a store to get more food supplies and medicine and first aid supplies. We bought everything we needed and then got lunch at a nice diner and then went back to the hotel room. Anusha had a mental breakdown in the bathroom and cried for an entire two hours on her own. Neither Tlato nor I dared to go in because we had a feeling this was a bigger issue than she would admit. She told us that it was nothing, but I knew that was a lie.

Eventually, nighttime arrived. After eating a dinner of the stuff we got from the convenience store, it was time for bed. We did our night shifts, and Tlato and I stayed up for the first eight hours, knowing how tired our friend was. Anu slept on the couch because she was too scared to sleep on the second bed in the room and passed out from exhaustion. I just sat with my back to the corner of the wall next to the window and watched the door. He sat at the door and watched the window. I wanted to comfort her, stay at her side, but I knew from her behavior that day that it would only make her feel worse.

As the night progressed, my eyes started to burn, and I could feel the fear setting in. Something had gone extremely wrong with Anusha. She was fine all day, but since Leroy, she'd been acting erratic, like she'd seen a ghost. I didn't want to mess with her, knowing her temper and her power, but I wanted my friend to feel safe and happy. She was neither of those things. Tlato said nothing, keeping his focus on her while still watching the window behind me.

Eventually, the time came for us to switch shifts, and Anu stayed awake, sitting in the middle of the room between the door and window to keep an eye on both. Tlatoany and I slept like babies, unafraid of anything except our friend's impending meltdown. We knew something big was coming. Something bad.

Anusha woke up even worse than before. Instead of showing any kind of emotion, she woke up with a face like static. Like nothing. Like she was just a husk of herself: no life, no youth, no power. Nothing. And that terrified me more than her angry face.

"Anu? You- are you okay? Did something happen?" I tried to ask gently. I didn't want her to get angry like yesterday.

She shook her head, pushing herself up to stand. "No. I'm fine."

We went about our ways, going to the bathroom to freshen up before bed and change our clothes. Anu avoided touching us altogether, as if afraid to catch the plague, which made no sense. How is a plague-bringer afraid of stuff like that when that is their entire thing? We gave her the space she wanted, but we didn't know how to help her beyond letting her feel secure and safe in the distance. After Tlato and I finished our nighttime routines, Anu went inside the bathroom and locked the door behind her before having another cry session. She broke down completely, sobbing and slamming her hands into the counter, only to sit and scream into the towels provided by the hotel. Tlatoany and I sat tersely the entire time, too afraid to speak.

"We can't just sit here while she suffers, Reginald. We have to do something. Can we call anyone?"

I sighed, shrugging my shoulders. "I highly doubt it. I don't think her siblings know anything about this, and I'm pretty sure Apollo doesn't know either. Anu's the only one with knowledge about this. Maybe we could do some research and try to figure out if this is in the public record? Maybe a harassment case or something?"

Nodding in agreement, Tlato pulled out his phone, and I did the same, opening up an internet browser to try and learn more about our friend. I searched for the terms "Anusha Rajachari" and "Chicago". The only result that came up was the worst one possible.

Tlato peeked over my shoulder and clapped his hand over his mouth at the sight.

An article from a newspaper in Chicago detailed the case that Anusha Rajachari and her mother brought against Anu's middle school for ignoring a case of sexual assault. Specifically, Anu had been assaulted by a kid in her school. The administration had promised to do some kind of investigation and never went through with it because the boy's father employed a couple hundred people in the city at his factory. Any action taken against his son would have jeopardized those people's livelihood. Anusha finally decided to end the case because it was bringing her and her mother too much negative attention. At the end, she moved schools and found a new place. They had judged her just as cruelly, and she spent the last two months of middle school at home, doing online classes to avoid the other students. The newspaper outlined the horror of the entire case but stated that Anusha's current school had completely ignored her defamed reputation and welcomed her lovingly. I sighed in relief at that: at least now, she was safe.

I gaped at the realization. She had been fine until meeting Leroy. And after that, she reacted by completely breaking down. Was that guy the one who...?

My much smarter friend came to that same conclusion much earlier because he stood up and made a call to his human father. "Tetat," Tlato began, "who do we know in Chicago that handles sexual assault cases?"

I myself had no such connections or intelligence, but I made a call to my mother. "Reginald, mon petit, what happened? Are you okay? How are you? What's going on?"

I rubbed my temples and spoke softly so Anu couldn't hear. "Maman, I'm fine. I'm okay. I'm in a hotel right now with my quest mates. We're a long bus ride away from my savior's hometown. But don't worry about all that. That's not why I called. I need your help. My friend had to deal with a big sexual assault issue, Mom. But she dropped the case because of all the negative press, and she needed to switch schools to avoid her abuser. Promise me you'll fund her fight, Mom. I know I don't ever make big requests or orders like that, and I'm not trying to be rude, but..."

Mom spoke with a smile in her voice. "I promise I will. I've never heard you speak like this before. I will provide the funds for her to find justice."

I smiled. "Thanks, Maman. I'll call you back soon, and we can talk through everything. But get some rest for now. I love you. I hope I can see you soon. Stay safe!"

She laughed and blew me a kiss over the phone before promising to wait for my call. I hung up and stared at Tlato as he cut his own call to his dad. He wrapped me up in a hug, and I wanted to scream with anger for my friend's suffering. I couldn't believe what she had to deal with in middle school. SHE WASN'T EVEN AN ADULT YET! I couldn't understand how cruel the world was to her. How heartless and monstrous. Anu eventually stepped out of the bathroom, looking freshly showered and freshly depressed. We kept an eye on her as she walked around the room listlessly, eyes dim and downturned.

"Anu...honey, are you okay?"

She ignored me at first and responded only after taking a seat on the couch and drinking some water. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

That didn't sound convincing to either me or Tlatoany, who walked over to hug her. She started shaking her leg and scratching at the armrests, clearly uncomfortable with him approaching her. Tlato slowed down, putting both hands up gently. "It's okay. I got you. It's okay." And eventually, he reached her, resting a hand on her shoulder. Anusha's previously expressionless face morphed into sheer terror, and she let out a scream, shoving him away and stumbling to the ground to scramble over to the door. Tlato stopped in his tracks, his own mahogany eyes wide. If she'd been any less aware, she would have injured herself from bumping into the couch and coffee table near the door. But she carefully crawled to the door on hands and knees, burying her face in both hands. With shivering shoulders, she pressed her back into the wood of the only entrance and exit from the room, her eyes frantic and eyebrows extremely furrowed.

There was nothing familiar about my friend. Not anymore. Her usually warm skin seemed a bit more gray and ashy from the friction against the rough carpet, and her hair had gotten completely loose and out of place, falling out of her bun chaotically. Even her eyes seemed dimmer and more like those of a frightened prey animal. Her eyes lost the toughness, the confidence they usually held.

Everything about Anu seemed off, and I didn't know what to do about it. I just stood like an idiot next to the bed I'd been occupying while Tlatoany tried to reach out for her and comfort her. Tears streamed down her face, and she pulled harshly at her blue T-shirt and black skinny jeans, as if trying to rip them open to dig her nails into her skin.

"Anusha-" She kept screaming despite him trying to call her name. She sobbed and scratched at her face and arms and chest, warding us away with her plagues.

Tlato's heart must have completely broken because he fell to his knees, tears flowing down his face at the sight of his best friend cornered against the door like a caged animal. I pulled myself out of my random stupor and lunged for his bag. This was the reason Apollo gave us that necklace. This was the right moment. I pulled at the straps and opened up the pack, tearing through his items to find the velvet jewelry box secretively. Anusha had pulled herself into a ball, knees up to her chest and hands outstretched to maintain the sphere of plague gas enveloping her. The rough carpet had scratched her bare arms and feet, and my heart ached for how she tore at her skin like there was something under it. I threw the necklace at her, and the stone in the center of the pendant collected all the plague gas, glowing a brilliant green after the sphere disappeared.

Anu calmed down immediately and sniffled, sobbing openly now. We crawled forward and pulled her into a hug. I didn't know how to help her. I didn't know what had even happened, but before I knew it, the three of us were clinging to one another and sobbing like idiots. Tlato and I glanced at each other and swore to pretend that we didn't know anything about Anu's assault so she wouldn't feel like we'd gone behind her back. We wanted her to trust us, and that meant she couldn't know that we knew. So, we pretended. Easy enough, or so I assumed. It was hard to hide my fears about her safety. It was hard to pretend that we had no clue what happened to her because we so badly wanted to avenge her and get her the justice she deserved.

Tlatoany sniffled and cradled her in his arms, sighing softly, and hugged her close. "Oh, sweetie, Anu. What happened just now?" I was a little amused. I'd never heard him call anyone 'sweetie'. But maybe it was just because she had kind of lost her mind a little bit. "Anu, I can't help you unless you tell me what's wrong…"

She sniffled, burying her face in his chest. Only after I stroked a hand through her hair and begged her to tell us did she at least respond. "After we get to my hometown. I'll tell you. Just…get me out of here, Tlato." Her eyes welled up, and my throat tightened. Her trauma was eating her alive. "Get me home. Please…" She kept crying, and I just held onto her like he did. We hugged her close until our limbs started hurting.

Anu pulled me into a hug as we stood, arms curving around my torso and face pressed into my neck. She breathed and then sniffled. "I'm sorry I got mad at you. I didn't mean to be mean…I just…"

I held her close, rubbing her back. "Hey, hey, don't worry about it, okay? I understand you were dealing with something big. I trust you to tell us only when you're ready, yeah? I get it. I'm sorry for pushing you to tell us when you couldn't. That was wrong of me to do." She accepted the apology by squeezing me and smiling as she pulled back, fixing her hair.

"Thank you for that…" I returned her smile and nodded.

"Apologies may not fix everything, but they at least feel nice, right?" We packed our bags and items in soft silence, ready to leave the city and never come back. To our great displeasure, we saw Leroy again. This time, even I could see why Anu felt uncomfortable around him. He leered at her the entire ride to the first floor. No comments, but he just stared at her like she was a piece of meat. Tlato wrapped a tight arm around her waist, and spoke in that tone he did when he wanted to scare off people: soft and calm but with an undertone that if you pushed him, he'd make you cry for the protection of nonexistence. "You got a problem with my best friend, Leroy?"

Leroy clearly took the hint because he shook his head and hurried away after the elevator doors opened, eyes narrowed and hesitant when he locked eyes with Anusha. She froze, iron grip on mine and Tlato's arms almost cutting off our blood circulation.

Eventually, we made our way back to the main road and called up a taxi to get back to the bus station. Anu told us which bus to take this time. "Straight to Lycus through Merrillville. No detours, no shortcuts. Any other route is gonna take too long, and we can't risk staying in this town. Not with all these Rejuves swarming the place. I'll keep an eye out and vaporize anything that gets near us. Just make sure you take care of the route."

Tlatoany nodded, getting into the taxi before her so she could stay protected between me and him. I don't know why I still felt like she needed our safety, but she had crumbled into nothing back in the hotel room. She needed us to keep her away from the things that she feared. At the very least, we could do that for her. And at that very moment, it meant keeping her away from that city and away from that Leroy guy.

She said nothing on the ride to the bus station, too focused on her powers and keeping monsters at bay to try and think about speaking to the driver. Tlatoany and I shared some words with him, but we weren't too keen. It was getting really hard to trust adults these days. Well, in general.

Anu's grip on me didn't loosen by any means. It actually tightened for the duration of the drive. Her eyes stayed focused on Tlato, who offered a soft smile and kissed her temple. "Relax, hm?" he suggested with a pat to her shoulder. Inhaling quietly, she nodded, leaning into his shoulder. My smile was probably a bit too big because Anu gave me a weird look, but she grinned back and giggled. Oh, that was like music.

With us at her side, we knew she would be okay. And we would be too.

This was a big quest. It wasn't just bringing Izzy back to Camp Half-Blood. It was the total defense of the two biggest demigod safe havens in the country. The protection of hundreds of demigods, an entire civilization. It was the defense of Olympus from its own children and grandchildren. The reparation of centuries of broken bonds between the Sminthians and the rest of the demigods and the Olympians. It was undoing Anusha's entire ancestry and healing it.

So much responsibility, all on three teens' shoulders. It was a lot. But then, after thinking about all that, I looked at my best friends, my whole world, and I knew we would manage. We would be perfectly fine. I smiled at Tlatoany's safe, unhurried counsel. I adored his unwavering strength and nearly frightening intelligence. He would guide us through anything. I could trust him to lead us to victory without losses and dangerous shortcuts. And Anu? I trusted in her arrogant, protective rage. In her uncanny talent for learning even the most difficult skills in record speed. Her Apollonian will and fearless pride would bend even the gods to her whims. As long as I had them in my life, there was nothing we couldn't do. No goal too difficult to achieve.

"I love you."

Their eyes shot to me like I'd yelled fire in the middle of a waterpark. My face caught fire. Well, it felt like it did. They raised their eyebrows like perfect mirrors of one another, and Anu poked at my cheek curiously, smirking. "Hm? What was that, track star?" she probed. I groaned and put my face in my hands. Giggling, she leaned over and poked at me until I relented and repeated what I had blurted aloud before in a love-dazed haze. My eyes couldn't meet theirs, but I could feel their eyes on me. "I love you."

Anu only leaned closer and squeezed my shoulder, tears blanketing her vision. She pressed her face into my neck and murmured with a voice soft as air, and Tlato simultaneously whispered the same thing in my other ear. "I love you too." And Oh, I wanted to DIE. Kind of because of joy. But also because the taxi driver watched our whole thing, and that was embarrassing. Who KNOWS how stupid I looked at that moment?! Anu and Tlato can't be trusted to be objective about that. They'll say I looked cute or something dumb like that.

When we got out of the taxi, I paid the man in cash, smiling nervously. He just winked at me. "Love comes in all shapes and sizes, kiddo." My friends were not paying me or the driver any attention, instead excited to get on the bus and leave this horrid place. I gazed at the driver cautiously. "You don't need to know them in their entirety to love them. You can love a TV show without having watched the whole thing. And in that same way, love isn't just for parents and kids or lovers. It can be for friends, too." I flushed red and looked down.

"Why are you telling me this?"

He chuckled. "Lad, I've spent years regretting my past decisions. I never told my friends I loved them. Some knew and didn't need me to say anything. But others needed that reassurance. A lot of them have left me because of my silence or have died without hearing those words. Your friendships are not more or less than your romances. You're young. Not sure that you've had romances, but life changes. Just make sure that these two know you care for them. Words aren't enough. Actions mean far more. And if you can make them see with your words, actions, and expressions, I promise you, they'll know. They'll love you just as much."

I grinned, shaking his hand. "Thank you, sir." He winked at me, and the flash of his ring caught my eye. It wasn't a college ring or anything like that. No, it was the SPQR of Camp Jupiter. I leaned forward and spoke softly. "And sir? One more thing. If you ever want to tell those friends of yours that you love them, come by to CHB sometime. Nico di Angelo can help you with that," I promised with a wink. The driver laughed broadly, nodding.

"Mm. I might take you up on that, lad. Anyways, hurry along. Those friends of yours might be missing you," he teased.

Chortling to myself, I nodded and hurried over to my saviors while he drove away. Anu raised an eyebrow at me. "What did he say?"

I shrugged. "Nothing much. Just to make sure that you guys know I love you."

She hummed, nodding her head. "Makes sense. You should tell us that more often."

I raised an eyebrow at her, and Tlato pushed us along to the bus station. "Careful, doll. Your hubris is showing."

Anusha smirked weakly. "I would hope so. That's my whole thing."

Tlato grumbled, poking our heads. "Hey, keep moving, idiots. You know I love you both, so walk. Honestly, it's like I'm best friends with two human grandmothers. At least godly grandmothers are more active."

We wanted to be offended but couldn't argue with that. I mean, no one can win an argument against a guy who wants to be a law major.

Besides. We had more important things to worry about. Like two snake ladies standing right in front of the doors of the station, glaring deadly holes into our heads, giant swords swinging at their hips. They grinned at us, licking their lips.

One of them stepped forward and right into Anu's personal space. She snarled, sending a gust of hypertoxic, hyper-concentrated disease gas at her. Both monsters burst into dust like those sac fungi. The three of us sprinted into the station and got onto the bus as fast as we could, bags held on our laps. Delos curled around Anusha's middle, keeping quiet for his own safety. We held hands for our own sense of peace and security, and we finally asked our friend what made her break down in the hotel. Kind of to avoid the suspicion that we knew her story, but also to hear it from her own mouth.

"Anusha, you know we love you. And it's why we ask you now. What happened? Why did you react like that to the guy in the elevator? Why did you struggle in the hotel? What's going on, honey? Please tell us," I begged her.

Anu's eyes wetted, and she stared at the straps of her backpack, gold-toned brown hands digging into her bag. She didn't say anything for a few moments but responded when Tlato took her hand and watched her face cautiously. She didn't even meet our eyes, like she was too ashamed to even utter the words.

I squeezed her hand, and Anusha finally relented after her heartache became too much for her. Tears slipped out of her eyes, so she looked up at the ceiling. "That Leroy was the guy that assaulted me…" I didn't dare ask for any clarification. I didn't have any right to ask more details, but she specified anyway, maybe to make sure we understood her situation. "It, uh…it was the kind you're thinking of…" Anu kept crying, and neither Tlato nor I said anything. What the fuck would we have said, anyway?

But it was a good thing we didn't say anything. Because I was too busy planning that guy's murder.