Sorry for the late update! School has been beating me to a bloody pulp lately!

WARNINGS: LANGUAGE

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Drew Tanaka, Connor Stoll, and Leo Valdez really didn't want to go on the quest together, but alas, the Oracle had opened up its mouth, so now, three polar opposites are on a quest. Can they learn to communicate, or will this quest crash and burn?

"When you learn how to communicate with others, there is almost no problem you cannot solve together." -Demi Lovato

"I don't want to go on a quest with them!"

"We don't want to go on a quest with her!"

"She's a jerk!"

"They're annoying!"

"QUIET!" Chiron shouted, causing the three campers to jump. "The Oracle has spoken. You three are to go on a quest together. You leave in the morning."

With that, the centaur left Leo Valdez, Drew Tanaka, and Connor Stoll standing in the Big House, shooting daggers at each other.

This morning, everyone had been peacefully eating breakfast when BAM! Rachel opens her mouth and prophecy time!

"Charmspeak, Fire, and the younger Stoll

Shall travel to the place where there is coal

Monsters gather in the capital of this state

And they must be defeated before it's too late

Learn to work together

Or the safety for your kind will be lost forever"

The members were pretty obvious. Only one fire user; Connor was a year younger than Travis; and Piper was visiting her dad, so Drew was the only candidate.

Now, the question is what the heck does the rest mean?

The three quest members went their separate ways, all peeved off because Connor almost never left his brother's side; Drew hated everybody except the person in the mirror; and Leo didn't like Drew.

When dawn came, bags were packed and the trio was ready; Annabeth and Chiron met them at the crest of Half Blood Hill.

"Alright," the daughter of Athena said. "There's been a stirring of monsters in Wyoming, a huge stirring. You three need to send the monsters to Tarturas before any more monsters are gathered. Apollo gave us this. Once you arrive in Wyoming, the object will point you towards the location; it's drawn to the stirring of monsters, like a compass is drawn to the north."

She handed Leo a circular object- celestial bronze with Greek letters drawn around the rim. Under a clock face, a red arrow stood still, pointing straight ahead.

"Thanks," Leo said. "Now, we better get going. The last thing we want is another near apocalypse."

"You can say that again," Connor muttered before the three walked towards the van, which would take them to the edge of the city.

The entire ride was dead silent, and by the time Argus dropped them off at a bus station between New York and Ohio, the night sky was pitch black and no more buses would be traveling for the rest of the night.

"Well, damn..." Leo muttered. "I call this bench!"

"Are you used to sleeping on benches or something?" Drew rolled her eyes.

"What can I say, Drew? I'm a runaway. I've slept in worse places than at a bus station on a bench."

"Same here," Connor told them. "Til you've slept in a trash can, you have not known how bad it can get."

"Dude, I've slept in sewers."

"I've slept under bridges."

"I've slept buried in the snow."

"Why were you buried in the snow?"

"My foster dad didn't like me all that much."

"Neither did my uncle," Drew piped up. "My dad died when I was young, but my uncle hated me. I was lucky if I got to sleep on our kitchen floor."

"My mom went off the deep end when dad left. Travis and I were usually sleeping in the basement or in the attic, which aren't heated very well, so... yeah."

"I've slept in a zoo with the monkeys."

It was silent for a moment.

"You win."

Leo smirked.

"Could it be because you are a monkey?" Drew asked.

"Yep," Leo chuckled. "Actually, social services were after me and I needed to make a quick getaway, so I ran into the zoo. It was the middle of the night, so there was, like, no one there, and I hid in the bushes among the monkeys."

"You have a hectic life, don't you?" Connor laughed.

"Yep!"

"Oh, you should hear about this one police chase I was involved in! I'd stolen something from a store; it wasn't anything important or super expensive, just some food and clothes, but the police didn't like me, so they made a huge deal out of it. Yeah, they were looking for me, and I hid on top of their car. It took them an hour to realize that they'd been driving around in the middle of the night with a kid on the roof of their car."

"If you think that's funny, when Travis and I were younger, we raided a candy store and the police came after us. We ran through the streets and caused such a bad traffic jam, it took them three days to unclog the street! Hah!"

"Really?" Drew snorted. "When I was eight, I 'accidently' flooded the streets when these police came after me for stealing a car-"

"Wait. You were eight! How did you even know how to drive?" Leo asked.

"I had an older cousin, and really, I just copied what I'd seen her do. I'm a fast learner. Anyway, that's what happens when you involve charmspeak, a garden hose, and a fire hydrant."

It got silent.

"Drew wins."

The said girl smirked.

"So... what now?" Leo asked after it'd been quiet for several minutes.

"You guys want to hear about what I did to my dad when I first met him?" Connor asked.

"Hell yeah!" The son of Hephaestus laughed.

"Well, I was about three and Travis, four. Our mom wasn't home as usual, and our dad apparently doesn't know how to use a doorbell, so he just walked in. We thought he was a burglar, so Travis kicked him and I bit him. Then, we- have either of you seen Home Alone?"

Both nodded.

"Picture that, but with more traps."

Drew giggled. "I can totally see that."

"Me, too," Leo agreed. "I actually did that to one of my foster parents once. It was hilarious."

Silence reigned.

"Guys," Connor said, his voice barely above a whisper. "How big do you think this gathering is?"

"Pretty big," Leo whispered, "if the safety of our kind will be lost forever."

"Are you scared?"

No answers. Only silence.

"Hah! We know about you, godlings. The jokester with a dark past; the prankster filled with loneliness; the arrogant bully with more insecurities than fingers," the Cyclops chuckled. "How could you three weaklings ever defeat all of us?"

Leo was right when he guessed the size of the army; it was 'pretty big'. Cyclopses lined up on all sides, alongside dracnea, hydras, drakons, and a hundred others the trio didn't recognize.

"Shit," Drew muttered.

"You can say that again," Connor mumbled.

"If you don't say it, I will. Aw, shit," Leo whispered.

"We need a plan," Drew stated.

"Anyone have one?"

"Nope."

Their discussion didn't go on any longer because the monsters surged towards them, and the three demigods branched off in different directions. Connor fought the Cyclopses (since there were dozens of them); Drew took the left side of the army while Leo took the right.

But it wasn't enough. The three wound up crouching behind a wall while the monsters searched for them.

"What do we do?" Conner asked.

"Come out, little godlings. Leo Valdez, would your mother be proud of your cowardice? What about your brother, Connor Stoll- the one that spends every waking moment with his girlfriend instead of his brother? And Andrea, aren't you anxious to prove that you're not the evil being everyone believes you to be?"

"They know our secrets," Leo whispered. "I think I have an idea."

"And what's that?" Drew hissed.

"So they're bringing up our pasts. Why don't we use our pasts against them?"

The three demigods smiled, maniacally.

"Where are they?" One Cyclops grunted.

"If I knew, they'd be in my stomach by now, now wouldn't they?" Another snarled.

"Ssstop arguing," a dracnea hissed. "And find them!"

"Connor, now!" Leo shouted, pulling the rope taut on his side and Connor did the same on the other end.

The three monsters, who had been strolling along, fell on their faces, allowing Drew to stab their backs and turn them to dust. Leo lit others on fire while passing Connor more and more traps to set up. Drew smiled sweetly upon the uglies before gutting them.

The monsters were gone, except for the few that had run off, and the trio stood alone on a gold covered hill.

"We did it. We actually did it," Drew gazed in amazement.

And all because they worked together.

I know I didn't focus on the battle, but that wasn't really the point of the story, so that's why. And the reason Leo suggested they use their pasts against them was because of Connor's story, Drew's story, and the numerous others they shared involved some method of stealth and trickery.

Well, what'd you think? Review!