Chapter 36 - From Ashes to Ashes

The road shimmered with heat as they stepped out of the trees, the midday sun bearing down on the cracked asphalt. Lucas raised a hand to shade his eyes, then reached into his jacket.

"Let's get a lift," he said with a sly grin.

He produced a single golden drachma, tossing it into the air. It spun once, then clinked onto the road. He spoke the words clearly, the old summoning charm slicing through the stillness.

"Stêthi, Ô hárma diabolês!"

The coin vanished into the ground like ink through parchment.

A battered gray taxi emerged from the road itself, headlights flickering and bodywork phasing in and out of solidity with thin seams of mist disappearing into the air. The back door swung open with a creak, revealing cracked vinyl seats and a heavy scent of smoke and age.

Lucas climbed in with barely a pause. Luke and Thalia exchanged wary looks.

"That's… normal," Thalia muttered. Luke shrugged and followed Lucas in. She climbed in last, muttering under her breath.

"Ooooh, the little one has returned," cackled Anger from the front passenger seat.

Tempest was busy biting the drachma, eyeing it suspiciously.

Wasp turned from the driver's seat, grinning. "And two new friends! What happened to the empousa? I liked her."

"She couldn't join us," Lucas said. "We're on a quest."

Luke turned to Lucas "Empousa? That Elizabeth?"

Lucas nodded.

"Lucas," Thalia whispered, "should we even be admitting that we are on a quest?"

The Grey Sisters burst into laughter.

"We already know everything," Anger wheezed.

"We know what awaits you ahead," Wasp added.

Tempest leaned back, mouth opening as though to reveal something profound. "He is-"

"Quiet!" the other two snapped in unison.

Lucas blinked, wondering what had been cut off, but knew better than to press. "Can you take us to the edge of New York, bordering Pennsylvania?"

"The edge of our domain…" Tempest said wistfully.

"Lucky," Wasp added, and without another word, slammed her foot on the accelerator.

The world became a blur.

The taxi roared forward with supernatural speed, barely skimming the road. Lucas laughed, bracing against the door as they swerved wildly. Thalia let out a strangled noise, gripping the seat in front of her. Luke fumbled with the rusted chain seatbelts, trying to tie himself down.

At one point, Tempest and Anger began fighting over the tooth and eye, while Wasp drove blind, cackling through intersections and roaring past terrified mortal drivers who didn't seem to see them.

Eventually, the taxi slid to a halt at the border close to Pennsylvania. Thalia tumbled out first, clutching her knees and muttering curses. Luke staggered after her. Lucas followed, grinning and waving farewell as the cab sank back into the road, vanishing into smoke.

"That was fun," Lucas said.

"You're insane," Thalia muttered.

They made there way into the city, finding a car dealership. With some illusions from Lucas to create fake documentation and some mortal money Luke had brought, they rented a car choosing an old black sedan with faded upholstery. Lucas drove first, taking the wheel with a grin while Thalia asked "Have you ever drove before?"

Lucas smirk faltered, "Not exactly, but I understand how."

Luke and Thalia exchanged worried glances before Luke spoke "It can't be worse than that taxi ride, right?"

Lucas started the car, driving off. A little unsteady but certainly not as bad as they worried about, though that may just be in comparison to the sisters.

Thinking of that ride Thalia questioned Lucas about the identity of the drivers and Luke explained who they were, their past and how Lucas first met them.

Eventually the conversation changed topics until none of them spoke, simply watching through the windows of the car.

The road stretched ahead, the trees thinning, towns growing more frequent. The silence between them was comfortable. Familiar.

They crossed into Ohio by late afternoon and pulled into a small roadside rest stop near Columbus. A narrow diner and an overgrown picnic area sat at the edge of the woods. Thalia took the first watch while Luke and Lucas explored the area.

It seemed quiet. Still, Lucas used his Veil Sight, sweeping the area for hidden wards or illusions.

"Nothing," he said at last, scanning the cracked concrete. "Still…"

They made camp beneath a cluster of trees. Lucas used a small spell to form a warming ward. They shared a simple meal: canned stew and bread and prepared to rest.

That was when they came.

Six Laistrygonian giants erupted from the forest in a flurry of snarling breath and creaking armor. Their eyes glowed with a dull yellow sheen, and their weapons, jagged clubs, scavenged blades, were caked with old blood.

"Ambush!" Thalia shouted, already leaping to her feet, lightning crackling from her fingertips.

Lucas ducked a swinging club, rolling aside and drawing both daggers. He flicked a hand outward, birthing a dozen false Lucases, each darting in different directions.

Luke charged the largest giant, his celestial bronze sword flashing. He moved like a shadow, slipping beneath the creature's guard and scoring a line across its thigh.

Thalia's spear hurled arcs of lightning, striking one of the giants mid-charge. It staggered, then collapsed in a heap, smoke trailing from its mouth.

Lucas twisted, ducking another blow, and lunged forward, his dagger flashing as it met flesh. His real body weaved between illusions, keeping the giants confused.

Two of the giants turned on Thalia, flanking her. She spun, jamming the butt of her spear into the ground and discharging a full shockwave, sending both skidding along the ground as they tried to weather the shock.

Luke was bleeding from a shallow gash on his arm but still grinning. "They don't hit as hard as they used to!"

He dodge an overhead flow before using the giant's arm as a ramp, running up and leaping allowing him to lodge his sword in the giant's head.

Lucas drove a dagger upward into the armpit of a giant. It bellowed in pain but stopped when the pain suddenly disappeared along with Lucas, it then crumpled when another Lucas stabbed it through the throat at the same time silencing it.

Lucas vanished and a club rammed into his previous spot, sending the dead giant's head to splatter around before turning to dust. The giant picked up its club, confused at why he hadn't hit the demigod. He turned the club around looking at it when he felt something wrapping itself around his leg, slithering its way up. He looked down and saw golden chains gradually entwining him, he dropped his club and tried to rip the chains off but they simply continued, trapping him like a cacoon before Lucas appeared behind him, with a click of his fingers, swords were conjured stabbing into the cocoon.

Thalia had finished with a second giant, turning she saw the last one drop their blade and turn.

The last giant tried to run, but Thalia hurled her spear, cutting through the air, and the weapon buried itself between the giant's shoulder blades before lightning fell from the sky accompanied by a thunder clap, the spear acting like a lightning rod roasting the giant.

Silence fell.

The weather that mysteriously changed from calm to stormy, changed back - allowing the sun to shine upon the battlefield.

The smell of ozone lingered while the bodies and blood gradually turned to dust. The essence of the monsters returning to Tartarus, where they will one day be reborn and eventually return.

"Well at least you are finally willing to use your powers" Lucas said to Thalia in which she scoffed before thanking him for the weather.

They washed away the grime and dust that covered them. That night, they made camp in a hidden grove, cloaked by Lucas' mist illusions.