Centaurian - Chapter 5
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Synopis: When an unusual man comes into the protection of Officer Liam Phillips, Liam doesn't know what he's in for. His world gets broadened and turned upside down in this adventure of love, sex, gods, a one-quarter equine, and a vacation he will never forget.
Centaurian, By Rick Haydn Horst
Chapter 5
After making the plunge, Ronan jerked his hand free of the container door. Having left his element, among the broken strings of kelp and the flotsam he had chucked from the ship's cargo, he found himself enveloped by a world where sound plays a more important part of life than sight. His ears filled with a cacophony of sounds from the ship, a few creaking groans from the metal containers, the motion of the water around him, and every stroke of his limbs as he struggled to swim to the surface, but his efforts came to nothing; he continued to drop with the shipping container which, with every passing moment, inched its way farther from his reach.
He tried not to panic and worked as fast as he could to find a way to reverse his descent; the greater distance from the surface, the less light he would have to see.
He could alter his trajectory by swimming any direction but up, so he returned to the twenty-foot container and ripped the doors from it. As the opening faced the surface, he could see the Honda's position---the front bumper pointed downward---and most of the straps that held it to the bottom of the container had burned to a few threads that would snap when it impacted the ocean floor.
Due to the width of the container, he could barely reach the vehicle's unburned driver-side rear tire. It still had air but would weigh too much to have sufficient buoyancy. He used its Schrader valve to inhale air from it, thinking to fill the space inside him that he used for speaking, attempting to make himself more buoyant before it was too late, but the external water pressure had already reached the pressure of the air inside the tire---maybe, 33-pounds per square inch---so the negative pressure in the tire drew water inside rather than allowing air to escape. A few seconds later, the tires tried to implode, but rather than collapsing inward from the vacuum, it broke the seal, and the air he might have used, he lost to the ocean.
He tore open the trunk and scavenged for what he could find. Beneath the floor mat, he found the vehicle's donut spare tire. He figured it would float, and it had yet to lose its air, so he hurried to remove it from its holder, but before he could, it imploded sending the air inside it bubbling to the surface. He wouldn't climb farther into the vehicle to reach anything else; even the foam cushions rapidly grew waterlogged.
He thought to use the metal of the car to craft a large set of rudimentary hand-held flippers---at least, that would be something---but his ability to manipulate metal in regular air wouldn't work in the ocean. The water kept the molecules too cold, and it wouldn't bend to his will.
The light he used to see in the photic zone transitioned to a darker blue tone, and he knew he had entered the twilight zone of the ocean: less of the spectrum made it that deep. Ronan could not think of anything else he might use, and it became harder to see as he descended. He gazed upward and watched the light from above grow evermore remote along with his hopes of easily reaching the ship.
In that experience of an unwelcome and uncomfortable sense of imposed solitude, he could only think of Liam. He knew him enough to know that he stood at the railing waiting for him, but every second took him farther away, and he couldn't tolerate the sensation of being torn from him. He realized just how much Liam meant to him. Having been the first person he saw upon awakening, he almost felt as though he had imprinted upon his protector. And in his own unique way, he had, and at a level he couldn't understand at the time.
He wished he could feel Liam's presence the way he could Aquila. He could still sense the man out in the world and which direction he could find him. As a last resort, while more than seventeen hundred fathoms beneath the surface, he could make a blind trek in Aquila's direction across the ocean floor, and if he hadn't stumbled along the way into a worse problem than he already had, he would reach dry land...eventually.
Feeling alone and exposed to the openness of his abysmal surroundings, as the minutes ticked past and the light grew dim, he held fast to his metallic companion. As he glanced around, he could barely detect his hand in front of his face, and the evidence that the surface world existed at all had become little more than a memory. He hadn't known what creatures dwelled at that depth---or how large they could grow---but he would catch from the corners of his eyes occasional flashes of a ghostly luminescence from something that lived there.
He closed his eyes and concentrated to speak to Prometheus.
"I'm in trouble," he told him. "I can think of nothing to use to help me; my resources are limited. Is this when I should use the power? Is that my only option besides walking the ocean floor?"
"You could," said Prometheus. "But you have the power to help yourself without it. You have had it within you all along."
"Is this where I close my eyes, click my heels three times and say, `There's no place like ship?'"
Prometheus found the reference amusing. "I'll give you a hint, my son. Watched or not, a cold pot never boils."
Ronan opened his eyes, smiled, and shook his head at a solution so simple he couldn't think of it.
Time passed faster while speaking to Prometheus, and as he continued to drop in the benthic depths, an inky blackness had shrouded Ronan's vision; he had reached abject darkness. But in the ocean, sound moves five times faster than in the air, and it carries for miles, so when a new noise invaded Ronan's ears, he listened intently to discern its source. The crew had engaged the ship's propulsion; the captain wouldn't believe he could survive and would choose to leave him behind. If he wanted to get back to Liam, he needed to make a rapid ascent. He swam a few yards from the shipping container, called upon the eternal flame within him, and turned up the heat.
When the engines engaged, pushing the ship forward, Liam jerked his head toward the bridge at the top of the superstructure. "What the hell is the captain doing? We've waited less than half an hour!"
He felt fine when Ronan helped people at the hotel a few miles away, but the watery divide became more distressing with each passing moment. He, along with Emma and William, had stared out over the ocean at the railing where the container had pulled Ronan overboard. The incident aboard the ship had left the water littered with debris, including a couple of containers with air pockets large enough to keep them afloat for a while.
When it first happened, Emma had spoken with Prometheus about Ronan, but he had nothing to say. Not that Prometheus had no knowledge, but for things to play out as they should, an absence of knowledge often catalyzes much decision-making and change.
William told him, "If you ask Captain Stettler to stop the ship, I know what he will say; we have fallen behind schedule."
"Is that the sort of consideration Ronan deserves?"
"He will refuse to believe Herr Stallion can survive underwater unaided for this length of time, especially if he has fallen to the bottom."
Liam asked him, "You believe us, don't you?"
"After this morning, I will believe anything that Emma tells me, and she has said that I can trust you and Herr Stallion to always speak the truth. So, I believe you."
"I appreciate that. I know I can speak for Herr Stallion on this, but you're welcome to call him Ronan, and me, Liam."
"Thank you," he said. Germans are usually very formal when addressing people unless explicitly told otherwise. "And you all may call me William. So, what shall we do about leaving the vicinity? I know the captain; he won't change his mind."
"If Ronan manages to reach the surface," said Emma, "hopefully he can catch up with us. Alternatively, the land and the ocean floor ARE connected..." She turned her gaze upon Liam.
"That sounds like such a long, lonely walk back to Florida."
William glanced over the railing and pointed. "Something is happening..."
Off the port side of the ship, a fog-like mist rose from the water, and the ocean began to bubble. Someone on the bridge must have noticed as they had, once again, stopped the ship. Liam, Emma, William, and several crew members ran to the section of railing closest to where the water roiled near the ship. And as it grew increasingly frenetic, they realized they were witnessing not just air bubbles but water in gaseous form boiling up from the ocean, which, unfortunately, had the effect of cooking several fish that lay floating on the surface. When it reached its peak---looking like a pot of water hot enough to steep tea---it appeared as though the ocean had rid itself of Ronan's presence by ejecting his muscular body three feet into the air where he then landed atop one of the floating cargo containers where steam surrounded him. A scorching heat emanated from him. Viewing him through hand-shielded faces and squinted eyes, felt like they stared into a blast furnace, with the extreme temperature distorting his image. They could see he had burned off his clothing when he stood. He moved his feet and bounced the container into the water to wash over the top to keep it from getting too hot, and steam rose from where the brine touched his skin as he began to cool.
"Are you okay?" Liam yelled to him.
Ronan nodded, raised one finger, and then tapped his throat.
"Give him a minute, he can't talk," said Emma.
Captain Stettler joined them all at the railing to watch.
Ronan bent down and stuck his hand in the water. The water steamed and bubbled around it. Once it had cooled enough, he held onto the container with it and slid into the water over his head. The ocean continued to boil around him, while he cooled himself as though he were searing hot metal pounded into shape by a blacksmith's hammer.
Dunking his head to cool himself beneath the surface along the way, he attempted to move the container closer to the gangway staircase built onto the side of the ship; it reached a foot above the waterline to the main deck. Everyone moved closer to the stairs, and by the time Ronan reached it, the water around him had stopped boiling.
Liam descended the stairs and met Ronan at the bottom where he had remained submerged hanging onto the metal staircase until he reached a normal temperature. Ronan stared up at him, pleased to linger in Liam's proximity.
"So," Liam said with a smile, "you can't swim."
Ronan made a few tests of his vocal cords and said, "Not a lick. I don't have any memories from Chiron of the other Stallions swimming, so they may not have been able."
"So, unless we find something to assist you-"
"I'm no better than a sinker in a fisherman's tackle box."
Liam laughed. "Do they make water wings for biceps the size of yours?"
"Yeah, that would be cute," he said. "Let's just avoid my having to save anyone from drowning."
"One day, we need to find a way to make you buoyant. It's a vulnerability we need to eliminate."
"Agreed," he said and tipped his head. "One day? That sounds suspiciously like a long-term plan."
"Yeah. About that. I want you to know that I've learned something about myself in the brief time you were gone."
"I learned something too," he said. "What's yours?"
"I'm unsure of the precise cause, but for as much as I have loved working as a police officer on Key Biscayne, I can't stand being away from you, and I would like to think you need me more than Key Biscayne ever has. Besides, I never went into law enforcement just so I could brag about being a policeman. I wanted to help people, but I can do that more effectively by helping you than I could anywhere as a policeman. So, if you will have me, I know that I am exactly where I'm supposed to be."
Ronan smiled. "Really?"
Liam nodded. "So, what was your revelation?"
"The worst part about falling to the bottom of the ocean was that it took me away from you, and until I spoke with Prometheus, I felt powerless to stop it. I don't quite comprehend the reason either, but I want nothing needlessly keeping me from you; it's unbearable. So, I do need you, and I want you. I hope it's okay that I always want us together...except at the bottom of the ocean, of course. You wouldn't enjoy it; it's terribly unpleasant down there."
Liam laughed a little. "Oh, I believe you! Let's make a pact to stick together as best we can. I think we both know that occasions exist when that will prove impossible, like at the hotel, but...when you fell into the water..." Liam shook his head and stopped himself. He tried not to sound too maudlin, so with levity, he added, "It's that damn gravity!"
"Oh, I know!" Ronan said, joining in. "How dare it come between us! I suppose I'll just have to find a way to defy it."
"Well, that's nothing less than it deserves." They smiled for a moment, and Liam took a deep breath and relaxed a bit, and whispered, "It worried me."
"It worried me too."
Liam reached out a hand. "Are you ready to come up?"
"I think so."
As Ronan took his hand to climb upon the staircase, he used one foot to shove the metal container away from the ship.
The moment they could, they wrapped their arms around one another and kissed a proverbial sigh of relief.
By the time they reached the main deck, nearly the entire crew had arrived with Captain Stettler, Emma, and William in front.
"Herr Stallion," said the captain. "I wish to offer you my sincerest apologies for doubting you. You are a most remarkable man who has proved himself a friend to this entire crew, and we thank you for your assistance."
"Not a problem, captain, but should we not get going? I believe you have a schedule to keep."
"Indeed, we do. Everyone, get back to work." The captain radioed the bridge to get the ship underway.
"Captain," said Ronan as their group returned to the superstructure, "how is the balance of the cargo load from the starboard side. Is it acceptable?"
"It's within limits," he said. "I believe we will be fine. I have a question for you. I have the challenge of explaining to the company what has occurred in the insurance report over the cargo and the damage to the ship. Fortunately, the company equipped this vessel with cameras to record incidents and issues that occur along the journey, so they wouldn't have to take my word for it, but as a courtesy to you, I wanted to know what name you would like me to give them. At the hotel, they knew you as Stallion. Would you prefer that?"
"That's considerate of you to ask, captain, thank you. Give them the name `Stallion, the Centaurian'. And if anyone asks who that is, just tell them it was a passenger who wanted to be helpful."
"I will do that," he said, "and Herr Stallion, welcome back aboard."
Up the staircase back to their cabin, Ronan walked ahead of Liam who petted the fur-like hair on Ronan's muscular ass. He said, "Well, so much for those clothes. Why hadn't your hair burned off?"
"The hair, like the rest of me, doesn't burn. As for the clothing, no fabric would have survived the amount of heat I had to generate to get to the surface before the ship left, and I had ruined my shoes in the fire before the container pulled me into the water."
Emma followed behind Liam. "I have someone working on improving your clothing and crafting something for your feet that won't ruin so easily."
"Really? Who?" asked Ronan.
"You wouldn't know him. It's Rhapso's youngest son Caleius, an immortal demigod who held an apprenticeship with Hephaestus a thousand years ago. He learned certain metallurgic techniques that he's utilizing in what I would call his profession, but he insists that it's just a passionate hobby."
They paused outside their cabins.
"Well, if he could make something that would suit my needs," said Ronan, "I would appreciate it. That's the second pair of shoes I've burned up in the last two days." He turned to William and looked him up and down. "You're hearing this conversation without a look of bewilderment, so I take it Emma has clued you in on the situation."
He nodded and smiled. "Ja. She kindly helped me with a problem, and she told me."
"I see," said Ronan. "I'm glad she could help you. Emma, may we speak to you, please?"
She had William wait for her in her cabin while they talked in the one occupied by Ronan and Liam.
"How much have you told him? Does he know you're Dolos?"
"I'm glad you're asking," she said. "There's no sense in confusing him. I told him what I always tell them in these situations---since he enjoys women---I said that I am the goddess Erastis, that I came to help him disguised as the woman of his dreams, and that he should call me Emma. In the past, with men who prefer men, I've also played the part of Erastis as a male god."
Liam's brows drew together. "Erastis?"
"If my memories from Chiron are correct," said Ronan, "it's a name that means `Lover'."
"And you can just do that?" Liam asked Emma. "I thought that the gods had realms of influence."
"We do," she said, "but you might be surprised at what a trickster god can do. In my opinion, it's the best sort of god. So, while Zeus is the god of the sky, and Hestia's stuck at home, I can do a lot, as long as I trick someone in the process."
"And as a result, William got the help he needed," said Ronan.
"Speaking of a size increase," said Liam. "I want to thank you for the five-inch gift. I never believed you would do it, but I appreciate it."
"You're welcome, sweetie. For a human, your penis was perfectly fine as it was"---then she gestured to Ronan---"but you're with an enormously endowed, gay Centaurian." She raked her eyes over him thinking for a moment. "Ahh...I wanted to discuss this earlier Liam, but we had the Ambrosia matter to deal with and then the cargo incident, so this is my first opportunity. I have a problem, and I'm hoping you will help me."
"Sure," he said. "What is it?"
"After divvying up the inches with you and William, I still have some. So, I would consider it a personal favor if you would take the remainder off my hands; I need somewhere to store them. I know it would hang a burden on you, so if it's too much, I promise one day to take however many you don't want and give them to someone else. If you prefer, just think of them as a lease with the option to own."
He scrunched his face and shook his head a bit in befuddlement. "What are you talking about?"
"I think I understand," said Ronan who turned to Emma. "We heard Gustav knock on your door this morning. Had any of them apologized?"
"I searched their minds last night," she said, "Kurtis is mean and rude, but he's cowardly. Gustav is self-centered and insensitive, but Otto is just a bully. So, I figured---at most---I would have the inches from Otto and Gustav (those inches I had homes for). I expected Kurtis to cave in and apologize, but apparently, he's more easily led by the others than I realized. So, none capitulated."
"How many inches from them had you taken?"
Emma smiled and laughed a little. "Between the three of them I took nineteen inches, and I left them just one inch a piece."
"Are you saying I have five inches of their dicks?" Liam asked.
"No," said Emma, "you have grown five inches from the energy I transferred from them to you, and William has eight."
Liam feigned a gasp of shock, and whispered, "Why, Emma Nordstrom...you're a peter pirate!" He smiled and laughed.
"Ha Ha Ha, very funny," she said. "These men need to learn an important lesson. If they're incapable of empathy, then it's that speaking is an action and actions have consequences. As a law enforcement officer, I hope to find you sympathetic to my cause. And while they haven't broken any human laws, they broke mine. In front of me, they were cruel to someone I care about. Besides, I just caused their condition to give them a first-hand experience, and it's not necessarily permanent; they have an opportunity for redemption. I told them their penis would stop looking like it belonged on a two-year-old when---after three days---they acted like a man and apologized to William for what they've said with a promise to never do it again to anyone."
"Well, law enforcement should never exist to teach lessons, but I am sympathetic," said Liam, "and I suppose their opportunity for redemption does change things a bit. So, nineteen inches minus five minus eight leaves-"
"Six extraneous inches with nowhere to put them," she said.
Liam laughed. "And you need a mule to lug around your illicit inches until---at some point---you find them a home, is that it?"
"Minus the inches, you decide to keep," she said. "I wanted to give you the option."
Liam looked at Ronan for some input. "It's your burden to bear," said Ronan with a shrug, "so the decision is entirely yours, but"---he put his arm around him and whispered to him---"think of the fun we could have with so much cock."
"I can't wear the underwear available to me now with the twelve inches I have."
Emma just gazed upon Liam with a little smile. Beckoned him to come closer so she could whisper to him. He hesitated but complied, bringing his ear close to her mouth.
She said, "Have you ever had a god beholden to you?"
He drew back a little and looked her in the face as his brows drew together. "Do you mean...?"
She raised an eyebrow gave him a tiny smile and nodded. "Anything you want."
Feeling a tad apprehensive, he thought about it for a moment and came to the compelling conclusion that the benefit outweighed the inconvenience. He gave a slight nod. "Alright. You've got a deal."
"Wonderful!" She caressed his cheek with her hand before he could change his mind. "There you are, thank you, sweetie."
"So, when their penises grow back, where will you obtain their inches?"
"I have the energy to grow someone's penis," she said, "that's easy. However, if I make one shorter, I'm removing energy from it, and I can't just hold onto it until I need it; it must go somewhere."
"Oh...well, that makes sense."
Emma smiled. "I still marvel over you, modern humans. You're not scratching your head and looking at me like I've spoken a foreign language."
"Yeah, we're a little more sophisticated than that." He pointed to his crotch. "Will this grow as I sleep tonight?"
"Not this time," she said. "You may not feel it yet, but you're growing right now. It should only take about fifteen minutes."
When Emma left, Liam kissed Ronan who then said, "I should shower, I'm sure I taste fishy like the ocean."
"I think there's no part of you that isn't delicious, even now."
"That's nice to hear," he said, "but I would like to get the smell and salt off me anyway. The shower barely fits me, so inviting you to join me would only impede my goal, but will you stay in the bathroom while I clean up? I feel that I need you near me for a bit."
"Wild gay centaurs couldn't drag me away."
As Ronan showered, Liam sat naked on the lid of the commode and watched him, their eyes rarely leaving one another.
"So, what are you thinking?" asked Ronan.
"It should be fairly easy to make you a life jacket that could keep you afloat, right?"
"Actually, no," said Ronan, "we would have to make something so unwieldy; it would become useless. Humans are easy to float; your body is roughly 60 percent water already, and you all carry some body fat, which is lighter than water. So, you only need to offset your body's dense matter which is a fraction of your actual weight." Having finished, when he turned off the water, Liam handed him a towel. "I weigh 275 pounds, but my body uses little water, and I have no body fat. So, if the goal is to float me, think of the weights in the gym you've used, and imagine trying to float 275 pounds of that."
"Oh, shit...that would be a lot of weight. How did you reach the surface?"
"I had to reduce my body's density by mostly returning to flame to make myself lighter than water."
"You can do that?"
He nodded. "It sounds scary, doesn't it? Fortunately, water couldn't extinguish an eternal flame, and the process wouldn't hurt me so long as I kept my structure intact. Otherwise, I could re-form, but chances are I wouldn't look exactly as I do now. I would be a bit different."
"Like a stunt double?"
Ronan laughed and put his arms around him. "Maybe."
"So, when you became what you are now, what happened to the human body you had?"
Ronan's lips pressed into a line. "I wondered how long it would take before you asked me that question. When I tell you, I want you to know that I understand how horrific this sounds, so try not to think about it too much. Chiron is a non-physical essence who Prometheus bound to an eternal flame in the realm of the divine. In this world, it cannot become more than that unless it binds to a human. When the flame and Chiron passed to my former human self, it---for the lack of a better term---burned away my unconscious physical self by replacing it with one that included Chiron, so that---in some form---he could exist physically here. It had an identical appearance to the human I was, and in my dormancy---as the doctor put it---I grew into the person before you from the image I had held in my mind which Chiron had a direct influence over."
"So, what exactly are you made of?"
"I am sentient eternal-fire incarnated through my own will."
"You are actually made of fire..."
Ronan nodded. "Fire being whatever I will it to be.
Liam stood before him, expressionless, taking in all he had heard. "Now, I understand why it worries you that people would fear you. If I hadn't had the experience of you the last two days, knowing this now, if I got past the part about how unbelievable it is, I think you would terrify me."
"I'm sorry," he said.
"No no." Liam hugged Ronan. "You're fine; you don't frighten me. Although, if you can `will' this into existence, I can see why there's a question over what you may be capable, and why Zeus wants to see what you can do. He fears you can remove him from power, doesn't he?"
"That's the impression I got. So, has understanding this better changed how you feel about me?"
"No. My knowing this doesn't change who you are as a person, so you just seem even more like a superhero, and they always have unique origins. I know you shy away from the idea of being a superhero but let me give you some advice. Never deter anyone from viewing you in that light; there are worse things."
He held Liam to him. "You are my protector, it's your job to think of these things, so okay. Are you hungry? How about I feed you lunch, and a little later, we mosey down to the dining room to socialize with the others?"
"Shouldn't I eat regular food at some point?"
"It's not necessary," said Ronan. "You're a human made immortal through Ambrosia, so you could stop eating altogether. You would feel hungry, but it wouldn't kill you. I can satisfy your hunger with Ambrosia anytime you like. And if you're worried about losing muscle from not eating proteins, don't. You are as you are, so that won't change now. But there's a benefit to living on Ambrosia that you may like."
"What might that be?"
"You will never gain any body fat from it, and trips to the bathroom will be a thing of the past."
"Really?" Liam stood there in shock. His eyes narrowed and he gave Ronan a sidelong gaze. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
Ronan laughed a little and nodded. "A preparatory cleanse before sex becomes superfluous."
"Oh, I'm more than willing to give up human food for spontaneous sex, but I hope your mention of this isn't strictly for my benefit."
"Well, no, of course not," said Ronan with a smile. "I have sexual needs too. So, as far as sex is concerned, if I had a profile on some hookup app, it would probably say something like: [Horny horsey needs muscular man to mount. Centaurian seeks enthusiastic equestrian desirous of frequent bouts of bobbing and bouncing on giant johnson.] And from what you said, you know a thing or two about horses, so you sound perfect to me."
Liam gave a hearty laugh. "Have you just offered me your giant johnson as the source of both my pleasure and sustenance?"
"As a rule," said Ronan backing Liam onto the bed where he hovered over him, "Centaurs would refuse to suffer the ignominy of acting like a beast of burden, but you, my handsome lap-jockey-cum-dairyman, have my perpetual permission to milk and ride me as much as you like."
Turning onto their sides, Liam and Ronan began that most famous of double-digit positions, the sixty-nine. Liam had never felt anything as incredible as Ronan's ability to throat all eighteen inches of his cock. He hadn't realized that Ronan never needing oxygen would come in so handy. He slurped and slathered Ronan's Centaurian appendage for about ten minutes, and when Ronan came, he just allowed himself to experience an extended orgasm with Liam chugging every drop of his Ambrosia, and it wouldn't matter how long Ronan wanted to feed him, he would have taken every drop. However, cognizant of Liam's limitations, Ronan stopped when it amounted to about a two-liter bottle, which his body would immediately begin absorbing.
For the gods to drink Ambrosia was one thing, but for a human to have unlimited access to the magical liquid was unprecedented, and Liam had greater access than even the gods themselves. On that day, Liam overloading his body with enormous quantities of it had started something, and at first, it had gone unnoticed...
Life aboard the ship for the thirty crewmen had a certain rhythm with three rotating eight-hour shifts, including those who held positions that could not go unmanned during the hours of darkness. The daylight hours had much activity with either the crewmen working on general maintenance, cleaning, or defending the ship by various means from the corrosive sea air or crewmen relaxing off-the-clock in whatever means they saw fit until their next shift.
For the next three days, Ronan and Liam had taken to getting some sunshine just after lunchtime on the forecastle---the foreword most part of the bow where one would find the mooring station for docking. They also spent time naked in the sauna allowing Liam a non-sexual environment where he could release his---never fully flaccid---18-inch hose. (That's exactly what it looked and felt like at its softest, a smooth, rubbery hose, five inches in circumference, whose weight kept it from shrinking even half-an-inch from just below his knees.) Ronan loved it---its length allowed him to suck and fuck Liam simultaneously---so when they weren't talking, they also spent many hours in their cabin, pleasuring one another and slowly getting Liam accustomed to taking as much of Ronan's Centaurian appendage as he could, filling his gut with a glut of Ambrosia which his body would absorb, giving Ronan the room he needed to fill him again and again. Every day that passed as Ronan continued to feed and fill Liam with that magical fluid, he could see Liam growing slightly more muscular and more handsome, but on the evening of the third day---when his body had reached complete saturation---the changes grew more apparent in other ways.
After receiving three massive doses of Ambrosia that evening, Liam lay asleep atop Ronan for several hours, and at three that morning, a knock came upon their cabin door. Liam awakened when Ronan left the bed to answer it, where he found the pajama-wearing first mate, Paul Hurst. Apparently, he had knocked upon Emma's door as well, as she and William also answered their door.
"We have someone aboard the ship that most likely isn't a stowaway, and the captain wishes to speak with the three of you on the bridge."
"Okay," said Ronan, "we'll be right there." He closed the door. "May I turn on the lights?"
"You may as well," said Liam who moved to the side of the bed.
When the lights came on, as Ronan turned to get some clothing, he glanced at Liam but stopped, walked to him, and tipped his head back to study his appearance. "You might want to look in the bathroom mirror."
While Ronan tossed yesterday's clothing into his bag, zipped it closed then unzipped it again, pulling a new suit of clothes from it, Liam rushed to the bathroom.
"Oh my god!" Liam looked closely at himself. His dark-brown hair hadn't noticeably changed, but his skin had taken on a healthy golden-tan color, and most unusual of all, inundating his body the past few days with the yellow gold of the Ambrosia had turned his blue irises to a bright emerald-green color whose metallic glint looked stunning even in the poor bathroom lighting.
Liam left the bathroom. "Is this permanent?"
Ronan smiled. "The way we Ambrosia bomb your body? Probably."
"Well, it will just have to be permanent then because I want that to continue, and is it my imagination, or am I slightly bigger than I was?"
"It's not your imagination," said Ronan. "I've watched you grow evermore handsome and hunky the last three days. That's why I've given you as much Ambrosia as you've wanted."
"Are you okay with this look?" he asked digging into his bag for some clothing.
Ronan kissed him. "I would glow with pride to be seen with you in public. Wait until Emma sees you; we've hardly spoken to her the last few days; she's dead set on providing William every opportunity to use his new toy."
"So, who is this person on the ship, you think?"
Ronan shrugged and shook his head. "If the captain wants to speak to us, this can't be good."
At night, the usual mode for the bridge is to keep the lighting dim. It lessens the window reflections for a better view, but upon their arrival, they found the lights turned up a bit, and the bridge's usual night crew there, with the captain, first mate, William, and Emma staring out the window.
Emma turned to them when they entered. "We have a problem," she said. "For as much as the container incident a few days ago caused us some trouble, it was likely a coincidence. It seems Zeus has elicited the assistance of Kratos."
Liam and Ronan gazed out over the shipping containers illuminated by the ship's floodlights, and there stood an unmoving, muscular naked man not much different in appearance than a stone depiction of a bearded Heracles with a wide, rippled torso. He stood staring up at the bridge on top of the superstructure. Due to the distance, it would have been difficult to say between Ronan and Kratos which had the greater size of the two. With Kratos naked, however, one could easily tell which was the Centaurian. Ages ago, the people, in what is now Greece, viewed having a smaller penis as preferable; anyone oversized they considered a fool.
"Who is he?" asked Liam.
Ronan said, "He's the god of strength, and the guy who---at the behest of Zeus---used the chains forged by Hephaestus to bind Prometheus to the rock so an eagle could eat his liver every day."
"Oh, he's THAT guy. Ugh...."
When Kratos saw Ronan in the window, he yelled with a booming voice, "Centaurian! Fight Me!"
"He's a lunatic," said Ronan. "I'm not gonna fight him."
"I hear you have a fondness for these humans," yelled Kratos. "Will you fight me, or do I start tearing their weak little hearts from their chests until you do?"
"He's also known for his needless brutality," Emma added.
Kratos yelled, "Shall I start with your pathetic protector? He's human, what possible good is he to you, except to mount his ass like the stupid half-donkey you are?"
"Herr Stallion...," said Captain Stettler with a look of extreme concern.
"Captain, I'm sorry that my presence has endangered you and your crew. That was never my intention."
"You are not responsible for his actions," said the captain. "Obvious to me, you are a peaceful man but one not to be underestimated. What will you do?"
"If you fight him," said Emma, "he will try to kill you, and he won't stop until he does."
"Captain," said Ronan, "this world has people who refuse to leave someone to their peace, and to get back to that, sometimes you have to do what you have to do."
"Which shall it be?" yelled Kratos. "I won't wait long."
Ronan told the captain, "I need you to stop the ship, and when I get outside, gather everyone aboard---including you, Emma---and get as deeply into the lower part of the ship as you can get yourselves, stay out of the superstructure. You'll feel the ship bounce in the water. After that, wait 3 minutes, and you can come out."
"Will you kill him?" asked Liam.
"For the record," Ronan told him, "I'm not a killer; Kratos is the killer, and I'm just stopping him. I will try to avoid it, but I would never let him carry out his threats against the people I love"---he held Liam's chin---"most especially you." Ronan kissed Liam and left.
The captain stopped the ship, and the moment he saw him leave the superstructure on the CCTV camera, he used the intercom to draw everyone to the ground floor, and from there, he intended to take them down into the engine room.
Once the ship stopped, it seemed odd for everything to feel so calm; Ronan couldn't feel even a hint of wind. When he climbed atop the cargo containers, he moved closer to Kratos who stood almost amidship.
"There you are," yelled Kratos. "I wondered if you were cowardly as well as a stupid half-donkey."
They were about the same height, but Ronan appeared larger, not that it mattered. Kratos was the god of brute strength, which had to count for something. However, Ronan had more in his arsenal than that.
When Ronan inhaled to speak, he sensed a revolting stench. "Why are you here?"
"Zeus wants to know which of us is the stronger."
Ronan held his hand to his nose and kept it there. "Well, if Zeus has a nose at all, he will know it was you. I can smell you from here. What the hell is that? Hygieia should host an intervention. Look, no one needs to fight anybody. I just want to be left in peace with my sense of smell intact."
"Zeus knows you're plotting to remove him from the throne. We all know it. Even Prometheus knows it; he's seen it. I will never allow that."
"I know nothing about it," said Ronan. "I have better things to do than try dethroning Zeus; My purpose is to help people. So, since I don't want to fight you, I forfeit. You're welcome to strut into Olympus knowing that, between the two of us, you smell the stronger."
"You must find yourself amusing," said Kratos. "I will enjoy killing you. Afterward, I'll follow through with the rest of the crew, but not before I start with your pathetic protector."
"You will never get that chance." Ronan tipped his head back and yelled to the sky, "Zeus! I know you observe this. You have heard what he has said to me, and because of who he is, I must take him at his word. I am peaceful, and I have no ambitions for Olympus but think carefully on what you start here; my priorities can change, and if they do, YOU will have changed them. So, given a choice between his death or ours"---Ronan pointed at Kratos---"he dies. If you want to keep your little pet, you need to take him home before I put him down...and for goodness's sake, give him a bath!"
"He's not listening to you," said Kratos.
"That's because Zeus is sacrificing you to learn what I can do."
Kratos ran toward Ronan, but Ronan wanted to keep him as far from the superstructure as possible, so he ran toward him even faster, luring him to the middle of the ship.
A god or not, Kratos had many vulnerabilities. He expected to kill Ronan by brute force because he fought his enemies, and with no shields or weapons he wanted it to test their strength in some form of hand-to-hand combat.
However, Kratos had never met an enemy who avoided fighting him the way Ronan would. He wanted to get in his punches, to hold Ronan above his head only to slam him down, to dig a hand into his chest, to search for whatever he had for a heart and pluck it out, but Ronan was having none of that; he wouldn't play his game. Ronan ensured that every attempt by Kratos to hurt him hit nothing but air. He sought only to eliminate a threat to the people he cared about, and that was all.
Dodging a series of punches, Ronan asked him, "Have you ever felt afraid?"
"No," said Kratos taking a swipe at his opponent.
"Well, no wonder you're such an efficient killing machine. You may not realize it, but fear is important; it helps everyone stay alive longer."
Kratos paused his attempts to get at Ronan as he assessed him for a better strategy. "I'm a god, what have I to fear?"
In a deep menacing tone, Ronan said, "Me."
It took little more than two seconds for Ronan to push Kratos's hands together grabbing both of his thumbs with one hand in an unbreakable grip, then, after knocking him face-down off his feet, he grabbed the god's big toes with the other. As Ronan lifted Kratos from the surface beneath them, he raised him high enough to look him in the face, Ronan sneered at Kratos for forcing him to deal with his sorry ass, and he continued in the same voice, "and you should be absolutely terrified."
The way Ronan held Kratos he couldn't do much but squirm a bit, and with a mighty push-off from the ship, Ronan made a vertical jump as hard as he could. The air rushed past as they rose into the sky, and they just kept rising. He hadn't a clue how high he could go but even with the lurch of the ship down into the water as it bounced, he had to have made a mile-high leap holding Kratos's squirming body by his thumbs and toes.
On the way up Ronan prepared himself for what he would do, he felt the pressure of containing the buildup of a massive amount of heat, the likes of which one might only find in a neutron star, and the moment he felt their direction change to free fall, he released a directed microburst so intense it burned blue-hot and lit the night sky like a flash of lightning that, within that split second, vaporized Kratos, and as with Kakia, his destruction sent out a shockwave into the atmosphere, but this one had no building to destroy.
However, it shoved Ronan's nearly naked body off course and out from over the ship. As it was, he would fall into the water, and this time, he would have no cargo containers to land on when he resurfaced. That would cause him to remain separated from Liam for a long time unless he used that untapped power within him, and if he needed the power to keep himself close to the man he loved, then so be it. Prometheus was right, he would use it for the best of reasons. He tore from his body what little remained of his shirt and shorts.
Transforming into Chiron's idea of how he should appear, felt like a rush of energy, and it happened all at once. In an act of pure creation, he grew and changed from lines of embering on his body that glowed in the night sky like the smoldering edges of burning paper but in reverse. As he bent his knees a little, he felt his feet lengthen as his toes became hooves. The hair from his waist down thickened and turned pure white, as a horse tail with long white hair emerged from the base of his spine. The appearance of his human cock grew more equine to a massive 24-inches of pale horse flesh. His legs thickened and stretched, making him a beautiful 7-feet-tall Centaurian with a god-like power that would both fascinate and frighten. But to stop his fall, he sprouted from his back a powerful set of giant Pegasus-like white wings. He struggled with them for a moment but slowed his descent, swooped down in the darkness to only a few yards from the water, rose into the sky, and headed back to the tiny oasis of light floating on the black sea in the distance.
On the return, however, he recalled the captain saying that the ship had CCTV cameras. He wasn't quite ready for the public to see him as the centaur, so he returned his lower body to its usual appearance.
Having used his abilities, he hadn't felt different. To him, he seemed the same Ronan Stallion, the Centaurian, the one whose mission was to help people. If he was a god, that hadn't interested him; he only saw a greater capacity to help others with his abilities. He and Liam would have to discover all he could do.
As he approached the ship in the darkness with the illumination from all its floodlights, he could see Liam, Emma, William, and several other crew members looking out from atop the shipping containers for any sign of him.
As he slowed his descent, he flew into view of those people standing on the cargo and the bridge. The lighting reflected off his white wings causing him to glow, and not once had it occurred to him how it may have looked to anyone else. He carefully set his bare feet onto the metal surface giving his usual affable smile, and while he noted everyone's look of awe, his own relief at having gotten back to the ship in one piece made him just chalk their reaction as his simply having returned. Sure, he had given himself wings, but he had obliviousness of his actual appearance. After all, he had looked closer to a Pterocentaur only a minute earlier.
Liam gave him the brightest biggest smile and rushed to hug him. Thankfully, the short duration of the heat used, and his exposure to so much air had cooled him without the need to dunk himself into water.
When Liam wrapped his arms around him, Ronan asked, "Do I stink?"
"You're far too angelic to stink, but ahh...you might want to ixnay the ingsway; you are giving people the wrong impression."
As Ronan eliminated his wings, Liam saw that their disappearance began at the tips with a thin fiery line that burned them away until it reached his back. Emma and William had joined them along with several members of the crew.
"You used your abilities," said Emma.
"Yes, if I hadn't, I would have been separated from Liam for an unknown amount of time. We've reached the middle of the Atlantic, so when Kratos's destruction threw me several miles that way"---he pointed---"I would remain in the pitch blackness of the depths for maybe a month until I walked out of the ocean, or I could just use my abilities and return to Liam's side where I belonged. I have already experienced a short separation from Liam once, I won't do that again."
William had a big smile on his face. "You are one well-hung angel."
"My favorite kind," said Emma and put her arm around William.
Ronan gave Liam a look of concern. "I will probably need the wings on occasion."
"We'll deal with that later."
"Why did we need to go down into the ship?" asked William.
"I hadn't known how far I could jump, and if it was too short, I needed all of you as far away from the blast as possible when I vaporized him. We've already seen what the destruction of a god can do at the hotel in Miami. By the way, Emma, has Kratos always stunk like rotten eggs and horse dung?"
Emma nodded. "Pretty much, yes. He says it's so off-putting that it helps him win against his opponents."
"Yeah, well, he's dead now, so a fat lot of help that was. How do you think Zeus will react to Kratos's death?"
"I'm unsure," she said. "You may want to ask Prometheus."
"Well, after something Kratos told me tonight, Prometheus and I need to have a long talk."