Adult-FanFiction.org : Movies

The Immortal Heart	By : amandalee Category: 1 through F > Clash of the Titans (2010) > Clash of the Titans (2010) Views: 7819 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: We do not own Clash of the Titans or the characters portrayed in this story, and we make no money from writing this.

Chapter List
- 35
- 36
- 37
A/N: Sorry for the long pause, people. I've been very busy working and my co-author and I have not had time to do much writing.

Chapter 36

Five days after the horse started growing wings, the rudimentary limbs had developed enough to resemble wings, and Poseidon was confident that in just a few days, his creation would be able to fly.

“Should we show our brother?” Hades asked, watching as the stallion experimentally flapped its large, white wings, its wingspan greater than that of any bird.

“Not yet,” Poseidon replied. “We must let them grow just a little more. They are almost completely developed, and I want our experiment to demonstrate his abilities when Zeus comes to watch.”

Hades stepped up to the magnificent horse once it again folded its wings and stroked its smooth, pale muzzle. Immediately sensing the food, it nudged the god’s side with its head, indicating that it craved the contents of Hades’ pocket.

“Here you go, my friend,” the Olympian said and held out the pieces of apple, which the stallion gulped down eagerly. The grass had practically vanished from within a radius of ten yards from the tree, and Hades was worried that the horse would soon run out of food unless Poseidon released him.

“You should give him a name,” the elder god suggested. “He is too important to just be referred to as “it” or your “experiment”.

“I had not thought about that,” Poseidon admitted. They had not named any of their previous horses or livestock, and to the god it felt downright wrong to name a non-sentient being. “He might be one of a kind, but he is still a horse, brother. Why do you want to name him?”

“It was only an idea,” Hades replied quietly, not ready to push the matter. “I think he’s earned it.”

Poseidon placed a hand against the stallion’s back, mindful of the wings which the animal was still growing accustomed to using. Sometimes the horse would stretch out his feathery limbs at random, just to understand how they moved. Its lips opened wide, white teeth still clenched together, and Hades, having never seen such a sight before, stepped back with wide eyes. Poseidon only laughed.

“They do that to attract a mate,” the younger god explained. “He’s seeking someone willing among his mares.”

Eyebrow cocked, Hades could not quite understand the purpose of such a ridiculous face to attract the females.

“Such a beautiful leader as him, I am sure the wings will add to his standing,” he said. “Perhaps he will even make more of his kind.”

Poseidon smiled. “If his wings prove useful, I certainly hope so.”

*

Three days later, Poseidon felt that his experiment was ready, which was sooner than expected, to his pleasant surprise. He encouraged Zeus to meet with him outside of the house after breakfast, and promised him a surprise.

“What sort of surprise will this be?” Zeus asked when he was immediately led through the woods toward the fields.

“You recall my interactions with the horses of this island…” Poseidon replied as they approached the valley. He had ventured out at dawn to inspect the state of his experiment and found it to be ready to reveal to the Olympian leader. And not a moment too soon. The stallion had eaten everything Poseidon and Hades had brought it to make up for the already devoured grass. Poseidon wondered if he should have brought some figs with him to tempt the animal into a pleasant mood.

“I have been attempting something very special with that stallion I caught. He may prove to be a great advantage on the battlefield.”

Against his will, Zeus’ interest peaked. He had not seriously expected Poseidon’s “experiment” to prove useful, but he had allowed it for the sake of domestic peace. Could it be true that his brother had actually produced something of practical use?

“What is this thing you speak of?” Zeus inquired, attempting to sound conveniently nonchalant despite his curiosity.

“Rather than telling you, I intend to show you,” the other god replied with a secretive smile, and the pair continued to walk in silence.

Poseidon’s heartbeat increased when they approached the meadow where his winged stallion stood tethered, and he fervently hoped his creation would not disappoint Zeus. It felt as though his heart was nearly in his throat when they finally stepped onto the meadow, but the sight which greeted them made it fall into the pit of his stomach.

His winged horse was gone. The tree it had been tethered to for the past week stood deserted, with nothing except the chewed off stump of a rope left to prove the existence of his treasured experiment. The herd was gone as well, most likely having followed their leader to whatever new grazing spot he had chosen for them.

“What is the meaning of this, brother?” Zeus asked, his tone impatient. “There is nothing here. What did you want to show me?”

Poseidon suddenly wanted to cry. For almost ten days he had nurtured and tended to his creation, anxiously waiting for the moment it was ready to be revealed, and now that moment had been cruelly obliterated.

“It’s gone…” he whispered with barely any voice left to speak. “I do not understand it…”

Zeus stood with his arms folded, clearly unimpressed. He looked around the field, saw nothing that could indicate what Poseidon wanted to share with him, and turned around to return home.

“It was here!” Poseidon insisted, chasing after him. “It was here, it must have freed itself and run away!”

“Whatever ‘it’ was, it is gone now,” Zeus replied. “I can only wonder how much time you wasted with this fruitless effort when you could have been further honing your skills with your trident. The giants shall be very disappointed if they find out.”

Poseidon was about to argue that his time had not been wasted, that the giants need not know his failure, anything, but his attention was drawn away by something in the sky. He looked up and before he could say anything, Zeus had spotted it as well.

Something was flying high above them, and it looked far bigger than any bird.

“Get down, it could be something sent by Cronos,” Zeus immediately said, and as he formed his hand into a fist, it glowed blue and crackled as it created a bolt of electricity. Not until the very moment he was about the hurl the lightning did Poseidon recognize the creature in flight.

“NO,” he shouted, and he pushed his brother aside.

Poseidon had never experienced the intensity of Zeus’ newly granted power until now. The agony was an unimaginable one, and a shaking passed through him down to his bones, an unbearable combination of heat and icy shock. It only went through him in the briefest instant, but the sensation seemed to last hours.

By the time he came to his senses, Zeus was yelling at him angrily. Poseidon barely listened looking at the skies and hoping the bolt had missed.

“What is the meaning of this, you idiot?!” Zeus shouted. “You could have gotten yourself killed! Whatever that thing was, it might return to Cronos and alert him to our location!”

“It will NOT go to Cronos!” Poseidon snapped, stumbling as he rose from the ground, running once he found his balance. “That was my experiment!”

“WHAT??”

“It looks like it’s heading in the direction of our home. If it lands nearby, we may still be in luck.”

Zeus fastened his eyes on his brother, still in disbelief of what he had seen. The thing had looked like a horse… except it had flown with wings, and as far as he knew, galloped, not flew.

“What exactly did you do?” he asked the other god, expecting Poseidon to deliver a detailed confession of his activities in the past week.

“I… I captured a stallion from a herd Hades and I found the day Chiron departed.”

Poseidon thought back on the day with a certain amount of nostalgia and suspected that the reason he had set out looking for horses to tame was to replace the cheerful presence of his equine half-brother.

“I had an idea. It simply struck me when I saw him. I… I wanted to put wings on him. So I did. I have followed his progress for the past ten days. Ask Hades. He supported my idea, even though he was against keeping our stallion tethered to a tree.” The mournful expression on the god’s face gave way to a sad smile. “And I suppose he was right. Such a proud, magical animal is not likely to willingly return to its captor.”

Zeus threw out his arms. “Why did you not tell me?!” he shouted. “A horse with wings… The idea is genial; we could have used it to transport us off this island when it’s time. Why keep it a secret? Because you wanted the whole credit yourself?!”

“No!” Poseidon shouted back, angry and disappointed with the outcome of his hard work. “I wanted to keep it a surprise! You were against it from the beginning; how was I to know you would have supported my idea at the time?”

Zeus rubbed his forehead, biting back another bellowed reply. Standing on an empty meadow shouting one another in the face would not profit their cause, and Zeus tried to make himself sympathetic to Poseidon’s plight over losing his experiment.

“Your idea was an excellent one, brother,” he said and placed what he hoped was a soothing hand on the older god’s shoulder. “But it’s a pity you were so foolish in executing it.”

“We should head home,” Poseidon suggested. “As I said, he may decide to land nearby. If so, we can try to capture him again. Or at least win his favor again. He likely won’t be as forgiving if we lasso him.”

“I hope his herd will prevent him from escaping the island,” Zeus added as they hurried back to his childhood home.

Running through the forest was the quickest way home if one were careful negotiating the foliage, but both gods were running and more concerned about the destination than the actual journey. Zeus nearly went down the first time and succeeded one the second from tripping over upturned tree roots, and Poseidon neglected looking up as he ran, rewarding himself with a face full of low hanging branches.

By the time they arrived to the small house, both brothers had twigs in their hair and were covered in small abrasions. The horse was nowhere in sight, and they allowed themselves time to catch their breath as they discussed where the damn animal could have gone. Before they could reach a decision, they heard a recognizable sound.

The very horse-like grumbling.

The gods glanced at one another for a mere second and hurried around the house to the front yard, albeit very carefully and very quietly. Two sets of eyes widened; one in awe, the other in shock.

“Where did you come from?” Hades asked the winged stallion in amusement. The animal seemed unfazed by its surroundings and stood there, nudging at Hades with its nose in search of more apples.

“That…” Zeus muttered, careful to not speak loud enough to spook the horse. “That is… you actually did it.”

“I told you,” Poseidon replied. “What do you think?”

“He looks amazing…” Zeus kept staring until the next obvious question escaped his lips. “Can you make more?”

“I could try. Hopefully he may make others himself if he mates.”

Hades held out a hand containing pieces of apple and the horses did not waste any time devouring them. A small spark of jealousy flared within Poseidon as he witnessed the scene before him; the winged stallion was his creation, and it was unfair that it would come to Hades and not to him.

Without relying on ropes, Poseidon stepped forth, keeping his hands by his sides in a very non-threatening manner to assure the horse that he meant no harm. If only he could get his creation to trust him…

Both Hades and the horse flinched at the sound of the other god approaching, and the stallion whipped its head around, almost knocking into Hades and sweeping him off his feet. At the sight of Poseidon, the god’s experiment immediately reared back, withdrawing from its maker as if being caught again was a fate worse than death.

Hades reached out to the distressed animal, trying to soothe it with gentle words and caresses mixed with promises of more apples, but it was too late. The horse could not be made calm again, and when Poseidon took another step toward it, the magnificent white wings were spread out in preparation for an imminent escape.

Poseidon’s frustrated howls following his failure could be heard throughout the forest, and the three gods could only watch as the beautiful but also willful horse once again escaped their clutches.

“I fear he might not come back this time…” Hades said.

Poseidon only glared up at the sky where the cursed animal had disappeared amongst the clouds.

“We could always make more,” Zeus suggested, looking up at the same space of sky. “Perhaps I could try to make one myself.”

Poseidon was sorely tempted to tell his leader that his attempt would likely fail, but he did not want a blow to the back of his head. Instead he remained begrudgingly silent, still staring at the clouds.

“Well, we can be certain of one thing,” Hades finally said. He received a questioning glance from his brothers.

“What’s that?” Poseidon asked.

“The mares won’t be able to get away from him now.”

TBC...
- 35
- 36
- 37
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

The Immortal Heart