Six Crimson Seeds (A VegasPete Persephone AU)

Chapter 6: The Prophecy

"Check this out," Arm said, leaning close to Pete to show him the latest explosive device he had manufactured.

Over the several months since he had arrived, Pete had learned that Arm could make just about anything he set his mind to. They had gotten close, spending long hours together taking care of Khun's whims, so one day Arm had removed his suit jacket and shirt enough to show Pete the anvil-shaped birthmark on his bicep.

Pete gasped. Arm was the first person to purposefully show him a mark. The rest he had been collecting over the months by accident, stowing the information away to dwell on them at night. Arm's anvil explained why he could make just about anything, and Kim's owl explained his high intelligence. One day, after Khun got blackout drunk, Pete had been removing his boots when he spotted the goblet on one ankle. The symbol on the other ankle he had to look up, determining it was a caduceus. Tay's moon was still confusing him, while Kinn's lightning bolt made sense given the sudden storm that had appeared when Kinn found him. They had been at the pool one day when Pete spotted it on Kinn's upper thigh when his swim trunks shifted. As careful as his grandmother had told him to be about his own mark, the rest of the boys seemed much less interested in keeping theirs hidden.

Macau's he had yet to figure out, but based on the jokes the others constantly made, he had determined it was located on Macau's butt, which meant he was decidedly less interested in seeing it.

Macau's face had gone bright red when Khun tossed the comment out about its location one day, storming out of the room. He didn't return to Olympus for three days. Pete had gotten pretty close to Macau, so he couldn't help but notice that the boy seemed to be in a better mood as the months went on. He asked Arm about it one day while Khun was watching his favorite series again.

"Is Vegas coming back soon or something?"

Arm nodded, half of his attention on the popcorn he continued to shove into his mouth. "Yeah. He'll be back on the spring equinox."

Pete nodded blankly, turning his attention back to the show. He didn't know why, but it embarrassed him to ask too much about Vegas. He barely knew the boy after all, he had to remind himself, despite the few days he had with him and all the countless stories Macau had told him over the months. It only served to make Pete more curious about the mysterious boy. The time spent in Vegas's presence felt like a distant dream, not concrete, not corporeal like Pete knew it to be.

A loud, insistent knock had Khun screaming in frustration as he paused the show. Pete quickly ran to get the door, knowing that a worse tantrum was on the way if he didn't deal with the disruption swiftly.

"Oh, Kinn," he said upon seeing the middle brother at the door. "Can I help you?"

"I just wanted to see how you were doing. Tay wanted to train you a little more in case you need to come with us for the next deal."

"Oh," Pete said, glancing back at Khun. So far, Pete had been left behind during risky deals, but the bruises and exhaustion the other bodyguards returned with, if they returned at all, had not escaped him.

"Fine," Khun groaned petulantly. "I'll send him to Tay's room when this episode ends."

Kinn nodded, glancing at Pete a little longer before leaving them alone again.

When Pete sat back on the sofa, feeling stressed about the possibility of going on a raid, Khun leaned over to loudly whisper, "I think my brother has a crush on you."

"What?" Pete sputtered, choking on his popcorn until Arm handed him a bottle of water. "That's not possible," he said once he had stopped coughing.