The Masked Legend (PJO Fanfic)

Chores

  Washing the hunters' shirts and pants weren't the worst part. What's even worst is that he has to touch the hunters' underwear and inner clothes which made Sal a little uncomfortable.  Thank Hades that he have water powers or else this would be his end. Not just touching the hunters' clothes but even their inner clothes that would already make one male a jackalope. 

   Sal dried them and carefully folded them one by one neatly as possible. After all his mother......taught him that people like people who is working hard.  He put the clothes in the laundry basket and headed back to camp.

   While heading to Artemis to understand where he will put these, he crossed the archery range where younger hunters are training. He saw Phoebe who was standing aside instructing the kids. He stopped for a moment to see how they were training. 500 years ago, he would have hated archery to it existence. But now, it was his favorite way to kill other than with his scythe and dagger. He was a hunter after all.........

  But what bothers both Phoebe and Sal was that the young hunters only hit bullseye for a few time. This worried Phoebe and irritated Sal because they both knew that if this was hunting an animal or a monster you would want to be accurate and get a one hit kill. Slightly off could affect the entire thing so every hunters' job was to learn to be as accurate as possible. Finally, Sal couldn't stand it anymore and walked over there with the laundry basket.

   " What are you doing here Sal-." She said but then noticed what he was holding. She blushed slightly and glared at him. Salomao ignored it and walked up to one of the younger hunters who looked about 9.

  The hunter just looked at Sal and slowly backing away. All of the hunters here either had a desire to have a family or just to get away from men due to bad experiences so Sal didn't blame her for backing away. He was wearing a black mask and hiding most part of his face.

  " Reign." He summoned and a beautiful bow appeared out of thin air. Sal just grabbed it and shot it at the target.

Ping!

The arrow shot right in the center. He then looked at the young hunter and crouched down next to her.

   "You want to do that right?" He asked nicely to the young hunter who nodded back shyly. She tried not to get any close to him because he was just going to abandon her like her brother. Sal just looked at her and then said, " I could help you. I may not be as good as your mistress but..... I'm the masked hunter for a reason." The young hunter stared at him in shock. This was the very person who Olympus wanted for hundreds of years. The hunter just looked at him and shyly nodded accepting his offer.  She wanted to go hunting with Lady Artemis too. She was old enough just not well trained to set out and hunt.

  " So first......" Sal said showing how she should do it. He showed her a comfortable stance and showed her more techniques while joking. The other hunters listened to the masked hunter. Phoebe however just smiled at how the masked hunter interacted with the young hunters. Even though, she hated males but........ Sal made her remember the times when Zoë was still alive.

  Often Zoë would showed the younger hunters what to do and different techniques. She could be cruel to men but showed a soft side to the hunters. Phoebe looked up at the sky. It was still in the afternoon but still she spoke, " He really reminds me of you my friend. Say hello to the stars for me."

    Phoebe saw how many hunters can hit a bullseye now with Sal here. It was supposed to be Thalia's job to do this but she wasn't in the mood today so Phoebe just took over just for today.

   "Great you did it! Now go and give yourself a big bear hug." Sal said clapping his hands. His yellow eye showed softness and gentleness in them.  The young hunter just smiled and gave herself a big hug. Sal grinned and then noticed Phoebe. He just smiled and grabbed the laundry and walked to her.

    " Where do I put this Phoebe?" He asked.  Phoebe pointed to a tent where all the hunters' clothes would be in. Usually after the clothes are ready to be wore again they would be stored in that tent and the hunters would grab it in there and place it in their closets inside their tents. Sal nodded and walked over there. He then stopped.

     " You're a good teacher you know? Maybe better than Thalia or Zoë." He told her before walking away. Phoebe was stunned, this was the first time a man sincerely complimented her. A warm feeling came up and overcame her. She smiled and looked up again.

    "  I guess that's why you are friends with him." She spoke to the sky. Before walking to the young hunters and continue to teach them anything she knew.

  Sal set down the laundry and sat there resting. He then felt a presence and looked up to see the bright silver eye girl staring down at him. She had a smirk on her face.

   " Good work peasant." She said. Sal rolled his eyes and stood up. He then dramatically bowed deeply in front of her.

   " Thank you oh your majesty! I'm super honored to see you finally noticed me." He spoke dramatically. Artemis just scowled hating the formalities.

   "Salomao you know how I hate that. Also, it time for lunch. " She said before walking out. Sal just sighed and then walked out and headed to the kitchen. He looked at the materials he had. Then he got an idea. Sal then started to cook.

" Hey Artemis, do you think he will also explode the kitchen?" Thalia said eyeing the kitchen nervously. Artemis just shook her head hesitantly. She didn't know if Sal was smart enough to not explode the kitchen. However she will just trust him with the kitchen. Suddenly, a tiny explosion could be heard in the kitchen. Artemis just sighed and was about to walk over there when Sal came out. His whole body was covered with different materials. Artemis was stunned for a moment and then broke out laughing. The scene was just hilarious for her.

Sal ignored her and then faced the hunters grinning. He pulled out plates of roasted meat and some mashed potato. Phoebe and Tracy didn't know what to think of this. They eyed it carefully and examined it trying to see if it poison.

    "C'mon guys, I know I may not be the greatest in cooking but still I could still cook food without killing someone." Sal said. Thalia just shrugged and took a bite out of it. Her eyes widen and continued to dig in. Finally seeing their lieutenant enjoying the food Sal made, they hesitantly dig in. Their eyes widen before digging in. Artemis was eating when she remembered something.

    " Hey peasant what was the explosion about?"  She asked him. The masked hunter just smack his head and then ran to the kitchen bringing back a cake.

   " You guys had extra materials so I used it to bake a cake. However as you can see, something kind of went wrong. But the cake still went well." He said cheerfully before setting down the cake. He stood there as he watches the hunters eat.

   Thalia noticed this and gesture him to sit.

  " Hey Sal come and eat. You did cook the food." She told him and patted the seat next to Phoebe and her. Salomao shook his head. It was his job as a servant to make sure the hunters are able to eat safely without any trouble.

   " Salomao, I order you to sit down and eat a little." Artemis demanded. Sal hesitantly sat down next to Thalia and grabbing himself a slice of cake and slowly ate it. He then saw how the hunters interacted with each other and just smiled warmly. This was his new family.

   His new life.

END.

"The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection."

-Thomas Paine