Found Family (HoO, Mortal AU)

FRANK ZHANG

The funeral was the next day. What was the point in waiting?

The only people who were invited was Frank's friends. His grandmother didn't have friends. There was no living family. His friends insisted on being there, though, which did help. Even if he didn't want to admit it, he needed the support.

It wasn't necessarily a sad service. It just felt empty. Emotionless. Quiet. Hazel stayed by his side the whole time. After the funeral, his friends came back to his house. Was it his? Not until he was eighteen. Legally, he should've been put into some sort of foster care, but the longer he could avoid that, the better.

He opened the front door to the house, which also felt strangely empty. Maybe it was just Frank who felt empty. Nobody spoke for a while. Frank decided he'd have to be the first to, since everyone else was afraid to be insensitive.

"So.." he sighed. "How was Christmas."
"Man I-" Percy began.
"Please don't say you're sorry. I'm the Canadian here."
Percy smiled pitifully. "Christmas was okay."
Everyone else still looked awkward, like they didn't want to share the amazing day that they had.
"Well.." Rachel muttered. "Grover and I watched Spider-Man. And Spider-Man two. And Spider-Man three. And the amazing Spider-Man-"
"Okay-" Grover interrupted. "We watched all the Spider-Men movies."

"Doesn't surprise me," Frank smiled.
"I got a new puppy," Nico mumbled.
"Seriously?!" Reyna shouted.
"Yeah," he smiled. "His name is Cerberus."
"And I got a horse," said Hazel. Frank already knew that, since she wouldn't stop talking about him.

"Uhm-" Leo said. "So Christmas was kinda fun- I mean wasn't that great y'know just a normal day-"
"Leo, man, I appreciate you trying not to be insensitive but you look like you're about to explode with excitement. Just tell us what happened." Frank laughed.
"Okay," he grinned. "Sorry and thanks. So, uhm- I GOT ADOPTED."
Everyone started screaming at the same time. 'Who' and 'what'. Apart from Piper. She just smiled.

"You didn't!" Will said to her.
"I did," Piper smiled. "Well my dad did-"
"I'm officially Piper's lil bro!"
"Might put him back up for adoption," Piper joked, only getting an elbow in the side from Leo.
Leo and Jason seemed to have a silent conversation, then both of them suspiciously went on their phones, coincidentally texting someone who totally wasn't each other. Frank wasn't certain on what was going on between them and he wasn't sure if anyone else suspected anything but something was up.

"Anyway," Leo said, eventually setting down his phone at the same time as Jason. "I gotta go to the orphanage sometime today to get my things. And tell my siblings. I was talking to Nyssa. The younger ones don't know yet." He frowned, obviously not wanting to tell them.
"Well, if any of you want to go I don't expect you to stay-"
"Bro, Paul Blofis is still at my apartment. As long as he's there, I wanna stay here."
"You can come back to ours," Hazel said. "Then you get to meet Arion."
"Thanks, Hazel."

Grover looked at Annabeth's arm. "New bracelet?"
She smiled. "Well, Percy-"
"Ohhhhh-" Rachel nudged Annabeth, very obviously.
"So you already had the earrings, then the necklace, now the bracelet." Grover smiled. "What next, a ring?"
"OH!" Practically everyone screamed at the same time.
"Shut up-" Percy muttered. "I simply saw Wise Girl on Christmas Day and decided-"
"Yeah, yeah, keep talking Seaweed Brain," Reyna mused.

Nico looked at his phone. "Well shi- Cerberus has begun eating everything in the house. Father is gonna kill me."
"Right," Hazel sighed. "Come on Frank, you have to meet Arion and Cerberus."
"Are you sure-"
"Yes," Hazel grabbed his hand. "Everyone else, we're meeting again as soon as possible."
"Oh hell yeah," Percy said. "Cecil is throwing a party for New Years. I'll get you all invited."
"See ya there," Will smiled.

• • •

He went back to Nico and Hazel's, meeting both Cerberus and Arion, who were both adorable, even though Cerberus like chewing everything. At least it tired him out, so he slept in Nico's arms for most of the day.

Hazel was making a huge fuss over Arion, talking about how she needed to buy them this and that.
"You do know Leo will bully you for being a horse girl?" Frank said.
"I know but it's okay because Arion is just such a cutie! Aren't you Arion? Yes you are! Yes you are!"
"Oooookay?"

• • •

That night, he went back to his own house. Hazel told him he could stay, but honestly he wanted some time to be alone. Plus, everything smelt like dog and horse.

For the first time, the house was dead. The fire wasn't lit. There were Christmas lights everywhere, but none were turned on. Frank's footsteps even felt quieter. It was a family mansion- passed down from generation to generation, all of which Frank heard too much of from his grandmother. He'd miss her stories, though. Some of them, anyway.

Every few minutes, his emotions changed. For a while he felt sad. Then angry, just like he did the day his mother died. So, he went outside with all of Grandmother's expensive China and smashed them. He shot them with arrows, threw them, smashed almost every single one. By then, he just felt sad again.

It would take a while for that feeling to change. He still wasn't over his parents' deaths. He never would be. Sometimes you just had to try get on with life, though. He was Frank Zhang and he was not giving up that easily.

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Word Count: 942

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A/N: short chapter. On Christmas. Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays:))