PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO || Nicercy || The Prince of Pluto || Nicercy || PJatO || Nicercy || PJatO
Title: The Prince of Pluto – A Journey to the Stars
Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus
Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Rick Riordan for he created the awesomeness that is Nico di Angelo. And everything else related to Percy Jackson and the Olympians / Heroes of Olympus. Aside from the Gods, they belong to the old Greeks. This fanfiction and its OCs on the other hand are entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.
Warnings: m/m, scifi AU, aliens, alpha/beta/omega dynamics, hurt/comfort, fluff, pining, explicit intercourse, oral, anal, knotting, f/f, m/f, polyamory (m/m/f)
Main Pairing: Nico/Percy
Side Pairings: Reyna/Annabeth, Nyssa/Piper, Octavian/Luke, Ethan/Alabaster, Jake/Will, Frank/Hazel/Leo, Jason/Calypso, Grover/Juniper, Charles/Silena, Chris/Clarisse, Malcolm/Katie, Bryce/Drew, Paul/Sally, Tristan/Beryl, Maria/Marie, Hades/Persephone, Poseidon/Amphitrite, Thanatos/Triton
Percy Jackson Characters: (by planet/asteroid of origin)
Sun: Will Solace, Octavian Simmons, Austin Lake, Kayla Knowles
Mercury: Luke Castellan, Chris Rodriguez, Travis Stoll, Connor Stoll, Cecil Markowitz
Venus: Piper McLean, Silena Beauregard, Michael Kahale, Drew Tanaka, Mitchell, Lacy
Earth: Perseus Jackson, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Ella, Ethan Nakamura, Tyson, Sally Jackson, Paul Blofis, Tristan McLean, Beryl Grace, Maria di Angelo, Marie Levesque
Moon: Calypso Nightshade, Zoe Nightshade, Phoebe
Mars: Clarisse la Rue, Frank Zhang
Vesta: Charles Beckendorf, Leo Valdez, Jake Mason, Nyssa Barrera
Pallas: Annabeth Chase, Malcolm Pace
Bellona: Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Hylla Ramírez-Arellano
Ceres: Katie Gardner, Miranda Gardner, Juniper
Jupiter: Jason Grace, Thalia Grace
Saturn: Kronos (King)
Chiron: Chiron, Grover Underwood, Gleeson Hedge
Uranus: Gaia (Queen), the Giants
Neptune: Poseidon (King), Amphitrite (Queen), Triton, Proteus, Kymopoleia, Benthesikyme, Rhode
Orcus: Bryce Lawrence
Pluto: Nico di Angelo, Bianca di Angelo, Hazel Levesque, Mrs. O'Leary, Small Bob, Hades (King), Persephone (Queen), Thanatos, Olethros, Makaria, Melinoe
Eris: Alabaster C. Torrington, Lou Ellen Blackstone
Summary: The moon-landing had changed the course of history when human made first contact. It opened Earth up to space-travel, exploring the solar system and their now allied planets. Chiron Academy is the leading high school training future space explorers.
Percy Jackson grew up dreaming of one day traveling the stars. When he gets into the academy, he makes a lot of new friends, among them his new crush the half-Plutonian Nico.
Things change when Nico confides in his friends that he is actually the prince of Pluto – and that Pluto is in the middle of a horrible war. Together, the group of their close friends, they decide to ditch school, steal a space-ship and go out into space alone and unsupervised to help.
The Prince of Pluto
A Journey to the Stars
Chapter 5: I'm Only Human... Aren't I?
Ever since Nico's breakdown in class a couple weeks ago, Percy and Nico had been nearly inseparable. Percy was happy that he was making friends like this – Nico, Grover, Annabeth, Piper, Jason, Reyna. He was making real, actual friends, in his first two months at the academy. A part of him had been really worried about that; he had never been quite good at making friends.
"Jason has a date", whispered Nico in a conspiring voice.
The Plutonian had leaned in to whisper into Percy's ear, his breath hot against Percy's skin, his skin radiating heat and Percy felt himself subconsciously leaning closer into it until he could feel the soft brush of Nico's wings against his arms, making him shudder.
"Oh, that explains the weird pacing", giggled Percy amused.
Percy was over at Nico and Jason's room to study, however Jason was being very distracting. The Jovian kept pacing, going back and forth between the mirror in one corner and his closet in the other, lifting shirts to see what they looked like just to throw them away and grumble. It was very confusing and distracting. Though a date did explain that.
"Wait. A date with whom?", asked Percy surprised.
"A Miss Calypso Nightshade", stated Nico, smirk on his lips. "You know what a bad shot Jason is, right? And Calypso offered to teach him. Apparently, arrows weren't the only things flying there."
"...Heh?", grunted Percy confused, blinking a couple times.
"Sparks. There were sparks flying between them. C'mon, I'm trying to be funny here, Perce", huffed Nico with a slight pout. "It was a good pun. Anyway. So the two of them were caught kissing."
Jason was sputtering and blushing, glaring at Nico in betrayal. Percy laughed at them and settled in a bit more comfortably on the bed, lounging a little. He tilted his head thoughtfully.
"So...", drawled Percy awkwardly, turning to look from Jason to Nico and back.
"What's up? Spit it out", nudged Nico.
"What's it like?", asked Percy finally, cheeks red. "Being an alpha, I mean. You officially presented like a week ago. Is it... did it change anything for you...?"
"Mh... I guess", mused Jason and flopped down on his own bed, thoughtful look on his face. "My senses are sharper, especially my sense of smell. Urgh, sharp smells are the worst. But sweet things smell way more appealing to me now? And I'm stronger, like, physically – did a test in the gym, with Hylla and Clarisse. It's all kinda weird, I dunno. Like I gotta adjust to my body...?"
Percy hummed curiously. He had been wondering about it. Piper had presented a couple days ago and she had talked about just how strange but exciting it was and Percy had to admit he was curious. He couldn't really imagine. And the fact that their physical abilities improved too – like Percy wasn't already behind enough. He felt like Hawkeye, trying to keep up with super-soldiers and gods and gamma-monsters while all he could do was shoot pointy sticks.
/break\
"Try this."
Blinking, Percy accepted the blue, apple-sized strawberry and, without even questioning Grover, he bit into it. It tasted kind of like cherries? Licking his lips, he took another bite. This was good.
"Okay, I'll bite. Pun intended. What is it and where is it from?", asked Percy, sitting down.
They were in the garden, Grover was working with Juniper and Katie. Grover was working his butt off with his studies, even beyond classes. He wanted to be prepared for when they specialized.
"That's a ptunia berry. It's from Neptune", offered Grover. "It grows in water. Literally, just in water. You put the seed in the water and they grow. They don't need anything else, no ground, no light, nothing. They're very high in nutrition and extremely filling."
"I like them", hummed Percy contently, grabbing a second one.
"I figured. You have a real taste for Neptunian food", chuckled Grover amused. "Uh... Percy, put that third berry down. One berry is like enough for a full meal."
Percy, just having finished the second one, had the third one in hand. Blinking confused, he took another bite. This was yummy and sure, it was filling, but not that filling. Juniper behind him huffed amused and shook her head before she approached and sat down next to Grover.
"I think you should talk to your mom", noted Juniper. "I don't think you're fully human. Maybe you have some ancestry farther up in your family tree, but... the amount of food and the kinds of food that you eat, it's not..." Juniper paused tentatively. "I saw you eat something Plutonian that you should have definitely not been able to eat the other day."
"I got a strong stomach", laughed Percy with a casual shrug.
"No, Juni means you literally should not have been physically able to eat that", pointed Grover out. "Plutonians have steel-like teeth. They can quite literally eat rocks – actually, they do, it's how they survived on their planet before they imported Neptunian plant-life. The thing you ate should have broken off your teeth. It's why Nico made that horrified sound when you stole his food – not because he hates having his food stolen but because he knows humans can't eat that."
"...Oh", whispered Percy. "Uhm... I guess I have good teeth...?"
"Percy. I just want you to maybe reevaluate some things and check in with your mom", whispered Juniper gently, patting him on the thigh. "Grover and I aren't the only ones who think so. Annabeth was the first one who noticed. Piper the second, because of the swim-team. But no one really knows how to approach this so I figured I'd just... put it out there."
Percy just nodded sharply, a little surprised. He knew the others had been giving him odd looks pretty much from the get-go – because of just how much he could eat. How fast he could swim. But he hadn't really thought much of it. Should he...? He was in his fourth month at the academy, he was doing good – even with the things he struggled with, he had built such a support-network that they all helped each other out. Whoever was best in a subject offered help to the others and since everyone had at least something they were particularly good with, it worked out well.
Still, the first semester was going to end soon. Thirty people had already dropped out. None of his friends; and he knew that their support-network was greatly to thank for that because they took care of each other, while it were the stubborn lone-wolves who thought of this as a competition were the ones to drop like flies because it was too much for any one person to handle.
If there was something, anything, coming his way that he didn't anticipate, it may throw him for a loop. He didn't know if he could afford that. He got up and grabbed another berry before leaving.
/break\
"What's wrong with you? You're totally distracted. You're normally better than this."
Nico was straddling Percy's waist, sword to Percy's throat and had a frustrated Percy pinned beneath him. Putting the sword down, Nico leaned back (and tried not to think about how good Percy looked, sweaty and pinned beneath him). Nico's hormones were all over the place lately, he knew he was going to present soon – he was already annoyed enough that Jason had presented before him.
"I... talked to Juniper and Grover the other day about something and it's just... I can't shake it but I feel like I can't do it either", muttered Percy annoyed as he sat up.
Nico frowned confused and got them both cool water-bottles before the two sat down together under the apple-tree. Percy really looked frustrated as he sat hunched over, running his fingers through sweat-soaked hair. It made Nico gulp hard because Percy looked way too attractive.
"That... What does that mean, Perce?", asked Nico softly when he sat down with Percy.
"They said that I should talk to my mom about my... uh... well, heritage, I guess? That I may not be the one hundred percent human that I thought I was", whispered Percy.
Nico nodded slowly, until Percy gave him a 'you too, huh?' look. "We... talked about this and about how to tell you, yeah. I mean, you had to have noticed it yourself by now and we figured there may be a reason you're ignoring it so we didn't want to push, but... yeah."
Silence settled between them, Percy balancing the water-bottle on his wrist in a way that Nico knew he couldn't pull off but Percy made it look effortless. Part of his ADHD, the boy was constantly fidgeting with something and somehow he was really good at it. It was fascinating to watch.
"You wanna tell me why you don't talk to your mom about it?", asked Nico softly.
"I don't think it's mom's side of the family", admitted Percy. "I mean, it can't be. I know all about my grandparents and my mom's grandparents. And it wouldn't... it wouldn't skip that many generations to manifest in me then, that's not how this works. So it... has to be my father."
"You... never talk about your biological father", whispered Nico unsure.
Mister Blofis? All the time. The two of them were adorable together, teasing each other during class with quips, Paul regularly checking in with Percy and Percy seeking him out for help occasionally. Percy's first stepfather? While not many details, they had talked about it a couple times now, about the abuse Percy's been through. When they talked about the war and Nico's PTSD too. But never before had Percy mentioned his biological father at all. This was uncharted territory. Had he been abusive too, like the first stepfather? Or had he died, was that it? Or was he just a deadbeat? Nico had no idea what kind of approach he needed to take here.
"Because I have nothing to talk about", replied Percy. "I... don't know anything about him. Not even his last name. His name was Don... and that's it. Mom met him one summer, it was a summer-fling and they never saw each other again. Mom doesn't like talking about it either, I think she feels guilty about it, thinks that she should have done things differently back then."
"So you're ignoring it because there's nothing you can do about it anyway", guessed Nico.
"Exactly", sighed Percy, leaning back and closing his eyes. "Don's not exactly a rare name. Got nothing else to go by so I can't track him down and ask him questions either. And mom knows nothing. So... I really don't... I have no way of doing anything."
"I'm sorry, for what it's worth", whispered Nico and leaned against Percy.
He wrapped a comforting wing around Percy, not knowing what else to do. Percy sighed contently and reached out to run his fingers through soft, black feathers, doing that little purring sound that Nico loved so much, the one that showed Percy was feeling content.
/break\
"Look, Percy. We have officially moved in."
"I thought you moved in like three months ago", pointed Percy out confused.
"Yes, but it turns out we hadn't unpacked everything until today", sighed Paul amused.
Sally all the while looked very proud as she led Percy in. The two had moved into one of the on-campus apartments. It saved Paul a lot of time and it meant Percy could see his mom more regularly, which he was really grateful for. Sally had gotten a new job too, was now also working for the school – running the campus kiosk. Candies (very important), sandwiches, newspapers and stuff. The person who had been running it before, Mellie Hedge, was very highly pregnant and they had been looking for someone for a while now. When Sally and Paul had gone to dinner at the principal's, apparently a thing that staff did regularly, Sally and Mellie had talked and Sally had been excited about the idea because her old work-place was farther away, the drive now longer due to the move. It was a win-win situation for everyone.
"I gotta head to class. You didn't want anything from me, right?", asked Paul, worried for a moment.
"Nope. I just came to talk to my mom", assured Percy. "Have fun."
He waved at his stepfather and, once the door closed behind him, Percy went to the kitchen. His mom followed him, chatting about work and how lovely Annabeth and Piper were (she was such a big fan of Percy having friends, and such lovely girl friends especially. It showed that Sally always wanted a daughter. Not instead of Percy, but alongside Percy. Maybe, if things had gone differently, but Gabe had stolen her best years...). Percy cleared his throat when she paused.
"I... wanted to talk to you about something", whispered Percy unsure, voice wavering.
"W... What's wrong?", asked Sally concerned. "You sound troubled, Percy? Is everything okay?"
"The academy is pushing me... a lot", started Percy slowly, having prepared his words well. "Physically. And I... seem to exceed what the regular human body is capable of in certain aspects and with the added exercise and exhaustion, my food-intake has increased too. To a... not quite human level, at least not for my weight. My metabolism isn't really human, mom. I know you always joked, when I was a child, that I burned it all right away, but it's been... getting worse."
"What... are you saying, Percy?", wanted Sally to know, frown in place.
"I think... and I've been thinking this for a while now, but now my friends brought it up and I know there's not much you can do, or tell me, but... I still wanna talk to you about it", continued Percy, fidgeting with his shirt nervously. "I think I'm not human. I think my... father... wasn't human."
Silence filled the room as Percy gave his mom the chance to think about what to say.
"I can't tell", admitted Sally after a long moment, averting her eyes. "It was a wild summer. I was young and it was supposed to be my last summer before college, I didn't want to grow attached, I didn't want a relationship. He didn't want it either. He was married – separated. That was about as much as we talked about. He and his wife were separated and he had come to Montauk to escape for a while. We... never even exchanged last names, never talked about where we were from. It was just this one, magical summer and it was supposed to stay that. I never..."
"Planned on getting pregnant, yeah I know that", huffed Percy with a small, sad smile.
"You weren't planned, but you do know that you're the best thing that ever happened to me, right?", asked Sally seriously, grasping his face and kissing his forehead. "I love you with my whole heart."
"I know, mom", assured Percy amused, hugging her. "I just... do you know anything about him?"
"He had appetite. You say your metabolism is higher and... I gotta admit, he really could eat a lot", mused Sally, leading the way for the two of them to comfortable setting in on the couch in the living room. "You look just like him, you know. I mean, of course you do. I'm a blue-eyed brunette. You... you have your father's eyes and hair. His was as black and silky as yours. Though his eyes, they were... like they were moving? Like actual waves. Sea-green, shimmering between blue and green. Yours are mostly green. Beautiful, but... slightly different from your father's."
"And... you said... he had a... a wife", asked Percy carefully.
"We didn't talk about her. He just said, that she needed a break, that they had agreed on taking a break from each other. But I could see it in his eyes, that as soon as she'd give him a second chance, he would try to win her back. He loved her. I didn't hold that against him. A part of me always hoped that he managed to rekindle things, be happy with her", replied Sally. "But I don't know her name either, didn't want to know. Didn't want to know about his life."
The thing was that Percy understood it. She had been young and had wanted an adventure and she had gotten it. Percy was... the unexpected consequences of that adventure. Still, if things had been different, Percy could have a father in his life and could have some answers now.
/break\
"She is so... everything", sighed Chris in a dreamy voice, leaning against Percy. "Look."
"Yeah no, Clarisse is not really my type", chuckled Percy amused, patting his head.
They were in the gym, together with Reyna and Annabeth. And in the gym, they had run into Clarisse and Hylla, who were sparring. Chris' crush on Clarisse was huge and everyone could see it.
"Just ask her out. The drooling is getting gross", stated Annabeth annoyed. "And come at me."
Chris was paired with Annabeth, while Percy was paired with Reyna as they sparred. Only that Chris kept getting distracted by Clarisse's arms and moves. Not that Percy was one to talk; he kept getting distracted by Nico rather frequently these days.
They sparred together for the next twenty or so minutes, seeing Silena Beauregard come in and bring sandwiches to Hylla and Clarisse. Percy watched, from the corner of his eye, how the three women talked, Clarisse not looking too happy and Silena looking pushy (Percy had known her long enough now to know what a pushy Silena looked like). Finally, Annabeth had enough mercy to let them take a break. With his last strength did Percy crawl up to Silena with a sad kitten look.
"Oh, sweetie, I brought you a tuna-sandwich, no need for begging", chuckled Silena fondly. "You too, move over here. I brought enough for everyone. Training is important, but you gotta take in enough nutrition to build the muscles you're working on. And stay hydrated."
With a pointed look did she shove a bottle into Percy's hand. Percy had no complaints, he just smiled pleased and took a large bite from his sandwich. He watched Silena grin and nudge Clarisse.
"So... Chris, what are you doing tonight?", asked Silena with a pleasant smile.
"Uh... not much? Maybe go on a run with Luke and the Stolls?", offered Chris slowly, confused.
"Wonderful. Cancel those plans. You, me, Charlie and Clarisse are going out then", stated Silena.
Chris raised both eyebrows and looked from Silena to Clarisse and back. Cackling softly, Percy leaned forward to steal Chris' sandwich while he was too distracted staring at Clarisse's blush.
"A date. Double-date. If you want", grunted Clarisse gruffly, not looking at Chris. "Hylla was supposed to come with us, it's a movie. That new Fast and Furious thing."
"Bu—ut I'm busy. So Silena suggested to ask you", continued Hylla with a smirk.
"Never pecked you for someone to watch Fast and Furious", noted Percy, looking at Silena.
"Oh, sweetie. Have you seen Dwayne Johnson?", asked Silena with a pointed look.
"...You know what, that is a very fair and very fine point", agreed Percy amused.
"Rodriguez, will you just say yes, before Clarisse's stare becomes even more intense?", asked Annabeth very annoyed, throwing a piece of bread at him. "I swear, you're worse than Piper."
"Piper? What juicy romantic gossip am I missing out here?", asked Silena and perked up.
"Piper has the biggest crush on Nyssa Barrera, the Vestan we got math and workshop with", offered Annabeth. "I swear the way she fans herself when she sees Nyssa's arms is ridiculous."
"Vestan. Workshop. Arms", echoed Percy and narrowed his eyes before smirking like a shark.
"What is that thing your face is doing there? It's kind of scary", asked Reyna slowly.
"Well, we're still missing at least one mechanic in our team. If Piper can seduce herself a mechanic to join our team, that would be very, very beneficial for everyone", smirked Percy.
"...Sometimes, your goofball exterior fools me into forgetting that you are... a natural leader", noted Annabeth. "You got great team-building instincts. You'll make a great captain one day."
Percy choked on Chris' cucumber sandwich at that. Him? A captain? No. He wasn't captain material. He just wanted to explore, he hoped he'd get a job on a ship and get to roam the universe, but there was no way he was going to get his own ship, be a leader or anything. That wasn't him.
"Man, Grover and Juniper have gone on their first date last week too. Is it like... mating season?", asked Percy to change the topic. "...Wait, that's not actually a thing, right?"
"Only in the sense that it's spring and the birds and flowers and sunshine are setting a certain, romantic mood", chuckled Silena amused, winking at Percy. "It's a romantic season and the first semester is nearly over, in the past four months, everyone actually got to know each other, formed bonds. Not just friendships but also romantic bonds."
Percy hummed, eyes drawn to the door as it opened and Jason and Nico walked in.
Author's note: As always in my mortal AUs, I prefer there to be no blame and no cheating. Poseidon and Amphitrite were on a break, Sally was aware of that and well... things didn't go as planned. It's basically Grease but if Sandy had gotten pregnant and they really never saw each other again after that one magical summer.
Nooow, next chapter, Percy is going to be confronted with the truth about his origins and it's not going to happen the way any of us (including me :D") would have expected! xD
