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 8: Blue Kitten Earning His Stripes

"Nico is... an alpha."

Nyssa blinked a couple times, one eyebrow raised but not looking away from where she was doing Piper's hair. An undercut. Recently, with how much she was running in particular, Piper had wanted shorter hair and for it to be out of the way more. Nyssa had offered, claiming she had been buzzing her siblings' hair for years. Mainly, Piper just had too huge a crush on Nyssa to say no to that, even if she would be doing this with elementary school scissors and her eyes closed.

"Yes, you know this", noted Piper dismissively. "Alphas share rooms. Jay and Nico are alphas and share a room. We've told you this like... months ago."

They were in Piper and Annabeth's bedroom, Percy and Piper had been busy discussing plans for the swim-team – Silena was going to be too busy with graduation next year as a third year so she was already prepping Piper and Percy to take over as captain and vice-captain. Sure, that was still nearly half a year away, but they guessed that getting more insight into it all was going to help them when they were actually going to take over. While the two of them talked and Nyssa cut Piper's hair, a small group had gathered on Annabeth's bed to play poker. Annabeth, Reyna, Nico and Jason. Percy had been drifting off repeatedly during the conversation, his eyes tracking the movement of Nico's hands and the way he smiled, how his wings twitched every now and again.

"Yes, I know that. In theory. But I mean...", started Percy softly. "I mean I can smell it."

"You what now?", asked Nyssa surprised, looking at him with both eyebrows raised.

"I mean, you smell... very much like... burned firewood, real dark scent, this close to you, I can totally tell that you're an alpha too, but... and no offense there, but Nico smells better."

Nyssa snorted as she put down the buzzer, carefully combing through Piper's hair to see if she had hit the right length everywhere before she sat down to prepare the dye. A bit azure blue for the tips.

"No offense taken", assured Nyssa lightly. "Some like some scents and not others. Besides, the scent of the one we li—ike always smells more... appealing than others."

Nyssa and Piper laughed loudly at just how red Percy's face turned, earning the attention of the other four in the room, the poker round looking at them curiously. Nico's eyes were fixed on Percy.

"We were just talking about how Percy seems close to presenting", offered Piper after a moment. "His sense of smell is picking up. He just said that Nyssa's scent is too burned firewood for him."

"Miss Rhode said you're an omega, right?", asked Jason curiously, sniffing. "Still can't smell you."

"Yep. Omega", nodded Percy. "And... I dunno. It's... slow, she said? Probably because I'm a half-blood. Born to a human mother, in my human skin. Neptunians are usually born under the sea, in their other skin. Shifting into the fur-less humanoid form is something evolutionary they developed after they started space-travel, where they didn't need their protective fur."

"Run the fur by me again", requested Nyssa with a frown. "Didn't take Neptunian 101, but like... why fur if you're water-bound...?"

"Think... Think otters and seals. The fur's for warmth because Neptunian oceans are cold. It's not... It's not cat-fur. We're not actually cat people. Cats are just the... creatures on Earth that we remind humans of, or so Miss Rhode says. Mostly because of the fur and patterns. But we're not cats. We're our own species", explained Percy slowly. "It's an entirely different planet with different rules and conditions. But here on Earth, everyone tries to apply Earth-logic to it, but you shouldn't."

"Mh. Fair enough", nodded Nyssa. "You've really been reading up on this stuff, huh?"

"I mean, it's going to become very important for me very soon. It's... about me."

/break\

It happened fairly unexpected for Nico. They were out at the lake together – Nico, Percy, Jason, Grover, Chris, Connor and through Connor some of the upperclassmen; his brother Travis, Luke and Charles. A boys' day out. Because Hylla and Clarisse had taken Reyna, Annabeth and Piper out for special training, while Silena had taken Juniper, Katie, Rachel and Calypso out shopping. If the girls did stuff without them, then the boys were going out to have fun of their own too.

"It is so good to see you without your boyfriend", grinned Percy teasingly. "He's a buzzkill."

"Only when there are more people involved than him and me", shrugged Luke with a smirk.

"I gotta admit though, he's handy", offered Travis as he shuffled the cards.

They were playing poker on a large blanket, Connor, Travis, Luke, Percy and Chris. It was laid out close to the lake so their conversation carried over even to Nico, Jason, Grover and Charles, who were in the water playing water-ball. It was nice to relax like this, just enjoying the sun and water.

"How is he handy?", called Jason out doubtfully. "He is terrifying and mean."

"He's our navigator", offered Charles amused. "He's pretty good at that."

Nico furrowed his brows, his eyes on Luke. He knew they had their own team, being second years. But he had never really thought much about who had what job on that team. The thing was the rule of thumb was around twelve people per team and everyone chose their own team. That was part of their challenge. Everyone knew roughly what was essential for the team – captain, two pilots, mechanic, medic, someone in charge of food, at least two well-trained fighters. That still left an array of positions to fill. The final exam of the second years was an off-planet team-mission. Nothing dangerous or far away, just a quest to the moon, a bit like Capture the Flag, with all teams being sent out and racing each other to prove how well they worked together and on a mission. The third year then would focus on individuals again, because in the end they weren't being trained to work in these specific self-chosen teams one day, it was simply an exercise for them to learn to play in teams in general and understand how vital team-work was for their line of duty. But in the third year, they had to choose their own path and focus on that, on where the academy was supposed to lead them individually after graduation. What position, what specialization.

"You guys have been working on forming a team already, right?", Luke curiously. "Captain Jackson who doesn't accept the title, gathering his own little crew, mh?"

"We're a pretty solid line-up as it stands right now", confirmed Grover proudly.

"Well, aside from the captain who thinks he's just going to be a soldier", offered Chris and rolled his eyes. "I mean, admittedly I also think he should be a pilot because he has a keen sense for it, but mainly he's been in charge, whether he wants it or not. He recruited me."

"And most of us others", tagged Jason on with a grin. "But yeah. I don't know what it is, but he doesn't... see his own potential, I guess? He thinks he's a cog in the machine."

"He'll come around", assured Nico with a smile.

"...But like... you guys are aware that I am right here, yeah?", asked Percy slowly.

He raised his eyebrows and motioned at himself pointedly, while the others laughed. Though Nico's laughter slowly died down as his focus was fixed on what Percy was pointing at. All of Percy. Shirtless, only in his swim-shorts, still a bit of water running down his toned torso from the swim he had taken prior to the game, hair wet but sticking up into all directions because he ran his fingers through it. He was tanned, had been spending a lot of time outside during spring and this early summer, not just with his friends but also to train – to swim. Which also reflected in his abs. So pretty. So strong. A well-fitted mate for the future king of Pluto, surely.

"Woah, Nico. Personal space", grunted Percy startled.

Furrowing his brows, Nico looked around. When had he left the water and gone to the blanket? He sat right next to Percy, very close, sniffing the half-Neptunian's neck pleased. Percy smelt good. Salty, but with a strong hint of strawberries. Yummy.

"Oh. Nico. Nico, I think it's time for you to... leave. Go back, to the infirmary."

Nico glared and snarled as Beckendorf tried to grab him. The other alpha looked very unimpressed by it and took Nico by the biceps, hauling him upright. Luke and Travis all the while had pulled Percy back behind themselves, putting more distance between Nico and them. Again, Nico snarled, his focus on Percy who was being taken away from him, and on the feeling of being held back.

"Dude, you're... presenting", stated Chris slowly, staring curiously at him. "Time to end the party."

/break\

Nico's scent was overwhelming. Percy had thought it was a nice, strong scent before, but ever since Nico had officially presented the other week, he was all over. It should have figured, because Percy had met other presented alphas and omegas before too, they smelt stronger than the unpresented, whose scents were dulled down. However, Percy he had reacted strongly to Nico's scent even before, had been able to pick it out quicker than others – well, he could pick all his friends' scents out by now, thanks to his sharper senses, however Nico. The Earth wet after rain, darkness if darkness had a scent, and a hint of pomegranate. Percy had been eating a lot of pomegranates. He had... generally been eating a lot – the increase in his appetite that had kicked in when he had started this school had been steadily building. Miss Rhode assured him it'd even out again after presenting, but the change in body was currently taking far more energy from him than he usually needed; his sharpening senses, shifts in his anatomy – he was going to grow additional bones and the fur and all of that. So Percy had to eat a lot, once his body settled, his eating habits would too.

"His wings are bigger", commented Percy, eyes on Nico.

"Well, yes. Presenting is always a... change in body", noted Bianca amused. "For us, it strengthens our wings, sharpens our fangs and sight. It's... the process of evolving from a fledgling to a fully formed predator. It's going to be that for you too. Now concentrate."

Percy startled a little, looking sheepish. They were out, hunting together. Bianca, Nico, Percy, Calypso, Thalia, Phoebe and Zoe. Percy had been surprised when he was asked to join them. Zoe was the captain of the archery team and Phoebe, Zoe, Thalia, Bianca and Calypso were all members of it. Nico, he had been pushed by Bianca to accompany them tonight because he had finally presented. Percy though – well, apparently he was apex predator enough for them to want him to come along. However, Neptunians were aquatic apex predators. Miss Rhode had suggested for him to go along with the land-hunters to learn; being adaptable was what their species exceeded in.

And Percy had to admit, he liked this. His eye-sight was getting better, he could even see in the dark – which figured, since they were deep-sea in nature and it was naturally dark down there. His sense of smell was sharper, he could vaguely pick up where their prey was headed.

Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply and trusted his senses. He leaped, snarling before tackling his prey, pinning him until he stopped moving. The snarling turned into pleased purring at that.

"P... Percy... I am not food, I'm friend", offered Nico beneath him slowly.

"Eh. You caught him, you get to eat him", offered Zoe dismissively.

His senses had never been sharper. He could see so clearly, smell so clearly. Not just Nico's overwhelming scent, so delicious and soothing and it made Percy hungry in more senses than one. The wet ground beneath them, telling him it had rained the night before, the fresh, cold night-air, the deer that had run off ahead of them, Phoebe and Thalia who had gone ahead to follow the deer. He could hear an owl far off, could hear Phoebe and Thalia bickering.

And then pain, at his tailbone. Where his tailbone was extending. He screamed at it, fingers clawed into Nico's biceps as he bent forward, trying to curl together at the pain. Like thin needle-pricks all over did the fur start to grow. Miss Rhode had warned him, it'd hurt the first time around.

"Percy. Percy, it's alright. You're okay", whispered Nico soothingly, trying to wrap his arms around him and hold him close. "Slow. Breath slower and deeper, okay."

"I'm going to go back and get a teacher", stated Bianca and spread her wings.

/break\

Laying on the ground in the forest for over an hour with Percy had not been the most pleasant experience of Nico's life, admittedly. It took Percy to fully turn and he kept clinging onto Nico during it. Chiron and Miss Rhode had then arrived and helped them back. It was only the next day that Nico got to get a proper look at Percy though, because he had been mostly... raw, red skin, dark fur where the color couldn't really be pin-pointed in patches every now and again.

The next morning however, Nico (and Jason) were woken up by intense hammering against their door and when Nico opened it, he got to see Percy, fully turned. The half-Neptunian had the hugest grin on his face as he stood there, arms spread. His skin was covered in a short layer of thick, azure-blue fur with dark tiger-stripe markings on it, on his head two large triangular ears, black like Percy's hair but with the same dark-blue stripes. His bright smile showed off his fangs – all his teeth decidedly longer and sharper than before. The nails on his fingers also sharper, pointy and bent inward. Claws. Behind him, a thick, strong tail was whipping back and fourth, the fur on it longer than on the rest of his body. He looked... like a blue kitten. Nico knew, better than the Terrans, that Percy was not in fact a kitten, that his form had nothing to do with a cat, that even the tail had a vastly different function – it was an extension of his spine that, in the water, would steady his legs for all three to work together for maximum speed. Still, it added to the cat-like aura.

"Holy shit, you look awesome, dude", gasped Jason stunned. "Also... you're blue."

"I'm blue", agreed Percy excitedly. "It started out in a weird color but the more it grew and settled, it started showing a proper color. And look."

The large triangular ears flopped down to lean against his head. More practical for swimming than if they stuck up on his head like that. Nico knew they had developed ears with large, adjustable ear-shells as they had started building cities in air-pockets and had to rely more on sounds.

"Wait, how are you out here? Shouldn't you, you know, writhe out a... heat", asked Jason.

Percy gave him a pointed look and then shrugged. "Eh, yeah. Last night was tough. But I feel way better right now. Miss Rhode says that for us, heat is... mostly just... horniness, unless we have a mate. So, yeah I'm fine. I mean, every single muscle in my body is burning like a bitch, but... yeah. Figured I'd do the rounds, show off to everyone. Look at how cool I look."

"I'm happy for you, man", grinned Jason amused.

"Thanks!" Percy nodded with a smile and then turned toward Nico expectantly. "What? Did I blow your mind so much you can't even formulate a sentence?"

"Uhu", nodded Nico, before shaking his head. "I mean, I just... You look great, Percy."

"That was so bad", whispered Jason in awe. "You are so bad at this."

Nico glared and elbowed his roommate, while Percy skipped off, laughing.

/break\

"You're so beautiful, Percy", whispered Sally in awe, cupping her son's cheek.

Percy had been running around in his Neptunian form all day long, hanging out with his friends. Tonight, he was spending dinner with his mom and dad though. Paul kept gaping at him, having missed his own mouth with he food a couple of times. Percy didn't hold it against him; he had spent at least an hour just staring into his mirror when he had woken up today.

"It's really weird though", offered Percy. "I mean, the tail. Been tripping over it, or startled by it touching my leg. For the first time in my life, I understand cats and why they chase their own tails, it's weird to accept that thing as a part of yourself. And the fur. Grover accidentally rubbed it the wrong way and I legit hissed at him. There's also more sounds I can make now."

He demonstrated and his parents looked at him like Nani had when Lilo showed her how Stitch could channel the music-player. There were cooing, hissing, snarling and howling sounds that human vocal cords could not produce like that. Another change his body had made though.

"You would have been so adorable if you had been born this way", muttered Sally softly, mournfully. "Those big ears and the fur coupled with your natural chubby-cheeked baby cuteness?"

"That would have at least made things easier on the figuring out where I come from front", chuckled Percy amused and dug in. "Food, also tastes different. I know I've been eating a lot of weird stuff because I liked it, but now it's like... better even. Like if you only had meh pizza before and now you have a real good pizza? Only that it's not the food but my taste-buds."

"It's nice to see you so excited", offered Paul with a small smile. "I'm glad this isn't freaking you out too much and that you're... seeing it as an adventure to explore."

"It is! I'm gonna go meet Miss Rhode after dinner", grinned Percy pleased. "She's been such a great help with everything. And she's really... nice too. A good mentor, not just teacher."

/break\

Rhode stared startled at Percy Jackson as her student twirled around in her office. She had told him to seek her out after hours, if he was already feeling up to it today. Apparently, he was. Last night, she had gone out with Principal Chiron to gather the children when Percy had presented in the middle of a hunt. A hunt that had been Rhode's idea. The water would have been a more ideal and soothing environment to present in for Percy, but if he had at least been in the school though...

"You are the last person who should look this surprised, Miss Rhode", laughed Percy amused. "Dad's been gaping at me all dinner, Silena could not keep her hands to herself, she really wanted to pet my fur. Which... I get it, been running my fingers over my arms too."

"I'm sorry", chuckled Rhode and adjusted her glasses. "Take a seat. Have some tea."

She smiled as she poured them both cups and sat down on the couch with Percy. "I'm just... surprised by your... looks. You're a blue tiger."

"I noticed. Love it. Had hoped I wouldn't turn out yellow – uh, no offense to you, it's just not really my color, I guess. But this? This looks so cool, I totally love it."

"No, Percy...", started Rhode once more, holding her cup in her hands. "It... It's just that it tells us about your biological father's origins. Tigers come from the region where now our capital stands – like me and my family too. We share a pattern because we share a region of origin."

"Cool. I mean, capital, I assume, means a large and tightly populated area so... not as helpful as some super rare pattern huh", sighed Percy softly.

Rhode nodded thoughtfully. He was right, of course. But even that, it wasn't... She turned away from him to look at the photo on her wall, a picture of her and her family. Queen Amphitrite was radiantly pink, orange-red leopard dotted fur. Proteus, the oldest, was orange with red stripes, Kym was all red but the red of her stripes a darker color. Rhode was yellow with orange stripes. Their colors had come from their mother, but Benthesikyme and Triton took after their father – Triton was turquoise and Benthesikyme was purple, but both their stripes were dark blue. Dark blue like their father's stripes. Their father, whose fur was blue, a vibrant, beautiful azure blue. Royal blue.

Rhode slowly turned back to look at Percy, look at his beautiful azure blue fur and those dark blue stripes, the color and pattern startlingly similar to Triton's – to Poseidon's.

For a moment, she considered telling Percy that, telling him that dark blue stripes were considered royal stripes, but then she didn't know what it meant yet so what was the point. Poseidon's family was large, had been large for centuries, she knew there were many branches that had settled into regular civilians over the centuries and generations. Still, now Rhode had a very good clue.


Author's note: Ah, eight chapters in and at least they finally presented. Damn, this story is going slower than I had anticipated. Then again, what else is new with Nicercy multichapter fics, huh? *chuckles*

Next chapter, Rhode's gonna teach Percy some stuff about his new body and cultural heritage!