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 humans 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 two and their close friends, decide to ditch school, steal a space-ship and go out into space alone to help Pluto.

The Prince of Pluto

A Journey to the Stars

Chapter 1: The Men on the Moon

"Tell me the story, mom. Please, please, please."

"It's already late, you have to go to bed, my little prince. And you know the story by heart."

"Mo—om. Please? It's my favorite. And then I'll go to sleep, promise?"

Percy Jackson was an adorable child, with his messy dark hair and the largest possible sea-green eyes that could really work the sad kicked kitten look. His mom was weak to those eyes. Sighing softly, she sat down on the edge of the bed and brushed his hair out of his face.

"It was the 20th of July in the year 1969", started Sally in her best story-teller voice, smiling down at her son. "The day that would change the history of our world forever."

She giggled a little as Percy eagerly mouthed 'forever' along with her. He scooted closer to her and stared eagerly up at her. Sally got more comfortable on his space-ship shaped bed and looked around. Luminescent stars were glued to the ceiling, mapping out the constellation Leo and beyond, toy space-ships and stuffed astronauts, a giant poster of Percy's favorite Disney movie, The Men on the Moon, the very reason why Percy was this obsessed with space, hanging right behind the headboard. The moon-landing. Sally wrapped an arm around Percy and pulled him closer.

"Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, the very first human to do so, and do you know what he said?", asked Sally, grinning against Percy's hair as she rested her chin on his head.

"It's 'one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind'!", exclaimed Percy excitedly.

"And oh, Neil had no idea just how far the leap really was", whispered Sally in a dramatic voice. "For the moment he tried to put the American flag into the moon's soil, the flag got shot right out of his hand by an arrow! Oh, the uproar of everyone watching on TV!"

Percy was practically vibrating in excitement because this was his favorite part. "Turns out that Queen Artemis of Selene doesn't like colonizers much. And that was how we made first contact. They became friends and the queen agreed to help Earth reach out to other planets."

History, of course, was a little more complex than the Disney-version Percy watched approximately once a week, wearing out the VHS tape. But it was easier to portray Neil and Buzz immediately befriending Queen Artemis and gaining the help of the Lunarians. It had been a years long process of peace negotiations. Earth was closely monitored by Selene, as the Lunarians called their home because why should Earth's moon not have a name like any other moon. In the end, Queen Artemis had been the one to help Earth join the solar system alliance and introduced them to the leaders of the other planets. From thereon out, Earth expanded its space-travel program.

"We made lots and lots of friends all over the solar system, many humans moving to other planets and people from other planets moving to Earth to live among humans", continued Sally softly. "They helped us build an amazing space-travel program. And at the forefront of it stands-"

"Chiron Academy!", exclaimed Percy, jumping up and down a little, pointing at another poster.

It was a poster of Chiron Academy, the founder Chiron Brunner standing tall and proud in front of the building. At the bottom was the I Want You To Travel Space slogan written. Sally laughed and pulled Percy back down to lay on the bed, tickling his stomach a little.

"Exactly! Chiron Academy, the greatest school for future space-explorers. Both Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong taught young space-explorers for many, many years at that school."

"I wanna go to Chiron Academy, mommy", whispered Percy, yawning and snuggling closer to his mother. "I'm gonna become the greatest space-explorer ever and then we'll get out of here and move to... move to Neptune. Neptune is the prettiest. Just you and me, mom..."

"That sounds wonderful", smiled Sally strained, kissing his cheek. "Now sleep, my little prince."

/break\

Percy had grown up watching The Men on the Moon basically on a loop, it was his favorite Disney movie. It had been the first time he had seen the moon and Lunarians, but for him as a kid, it had meant more than just the amazing Disney renaissance animation and how cool Neil and Buzz had looked in their Disney-fied versions, it had been an... escape. An opportunity. The moon. The moon was out there and so far away, it was a whole new world. Growing up with his abusive stepfather, Percy had always dreamed to one day escape. To become a space-explorer, earning enough money to move himself and his mom to the moon, or to literally any other planet in the solar system, as long as it was far, far away from Gabe, where him and his mom could be happy and safe.

He didn't have to go to the moon to be happy and safe though, because when he was twelve Paul Blofis came into his life. He was a teacher at Chiron Academy and had come to Percy's school, promoting the academy. Out of everyone in his class, Percy was the most enthusiastic, having wanted this since he was four years old. Paul had been amused and impressed by Percy's not just enthusiasm but also knowledge – knowing where he wanted to work one day had led to him reading up on everything about space-travel and expansion. So Paul wanted to meet up with his parents and... Paul found out about Gabe. Paul helped Sally and Percy out there and even after that, he stayed in contact, tried to help them and over the months, Paul and Sally fell in love.

"Stop looking so nervous, kiddo. This is what you've been directly working toward for the past four years. You're ready for this", stated Paul with a smile, resting a hand on Percy's shoulder.

They were standing in front of Chiron Academy together, Percy, Paul and Sally. Because Paul was his stepfather now. Love had led to more and finally, Sally and Percy were happy. Percy Jackson, at age sixteen, had absolutely everything he could have ever hoped for. Him and his mom were safe, Gabe was no longer in their lives, both had gone to therapy for years after to deal with the trauma, Sally was now married to a good, kind man who was the father Percy had always missed in his life. He had worked his ass off at school to have good enough grades to be able to apply for Chiron Academy – and here he was, standing at the gates to the academy.

"One small step for a man...", muttered Percy as he set a foot on the first step.

"One giant leap for mankind", finished Sally with a smile, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"I feel like that's a stretch, mom", chuckled Percy, looking at her.

"Oh, it's not. You're going to be the best", stated Sally with full conviction. "You will... You will discover new planets, form new alliances, you will impress them so much. You'll change history."

Percy smiled to himself and leaned against his mom for a moment. Sally and Paul had come to help him move his stuff here. Chiron Academy was a boarding school, a four-year program covering the most important high school classes as well as the curriculum required for space-explorers. Which, obviously meant it was going to be a lot of hard work and studying, as well as physical training. But Percy was willing and prepared for it. He was nervous about leaving his mom, but now at least he knew that his mom was safe and taken care of. The one and only thing that Percy had been worried about during his years of dreaming of this had been that he'd have to leave his mom alone with Gabe. Now there was no more Gabe, only kind and caring Paul.

"I am very much looking forward to having you in my class, Perce", declared Paul proudly.

This was still weird to him, even after three years of Paul and Sally dating. He had a father-figure looking out for him, loving him and hearing him. All his life, the only one he had known was Gabe and he resented his abuser. His biological father had never been in the picture. His mother never talked about the man, she just got so very sad that he stopped asking questions.

"I just really hope my roommate will be awesome", grunted Percy. "...That's gonna be so weird. Sharing a room with someone else."

"You'll be fine. And if they treat you badly, you tell me", stated Paul.

"And it's not like I'm out of the world", assured Sally gently. "Paul works here, he drives to work every day. It's not far. So you can visit as often as you want or need, I can see you all the time."

"You're right. You're totally right, mom", laughed Percy, kissing her cheek.

"That's cute, having your parents bring you to your first day of high school."

Percy blushed and turned toward the voice. There stood a really handsome guy with distinctively Plutonian features. His eyes were black, the eyeballs actually pitch-black but the irises a startlingly beautiful silver. He had sharp cheekbones and a cheeky grin, dark curls and olive-skin. And, most prominently, there were those large, black wings on his back, feathered and beautiful.

"Oh, don't be childish, you complained all the way to school that mamma doesn't have time to drop you off and that I had to pick you up and bring you here, fratellino."

The cheekily grinning Plutonian now blushed and glared at the girl next to him. Also a Plutonian, and the same eyes, even the same black curls just hers way longer than his, reaching down to her waist. She was grinning teasingly at the boy next to her, nudging him.

"C'mon, Bia!", hissed the boy. "No need to embarrass me on my first day!"

"Hello, I'm Bianca di Angelo, second year. This is my younger brother Nico, he is also a first year just like you. How about I show you the dorms too?", offered the girl, looking at Percy with a smile.

"I think we got that covered, Bianca", replied Paul with a smile.

"Oh! Mister Blofis. I didn't see you there. Hello", greeted Bianca with a very happy smile. "This nerd right here is absolutely going to be your new favorite student."

"Well, I think your brother has strong competition with my son", noted Paul amused.

Percy ducked his head, grinning a little bit. He kind of loved that Paul accepted him so wholeheartedly as his son, it had never been stepson. Bianca looked a bit surprised at that.

"Oh. I didn't know your son would be attending this year", exclaimed Bianca excitedly before zooming in on Percy. "Hello, Percy, it is so good to meet you, I'm glad you got in."

"...Why does this stranger know my name?", whispered Percy confused.

"Because Mister Blofis talks about you all the time", stated Bianca with a grin. "It's always 'Percy this' and 'Percy that'. Like, 'Percy already knew this when I was preparing the things for today's class'. It's super cute? We've seen Mrs. Blofis around a lot, which always makes everyone whisper, because like, your parents are super cute together, so it's nice to put a face to the son's name."

Percy side-eyed Paul a little at that. It was one thing to hear Paul proudly call him son when Percy was around, but to hear that Paul was proudly talking about him with his classes...? He smiled a little bit and tilted his head before he turned to look back at the di Angelo siblings.

"Hi, I'm Percy. Because I like to introduce myself", grinned Percy and offered his hand to Nico. "I guess you and I are going to be classmates, huh? So... Nice to meet you."

"Oh. Yeah. Yes. I'm Nico, hello", nodded Nico, happily shaking the offered hand.

"Not to interrupt, but these boxes don't get lighter", noted Paul.

"Oh, right, sorry for keeping you. Can I take that from you?", suggested Nico.

"Ah. Already sucking up to the teacher. Bianca, you're right, I like this one", nodded Paul.

Nico took one of the two boxes from Paul and together, the five of them headed inside and toward the dorm-rooms. Percy and Nico both kept looking around in awe. The building was old, but not like run-down old – fancy old. Like castles and mansions from the past. It was beautiful, with so many decorations and everything. Paul and Bianca led them out of the main building, through a beautiful park and toward the actual dorm-room building.

"You nervous about your first day?", asked Nico softly. "Not that I'm nervous."

"You packed, unpacked and packed again five times last night", called Bianca out.

"Oh, will you please stop", groaned Nico frustrated.

"Mom, dad, thanks for keeping me an only child", chimed Percy out amused.

"You're welcome, sweetheart", chuckled Sally.

"Yes. I was super nervous", answered Percy after another moment, looking at Nico. "This... This is everything I ever wanted. I didn't sleep at all after I sent in my application until I got the acceptance letter. So, it's not... bad nervousness, it's 'it's finally happening' nervousness."

"That's amazing", nodded Nico with his eyebrows raised.

"What about you?", asked Percy curiously. "I mean, has it been your dream too?"

Nico looked reluctant for a moment as though it was too personal and something about the way he answered told Percy that there was more to it after all. "I've never been to Pluto myself. I'm half-Plutonian, I guess... you figured that out. The wings always give it away. And... there aren't many Plutonians on Earth. I'm... so used to people, mostly humans, staring at me disturbed because my kind isn't that represented around here. And I... I want to go to Pluto, I want to be among... other people who look like me. Or just... travel the stars and be among a variety of people who are different. Here, on Earth, we will always be... aliens. Out there? Everybody is an alien."

Percy nodded slowly, unsure what to say. It figured. Humans were still being racist toward other humans just for having different skin-color, but aliens, especially those with prominent physical features, faced a lot of xenophobia. Some countries were worse than others, some races faced worse than others. Percy couldn't imagine. He was a white human guy, aside from not being straight, he checked all the safe boxes. He wondered, often, what it'd be like to be alien, especially when he had been preparing for the entrance exam for Chiron Academy, because he knew he was at a physical disadvantage compared to many other applicants – Plutonians literally could fly, Martians could lift fifty times their weight, Mercurians ran faster than a cheetah. Percy also knew a lot of the xenophobia was more about that physical advantage than the appearance; jealousy and envy, trying to find an angle to put others down and feel better about themselves.

"Dork, stop walking. This is your dorm-room", stated Bianca.

"Oh. Uhm, no, wait, I could... carry this box to your room for you", offered Nico, looking at Percy.

"You just want to know what room the cute guy is staying in", muttered Bianca amused.

"...I regret ever asking you to pick me up and bring me here", hissed Nico.

Percy grinned to himself as they continued on to his room, though he had to admit that he did check what room-number Nico was in. Just to... know. It was kind of nice that he had gotten to talk to someone already and seemingly was getting along with him. The most nerve-wrecking thing about a new school was always the making friends part. But the di Angelo siblings were cool.

"Ah, here we are", declared Percy as he spotted his own room. "Not too far from yours."

He knocked, just to be sure – and got an answer. "Come on in! You must be my new roommate!"

A brunette guy opened the door, crooked grin on his face and beanie on his head. "Yes. I'm Percy."

"Good to meet you, Percy. I'm Grover. Grover Underwood. Also a first year."

Percy followed Grover inside and looked around curiously. The room was spacious, two beds, pushed against opposite sides of the room, with a window between them. Two desks, a couch, some shelves. It was nice. It'd do. Paul, Sally and Nico put his boxes down on the unused bed and the first thing Percy did was to carefully take the rolled up poster out of one box and grab the pins he had packed also into that box, then jumping onto his bed and pinning it right above the headboard.

"The Men on the Moon?", asked Nico as he got a proper look. "Ah, that was one of my favorite movies growing up too. I thought Queen Artemis was so cool."

"Really? I always liked Buzz the most", grunted Grover. "Uh, hi there, not roommate."

"Nico. Also a first year. But I should also head to my room. It was nice meeting you."

Percy bit his lower lip as he watched Nico go before falling back down onto his bed. Sally had sat down at the foot-end of it, curiously looking around the room. The poster was very important. It had been his motivator. He had stared at it for hours as a child, imagining the future that could be, it had been his escape when Gabe had still lived with them. Now, it was a reminder of just how far he had come – and how far he was still going to go. He grinned. Yes, with the poster, this place already started to feel a little bit like home. He was ready for this.

Author's note: Firstly, THIS IS MY 500TH PJO FIC! HOT DAMN! :O

Secondly, I wanted to so something special for my 500th, so a new multi-chapter fic it was. To take the place of Summers High in my schedule and, hopefully, in yours. I admit it's going to hit many similar beats - because well I like those - like Percy's hidden parentage, a high school AU, slow-burn and ABOverse (and this time we're actually going to call it what it is).

The ABO part hasn't come up yet because, as of right now, Percy is still fully human so he doesn't notice the different scents yet and we've only had Percy's POV so far. Like I said, slow-burn so patience. ;)

This is a concept that I love a lot and that, in different form, I already did as a oneshot before - but it just... it's right there! Godly parentage as planet of origin in a scifi AU it is so perfect for the PJO universe, I wanted to work with it on a greater scale for a while! There is a referrence post with illustrations for the visual of different alien races on my tumblr (come visit me at takaraphoenix because I can't link anything on FFNet...), if you're curious.