Author's Note: Bonjour my friends. Here is the next installment. This would have been up hours ago but I got writer's block halfway through so it's a little choppy. Enjoy

Disclaimer: I own absolutely positively no characters and/or references to the PJO or BOO series. All of those lovely beauties belong to the amazing Uncle Rick Riordan. And I sadly do not make any profit from this work. *sobs dramatically*

It took Will exactly five days to get sick of the ship. Literally five days. However, in those days he had learned a lot about the crew. Piper was actually a rich noblewoman whose father, Lord McLean, refused to pay attention to her. She started a life of thievery in order to get his attention and was eventually sentenced to be hung. Percy had rescued her and she had joined him. Her and her father were now on good terms but Piper had fallen in love with piracy, though she was still to inherit his fortune and estates when he dies. The Stolls were a couple thief brothers whose mother had died and left them homeless. Percy had caught them attempting to steal from his old ship(Credit for the Argo II goes to one Leo Valdez). He was impressed with their skill and the boys now stole for a living and loved every second of it. Rachel had been chosen as the Oracle and then kidnapped by some pagan priests. They wanted to sacrifice her as an offering to Apollo (Will had shuddered at this point. He had met his dad and sacrificing his Oracle probably would have gotten them cursed.) at one of their temples. Apparently Percy had heard this and came to her rescue. Reyna had been captured by a band of rival pirates along with her sister from her island home. Where Reyna had come to love the pirate life, her sister Hylla went on to become queen of the Amazons. Hazel had joined the crew entirely by accident. Nico and Percy were docked in a small town where a slave market was being held. She had been caught not long after her mother was killed and Nico, sensing her Underworld heritage, had convinced Percy to buy her. It was not, according to Percy, the first time she had been sold to men and she was afraid that they would rape her. She joined after Percy was able to get the ruby out of his palm. Annabeth's relationship with her mortal father was rocky at best. Her step-mother was very much against demigods and was a Christian. Annabeth had run away where she met Percy and had not seen her mortal father since. Percy's only actual goal in being a pirate was to make sure that his mother lived like a queen. She had been with many cruel suitors to make sure that Percy was not discovered or harmed by monsters. As his father was Poseidon, a sea life was his best option and a pirate's life his easiest.

Will was still however in the dark about Nico. No one was willing to share his tale with Will. All he had gathered was that Nico had been the first to actually join this crew, sans Annabeth who had been with Percy since before he became a pirate. In the beginning there were only the three of them, and Nico would often summon skeletons to be their crew. It was in this way that Nico gained the title "Ghost King". The reason Nico wasn't often around was due to him running errands for his father. He came back to the ship in a whirl of shadows either right before dawn of just after dusk. It was on day six that Will actually spent some time with Nico that wasn't a quick goodnight kiss.

"Will!" shouted Nico running towards him. He grabbed Will's arm and pulled him to his feet from where he had been sitting by the mast."Come on! The Stolls are covering for me but if we get caught Percy'll kill me."

"W-what? Nico where are we going? Nico!" Will stuttered.

"Hold on tight!" Nico replied. And then they were gone. There was that cold, dark, and dangerous feeling of shadow travel and then they were standing beside a small building encased in shadows. Nico wasted no time in pulling him through the shops and bakeries. Will watched as a few young kids playing in the grass were given a shadow puppet show, though there was nothing to cast a shadow. Nico created beautiful animals that ran and played with the children until their mother called them. Nico took him through many of the shops, buying anything Will so much as glanced at in interest. Will complained that he didn't have anywhere to put so many clothes but Nico waved his complaints away. It seemed that the Ghost King was quite well known in these parts, as no one batted an eye when Nico summoned skeletons to carry their stuff, though many moved farther away. He pulled Will to a bakery and convinced him to try a small iced cake, which turned out to be made with different kinds of fruit juices and...was that cinnamon? He didn't have time to ponder because then Nico hurried him on to the next shop with a box full of cakes firmly under one arm.

Will stared at the shop Nico had pulled him into. It was small and quaint but inside was a vast array of beautiful jewelry, from rings to necklaces and earrings to bracelets.

"Uh Nico? Why are we here?" he asked.

"Just look around for a minute. I'll be back." Nico replied. So Will glanced around at the precious pieces, admiring the way they sparkled. Nico was back then, an arm around his waist and a smile present. He led Will to the back room. He let his arm drop from Will's waist and sat in a chair. A man came into the room. Will didn't see why Nico was so excited to pierce his cartilage, that was until he saw that the silver charm on the earring was a small sun and couldn't stop his own little smile. Nico got both ears pierced, three studs on either side and the sun-charmed ones before they left the shop. On their next stop, Nico brought him to a small shop where he asked for two people named Cecil and Lou-Ellen. From what Will gathered they only worked here once every month or so but Nico seemed to know they were here. When they came out Nico was very excited as he introduced them.

"Will this is Cecil son of Hermes and Lou-Ellen daughter of Hecate. Guys this is Will Solace son of Apollo and medic of the king's navy." he said. Cecil raised an eyebrow.

"So how's the pirate life treating you? I take it your ship's currently at the bottom of the sea and you're staying in the Argo II's Hold. Is our Nico here keeping his hands to himself?" he asked. Will's face went a very unhealthy shade of bright red and he looked down at his feet, embarrassed beyond words.

"Great now look what you've done." said Nico rolling his eyes. "He won't be able to look me in the eyes for a week." It was an opening that Will couldn't resist.

"Really? I'm pretty sure that I look you in the eyes every night even though you've totally been ignoring me Ghost King." he teased.

"Very funny Dr. Freckles." Nico said. "Anyway, I'm looking to get another tattoo. You two up for it?" Lou-Ellen and Cecil looked indignant.

"The giant dragon wasn't enough?" cried Lou-Ellen. Nico smirked and leaned over, whispering something in her ear. She looked confused at first but then her gaze softened.

"All right fine. Shirt off." she said. Nico complied without hesitation and Will gasped at the sight of his tattoo. It was no longer stationary but twisting and crawling over Nico's skin, tail whipping across Nico's chest as it turned towards Will. Without thinking, he reached out to touch it. The dragon seemed to purr as it twisted and curled under his fingers noiselessly, blinking up at him. All too soon however, Nico was sitting in a chair as Cecil began the tattoo on his forearm. Will was absolutely forbidden from seeing what it was until, an hour later, it had been completed. The tattoo was an intricate black sun with the entire middle completely empty except for a single name, his name. Will watched as it disappeared, seeming to sink into his skin. Nico had gotten a tattoo...of the sun...for him? Just then, in the middle of the sun, the words Are you crazy? appeared. Will blinked at them several times and Nico laughed.

"Well that was not the first thing I was expecting to see on it." he chuckled. Will gave him a quizzical look. "It's like...a message board. If you ever really need to tell me something, concentrate on the sun and it will appear. You-" Nico was cut off when Will practically tackled him, stealing his breath with a searing they were immediately shooed out of the shop, Nico without his shirt and Will still ogling Nico's they returned to the ship, safely wrapped in a soft blanket, warm arms, and the scent of Nico's cologne, Will realized that even though he had been stressing over it the past few days, his crewmates had still not given him an answer.

Author's Note: Any thoughts? Anyone? *holds up tin cup*