Chapter 1: Hexciting Invitation

Isabella stood up on one of the ladders in the Ever After High library, her eyes scanning the shelf full of books presented before her, searching for a book. And not just any book. A book that could perhaps hold a clue or something that could help the Rebels with their cause. Maybe even one that could possibly alter the course of their destined paths and help them achieve their own happily ever afters – what with Legacy Day being only a week away.

She climbed up higher upon having no luck finding any such book. But she wasn't going to give up. Not yet. She made a promise to herself that she would help herself and her fellow Rebels get to choose their own paths and not have to relive the ones put forth by their parents. After all, she didn't want to see Raven become a hated outcast and eventually locked away in mirror prison or Cerise have to hide her heritage and the fact that Crimson was actually her brother.

"Hey, Izzy!" Cupid's voice suddenly exclaimed from below her.

Startled, Isabella accidentally let go of the ladder. A scream of panic came from her, but managed to grab onto the ladder again before she could fall.

"You okay Isabella?" another voice came, this one low and soft at the same time.

"Y-Yeah. I-I'm fine," Isabella replied while looking down.

Sure enough, Cupid stood near the base of the ladder with a guy that stood around six foot and had skin as white as a ghost's. Stitch like marks were visible around his mouth and bright green eyes that seemed to have a certain glow to them shone from underneath the ghost-like hood he wore as he stared up at Isabella, concern written in them.

"You sure? I know fear when I see it." He asked.

Isabella gave a slight laugh as she carefully climbed down the ladder. It came as no shock that Nightmare would know the sure signs of fear. He was the son of Oogie Boogie after all.

"Just because I was scared doesn't mean that I'm not fine now - though that was a close one." Isabella smiled.

Nightmare nodded in agreement, smiling back. Cupid came up and hugged Isabella.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't know I was going to startle you." The myth apologized sincerely.

"It's alright, Cupid," Isabella told her as she released her. "So what is it? Need something?"

"Well I don't need anything. I just wanted to give you this." Cupid replied as she took an envelope out of the shoulder bag she had, holding it out to Isabella.

Isabella took it, noticing that both hers and Peter's names were elegantly written on it.

"I take it I'm not supposed to open it until I'm with Peter?" She asked a little shyly.

"No. You can open it now."

Isabella gave a nod and opened the envelope, slipping out a card that had some sort of symbol on the cover that had a skull with a pink bow on its head off to the side of it. Curious, she glanced up at Cupid, who urged her to look on, to which she did.

Inside the card were a few words that read "To Peter Pan Junior and Isabella Rosalina. You're invited to a party at Monster High. From Cleo de Nile and the Fearleading team."

"No way!" Isabella exclaimed excitedly despite wondering who this Cleo de Nile was and how they knew her and Peter's names.

"I take it you'll come?" Cupid asked.

"Hex yeah!" Isabella's smile fell then, suddenly remembering something important. "Wait. We're not allowed-"

"I got special permission from Headmaster Grimm and he said that everyone with an invitation is allowed to go to Monster High for the weekend."

"Hexcillent! I'm gonna go show Peter!" Isabella beamed.

Peter was at the pool with Finn, timing the sea witch since he was on the school swim team. He sat in midair, glancing between the stop watch he held and his roommate, recording the times on a sheet of paper Finn had handed him. He was just about to start the watch for another lap when he heard his name being called out.

Looking in the direction of the voice, he saw Isabella running up to him, hexcitement clearly written on her pale face. Thinking she had some news that she had found something in the library on how the Rebels could possibly achieve their own happily ever afters, he landed on the ground, setting the watch and clipboard he'd been holding off to the side on a table.

"Find something?" He asked when Isabella was close enough.

"W-well not exactly…" Isabella panted. "I'm going back to searching, but I wanted you to see this."

Upon being presented with an already open envelope, Peter took the card out and took a look for himself.

"What is it?" Finn asked from where he had come over to the edge of the pool, expressionless and monotone as usual.

"An … invitation to a party at Monster High…" Peter replied.

Isabella clapped her hands excitedly, earning a have-you-caught-Wonderland-madness look from Peter.

"What? I'm just so hexcited! We get to meet Cupid's old friends from her old school!" She explained as her cheeks turned a light shade of pink, seeming to calm down a little. "Oh, and Cupid said she got permission from Headmaster Grimm that decreed that anyone with an invitation was allowed to leave for the weekend, in case you were wondering."

Peter rolled his eyes, yet smiled.

"Well that's cool. It'll be a nice break from hearing about Legacy Day all the time…" He said, putting the invitation back in the envelope and handing it back to Isabella. "And you might want to hang on to this yourself. You know me. I'll either misplace or lose it eventually."

Isabella giggled and nodded, turning her attention to Finn. She went over to the poolside, holding out another, unopened envelope she'd been holding the whole time to him.

"Here's yours, Finn. Cupid asked me to give it to you when I came to show Peter ours." She smiled.

Peter watched as Finn rolled his murky green eyes as he pointed to the table in which the stop watch and clipboard had been set aside.

"Just set it down over there, Isabella," He instructed.

With a nod, Isabella set the envelope down on the table. She then turned, and after announcing she was going to go continue her search in the library, left at a brisk pace – Peter watching until she was out of sight.

Nightmare walked down the hallway, something that was a little unusual for him since he spent most of his time traveling through shadows. It wasn't that he was shy; he just didn't like it whenever someone saw him and ran away in fear on account of his appearance. It was kind of like everyone running away whenever Raven Queen entered the same room or hallway as them, only they just gave one look at him and they were gone. Didn't they ever hear the expression "don't judge a book by its cover"?

Yet, since he was going to the one room in the whole school he hated most, he figured he might as well let people cower in fear of him on account that Mr. Badwolf would probably applaud his "evil" action. After all, the room he was heading to was the one in which the General Villainy class was taught. His least favorite class given that he didn't want to be like his hated father. Not after all the abuse he'd suffered through as a kid.

Nightmare shook his head, as if trying to erase all the horrible images of what his father did to him. Those were the very things that prompted him to run away. That drove him from his father's manor and to Halloween Town, where he met the Pumpkin King and his wife, who kindly took him in upon seeing his distress and learning of all the things his father had put him through…

'Gah! I've got to quit thinking about that!' Nightmare mentally scolded himself.

"Thinking about what?" a voice asked from behind him, letting him know he had said that aloud.

Pausing and turning around, Nightmare was met with the girl he usually saw walking around the school or chasing after her pet monkey. A startled look came to her face, her brown eyes reflecting her fear. She took a step back, the monkey on her shoulder taking a couple strands of her long black hair in an effort to hide itself.

Nightmare expected the girl to take off running, but to his surprise, she stayed frozen where she was, staring at him.

"You alright, Adeline?" Nightmare asked though he knew why the next Aladdin was visibly too scared to move.

"H-How d-do you know m-y name?" Adeline stuttered, something quite unlike her. This only proved her to be scared of him just by his appearance.

Nightmare shrugged.

"I pretty much know the names of everyone in the school since I'm usually lurking in the shadows," He explained truthfully.

Adeline's skin seemed to start to lose its natural tan. Nightmare reached out to wave a hand in front of her face when she didn't move or say anything for a long minute, only to have his hand swatted away.

"I'm not going to hurt you." He told Adeline. "Not like I would have to, though. I could just make your worst fear poof right in front of you or make your most horrifying nightmare a reality – which I'm not."

"How-"

"Hey, Adeline! I see you met Nightmare," Madeline Hatter said in her usual cheerful tone as she came down the hall, accompanied by two guys who looked as though they were challenging one another. One had chin length wavy blond hair in which a top hat rested upon and carried a cane in one hand. Dressed in a business suit, he gave off the appearance of being older than he was. His fair skin stood in contrast to the russet color of the other guy walking next to him. The other fairy tale had the perfect shade of orange eyes and brown hair that turned ash gray near the tips. A confident, yet irritated smirk was on his face.

Nightmare smiled a bit at the scene. It seemed as though that Wally Wonka and Henry Earwicket were having another one of their typical fights over Maddie behind her back. He waved at Wally when he saw the son of the famous chocolate factory owner smile a hello toward him before he went back to silently bickering with the March Hare's son.

"You know this guy, Maddie?" Adeline asked the one Wally and Henry were fighting over.

"Mm-hm. He's really nice and not scary at all. In fact he's just a big cuddly teddy bear." Maddie smiled, patting Adeline's back.

"Got that right, Maddie," Wally added, winking at Nightmare.

Nightmare gave a soft chuckle as he felt a light blush appear on his cheeks. He was still getting used to receiving compliments over screams and the sound of people running away. Even quite a lot of the monsters back in Halloween Town were afraid of him despite the fact he preferred not to scare the hex out of anyone unless they deserved it.

"I see…" Adeline began to smile as her pet monkey peeked out from behind the strands of her hair it'd used to try to hide itself. "Sorry for freaking out, Nightmare."

"It's fine. I tend to get that a lot anyway."

Adeline gave Nightmare a sympathetic look. Nightmare only smiled and shrugged, silently telling her that he was used to those reactions. He then dismissed himself and continued on his way to the General Villainy classroom to hand Mr. Badwolf's sons something that Cupid was a little too scared to give personally.

Henry Earwicket belongs to Zak Saturday. Nightmare and Adeline belong to ... me! XD I'll post their bios on my profile soon.

So like I said, I'm writing both this crossover and Rebellious Hero at the same time. But they're both going to be put on hold for now so I can work on my Christmas story. ;) So please, be patient with me.