Hee hee. Enjoy the chapter! (and the CAMEOS :D)
The first thing they noticed when they landed in the copse of holiday-trees was the girl.
She was sitting in front of the Christmastown tree, crying. She had long brown hair with a ribbon in it, and was wearing a flowing white dress that matched her little wings. A halo hovered slightly over her head. Sitting next to her was a small picnic basket with a bottle of champagne and some cloth-wrapped pastries.
Sora stepped forwards. "Excuse me, miss? Are you okay?"
The girl gasped and looked up, frightened.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Sora, and these are Riku, Kairi, Axel and Saïx. Don't be afraid, we won't hurt you."
"Sora…you're from Halloweentown?"
Sora shook his head. "No, but I know Jack. Do you need help?"
She nodded. "I was supposed to meet him here, but…he hasn't come. He's never late…I'm frightened to go look for him- I've never been into town before…"
"Who, Jack?"
"No…not Jack. His name is Vincent. We've been meeting here for a while…"
Kairi smiled. "Oh, I see. Well, we'll go find him for you. What's your name?"
The girl smiled back. "Thank you. I'm Lucrecia."
It was only when they were halfway to the town square that the others besides Sora noticed their costumes.
Kairi gasped. "Oh! Sora, when did we get dressed up?"
Sora laughed. "The whole time. This world just does that." She smiled. "You make a cute witch, Kairi."
Kairi giggled. "Thanks."
She looked over at Riku. "And Riku makes for a very dashing zombie."
Riku frowned at her, touching the stitches on his cheek. "It's weird."
Sora grinned. "Aw, Riku, you look like Sally."
A yelp of shock from Axel made them all turn around.
The redhead was dressed as a devil- horn, tail, and all. "What the hell? I was never in costume here before!"
Sora shrugged. "Maybe it was the coat? I mean, you two did take them off…"
Axel thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, probably. Makes sense. What about you, Saïx? Did you get a costume?"
"No, shut up."
They looked around, and he was nowhere to be seen.
"Oh, come on. I won't laugh."
"You're Axel. Of course you'll laugh."
"Promise."
A dark blue-furred werewolf stepped embarrassedly out from behind a gravestone.
"Happy?"
Axel snorted, but quickly covered it up. "Yeah, it fits."
"Shut your face."
Kairi giggled. "Guys, shush. We still gotta help Lucrecia."
"Yes, mom."
After they finished laughing, they headed into town.
The square was mostly empty, save for a single figure sitting on the fountain. Sally.
Sora grinned and ran up. "Sally! How are you?"
"Oh, my! Sora! It's good to see you. What brings you here?"
Sora shrugged. "Just stopped by to see If there's anything weird going on."
Kairi piped up. "We met a girl in the woods named Lucrecia…she was looking for someone named Vincent. Do you know who he is?"
Sally looked over in surprise, then smiled. "Oh, is this Riku and Kairi? Sora's told us so much about you."
The two blushed, and Sora looked embarrassed. "Sally…"
Sally winked at Sora, then continued. "Yes, I know Vincent. He's one of Jack's assistants, he helps Jack with the Heartless and goes with him to the other holidays, to make sure they're all right," she laughed softly. "And to keep Jack out of trouble, of course.
"Vincent met Lucrecia when he was in Christmastown a few months ago. They fell in love immediately, and they've been meeting all the time in the woods."
Kairi smiled. "How sweet…"
Axel crossed his arms. "Okay, but where is he? The angel chick is seriously freaked."
Sally frowned. "I'm afraid I don't know. I haven't seen him for a few days now."
She gasped suddenly. "Oh! I just remembered. There is something rather strange going on, actually. Some people have noticed a strange man wandering around the graveyard recently…and he always appears just before some Heartless show up- peculiar Heartless; they even bother Jack. They aren't the good kind of scary, he says."
Saïx snorted. "Yes, I think that would be something we should know about."
Sally stood up. "He's also been seen speaking to a rival of Dr. Finklestein's…Dr. Hojo. He lives that way, in the old mansion on the hill." She pointed down a street. "It's straight up that way."
Sora nodded. "We'll go talk to him, then."
