Trouble is brewing...

Rosaxi led me to Jack's house with a smile on her face. I smiled back. Jack greeted us with a big hug, then led us to a table.

"May I have a gigantic bowl of snake and spider stew?" I asked politely. Jack's jaw nearly fell on the floor. No one would dare finish a big stew all by themselves. Rosaxi poked at the Worm's Wart with her fork. I gobbled up my stew in delight.

"Can we trade?" She asked. I sighed and we traded dishes. After breakfast, Rosaxi asked Jack if she and I would go for a walk. Jack nodded and we two friends ran out. Sally patted Jack's shoulder.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Sally worried in thought.

~

Three certain children with costumes were in their playroom, cackling to themselves. Shock, the girl that was dressed like a witch, lifted up to a telephone and dialed a number.

"Lock, Shock, and Barrel! There should be one good reason why you three woke me up!!!" A raspy and jazzy voice shook the room.

"It's Akane, Mr.Oogie Boogie!" Shock answered.

"She's with a nobody named Rosaxi." Lock and Barrel said at once. There was a moment of silence.

"Heh, very interesting. Whoever this Rosaxi girl is, I hope she has luck. She'll need it soon enough." Oogie cackled.

"We'll get Rosaxi for you!" Shock hung up, then led her brothers to what seemed like a walking bathtub.

~

I strolled down the sidewalks with a jazzy beat. Rosaxi just looked at me. We then stopped at the Graveyards.

"Since we have the day off, I'll show you how to play poker." I said, grabbing dice and cards from my pockets. Rosaxi nodded, then I started my lesson. I showed her my lucky dice and Black Jack. We were having a good time, until my cohorts showed up.

"Akane!" Lock jumped on me. Shock was blushing as usual and Barrel was behind Shock.

"Rosaxi, please ignore these guys. They are troublesome. At least what are YOU doing here?" I pointed to the trio.

"He sent us to here..." Lock said.

"...Specifically..." Shock continued.

"...by name." Barrel licked a lollipop.

"Lock!"

"Shock!"

"Barrel!"

"Oh brother!" I rolled my eyes.

Rosaxi please continue...

~Akane

A Friend...?

"Thanks, I'm looking forward to it!" I called to Akane's retreating back, and I sighed. Maybe Halloweentown was perfect for me...

"Rosaxi, come on!" Jack yelled for me, and I heard a loud bang.

"Coming!" I spun around, wielding my Keyblade, and slammed a Nobody over the head. When we had finished fighting the remaining Heartless and Nobodies, Jack turned to me.

"Well, Rosaxi, if you're going to be my... apprentice, is a great way to put it, I may as well teach you what I know." My eyes lit up at the words, and I smiled. "So I take it you like the idea?"

"Of course, Jack!" I shouted happily, bouncing up and down on the balls of my feet. "Ooh, dear, dear deliverance!" I clapped my hands together, but then Jack laid a hand on my shoulder.

"Calm yourself." he said quietly. "Now, first lesson: using the ghosts to your best advantage." I knew I was in for a long night, but hey, it was worth it.

***

Later the next morning, I found myself laying on the top of a stone wall, a smashed pumpkin under my head.

"Good, glad to see you're up." I heard a voice say, and I spun around to see Jack's face. I scowled at him.

"You're not trying to tell me I was practicing all night?" I said warily, and Jack smiled.

"Well, at least you got the hang of it!" he laughed, shrugging. "Look, if you need a few moments to wake up, I'll go get some breakfast ready. Snake and spider stew good with you? Worm's wart?" When he saw the confused look I shot up at him, he shook his head. "Worm's wart it is. Don't rush, now. I'll call you when it's ready."

I could tell he wasn't used to a teenaged girl in his presence, let alone in his town.

"Hey, Rosaxi!" I heard a familiar voice call out.

"Akane!" I jumped off the wall and walked over to the ginger-haired girl. "I'm sorry our conversation was interrupted last night, I'm new to this town. Jack needed my help." She nodded her head in understanding, and I sighed with relief.

"Well, as long as he's treating you all right..." Akane replied, and I smiled.

"Of course he is!" I said happily, "He's making breakfast right now. Care to join us?" I was too polite for my own good, and it didn't quite surprise me when Akane accepted my invitation. "Cool, follow me!" I led her to the tower that Jack had showed me on my tour of Halloweentown, a smile plastered on my face.

Finding A New Friend

"Daddy, what happened this time!?" I thought in my head as I was swinging on the chains near the ceiling.

"My apprentice quit on me!" Hades answered inside my head.

"Everyone quits on you, pops!" I laughed.

"Don't push it, Xenus! You left me for a sack of bugs for crying out loud, so don't push my limits."

"Dad, my name is not Xenus anymore, it's Akane! Complain to some other nobody!!!" I thought before Hades could say anything and I hung up on him. Being raised by villians ain't so bad. My dad Hades taught me the element of lava and he gave me a Red Keyblade. Back then, I was the daughter of the UnderWorld. But when I was 4, I got lost and went to Halloween Town by mistake. That's when I met my new teacher, Oogie Boogie. He was better than pops anyway.

I sighed, whistling for some bats. The bats grabbed me and floated me down to the Halloween-Las Vegas style floor. Oogie was asleep from sending all those heartless, so it was my time to go to the Outside world. I stepped out of the tree house, breathing the nighttime air. My bright red hair that was tied in a pony-tail moved around with the wind. I cackled loudly.

Walking towards the center of Halloween Town, I noticed a girl with red and blonde hair. She was defeating heartless left and right. I took out my lucky red dice and rolled it near the girl. It landed on Snake Eyes. Two snakes came out from the dice and suffocated the heartless with a tight grip. The heartless were gone.

"Umm, hi there. Sorry about those heartless. They get really restless these days." I smiled, scratching my head.

"It's okay. My name is Rosaxi!" Rosaxi said, holding her stitched hands wide.

"The name's Akane. Pleased to meet'cha!^^" I shook Rosaxi's arm up and down.

"Rosaxi, I need you to come over here!" Jack's voice yelled.

"Sorry, I have to go." Rosaxi said. My brown eyes drooped.

"Okay, I'll see you later. Maybe I can teach you how to play poker!" I yelled.

"Thanks!" Rosaxi left.

Rosaxi please continue...

~Akane

Nothing But a Rejected Apprentice...

I stood up and glared at Hades.

"You promised you wouldn't hurt him." I said quietly, my blonde and red hair draped over my sky-blue eyes.

"I didn't hurt him." Hades said carefully, resting a blue hand on his chin. "I just... roughed him up a bit. And besides, why do I have to take commands from you? You're nothing but a rejected apprentice."

That brought back hurtful memories of drifting from world to world. I had been to Atlantis, to be mentored by Ursula. Arabia, as an apprentice to Jafar. Neverland, to assist Captain Hook. I was in Olympus now, under Xemnas's orders, to be mentored by Hades. I was bound to be kicked out soon, I knew it.

"I was going to leave soon, anyway, Hades." I growled at him, twitching the black and orange Keyblade in my hand. He looked at me thoughtfully, then nodded.

"I'm not questioning your decision, Rosaxi, but honestly, if you're going to be apprentice to a ton of villains, at least try not to be nice."

I scowled. "Honestly, who said I was off to be stupid intern to another idiot like you, who has nothing better to do but harrass one person, but lose every time it comes to a confrontation? I'm through with villainy, Hades, and you can tell all your friends. I quit." I turned around and headed through the exit.

"You're going to regret this, Rosaxi. You know you will..." I heard Hades call behind me, but I didn't care. There was one world left where I hadn't made a complete fool of myself: Halloweentown. Maybe Sora would be there, and I would have a chance to redeem myself. Just maybe...

I headed toward the largw, ornate gate, only to be almost knocked over by Heartless. "Watch where you're going!" I called, and headed toward the fountain. There, I saw, Sora, Goofy, Donald, and a tall, skeleton man battling a dozen Heartless and Nobodies. I pulled out my Keyblade and smiled. "Sweet, sweet redemption." I whispered. I came up behind one of the Heartless and bashed it over the head. The sudden attack made the other four look up in surprise, so I smiled and waved my Keyblade. Sora looked at me curiously, then waved back. He opened his mouth to say something, but I interrupted. "Alright, we'll catch up later. Let's just get rid of these Heartless first!" I yelled happily for the first time in a while. The joy in my voice shocked me.

When we had finished roughing up the Heartless and Nobodies, Sora walked up to me.

"Whatever happened to Hades?" he asked me, suspicion in his voice.

"I quit." I said simply, "He crossed the line; he promised me he wouldn't hurt Cloud but he did." I got a confused look out of that, but I shook my head. "It's a story for another time."

The tall skeleton man scratched his skull. "Um... pardon me for interrupting this reunion, but who are you?" he asked politely, and I held out my hand.

"I'm Rosaxi." I said happily, and he shook my hand.

"Jack Skellington, Pumpkin King." he replied, and I laughed.

"Well, that's cool." I smiled, and Donald and Goofy looked confused. "I'm entirely good now, being a villain isn't as fun as it used to be." I crossed where my heart would be with my right hand in the air.

The reason why I was so worried about Cloud? I was his Nobody. Anything happened to him and I was screwed. He didn't quite know that yet, though, so he will not stay out of trouble.

"Sora, can you help me? Obviously, I want redemption." I said simply, and Jack interjected.

"You can stay here!" he said, putting a hand on my shoulder. He looked at Sora for confirmation of his brilliant plan.

"I dunno, Jack, your plans don't always prevail..." Sora said weakly, looking from me to Jack.

"Oh, please Sora! I'll fit in perfectly!" I lifted up my orange and black Keyblade, and looked at my new outfit. I looked like a ragdoll, with my patchwork dress and grey, stitched skin. I met Jack's eyes and we both nodded, then looked at Sora with pleading eyes. "Please?" we asked.

"Alright." Sora sighed, and crossed his arms. "Just... stay away from Oogie. He and his henchmen are a little... out of it."

"I promise!" I said eagerly, and started jumping up and down. "I love redemption! Whoo!" I cheered, slapping Jack's bony hand. I was thrilled. I guess redemption was my favourite word now...

Jack was giving me a tour of Halloweentown when we met up with someone who looked like me. "Sally!" Jack said as soon as he saw her. He put a hand on her cheek and kissed her gently on the lips. Her worried expression stayed, however, during the display of affection.

"Jack." Sally said, putting a light, stitched hand on his arm. "Jack, Oogie's sending out more Heartless." she finished, and looked at me and my Keyblade. "Are you with Sora?" she asked me, and I nodded happily. "Rosaxi's going to stay here with us now, Sally!" Jack said, and placed a hand on my head.

"Jack, are you sure about this?" Sally wondered, and he looked a little shocked.

"I'm quite sure, Sally. All she wants is a little redemption." he replied in my behalf.

I interjected, "I've completely turned over a new leaf. I promise!" I crossed my fingers in the air. She looked at me, amused, and turned back to Jack.

"Should we tell Sora? Because, honestly, I don't think we can handle it on our own." she continued. I looked at my Keyblade.

"I can handle it!" I said, lifting up my Keyblade and alomst knocking Jack's jaw off. "Oh, oops!"

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