AN: I'm not dead! It's been ages since I've written anything and, I know, I promised I'd get to writing this particular story. I was gonna wait awhile because with college and other adult responsibilities, not much writing going on, so not a lot has been done. But this is a special birthday present to Werejaguar of Halloween Town, my dear friend and fabulous editor/co-author. She made a few tweaks, but hey, her bday and she can do what she wants. So with that said, Happy Birthday Werejag, and may the rest of you enjoy!

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Nightmare Before Christmas. That belongs to Tim Burton.

Save the Date

Will was stressed.

Correction, Will was beyond stressed. In fact, she couldn't even describe just how stressed she was! It was less than a month from the wedding date, and it seemed there was even more to do than ever! The center pieces still needed arranging, she needed to set up a date for the bachelorette party, and they were still trying to find a proper minister since the Mayor was too panicked to get through even a single practice run! And to top it all off, because of a certain intolerably curious skeleton, the bride was going to need a brand new wedding dress!

"Damnit Jack! Why'd you have to peek when Sally was trying it on?!" Will shouted before screaming into her pillow. "She worked so hard, spent all that time making a beautiful gown, and now we need a new dress IN TWO DAMN WEEKS!"

"Willamina Myrtle Cameron! Al does not need this at five in the morning!"

Will looked up from her pillow to see Al poking her scowling face into her bedroom.

"Seriously, your shrieking is upsetting Crepe," she hissed, throwing up her arm to displaying a long scratch. "See this! She did this to her momma!"

"Urge! I've had it!" Will ignored her frown and threw the pillow at the wall. "As if I don't have enough on my plate. Remind me to never go into wedding planning professionally."

"Or you could've asked Kat, since her cousin asked her to do it." Will shot Al a skeptical glare.

"Oh right," Al mused, "she called to curse out her cousin for all the indecisiveness…" She shrugged and said, "I have to take the beasts for a walk. Are you coming or not?"

"Not today, got too much to do." Will walked over to her vanity to where a pile of mail sat. "Starting with all these RSVPs. Still don't get why Jack used my mailing address for them to respond."

"Meh. Hell if I know. Anywho, I be back."

With her door closed, Will set to work. There were responses from several worlds, some Will recognized, others she had a little harder time reading. She was happy to see the official reply from the Addams. It had all been so much fun meeting the kooky family. She and Al even had fun playing with Wednesday and Pugsley, despite the mishap with the potions. Not to mention meeting them meant Jack had a best man, and it also brought Will some relief in the planning. Morticia had been great to bounce ideas off of. Not only that, but Fester even offered to work on the lighting for the ceremony.

Still, that left her with a mountain of work. She rubbed her temples. "Okay, calm down!" she told herself. "You already booked the club with Psyche, and Fink said Jack and Sally's gift is ready. Hmm… If I give that to them early then I could take Sally to find a new dress. It'd have to be off the rack so Sally could get it in time to make alterations. Not to mention there's still that shopping Al is in charge of, so maybe…"

Her rant was interrupted as her phone buzzed with the Caramel Dansen tune. Will groaned and picked up her phone. "Moshi, moshi. This is Will."

"Ah Princess, you know I hate it when you do that."

"What's up, Dean. Kinda busy here," Will replied.

"Me-ouch! Someone's in a catty mood," he joked. "I catch you at work, or just bad day?"

"Just super busy with wedding plans for my friend. I told you about this."

"Right… Wedding for the out-of-towners." There was a bit of a pause. "Say, bet my skateboard you could use a break. What'd you say to you and me getting some coffee? I'll let you use your gold card!"

"Tempting but I'm swamped in paperwork. Raincheck, okay?"

"Yeah, sure..."

"Now who's being catty? What's up?"

"Oh, just trying to see my girlfriend," he put emphasis on the word, "but she's hardly around. It's been weeks since we've seen each other outside of class, let alone had a date, and you hardly call me anymore. But nothing major, really."

Will groaned. "Dean, I'm sorry. I got a lot going on right now."

"Why doesn't your cousin or whatever just hire someone?" Dean questioned. "You got your own shit to do. She can bridezilla on someone else who gets paid… Wait, is she even paying you?"

"No, I'm her maid of honor so it's kinda my job to help. Plus, I volunteered." Will sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Look, Dean, I gotta get going. There's only two weeks until the wedding, and if I don't finishing these RSVPs, it'll be one more pain in the ass I don't need."

"Two weeks?! I gotta wait another two weeks?"

"Yeah, sorry," Will explained.

"You know, you could bring me along," he threw at her.

"You haven't even met my parents yet," she retaliated, "and the meal is already cost per plate. It's family and close friends only anyway. Look we'll have a date soon as the wedding is over, okay?"

"Yeah, sure. Fine." Dean hung up.

What's his problem? Will thought before returning to her list. She decided to put it on the back burner of her mind for now.

She shifted through all the mail. Most of them were from people long since past, so that narrowed the guest list a bit. As she shifted through the envelopes, one in particular caught her eye. Pulling it from the stack Will took a closer look. The paper looked pretty old by the aged color, there were odd markings on it too, but what made it worse was that she couldn't even read the writing. With a roll of her eyes, Will tried her best to make out the words.

"Oh forget it!" Grabbing her phone, she hit a FaceTime number and waited for the other person to pick up.

"Whoa, Will? That you?"

"Hey Puck, you busy?"

"Nah. Just at my brother's house babysitting. What's up?"

Will flipped the camera to show him the envelope. "This anything you can translate?" she asked.

"Lets see. Hmm… Looks like Spanish, but this is pretty old, might even be Nahuatl. Where'd you get it?"

Will turned the camera back around and said, "It's one of the RSVPs for Jack and Sally's wedding. Can you translate it?"

"Sorry little bat, but this isn't something I know," Puck apologized. "I recognize a few words but the rest has me stumped."

"Damn it. And here I thought you were the Mary Sue of multiple languages."

"Hey!"

"Sorry, but in my defense, you're like one of three guys I know whose almost fluent in every language out there."

"You make a point, minha doce laranja de sangue." He laughed. "Jokes aside, why not just ask Jack?"

"Can't. Bone Daddy got called into an emergency meeting with the SHL, which is why I'm stuck answering the mail."

"Isn't there anyone else? Oh! What about Jack's friends? The Addams guy?"

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot," Will exclaimed. "Puck, you're the best!"

"I try." He smiled with a light blush. "Just don't get yourself turned into anymore creatures, you hear."

"Oh, you jerk!" She laughed. "Alright, alright, I'll call him now. I should let you get back to babysitting." Will paused a moment. "Wait, why are you babysitting?"

"Oh, that's easy. I'm gonna be an uncle again. Eva went into labor last night, by this one's taking longer, so I got called up to watch Drak and Zak."

"Congratulations! I want pics of the new baby."

"Duh!"

Will laughed. "Later Puck." She hung up the phone and immediately began dialing up the number for the Addams family. It wasn't long before she got a reply, this time from Morticia. The two talked for a bit, Will assuring her no harm done or side effects, before she was given over to Gomez.

"Hey there, Will. What can I do for you?"

"I was hoping you could translate something for me." She explained, "See it's this RSVP for the wedding, but for the life of me I can't read it. I was hoping you might help me translate."

"Sure. Why don't you fax it over and I'll have a look."

Will wrote down the number Gomez gave her before rushing over to her printer to fax the letter. After a few minutes, she heard Gomez on the other side.

"Huh. Very strange…"

"What is it?"

"Well, it's not so much a letter as it is a summoning spell."

"A what?!"

"Yes. Looks like whoever wrote this was intended to have Jack summon them." Will groaned. "Not to worry, my dear. We can help you out with this one. Besides, looks like you'll need a few things, so why don't you pop over and we'll see who this is?"

"I don't know…"

"Not to worry! Wednesday and Pugsley are already left for school, so no shenanigans will occur while you're here."

Will turned to look at the clock. It was already going on eight o'clock. "Oh, okay, sure. Umm. I'll be right over.

"Terrific!"

After he hung up, Will quickly threw on a sweatshirt and tennis shoes. She wrote Al a note and closed the bedroom door behind her before reaching for her skeleton key. Inserting it into the lock, she twisted the key and opened the door and stepped inside.

"Hello?" Will looked around.

"Ah, there you are!"

"Hey Gomez." She stepped out and greeted the man with a handshake. "Good to see you again."

"Likewise! Now let's get started." He lead her through the house up to a room she had not been before. When they stepped inside the first thing to assault her senses was a potent floral aroma.

"Whoa!" She covered her nose.

"Oops, too much?" Gomez asked. "Sorry but we needed fresh marigolds for the summoning."

"Not worries. Just my hyper sense of smell. It's actually really nice once you get used to it."

"I prefer them a little more wilted myself, but to each their own."

"Gomez, did you get the calaveras I asked for?" Will looked up to see an elderly woman in a pink shawl setting sugar skulls around a three-tiered alter. Her graying hair was in disarray and her pointed nose reminded Will of a bird.

When she looked up her black eyes locked on Will. "Oh, and who might you be, dearie?"

"This is Will," Gomez answered, arm going around the girl's shoulders. "She's a friend of Jack's, and the wedding planner."

"Oh my stars!" She flashed a toothy grin. "It's nice to meet you. So sorry about that mishap with my potions. Though I must say, it hardly looks like anything happened."

"Oh yeah, no big deal. Turns out I didn't need an antidote after-all. Sadly, Helga and Zelda expected this with my track-record. So they made the stuff that was supposed to make me human before, only the witches were able to make a more accurate cure because of the list of ingredients Sally and Morticia collected." Will rolled her eyes. "But this time I had them lace it with a sleeping spell so I wouldn't risk a repeat mutation. Being a vampire hybrid is enough, thank you."

"Hmm, well, you seem alright to me. Don't look anything like the vampires I've seen, and I've seen plenty."

With a smirk, Will let her true colors show. She shrugged off her coat and jumped up, turning into a bat. She flew about the room before coming to transform behind Granny. "What do you think now?" she asked, flashing her fangs.

The combination of potions had an interesting effect on her body. Her fingers were not webbed, nor did she have a bat's nose and fur, but she still retained her pointed ears, though they were more animalistic. The most notable change were her wings. No longer were they attached to her arms in a web-like structure, but instead fell along her back much like Puck's. While she was still able to maintain a human appearance, she could still look like the hybrid form back when they'd rescued the Mayor, only she now had slightly more feline features. Zack wold often tease her about looking like a double for Maggie the Cat.

"Well don't you look like the belle of the wake!" Granny said as Will resumed her human form. "I'm sure there's a tale here but no time. We've got to get things ready."

"Ready for what? Oh, right, the summoning." Will cast a suspicious glance to where the old woman had been. "Uh, just what exactly is that thing?"

"The altar, of course."

"Right…" This was beginning to wane into the more uncomfortable territory than what Will was used to. She preferred not to be dabbling in something she probably shouldn't be messing with. "Just to check, this isn't one of those human or blood sacrifice things, is it?"

"Not to worry dear, those are best on full moons. No, this is just a simple summoning." Granny rearranged some of the offerings before saying, "Well, not really simple. Whoever this is gonna contact is some kind of big-shot."

"Okay?" Since there wasn't anything for her to do, Will watched Granny and Gomez work. There was something familiar about the alter they were building.

"So what exactly are we summoning again?" she asked. "Cause this looks more like something for the Day of the Dead."

"Funny you should say that. The spell we're using mentions Día de Muertos." Gomez explained, "My theory is this is someone we're calling up who normally wouldn't be able to cross into our world unless it was that particular day. Nothing unusual, given spirit summoning is easy when the line between this world and the next is thinner. This might make this particular summoning a little more tricky."

Will grimaced. Noticing this, Gomez offered to let her sit this one out. Will thankfully accepted and waited out in the parlor. She felt a little bad about making Gomez and Granny do all the work, but summoning wasn't her cup of tea. That had been one area of the Halloween universe she tried to stay away from. She shivered recalling how once Davy and some of the more sinister Halloween Town ghosts had tried to have her join in a seance.

"Never again!" she muttered to herself. While she waited, Will decided to work on other items on her never ending list.

It was little over an hour when Will looked up at the sound of music.

"What in the world?"

Too curious for her own good, Will found herself at the door. Her ear pressed against the wood as she tried to listen in as the melody was rather pleasant.

CRASH!

Suddenly, Will was thrown forcefully from the door. Propped up on an elbow against the floor, she shook her head to clear the stars from her eyes. Once her vision cleared, she cautiously crawled closer to the door. She swore she heard something other than music coming from the other side.

Against her better judgement, Will went to the door and pressed her ear next to the opening. She couldn't quite make out what was happening at first. The voices were all jumbled together. She could hear Granny and Gomez trying to talk when suddenly a voice shouted.

"¡¿Qué diablos está pasando aquí?!"

Startled by the foreign outburst, Will decided to find out what was going on. She opened the door and peered inside. The whole room was dark save for the eerie glow of the candles. That wouldn't have been as odd if not for the fact the candles—which had been creamy white when Granny lit them—now were tar black and flickered with a sickly green glow.

"G-Gomez? Granny?" Will whispered, creeping into the room. "Where are you?" She spotted them looking quite casual despite one being chained to a wall and the other hanging from the ceiling upside down.

"What happened to you– Eep!" Something made a plop sound and slipped past, pushing her into the room and shutting the door firmly behind her. "Who-Who's there?"

"So, a little mortal, huh?"

Will looked all around her, but even her sharp eyes couldn't detect the being in the room. She would catch a shadow or a glimpse of some black shape. The glow of the candles certainly weren't helping none either

"Okay, seriously, come out. What, are you scared?" She hoped whatever this thing was it wouldn't call her bluff.

It didn't work.

"Hmm funny you mention fear. Now, let's see what keeps you up at night?"

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"

Will felt something coil around her body. Before she could look down, she suddenly was face-to-face with a some kind of black and purple snake, though the head looked more like some crazy-looking lizard. Its dark golden orbs stared at her as a maw of fangs gleamed in the glow of the candlelight. It gave a low hiss with its forked tongue flicking the air.

"Not again!" Will struggled to wriggle free but the snake only tightened its coils.

A flash of gold rivaling the sun's brilliance filled the room, making Will slam her eyes shut. She felt the grip on her body loosen and she fell to her knees. Looking up, she saw the room return to normal. Gomez and Granny were now standing side-by-side sans chains, and she was trying to let her mind take it all in when a voice caught her attention.

"You misbegotten son of a leprous donkey! You promised to stop interfering in the affairs of man!"

"Oww, oww! Why must you always go for the beard?"

"Answer me!"

"Hey, why shouldn't I have a little fun?"

Will ran to Gomez and Granny. She wanted to make sure they were okay, though knowing they were Addams assured her any harm done would be welcomed. However, their focus was not on her but on the argument happening behind her. Taking a chance, Will turned to see just who they had summoned. Will's eyes widened as her gaze drifted upward to take in the sight of two beings—two incredibly tall beings.

The first owned the gravelly voice that had threatened her. He was a terribly dark looking specter—skeletal with skin like oily tar, though his neck glowed green as though radioactive, and yet he had a contrasting white mustache/beard combo. A pair of dark, scarred feather wings protruded from his back like a menacing vulture, a silver horned crown sat atop his head making him appear regal, but he looked more like a warrior with the armor he wore. And practically everywhere she looked she found a skull pattern on his person. In his hand he carried the snake that had entrapped her, though now the creature looked more petrified than alive. What's more Will saw a second head where the creature's tail should be. Finally, and perhaps the most intimidating aspect of this being were his green eyes with two red skulls at their center.

Will shivered. No matter which way his eyes looked those skulls remained focused on something. Will followed their gaze to the second being in the room.

She was beautiful! Skin like spun sugar painted with intricate gold leafing, long hair pulled back in a ponytail that cascaded down her back like a midnight waterfall, and her face was like a sugar skull: red lips like roses and eyes as golden as the sun. Unlike her counterpart, the woman wore a bold red dress and an impossibly enormous sombrero atop her head, reminding Will of a Mexican hat dancer. There were golden marigolds adorning the hat as well as the woman's wrists and waist. She also wore a black chocker with a gold locket around her neck.

But what intrigued Will most was that both beings had candles adorning their figures. The candles on the woman decorated her hat and the hem of her dress. The orange hue of the flames danced about as though filled with life. The candles on the man were different. Instead of creamy white, the wax ashen gray and the flames glowed an ominous green.

It would have been quite impressive had the two not still been bickering like an old married couple.

"My dear, what do you want from me?" The dark being pleaded, "It's not everyday mortals make a summons, let alone for both of us. How could I resist?"

"That does not give you the excuse to torment them! I won that wager, remember?"

"I know, I know. By the Ancient Rules, blah, blah, blah." He rolled his eyes.

"Uh, excuse me, folks?"

Everyone turned to see Gomez as he calmly addressed the two. Will panicked at how he could possibly act so casually words them.

"Sorry to interrupt, my lord and lady, but… I thought we might want to get properly introduced. I do hope our summoning did not interrupt anything important."

The woman smiled. "Oh, please do not apologize Gomez."

"Wait, you know her?" Will blurted out.

"Ah, no, actually," Gomez admired. "Met many in my travels, but I definitely would remember such a lovely lady as yourself." He addressed the woman in a charming manor, giving her a light bow.

"Then how did she?"

"Oh, his relatives talk about him a lot," the woman replied to Will, "though I don't usually get too many of the departed from Spain."

"Of course! Locura never could resist a fiesta," Granny stated. "Always was oddly cheering that one. They were your father's cousin's aunt's fifth uncle's brother's wife's nephew six times removed."

"Okay…" Will shook her head. "Anyway, umm, back on intros. I'm Will. It's nice to meet you."

"Pleasure's all mine. I am Lady La Muerte, Ruler of the Land of the Remembered." She turned to wrap her arm around the darker being. "And this charming trickster is my husband, Xibalba."

"Oh, so you're both rulers then?"

"Yes, though I've been forced to rule over the desolate wasteland of the Forgotten."

"Hey, you were there before we even met, and before you cheated, so don't start that again," she spat, jerking her arm back to cross in front of her chest, shooting her husband a dangerous look. Xibalba grumbled and sulked, wings ruffled.

"Wait, Land of the Remembered? Forgotten?"

"Increíble! Will, these two are a part of the ancient gods of Mexico," Gomez explained with excitement. "We are in the presence of the very gods of death."

Will stared up at the two beings, suddenly feeling even smaller. It wasn't unlike the time Jack introduced her to the Grim Reaper, but these two clearly had a lot more power. Not to mention that they were far more mighty looking than a scythe-wielding skeleton in a cloak—though the Xibalba character did come close in appearance. She was shaken out of her trance by his complaining.

"Alright, we haven't got all day," Xibalba barked. "State your business and let us get on with it."

"Oh, right… Umm, well uh, we summoned you because of this." She held up the letter, arm stretched as far as it could go up towards the two supernatural royals.

The Calavera Catrina took it from her hands, and a large smile spread across her painted lips as her golden eyes took in the writing. "Ay, Balby! It's our RSVP to Jackitos's boda!"

"Wait, what wedding?!"

"Balby?" Will snickered, earning a poisonous glare from the darker god.

"Si! I told you he was getting married!" La Muerte squealed, shoving her proof into her disbelieving husband's hands, and scattering a few marigold petals around.

"Feh! Boy doesn't say a word for nearly half a century, and now we find out he's marrying some chica we never met?" He huffed then snorted. "Que típico… I get more word from Sartana when she isn't cursing your Tigre and his familia again."

"Now, Balby, he does have an entire holiday to run."

"Mi vida, we have entire realms to run," he hissed back. "Some more lively than others…"

"Xi-bal-ba!" The warm glow around the goddess flared up brilliantly in warning, instantly cowing her husband. Though the sound of Granny's snickering and Gomez's low impressed whistle at the display swiftly reminded the two that they did have an audience.

"But I digress-" Xibalba began after clearing his throat. "It still would've been nice to know he was even seeing someone, and frankly, it's about time too."

"Sorry," Will interrupted, "but I'm still confused. How did you say that you know Jack exactly?"

La Muerte smiled sweetly, resting her hands on her hips as her husband stood beside her with one of his gloved hands atop hers. "Oh, we're his tío y tía or rather his padrinos—his godparents."

"WHAT?!"

AN: That's all for now. I need to start on the next chapter, but I'm not promising quick updates. Summer is gonna be busy but I'll try my best. Hope you all enjoyed!