The Corpse Prince

A/N: -brrr!- It's so COLD! Ack, its killing me! x.X Helppppp me escape Jaaaappppaaannnnnn! It is so boring. I need to write something. Anyways here it is, the next chapter of 'The Corpse Prince'! I'm sorry it got late, but I was stuck real bad and I couldn't think of what to write. Now I have it! OwO Enjoy and please review! 'w' And stay warm! lol

P.S.- I wrote another CB Fanfic called 'Spread Your Blue Wings'!

I would also like to thank my consultant and great friend very very very very VERY MUCH!, griffin-queen-of-silver-skies:D She is a GENIUS!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the movie except my characters!

A Candle in the Dark

Vincent was staring out the window with a look of despair written all over his face. What was he going to tell Valeska? That he was just talking to Ms.Herald? No, she would only stare back at him with nothing but anger. Anger that he probably deserved. He hated not being able to see Valeska. He missed her already and he had been preparing to see her today when that woman had come to him. Oh how he wished he could change the past and undo what he had done. But then it would not be life but just a planned schedule of it.

"Valeska..." he whispered and looked down at the desk in front of him. Valeska's sketched face looked up at him from the paper, smiling at him with warmth surrounding that smile. Vincent couldn't bear seeing that smile, and those innocent eyes. Valeska had trusted him. Him! Vincent clutched his head in guilt.

"I-I… what have I done?"

Go after her… spoke a voice inside him and his eyes lit up. Yes, he should probably be going after her. He would have to tell her that it was just all a small misunderstanding. He would ask Valeska if she would forgive him. Nodding to himself, Vincent agreed to the voice. Yes, he will go after her.

Vincent quickly folded the sketch of his fiance's face and tucked it into his coat pocket. There it would be safe and sound. Rubbing his eyes softly, he opened the door of his room, went down the stairs and stepped outside. The wind blew in his face, as if it was mocking him as Vincent thought for the most likely place Valeska would ever visit to escape to her world. And only the woods came to mind.

Vincent walked towards the direction of the woods with nothing but Valeska in his thoughts. But an evil presence was following him with each step he took, intending to do a horrible act that would become true chaos.

・・・・‥‥……………………‥・・・‥…………………………‥‥・・・

Flashback

"Daddy! How did you meet mom?" Valeska, age 8, spoke innocently, eyes sparkling in interest as she rushed closer to the burning fire, sitting on the carpeted floor as she looked up to see her dad. Victor smiled down at his daughter and sat on the sofa near the fireplace. He had grown a bit taller from the years back when he had married Victoria, but nothing else changed. He still had his black hair, his also black eyes and tall, thin appearance that had been passed onto Valeska as well. Valeska crawled closer to the sofa and Victor brushed Valeska's hair softly.

"Well… we didn't exactly meet by accident. Our marriage was arranged by our parents and we haven't even met each other!" Victor explained but when Valeska opened her mouth to say something, disappoint starting to flash in her eyes, Victor put a finger on her lips to hush her.

"But something happened that was out of the ordinary… Something our parents had not planned… An extraodinary happening that changed our lives quite around. We met Emily."

Valeska's eyes widened in exictement. "Who is Emily?"

"Emily was a Corpse Bride. I met her in the woods when I had… escaped from my wedding rehearsal... I was trying to get my Wedding Vows right and I had accidently placed the ring on Emily's finger."

Valeska gasped and giggled as she jumped onto the sofa, sitting right next to her father. "What happened!"

"Emily had vowed to wait for her true love to come set her free, and it happened to be me," Victor spoke and Valeska's smiled.

"And then?"

"I was brought down to the Land of the Dead but I realized then that I loved your mother. I tried telling Emily that it was a terrible misunderstanding, but she didn't understand. So I setup a plan to get back to your mother. Fortunately, it worked, but I was soon found and brought back to the Land of the Dead again."

"Aww, that's romantic, dad!" Victoria said and Victor smiled.

"Thanks Val. Anyways, eventually things got escalated. The next day had been my Wedding day with Victoria but since I was nowhere to be found, her parents had changed plans, trying to force her to marry a man by the name of Lord Barkis.

"Of course, your mother was upset. But she wasn't able to do anything to stop it. Meanwhile, I had tried to explain Emily that our marriage wasn't going to work and I had said something rather nasty to her. I quickly followed her to apologize and eventually we forgave each other. Emily was a really nice and charming lady, and I felt very sorry she had to die young."

"Dad, you say 'Emily was' and 'Emily had' as if she's already gone or dead… Ummm, you know, like… moved on," Valeska said and Victor smiled a bit sadly at his daughter.

"She did move on. She let me go, so I can be with your mother."

Valeska blinked and her lips shaped into a 'O', sadness creeping up her eyes. "So she never found her true love she vowed to find...?"

"No sweetheart," Victor spoke and wrapped his hand around Valeska's shoulder. Valeska put her head on his shoulder and sighed. Victor was about to continue on with his story but Valeska whispered something loud enough for Victor to hear.

"I hope she had a good ending..."

Victor smiled and kissed her forehead. "She did, Val, she did."

・・・・‥‥……………………‥・・・‥…………………………‥‥・・・

Valeska slowly opened her eyes and also opened her lips, supressing a pained gasp. Her body was stiff and cold and her vision was blurry. Slowly it cleared and the throbbing in her head slowly became better. She touched the bed she thought she was touching but instead it felt more like a bench… with soft coverings on top. How strange... Valeska thought to her self as she blinked a couple of times. She looked down at the 'bench' more clearly and gasped, tumbling onto the floor. It was a coffin!

"Milady, are you alright!" shouted a rather familiar voice as Valeska looked up to see the Corpse Prince smile down at her, holding out his bony hand. Her eyes widened for a moment but she smiled back again. She accepted his hand and she was pulled up to her feet, a smiling Vittorio in front of her.

"I am happy you are well, Lady Valeska! I feared you had died! That would have been terrible!"

Valeska nodded and smiled, her smile getting a bit weak. Yes, it would have been terrible if she died. She immediately looked around at her surroundings and her eyes widened in suprise. She wasn't in the woods where she thought she was in! It was a place full of the… dead. Of bones and death and the feeling of afterlife. Was she dead? She looked fearfully at the Prince.

As if he could read her thoughts, he smiled warmly and shook his head. "You are not dead, milady."

"A-Are you sure? I-I have a lot of things to do and d-dying was not one of them..." Valeska spoke, her voice starting to tremble. And when she saw Vittorio nodd, she relaxed, giving out a sigh of relief.

"Vittorio?" a voice, this time unfamiliar to Valeska, cried out from a nearby room. The Prince quickly took Valeska's hand and then led her through towards the room. Valeska's eyes went to and fro, excitement building in her. So this must be the Land of the Dead... It's strange that I have also come to the Land of the Dead like my father! she thought with a smile and let the Corpse Prince lead her. So she barely heard the words, "Emily, meet Lady Valeska!" come out from Vittorio's lips, along with a slight bitter expression crossing through the figure's face.

"Hello Valeska. My name is Emily."

A/N: Ack! Cliffhanger! Sorry everyone! I won't have you hanging for long though! OwO Please review and more chapters will come tumbling forward! O.O