A/N: Hey-o. Apple here. The a/n is at the top this time because I have something to say to you all. I suggest listening to the song "Into the Forest" from the Corpse Bride Soundtrack for the first part of this. Just to set the mood. Then "Remains of the day" also from the soundtrack, for the second part. You'll know when to switch, as the first oOo is the "SWITCH SONGS" signal :3 Okie, Apple out~! *throws self out of document*

Matt walked through the forest, still fuming from the rehearsal. He kicked the occasional tree, snapped at the animals, and just vented his frustration. Soon though, it began to get dark. The forest became more eerie, and Matt didn't even notice. He sighed and plucked a cornflower growing in the dirt off the ground. He stared at it for a moment before placing it in his coat pocket. Maybe he could give it as an apology. Then, he pulled out the ring, and he groaned. He really didn't want to get married.

Matt took a deep breath. "Alright. Let's try again. With this hand, I will lift your wine- no, that's not it." He smacked himself lightly. He walked further still. "With this hand, I will lift your sorrows. Your cup shall never be empty, for I will be your wine. With this candle I will- I will light your sister's dress on fire. . ." He groaned, kicking at a rock.

We walked deeper into the forest, until he stood by an old oak tree. He mentally prepared himself and started the vows again.

"With this Hand, I will lift your sorrows.

Your cup will never be empty, for I shall be your wine."

He broke off a stick from a nearby tree and held it up.

"With this Candle, I will light your way through the darkness.

"With this ring,"

He placed the ring on a pale wood root growing out of the ground.

"I ask you to be mine."

He stood and was happy with his triumph over getting the vows right. But something was amiss. All the crows in the trees cawed loudly, flying and jumping about, showing distress. Matt looked around, confused. Nothing seemed wrong. What was wrong with those stupid birds? He turned completely, watching a particularly large crow flutter its ebony wings and snap its beak at him. The smaller crows around it flew off into the sky in a dark flurry. It was beautiful in an eerie way.

Crack.

It sounded from behind the blonde. He faced it slowly, to see the pale wood root flexing and pulling out of the ground, the dry dirt breaking open. Gingerly, a white figure rose out of the ground.

It was stunning, but horrifying. The full moon was directly behind the figure, and its incredibly long white hair flipped and swooped violently with the wind. Its eyes were glowing blue, amazingly bright. It was clothed in a white satin suit, with rips around the arms and stomach. Gently, at an achingly slow speed, it raised one of its arms to its chest, over where a heart would be.

Nothing but the cawing of crows, the flapping of wings and the figure's white hair. Until suddenly, a soft, voice spoke.

"I do."

Matt acted on instinct. He raced across the woods, back towards the village, tripping over roots and branches and leaves. Twigs and thorns scrapped at him, tearing his suit, and pulling his hair. He did not care, he could not care. His only thoughts were get back to the village, get his hockey stick and kill that thing if he had to.

He reached the bridge between forest and village. He felt safe for a moment, catching his breath before he continued on. He looked around, his intense gaze searching the dark trees and the field before him, the waters of the river, everywhere.

No figure in sight. He stood and panted, feeling free from it.

Matt moved to get back to the village, twisting around.

And there it was. The Figure from before. Hair still moving with the wind, eyes still glowing ice blue. Matt reacted instantly, jumping back to the rails of the bridge. The Figure, it was a man, he could see now, moved closer, raising his hands to Matt's face. Matt stumbled back, still trying to get away from the man that came from the ground.

"You may kiss the bride?" The man inched his face closer with what sounded almost like a question, his whispery voice seemingly going with the wind's gusts. Matt gulped, stunned with fear from the ghostly man. No one usually scared him, but this man, this figure, it was different. Matt's eye sight began to black out as the ghostly man closed his own eyes and leaned close enough to the blonde that their lips touched ever so lightly. And Matt's eye sight completely blacked out, as crows feathers flew around them, and both Matt and the Man disappeared into the night.

oOo

Matt gave a disgruntled groan as his vision came back into focus. Above him were the ghostly man from before and an unknown woman with blue skin, ratty blonde pigtails, one green eye, and slightly chipped glasses.

"What happened to him?" The unknown Blonde asked, revealing an English accent.

"I think he fainted," The man from before replied.

"A new arrival~?" A French accent from an unknown source chirped.

"What is going on?" Matt grumbled, sitting up.

"He's still soft!" A small child in a sailor suit with only half his skin and a few tufts of blonde hair gasped, poking Matt's cheek.

"Stop that," Matt ordered, swatting the child's hand of bones away.

And, that was the exact moment everything started to really sink in. The skeletons and half rotted bodies playing pool and drinking beer, people with blue skin and missing eyes, the occasionally "could-pass-for-normal-if-not-for-a-few-small-things" ones, and the decapitated head with long wavy blonde hair moving around by the feet of scuttling beetles under his neck.

Matt jumped up and grabbed the nearest thing he could use to defend himself, the hilt of a sword that was attached to a skeleton in an army uniform. "Whoa! What are you doing?" It yelped.

"Stay back or I'll attack!" Matt growled, pulling the sword out of the skeleton and holding it in front of him. "Now, I want some answers! Firstly, where the hell am I!?"

The White-haired man from the forest gestured around, taking a step towards Matt. "The Underworld, or World of the dead," He said simply. Many of the others nodded.

Matt's eyes widened. Okay, that would take a while to set in. "Okay. . . Second! Who are you!?" This time, he gestured directly at the man.

"Your husband," He answered, seeming slightly surprised Matt didn't know. Matt was dumb struck.

"Wh- What are you talking about!?"

The white-haired man stepped forward, putting up his bony left hand. On his ring finger was, sure enough, the same golden ring Matt had put on the tree root. Except it wasn't a tree root, apparently.

"You said your vows beautifully, by the way," He added.

The blonde decapitated head scurried up right next to the man then. "'Ello, my name is Francis, and I shall be preparing your wedding feast!" He chimed, flipping his locks to the best of his ability.

"Meaning I'll be doing most the work," The Blonde English girl from before grumbled. "I'm Alice."

Another corpse jumped out from behind the man supposedly married to Matt, with his hands on the other's shoulders. "Ooo, a wedding feast! I'm salivating already!" He cooed excitedly. Alice swatted him off the silverette.

"Don't jump on people, Gilbert," She scorned.

Matt gulped, trying to process it all. Okay, so he was in the world of the dead, he was married to a corpse, and what else? Oh, he was MARRIED TO A CORPSE. That was enough to make anyone freak out, he'd think. Understanding by now no one was going to attack him, Matt dropped his sword.

"Who are you specifically?" Matt asked shakily, again gesturing directly to his apparent "bride".

The other man sighed. "That's kind of a long story. . ." He answered quietly.

"Oh, but it is quite a story," a new voice added.

Everyone turned to face a corpse leaning against the wall. He had dark red eyes and messy brown hair with a cowlick in his bangs. A crooked grin was stuck on his face.

Matt raised his eyebrows. "Alfie?" He asked in surprise. "I didn't know you died." Matt had known Alfie as a rival almost, though sometimes they acted more like competitive brothers than out right rivals.

Alfie shrugged. "I kicked the bucket about a month or two after I left the village. That was about. . . five years ago? Anyway, been making friendly with the local dead, and I know the whole long story 'bout your blushing bride there," He laughed. "It's a tale of tragedy, deception, romance, and a murder most foul. . ."

"Well what is it?" Matt asked, growing impatient with the vague answers.

Alfie chuckled before walking up to a stage and gesturing to some skeletons to start playing their instruments. Almost in a singing manner, he told the story of the "Corpse Bride" as he jokingly called him. How he had been tricked by a mysterious stranger into eloping with him, and how the stranger had murdered him. How he waited under the oak for years for someone to come ask for his hand. Everyone else seemed to sing along. Towards the end, Alfie jumped up and pushed the "Corpse Bride" into Matt's arms, still singing his story. Ending with the line, "And now look, this groovy young man has vowed to stay by her side forever!" and giving a laugh.

"Corpse Bride" pulled away from Matt to be polite, but as soon as he did, Matt began to back away and run for the door. Truth be told, he just wanted to get out.

oOo

Katyusha stood by the window, looking into the rain soaked streets, where the Coachman for Oliver and Frankie's coach, Lutz, stood smoking.

"Katy, come away from the window, I'm sure he'll be back soon," She heard Oliver call from behind her. Hesitantly, she drew away, worried for his safety. Katyusha sat next to her younger sister, across from Matt's parents.

Frankie pulled a drag from his cigarette. "Don't worry about Matt, he can take care of himself just fine," he said. His voice was in the same tone as always, but it made Katyusha feel a little better at least. She felt tears well up slightly in her eyes. While she wasn't truly in love with Matt, she hated the thought of anyone being in danger.

"Well, you can't have a wedding without a groom! Whatever will you do?" Luciano appeared in the doorway. A look of worry on his face. Something about it appeared faked, but it did not seem anyone noticed.

"Ah, Mr. Vargas, do not worry, all will be settled when he returns," Natalia calmly responded, though a slight bit of impatience showed in her voice.

Luciano sighed and swayed up to the Braginski's seats. "Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but," -He motioned in the News Ringer from town- "Would you care to repeat tonight's headline for us?"

The News Ringer took a deep breath and began to ring his bell. "MATTHEW JAMES WILLIAMS SEEN IN ARMS OF MYSTERY PERSON ON THE BRIDGE, MYSTERY PERSON AND MATTHEW WILLIAMS DISAPPEAR TOGETHER INTO THE NIGHT!" His loud voice echoed and shook across the room.

After his announcement, a shocked silence stretched tight across the room. Luciano was the one to break it.

"Thank you Mathias, that will be all," He told, ushering the News Bearer out. His unnerving eyes scanned every face in the room.

"B- But, Matt doesn't know any mysterious people. . ." Oliver said, still slightly in shock. Frankie nodded his head in agreement.

"That doesn't matter, No groom, no wedding! Emil, fetch my pipe! We can't let the public know of this embarrassment!" Sergei growled, with the anger prominent in his voice.

"No, don't do that," Frankie responded, hefting himself up from the loveseat he had been sharing with Oliver. He took the pipe from the servant and put it up on the ledge over the fireplace. "Give us some time to find Matt, he couldn't have gotten far."

Oliver quickly agreed, "Yes, please give us until dawn!"

Natalia sighed and put a hand to her forehead. "Very well, you have till the dawn of tomorrow," She allowed.

"Da, but no later," Sergei added.

Katyusha was silent throughout the whole conversation, she couldn't believe it. Sure, she wanted to run away with someone else, but did not know Matt had the same idea in mind. Luciano stood off to the side, also silent, but seemed lacking in concern for the situation.

Everyone remained quiet as the Kirkland-Bonnefoy's set out in their coach to search. Natalia soon, though, gather up her skirts and stood. "Katyusha, please go to your room," She requested. Katyusha quickly stood and went. At least in her room she did not have to face the piercing gaze of Luciano Vargas.

A/N: Yo! Guess who's back with a brand new chap? :D Meeee! Yay! My one thing, I'm not sure if I'm portraying Ukraine right. If you feel something is off, leave me a tip please~ Now for more info on new characters for who is who:

"Corpse Bride" - 2p!Prussia (His name will be in the next chapter.)

Dead kid in sailor suit - Sealand (There actually is a skeleton child in a sailor suit in the movie, but I edited it a bit to be more obviously Sealand.)

Francis - 1p!France

Alice - Nyo!England

Alfie - 2p!America

Lutz - 2p!Germany

Mathias - Denmark (haha he got such a small role. I thought, Loud voice = Good News Ringer.)

Emil - Iceland (Emil is the actual name of the Butler/Servant/whatever in the movie, so I made him Iceland, since that is Iceland's name if I am correctly informed.)

That's all I can think of. A pleasant day to you all! (/ OwO)/