Siren: You crazy readers and your sense of time. Time is an illusion.

Muse: That means we're late. Whoops.

Siren: Only by...(counts)...8 days.

Muse: Yeah...we fail.

(poof) Mr. Giblets: Gobble!

Siren: Oh my God, it's the turkey I named a couple Thanksgivings ago.

Mr. Giblets: Hey! You ate me!

Muse: It's a tough life, turkey.

Mr. Giblets: Sirens & Muses don't own ToS! (pecks Siren)

Siren: Ow! I'mma eat you again if you don't stop!

Muse: Finally, some Siren abuse! Review please!

"That night, grave robbers dug up the casket, intending to steal the ring she'd been buried with. They tried to pull the ring off her finger, but to no avail. Finally, one of them pulled out a knife. He began to cut through her finger, but…" Anna exhaled dramatically, "as the first slice went through her skin, she gave a jolt. She was alive, and awake! The robber was so shocked upon his apparently resurrected victim, that he died of fright right there, that very night!"

Kratos yawned pointedly. "How very frightening."

"You know," she said, frowning, "That's not really fair. You've been around for four thousand years, of course you've heard them all."

He chuckled. "Ghost stories never scared me much. You should try that on Yuan, he's got quite a vivid imagination."

"Hmm…" Anna glanced at him. "You don't get scared easily, huh? Tell me, what stories are you scared of?"

Kratos leaned against a tree, thinking. For a few long moments, the only sound was the fire crackling and the rustle of the wind through bare trees. Anna shivered, clutching her coat closer to her.

Finally, Kratos said, "I don't think there are any."

"Come on," she said, rolling her eyes. "You have to be afraid of something. One thing."

"…"

"Oh, I see," she said. "You are afraid of something, you just don't want to admit it."

Will you let it drop if I tell you a scary story?" he asked. Anna nodded, grinning. "This is one that convinced Yuan to put off his wedding to Martel."

"What does that have to do with anything?" she asked.

"Because this story is about a bride. I told it to him three days before he proposed to her."

"That was nice of you," Anna said, rolling her eyes. "So tell me. I'm a little harder to scare."

"If your idea of scary is that grave robber's tale, I'm afraid your standards aren't very high."

Anna narrowed her eyes. "Just get on with it."

"Very well." Kratos cleared his throat. "There was once a young couple I knew-"

"Wait a second," Anna interrupted. "This isn't going to be one of those 'I knew a guy who knew a guy' stories, is it?"

Kratos glared. "You'll never find out if you keep butting in. Now, may I continue?"

"Sorry."

He sighed. "As I was saying, I once knew a young couple-personally, I might add-who were completely in love."

"Scaaary," Anna said sarcastically, feigning terror.

"They were so in love," he said, shooting her a dirty look, "that they decided to get married, even though everyone they knew thought they were too young and immature."

"Did you?" Anna interjected.

"Did I what?" he asked, exasperated.

"Think they were too young and immature." He frowned at her. "What?"

"That's not important," he said. "The point is, the couple went against the advice of their family and friends and began planning their marriage. The ceremony came and went, a beautiful white wedding. The groom's grandmother, whose husband had passed away years ago, gave them a mansion to start their new life in, saying that it was too empty for a single old lady. They were so happy about this amazing gift that they decided to invite the wedding party over and celebrate. So, about thirty people joined in the reception at the old mansion."

"I'm terrified right now." Anna leaned back against Noishe. "Seriously, I'm going to have nightmares about this."

"I'm not finished," he snapped. "As I was saying, they were all partying at the mansion, drinking and laughing. After a while, the bride suggested that they play hide-and-seek, since there were bound to be great hiding places in the mansion. They all agreed that the groom should be it first."

"Yep, children's games. My worst nightmare. How did you know?" Anna began petting Noishe, much to his delight. "He knows me too well, buddy."

"Will you be quiet?" Kratos said. "There's more to it than children's games. Now, the game began as usual, with the groom counting to one hundred and everyone hiding. Within the first half hour, he'd found everyone, with one exception. His new bride, still wearing her wedding dress and carrying her bouquet, was nowhere to be found. The entire group searched for her, but to no avail. Finally, late into the night, they all agreed that she must've had second thoughts and used the game as the perfect chance to run off. The groom, heart-broken, searched all through the woods, in the town, anywhere he thought she would be. By morning, he was forced to accept that his young bride had left him."

Noishe whined as a gust of wind blew across them, making the fire flicker. Anna shivered and snuggled closer to the furry animal. Kratos continued.

"The groom refused to live in the mansion, as it reminded him of his heartbreak. Instead, he continued living alone in his house. The years passed, and he never loved another woman. One day, after his grandmother died, he was forced to go into the attic of the mansion to sort through her things. He came upon a trunk and, upon opening it, saw a grisly sight."

"What was it?" Anna asked eagerly, her eyes wide. "Did the grandmother kill her? I bet she killed her!"

"Are you going to let me finish or not?" he asked. She made a zipping motion over her mouth. "Thank you. Now, as I said, he opened the trunk. Inside was a skeleton, clothed in a white wedding dress, with a gold band on her finger, and a bouquet of petrified flowers in her bony fingers."

Anna gasped. "The bride!"

"Indeed. You see, as far as anyone can tell, she found the perfect hiding spot. When she climbed in, it must have locked or been too heavy, and she was trapped inside. There were dried blood smears and scratch marks on the inside of the lid, meaning she screamed and clawed at the top until her fingers bled. Over the next few hours, while they were searching for her, she suffocated in the tiny, enclosed space. The same way someone would die if they were buried alive in a coffin, interestingly enough."

The end of the story was met with silence. Finally, Anna sighed and said, "Geez, that was creepy."

"Scarier than yours?" Kratos teased as they prepared for bed. Anna laid down next to him.

"Much. Still, though, I think it would've been better if the grandmother had killed her."

"Why would the grandmother want to kill her?" Kratos asked, rolling his eyes.

"I don't know, maybe she was jealous? Had a freaky crush on her grandson?"

"That…is scary," he admitted. "But in a whole different way."

They both dozed off, Anna curled unusually close to Kratos tonight. After barely an hour, he felt her jerk awake.

"What was that?"she asked. "Kratos, something's there!"

"Calm down," he muttered, eyes still closed. "You're just jumpy from the stories."

"No, I'm serious. There's something out there." She stood up and he sighed. "I'll be right back. I'm just going to go check."

"Anna." No answer. "Anna, there's nothing there. Get back to bed." He opened his eyes a crack to see Noishe sniffing and whining in the direction she must've gone. "Anna!" he yelled louder. Still no answer.

A shrill scream pierced the night, and Kratos was on his feet in seconds, sword out. "Anna!" he yelled. Noishe barked once and took off through the woods, his master close behind him.

"Anna!" Kratos yelled, feeling his heart race. He should've listened to her, he should've gone with her. Why, why was he so stubborn and stupid? "Anna, where are you?"

Noishe had run ahead of him, still growling and barking. Another scream rang out, making Kratos both worried and relieved. On one hand, screaming was bad. On the other, screaming meant she wasn't dead.

"Anna!" He focused all his hearing on her location, finally able to determine the direction he should head in. "Anna!"

He stopped. There was no sound anymore: no barking, no screaming, nothing. He was panting, not from physical exertion, but from panic. "Anna, can you hear me?" Silence.

Something rustled nearby. He turned, just in time for Anna to jump from the tree above him and land on his back, sending them both to the ground.

"Gotcha!" She let out a burst of laughter. "I scared you, didn't I?"

"Anna, what the hell is wrong with you?" he growled, practically throwing her off him. "I almost had a heart attack! What happened?"

"Well…" she said, grinning, "you said you don't get scared. So I had to test it out. As it turns out, you do have a fear."

Kratos stood up, his heart still thumping in his chest. "I thought you were attacked by something. I thought…" He trailed off. "Never mind. You got me."

"Ha!" She wrapped her arms around him. "Man, I can't believe it. I scared you."

"Just…don't ever do that again, okay?" he said. She kissed his cheek.

"Fine. Next time, I scream, it'll be the real deal, alright?"

"It better be," he grumbled. "Haven't you ever heard of the boy who cried wolf?"

"Okay, okay. I promise I won't do that again. But on one condition," she added.

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And that is?"

Her face broke into a wide smile. "Tell me your biggest fear."

"I thought that would be obvious," he said. "Losing you."

"That's sweet. It won't work. Seriously, what are you afraid of that's so embarrassing?"

She might've been imagining it, but she saw a pale tint on Kratos' cheeks appear. "Don't laugh," he warned.

"Would I ever laugh at you?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Yes. Alright, I'll tell you. I'm-I'm…afraid of heights."

This statement was met with dead silence for a few seconds. Then Anna broke into peels of hysterical laughter. "Heights? Heights? You have wings! You live on a comet! How can you be afraid of heights?"

"You said you wouldn't laugh," he grumbled as she leaned against him for support. "I am…uneasy about being up so high. Falling would be a disaster for me."

"So that's why you like to walk everywhere," she said. "Oh, this is great. You're never going to live this down."