January 29, 1984

Amanda should, by all accounts, not be driving. It had been her mother's idea to have her learn how to, even though she wasn't technically allowed to when they were living in England. However, being a German citizen with a travelling circus she'd taken advantage of a quick visit to Germany to get her license at the age of seventeen.

This didn't mean that she should be driving though, license or no. Amanda had only driven for short periods of time and certainly not up the mountain in a snowstorm. She hadn't intended for it to be this way; she had thought that the snowstorm wouldn't be for another three days. That was what all the reports said and she figured she could make it to the observatory and back by that point.

Of course, it was just her luck that they would be wrong. The attendant at the rental place had been sure to tell her that the weather was unpredictable. He'd also digressed into some local legends about pagan spirits of the netherworld living in the area she was going into but she'd brushed them off. She'd been trying to get a car at the time despite her young age; not listen to idle talk and urban legends.

Sighing she tilted her head, causing a shift in her hair. Her thick braid coiled over her shoulder and hung by her waist. It was going to be tangled with the seatbelt when she tried to get out. Even with the heater going she could feel the cold seeping into the cheap rental. Sighing she snuggled deep into her coat. No matter. If she could just keep pushing forward than she could make it to the observatory before the storm got too bad. It wasn't as if she could turn back; she had come too far up the mountain for turning back to make sense. There was too much distance.

Her eyes flickered to her backpack. If she looked hard she could just make out the bump in the backpack that was the small black box her mother had given her. Her grip on the wheel tightened involuntarily and she bit her lip. It was one of the few things her mother had asked her to do before dying only weeks earlier.

Amanda's mother had been, since her father had died eleven years ago and her brother abandoned them a month later, Amanda's only real relative. They had travelled the world together with their performing circus, Amanda learning her craft as a dancer while her mother performed as a fortune teller. She was famous for her accuracy which, as she explained to Amanda, was all about being able to read a person's personality.

A few times, mostly out of curiosity, Amanda had tried it. Her own attempts hadn't been good, even when she followed her mother's pointers. Either she just didn't have a knack for it or her mother was holding something back. When she had grumpily pointed it out her mother had laughed at her frustration.

"It was not meant for you," her mother explained, "Just as I was never so graceful. Don't worry about it Amanda."

Tears welled in her eyes and Amanda bit down on her lip even harder. When her mother had been diagnosed with cancer her life had slowly lost its comfortable familiarity. Her mother left the circus overseers as Amanda's guardians and put her affairs in order. At the same time she began to take conventional treatments, though she stopped them once she realized that, in her case at least, they weren't doing any good.

Towards the end she had begun babbling about things that Amanda didn't understand. Sometimes her mother frightened her with the way she talked, and other times she simply confused her. Her last wishes were, for the most part practical. There were only two of them.

The first was that she simply wished to be buried in Munich, the city of her birth. It had been the city that she had met her husband, gotten married, joined the circus and, on a return visit, given birth to Amanda. A lot of her mother's life had happened in Munich and it made sense that she would want it to be her final resting place.

Her other request had concerned the small black box. Her mother had entreated her, several times in fact, to deliver it to someone at an observatory that rested high in the Alps. Her instructions had been hazy but Amanda had tried to remember them. They were all she had to go on.

"It must be given to a man who healed flesh, but now heals the fabric of our realm. Watch for the strange man there."

To say the least Amanda wondered if her mother's mind had gone, though she could be completely normal at times. It hadn't stopped her from worrying. All of the doctors she consulted said that there was no reason they could see for her lapses. None of her medications caused it and the cancer wasn't located in the brain. Such rantings had subsided in her final week, leaving her to die in peace.

The memorial service had taken place in England, the last place the Munich Circus had travelled to. Her fellow performers had been there, helping her plan it and giving her sympathy and support. While in attendance Amanda experienced her second earth-shattering shock that month; the appearance of her brother.

Stefan had slipped quietly in and said nothing, though Amanda had recognized him. He'd caught her after the service.

"I'm sorry about mother," he said, his voice soft.

Amanda had managed a nod, trying to swallow the resentment she felt for Stefan's abandonment. It had broken her mother's heart, she knew that much.

"How are you doing?" he asked.

"I'll get through it," Amanda replied.

He'd nodded and looked around.

"I am twenty-nine," he said, "I could be your guardian if you have nowhere else."

"Mother named the circus overseers as my guardians," she said, her voice somewhat sharp, "She didn't know where to find you."

Her mother also didn't trust him, even if he was her only and much-beloved son. Amanda didn't remember him too clearly, but she'd heard stories that he'd been a troublemaker that both her parents had indulged. Later it had been explained to her by a few employees that Stefan had gotten in trouble with the circus multiple times for shirking his job and pranks that were taken too far. Stefan sighed.

"Amanda," he said, "I don't want to cause trouble. Just…our mother just died."

Feeling somewhat deflated Amanda had nodded. He had been her child too, and they both needed this time of mourning. If he was interested in staying and trying to mend bridges then Amanda wouldn't stop him. It would be nice to have someone to talk freely about her mother to, to cry with. She should have known better. It was Stefan.

He stayed with her in their family caravan for two days before she caught him going through her mother's things.

"Stefan," she'd said, her voice flat, "What are you doing?"

Not looking the least bit guilty Stefan got up from the open trunk and wiped his hand on his pants.

"Listen…mother had some things in her possession that other people are interested in."

She'd blinked.

"Excuse me?" asked Amanda

"She had something that was a lot more important than she thought," explained Stefan, "There's this black box she had at one point, and I want to know if she still had it. You see, I have an interested buyer in Latveria-"

Amanda had pulled her hand back and slapped him. He'd stared at her, his eyes wide.

"Get out," she said.

"Amanda-"

"Get out!"

Sighing Stefan had left, pausing at the doorway.

"That box is more important than you could possibly imagine," he said, "It's dangerous-"

"Out!"

The box had, at the time, been residing among her own things. She was relieved that he hadn't thought to look there. The thought of disobeying her mother's request hadn't even crossed her mind, though she knew it would be difficult to fulfill. Failure wasn't an option though, and it was for that reason that she drove through the snow two days after burying her mother's body in Munich.

The wipers pushed away snow, clearing her vision minutely. The storm was getting worse. Amanda thanked the rental car attendant's foresight in putting chains on the wheels, otherwise she would have spilled over the rocky roads by that point. He might have talked about those weird occurances too mcuh, but he'd made sure that she was properly equipped. It was the only comfort she had. She was uncomfortable driving in the worsening conditions, but stopping in her car would be a foolish idea.

Ahead of her the road was darkening; an effect of the thick woods that shaded them. She squinted, inching her car ahead so that she didn't run into anything. Her discomfort mounted by the second and she began to realize that there was little hope of reaching the observatory that night, or perhaps that week. Amanda didn't know how long the storm was projected to last.

On the map she'd seen that there was a small town near the observatory. It was closer than the observatory and, if memory served her correctly, there was a youth hostel there. Her German was poor as a result of spending so much time away from her place of birth, but she had enough so long as there were no complicated conversations. She would stop there and resume her journey when the storm let up.

In this frame of mind the crack above her was a complete surprise. The snow was so thick that Amanda had to squint her eyes in order to see what had caused it. Still searching there was a rumbling sound and, looking up, she saw a large tree come rolling down the side of the mountain, crashing right into her car's path.

Amanda slammed on the brakes but the ice on the road was thicker than she'd thought. The car began to slide and Amanda struggled to regain control of it. As she watched the rapidly approaching tree she let go of the gas completely, hoping to slow herself down at least a little.

She closed her eyes and felt the rapid jolt of the collision, shattering the front window and sending glass everywhere. Her airbag stopped her from falling too far but she could see that the front of her car was totaled.

The car silde and the backside hit the tree and Amanda banged her head on the dashboard. She saw stars for a moment and her vision blurred. Blearily she saw that her car was positioned to precariously close to the edge of the road. Very carefully she unbuckled and grabbed her backpack. Amanda went for the door and felt that the handle was stuck.

Holding her breath she kicked open the door. The car jostled and Amanda jumped out. The car edged closer to the precipice but didn't fall over. She breathed out. She was out of the car. Now she had to figure out what to do next.

To start with she had absolutely no idea where she was. It was a scary thought but she was on the mountainside in the middle of a storm with her car busted. Amanda looked around her, wincing at her situation and trying to figure out a way out of it.

In the end she decided to get over the tree and keep following the road. She couldn't stay with her car after all. If she was lucky she'd be able to reach the town she'd seen on the map. Whether she'd manage to make it to the town at all was even more questionable but she was willing to give it a shot. Amanda couldn't afford to think in anything other than positive terms.

Amanda pulled her hood up and walked up to the tree. Once there she began moving through its myriad of branches. Her dancer's balance and grace were definitely helping and she felt satisfied with her medium. Some of the branches were covered in ice, making it hard to find certain footing to climb over the tree. Still, using both hands and slipping more than once she managed to make it over to the other side.

Shouldering her backpack securely she continued onwards. Snow was falling thickly now, making the ground more slippery. She kept moving onwards, trying not to let the cold affect her. She wasn't about to become another statistic. Amanda had a job to do and she was going to do it correctly.

Further up the road she came to another tree. Thankfully this one wasn't as big as the first one and she used the same method that she'd used on the first one on it. Unlike the first one though it was icier and Amanda hit her head going down it. She thought she felt a trickle of blood under her hood and tried to apply pressure. Seeing that it wasn't that serious she continued on.

Amanda was starting to get tired now. Her watch told her that she'd been on the road for an hour and she hadn't seen anything that looked remotely like someplace someone would live. It was hard to feel her feet and she was starting to get incredibly worried.

Exhausted she put her foot down on what looked like a snow covered road. There appeared to be more ice than she'd thought and she slipped on it. Amanda fell forwards. For a second she caught herself with her hand but there was too much ice to get a solid purchase. Slipping still further moved her body so she was sent tumbling off the road and into a snowy ditch instead of off the mountain.

Even so her journey wasn't a pleasant one. Brambles scratched at her face and tore at her arms. Her jacket ripped and the cold flooded in. Amanda felt her backpack's strap break, torn by a branch. It fell to the ground ahead of her even as she reached for it.

Her braid got caught in a branch, pulling her backwards sharply. Her descent had too much weight behind it to be stopped by that though and it simply tore away the hair tie. Her hair spilled out and she kept falling.

Finally she fell to the ground, her body landing awkwardly and painfully. A sharp pain in her foot rose and Amanda cried out. The wind began to howl and for a moment she stayed immobile, trying to get her breath back. Looking up she could see that she'd fallen a long way, but nothing she couldn't climb.

Still panting she noticed her backpack some ways away. It was almost, but not quite, within her reach. Clawing herself forwards with the arm closest to it she managed to pull it close to her, but then let her arm fall back in exhaustion.

Now that she had her backpack she had to get moving. Her body screamed in protest at the idea, but she couldn't stay where she was. Gritting her teeth she tried to get up again, but her leg wouldn't support her weight. Amanda fell to the ground again, hitting her head painfully.

She cried out again and tried to get some air into her lungs. The cold was seeping in fast though and she could feel despair as she gasped and panted. Everything ached and she didn't know if she could get up again. The knock to her head was painful and she began to wonder if she was concussed.

Alarmingly her vision was beginning to blur. She swallowed and tried to push herself up again but she couldn't quite manage it. Looking around her in the swirl of white, which was rapidly becoming black, she tried to focus on something but she couldn't quite manage it.

A noise that sounded like a soft explosion filled the air. She lolled her head and saw a shape at the far end of the clearing. It looked like it was human and from far off corner of her mind the thought came that she should call for help. It drifted away, almost insubstantially, and before she knew it it was gone. Amanda watched as the shape approached her, her world becoming increasingly black and soft.

It crouched next to her. She saw it wave a hand in front of her face and her eyes followed it vaguely. One hand grabbed her pack, slinging it over her shoulder by its good strap. Hands slipped behind her back and neck then, picking her up. A sharp stab of pain from her leg and head caused her to cry out and she felt the shape hesitate. Then Amanda felt the world shift in a cloud of black smoke before losing consciousness.