Anna Marie struggled frantically against her restraints.

Why does everyone insist on kidnappin' me?

"Look lady, there are two major problems with what you're tryin' to accomplish. One is that, even if you bring Zaladane back, ah'm pretty sure that means ah'm screwed, and the other is that there are two very pissed off yokai that ah'm sure are lookin' for me right now."

"If you mean Wolverine and Magneto, they were preoccupied in the hot spring when we left camp. With any luck, they will not discover you are gone for a while."

Her heart was beating faster, hoping, praying that Magneto had figured out something was wrong.

She watched as this witch, Margali she had called herself, was mixing herbs in a bowl.

"Don't you worry….you likely won't feel a thing. It will be like going to sleep."

She felt tears sting her eyes, and she clenched her fists as she struggled even more, trying to break free-

She started to feel dizzy, and noticed that the witch was wearing some sort of gas mask, and she was burning the herbs very close to Anna Marie's face.
Everything faded to black as she lost consciousness.

Shiro and Magneto took to the skies, the prince engulfed in flames as they both followed Wolverine at breakneck speed.

Kurt was teleporting along, worry and tension keeping them silent as they honed in on Anna Marie's location, growing nearer to the cave on the side of the mountain where the witch had taken her.

"Everyone, be on guard. No telling what kind of traps are waiting for us." Magneto warned.

Just as he said that, Wolverine ran smack into a force field, sending an electric shock through him and throwing him back a few feet.

"Fucking witch…" Wolverine growled as he stood up, shaking off the shock as the smell of singed clothing wafted around him.

"...like that one." Magneto commented dryly.

Margali felt the disturbance just as the ritual began, and hoped that she could complete the task at hand before the yokai who had been guarding the girl could reach them.

They will eventually break the barrier. Hopefully, by the time that happens, the ritual will be complete.

The incantations she spoke were in an old language, designed to bring Zaladane forth from the astral plane, and, with any luck, allow her to live again.

The girl's body will serve as a vessel, surely.

She continued with her incantations, but was interrupted by the sensation of her barriers being broken.

Hmm. They broke through faster than I thought.

She was about to open her mouth to speak again, when she felt a fist connect with the side of her jaw.

"Logan! Do not kill the woman!" Kurt warned as he leaned down, trying to rouse his sister.

Logan growled as he had Margali pinned down, and his words were full of venom.

"Long time no see swamp witch."

"Get your hands off of me, Wolverine! I am trying to restore Zaladane to the land of the living!" Margali struggled against his grip.

"Ain't gonna happen, Marge. She's long dead, and she ain't comin' back." He growled in response.

"And here I thought you of all people would be happy to have her back." She spat at him.

The words made Logan growl. "Not. Like. This."

He turned to see Kurt trying to rouse his sister. "Kid! Get her out of here and to Magneto. I'll catch up."

"But…Logan-" Kurt protested.

"NOW!"

Kurt teleported in a puff of smoke, and Magneto was right at his side, Anna Marie's body limp in her brother's arms.

The look on the young hanyou's face was of worry and panic.

"She's pale….I can barely feel her pulse."

He took Anna Marie's near lifeless body into his arms, trying not to show his emotions in front of her brother. She was barely breathing, and the memories of Zaladane's death came unbidden.

"What of the witch?" He asked.

"Logan seemed to know who she was. Someone named….Margali?"

Magneto swore in an old dialect of German under his breath. "Someone we've encountered before. We need to get back to the village, quickly. Shiro, stay here, wait for Logan."

Shiro nodded, watching as Magneto carried Anna Marie, unconscious and pale, towards Zaladane's village.

Magneto's thoughts were a repeat of the same phrase. Not again. Please, not again.

She felt like she was floating and falling at the same time, in a weird sort of limbo. She opened her eyes, and she didn't recognize where she was. She sat up and looked around, seeming to be in some deserted wasteland, the wind blowing around her, with nothing for miles.

She stood up slowly, wondering where exactly she had ended up, and how she had gotten here when just moments before she had been in a cave with that witch Margali.

"Hello Anna Marie…." She heard a woman's voice behind her, and she turned to see a figure, someone who looked somewhat familiar to her, but she couldn't place her.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Anna Marie asked.

"This is the astral plane. As for who I am, I'm sure you know the answer." The woman answered.

She took a good look at the woman in front of her, and her features were much like her own. She almost looked like they could be sisters, down to the white in her dark brown hair…..

That's when it dawned on her.

"...Zaladane."

"Correct. See, I knew you would figure it out." She smiled. She seemed very calm, peaceful even.

"That woman….she was tryin' to bring you back." Anna Marie explained.

"She was unsuccessful. I cannot come back." Zaladane stated.

"So…what happens now?"

"Now….you and I get a chance to talk."