"Pooka!"

Anya stumbled out onto a stone road and fell as tendrils of topiary grasped at her neck. Scrambling back to her feet, Anya heard a voice and reluctantly looked up as Pooka growled.

"Anastasia, your imperial highness. Look what ten years has done to us. You, a beautiful young flower. And me, a rotting corpse." The shrouded, green-tinged figure advanced toward Anya.

"That face…"

"Last seen, heard, at a party like this one…"

"The Curse…"

"Followed by a tragic night on the ice. Remember?"

In the midst of the swirling green magic that threatened to throw Anya to the ground like a wave, something sparked. A flash of light passed before her eyes, illuminating a scene as if it were a reflection in a frosted, dusty mirror. A bony hand scraping her ankle, trying to drag her down into the shattered ice. A frightened glance up into the same haggard, awful face.

"Rasputin!" A look of utter horror and disgust covered her face.

"Rasputin! Destroyed by your despicable family. But what goes around comes around and around and around and around…" He chuckled cruelly as his green shadow demons tore at Anya's dress whirling her around. She shook them off.

"I'm not afraid of you." She snarled.

"I can fix that. Care for a little swim under the ice?"

The ground suddenly fell away from under her feet. Anya screamed and clung for dear life to the ragged edge of the bridge over the frigid waters of the Seine river.

Say your prayers, Anastasia. No one can save you!" Rasputin snarled, preparing to kick her into the swirling torrent below.

"Wanna bet?" A voice shouted from behind Rasputin. Anya gasped. Dimitri tore off his tie as he ran and upon reaching them, punched Rasputin soundly in the face. At that moment, Anya's grip failed and she slid down the broken section of stone, managing to hold on to the very edge. Close behind her Dimitri seized her hand in both of his and struggled to pull her up the steep incline.

"Dimitri… If we live through this, remind me to…"

"Thank me later." He interrupted, struggling to get them to safety.

"How enchanting. Together again. For the last time!" Rasputin taunted from above on the bridge. A tendril of green snaked out from the reliquary, wrapped itself around Dimitri and lifted him off into the sky and onto a newly animated horse statue that began to fly, trying to kill Dimitri. Anya meanwhile had managed to reach the solid part of the bridge again, and not a minute too soon. The rest of the shattered wreck fell away finally and splashed down, disappearing into the water. The horse threw Dimitri from its back and tried to stamp on him.

"NO!" Anya shouted but was cut off by two bony hands grabbing her by the neck. She choked, unable to breathe. She tried to shout again but no sound came out. Her hands were losing their grip on the sharp stone. Her vision was getting blurred and she felt herself slipping away. She heard a voice dimly, as if in a dream…

"Dasvidania your highness . Finally the last Romanov dead" The pressure on her neck was released, and she felt herself falling, falling… but blacked out before she landed.

She came to lying on her back on some very hard and very cold surface. She gasped and sat up, which sent her head reeling. She'd landed on a slab of Rasputin's enchanted ice. It had kept her from drowning. Ironic. She looked up to see Rasputin cackling down at where he thought she fell.

"NO! Anya!" Dimitri's anguished cry sparked her into action. She struggled up a steep access stairway up the side of the bridge. She reached the top to find Dimitri once again locked in combat with the horse, and Rasputin still gazing down into the freezing water.

"Long live the Romanovs!" He cackled, lifting his green reliquary high.

"Right. I couldn't have said it better myself." Anya said and lunged for the reliquary in his hand. She managed to grab it and tried to throw it down, but Rasputin seized her arm and twisted it. Anya cried out in pain and dropped the thing. It broke enough to dissolve the horse, which released Dimitri. He was rushing toward them but Rasputin was too fast. Wielding a piece of heavy twisted metal, he struck at Anya's head. It connected with a sharp crack that threw her back several feet, head over heels, where she finally came to a stop and did not move.

Emboldened by this victory, Rasputin allowed himself a moment to smirk at his nemesis's fallen body. Blood was dripping down her forehead and from between her lips, dying her face a deep red. Romanov blood, spilled tonight. Finally.

His reverie was broken by a shattering sound. He whirled around to see Dimitri standing over a shattered green tube, a piece of metal much like Rasputin's held in his hand. He dodged a swipe from Rasputin and scrambled to Anya's side. She still hadn't moved.

Rasputin screamed in shock and horror. How could this happen? How could he take his eyes off of the reliquary for just a second and allow THIS to happen! A bright flash of green followed from the sky, shooting down upon Rasputin like a meteor. It struck his head and he began to shake, and to dissolve down until even his bones were a fine powder that was being blown away by the wind.

With a last surge over the fragmented bridge, Dimitri reached Anya.

"No…" He groaned, taking in her bleeding forehead. He put a hand under her head and was shocked to find blood dripping from her partially opened mouth.

"Anya!" He cried, digging through his pockets for a handkerchief. He tore it in half, pressing one half to her forehead and the other to her bleeding mouth. He could see that in her fall she had bitten her tongue. He looked around. The entire area was deserted despite the fact that half of the bridge was in the water. Anya was still unconscious, very pale and cold. Dimitri gently lifted her into his arms and carried her back to the castle her grandmother was residing in.