SEFTON, AMANDA: Page 3 of 3

BIOGRAPHY - Page 3

Although she was at first reluctant, Amanda soon came to accept her new task and she took on the codename Magik to confuse her many enemies into thinking her to be Illyana Rasputin, a former ruler of the place. As many magical spells need to be cast against a certain person, the confusion about her true identity could be a great advantage.

It was during this time that Amanda was forced to thwart Belasco and the N’Garai’s take over of Limbo and Earth. During the conflict, Amanda was forced to conceal her identity from her closest friends. It wasn't until the end of the battle that those who had not already worked out that she was not Illyana learned of Amanda’s new role. Following that, Amanda rallied together the rulers of all other various dimensions of Hell to unite them in a common goal – the preservation of Hell.

Amanda has also mastered magical control the stepping disks of Limbo, just like Belasco did before her, and practiced to wield the Soul Sword. So far, she seems to be doing a better job as Limbo’s guardian than her namesake. [X-Men: Black Sun #1-5, X-Men: Magik #1-4]

After he took the unofficial and unwanted job as the X-Men's resident link to the supernatural, Nightcrawler consulted his former lover, Amanda, several times for her magical advice. [Nightcrawler (3rd series) #2-4, 6] During one of his trips to Limbo, she secretly hid the powerful Soulsword in Kurt’s body, thinking it was safe there, since his soul was pure and unpolluted. There had been a shift in the cosmic balance recently, powerful forces at work and one thing they were after was the Soulsword. Indeed, not much later, Amanda was attacked and overpowered by Nightmare. She was rescued by the timely arrival of her mother Margali and together mother and daughter found out that Nightmare had been manipulated into attacking them by someone else. Amanda and Margali immediately sought out Nightcrawler to warn him but, upon their arrival, the demon Hive revealed himself and took over the body of Nightcrawler’s teammate, Wolverine. Eventually, the demon’s essence was disrupted by the Soulsword, though not before he revealed that there is a major war coming, one that has been brewing for a millennia, and that the entire Szardos family factor very importantly into it. [Nightcrawler (3rd series) #9-11] 

However, it was a more direct kind of danger that struck Amanda next when the dreaded Belasco spent weeks cutting through Limbo in an attempt to reclaim his throne. Although she had fought and defeated him in the past, Belasco now appeared more powerful and, without the Soulsword, Amanda was no match. Escaping through the dimensional veil, Amanda fell to Earth where she returned to Germany and checked herself into a hospital, just before falling into a coma. [New X-Men (2nd series) #37]

Though Amanda’s condition worsened, she was eventually revived by the electrical power of Surge, who restarted Amanda’s heart and wakened her from her coma. Still weak from her ordeal, Amanda warned the New X-Men that Belasco was coming for the children, as he believed they knew the location of Illyana Rasputin — the original Magik, since the New X-Men were briefly with her during the House of M. Amanda further explained that they need the Soulsword, which was still with Nightcrawler, only to be informed that Nightcrawler was in another galaxy at the time. At the strong direction of some of the remaining New X-Men not captured by Belasco, Amanda teleported herself, Hellion, Surge and one of the Sentinels guarding the Xavier Institute back to Limbo, where they found a massive army of demons awaiting them, and Belasco attempting to bring Earth to Limbo. Despite the odds, Belasco was thereafter seemingly banished by the original Magik and the New X-Men. With her old master’s plan foiled, the original Magik returned everyone, including Amanda, back to Earth. [New X-Men (2nd series) #40-41]

Back on Earth, Amanda once again picked up what was left of her former life. This was somewhat unfortunate for the X-Men, as they could have used her teleportation abilities when Bastion put them under seige and killed a number of their teleporters, including Nightcrawler. [Second Coming crossover] Although Amanda received notification of Kurt's death from Cyclops, her reaction was never shown. What is known is that at some point during this period, something transpired between Amanda and Margali Szardos to cause them to have a falling out.

Afterward, Amanda maintained an apartment in Manhattan and, arriving home one evening, was reunited with a recently resurrected Nightcrawler, who had come to visit her. Their reunion was a joyous one, until they were attacked by a robot called Trimega, which had come to capture Amanda. Kurt teleported Amanda to safety and dealt to Trimega. Though Amanda soon joined him, sporting one of her costumes from her Excalibur days, Trimega escaped. Kurt wanted to get the X-Men's help, but Amanda wanted this kept within the family and suggested to Kurt that she visit her mother, Margali, to check on her. Amanda was somewhat suspicious of why a high-tech robot would attack her, considering her abilities were related to magic.

Amanda teleported herself and Kurt to Winzeldorf to search for Margali. First, though, they took some time out to enjoy each other's company and remember old times. Amanda also told Kurt that she still loved him and that he should have let her try and save him. Soon thereafter, the two located their old circus, where they were attacked by their old friends the circus performers, who believed them to be impostors. When the misunderstanding was cleared up, Amanda got down to business and demanded Margali show herself. Amanda hinted at a falling out between herself and her mother, but this was not elaborated upon. Instead, when Amanda asked Margali about Trimega, the cryptic old witch was evasive, reminding Amanda that she walks the Winding Way and had no use for robots — which was when Trimega attacked once again.

To their surprise, Trimega split into three robots, each with a different power set. After a brief skirmish, which ended when Margali used her power to banish the robots, Kurt was of the opinion that they needed the assistance of the X-Men. Margali was quick to agree with her foster son, much to Amanda's surprise, given her mother's past dealings with the team. The trio teleported to the Jean Grey School where their arrival was indeed not met with much welcome from the X-Men and Margali was taken into a holding cell. Their suspicion turned out not to be without merit, as the the school was suddenly under attack by an entire army of Trimegas, giving Margali cover to escape. In the process of doing so, Margali reduced Storm and Beast into piles of memories that she then pilfered, ending their lives in the process. 

Having also distrusted her mother, Amanda found Nightcrawler and Wolverine and used her magic to restore Storm and the Beast. She also ascertained that Margali ransacked their memories so that she could reach the realm beyond this one — the one where Nightcrawler had been after he died. When she and the X-Men joined the main battle that was raging on the school grounds against the Trimegas, Amanda spotted her mother opening a portal to the other realm. Margali clearly had some connection to the robots and Amanda was disgusted that her mother would have let the Trimegas kill both she and Nightcrawler as cover. Though Nightcrawler took out Margali, the portal was still open and needed to be closed. Amanda didn't know how to close it from this side, so she and Nightcrawler leapt into the portal. Although Amanda passed through, Nightcrawler was unable to join her without killing himself. A tearful Amanda was not going to let Kurt die again, so she closed the portal, asking Kurt to prove himself a hero and find his way back to her. Kurt was purged from the portal and Amanda succeeded in closing it, trapping herself in the other realm. [Nightcrawler (4th series) #1-4]

Amanda found herself trapped in the Borderland surrounding Heaven, where she was reunited with Nightcrawler sooner than expected. During a deadly battle against the Shadow King, Nightcrawler failed and his soul wandered towards Heaven. Amanda explained to Kurt that he still had work to do on Earth, and revealed that she was in the Borderlands because she had some work to do as well, though she would elaborate no further. Amanda was happy for Kurt as he was pulled back to Earth, and urged him to save the young mutants he was looking after. Likewise, Kurt promised to find Amanda so that they could have their happy ending. [Nightcrawler (4th series) #10]

Amanda remains in the Borderland around Heaven and, while it is unclear what mission she has been tasked with, no doubt it will be magic.