Buckling myself in, I carefully pulled the gossip magazine out of my bag. I had the row to myself, to which I was grateful for, because everyone wants to know what a fabulous 18-year-old superstar is reading. On the cover was a large broken heart, and a picture of two people within either sides of the heart. The caption was "Ambassador Prince and Long-time GF Split!". The so-called "GF" had thick red hair, and a pretty face, but her boobs were the size of basketballs, and she seemed to wear too much pink. Th Ambassador prince however, was much different. Fair, with green eyes, and mussed up hair, he was gorgeous by any girl's standards, despite his thick dark eyebrows. Flipping to the inside article, there were more pictures of the not-so-happy couple. Apparently, they were engaged, but the ambassador called it off due to her possessive behavior and a visiting mystery person, said to be arriving sometime this week. I quickly noticed that the Ambassador Prince was a country, like my father, representing the UK, and individually, England. Ambassador Prince Arthur Kirkland of England. And then it clicked. HE'S the one that taught me guitar and music! I groggily remembered how good he was at anything, and that he could make any song sound fun. I laughed as I noticed in the bottom of the page was a segment speculating on whether I was the mystery person. But say I AM this mystery person? I've only been to the UK once, and that was as a child! I don't even know if I'm going that far west! I sighed miserably, and returned the magazine to its spot in my bag. I read my manga anthology, typed up some drafts of e-mails to a few credible magazines about interviews, and napped.
An hour later , I got off the plane in Beijing and had a sit-down meal. While waiting for my soup, I called my brother. "Nihao, Brother. I'm in Beijing. Where am I going and why the fudge am I here?" I spoke sarcastically into my cell phone. He chortled on the other end, "Well, chibinee-chan, you're going to boarding school!" "in BEIJING? I know Otou-san had something to do with this and he's too high class to let Yao-nii-kun accept me into one of his schools." "You're right, it is out of Asia, and to the west." "and? Where is it?" there was a long pause. "You'll see. Till then, we'll play a game! You'll win anyway, but you have to follow my instructions. In each city you land in, there will be a hint to the next city and an item corresponding with that hint. Each item will count towards the grand prize, which points you to your final destination. Your first item and hint will come to you during the course of your meal, along with your tickets. If you can't get it, look at your ticket. Bon Voyage, chibinee-chan!" and the conversation ended.
I was finishing my meal when a pretty chinese concierge approached my table and asked me if I was Miss Hatsune, and if was expecting some mail. I replied that I was, and was handed a manila envelope. I finished my meal, and opened my package. Inside was a thick iron skeleton key with a slightly ornamental ring and a tag attached. The tag had a small poem on it;
Though I come from a land that's cold and dark,
The people here have bright warm hearts.
Thought to have been the birthplace of a great ideal,
but the death site for the last of the imperial.
My home is the capital of this icy wonderland,
the largest in the world.
I pondered these words for a few moments. Then began the thought process. It's a place that is usually cold and icy, but filled with warm people, I thought. Any of Scandinavia came to mind, but they weren't big. That left Canada and Russia. Both had friendly and loving people (believe it or not), and were icy playgrounds. Then it clicked. Canada is a dominion! It is its own country, but has never been rule by the UK's imperials directly. And there haven't been any royal deaths involving families for a long time so it has to be-!
"Moscow, Russia." I grinned checking my ticket. I was correct. I hummed a happy tune for the next few hours (layovers, ugh) and boarded at 8 pm after dinner. I slept, and woke up around 1 when everyone else was zoned out, and watched the Adolescence of Utena before falling asleep again.