Mike, Lu, and Og were transported to the location they were asked to go, now dressed in winter clothes. Lu and Og instantly froze as they weren't expecting cold climates due to living on an island all their lives. They were still adjusting to it and remembered the Christmas they spent in New York with Mike back in the foreign exchange program. They were at an orphanage.
"This kinda looks like where I went after I found out I was adopted." Mike looked at the orphanage.
"How can anyone live in a place like that?" Lu asked.
"Not our choice, we don't have parents around." Mike reminded her aggressively.
The orphanage door then opened and there came a red-headed woman with an older, shorter woman. Mike, Lu, and Og quickly ducked down behind a bush as the two were leaving. Mike looked specifically to the redhead. That must've been her ancestor, Anastasia. She still couldn't believe the famous Anastasia was related to her and she was now going to help her make their family complete.
"I got you a job in the fish factory," the creepy old woman told Mike's unknown ancestor. "You go straight down the path until you get to the fork in the road, go left-"
"Bye!" the orphaned woman was waving to all her friends as she had to leave now. Probably outgrew being an orphan and missing the chance of being taken into a foster home, unlike her descendant she would never know about.
"I thought your ancestor was a princess, not some factory worker!" Lu called out.
"Shush, Princess..." Mike darted her eyes at her frenemy. Mike was never sure whether to like Lu or not, but once she found out that Lu actually wanted to be friends with her and found Hermione Cuzzlewitz to actually be a terrible person, they formed a friendship, but there were times when they would be at each other's throats almost like sisters.
Mike, Lu, and Og had their translators on before they left so they wouldn't have to worry about hearing an odd foreign language like Russian once they got there in case they automatically ran into someone. The elder woman who was called 'Phlegmenkoff' was giving 'Anya' instructions. The trio listened closely and heard about a path to take Anya out of this town and into Paris.
"Paris..." Mike, Lu, and Og whispered together.
"Together in Paris..." Mike remembered that from the story Og told her and Lu.
Anya left the orphanage and went down the steps. She then spotted Mike, Lu, and Og. "I haven't seen you three around here... Are you new?"
"A-Actually, we're here to help you." Lu spoke up.
"Help me?" Anya raised an eyebrow. "With what?"
"Get to Paris," Mike answered rather quickly. "We overheard your conversation about going there instead of a fish factory. The truth is... We want to go to Paris too! Isn't that right, guys?"
Og quickly nodded.
"Why go with me?" Anya asked. "You don't even know me."
"Actually..." Lu was about to say they found out about her before they left, but Mike quickly covered her mouth.
"We just want to help," Mike said to her ancestor. "Please, let us help you, Anya."
Anya looked at them long and hard. "Okay... You can come with me. But nothing suspicious, okay? You guys are a little strange."
"Ignorance is bliss..." Og recited.
"All right, come along then," Anya allowed them to go with her as they walked away from the orphanage. "My name's Anya."
"Anya?" Mike asked.
"Yeah," Anya shrugged. "I don't know why and how I got here, but everyone just called me Anya."
"What do you mean you don't know how?" Lu asked.
"Memory loss?" Og asked.
"Yeah," Anya nodded. "I guess I belong in Paris because I got this..." she showed them her necklace which read 'Together in Paris'. "I feel like it's a clue to help me find my family. It's mostly why I wanna go there instead of that gross fish factory."
"I'm sure you're right." Og answered, implying she was on the right track to believe that.
Anya scoffed, but she grew to like the three kids. "So, who are you three?"
"I'm Mike, this is Lu, and this quiet kid is Og," the tomboy introduced them. "So, Anya, you think you'll find your family?"
Anya shrugged. "I don't know..." She then mumbled about her caretaker as she walked with her new friends.
The four then came up to signs in the road as it lightly snowed. One sign pointed left to the FISHERMAN'S VILLAGE where Anya was supposed to go, but to the right, there was a sign which read ST. PETERSBURG.
"Well, I know that's to the left," Anya sighed a little sadly. "I'll be Anya the orphan forever."
"Come on, don't give up," Mike soothed, then took the necklace. "Remember what this says?"
Anya put her hand on it, smiling down a little to the girl, already feeling close with her. "If I go right, maybe I could find..." she paused to think and maybe feel closer to the right side than the left where she was destined to go. "Whoever gave me this necklace must've loved me."
"I know she...Or he did." Og smiled softly as he played with his nose ring.
Anya smiled, then frowned instantly. "This is crazy! Me, go to Paris?"
"Anya, calm down!" Lu was a little overwhelmed by the woman's sudden frustration.
"There has to be a meaning behind this and you guys don't know anything!" Anya yelled, then shouted out to the empty and gloomy winter sky. "Send me a sign! A hint! Anything!" She sat down on the log with her friends next to her.
"Hey, calm down, it's going to be okay..." Mike coaxed.
"How would you know?" Anya sighed. "You're just a kid."
There was a tiny whining noise heard. Everyone looked and saw a kind of mutt dog. The dog came up, grabbing Anya's scarf and ran off with it, grabbing everyone's attention.
"I don't have time to play right now, okay?" Anya was amused at first, but quickly got serious again. "I'm waiting for a sign."
The dog looked up and barked.
"Maybe that's your sign?" Lu shrugged.
Anya grew annoyed and tried to reach her scarf away from the dog, but the dog kept being playful like a typical puppy with a new master. "Give me that!" Anya grumbled as she tried to grab her scarf away from the tiny dog. "One of you get him!"
Lu and Og were about to get the dog, but Mike advised they just let him go. This might be a good thing, she wasn't really sure. Dexter and Otto didn't say anything about a dog being involved in this. The dog kept playing with Anya as she tried to get her scarf and the dog wrapped her scarf around her legs and made the woman trip into the snow against the signs. The puppy kept being playful and seemed to even know Anya should go to St. Petersburg.
"I think he wants you to go that way." Og pointed to the right, his best friends were a goat, pig, and porcupine so he could read animal body language, sometimes he could with Lu's pet turtle, Lancelot.
"Oh, great!" Anya nearly gave in. "The dog wants me to go to St. Petersburg!"
"I still think he's your sign," Mike guessed. "I mean, why else would there be a dog here in the middle of nowhere?"
Anya thought about that for a moment and sighed. "Okay... I can take a hint..."
The puppy then gave the scarf back to its rightful owner and smiled as he nearly wagged his tiny tail. Anya then decided to walk down the St. Petersburg path.
"Come on, guys." Anya told her three new friends.
Mike, Lu, and Og smiled at this, then followed Anya down the path she was destined to go down.
"Snow is so weird..." Lu stared at the white stuff around as they walked. "It's like cold, wet, white sand."
"Except you don't sweat with this." Og reminded her.
"Hey, princesses don't sweat!" Lu glared at him.
"Knock it off, you two, we're on important business to help... Anya." Mike said to her friends.
The puppy seemed to be getting tired easy. Anya turned to him and picked him up for warmth and comfort.
"What's his name?" Mike asked.
"Don't know," Anya shrugged. "What should I name him?"
"The Handsome Pooch?" Lu suggested.
"Canis Lupus Familaris?" Og put in.
Mike rolled her eyes at those names, then hummed. "I once had a pet palm tree named Petey."
Anya then thought herself for a moment. "Pooka?"
Mike smiled then. "Pooka's a nice name."
The puppy yipped a little as if he liked the name too. It would be his name from now on as they kept walking. It felt like it took forever, but the three kids, the young woman, and the dog were up the hill after their treacherous passing through the snow instead of going to the fish factory. They were on the way to St. Petersburg. Little did Anya know was that Mike, Lu, and Og were leading her to her destiny.