Chapter 3

"Don't stop running."

"Go to Arc, fulfill my wish together."

"I love you, my daughter."

October 27, 11th After Fall year – car park near Sheremetyevo Airport

The sound of a descending plane woke her from her sleep. The sun was clearly seen now. She had abandoned the black van from last night's grand escape far from the airport and had to walk barefooted to their rendezvous point, a small pickup truck parked near the airport. There was a blanket on her. Her feet were covered with wool socks and there were boots on the ground.

There was someone in the backseat. She looked behind to see John. He was also only wearing a white shirt and pajamas. It looks like some people went after him too since he didn't have time to dress. At least he didn't get caught.

"Arc, wake up." she said while patting his leg.

"Err, what?" he said while he rose.

John Arcin Rivers or "John Arc" is an American in his early-thirties, blond hair, scruffy beard, and a 6'1 muscular body that proves he's a black belt. He used to be a student of her adopted father. They met each other when John got lost in the forest while on his 6th grade camping trip. John collapsed in the forest when he fell from a low cliff. The Scholar then found him wounded and unconscious. He decided against his will, that he would help the kid. He knew that if he brought him to his home he would endanger himself by letting people know where he is. But he still helped him. When John came to, he had lost his memories. Conflicted, the Scholar had to train him for some time until he regained his memories. He taught John how to meditate, to use his innate abilities, taught him what he knew. It was about a year before John regained his memories.

John promised to the Scholar that he would not tell people of his location in return for taking care of him and teaching him what he knew. When John returned to his own home, he did not return as a stupid kid that got lost. He returned as a mature young adult. Because of his meeting with the Scholar he advanced his studies and got a Monarch's Commendation, the highest award a man in a magic academic course can obtain, at the age of sixteen. John would visit the Scholar in his vacations. He enlisted for the Navy at the age of twenty-two, and quickly became part of the special forces. At the age of twenty-five, he was the best. John then met Moon once when she broke into his house. John found Moon unconscious on his sofa. He recognized the glove the girl was wearing as the glove the Scholar had. Moon then told John of the mission they were given to find "the successor" and as to what happened to the Scholar. That was five years ago.

"I think that was our plane."

"I noticed."

The plane that descended had "Argus PH Airlines" painted on. Moon took a folder from under the driver's seat and gave it to John.

John passed her a paper bag which had a sandwich in it. "It's breakfast" he said.

"Just a sandwich?" Moon asked.

"We'll just order something in the airport."

"Figures."

"My head hurts... so please don't complain."

"How do you think they found us?"

"Beats me, the ones they sent after me never even noticed I was gone."

"Your old pal Willy was with the team that went after me."

"Maybe he was the one who tracked us?"

"Maybe. We should better get going now. Did you have to leave your stuff behind?"

"Yeah, didn't have enough time to pack up. What about you?"

"I lost it in the explosion," she said while munching on the sandwich.

"You used magic?!"

"I didn't have a choice. There were too many of them."

"We should get going before they track the signature."

A signature is magic residue that tells the nature of a spell and its caster. It can also be used to track down the caster's aura. The more power a person uses in a spell, the stronger a signature. XERN created a device that lets you see the energy trail the signature leaves behind. It was originally used to find criminals with magic. But was copied and mass-produced, then became available on the black market and is used by both government and non-government forces.

"They won't be able to. The van that I used to get out of there had that machine."

"Well, we should hurry just in case," John implied.

They quickly went out the truck. Moon was thankful for having boots to wear. There were 5 bags in the back of the truck. John took two bags, one for him and one for her. "We should change clothes first, "John tossed a bag to Moon. "You go first." Moon looked suspiciously at John.

"Don't worry, I won't peek." John said while putting his hands in the air. He quickly backed up and observed the surroundings. "Kids aren't my thing, y'know?"

Moon quickly went in the truck and opened the bag. It contained a white coat, plain bra and underwear. There was also a purple turtleneck and gray pants. These were the clothes that she bought at a sale the day before, besides the tasteless underwear. She quickly removed her tank top and shorts. Due to the fiasco last night, she wasn't wearing any proper clothing for the cold so she definitely needed to change. She put on the underwear then her pants, then the turtleneck. She just held the coat in her hands when she went out.

"Wow, you look like a normal twenty year-old girl, except for the hair of course." John remarked. She put on her coat then. He went behind the truck again and opened a bag. He took out a dark-brown wig.

"Those guys might be looking for a white-haired girl and a blond, handsome, and hot American in the airports. So just to be safe we have to use wigs this time. We don't need them to stop us here."

Usually, they would just wear a beret or something but this time they had to take an extra precaution.

"Okay, your turn to get out of the PJ's." Moon said while putting on the wig.

"All right, you should pick out the stuff you'll take with you in the back." John reminded as he entered the truck.

"Yeah, yeah." She said as she climbed in the rear.

She found a mirror in one of the bags. She looked at herself in the mirror. Not bad, but I like silver better. She returned the mirror in the bag and sorted out the stuff she would bring and left behind. Too bad I left my favorite stuff, no use whining about it now though.

John emerged from the truck wearing a brown coat, formal polo, black slacks, and boots.

"Wow, you look like the average thirty-year old American now" she joked.

"That's the point." John then also put on a black wig. "Now I look more normal."

Moon went down the truck, bag in hand and said "We should hurry up." She then took the tickets from her bag and gave one to John. "Our flight leaves in thirty minutes."

"Let me get my bag first."John said as he put his hand to the rear of the truck and grabbed a suitcase and a bag he chose earlier.

"Don't forget the folder." The folder had a list of possible successors. So far they've observed three of them to no avail.

"All right, let's head to the airport." John said while shoving the folder into his suitcase.

They walked over to the airport and went to a Karbucks inside and ordered coffee for both of them. Moon had four cream and three sugars, while John had no cream and two sugars.

Next they went to a Burger Prince and ordered two cheesy bacon mushroom burgers for takeout.

The notice board where the plane's departures said that the Philippine's flight is in Gate 31 and will be departing in twenty minutes.

They stayed at the lounge for a while to finish their coffee and burger. Moon thought to herself. I really love this burger.

She looked at John. It was obvious that he too was enjoying the burger.

It was about fifteen minutes left till the departure. They finished their coffee and Moon went to a nearby convenience store. She chose two canned sparkling wine, and then paid at the cashier and quickly returned to John.

"You really like this don't you?" John asked while taking one too.

"You don't have to ask that." Moon said while opening hers.

John studied the can as if it was his first and said "Do you know that, before 2011 AD in Russia, liquor with 10% or less alcohol content was only treated as a softdrink?"

They were both silent for a while and said at the same time "Russia..." then drank the sparkling wine.

"Oh right, your passport." John handed Moon a passport with the color of white striped with black. A passport of that color means allowed access for the Philippines. The Philippines became a special case after the Yggdrasil event. In which case, the Tree Island becoming a part of the country. They were using their real passports since it was safe to risk it.

After that, they went to Gate 31 and went through the mental stability scanners. Advanced security that analyzes a person's psyche and whether they had ill will. If one was found to be harboring such, they are further screened to ensure the safety of other passengers. They went to the flight attendant that accepts the ticket. John was first. "Enjoy your flight" was what she said. Then it was Moon's turn. "Enjoy your flight". Again, don't they get tired saying the same thing?

They went through without a hitch.

There were still only a few people in here. They went to their seats at the rear end. After getting on their seats, they decided to talk about the next possible successor.

"Who's the next one?" asked Moon.

John took the folder from his suitcase. "Okay, where's that now?" he asked himself while going through the files.

"There we go." he said as he pulled a file from the folder. There was also a picture attached from a month earlier.

"Ethan Yuusha Blake, Male. Age: 21 Born: November 6, 2043 CE Education: 2nd year NGME-ACI student. Mage Rank: S. Specialty: Reformation Note: can also use any other specialty or element from Rank: B upwards. Affiliation: Ace Representative and King Mage of NWI. Parents: Jameson Blake, deceased. Mia Aikawa Blake, Research Division Head of Neo-Tech Industries."

"Interesting..." remarked Moon. "What else?"

"Okay... Siblings: Lisa Blake, Middle School. Summon(s): Lily, Designation: Divine-class Guardian" John and Moon absorbed the information long and hard.

Their thoughts were cut by the announcement that the plane will now depart.

Then finally Moon said, "He's powerful. He might be it."

"Don't get your hopes up." John said while putting the file back in the folder and into the suitcase. "He might be another dud like the last three."

"Still..." mumbled Moon.

"I've already set-up our observation points," John said.

"Yeah..." Moon said while the plane rose. "Manila International City…" At the same time, they never noticed that their target's own mother was in 1st class.