Mary shielded her ears as the foghorn blared through the air, coming from the ferry she was about to board. She frowned, cautiously lifting her hands away when the signal sounded again. She jumped. Shyly, the teen adjusted her eyes up to the ferry worker in front of her. He cleared his throat.

"First name?" he asked, looking down at the girl.

"Mary... Magdalena, sir." she replied, internally cringing. How long had it been since she'd said her full first name? She wasn't sure, but Mary knew it'd been quite some time since then. The periwinkle-haired girl always preferred being called "Mary."

"Alright," the man began. "and your last name?"

"Oh," she paused. "I don't have--"

Before she could reply, Maria came up behind her and spoke.

"It's Krestchmann." the General responded, smiling.

Mary stared at the taller woman.

"I'll have your ticket then, please." the ferry worker said. Still staring at Maria, Mary gave him the ticket and walked away with her.

"Um, Maria..." Mary started as she fiddled with her fingers.

A million thoughts ran through her head, most of them not coherent. Why did Maria tell the guy her last name?

As if reading her mind, Maria began speaking.

"You said that we were family, right?" She tilted her head, smiling. "Then this is the only proper conclusion."

"I... I am not your child..." Mary muttered, looking down.

And I don't deserve to be.

"Yes, that is true, for now at least." Maria put a finger on her chin, contemplating something. "But if fate allows it, I do hope to change that."

Mary looked at her with wide eyes.

Maria gasped, clasping her hands together. "Well look at that! There's Georges and Ur-Canpy!" The platinum haired woman waved at them as she rushed over to the pair.

Mary could feel a stinging sensation coming from her eyes. She bit her lip, trying to hold back tears, but her efforts were futile. In the end, cold teardrops trailed down her face.

Noticing her teary state, Georges walked over to her with a look of concern.

"Lady Mary, are you alright?" he asked. The Finder gave a look of suspicion to Maria.

"Don't look at me like that Georges!" Maria said, raising her hands.

"I'm okay, Georges..." Mary said, wiping what seemed like never ending tears. "Truly, I'm okay..."

And she really was.

Ur-Canpy, who was resting on Georges's shoulder, flew towards Mary and nuzzled her cheek.

"Are you trying to comfort me, Ur?" Mary asked, sniffling.

The black golem gave her a wide smile, revealing its sharp teeth. Ur-Canpy's long tail waved around, almost like a dog's.

Mary patted the golem, giving it a toothy smile in return. At this point, her tears had finally dried.

"Man, Ur, your teeth look sharper than mine!" she joked.

Maria put her hands on her hips. "Trust me, dear. Those teeth can cut through anything!"

Georges frowned disapprovingly. "Yes... even important documents..."

Mary raised an eyebrow at the brown-haired man's comment, but then looked away and shrugged.

Suddenly, the ferry's foghorn blew. Mary jumped in surprise, covering her ears. She scowled.

"Gah! I hate that foghorn" she exclaimed, frowning miserably.

Georges looked at her sympathetically. "Looks like that was their last call, so this should be the last time."

"I hope you're right, Georges." Mary replied, cautiously removing her hands from her ears.

"This is the quickest route to Norway." Maria said. "But if it does bother you, next time we can take an alternative."

"No, it's alright, Maria." Mary said. "If I'm gonna join the Black Order officially, I'll probably have assignments where I'll need to take a ferry, right?"

"Hmm... that is correct." Maria nodded, adjusting her glasses.

"Now that I'm thinkin' about it, what's the European Branch like?" Mary tilted her head, causing her braid to slip from her shoulder. Her eyebrow twitched, but she didn't lose her gaze on Maria. Mary hair had finally grown back to a nice and braid-able length.

"Well..." Maria began as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Maria's hair was straighter and longer than Mary's. She didn't have bangs like the younger girl either, instead, her hair, parted in the middle framed her face.

"It's a very tall black tower located in the mist of a secluded forest." she said. "The European Branch has been there since the Order's founding."

"Very tall?" Mary questioned. "How tall?"

Maria gave her a mischievous smile. "You'll see soon enough."

-

A/N: Hi, hello! It's been a hot minute since I've updated, but I'm here again! I'm hoping to get to chapter 30 before the end of May, so I'll be working on Folk Devils more often ;D Stay tuned! Next chapter, we finally reach the European Branch!