Mary opened her eyes and met the morning sunlight pouring into the room from its singular window. She rubbed her eyelids and sat up on her bed. She looked around the room.

Her room.

How long had it been since she'd had a room she could truly call her own? After she left with Maria, they traveled around Europe, from country to country, hotel to hotel. They never stayed at any place for too long, only long enough for Maria to do her business, whatever that was. Mary wasn't exactly sure what exactly.

The teen glanced at the pale blue walls of the room. While the gray walls at the monastery had been a dull gray and cracking at the corners, the walls of her room at the European Branch were the exact opposite. Although far from anything "fancy," they were a much appreciated upgrade from what she knew before.

Mary held the cross of the rosary hanging on her neck in the palm of her hand. She wondered what Sister Theresa would think if she knew all that had occurred. Would she be happy that Mary became an Exorcist? A swirl of thoughts lingered in the girl's mind. Suddenly, a knock on her door snapped Mary out of her daze.

"Lady Mary?" a voice called out from the other side of the door. It was Georges.

"Y-yeah?" she replied, internally scolding herself for not being able to hear his footsteps.

"I just wanted to see if you were awake. Food is being served in the cafeteria and I'm sure you're hungry." he exclaimed.

"Oh, okay. Thanks for telling me, Georges." Mary said.

"Of course, my lady. I'll be going down there myself now."

Mary heard the Finder's footsteps get softer and softer as he walked away.

'I still haven't asked him about the Ur-Canpy and golem thing...' she thought to herself.

Mary made a mental note to ask him later.

Standing up next to her bed, she walked towards the wooden drawer on the other side of the small room. Opening the drawer, she grabbed the new Exorcist uniform Kitty had made for her. She stared at it for a moment, reminded of just how quickly and efficiently the older girl had managed to make the uniform. The speed of her work really was amazing.

Mary put on the uniform, buttoning the front of it up. Her uniform was a long-sleeved romper that had short trousers. Mary had asked specially for short pants because she still fought quite often out of her activated state, as the transformation still left her exhausted. Although, that has gotten better over the years. Silver embellishments lined the black fabric. She put her hand on the silver Rose Cross on the left side of her chest. The universal symbol of the Black Order.

She was an official Exorcist now.

Mary had already seen what she looked like with her uniform on the night before, as Kitty had a mirror in her area of work, but a small thought popped into her head.

She wanted to see herself in the mirror again.

Mary scoffed, shaking the thought away.

After all, she was the one who chose not to have a mirror.

-

The heels of Mary's boots clacked as she walked down the hallway. Besides getting a brand new uniform, she was also given new gloves and shoes, in this case, a pair of knee-length boots. She didn't expect to get new gloves, but Kitty convinced Mary to let her make new ones. Gloves made with the same fabric as the uniform itself to lessen the chance of them ripping.

Mary didn't think she would ever get used to people who she met only recently being kind to her.

Mary sighed and leaned onto of the big windows. There were still many people at the tower that she didn't know. The change of scenery...it overwhelmed her a bit. It was different when it was just Maria and Georges. When it was just the three of them.

Glancing to her right, Mary's rhodonite-colored eyes widened. She put her gloved hands on the window as she looked out the glass pane in awe, enamored by the forest in front of her. It looked completely different during daylight and with a decent amount of sun.

"The Norwegian forests are beautiful, aren't they?" a calm voice next to her said.

Mary almost jumped.

'How do I keep not noticing these guys?!?' she thought.

Taking a deep breath, she turned to the direction of the voice and was face to face with the black haired man she had seen before.

"Oh! You're General Mikkelsen, right?" Mary asked.

The man in question nodded.

"Although, I prefer the use of General Hallelujah more. You must be Mary. Maria mentioned you profusely yesterday when we spoke."

"Pro...fuesly?" Mary blinked at the General.

He put a hand on his hip and let out a sharp sigh. "For better or for worse, your master likes to talk...a lot. I had forgotten the extent of it in her four year absence."

Mary chuckled. "Yeah, that's Maria for you...it's what makes her, well, her."

On a closer inspection of the General, she noticed just how young he looked. According to Kitty, General Hallelujah is nearing his thirties, and yet he looks near the same age as Kitty, or even younger! His bright, big emerald eyes and short stature only accentuated his youthful appearance.

General Hallelujah looked out at the scenery.

"Norway is my motherland, but I still look in awe at its lush forests." he remarked.

The two looked towards the outside from the large window. Taking a quick glance at him, Mary finally saw the General's injured wrist.

Noticing her stare, Hallelujah brought up his arm and showed her the injury.

"Fractured wrist. I won't be able to use my bow for a while, unfortunately."

"Looks painful." Mary said.

He glowered. "It's the worst of my injuries, but compared to everything else that's happened, it's nothing. My companions fought bravely and lost their lives— this...this is nothing."

"I'm sure you did your best out there." Mary said, attempting to reassure the black haired man.

"They were my responsibility! Part of my unit!" he exclaimed, continuing. "I'm far from an amateur, but I failed them." General Hallelujah scowled. Suddenly, his expression softened, and he sighed.

"My apologizes. I have no right to put my frustrations on you." he said.

Mary raised her hands. "No, no! It's fine. Didn't someone say once upon a time that it's good to let out your frustrations once and a while...or something like that?"

"Yes, but—"

Before the General could finish his sentence, Mary's stomach growled loudly. She flinched and looked away, embarrassed.

"I haven't eaten anything yet..." she trailed off awkwardly.

At first, General Hallelujah stood there flabbergasted. But then, his lips made a slight upward tilt.

"The cafeteria is just up ahead." he said.

-

"Oh wow! I didn't expect it to be this big!" Mary exclaimed, looking around the cafeteria. "But...it's pretty empty in 'ere."

"Well," the General began. "It is past breakfast time."

There really were only a few others around, most of them Finders. Mary searched for a certain brown-haired man, but to no avail.

"What the heck?" the periwinkle-haired girl muttered to herself in disbelief.

"What is it?" General Hallelujah asked. Turning his head to Mary.

"Well...you know the Finder named Georges L'Belle?"

"Of course." he nodded. "The one who sticks by Maria, right? We've only ever exchanged courtesies, but I know him."

"He told me he'd go on to the cafeteria ahead of me so I expected him to be here, maybe almost done with his food, yeah, but..." Mary frowned. "he isn't!"

"Maybe he's a fast eater?" the black-haired General suggested.

"No way!" Mary exclaimed, shaking her head. "While the three of us were traveling, he was always last to finish his food."

Suddenly, her stomach growled. Mary sighed.

"Oh, whatever. I'll think him that later."

The two Exorcists walked over to the counter in-front of the kitchen.

"Good morning, General!" a man with dirty blond hair said. He switched his glance to Mary. "And to you too, Miss! You must be a new Exorcist, since I've never seen you before."

Mary nodded. "Yeah, I just got here yesterday actually. The name's Mary."

The man smiled. "A fitting name for a girl like you! My name is Leino, I'm the Head Chef here."l What would you like to eat?"

"Hmm..." Mary put a finger on her lips. "What are my choices?"

"Anything you'd like, I can make!" he exclaimed.

Mary blinked, shocked at his claim. "You sure?"

"100% sure!" Leino affirmed.

And so...Mary began to list out foods. Now, there was a small thought in her mind that maybe it was unreasonable for her to list so many dishes, but Mary's hunger prevailed against her sliver of reason.

"Agë! It's been some time since we've gotten another parasitic type at the European Branch, but I'm up for the challenge!" he grinned.

"That's a lot of meat." General Hallelujah exclaimed after Mary finished listing out her cravings. "You really should eat more vegetables or you won't grow." he raised an eyebrow.

Mary turned to look at him and narrowed her rhodonite-colored eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but with her better judgment, closed it.

"What would you like, General?" Leino asked.

"Rømmegrøt, if you please." he replied.

"Got it! Your orders will be out in a minute's notice." Leino exclaimed.

The duo sat down at one of the nearby tables. Mary rested her head on her palm.

"That Leino's nice." she remarked.

"Yes. Much nicer than our old Head Chef that's for sure."

"Really?" Mary peered at General Hallelujah. "How bad was that person?"

"You don't want to know." he shook his head. "No amount of good food can supplicate for a bad attitude."

Mary glanced down at Hallelujah's bandaged wrist.

"Don't worry." the General said, noticing her stare. "I still have my other hand to use to eat."

The air between the two quickly lost its lightheartedness.

"We were in Italy having a reconnaissance with another group of Exorcists." Hallelujah began. "There was suspicious activity in the area, and we were supposed to split up. However..."

Hallelujah grit his teeth. "We were ambushed by Akuma, but it was abnormal. The situation was abnormal— the ambush was abnormal, the amount of Akuma was abnormal, everything was abnormal! There were so many it couldn't help but overwhelm my men. And..."

"And?"

"During the attack I spotted someone. A girl. A girl who I knew wasn't one of my comrades. Before I could even register what was happening, something— something like a sharp candle pierced through my wrist."

He clenched his fist.

"Everything after that was hazy, except for that girl's words." he said. "I remember them as clear as day."

"Her words?"

General Hallelujah nodded.

"She said: 'No, you're not the one.'"

-

Breakfast went by relatively smoothly after that, but Hallelujah, or rather, the mysterious-girl-he-referred-to's words lingered in her mind. Mary furrowed her eyebrows as she walked down the stairs of the tower. What could those words mean? Was that girl looking for someone? These thoughts swirled in her brain as a voice called out to her.

"Miss Mary! The Chief's looking for you." a blue-haired man in a white lab coat called out to her.

"Huh?" Mary turned back to face the man. "Oh you're...um..."

"Alexander! We met yesterday." he said.

"Oh yeah— Alexander was it? You said Chief Howell is looking for me?"

"Yep! Although I'm not sure why she didn't just come get you herself." he muttered the last part to himself.

"Alright. I'll go to her office then." Mary replied.

"Anyway, that's all I needed to tell you. There's a lot of work to do so I'll see you later!" he smiled and dashed away at a speed Mary wondered if she could even reach.

Reaching Chief Howell's office, she opened the wooden doors, seeing the Chief, who was smoking, Maria, who was as bright as ever, and Georges.

Georges!

"So this is where you went!" Mary pouted. "I thought ya ditched me."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, Lady Mary." the be-speckled brown-haired man said, scratching the back of his head.

"Don't blame him to much Mary." Chief Howell said. "I was the one who called him here."

Chief Howell placed her cigar down and leaned towards Mary.

"I have a mission for you, young Krestchmann." she said.

"A mission?"

"That's right." Chief Howell put the cigar back in her mouth. "I've been hesitant to send anyone on a mission after the recent incident, especially one located in Italy, but I'm willing, albeit very cautious, to let you go. It's a simple mission really. Traces of Innocence have been spotted in Fiano Romano and I want you to check it out."

"Fiano Romano, Italy..."

"L'Belle will accompany you as well as General Krestchmann here."

"Maria?" Mary inquired, turning her head to the woman in question.

"Until we reach Italy, yes. After that, we'll split." Maria explained. "I have business at Central."

Central. According to what Mary knew, it's located at the Vatican and serves as the liaison between the Pope and the Black Order.

"So, what do you say, Mary?" Chief Howell said. "Will you go on this mission?"

It wouldn't be the first time Mary looked for Innocence. She agreed with the Chief that it would be risky, but...

Chief is her boss and being an Exorcist was her job. What type of Exorcist would she be if she didn't take the risk?

Taking a deep breath, Mary looked at the waiting Chief.

"I'll do it." she replied.

A sudden wave of unease passed through her, but Mary pushed it away. Nothing bad was going to happen, not now.

-

A/N: Writer's block is a malicious force my dudes 😔 This was a long time coming and by giving grace to myself, I managed to finish the "3rd" part of the story! For the sake of my own sanity and motivation to write, I have cut this chapter right before Mary's first official mission, and therefore my plan to make part 4 completely dedicated to Allen will be slightly altered, but don't worry! His side of the story will still be very prevalent next section :D

Thank you to everyone that has been patient and continues to read! Can you believe in my original idea for this story, chapter 30 was supposed to be the end? It's crazy and something I can't even fathom now. As with the last two story sections, I'll be editing the crap out of these past several chapters, hopefully better than part 2's and as well as part 1's. Chapter updates on AO3 should resume next week (after 4 painstakingly long months.)

Thanks for reading! As always, votes and comments are always appreciated! <3