SHIIING

  A blinding white light erupts behind Apolonia. She turn around toward it.

  "W-what?!" The light blinded her eyes. She shields them with a hand, squinting through the haze.

  The brilliance slowly fades, revealing a nearly two-meter crystal pulsing with faint white glow.

  "A mana Crystal?" The red-haired girl frowns in confusion at the sight before her. "Does this cave hold mana veins? Is that why the Magnus Lupo nest here?" she mutters, stepping closer to touch its surface.

  "Hm?" Apolonia spots a humanoid silhouette inside. "Is that... a person?" She leans in for a better look, but the crystal's opacity thwarts her vision, blurring any details.

  CRACK

  The crystal suddenly fractures. "W-what?! What's happening?! I barely touched it!"

  CRACKLE-CRACK

  Fissures widen, splitting it vertically in two.

  CRAAACK

  Within two minutes, the towering crystal shatters apart.

  "I can't see!" Apolonia shouts as crystal dust blasts her face. "Achoo!" Some particles got into her her nose.

  "Why would such a massive mana Crystal shatter on its own?" She stares at the bisected halves. "Mana Crystals are supposed to be almost unbreakable..."

  Apolonia brushes dust from her coat and pants. That's when she notices a human figure sprawled on the ground.

  "What?!"

  A girl lies face-down, a long white hair cascading to her waist, completely naked, clad only in her birthday suit.

  "Why's a human inside the crystal?!" Apolonia reels in shock and bewilderment.

  "..."

  She glances around. Nothing but dark, teeming cave tunnels. Apolonia crouches and checks the girl's body.

  "She's alive..." Apolonia gasps, feeling the warmth of her skin and a steady pulse.

  "I can't leave her in here!" She scoops the girl up in a princess carry.

  Apolonia and her van roll into Romswell frontier town right as evening falls.

  "The contract is complete, I wiped out those monster..." She steps out wearing only black pants and a white collared shirt with rolled-up sleeves. Many townsfolk wait for her.

  "Miss Odessa..." A rancher eyes her up and down. "Where's your coat? Did those Magnus Lupo injure you?"

  "Ah, don’t worry!" Apolonia flashes an awkward grin. "Monster blood splattered it, so I took it off and left it in the van, the stench is brutal! Keep your distance, please! I'll scrub it clean back at the office!"

  "Oh, we understand," the crowd murmurs. "Thank goodness you're safe."

  "Ahaha, thanks!" Apolonia scratches the back of her head, muttering under her breath, "I used the coat to cover that girl!"

  "Come on, let's head to the mayor's office for your pay!" A pointy-eared woman leads the way.

  That night, at Odessa & Co. agency office.

  KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

  "Sorry, we're closed, come back tomorrow." Althea opens the door after the knocks, expecting a late client.

  "Al, help me out." But Apolonia stands there, piggybacking a naked white-haired girl.

  "Lony!? What happened?! Who's she?"

  "Don’t mind that for now. We still have pillows and blankets, right?" Apolonia hurries inside. "Yeah, for those all-nighters," Althea fetches supplies from a small storage room.

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  Together, they lay the white-haired girl on the guest sofa. Pillow under her head, blanket draped over her nude body.

  "Lony, what really happened?"

  "I'm as lost as you." Apolonia recounts it. "I find her inside a crystal after clearing the monster nest near Romswell town. I thought it's a mana Crystal, but it splits open on its own, and she tumbles out onto the ground."

  "No clothes means no ID or cash. If I hand her to a hospital, and they'll question me, They’ll probably call the cops, and that’s a bad press for the agency. So I bring her here."

  "Huuuh? Pops out of a crystal?" Althea tilts her head, processing.

  "I know, sounds nuts, but that's what happens!"

  "..."

  The youngest Odessa glances at the white-haired girl still unconscious on the sofa.

  "Fair enough, maybe your story checks out. If she's some mentally ill person or a homeless girl, cops would've nabbed her first."

  "Yes! Someone believes me!" Apolonia exhales in relief.

  "But..." Apolonia eyes the girl too, then turns back to her sister. "We won't know her deal till she wakes and spills it."

  SQUEEEZE

  Two arms suddenly wrap around Apolonia from behind.

  "Warm..."

  "Waaah!" The long red-haired girl startles.

  "Oh, she's awake already." Althea peers over her sister's shoulder and spots the long white-haired girl, still naked, hugging Apolonia.

  "Eh, what?" Apolonia twists back and locks eyes with her. Her crimson eyes lock with the girl’s deep blue ones.

  Moments later, the Odessa sisters and the white-haired girl sit opposite each other on the sofas.

  "Now that you're conscious, we can question you." Apolonia sits cross-legged on the sofa from exhaustion, while the white-haired girl perches wrapped in blanket.

  "Who are you? Why are you inside that crystal?"

  "I don't know."

  "Huh...?" The Odessa sisters blink in confusion.

  "D-do you remember anything from before ending up in the crystal?" Althea pivots the question. "What about your name?"

  "No, I don't remember. I don't know my name either."

  "Ekh..." The sisters is confused again.

  "All I remember is... I'm waiting for someone..."

  "Waiting for someone?" Althea echoes.

  "Hm?" Apolonia is puzzled.

  GRUUU

  Apolonia's stomach growls loudly.

  "Ah..." She slumps back against the sofa. "I haven't eaten since getting back from Romswell town."

  "Then we pause the questioning and grab dinner." Althea pulls up a food app on her smartphone. "Ah, right we need clothes for this girl too."

  While awaiting their order, Apolonia gazes at the full moon through the agency office window. "The moon is beautiful tonight..."

  "Moon..." The white-haired girl stirs with recognition. "That's it!"

  "Hm?"

  "What's up?"

  The Odessa sisters blink in unison. "You can call me Selene."

  "Selene..." Apolonia echoes softly.

  "That’s a beautiful name," Althea adds.

  Minutes later, their food and clothes for Selene arrive. Now dressed in black hot pants and a pink T-shirt, Selene joins them for dinner: rotisserie chicken, egg salad, and chicken soup.

  "Ahh..."

  "So full..."

  Althea and Apolonia slump into the back of their sofa, rubbing their bellies. "Should we head back to the apartment? What about Selene?" Althea glances at the white-haired girl still on the sofa. "Can she even walk there?"

  "Selene stays here to recover," Apolonia decides. "I'll stay here and keep her company."

  "You sure that's okay, Lony?" Althea frets.

  "No sweat. I used to sleep over at school with friends." Apolonia ducks through the door where Althea grabbed the blankets. "We got a sleeping bag around here, right?"

  "Over there." Althea points. Soon Apolonia returns hauling a gray-and-blue sleeping bag.

  "Go home, Al. Get some real rest," Apolonia urges her sister.

  "..."

  Althea eyes Selene on the sofa and Apolonia prepping her floor spot.

  "Okay, see you tomorrow at 9..." Althea walks out the office and closed the door.

  “Haah, no spare clothes here...” Apolonia strips off her collared shirt and pants. Down to her panties and bra, she flicks off the office lights and slips into her sleeping bag.

  “You... she called you Lony earlier?” Selene speaks up to the red-haired girl.

  “oh, that’s Al’s nickname for me. My name is Apolonia.”

  “Apolonia...” Selene murmurs.

  “Why do you end up in that cave crystal?” Apolonia asks again, sitting inside the sleeping bag on the floor.

  “I don’t know...” Selene replies.

  “You truly remember nothing...” Apolonia mutters.

  “But...” Selene ventures, “if you find me in a cave, why bother bringing me all the way here?”

  “Because you have No ID or money, if I brought you to hospital, the staff would suspect me, then they called the cops, and they will interrogate me. It’s safer to bring you to my office.” Apolonia lays out her pragmatic reasons. “And somehow... I couldn’t leave you alone. Something draws me to you...”

  “Draws you to me?” Selene peers at Apolonia through the dark. Moonlight shine over her half-naked form, clad only in a bra.

  “Weird, right?” The red-haired girl lying down on floor. “Time to sleep—work awaits tomorrow.”

  The next day.

  "Here's breakfast: potato skillet and bacon!" Althea hauls a frying pan and three plates to the office table where Selene sits on her sofa.

  "Lunch time: mashed potatoes and hotdogs!" Apolonia carries a bowl and paper-wrapped hotdogs.

  "Dinner's Yamaumi cup ramen and rotisserie chicken!" Apolonia lugs in a food app box. "And for you, Selene, stamina boosters pills."

  The day after.

  "Breakfast today: homemade toast and hash browns!" Althea brings three plates to the table.

  "I grab meat pies and sandwiches for lunch!" Apolonia hefts a plastic-bagged box.

  "Dinner means fried chicken and mashed potatoes!" Apolonia and Althea set down bags and bowls before Selene.

  "Apolonia, Althea, I need to say something." Selene stands after the meal.

  "Hm?" The Odessa sisters pause mid-chew, puzzled.

  "I truly appreciate your help, so let me repay the favor." She steels herself. "Let me join your agency business!"

  "Gulp". Apolonia and Althea swallow their food. "You mean you'll work for us?!" Apolonia lights up.

  "Yes, I can't lounge around while you two break your backs for money."

  "We got help!" Althea cheers.

  "Finally! Our first Talent!" Apolonia beams.

  "But Lony," Althea tells her sister, "she remembers nothing. Maybe tomorrow we explain everything from scratch."

  "You're right." Apolonia nods, eyeing Selene.

  To be continued.