Hollow Mask

The skinny man in the door waited a few seconds before he said anything. His voice sounded like a T-rex was gurgling on acid and surprisingly deep pitched. He spoke slow, as if he was thinking about every word individually.

“Hello, Hunter. Hello, Olivia. I think we have a few things to talk about,” he said and walked in.

Lucifer looked around the apartment, taking in every little detail. Hunter became increasingly impatient, “What do you want?”

Lucifer turned to him and pierced him with his gaze, “It is time to go back again” - he frowned - “We have a few problems.”

He looked around again, “We should not talk here.” With that he raised his arms at shoulder height. Then he clapped them together.

From the point where his hands connected a small explosion travelled outwards in slow motion. When it reached Olivia her vision blacked out for a second before she found herself in a corridor.

A few memories about it swam around her consciousness. When she looked at her side she saw Hunter back in her equestrian human body. She reached into herself and found her mana pool. It was full now. She smiled.

“Welcome to Department 198/B. Now follow me closely, I do not want you wandering around. We can talk in my office,” said Lucifer.

He opened the large double door at the end of the corridor and they entered craziness.

Offices boxes were crammed everywhere they could fit. That included the walls, the ceiling and even other office boxes. Beings of various appearances mostly bi- and quadruped but also tentacle-based. To say that the whole thing was total chaos would be an understatement.

A few yells across walls and the sound of constant exchange of papers filled the room. Lucifer walked in and they both followed. A few of the office workers stormed towards Lucifer and asked or demanded various things.

“I need a new budget plan for my team. We’re way behind schedule,” demanded a black and green tentacle monster.

The next was a small garden gnome who yelled over everyone, “Cthulhu wants to bring the Apocalypse to universe FF-T-Omega-82/Z and I need that signed NOW!”

“Silence,” said Lucifer. He didn’t raise his voice but everyone complied instantly. “All of you will get that through the postal system. I do not care how important it is.”

Everyone left them alone. His authority was clearly visible.

They continued to walked for a few minutes until they reached the back wall. Two small doors interrupted the endless stacks of office boxes. Two golden labels were nailed on them. The right said “Lucifer - External, PR & CEO”, the left “Fred - Internal, IT & COO”.

“Who is Fred?” asked Hunter.

“No one you will meet,” replied Lucifer mysteriously. He opened the door and gestured for them. “Go in.”

They both looked at each other and stepped in. It was a spartanic office, two seats for guest and one larger chair behind a desk with a small computer and screen. The system that the computer ran was foreign to Hunter. Numbers and input boxes were oriented in rings. The keyboard was larger than any normal one Hunter ever saw.

They sat down in the two chairs as Lucifer sat down in his own, larger seat.

“Now, you two got any questions?” he asked.

“I’m currently a bit involved in sorting out my memories,” said Olivia absently. Her mind was a mess of resurfacing memories.

His head turned to Hunter, “You?”

“Yes, why am I here?” she asked.

“Because I brought you here,” smiled Lucifer back, smiling.

“You know what I mean,” she growled, “Why do I have to do these jobs?”

Lucifer sighed, “We are a heavily organised institution… We are divided in two parts. The department itself, which includes everything you saw. The other part belongs to the reapers. They get the souls of the dead. They are even more bureaucratic than we are. … There is a list which souls have to be collected. Nobody is allowed to see the list, not even I am. Fate and all.”

He paused shortly, “The problem is, if a soul isn’t collected it can cause a lot of trouble. That includes remanifestation. Basically it starts walking around again.

“A few months ago the chief reaper contacted me.”

Hunter interrupted, “Let me guess, a few names were missing.”

“Correct. A single missing name involves about 200 signed papers for cleanup. It happens from time to time, about once every few million years. Get down. Get the soul. Kill it. Done. When he called, 279 names were missing. 279 souls roaming free. And not any souls. The bad guys. The souls that can cause more than problems.

“We dealt with it but since then more and more names are missing. Just to give you perspective. Fort Knox is nothing compared to the security around those lists. They are MADE by fate itself. Someone deleted the names and there are few persons with the power to do so.

“A few days later we opened a new position. It is basically a reaper without benefits, we call it ‘cleanser’. It would allow us to send the souls in a specific universe where our cleanser would reap them. Then our reapers can deal with it. Believe me it was the only option we liked.

“The really bad stuff is yet to come. More and more names are missing and I overheard the chief talking about… waking ‘him’ up.”

“Who is ‘him’?” asked Hunter, emphasizing the quotes with her fingers.

“Death. He is currently in a sealed off universe, managed by Department 0. About fifty feet under the earth on a planet that could easily go for the ‘Most-guarded-thing-in-the-existence’-Award. The safe zone is about 2 million light years in diameter. Everything inside it dies instantly, the region is completely sterile because of him. The last time they woke him up…”

Lucifer shuddered, “...Let’s say, nobody is older than that, except the creator. Only a few documents survived the extinction. … Even the merchant has started shuffling souls around instead of just tricking people into buying cursed objects. He is scared. That is part of the reason we had to close down and couldn’t get you. He is a Level 2 Abstract God and he is scared.

“I am a Level 3 Humanoid God. I can cancel the laws of nature or destroy universes with the snap of a finger if I want. When they wake him up we are screwed no matter what.

“Currently we try to keep our head low. You and about 500 other cleansers are busy killing what we shot around. You are not the first one to get herself killed. Although you are the first the get that unlucky. With all your powers and that.” He smiled.

“What do you mean?” asked Hunter. On her side, Olivia smiled.

“Sorry. Part of our contract involves a few surprises,” Lucifer answered, “If I were you though I would stay away from Aspirin. And your little payment is still waiting in front of the library.”

“What?” Hunter was now confused.

“Just a few hints,” he paused shortly, “Now, I believe it is time for you two to get back in action.

“I can not send you both back at once, so you have to share a brain until you are in Equestria again. Just cuddle a bit together. In other news, your body is still dead, Hunter. Get back through the mirror as soon as possible and wait the rest out...”

“Wait. I have a few more questions,” interrupted Hunter, “Why did you send me through the mirror in the first place?”

“The two worlds are heavily connected. Equestria’s universe contains a few extra variations of itself. We had two stray bullets.”

“What did you mean with ‘the first that got that unlucky’?”

“Most cleansers prefer to get some way of cheating death. For you; you have to be in Equestria when you die if you want to come back.”

He stood up and shook the hands of the two, “It was a pleasure meeting you two. You are a unique pair. Keep her on the ground Olivia…” He winked at the Librarian, who smiled. “Oh and before I forget; try not to be so stuck up, Olivia. Seriously, do these reports yourself. Nobody cares.”

Hunter hesitated, “Just one last question. Are you the Lucifer from the bible or…”

“I’m the one from the bible. But we fired the guy who was responsible for the little book. Smear campaign. He wanted my chair... I like my chair.”

He raised his hands again. “Good luck.” With that he clapped them together again. And Hunter’s vision went black for a second.

When she woke up again everything was black. The air was heavy and thick. Hunter stemmed against the lid of her confinement. It was heavy but after some time it fell off.

She climbed out of the casket. Beside it was the lid and a small bottle with a clear liquid. She picked the bottle up and tried to think what to do next.

‘We should get the sword back,’ a voice told her in her head.

“Olivia?” asked Hunter out loud.

‘You don’t need to talk, you moron. I know where Rainbow lives and she has the sword. Just let me steer,’ Olivia suggested.

“And how do I do that?”

Olivia sighed mentally before she shoved Hunter to the side. It was a strange feeling not being able to control her own body.

Olivia stretched a few times before walking towards the city.

“You really should go to the toilet BEFORE you die the next time,” she said, using Hunter’s voice.

Rainbow woke up as someone knocked rapidly at her door. When she managed to find the way in her groggy state and opened it, Hunter stood on her doormat.

Her sleepy brain took a few seconds to process who stood there before she fainted. The last thing she registered was the room tilting over.

When her brain had successfully rebooted and she was waking up again, she found a small note on her forehead. She stared at it crosseyed and took it of.

I took the sword while you were out.

P.S.: I stole a can of whipped cream. Or three.

-Olivia & Hunter

Staring at the note she slowly stood up and walked back to her room. The place where Hunter’s sword had been was now empty. She walked in the kitchen and opened the fridge. All her whipped cream was gone.

Realising what had happened she yelled, “WHAT?”

Extract from Starswirl's Compendium of Many Things:

Chapter: "Legendary Figures and Legends"

Hunter (Legendary Figure) - Reportedly employed by someone named Lucifer for unkown reasons. Known to appear at historic events. Sometimes accompanied by brown earth pony stallion. Reports about physical appearance, Cutie Mark and abilities inconsistent. Existence never confirmed or denied by officials. Considered "mostly harmless" (if not provoked).

See also...

Brown Earth Pony, the (Legendary Figures and Legends)

Cutie Mark, the (Passive Magic)

Butt Tattoo, the (Passive Magic)

Mostly Harmless (Phrases and Words)

Lucifer (Legendary Figures and Legends)

---

Brown Earth Pony, the (Legendary Figure) - The brown earth pony stallion appears all over history. He prefers to be called just the 'Doctor' although he has no medical degree. He is considered highly dangerous but not hostile towards friendly subjects. He is mostly accompanied by a blue unicorn with blue mane. They share their Cutie Mark, an hour glass. There are many speculations why that is so. Sometimes he is also accompanied by Hunter. It is speculated that he is either a time traveller or immortal.

See also...

Hunter (Legendary Figures and Legends)

Minuette (Legendary Figures and Legends)

Cutie Mark, the (Passive Magic)

Butt Tattoo, the (Passive Magic)

Timetravel (Theoretical Magic)

Immortality (Dark Magic)

Immortality (Theoretical Magic)