Even Death Needs A Vacation

There was a soft knock at the door to Death's office. Without tearing his shadowy gaze from the thick leather tome sitting on his desk in front of him as he scribbled into it with a tattered quill, he let out a low groan of annoyance. He knew exactly who was at his door, and he knew exactly why they were there. The knocker persisted, rapping their knuckles against the rotten wood. Being all-knowing sure was a pain in the ass, and he knew that. He also knew that whoever was on the other side of his door (but he knew that too) wasn't going to stop knocking until they were let in and he dealt with their pestering.

The knocking persisted again, the series of knocks getting longer and louder each time. Why can't they just go away? He's a very busy spirit and he doesn't have time for their nonsense. Well, that was an outright lie. He had all the time in the world, actually. The rest of eternity. That didn't mean that he felt like dealing with the knocker, regardless. After the 4th set of knocking, he finally let out an ancient sigh.

"Come in..." he said with his usual smooth as sandpaper voice.

The door slowly swung open, revealing a pale woman in a snow white dress that went down a foot or so too far, making it drag across the ground. The woman's face was almost featureless, save for a pair of icy blue spots that resembled eyes. She walked... --hovered? It was hard to tell in that dress...-- toward his desk, standing in front of it and looming over the hunched over shroud that was Death.

Giving another annoyed sigh and putting the quill into his inkwell, he slowly sat back up and looked up at the woman, his ancient bones crackling with each movement. This phased the woman not, as she stared unflinchingly at him.

"You know why I'm here." The woman's voice could only be described as thousands of people talking at once, but in complete harmony and unison that almost made it sound like one voice, if it wasn't for the irregular resonance it had.

"I do..." Death wheezed, slowly intertwining his bony fingers while he rested his elbows upon the weather pages of the tome. "But... for the sake... of conversation... what brings... you to... my office... Life?"

Life, never breaking her icy gaze from her counterpart, stood silent. She was clearly not here for conversing.

Letting out another raspy sigh, Death leaned back in his chair, the wood creaking noisily as he did so, more so than his bones did.

"You... are here... about Lily."

"Yes," Life confirmed, "I am. I have several concerns that must be addressed."

"We've been... over this. Lily... left your domain...-"

"-Exactly 5031 years, 32 weeks, 23 days, 9 hours and 10 seconds ago." Life finished before continuing, "And now, following her passing, she has been under your charge for-"

"5031 years, 32 weeks, 23 days, 9 hours and 1 minutes, by my count..." Death said surprisingly quickly, taking over the conversation again, "Just what... is it that.... you are concerned... about?"

"Her recent reassignment. You assigned her to a universe that's on the edge of both of our domains, one that's in-between life and death, where the very concepts of either of us don't exist. We're universal constants, and yet, in that universe, neither of us are present. The creatures there only exist, in a state of being that is neither alive, nor dead. They're..."

"They're... what?" Death said, coaxing Life to finish her thought.

"They're gods and goddesses, in a sense. Never dying, but never truly living. They only exist. Why would you send her to such a place?"

"Something... tells me... you're not concerned... about Lily's reassignment."

"Is it not obvious, Death?" To the untrained ear, Life would've sounded stressed. "You have never sent a Death to an Afterlife or an Immortal Plane. This is the first time this has happened in all of eternity."

"You... are worried... I have become... soft?"

"No. I am worried you have made a decision to hastily. It is clear you care for Lily, as you do for all of your children. You almost sent her back to my domain, those years ago."

"Almost... is not the same... as actually... doing it."

"Maybe so, but for a moment, and only a moment, you had considered... giving her a second chance."

Death slowly leaned back towards Life, his bony appendages forming the same steeple formation as before.

"What... was I... to do...? She... died young. She... was too traumatized... for the Celestials... But did not... deserve damnation. If anything... the only decision... that could be considered... hasty..." he hissed, "was taking her... under my wing."

"So why did you not send her back to me? If not for but a few more years?"

There was a long pause as Death contemplated silently, the deadlocked stares never breaking from each other.

"It's been 5 millennia... If I had done... that now... her spirit would... have shattered."

The two spirits stared, never moving, never blinking. Death slowly leaned back in his chair as he finally broke his gaze from Life's visage, looking down at his tome as the pages turned by themselves to Lily's entry. The black ink plainly read:

Name: Lily (Surname Not Given)
Cause of Death: Forced Drowning
Age: 12
Afterlife Status: ~~Celestial~~ ~~Limbo~~ ~~Employed as Death~~ Undetermined
Additional Comments:

The duo stared down at the page together, silently thinking the same thing. Finally, they looked up at each other and stared once again, Life giving Death a curt nod of approval. Lifting his hand, he slowly grabbed the tattered feather pen and brought it down, slowly dragging the metal tip across the word "Undetermined" with a low, dull scratch. He silently scribbled down another word in place of it, then scribbled something into the additional comments.

They looked back up at each other, Life's eyes full of glee.

"You're a good man, Death."

"Get out."

With that, Life turned around and floated back out of his office, the door closing silently behind her. Exhaling softly, Death re-read Lily's entry a few times in his book. Well, it was over with, now. He can't go back on it.

Name: Lily (Surname Not Given)
Cause of Death: Forced Drowning
Age: 12
Afterlife Status: ~~Celestial~~ ~~Limbo~~ ~~Employed as Death~~ Undetermined Equestria
Additional Comments: Reassigned to Equestria permanently. Employment Terminated.

He considered to himself if he should retrieve the scythe and robes from Lily now that her contract was voided. Ultimately he decided he couldn't be bothered. He just hoped that Lily enjoyed her new home, and pondered for a moment if he should start putting an actual time limit on these contracts...