Hollow

Lucifer picked up the broadsword that he had dropped, and ran forward, dodging the debris which he was being thrown at him.

Frank had completely let himself go crazy, and was just going around the place destroying whatever was unlucky enough to come into his path.

"Frank—"

Lucifer spoke, but the other didn't seem to hear him, he didn't even seem to know what was going on around him.

Having confirmed that, Lucifer ran towards Frank, jumping over some thrown chair's and swinging his sword towards Frank.

As soon as he do, frank's severed head fell down onto the ground, followed by his beheaded body.

The head bounced on the pavement, blood spraying all over the place.

Frank's head seemed to be still somewhat alive, his mouth still open, his neck still twitching, his eyes still staring lifelessly into the void of what could never be again.

Silence fell over the place, the only sound in the hallway was the blood seeping onto the floors, and drops splattering.

The light now released from his eyes.

Lucifer looked up and around him, at the people and spoke.

"He had a mind crash, I took care of him. He had already killed plenty of people. It's fine, no?"

The people, those who were still alive, seemed to have calmed down a bit.

They watched with slightly shocked expressions as they stared at the corpse of someone they had known for quite some time now. Even though Big Frank wasn't exactly the purest of souls, he was still someone most of everyone knew.

The referee stared at Frank's decapitated corpse and let out a long, shaky sigh, it seemed like he'd been holding his breath since that first, final crash of the cage.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose, and looked around with tired but still slightly shocked eyes.

"Well, that was something.."

He stood back up as he was hiding under the table from which he spoke. Fixing his cloths and dusting off his shoulders, he picked up the microphone again.

"I'm sorry everyone for the commotion today, but stuff like this is bound to happen in places like these. And, can we please thank Sir Sato over here who saved us."

The referee gestured towards Lucifer, to which everyone's eyes fell on him.

Lucifer however, was feeling slightly embarrassed by the sudden attention, he had expected the people to be more shocked and perhaps, scared of him.

Still, he put on a polite expression through his body language, which was now relaxed, and did a quick nod.

He won the fight and saved everyone here, it went better than he expected.

"I'm lucky in all the wrong places."

It seemed like his attention grabbing act had worked, as the people quickly turned away from him, still a bit shaken by what happened.

The referee cleared his throat to get everyone's attention again, as everyone looked back at him and focused on him.

"As I was saying, I will be closing down this fight club for a while. After what happened today."

Some of the people in the place responded with a "What?", while others nodded in agreement with what the referee said.

"I know, I know."

The referee held up a hand to placate the dissatisfied people.

"But you all know that something like this would happen one day. Big Frank's cyberware was completely outdated, and I had warned him plenty of times to change it, or lower its use but he didn't listen to me. And, because of that, plenty of people are dead. The repairs will take a week to finish, and then we can start again.

The referee's eyes glanced up towards the VIP area where they were having fun, at the cost of the few people's death, the bets would be more than enough to cover it.

The people seemed displeased with this, still murmuring to themselves, but were willing to give in.

They also wanted a break.

The referee then spoke again.

"I would also like to say something to our champion over here."

His eyes landed on Lucifer, with a serious expression.

Lucifer raised an eyebrow at that, wondering what the referee wanted to say.

However, he did his best to keep a calm and composed expression on his face as the referee made his way to him.

The referee walked over to him, looking up at the mask covering the tall man's face and spoke.

"Since you saved all of us today, I will double the reward you would've gotten otherwise. Please, consider it a token of my appreciation and everyone else's."

While saying that, the referee handed him a card which Lucifer grabbed, "here's my contact information, you can tell me your account details and I'll transfer it."

"Well, that's appreciated."

"No, no. The pleasure is our's, and please, come again. We would love to see our hero."

Lucifer just nodded in response.

At least the people appreciated his intervention.

A lot better than him expecting a bunch of terrified people who have never seen anything like that before.

"No, there's probably been plenty of incidents like these before."

The referee then excused himself, having said what he needed to say, and went back to check on the other people and try to calm them down.

"Now that the fights are over, tatsuya must be making his way back. Luna should be finished by now."

Lucifer looked down at the card in his hand, a blank expression on his face.

"...I guess I'll go now."

Using his cape to hide a small area, he opened his inventory and quickly put the small card inside. Then, Lucifer turned to walk out of the place, his tall figure cutting through the crowd.

"It's almost done."

Luna muttered to herself, her fingers typing quickly, almost too fast for a human levels of speed on her keyboard.

Black liberty.

The car she needed to hijack.

Even though she had used the chip the doc had given her, it proved quite difficult to take down the firewall which protected the car.

She gritted her teeth, frustration filling her for a bit because of the fact that it was taking this long.

In the olden days, it would've been done in a few moments. But now, the amount of safety systems on the car system was insane.

"Come on, come on, keep going.

Luna's fingers just became a blur once again, running across the keyboard. The security system still kept fighting her back, but she still kept going, the firewall slowly crumbling down from her constant attack.

When suddenly, she jolted as she felt a hand land on her shoulder, "who the fuc—"

She cut herself short as she turned her head, it was Lucifer.

She was still staring at him with a frown on her face, but sighed and turned her head back to the computer screen.

"Don't just sneak up on me like that, will you Sato-san?"

"Sorry."

Lucifer apologised, he seemed slightly amused, or so she thought from his voice as he looked over her shoulder at the screen.

"This thing sure is stubborn."

"Mhmm, I've been trying to take down this firewall for minutes now, yet all I've gotten is nothing."

Luna let out a frustrated sigh, reaching up to scratch the back of her neck.

Lucifer could only watch, and occasionally raise an eyebrow at the sight of Luna's fingers typing at such a fast speed, so fast that it seemed like she was creating sparks in the air.

"I can brute force our way inside the car, if that's easi—"

Luna's gaze immediately shot up at Lucifer, a look of disbelief and exasperation on her face.

"Are you crazy? Brute forcing the system is the last thing we want, no, we need to keep this low key."

"Well I don't know how long we have, the fights have ended already due to the person I was fighting having a mind crash. Tatsuya should be arriving here anytime now."

Luna gritted her teeth at this, the last thing she wanted was Tatsuya showing up and making things harder than they already were.

"I know."

She snapped, "I am almost done."

With renewed vigour, Luna got back to work, her fingers smashing against her keyboard.

Her eyes quickly scanning the screen, looking for any sort of weaknesses.

She grits her teeth tighter when something doesn't work, and tries again at a different angle.

The firewall was still putting up one hell of a fight, and Luna was not willing to give up.

When suddenly, as if god, if he was even real, blessed her with a, [Access granted].

Access granted.

Two words that meant that Luna had won.

"Yes!"

Luna cheered triumphantly, pumping her fist up high in the air.

"Finally, finally!"

This had been quite a challenge, and now the fruits of Luna's hard work had come to fruition.

Lucifer couldn't help the slight amusement as he watched Luna celebrate her small victory. He crossed his arms over his chest, and leaned back a little.

"Congratulations."

He said with the faintest touch of sarcasm, but Luna was too focused on her victory to care.

"Well, let's get in."

Luna said, walking over to the car as the doors unlocked and opened on their own.

With a flourish, she got into the driver's seat and looked at him, silently telling him to get in.

Taking a deep breath, Luna closed her eyes and opened her palms, touching the steering wheel.

"Let's see…"

Her touch activated this car's system, and now, a whole new world of things had opened up for her.

She began typing something on the virtual keyboard on the dashboard.

As the engine came to life, the engine giving a satisfying rumble.

"Damn this baby sure sounds nice!"

Luna smiled, her hand brushing over the steering wheel.

The engine made a low noise as it purred, and some other machinery was heard getting started.

Lucifer just shook his head again, and followed Luna to the car.

He still had his helmet on, and the cape wrapped on his body, so once he was sitting inside, he took off the cape before strapping himself in.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

His eyes swept the interior of the car, it was quite spacious for a car that was supposedly a "sports car." Even with the two of them in the car, they had a good amount of room.

"You know…"

Luna started, her fingers tapping on the wheel.

"You don't need to conceal your appearance around me, you know."

Lucifer looked at her through the corner of his eye.

"It's just a personal preference. I prefer to keep it hidden."

"Can't even take it off with me? It's just two of us here." the girl said with a small pout, "It can't hurt to show your face."

Lucifer paused at that, his finger tapping on the side of the door.

He was silent for a good minute, and Luna didn't seem eager to talk, just waiting for him to respond to her. Finally, he let out a sigh, and slowly took off the helmet from his head. His medium length brown hair falling over his forehead, and onto his sides, his black eye's with eyebags comparable to black holes. As if he was a single dad who took care of his three children while juggling a 9-5.

This face was the face he had when he was still a human, replicated by illusion magic.

He couldn't show her his real face, of course.

Yet.

His expression was neutral, except for the hint of exhaustion that seemed to be permanently etched on his face.

He could practically feel Luna's gaze on him, her eyes raking over the side of his face, taking in his appearance.

A small part of him was thankful that she wasn't commenting on his haggard appearance.

The eyebags were a result of not sleeping for multiple nights to grind on Hollow, gathering materials which he never ended up using because of his hoarding nature.

Meanwhile, Luna seemed completely unfazed by his appearance, instead, she was analysing him.

Looking for anything suspicious, or strange.

But ultimately, just accepting it for what it was.

"You need to take better care of yourself, you know?"

She finally spoke after a moment of silently analysing him, a small hint of fondness in her voice.

"I'm perfectly fine, I've had killer eyes since birth."

A small smirk appeared on her face at that, "Killer eyes, huh?"

She said, lifting an eyebrow. Letting out a huff, she shifted her focus back to the car.

She began to mess around with the controls, trying to find the right one for what she needed to do.

After a few moments, she found the button to start the accelerator, putting her foot it and then pressing the accelerator as the car started to move.

The car moved, and Luna carefully guided it out of the parking space, glancing at the rearview mirror occasionally to make sure they wouldn't hit anything.

She had to admit, the car was responding quite nicely.

She didn't think she would be able to handle a car like this, but it wasn't as difficult as she assumed it to be.

"So, Sato-san, where's your hometown?"

Lucifer looked over at her, his arms still crossed, though there was a slight raise of an eyebrow at her question.

He was a bit surprised that she asked such a thing so suddenly.

"Ah."

He let out a small sound, as if he was caught off guard by the question itself.

"What makes you ask that?"

Luna shrugged, not taking her eyes off the road.

"No reason, just curious."

She paused for a moment, continuing.

"I didn't bother to ask earlier cause I assumed you wouldn't answer anyways, but since we are travelling together right now, might as well get to know you a bit, right?"

*"I suppose you have a point."*

Lucifer admitted, his eyes still on Luna, watching as she expertly drove the car, navigating the streets and not hitting anything for now.

He leaned back, getting more comfortable in the car seat.

"My home town…"

He echoed thoughtfully, tapping a finger against his arm.

"I was born in Tokyo. Yes, before you say anything, I was born near the outskirts, the area which survived the nuke and wasn't radiated."

Luna nodded, listening intently.

Her expression was mostly neutral now, except for the slight raise of her eyebrow.

She was quite surprised that he had answered her question so easily, but she wasn't going to question it either.

"You were born in Tokyo, huh? I guess your upbringing was rough then, I've heard some bad stories about the slums."

"Well the area I was born in wasn't really a slum, I had wondering parents, an amazing group of friends..."

Luna couldn't help but notice how stopped for a while before talking again.

"Anyways, stuff happened and after I became an adult, I left japan to go to europe and now I'm back here."

Luna let out a confused, "hm?"

She was a bit surprised to hear that he had just "left" Japan, most people nowadays usually tried to avoid travelling unless it was absolutely necessary.

Of course, there were exceptions, but even then, travelling long distances was still quite expensive.

"Well."

She began.

"You're planning on staying here this time?"

"Of course, I am. I'm not going anywhere, that's why I decided to become a mercenary. To explore my nation, see how it has changed while I was away and try to do some good if possible."

"That sounds like a big task."

Luna remarked, eyes still focused on the road.

It was hard not to feel a twinge of doubt about his intentions, he could've just said he was here to earn money and be done with it like every other mercenary.

But no, he had to have "noble" intentions.

"Yeah, it definitely will be."

Lucifer nodded, letting out a sigh.

Most of what he told her was a lie, except for the part where his home was in Tokyo, eighty five years ago and the part where he wanted to do good.

"So, what about you. Where were you born?"

Lucifer asked luna, since she had used a question, it was only fair that he ask one now.

Luna was caught off guard by his question, her hands clenching around the steering wheel momentarily before relaxing.

She let out a small 'tch', and averted her gaze from the road for a moment to look at him.

"Can i answer something else?"

"No. It's only a fair trade if we both talk truthfully."

"You're a bastard."

She thought, but didn't say it out loud.

She couldn't help but be a little bit annoyed at him for not letting her dodge the question.

But as she said, fair trade, and if he had answered her question, she couldn't exactly refuse to answer.

"Fine."

She let out a small sigh, her fingers tapping against the steering wheel as they drove past a red light.

"I was born in the US."

Well, that was new.

Lucifer was quite surprised at her answer.

He had almost expected her to say Japan, since she looked like a Japanese person.

"I wasn't really expecting that."

He admitted, raising his eyebrows slightly.

She noticed the surprise in his voice, and let out a small scoff.

"What, did you think I was Japanese? Well, I'm only half japanese, from my mom's side."

"I see."

Lucifer hummed, nodding his head in understanding.

So that explains why she looked Japanese, that was one mystery solved.

Although, something else had been bothering him for a while now, and he decided to ask about it.

"You didn't say anything more than that."

"Say anything more than what?"

"You said you were born in the US, but you didn't say anything else. Not the state, not your home town, only that you were born there."

"do I have to?," she mumbled to herself before taking in a deep breath as if she had been holding it in all this time.

"I was born in Canada, my dad was american and my mom was japanese. They both worked for Vault, I stayed in the US till I was ten. When, they sold me to them."

Her voice became lower, like a flower slowly losing its colour.

"I, along with multiple other children were used for experimentation — effects of mind crash on us, how would bodies would react when exposed to mind altering effects from new weapons etc."

It was silent in the car for a long while, the only sound was the low hum of the engine.

Lucifer's eyes were on Luna, and he could tell that this was a difficult topic for her, that just made him even more intrigued.

"So that's why you don't wanna answer any questions."

"...yeah."

Luna's expression was closed off, and her hands gripped the steering wheel a little tighter for a moment before loosening.

She wasn't looking at him anymore, her eyes were focused on the road.

She knew he would've wanted more details, but she wasn't ready for that, and she probably never would be.

She had a feeling he wouldn't pry further than this.

"Well—"

He suddenly spoke, and it made Luna look at him once again, a surprised expression on her face.

"That's quite a past."

He said simply.

No judgement in his voice, no pity either.

"When did you come to japan?"

She looked at him, slightly surprised by his response, but glad that he didn't press on the topic further.

"About eight years ago."

She answered, her grip on the steering wheel loosened, and some of the tension in her body relaxed.

He nodded, an understanding look in his eyes, and the conversation was momentarily paused.

"That's when I met my master, he's quite a legend you know. He thaught me most of what I know and coupled with my skills..that I gained during my time as lab rat, and three years ago, I came to Neo-Tokyo's and became a mercenary."

"Three years, that's quite a record."

Not to mention, she seemed to have quite a bit of experience, enough to manage to hack into the cars firewall.

He could only guess that the skills she learnt during her time as a 'lab rat', as she described it, came in handy.

"So, what's your dream?"

Lucifer was caught off guard for a moment, not really understand what she meant by that question but then he understood.

In the past, if someone had asked Lucifer, no Hayate Sato this same question he would've answered, "I want to have a relaxed life, graduate from college, marry someone I love, have kids and the spent the rest of my days having fun with my friends."

That's it.

However, now all he wished for was to be reunited with his friends.

When his life was going perfectly everything, nothing was amiss — he was transported to this world instead.

The end turned out not to be the end at all, but instead, it was a new beginning.

The NPCs created by him began to exhibit free will. From their every move he could feel the remnants of his former companions. Which was to be expected as he had made the current ones in their image and would continue to do so when he was free. To be honest, the shock he had experienced at the beginning confused him so much that he was constantly worried about betrayal. Looking back, that was moronic of him. Nowadays, he just did not question their loyalty at all.

Yet, it seemed like he was the only one who was transported to this world.

Apart from himself, he had yet to see anything even slightly resembling hollow. He couldn't stop his search right now and stop being cautious, for he had only been in Japan. Who knows, maybe some of them were transported with him to countries like the USA or whatever was going on with europe. It was only natural for him to wish for this. Of course, Lucifer knew that he was transported here during the middle moments of the game's operation, which made his friends' appearance in this world or even the appearance of other players likely.

One might call him an idiot for holding on to such vain hopes, one might also call him a futile loser too.

Yet.

Even if he won't find any of his friends or family member or any other player's in this world, he will still do what he had thought of before.

"What is my goal, you ask? I seek something that is difficult yet also easy to obtain. All I wish for… is a single thing. That is, happiness."

"Happiness?"

Luna repeatedly blinked in surprise.

Lucifer laughed a little in response. He did not find what he had said to be so outrageous.

"As a human, isn't the pursuit of life, happiness?"

Luna remained silent for a moment, her expression thoughtful as she processed his words.

"...I guess so," she finally said, her voice quieter than before. "But happiness... it's not something you can just find, you know? For some of us, it's like chasing smoke. The harder you reach for it, the more it slips through your fingers."

She tightened her grip on the steering wheel again, just slightly.

"I used to think that if I got strong enough—strong enough to fight back, strong enough to never be helpless again—that I'd feel something close to peace. But even now… there's always this weight. Like no matter how far I run or how many battles I win, it's still there."

Lucifer listened without interrupting, his dark eyes reflecting the city lights flickering past them as they drove through Neo-Tokyo's neon-lit streets.

Then he spoke softly:

"Everyone takes different roads just to reach the same destination. For some, the road is way smoother and for other's it takes some time."

She looked away, not really looking at anything but somehow seeing everything.

Her expression was a mixture of melancholy and determination.

"...Yeah," she said after a beat. "The journey is different for everyone."

She took in a breath, and let it out slowly, as if trying to let go of some of that weight she was talking about.

The silence returned, but it was a different kind of silence than before. It wasn't uncomfortable or tense, just heavy with unvoiced thoughts.

Lucifer didn't respond right away.

Instead, he looked out the window—at towering skyscrapers draped in holographic ads, at shadowy alleys where desperation festered beneath glowing signs promising "New Life Through Cyberware!"

Then he said:

"That's right, our different journeys and ways to achieve it, make it all the more worth chasing."

Her lips curled into a slight smile, a rare show of vulnerability from her.

"...Maybe you're right," she said.

It didn't take long for them to reach their destination which was Luna's house, from the part of the city they were in and to her house was a freeway which made their journey so much faster.

With the car now parked in the driveway of her house, Luna turned off the vehicle's engine, the silence settling in the car.

She let out a small sigh, her hands still around the steering wheel, her knuckles white.

She seemed deep in thought again, as if the conversation from before still lingered in her mind.

Lucifer waited a moment, giving her a moment to gather her thoughts before finally deciding to break the silence.

"Well, now that our mission is complete. I'll be going, when can I expect the reward money?"

Lucifer asked while putting back his helmet and cape on him, once again, becoming the rising mercenary and hero - Sato.

She seemed to snap out of her thoughts at the sound of Lucifer's voice, as if she had forgotten he was there.

"Oh—right, yea," she said, her voice more business-like now.

"Don't worry, I'll first show this car to the merc company and claim the reward money, I'll give it to you in a few hour's, preferably by morning. How does that sound?"

"That sounds perfect."

Lucifer said, adjusting the cape on him, making sure everything was in place.

He then opened the passenger door and got out of the car, closing the door behind him.

Luna followed suit, getting out of the driver's seat and closing the door behind her.

They stood there for a brief moment, an unusual quietness between them.

Then, just as Lucifer was about to leave, Luna's voice stopped him.

"Hey, wait a minute."

He turned around to face her, slightly raising an eyebrow as he did, although it was hidden by his mask.

"Yeah?"

She hesitated for a moment, biting her lower lip before speaking again.

"What do you think about going out somewhere next weekend, just the two of us?"

His eyes widened in surprise at her question, completely caught off guard. He definitely wasn't expecting that.

"...Going...out?"

He repeated, his voice betraying his surprise.

She gave a small nod, trying to look nonchalant even though there was a hint of nervousness.

"Yeah, just...hanging out, I guess."

He could only stare at her for a moment, his mind trying to process what she was asking. He wanted to ask why, but he was more stunned at the fact that she was asking in the first place.

"Has this new body also increased my charm?"

She shuffled awkwardly under his gaze, suddenly looking everywhere but at him.

"It's dumb, I know. Forget I said anything—"

She was about to try and backtrack, but Lucifer interrupted her, finally finding his voice again.

He cleared his throat, his tone a little more collected now.

"No, no, it's not dumb. I was just...surprised. Sure, I'll see if I'm free."

Even though Lucifer had said this, it felt quite weird. He wasn't really the type to get asked out often, if he had a nickel for everytime it happened, he would have two nickels, three if you include this time.

He really wasn't sure but if he didn't want to go, he could say he was busy. But, maybe maintaining a social life as "Sato" wouldn't be so bad as people trust a man with friends and family.

A small, bold smile formed on Luna's lips, the first real one he'd seen from her—soft, genuine.

"Alright. I'll send you a message about it."

She said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

He nodded in response.

"Sounds good."

With that settled between them—for now—he turned and began walking away from the car and down the dimly lit street.

The night air was cool against his covered skin as he disappeared into the shadows.

As soon as he was out of sight, Luna let out a deep breath she didn't even realize she had been holding.

Her stomach twisted into knots, her heart pounded like a jackhammer.

She ran a hand through her hair, feeling both embarrassed and confused by her own actions.

"Did I really just ask him to go out with me?"

A small part of her immediately wondered if she had been too forward.

"God, what was I thinking?"

She let out a frustrated huff of air, mentally cursing herself. She had been fine with just the mission and reward and now all of a sudden she was asking the guy she was working with out?

"I can't really do anything about it now.."

She was quite tired now, and the doctor could wait for his car. First, she needed a hot steamy shower to melt all the stress away.

As soon as she entered her house, Luna kicked off her shoes and dropped her jacket on the couch, too tired to bother putting anything away.

She was going to head straight to her room, the only thought on her mind: hot shower.

However, as she opened the door to her look, to her utmost surprise, there was someone in there, sitting on her bed, dripping in blood.

The figure was so still that it looked like a statue at first.

But then, a low laugh rumbled from the stranger, and even in the silence, the sound was clearly audible.

She activated the NIGHT-VISION implant in her eyes, to look at the figure better because her room was completely dark and her heart dropped.

Literally, atleast she thought so.

The figure, the man sitting on her bed turned his head around to look at her, his crimson mechanical eyes staring deep into her blue ones.

She didn't dare to look away, her grip on the gun remaining firm, even as she felt a pang of recognition.

It couldn't be.

It just couldn't.

The figure stood up slowly, every movement smooth and precise. He took a step forward, approaching her as if she was no threat at all.

The closer he got, the more her pulse picked up speed, her heart hammering against her ribs.

He stopped when he was just a few feet away from her, the shadows cast by the dim light from the outside making his cybernetics seem darker.

"I found you, cunt."

The man said in a lifeless yet hateful voice.

She pulled the trigger, but before she could even process what was happening, the bullet had been knocked out of the air.

The sound of metal clanging against metal echoed through the room as a blade extended from his wrist with a quiet shink.

Luna stepped back instantly, her breath hitching. Her mind screamed at her to run—but she stood frozen for one more second too long.

He moved.

A blur of speed—too fast to track—and suddenly he was in front of her, close enough that she could feel the cold metal against her neck as her vision faded into darkness.