Chapter Text
A faint electrical hum echoed in their ears as their consciousness slowly drifted back. Clenching their fists, they observed their surroundings. Not with their eyes, though, for some reason, something was telling them not to let anyone who could be nearby know they were awake. They were lying down, most likely on a bed. The room was lit, their eyes lacking the familiar darkness behind them. The smell was clean, if a bit like chemicals. And they could hear…voices. It had to be voices. They were out of focus, but as they concentrated, words floated past the boundary in their mind that still wanted to fall back into unconsciousness.
“It’s my first time seeing someone like this in person. They must be pretty high up if they were sent here.” A gruff voice said.
“You know we aren’t supposed to ask questions like that.” A low voice chastised.
“It’s not like anybody is here right now. Do you think they’d notice if we took something? I’m sure it’d sell for a lot.” The gruff voice questioned; it had grown a bit closer, and they tensed. Were these people really talking about stealing right in front of them?
“Mm, look at all that jewelry. You don’t see shit like that every day.” A nasally voice agreed.
“Just do your job, that’s what we’re being paid to do.” The low voice scolds once again.
“Fine, fine.” The gruff voice, which had steadily been growing closer to their body, backed away. But before they could relax, they felt a presence above them. Without warning, their hand darted out, and their eyes flew open. Blinking a few times at the light, they glared at the presence above them. It was a woman with long blue hair that covered one eye, who was wearing a doctor’s coat. She had a surprised expression on her face, staring at where they gripped her wrist.
They opened their mouth to speak, to tell her off, to yell at her, something, anything. But nothing came out. They couldn’t speak, but that wasn’t right; they should be able to speak. Everything pointed to the fact that they should be able to speak, but…they couldn’t actually remember speaking. In fact, they couldn’t remember anything. A mix of panicked emotions flashed through their body, and they let go of the woman above them. She stumbled back, rubbing her wrist with a dazed expression.
“Wolf! What happened!?” Their eyes shifted to the owner of the low voice, now shouting roughly at the woman now known as Wolf. He had shoulder-length dark hair and a slight beard and mustache.
“Uh, the patient, they’re uhm, awake.” She replies, recovering herself. They try to open their mouth to speak once more, but frown when their voice still won’t work.
“They are? How’d you find that out?” The owner of the gruff voice was a woman with short and spiky blonde hair.
“Well, I-” Wolf begins.
“Let me guess, you tried to grab some of their shiny riches and got caught, hahaha!” The other woman barks out a laugh.
“Why can’t the two of you just listen to my directions?” The man sighs. The conversation happening around them began to frustrate them. This place clearly wasn’t normal if the doctors were trying to steal. But shouldn’t they at least explain why they were there, ask questions, do something other than talk around them? They tried waving their hand to catch their attention, but were completely ignored.
“If the patient’s awake, does that mean we can go now? Nobody said we had to stay after they woke up.” Wolf says, pointing her thumb toward the door and tilting her head.
“Yes, they did. We’re supposed to wait til their guide or whatever got here. Don’t you pay attention at all?” The man chastises.
“Nah, I was only thinking about the payment. They offered quite a lot for us to do that operation. Ya sure, we can’t take a few things? Not like they can say anything about it.” Wolf looks over them greedily, and a flash of fear curls through their stomach.
“I agree, not like anybody has to know, right?” The other woman flashes a dangerous smile and moves slightly closer to their body. They can’t help the flinch that runs through them at the sight of her predatory smile.
“Fine, just make it quick. As soon as that guide comes, we’re out of here.” The man waves the two on, and they can only raise their arms in defense as they get closer, reaching for them.
BANG!
Their approach is halted when a loud noise echoes throughout the room. Turning their head slightly reveals a woman standing at the door of the infirmary. She has cold blue eyes and shoulder-length white hair. She was wearing a beige jumpsuit, with the jacket hanging off her shoulders, and in her hands appeared to be some sort of tablet.
“Ah, good, you’re awake.” Her soft voice is pleasant to the ears, and her eyes survey the room as she looks from their body to the doctor’s in the middle of their thievery.
“Was I…interrupting, something?” She tilts her head, and the two immediately back away.
“No.” They both claim.
“Are you the guide? You don’t look it.” The man scans her body, focusing on the beige jumpsuit.
“The guide is waiting outside, but it was decided that I would be a more amicable person for the first meeting with our patient.” She explains. “But if something is disagreeable, I am more than happy to bring the guide in.” She adds.
“No, no need. We’ll be taking our leave now.” The man says, nervously grasping onto his companion's shoulders and leading them forward.
“Come on, if you ever pull that stupid shit again, I’ll have your heads.” He whispers harshly in their ears as they pass by the bed. Low enough that they don’t believe the woman at the door can hear it.
“But Panther! You said we could!” Wolf squawks.
“Doesn’t matter, come on.” He huffs. The woman at the door moves aside as the trio passes by. And then all her attention is on them.
“I’m sure you have many questions, but first and foremost, here-” She tosses the tablet onto their lap. Moving it closer, they find a wall of text, so dense it blurs before their vision. “Sign this.”
They give her a deadpan stare, but she doesn’t respond to it. They try to speak, but are once again unable to, but as they vaguely gesture in a questioning manner, she seems to get the idea.
“Are you, perhaps, not wanting to sign this?” She asks. They shrug their shoulders and indicate to the tablet, scrolling through the pages upon pages of text before finally reaching the bottom, where they were supposed to sign.
“If you have to read it, I am prepared to wait. Though it does not matter much at the end of the day, the only way for you to regain your memory is to sign that contract.” Their hand pauses over the tablet, and they scan her face for any information.
“If you refuse to sign the contract, we will dump you outside the prison. It’s up to you.” She shrugs. Sighing with a slight frown on their face, they move their finger to sign the contract, before pausing again. Right, their name, what was their name?
“Dante.” Her clear voice rings through their head, and they turn to face her once more.
“That is your name.” She clarifies. It doesn’t sound familiar, but it’s not like they have any way to confirm it. With the last issue of theirs addressed. They quickly drag their finger across the tablet, signing their name with a flourish and handing the tablet back to the women.
“Welcome, Dante, to Inferno Prison.”
Prison? They were in prison?!
Seeming to notice their mental freak out, the woman rifled through her pockets and tossed them a small item. “Don’t worry, the contract you signed was mostly relating to your new job as the guard for Cell Block 13.” She explained. The item was a PDA, turning it on revealed only a single app installed, a notes app.
“You may use that to communicate with others. All the ‘Sinners’ under your watch will have an earpiece installed to improve communication. It has a range accurate to that of a human’s standard hearing.” She relays.
“What do you mean by guard? Why am I in prison? What was in the rest of the contract? Who are you?” They type their questions out one by one, fast enough that the woman in front of them eventually reaches out to put a stop to their typing, placing a hand to her head in annoyance.
“All your questions will be answered in time; besides, it is not my duty to answer those. But I suppose I can answer one of them. I am Faust.” She introduces.
Faust…
The name tingled the edge of their brain; it felt like something was trying to slip through, but grasping it only made their head ache, so they let it go.
“Before you ask any more questions, Dante. I will introduce you to your guide, he will be the one to answer your questions…if he feels like it.” She added the last part under he breath, so low Dante almost couldn’t hear it. Whatever it meant, it didn’t bode well for them.
Faust extended her hand, and Dante grabbed it, putting a bit of their weight on her as they stumbled to their feet. Taking a few steps, they were almost worried they’d fall, but it didn’t take long to regain their balance. The infirmary was small, filled with their bed, a counter, a sink, and some cabinets. The door was to the right of their bed, and there was a full-length mirror resting on it.
Walking steadily over to the mirror, they glanced over themselves. Taking in every single detail. They were wearing a black shirt with black pants underneath, a belt hanging around their waist, either to keep them from slipping down or merely for style. They had on a bright red jacket that went all the way to their feet and a bright red tie. Their skin was dark and their eyes golden; the pupils were shaped like a slit instead of the usual blown circle. They had a snakebite piercing on their lips, black in color, and had black gloves on their hands. Their hair was done in knotless braids, twisted up behind their head in a ponytail that had their hair sticking straight up. They had a few bangs on the right side of their face, and the edges of their hair were dyed red. They had on a pair of earrings, gold in color and hanging down with a red gem set in the middle. They must’ve been what those doctors had been reaching for earlier.
Looking at their body, it felt more real than their name had been. But there was still something off, like something was missing. But once again, they couldn’t place it. Chasing after it only made them feel emptier. As they were still investigating themself in the mirror, the door swung open, surprising them and causing them to flinch.
“Faust…is something keeping you? Because I’m sure you didn’t forget we have places to be.” The low, condescending voice of a man could be heard before his figure crossed the doorway. He had short grey hair and pale skin, with scars littered across his hands and one on his face. He wore gray pants with a black shirt and a gray guard's jacket over the top. But the most striking thing about him was his intimidating red eyes, which raked over Dante as they backed out of the way.
“Dante, this is Vergilius; he shall be your guide and the Overseer of Cell Block 13.” Faust introduces.
“Nice to meet you.” They write onto their PDA, but Vergilius barely casts a glance over it, seeming to find Dante themself vastly more interesting, though there was a certain dismissiveness to his gaze. Like he didn’t care about Dante, but someone else entirely.
“Hmm…I guess you really did lose your memories.” Vergilius mumbles.
“Did you know me before?” Dante types into the PDA, but Vergilius ignores it, leaving a tight coil of anger in their chest.
“Let’s go, we have a tight schedule, and we’re already behind.” He beckons for Dante and Faust to follow them, which Dante does with a light huff. Leaving behind the infirmary, Dante finds themselves in a dark gray hallway, lit up with the occasional ceiling light. Vergilius leads them to a big metal door and grabs a keycard around his waist, bringing it up to a scanner. It beeps, and the doors open, letting the light from outside stream in. They bring their arms up to avoid hurting their eyes from the bright light that accosts them. But when they grow used to it, and they take in the view from outside, their jaw drops open in awe.
There were over twenty-six massive buildings, each laid out extending from the biggest building of them all in the middle. The entire area was surrounded by enormous gated prison walls. It looked more like a city than a prison; the walkways were so wide they could see cars and buses driving on them. They could even see patches of green where full parks sat.
“Welcome to hell…or should I say, Inferno Prison, Dante,” Vergilius states.