Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When traversing the mirror dungeon, everything was normal at first. We made our way through waves of enemies gaining EGO gifts one by one until something strange happened. An abnormality check we've never seen before.

The door beckons for someone to open it. The sinners look puzzled. There are no handles nor any of their attempts to break through it are successful.

Who will be the one to open it?
Threshold-???

I decide to use N corp Sinclair to try open because he rolls the highest. As expected, he rolls a perfect 30 but it still fails? I ask Faust about it.

<Faust what gives? I rolled a 30 but the door still didn't open.> 

"It seems that this obstacle is one that Faust is not familiar with. I apologise for my inability to asses it." I stare at her for a few seconds in confusion.

I sigh as I look at my tablet. I decide to use everyone else to no avail. We decide to leave the door alone since it's obvious that none of us will open it. As expected we manage to get away just fine. We continue on to fight the final boss of the mirror dungeon. This time, it's Casseti. As I go through the fight as normal, something strange happens when we fight the supposed to be Casseti. 

Instead, a rip in space opens and the Wayward Passenger appears instead. What was happening? I decide to fight it as normal even though it shows strange signs. 

<Heathcliff, Yi Sang, Rodya, Sinclair, Gregor and Ryoshu. You all go fight him while me and Faust try to figure out what the hell is going on here.> 

They all nod while wearing their respective identities before rushing into battle. The battle is short lived, though. This version of the Wayward Passenger seemed to take much more damage and roll much less than its normal counterpart. As the sinners clash with the unusal Wayward Passenger, little puddles of a strange liquid continued to drop from the abnormaility.

<Faust, what's that strange liquid?> I point at the small puddle of the strange liquid.

"As Faust has said, Faust is unable to identify anything that the abnormality has produced or what it will do. As prior, I apologise for my lack of help in this situation." Faust lets out a highly uncharacteristic sigh.

As we finish talking, Heathcliff and Gregor manage to slice off both of the Passenger's hands as Rodion deals a powerful blow to its chest. It falls down staggered as it reattaches one of its hands in an attempt to rip space and escape.

"C.F, L.F.I.O." I slowly nod in acknowledgement of her suggestion before Rodya chimes in.

"Hey, hey, hold on a minute. We don't know what will happen if we kill it right now especially with that liquid pouring out of its arms like a river right now." She says this as I am about to give the order. I pause for a second before making a conclusion.

<Just finish it off while we can. We don't want anymore weird things going on.>

"Gotcha Manager Bud, Already on it." Gregor activates an EGO in preparation.

Once Gregor uses Solemn Lament, he shreds through the remainder of the abnormality's health. Instead of it reverting to its ovate form, it retreats by ripping a rift in space and jumping in it. The large amounts of the strange liquid start to come together and it explodes in a large wave that distorts our surroundings making it hard to traverse the area.

"What the hell is happening?! A-Ah! Someone grab me! I'm floating!" Sinclair says in panic. The other sinners also start to panic as we lose our footing.

"Fear not young Sinclair, I, Don Quixote will save thee!" Don Quixote stretches out her hand to try to grab Sinclair's.

"Bloody hell lass! Can't you see something is wrong here! Dammit, Clockface what the fuck is going on?" Heathcliff starts to grow increasingly more irritated.

I stay still as I stare at the door. I slowly float towards it. I feel my head react with the strange presence of the door. 

<Faust. I'm going to try open the door. If something goes deadly wrong, you're in charge.> I face Faust and I wait for confirmation.

"Understood, good luck, Dante." Faust slowly nods as if she's unsure.

Golden Bough Resonance

The door opens and tries to suck me in. Ishmael has already grabed my hand and has stabbed her harpoon in the floor in an attempt to keep us still until it closes.

"Dammit Dante! What the hell were you thinking?!" Ishmael tries to keep us from falling into the door.

I require the "manager" in order to fulfill my duty. I shall not do anymore until that condition is fufilled. If you wish to be eradicated, so be it.

The suction is powered tenfold as Ishamel's harpoon starts to lose its grip on the floor. I could already see some of the sinners panicking.

<Ishmael! I need you to let go of my hand!> I shout at her in order to get her attention.

"Have you gone insane, Dante! There's no guarantee that that thing won't kill you!" 

<It's going to kill all of us either way if we don't do something! Just... trust me on this!>

With a heavy sigh and a lot of thinking, Ishamel decides to give into my request as she watches me drop into the endless void of the door.

As the door closes I can see each and every one of the sinners look in horror as I disppear from their sight. The void seems to have an effect that makes it hard to stay awake. I ultimately give in as I fall unconscious, trusting that the door will send somewhere safe.

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The door returns to ovate from as all the sinners watch. The first one to speak is Rodion, who's usually calm and collected tone has gone to shreds.

"What happened? Where's Dante? I could've sworn I saw him disappear into that door." Rodya starts to grow worried.

"H.O.G. Dumbass." Ryoshu quickly scoffs after she says it.

"He's obviously gone. And I can agree, we saw him disappear through that door." Sinclair translates. She sighs as he falls to his knees.

As all the sinners are conversing on what to do, Don Quixote has already walked up to the previously manifested door.

"MANGER ESQUIRE!!! TO WHERE IN THE WORLD HAS THOU DISAPPEARED!!!!!"

"I believe that Dante cannot currently hear you. The best course of action is to return to Vergilius and explain the situation." Yi Sang slowly gets up as he looks towards the rest of the sinners.

After returning to the bus, Vergilius had a stern talking to them. To make an example, Vergilius again restorted to humiliating Don Quixote but making sure she would not die as Dante was not present this time.

"Faust believes that the sinners are not at fault for this incident. As it was the manager's carelessness that led to them interacting with the door instead of taking a more safe approach." Faust lets out a sigh.

"Fine. But make sure you find him in the next month or I'll reconsider guiding this group of misfits." Vergilius waves his hand as he dismisses the sinners.

Vergilius quickly takes his boot of Don Quixote and swifty dismisses each other the sinners to their rooms as Charon parks Mephistopheles.

——————————————————————————————

<Agh... where the hell am I?> I slowly open my eyes and check my hands.

<I'm alive? Where am I though?> It's a vast field with a large city in the distance.

<Am I in the outskirts? Is this really what they look like? Then why would everyone say its not worth going there? It looks nice. I could stay here for a bit longer.>

"Oh, you're awake. Come on, everyone else is waiting for us." I hear a mysterious yet familiar voice call out to me.

<Who said that?> I look to my side.

<Ishmael?> She looks a bit different though. She looks like a person from a fairytale. Wait. I quickly check out my clothing and sigh a sigh of relief as I realise i still have my normal attire on.

<Where's the others?>

"Sorry, I can't understand your ticking, Dante." She laughs. This doesn't seem like the Ishmael I know. I should probably play along for my own self interest though. I should really try get back.

"If you have amnesia or something, the city mayor, Meursault, will talk to you. He's the only one who understands you anyway." After that, we embark off to the city. When we arrive at the city, there's a lot of new and old faces I recognise. All of them wear attire like they're from a fairytale much like Ishamel. The only part of an outfit thats familiar to me is Don Quixote's running shoes she's named 'Rocinante'. I decide to walk around and refamiliarise myself with everyone.

"Oh, Dante! Thou has graced myself with thee's presence. I am the rightous knight of this sacred land! As long as I am here, no innocent soul shall ever go to harm!"

<Uh, yeah. Thanks Don.> I nod at her.

"Don? Who's that? Oh, Dante! Pleasure to see you around. My name is Sinclair and I'm the librarian here. Even though I'm not that good at reading, I was appointed this job because I'm the only one who can understand Ryoshu's SANGRIA." I nod to Sinclair in acknowledgement.

"Ah, right. While you're here I should probably introduce you to Ryosh-" Sinclair is then cut off by Ishmael shouting at me.

"DANTE! WE DON'T HAVE ALL DAY, COME ON, THE MAYOR IS WAITING FOR US!" I hold my head to shield myself from her obnoxiouslyoud voice.

"Ah, right. I got a little carried away. Hehe... You should probably follow her. Even though Ishmael seems like a nice person, she can be brutal if you get on her bad side. Anyway, I'll see you later!" He waves as I walk away. 

<Yeah, me too Sinclair.> I wave back at him as I follow Ishmael as we approach a large building in the middle of the city. It seems very out of place and looks like it's from decades ago. Ishamel stops at the door.

"We're here, Dante. Go in, the mayor is eagerly waiting yout presence. I won't be able to accompany you, though. He has requested you and only you to go in."

Chapter Text

I gently open the door. I'm greeted by a vast library filled with books upon books as far the eye can see. I walk forward a small distance and spot Meursault. He seems to be in deep thought. I awkwardly try to get his attention to no avail. I decide to leave him in thought and walk around the library in hope of finding a way back to the sinners.

I look at book after book. I unknowingly walk into the abnormality section of the library which I find out by a strange looking blade on the floor. I finally put the pieces together and figure out that the blade belonged to that strange version of the Wayward Passenger back in the mirror dungeon. I reach to pick it up but I'm interrupted by Meursault.

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you." Meursault quickly warns me.

As soon as I hear him say that, a blade comes out through a rip in the floor as I barely back away from it.

<Could've warned me sooner, dumbass!> I quickly kick the arm as the abnormality falls back into the rift as it closes.

"I believe that is a rude way to refer to a man that has just saved your arm." He gets up.from his chair and walks to my side.

<Whatever! Just tell me what you want and lets just get this over with.> I put my hands in my pockets.

:Straight to the point I see? As you have known, I require your services for-" As he was about to tell me why I was here, a cog flew through the window and servered his head. I look at the corpse in disbelief. It's as if time stood still as I looked out of a window and towards the strange figure who launched the attack.

<Faust...?> I look in confusion. Why would Faust be attacking Meursault? It makes no sense. This wasn't the Faust I knew for obvious reasons. She dawned her a white dress reminiscent of a bride outfit similarly to her “Everlasting” EGO without the clocks. I instinctively turn the clock in the hopes of returning him to the world. The pain rings and rings in my head and I make random and frantic ticking noises. As soon as I knew it another cog was flying for my head in an attempt to behead me until an odachi deflects it.

"This certainly is an interesting revelation." I look at him as he gets up from the floor.

I watch as a chain from my head has already wrapped itself around Meursault's neck. I assume that means I'm able to revive Meursault but, for some reason, I feel like I've also healed the other sinners. That means I might be able to get back if we're still connected.

"W.T.H.I.H?" Ryoshuu tilts her head as Meursault calmly acknowledges her.

"It seems that they have already breached the area. Tell the others to evacuate and that this situation is a code void." Meursault turns to face me and calmly signals for me to follow him. As I follow, he makes his way to a specific bookshelf as he takes out the book and hands it to me.

<And this is?> I look at him and tilt my head. Before receiving a reply.

"You will know when the time comes. For now we must stay calm and address this situation." We walk back out of the castle to see everyone scrambling about gathering everything they can. I look out to spot any of the other sinners that I haven’t seen yet. I quickly spot Gregor who is in a black suit with his Solemn Lament guns in a corner.

"See anyone out of place?"  I jump back a bit clearly startled by Ryoshuu's sudden undetected appearance behind me. I point in the general direction where I saw Gregor and, as quickly as I point to the area, Ryoshuu has already picked up a small dagger and threw it with immense accuracy.

Gregor then jumps out from his hiding spot as turns to face the two of us. He lets out a laugh before disappearing into butterflies. The ground ruptured from below us and I start to fall into the ground. My hand is grabbed and I am thrown out of the hole.

"Dante what the hell is happening?" Ishmael pulls me up and I shrug at her. She quickly grabs my arm and starts running. After a few minutes, we reach a safe distance from the city as we watch it falling into the abyss.

"That is what is known as the void phenomenon." I jump in shock. I wonder how Meursault got behind me while Ishmael keeps a straight expression. I let out a sigh of relief while realising that it's just Meursault.

<Care to elaborate further?> I quickly try to question him.

"This phenomena is caused by an unknown organisation. For sake of simplicity, we just call them the void spreaders. They have already claimed multiple strongholds around the continent. Luckily, we were able to evacuate a large amount of villagers and they are currently being transported to a safe location. We also do not know how they cause the void to spread as all reports have only been used on a relatively small scale. This seems to be an expection, though."

"You really should've told me about that sooner... is it just because Dante is here?" Meursault stays silent. Ishmael lets out a long obviously exaggerated sigh. She signals for me to follow her. I walk with her until we reach the edge of the void.

"We don't know what happens at the bottom of the void. All of our attempts to send troops down there lead to them never being sent again... I've never seen one in person and don't know who these void spreaders are." Her tone changes into a much more grim one. I try to send her my condolances even though she's unable to hear me.

"Any form of communication we try to send down there gets disabled as soon as it reaches a certain distance. Ah... It's really a pain trying to figure this out. But I'm glad we have someone who can help us out." She chuckles a bit. It's not your typical chuckle though, it has violent intention behind it. I decide to not engage further into the topic to not agitate her. I look behind me and Don Quixote walks up from behind us. She looks battered up and beaten. She seems to have taken slash wounds and a few burns.

<What happened? Where's Sinclair?>

She looks at us. Her arms fall as her legs fail her and she crashes into the ground. I decide to turn the clock in an attempt to heal her. Shortly after, she rises to her feet but her long lost overwhelming energy has been stripped away from her.

"Sir Sinclair is fine, however the enemy is much stronger than I have expected. I am sincerely sorry for my failure, Manager Esquire." She falls down onto her knees. I place my hand on her shoulder. Another chain comes out from my hand and wraps around her waist before promptly disappearing into thin air.

<It isn’t that bad right? I mean, no one was killed and everyone is safe. So don’t feel bad about it.>

"I thank thee, Manager Esquire... I will take thoust words into consideration."Don Quixote jumps up and the sparkle reignites in her eyes. I let out a sigh of relief.

<So... What happened in your past?> Don Quixote raises an eyebrow. She's obviously confused on what I'm taking about. I let out a sigh.

<Whatever... anyway, what are we supposed to do now?> I decide to question Don Quixote because I'm clueless on what's going to happen next.

"Ah! Thou has been summoned upon by Sir Meursault for a meeting of upmost importance!"

<Ugh, not the old man again. This guy is too mysterious for my own liking and not only that his attitude and way of speaking sets me off.>

"So this is the 'esteemed manager' I've heard so much about. I'm disappointed, really." A dark voice chimes from the shadows before stepping out. We turn around quickly to assess the enemy. It's none other than Heathcliff... but in an ID i can't recognise. It looks like it belongs to his Sunshower ID, mainly because of the clothing and umbrella, but also had elements of his Wild Hunt ID such as the eyepatch and the coffin he carries on his back.

"Dammit... You don't know when to give up!" Ishmael quickly charges at Heathcliff. Ishmael's greatsword and Heathcliff's umbrella. Heathcliff's umbrella is suprisingly durable and seems as light as a feather. With quick movements Ishmael manages to push heathcliff backwards a small distance.

"Thou shall not bring any harm to Lady Ishmael and Manager Esquire!" Don quixote's lance quickly clashes with Heathcliff's umbrella and with a quick movement he strikes Don's chest and sends her flying into a tree.

<You look like Heathcliff, but you’re not the one I knew. So who are you?!> Heathcliff turns to me in confusion. He narrows his eyes in what looks like an attempt to read my expression, not like I have one in the first place.

"I don't know what you're saying, but if you must know... My name is Heathcliff, manager of the 4th branch of what you call the "Void Spreaders". Codename, Wild Hunt." He puts on a sadistic smile.

Don Quixote once again rushes in with Ishmael. This time, Heathcliff evades all their attacks and sends Ishmael sliding backwards with a quick plunge of his umbrella and grab Don Quixote's head and slams it into the floor.

"You're too damn persistant! I don't usually use this... but this is a special exception." His purple eyes glow a darker color. Ishmael throws her greatsword with immense strength at Heathcliff but it's seemingly deflected by nothing.

"Don! Get out of there!" Heathcliff opens a rift to a void with his umbrella and switches it out for a massive greatsword.

"Dullahan! Lay waste to my enemies!" Lightning strikes all around us as a headless horse starts to gallop out of the void. As soon as it gets out of the void, it knocks Ishmael far into the forest and makes its way to Heathcliff as he prepares to behead Don Quixote.

"That's enough." As if he were bound by nothing, Yi Sang flies through the air before landing on the ground in with a white suit however he still has the Solemn Lament guns. He quickly shoots Heathcliff and he mounts Dullahan to make a counterattack but Yi Sang swiftly backs away.

<Yi Sang!> I shout in surprise from his sudden appearance.

"It is my pleasure to make your aquaintance, Manager. Stand back as I take care of the threat." Yi Sang draws his guns from his waist.

"You're getting cocky, you poet. Don't you recall the last time we fought? You needed all the help you could get to even make a dent in my skin. Look what happened to your energetic friend. I embarrased her at the city and what makes you think I can't do the same to you?" Heathcliff looks at Yi Sang in anger.

As if she wasn't there, Don Quixote was retrieved by none other than Ryoshuu. As she makes her way to beside Yi Sang.

"Evacuate all the civilians and make sure to look out for any other enemies. I'll take care of this. I've held a long rivalry against this man." Yi Sang tells Ryoshuu as he gestures for her to go.

"U.I.L.T.R.T.Y." Ryoshuu then disappears into thin air while carrying Don Quixote. I can only hope that she has kept Ishmael safe as well.

"Last time I turned my attention away from you. That was my mistake however it will not happen again, Heathcliff."  Heathcliff lets out a long laugh as he points the tip of his sword towards Yi sang. Yi Sang returns the gesture by pointing the tip of one of his guns at Heathcliff.

"Bring it on! I'd like to see you grovel in fear as I slowly dismantle your hope! Even back in our early days we’ve been at it, but even still, you still persist to be a thorn in my side!" Just like that, Dullahan and Yi Sang kick off the ground approaching each other at immense speeds as Heathcliff releases a lightning bolt and Yi Sang shoots his buttlerflies as the two commence their rematch. I could only watch and hope for the best.

Chapter Text

Both Yi Sang and Heathcliff lung towards each other with immense speed while I stay back and watch. Yi Sang lets out a bullet which Heathcliff swifty deflects with his greatsword before maneuvering to deal a heavy counterattack which Yi Sang dodges.

"You've become quite rusty since we've last fought. Is old age finally taking its toll on you?" Yi Sang taunts Heathcliff which quickly sets off his temper.

"I don't want to hear it from you! Just die already!" With that proclamation Heathcliff sends a flurry of slashes towards Yi Sang which he dodges before taking out his umbrella to deal a powerful lunge towards Yi Sang's chest.

"Too slow. Haven't you learnt? You've become way too obvious for me to read." Yi Sang uses a bullet to deflect the umbrella before kicking Heathcliff in the face and jumping off of Dullahan's neck sending it backwards a small distance.

"Shut up, genius. I'm just getting to the good part!" Heathcliff rushes in while sending a lightning bolt which Yi Sang dodges. "Can't dodge midair you piece of-" 

"I don't want to hear anything else from you, Heathcliff. As I said, you're getting... predictable!" Yi Sang quickly lands on Dullahan and backflips behind Heathcliff before sending a flurry of bullets into the back of his head cutting off his statement.

"Damn it! Stop running and fight me head on!" Heathcliff starts to grow more irritated as his attacks before much more clumsy which Yi Sang takes advantage of punishing Heathcliff with a kick to the face after he misses an attack.

"I'm getting bored. It's about time I end this." Yi Sang knocks Heathcliff off Dullahan as he showers it with bullets until it falls back into the void. He quickly turns his attention to Heathcliff who has all but disappeared from the spot Yi Sang had sent him to.

<Watch out, above you!> I desperately try to get Yi Sang's attention as Heathcliff prepares to spear into Yi Sang's head with his umbrella.

Yi Sang quickly responds to my warning before barely dodging the umbrella as it digs deep into the ground.

"I'm not done yet!" Heathcliff uses the umbrella to pry out a large chunk of Earth which Yi Sang is forced to dash backwards to avoid. Heathcliff then proceeds to run up the chunk breaking it into many pieces with lighting as he proceeds to send the pieces flying towards Yi Sang.

Yi Sang uses a bullet each to shoot through each rock before resorting to dodge the rest. He cautiously looks at his guns which I assume that means he's running out of ammo.

<Yi Sang! Finish him off quick!>

Golden Bough Resonance - Pigritia

"I understand, Dante." Yi Sang proceeds to blitz Heathcliff with a combination of shots and physical attacks bringing him too his knees.

"Damn it..." Heathcliff heavily breathes as Yi Sang walks up to him, aiming his gun at Heathcliff's head.

"It's over now." Yi Sang pulls the trigger. Nothing happens. He looks at his gun in surprise. "I've miscalculated."

Heathcliff reacts quick and sends a slash towards Yi Sang's head. Yi Sang retaliates by kicking him in the shin bringing Heathcliff down on one knee before pistol whiping him knocking him back. 

"Don't underestimate me you damn prick!" Heathcliff sends more lighting towards Yi Sang which he promptly dodges closing in distance.

<Sorry I can't help you anymore! I've reached my limit!> I warn Yi Sang as the effects of Pigritia expire slowing him down.

"Noted, Dante. I will end this fight here." Yi Sang reloads his guns before aiming a barrage of shots at Heathcliff as he continues to close the distance.

"It's over!" Heathcliff ruptures the ground with lighting before slamming down with the umbrella as he sends a flurry of rocks at Yi Sang.

"I agree, but it's over for you." Yi Sang empties his ammo on the rocks before shooting Heathcliff catching him off balance before stopping right in front of Heathcliff, gun aimed at his head.

"Piece of-!" Yi Sang shoots Heathcliff in the head before kicking him unconscious with a kick to the face.

"It's over. I win this time." Yi Sang looks at the unconscious body of Heathcliff while breathing heavily.

"How useless! My crew could never serve an eyesore of a battle that this was! Such a one sided battle, have you lost your edge over the years? And to think you were once my most valued crewmate!" A harpoon quickly impales Heathcliff's arm as the harpoon starts to drag Heathcliff away.

<Ahab!> I quickly prepare to chase after them before Yi Sang puts his hand on my shoulder.

"It's very unwise to pursue them as of now. I do not have any ammo to fight and there is only two of us. Not to mention your incapability to fight. Retreat is our best course of action " I sigh as I accept his words 

"Good choice, if I hadn't known any better I would've added you to my crew by now, Yi Sang. You're lucky I can't kill you. Boss's orders." With that Ahab drags Heathcliff away into the forest out of sight.

<How does she know your name?" I look at Yi Sang with a questioning glare, even though he can't read my expression.

"It's better if Meursault explains it to you. After all, she was once one of ours before she joined them." Yi Sang starts to walk away back towards the camp.

I decide to follow him. I'm losing my trust in these people bit by bit, this just doesn't add up at all.

Chapter Text

A bell starts to ring signaling that the sinners must get out of bed. This has been a daily occurrence since Dante's disappearance in a desperate attempt to try retrieve him as soon as possible. Obviously, some were not appreciative of this new military regime.

"Bloody hell... Can't I not get some fucking sleep for once for God's sake..." Heathcliff groans out while shoving his face into his pillow. Ever since the altercation with Erlking Heathcliff and #####, he's been more mellowed out than usual. Usually keeping to himself unless the situation calls for it. Ever since Dante's disappearance, he's been forced to talk more to his discomfort.

"Ugh... can we not have one day without this? It's getting on my nerves." Much like Heathcliff, Ishmael's attitude has changed after the events with Ahab. However, unlike him, she has actually become more social but is still getting tired of having to give daily reports. It didn't help either that she was the one to let Dante go and was as such punished by Vergilius for her carelessness.

"F.H, C.W.N.H.A.D.O?!" Ryoshuu has also been deeply annoyed by the alarm. This has resulted in more violet actions and a worsening attitude towards all of the sinners. She cannot kill any of them without the presence of Dante and has instead resorted to threats and shallow cuts to vent her anger out.

"Ow my head... can they not do this? I want just one day to relax." Sinclair had fallen off the bed as he rubbed his dead to soothe the pain. He had not taken the news of Dante disappearing well and had been paranoid about death every waking hour usually ending in late nights where he couldn't sleep. "Oh well... guess it's just another day."

The other sinners have not been affected in a more significant manner than these three. However, all of them have also become increasingly tired as Vergilius refuses to let them rest until Dante is found. That is to be expected as if Dante isn't found, Vergilius risks having to give up parts of his contract.

As all of the sinners walk out into the main room, they are greeted by a still on edge Vergilius. As, he glances at Faust, she takes out a notebook from her pocket as she announces the task given to the sinners today.

"As Dante is nowhere to been seen in the city, Faust proposes that we try to subdue the abnormality that has is the cause of this incident. As such, it has been dubbed 'The Door of Mirrors'."

Outis quickly puts her hand up to ask a question. "Does that mean we will be embarking off into the mirror dungeon?"

"Correct, however, Faust must stress that if you die your body may be beyond recovery. Faust also must inform you that we will be all fighting instead of 6 of us to reduce casualties."

"Oh, oh!" Don Quixote quickly puts her hand up and start hopping. "Does thou mean that myself will be able to bestow judgement instead of watching idly in support?!"

"Yes, Don. She means that." Sinclair gives our a sigh. He hasn't been taking the past few days so well.

"Oh come on Sinclair! Lighten up a bit! I'm sure we'll find Dante soon, so just hang tight!" Rodya quickly tries to highten the mood to no avail as she looks at everyone awkwardly.

"Hah... that energy of yours is comparable to Don's somehow... and I thought that was a handful." Gregor whispers under his breath to not annoy Rodya.

"Hey what was that now, Greg? You can't be insulting a women under your breath! That's bad manners!" Rodya is quick to call out Gregor.

"Can you all shut up? As Faust mentioned, you have a job to do and you should complete it or I will have to take matters into my own hands." Vergilius glances at all the sinners with a deadly gaze instantly silencing them.

Many let our a groan and some a sigh before they make their way to the backdoor to enter the mirror dungeon.

Chapter Text

The sinners walked into the mirror dungeon. The silence between them only made the situation more awkward. Suprisingly, one of the few that noone thought would start a conversation talked.

"S.H.L?" Ryoshuu quickly blurted out. Every other sinner looked at Sinclair demanding a translation.

"Uh- I don't feel comfortable everyone looking at me like that... but what she said is 'so who's leader?'" Sinclair responded to the burning glances looking straight into his soul.

Then proceeded an argument on who should lead the leader.

"Well, obviously I should be the leader. I led us during the routine checkup after all." Heathcliff quickly puts himself forward for the leadership position.

"Now that isn't fair. You barely did anything except order us around with the instructions you were given!" Ishmael is quick to shut down Heathcliff's claim.

"I believe that I would be most suited for this position of authority!" Don Quixote says with each sinner looking at her.

"Look Don, but I don't think your particularly cut out of this so take a backseat on this one." Rodya says while putting her hand on Don's shoulder as she begins to pout.

"Well if I must say, wouldn't our geniuses like Faust, Yi Sang and Meursault be the most cut out for the job?. Hong Lu contributes with most sinners being in silent agreement.

"If I may." Outis walks out from the crowd, "Wouldn't an ex-military solider be best suited for this position?" 

"True, we do need someone with experience guiding a team which Yi Sang, Faust and Meursault lack..." Gregor points out her point as valid.

"Well then, we've come to a decision right?" Sinclair awkwardly says.

"I.D.C. L.G.T.O.W." Ryoshuu says while standing beside Sinclair.

"'I don't care. Lets get this over with.' she says." Sinclair translates for everyone.

Everyone gets into a crowd eagerly waiting for Outis' instructions.

"Hey, you really think this is a good idea? I mean, a military officer is going to act like one." Ishmael whispered into Heathcliff's ear.

"Dunno, lass. We just have to wait and see how it plays out." Heathcliff replied to Ishmael.

"Men! We embark off into this unknown territory. I expect you to all follow my orders without any hesitation!" Outis gave the orders to the sinners getting a few mumbles and groans out of them.

The sinners then entered the mirror dungeon. Without Dante's assistance, the sinners couldn't use identities or any EGOs. Instead, they elected to jump the enemy without hesitation. A few battles later, they made it to the last floor without any casualties.

"Men, this is the last battle! We must pass through this final obstacle and defeat the enemy!" Outis gave out one final order before the sinners stepped into the final node.

Waiting for them was the same door that had taken Dante. Instead of doing nothing, the door sent out different mirror world versions of the sinners ranging from W corp to Walpurgistnacht identities. 

"Bloody hell! These shitheads don't know when to quit!" Heathcliff grew increasingly annoyed at the near infinite amount of mirror world versions of himself he has had to fight while almost having his head chopped off by his Wild Hunt identity before bashing it in the heaf.

"No kidding, there seems to be no end to them." Ishmael chimes in while deflecting a strike from her Pequod Captain identity and bashing her Liu identity in the face.

"Wait look! It's starting to finally let up!" Rodya says while the door slowly starts to close and she chops off her Princess of La Manchaland identity's head. Meursault takes the opportunity and throws his R corp identiry away and proceeds to slam the door shut while it returns to its ovate form.

"Great work men! We have successfully conquered this challenge and have come one step closer to retrieving the manager. Let's fall back for now and let the after team take care of the rest." Outis gives the order to fall back and promptly dismisses the sinners from their duties.

The sinners make their way back to Mephistopheles before they are met by Vergilius who looks at Faust before he addresses her.

"Faust. What did you see in the dungeon?" Vergilius is quick to ask for a status report from Faust.

"The sinners have retrieved the strange abnormality that has taken away Dante. Faust believes that this will take us one step closer to recovering him." Faust says to Vergilius as he nods in acknowledgement.

"I see. Then, you are dismissed for now." Vergilius waves his hand for Faust to exit which she quickly does.

Back with Dante...

"Ah, Dante. It seems you have returned. I am sure you have many questions." Meursault says to Dante before he crosses his arms.

<You for sure bet I do. And get ready to answer each and every one of them to my satisfaction.> Dante angrily says to Meursault.

The air between them in tense as Dante proceeds to ask his questions.

Chapter Text

Honestly I went into this work blind because of some random dream I had one day. I really appreciate everyone who has come with me throughout this work but I don't feel anything that makes me want to continue writing this. If anyone wants to pick it up for themselves go ahead, I'm not stopping you.

Note that this does NOT mean I won't write any more works it's just that I don't want to write this particular one anymore and I probably will write someone eventually (even though it may not be a project moon fic).

Thank you for reading and see you again in the next one!