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    I was pretty annoyed. I was officially on my own. No bond, no Dantalion, and I sucked at puzzles. Annoyed, I triggered Beelzebub and had my clones spread out around the room, taking up positions near all the visible levers they could easily reach. I even triggered Piece of Mind a few times so the clones would have other parallels in them for me to talk over my options with.


    “Alright,” I shouted to myself. “I’m going to flip this lever, we’re going to watch what happens, and then one of you is going to try.”


    The me on the lefthand side highest up cocked his head. “You realize you don’t need to tell us the plan? We’re literally you. We know the plan. And by the way, it isn’t actually very good. Which you know. Because we know it. Because again, we’re you.”


    I glared at him. “Shut up, it’s too quiet in here. Which you ALSO know. I need someone to bounce ideas off of. And talking to myself feels less crazy than…talking to myself.”


    “That thought kind of fell apart before the end huh?” asked the lower right hand version of me.


    “Are we sure he’s the original?” asked on about halfway into the room. “Maybe he’s just a bad copy. I bet I’m the original. What do you guys think?”


    I rolled my eyes. “Shut up morons!” I snapped at all the me’s. You’re supposed to be helping, not making useless quips. Damn, no wonder I never use you guys for conversation. I’d get better feedback from that rock.”


    My parallels could talk, but they were just me. I’d never felt the need to have a conversation with myself so I’d never bothered using them as a sounding board. Still, in this instance having multiple points of view and minds working on the problem COULD help, and I was basically looking for any port in a storm.


    Upper-left Me snorted. “Spoilsport. Fine, pull the lever.”


    I gave a quick yank, and the water level dropped, receding back down about a foot. “Ok, so what are we looking for here anyway?” Called Lower-right Me. “An exit? Because we can cross the water pretty easily as it is, so I don’t see what the test is-” there was a thump as Upper-right Me pulled his level and then a surge of corrosive green energy that blossomed through the water.


    Glaring at Lower-right Me, I walked over to the edge and put my hand out. I withdrew it with a hiss as my armor reached scalding temperatures. Radiation of some kind I was pretty sure. Which would mean not only did we not uncover an exit, transportation between the platforms would be difficult verging on impossible. I gestured emphatically to the water. “You see what happens when you tempt fate?”


    He shrugged. “Whatever, we prepared for that. It was why you had each of the clones take a platform. You knew once the puzzle started they might be blocked off.”


    “Don’t tell me what I know,” I said waspishly. “It’s petty. Now pull that one back, I want to see what happens.” I nodded to Upper-left Me (who I decided to mentally refer to as ULM for convenience) who chunked his lever back into place. There was a sizzle and the toxic green faded, back to being totally normal water.


    I nodded to LRM (Lower-right Me) and he threw his level, and the water filled with a black sludge.


    I had him flip it back, then tested them in order. There was a blue glowing jelly, a red sparking plasma, what appeared to be liquid fire, some kind of euphoric cloud vapor, a black mist that made you want to jump off a building, and a few others. Mine alone affected water level, though it became clear that the effect varied based on the substance, and flipping the switches in different orders altered the amount of water drained or returned.


    “Alright, I think I got something,” said ULM. “When I flip mine, theres a big pipe that opens up under the water. Mine also appears to be the most overtly destructive. Let me check something.” He flipped the lever again, but after the green came, he had LRM flip his, and the black sludge flooded the chamber, mixing with the green stuff.


    The green dimmed, and I held out a hand. It still burned me quick, but it took longer. I got it. “Combination lock,” I said with dawning understanding. “Different combinations cancel each other out, and the resulting matter can cancel out others. We need to swim in through the pipe, but that means we need the exact right combination of level flips for the matter to line up to perfectly counter the green stuff, which I assume is the final step.”


    ULM nodded. “Bingo. One second.” He flipped his, and nothing happened, so he had to flip it back and then have LRM flip his back. The water turned clear. It occurred to me that the first one would undoubtedly be the sludge. It was the closest, and without having twelve of me, the procedure here would probably be to swim for the next platform. I’d tried flying, but I couldn’t stay aloft, there was some sort of pressure that forced me down into the liquid.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    This toom was meant to be endured, not conquered. Fucking Strakkenthar, no wonder his daughter turned into a pain goddess. I flipped my lever first, getting the most water I could into the chamber. Then LRM. After the sludge, we had to experiment a bit. The blue glow set the sludge on fire, the plasma became a gas that made us all pass out. Finally, we figured out that it was the gas that countered the sludge, the two creating a chain reaction that became a sort of honey type substance.


    The honey mixed with the blue glowing jelly to create a thick red sap that when exposed to the fire congealed into a solid resin, which was melted by the fire and became an almost paste like muck.


    Each time, I tested the substance with one of the clones, not being willing to put my hand into anything that could cause radiation burns through C-rank armor from several feet up. I was pretty sure the platforms were enchanted, but once you left them you were on your own. Despite the partial neutralization, the substances grew in acidity and effect as we went along, just by virtue of each one being substantially more deadly than the last.


    Finally, we reached the end and ULM flipped the switch again. The green stuff poured into the water, and as soon as it touched, the entire room became awash in crystal clear radiance. The water left over by all the neutralized toxins was the clearest, cleanest water I’d ever seen, and after having one of my clones taste it to make sure it was safe, I stored a few barrels of it.


    The stuff was imbued with some sort of ambient energy that had remained after the toxins neutralized each other, and was pretty delicious too. I had a few ideas for some recipes I could make with it.


    Once that was done, I dove in, letting Beelzebub vanish as I swam through the pipe, following it to the next chamber. When I climbed out, I took a deep breath of fresh air, enjoying the sensation of being above water again, and then glanced around the room, cautiously optimistic about the next puzzle.


    This room was almost all stone, the only water access being a small pool serving as the entrance, the end of the shaft I’d swum up to reach this place. Past the pool was what looked like the floor of a ballroom. Unlike the last room, which had been very empty, this one was full to bursting…with bones.


    Out among the square floor tiles making up a grid pattern between me and the next door, a series of dead bodies sat mouldering. Skeletons in armor, skeletons in robes, a few bare skeletons whose clothes seemed to have dissolved. Looking closer I could see signs of nicks and cracks on the bones, sometimes burns. The different methods of death seemed to be localized to the squares.


    Sighing, I called up Beelzebub again, though I throttled it back to just a single version of me. I didn’t bother with Piece of Mind this time, I just sent the clone forward. When he stepped onto the first square, nothing happened. But when he reached the second, a series of sharp spikes pierced upwards from the ground, impaling him brutally.


    “Right,” I muttered to myself. “Because of COURSE the floor is trapped.” I glared at the ceiling, knowing that it didn’t do anything but wanting to vent anyway. “This is a TEMPLE you lunatic!” I bellowed. “People come here to worship you! Fuck, no wonder your daughter went crazy and declared a blood feud with you.”


    As expected, there was no response because Strakkenthar was fortunately very dead. However, apparently I wasn’t the only person around. In the distance, I heard a surprised yelp, and I turned my head to look toward one of the side doors in the chamber as a familiar redheaded form stepped through.


    Sable, one of the other winners, stepped through one of the two side doors, and from the other stepped…I closed my eyes, sighing in annoyance. Wolf Boy. I glared at him. “I don’t have any bones for you today.” I pointed at him lazily. “Sit. Now, stay. Good boy.”


    His lips peeled back, teeth baring in a snarl. “It’s you,” he said through gritted teeth. “Wonderful, I’ll enjoy this. You’re here for the Peacebloom Mourning Wreath too?”


    “I have no idea what that is,” I said truthfully. “But if you’re both here for it, then the chances are pretty good. I was just asked to pick something up for a friend. But hey, maybe I’m looking for something totally different. If not, might I interest you in a nice juicy ribeye?” I pulled one of the Abyssal Wyvern Steaks I’d gotten for Callie from my ring.


    His eyes narrowed, but he seemed genuinely tempted. I relaxed my tone a bit. “Look, man. I don’t know you. You rubbed me the wrong way with your sneak attack, but we don’t have to be enemies. Jokes aside, we can sit down, share a meal, and pool our resources to get…whatever it is that’s in here. Maybe I’m looking for something besides what you are. I have some sort of tracking device for it, so why don’t we delay our scuffle until the end. I don’t know shit about puzzles.”


    That got a chuckle. “Me neither,” he admitted sheepishly. “I guess I did start the fight. Fine. I’m Dominic Ventria. I’m from the bloodline of the Ventrian Wolf King, though I’m a VERY distant descendant.”


    “Mephistopheles,” I said with a nod. “But I go by Fist.”


    He grinned. “An admirable name. Perhaps after we finish up here I can see how accurate it is.” He clenched his hands, cracking his knuckles in anticipation.


    “You know what, sure,” I said with a sigh. “You help me get this done and I’ll fight you, either because of the final prize or because I owe you a battle. But be warned. It won’t be an easy battle.” I couldn’t wait to test Sammael in a real duel. Mornax and Mephistopheles in combination with my new base form would be monstrously effective in single combat.


    Sable, who had been watching stoically, sighed. “And now that you’ve formed a truce, if I attack I’ll end up fighting both of you. Wonderful. Do you have room for a third in your merry band?”


    “I’m good with it if Dominic is,” I shrugged. “Never hurts to have more hands.” I neglected to mention I could have twenty six by myself if I wanted, of course. Alliances were fine, but I wasn’t going to give away any of my secrets until I figured out if these two could be trusted.