Guys… I feel like I'm going to be writing a lot very quickly so strap yourselves in tight.

Chapter 14

House of Ba

"Well this is much more like it," Colton noted as we took in the next level of the Du'at. I had to agree with him again; it was truly magnificent.

"Out of the cave and into the diamonds," Claudia's gape reminded me of my own. Slamming my mouth shut, I studied the crystallized rock that bent like a dome. I moved carefully so not to fall down the slippery dome's sides as i went to touch the rich diamonds and noticed my glistening reflection.

Thank gods Colton was by my side or I would have tumbled into the center of the diamond hallow with a broken neck. "My reflection it's…"

"Now that's freaky," Claudia who'd looked herself realized with wide eyes. "It's my head, but like a chicken for a body. I think I know what part of the soul this one represents-the Ba."

Colton's grin was wide when he interrupted my sister's spiel, "Shouldn't we be sheep bodied then if we're ba?"

Claudia didn't find the joke as amusing as the two of us, "The Ba is the part of your soul the represents your essential inner being."

"Nice to know I'm really a chicken on the inside… I wonder if McDonalds will offer money for my body should I die…"

Maybe we shouldn't have been joking around under such conditions, but come on, you try looking in the mirror, seeing a chicken, and not making jokes. "THIS REALLY ISN'T FUNNY YOU GUYS!"

Pressing a hand to my sister's shoulder, my voice came out quiet, but strong. "We're not taking this lightly, Clauds, we're just trying to keep from going insane. We can either laugh about things or cry about them."

The girl wasn't accepting of my unofficial (and really nonexistent) apology, "Or we could figure out what we have to do to get to the next level!"

Colton sighed, "Fine. No more jokes. Let's look around for clues of some sort but be careful you don't fall. Who knows how far it is to the center."

I didn't mention that if this was like the last task we'd soon have to discover how far it was because that was where we would be heading. Instead I cautiously plodded along looking for something, anything, that could give us a hint as to what we should expect.

"Look I'm not finding anything. The stone is bare," Colton finally cried frustration heavy in his voice. "Maybe we should just make our way to the center and see what we can find there."

None of us liked the idea of heading into the dark area where the diamonds seemed to refuse to reflect light. Still, no one could come up with a better option so we were left with only one place to go-down.

"It's a book."

"Very astute observation," I sarcastically told my boyfriend with a firm eye roll. "You should be the next Sherlock Homes."

Claudia, ignoring our banter, stepped closer to the book. "It's an empty book and each page has one of our names on it." Oh this did not sound good.

"So what, we have to fill the page? Can we just write one big "no" in the middle and get it over with," oh Colton, if only things could be that easy.

The three of us stood flustered until I offered a suggestion, "Well this is the Ba level, right. So maybe we fill our page with words that describe who we are. The Ba is your personality so maybe it's like one of those kindergarten projects where you write who you are."

Colton smiled at my suggestion, but shook his head, "I can't help feeling like it's more than that."

Claudia turned to us beaming, "Well I can confirm it is more than that. There's a directions page." Wow, somebody should call Staples because that was surprisingly easy.

While Claudia was attempting to translate our mission, I felt Colton's arm pulling me aside. "Do you feel like this is too easy? I mean if that goddess, Raet, really wanted to hide the sarcophagus wouldn't she have made these challenges actually difficult?"

So I wasn't alone in my misgivings it seemed. "So you agree. You think she wants us to find the sarcophagus, but why? I thought she thought we were dead."

Colton could only shrug, "I don't know maybe she's figured out we survived and now wants to change that? Or maybe there's some master plan going on here that we're just missing."

"Don't be ridiculous," I told him with a look. "People don't have master plans in real life. Those are reserved for books, or movies, or fan fiction authors."

Colton laughed and only spoke again when my face clearly expressed how crazy I thought he was, "Sorry. I was just imagining the fearsome goddess Raet writing smut fics."

"You're right," I told him with a smile. "That's a ridiculous thought. Raet wouldn't write smut fics, she's much more the fluff type."

"If you two are done being ridiculous I think I've figured out what we're supposed to be doing," Claudia called half annoyed half (and I quote) "totally shipping Cove".

With a sly grin Colton and I went over to where she had somehow found a pen. "This pen is enchanted to write what we say so long as our hand holds it. I think we're supposed to tell a story."

"What kind of a story because I failed Creative Writing," Colton did seem truly worried, but I figured he didn't have to be long before my sister spoke.

"It can't be made up. The Ba is that part of you that makes you 100% individual even if you're an identical twin. Genes have some effect, but nurture makes all the difference," Claudia looked at me and I realized how she was referring to our shared blood and intensely different personalities. "You need to tell a story of a moment that changed you. Life is full of moments that matter, and we just need to pick one."

Colton literally gulped as he spoke, "Great. So who wants to go first?"