I'm a...Twin?!

Chapter 16

"Oh, come on, Phil. It won't be that bad. Alleah will help us."

"And ruin my beautiful face?" Phil crossed his arms very stubbornly and shook his head. "I think not, Barry."

"I can't believe Ivory even talks to you," Barry scoffed. "You're hardly a man."

"Excuse me?"

"Guys! Shut up!" I hollered at them, gaining both their attention. Both their eyebrows raised in surprise and my father started to smirk.

"Phil's worried about his face," Barry snorted. "Any ideas, Alleah?"

"I do NOT need her help!"

"Obviously you do. Otherwise you wouldn't be worried about something you don't even have," I replied, sending him am evil grin.

"But-"

"Get in there," I growled, pulling him into the opening of the cave. He sent me a death glare and followed with my father and Barry hot on his heels. Sometimes Phil was too sissy to be a man and I found it quite hilarious.

"Where exactly are we going anyway?" Barry wondered from behind me. Thanks to the strong amount of energy I had from the three heaping plates of pasta and marinara sauce that morning, I then had enough energy to blow up a mountain and also provide myself as a human flashlight. The three boys were following me as I followed the surge of energy I could only guess could be from the crystal.

"Why doesn't Alleah just blow up the mountain and find the crystal that way," Barry wondered as we pushed some mossy weeds away from our heads. "This is disgusting and also very dangerous."

"These mountains are the basis of the legend, Barry. It means the world to the people," my father explained.

"And how exactly do you know that?"

"It's called reading it on the internet."

"Oh."

"By the sides, Barry, you need some serious adventure," I added with a giggle. I heard him groan from behind me which made my teasing even better. I had to admit that I was a little nervous, but I knew if anything went wrong, I would definitely be there to protect everyone.

As we proceeded downward, the smell of earth became more and more strong. It was also very thick and breathing was getting quite a bit more difficult.

"It's getting darker," my father observed as we continued deeper into the cave. The energy surge I was feeling was getting so great that I knew we had to be close, which really surprised me. We had only been in the cave for a couple of minutes, not even close to the time I thought it was going to take to reach the crystal.

As I continued walking ahead, I noticed the energy surge was slowly beginning to fade away. I became confused and stopped dead in my tracks.

"It's below us," I announced as the others caught up to me. They were all panting and their pants were covered in dirt. I could smell the remaining Old Spice cologne from Barry or Phil, but the other obviously hadn't put any on. Someone smelled horrible.

"It's below us?" my father gasped. His face was pink and his chest was rising up and down at a high, intense pace. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Brent, I don't think she is," Barry said. He looked very discouraged because we all knew what going down meant. The further we went down, the hotter it got and the more we would have to climb back up.

"I don't know if my legs can even take that," my father sighed, sitting down on a large rock sticking out of the wall. He looked worn to a frazzle and I couldn't help but feel bad for him.