Previously on Light It Up: Learning that Daisy is the Elemental Master of Light, and the only one who can defeat The Elemental Master of Darkness, the ninjas are now in the Ninjago jungles to train her. Brothers Bob and Doug led them to a sacred part of the jungle.

Chapter 20: In the Light

A large cave opening in the bottom of the mountain lay before us. We entered, ducking our heads under the low ceiling. An orange and yellow glow came from the rocky walls, floor, and ceiling that reflected on all of us except for Pix, Bob, and Doug. When the light hit us, it cascaded back out over everything else with the color of our element. Blue, red, green, white, and orange. It was like a kaleidoscope.
When I stepped into the glows, the brightest yellow I’d ever seen shone all around. I let my hand caress the light beams, watching the light as it seemed to circle around me. It was drawn to me. I grinned wider than I ever had before, feeling the power of my element that I had never known I would experience.
“This is the tunnel of light, as we like to call it,” said Bob.
“I can see why it got its name.” Nya smiled at the light aqua blue that reflected off of her.
Cole continued walking down the path and called to us. “Guys, you’ve gotta see this!”
We followed him down to where the tunnel had no glow. I exited the yellow lights and saw that they reached for me. “I’ll be back,” I muttered so low that it was almost completely inaudible.
The tunnel widened, so we didn’t need to walk single file anymore. It also got taller and a lot darker. My eyes glowed yellow in the near pitch blackness, and so did Zane and Pix’s electronic blue and green eyes. We joined Cole where the light came back, but this light seemed to come from no where in particular.
“Woah!” Jay gasped.
Woah was what everyone was thinking. A small, underground grotto with beautiful crystal clear water and large green plants that lined the yellow rock bank awaited us. We weren’t quite there yet, but we could see it through a tunnel that was shaped into the perfect U. The curved tunnel stretched around for awhile, but it was worth it to get to the grotto on the other end of the U.
“My processor does not understand any of this,” Zane said, touching one of the plants on the bank. “I don’t recognize these plants.”
“How can no one else know about this place?” Kai asked Bob.
“They’re not supposed to,” he replied simply.
I sat down crossed legged and placed my hand in the water. “Who built it? It all looks so perfectly carved out, it can’t be completely natural.”
“Ancient creatures known as the Panthera dug out this mountain with their bare claws centuries ago, when all of Ninjago was just one large jungle,” explained Bob while Doug nodded along to what he said.
“What’s a Panther-ah?” asked Jay, picking some brightly colored blueberries with Cole.
Bob glanced around for a moment, then pointed at me. “Her. She’s a Panthera.”
I scoffed. “I don’t have claws, and I’m definitely not a cat.”
Everyone looked at each other and then back at me with smirks on their faces. Except for Doug. He never changed his expression.
“What?” they were annoying me.
“Your eyes!” exclaimed Kai. “Have you ever looked in the mirror?”
“I have. I don’t know why my eyes look like this, but it’s not because I’m some animal!” I snapped at him.
“You act like one sometimes,” mumbled Nya, but everyone heard her.
I stood and marched through the U back into the light tunnel, where I knew I would feel better. But for some reason, even though the rocks glowed, they didn’t reach out to me. In fact, when I walked up to their glow, it dimmed. My pupils thinned to slits and I pushed back angry tears. They all thought I was some sort of creature, just like they did at the orphanage and foster homes. That was why I’d never gotten adopted. No one thought of me as a normal person. So what if my eyes were odd? So what if I have a streak of getting annoyed and overreacting? So what if my voice sounds like a musical instrument that gets a little out-of-tune sometimes? I was still a person.
My ears naturally swiveled toward noises in the grotto. I could hear the ninjas arguing, and Nya seemed to be the loudest in the room. It sounded like Zane and P.I.X.A.L. were trying to keep the peace while the ninjas gave their opinions of me.
“Why did you bring her here?” I heard Cole ask. “She isn’t ready.”
“I agree,” I muttered to myself, sitting down with my back pressed up against the light rock. The glow didn’t diminish completely this time, so that was a good sign.
Lloyd was defending me, saying I was ready. Jay seemed to be on the fence about me. Nya was a hot mess. I never heard Kai speak. I’d probably hurt his feelings when I snapped at him before.
Suddenly, Doug rounded the corner and came to me. He sat down next to me and, for the first time since I met him, smiled at me.
Even though he didn’t say a word, I felt comforted just having someone there with me. I really needed that. When I returned the smile and saw that the glow of the rock behind me grew until it was all around us. My smile turned into a beam that made the whole tunnel light up. I stood and Doug stood with me.
“Thanks for that,” I said.
He nodded to me, then turned and walked back to the grotto war zone. I was not ready to face them yet. I just wanted to be alone. Be in the light.