Hope's Last Glimmer

Chapter 9: Mother's Secrets

Well, hello lovelies! Since tomorrow is Independence Day, I decided to gift you all with another chapter. This chapter was, honestly, so much fun to write! I hope you enjoy it as much I did. I was going to save this chapter until I had written chapter 10 (I like to be a chapter ahead of the current one published), but I couldn't wait to share it with you any longer. So, enjoy your chapter, and Happy Independence Day!!!

-TMNTNinjagoLover

Shimmer's POV:

I've been working on this riddle for 37 hours straight, during which time Nya and Jay have managed to get the Bounty airborne again. A candle is burning nearby in an effort to ward off the inky darkness of the night. The only thing keeping me awake is the endless flow of coffee, courtesy of Sensei Wu, but he has long since gone to bed. Pot after pot of coffee has disappeared between my lips, but the caffeine is slowly beginning to lose its effect on me.

I can feel my eyes droop as drowsiness creeps over me. I've only been taking bathroom breaks, no food, no sleep. My body is trying to force me to sleep, but I need to crack this riddle.

One moment I'm poring over the scroll containing the riddle, and the next I am rudely awakened from the impact of my forehead cracking againstthe desk at which I currently sit.

"Ow," I groan as I rub my forehead. Looking in the mirror hanging on the wall to my left, I see an obvious red mark forming squarely between and just above my eyebrows. I continue to rub my forehead as I lean back into my chair. Unfortunately, the chair proved to be too comfortable, and I quickly fell asleep before my brain could protest.

My eyes flicker open as I take in my surroundings. I am floating in a cavern filled with viscous liquid of a rich amber color that fades to a burnt orange nearer the the cavern walls and a vibrant gold in the center, where I am. The cavern is lit, but I see no apparent light source. Though I am surrounded by liquid, I can breathe freely, unimpaired. This place is serene, peaceful.

I catch movement in my peripheral to my right. Turning, I find myself face to face with my mother. Tears spring to my eyes, but the droplets simply float away in the amber liquid. My mother floats to me with a grace intrinsic of only my mother herself. Stopping before me, she looks me up and down before flashing me a radiant smile and firmly embracing me.

"Hello, mother," I whisper.

"Greetings, my child." Illumine reluctantly steps back and grips my upper arms. "Come with me," came her soft command.

She turned around and began to float away. Her hair streamed after her as though she were swimming, and the gold-colored, cotton dress she wore billowed behind her and about her knees. Silently, I followed her to the floor of the cavern.

Our feet finally touched solid ground. She lead me to a dark crevice in the cavern wall. Illumine glanced back at me before proceeding into the crevice.

At first the crevice was dark, so dark it felt crushing, but soon after, the crevice curved and light engulfed the both of us. Squinting ahead, I see the light is emanating from the end of the tunnel where there is a hole leading out of the crevice in which we now walked.

As we neared the opening, my mother stopped and smiled back at me. Gingerly, she stepped through the opening and out of the amber liquid we'd been in up until this point. Once she had fully emerged on the other side of the liquid's end, I followed. Stepping through the opening, I broke free of the liquid and found myself standing at the edge of a meadow. I was neither wet nor dirty in any way after being in the liquid for as long as I was.

Illumine began to walk forward, motioning for me to follow. Obediently, I followed, walking alongside her to her left. The sky was blue and the air was warm. A ring of trees surrounded the meadow so thickly that could not see through them, and the sun shone high in the sky.

We waded through wildflowers in silence until we reached the middle of the meadow. Illumine slowed and turned to face me, taking my hands in hers.

"I know you've found the prophesy and are trying to crack it. I have your answer." My eyes widened as she took a step back and held her hands about a foot apart. Nothing happened.

Looking at her quizzically as she grinned at me, I voiced my obvious question. "um...how can this be the answer? Nothing happened."

"Au contraire, child," she said, eyes smiling. "Feel."

She shoved her hands outward to me as though she were holding something. Doing as I was told, I reacted and reached out my hand into the space between her hands. My fingers brushed something warm and round. She was right; there was something there!

I glanced at her, awed, before taking this warm orb between my own hands, my mother releasing the orb to my care.

"Do you remember the first time I showed you this? You were but a child," she said smiling warmly as if remembering some fond memory.

I was about to reply that I didn't remember when a memory flashed through my mind. "Yes! I do!" I replied excitedly

"And do you remember what I told you then?"

"You said that this was invisible light."

"Indeed," she nodded gravely, her demeanor changing drastically. "Invisible light is a secret type of light not recorded in the light order. It represents sheer power. It is extremely powerful...even more so than the color wave. This incredibly-difficult-to-master light form is useful in that the energy used to make this light comes from partially from you and partially from your surroundings which saps less energy from you and has more energy at its disposal. This differs from the color wave which draws energy solely from the wielder."

"How is this light if I can't see it?"

"There are certain colors the human eye cannot detect. Invisible light is made up of those very colors."

"How am I to master this before Morro destroys the world itself?!"

"You have to figure that out on your own, sweetheart, but you will. You will defeat your father and save those you care about; I just know it," She said placing a hand on my cheek. "I have to go now."

The light orb in my hands vanished, and I lurched forward, catching my mother around the neck in an embrace. I grabbed her hands as I kissed her cheek.

"I will miss you. Until next time," I whispered softly as she began to ascend and dematerialize per usual. I kept a soft hold of her hand until she was nearly out of reach and she had almost entirely disappeared. Our fingers brushed briefly as the last thing, her hand, faded away before my eyes.

"Goodbye, mother," I whispered into the wind, and heard a soft goodbye in return. Closing my eyes, I allowed the tear that had pooled in my eye to roll down my face.

When I had calmed, I opened my eyes to see my surroundings slowly melting away. Clutching my chest and looking heavenward, I closed my eyes once more as I felt the ground beneath my feet vanish, and I plummeted into the darkness that replaced the beautiful meadow.

My eyes snapped open. Looking around, I noticed that I was still at the desk I'd been working at. Early morning sun shone through the window. My poor candle had burned itself out. I was slouched deep into the chair I'd fallen asleep in.

Reaching out, I rolled up the scroll as I sat up. Smiling down at the rolled parchment, a simple "thank you, mother" left my lips. My quiet gratitude to her.

I finally know the answer.

Rising from the chair, I clutched the scroll beneath my arm as I bolted to the kitchen where I knew I'd find everyone sitting down to breakfast.

I should have fallen asleep hours before I did!