Chapter 17: 17. Chapter

I was led by my arm to the council room. I was kind of put out and felt really dejected and also somewhat defeated; I tried my best to run away and I failed. From now on, I will be taken much more seriously by the jedi; there will be no leeway's to use. I looked up at my substitute master; he looked pretty disappointed and angry... I... I hope they weren't going to actually torture me... That would be... Fear began to settle in my stomach from that line of thought. Until now, even if subconsciously, I was holding back my power, never tried to kill anyone, or seriously hurt them... Yet, if they actually tried to torture me... I... I would have to, at least die as a warrior... and not tortured to death... Then an even more dreadful weight settled on my shoulders... The thought of losing the memories was simply unbearable. I can't let that happen to me... The remorse was real and powerful. It was eating me from the inside out; I was risking so much here: why am I even in this damnable situation, where did it go wrong? The answer came immediately, that curse of a crazy droid is the reason for everything! If I ever find you, I will throw you in the lava pits of Mustafar. You should pray that I never get away from here, because if I do, you are done for! 

While I was distracted with the various injuries and pains and also submerged in visualizing my personal revenge on that particularly ugly droid. My eyes again began to radiate with the usual yellow hue. Obi-Wan also realized this; he was carefully watching his new padawan's every move. Luckily, she seemed to be quite distracted. It was kind of strange, she was about to be judged by the grandmaster; yet she seems to be more interested in fantasizing over something predictably gruesome, at least from the expression she is currently making. Does her sect really teach both the use of the dark side and the light side? There were a few jedi, who actually could use force lightning. It was rare, and there was a need for explicit control to do so. In the current order, he wouldn't be able to name a single jedi, who actually uses it in battle. Some like Master Windu, could do it on the practice field, but he never used it in an actual duel or a battle, as far as he was aware of this. What a strange sect this must be. How did they even manage to not turn to the dark side? He looked at the girl beside him. Now her eyes began to turn back to normal, just like that, however hard this was to admit for Obi-Wan, seeing this happening before him was fascinating. 

Such a small child holding so much mysteries and secrets. They must have won the celestial lottery to catch her in such a hilarious way as trying to by her ship. The force indeed works in mysterious ways, he noted.

We finally reached the council hall; there were only two masters present at the moment. One of them was Yoda, the grandmaster, while the other oh... 

- It is good to see you, Master Aayla Secura; when did you come back to the temple? 

- It is a pleasure to see you too, Obi-Wan. I see that trouble again found you, in a strange form, if I may add.

She looked at the little girl who was tugged along, obviously against her will. She looked very dejected and sad. 

Yoda also looked up from his meditation as Obi-Wan and his newly assigned padawan marched into the room. 

- Fear, distrust and confusion, I sense, in both of you. What trouble has befallen you I must ask, Master Kenobi. Hmm? 

- Did the other jedi shadows perhaps forget to tell you what happened? 

Yoda thought about this; he looked to Secura, who was also meditating until a few minutes ago. 

- When we meditate, we turn off the possible distractions. Master Kenobi, forgive us; but we do not know what you are talking of. 

- Well, I guess that I will be the one who retells the story then. 

Secura looked at Kenobi, and before he could start his obviously long-winded monologue; she interrupted him. 

- Forgive me, Obi-Wan, but I am not a member of the council, I was only here to meditate, if this is something that could be only heard by the council members, I will take my leave. 

- Ah, don't fret Aayla. I guess, you will likely hear about this soon, one way or the other... 

- Go on than if you please. 

Obi-Wan nodded than began to retell the happenings until the moment he reached the council room. 

__________

- So, that was it, took quite a lot of time to retell this, especially with all the details. 

There was solemn silence in the room, Yoda seemed as if he had aged about ten years since in the last fifteen minutes. Aayla Secura was looking left and right with a complicated expression, seemingly trying to judge if this whole facade was some kind of bad joke. Then her look stayed on the obviously uncomfortable girl who was still held by her arm. She was clearly panicking about what to do next. 

Aayla decided to ask. 

- Are you telling me, that this girl is equally trained in the use of the light side and the dark side at the level of a master? For real? When I was her age, I could barely hold a lightsaber properly... 

- Well, yes, - answered Obi-Wan - but are you sure about the last part, I seem to remember quite differently... 

- Hush, Obi-Wan, your flattery is wasted on me. 

Nizzal, could have sworn that she heard Obi-Wan murmuring under his breath, something like, flattery my ass; you always kicked me out of the dueling ring. Yet she had not had enough time to consider the possible meanings of that sentence since Yoda began to talk. 

- Hmmm... So a master you are, they say? Do you agree to have sufficient knowledge to hold that rank with both sides of the force? 

For the first time, since she came to this temple, Nizzal decided to drop every facade; there was no reason to lie; the Loth-cat was already out of the bag. Of course, that doesn't mean that she will tell them more than she must. She felt her heart throbbing in her throat as she began to talk; her voice sounded annoyingly weak and hesitant right now. Am I really intimidated, by them? It must be because of my childish body... Damn it! 

- ...Yes, I agree...

She bit her lips, after realizing how stupidly that sounded... 

- Hmm... Show us than. Your power. 

- Wh-what!? - Sounded the surprised question from everyone else present in the room. - 

- Yoda master, forgive me for my interruption, but we shouldn't let her... 

Obi'Wan began to persuade the grandmaster that it wouldn't be a good idea. 

- No, master Kenobi, we must know if she is really what she tells herself to be. Allow her to prove her words. We must. 

Nizzal, was taken aback by this. What would they achieve by seeing her power? What does the grandmaster want to achieve by this? She had no idea, and that was even more annoying. 

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Kenobi let her arm go, and stepped back from her. This Aayla woman also stood up and walked to the other side of the room. She was carefully watching her every move, just like Obi-Wan did. She forced herself to relax somewhat, while mustering up her courage to ask a question. 

- What would I achieve by proving my knowledge to you? I know my own abilities quite well, but I didn't see the reason to show off. 

- Hmm... Not eager to showcase your knowledge, you are... A good trait that is, valuable for someone who pretends to be a master. 

- I know, what I am; let me go freely, and I will show you my abilities, than you will never hear of me again, that I can promise. 

- Unfortunately, that I cannot accept, but I will take it into consideration in my final judgement.  

- I guess, that is the best offer I would get. 

- Hmm!

- Then allow, me grandmaster. 

The girl suddenly reached out through the force in every way around her; the refined and completely unmasked force presence radiated in the room with the same intensity as any jedi masters they knew. The only difference was the pillars size. It were much smaller and weaker, as a child's raw force presence was supposed to be.  The dark side stigma like signs over her body slowly began to disappear as she channelled the light side powers in her body. The bruises and small cuts visible to everyone slowly resided and soon completely disappeared from her body. Then the presence suddenly pulled back, and they couldn't sense it anymore. 

The present masters watched this phenomenon with fascination in their eyes. Obi-Wan noted that in the case of Yoda, there was also a playful glint, that was only present when the grandmaster cooked up some sinister plot, like when he dropped the twi'lek menace in his lap. 

Yoda nodded with a solemn face, then said. 

- Do go on, don't be afraid. - He said with a playful smile. - 

The girl, looked at this strange act with confusion, what is his deal... Eh, well, I will know it soon enough. How should I show off my skills with the dark side? Blasting Yoda with a wave of force lightning doesn't seem to be the best idea. Oh, I got it! 

To the surprise of the onlookers, Nizzal, simply nodded than sat down on the floor in a meditative position. Soon a dark miasma began to surround her while she was extremely concentrated on some kind of ritual. The miasma began to circle around her at a faster and faster speed, than it suddenly launched itself to the roof of the room, and disappeared through it. 

The girl suddenly became so tired that she seemed to have difficulty even sitting with a somewhat straight back. Her skin turned unnaturally white, and her eyes were again glowing with bright yellow color. Yoda was silently concentrating, probably trying to figure out what exactly had happened. Than his ears suddenly raised, his eyes opened wide as he looked at the weakly smiling girl with shock. 

Then Obi-Wan also felt it, a powerful resonance emerging in the force around the whole temple. Followed by a wave of relieved sighs, as if the whole temple finally was able to breathe clean air for the first time in years. A weight was lifted from their shoulders. A weight that they didn't even know of. Everyone in the room became much more relaxed. 

Yoda, seemed to connect the dots, and he said it out loud. 

- Hmm, was this the dark barrier that you spoke of Ahsoka? 

- Yes, master Yoda, but I couldn't sense it anymore; it suddenly disappeared. 

Sounded a somewhat shy voice, through the holo-communicator device placed in the room. 

Aayla showed a happy smile while Obi-Wan also realized what must have happened. He shook his head weakly as he tried to foresee what possible and most likely negative effects this situation would have on his mental health. The chances weren't in his favor, sadly. 

Nizzal was so tired, that she was about to slip from consciousness... Was that Ahsoka's voice? She didn't sound angry anymore, but I thought that she would hate me... What is happening? 

- Nizzal Grey from the Grey Order, as acting Grandmaster of the Jedi Order; I hereby find you guilty in the crime of unnecessarily attacking and heavily injuring a Jedi Shadow. It is true that the attack only happened after provocation, but it could have been solved without injury. The Jedi Shadow himself will have his own trial and his own punishment for his rash actions, but that did not erase your crime. 

Nizzal's eyelids suddenly felt incredibly heavy... She forced her eyes open with sheer willpower. She wanted to hear about her punishment at least... 

- As a legitimate master of your order, you will be judged as an adult. Therefore, as per current republican law, your punishment is twenty years of mining work in one of the meteorite mining camps of the republic. Your forced labor can be replaced by five years of volunteer military service in the army of the galactic republic. As a trained force wielder, you would immediately receive the rank of squad commander, especially with the backing of the jedi order, which I will provide if you chose to do so. 

Nizzal, finally realized with a weak smile what the grandmaster's scheme was. This green guy was a truly terrifying entity; there was no way she would go to a prisoner labor camp on some meteorite field for twenty years, and he knew it. She said with her last bit of energy before she lost consciousness. 

- ...Give me that squad then... 

Yoda smiled and nodded. 

- Your squad will be a newly trained clone strike team; you and your squad will serve under the leadership of general Kenobi, who you already knew. 

In the background, Kenobi's shoulders dropped dejectedly. 

- I know it... 

He said, while Aayla laughed heartily. 

There were other things that were spoken in the council hall after that, but Nizzal, was not aware of them anymore, as she lost her consciousness from the extreme tiredness that occurs with the overuse of force abilities. 

 

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