Heels clicked in brisk tune on the polished blue marble floor leading into the Council's Chambers. Light casting in from the sun outside, waved over the floors surface. Any who would look upon it saw the seas it represented moving as if in silent meditative dance. An illusion, meant to calm all who entered the Jedi's sanctum.

Sera Hayden was anything but calm, however. Her face and posture reflected the serene pose of any Jedi, but inside her stomach churned painfully. Her robes hid her fisted hands. The closer they came to their destination, the tighter they became.

Before she'd even landed on Coruscant there had been someone waiting to retrieve her. The young girl ahead of her had told her as much as she bowed down before her, short blonde curls bouncing around her crown.

"The Council requests your presence immediately."

Every day of her journey home she'd led herself to believe that the Council would help her. They were Jedi after all, why would they not? Her dreams were filled with the hope they represented. But the moment the girl spoke, all her hope splintered and crashed, shattering into pieces of agony and pain.

There was no hope here, only a confrontation waiting in a pit of vipers. The girl stopped just short of the door and turned towards her. "Their waiting for you inside." Nothing on her face hinted to thoughts under the surface. A future Jedi Knight if ever there was one.

Sera smiled softly at the girl, nodding her head with a quick bow. "Thank you." She stood there for a moment after the girl left, her eyes almost looking past the durasteel door. Drawing in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, letting her arms and body relax, she steeped forward, the door sliding open, and entered the vipers pit.

The council chambers were brighter than the hall outside. There were no walls in the room, only pane after pane of glass, letting the sunlight sweep in and embrace everyone with its natural warmth. Except Sera couldn't seem to find comfort in this familiar place. Her body shivered, her gazed sweeping across the room.

Only five from the council awaited her. They sat like stone figures in the plush, high backed white chairs, their faces betraying their every emotion, none of which seemed to be in her favor.

Revan's last words to her came back. "If you go back you will be judged in place of all those who didn't. But you are strong, even without the force. Take care, Hayden, and be well."

A low, gruff, and stern voice broke the tense silence. "Do you know why we have summoned you here?" Master Vrook. Despite how much she used to admire the older man for his unwavering discipline, she couldn't help but feel slighted by his presence. He never failed to voice his disapproval of her or anything she did. To him she always seemed to fall short of expectation. Looking at him now she saw no change in the way he viewed her.

She swallowed, maintaining a perfect Jedi posture, and lifted her head to face the judgment that was surely coming. "You have called me here to answer for my crimes on Malachor V." Her voice stayed even as she spoke, betraying none of the anxiety churning below the surface.

Then Zez-Kai Ell, an older gentleman with dark brown skin and soft eyes, spoke. His thick moustache ruffled slightly with his gentle voice. "As Revan summoned you, so have you come full circle to return to the Jedi." He stopped, considering her for a moment. "Why did you defy us? This call to war has undermined all that we have worked for. The Jedi are guardians of peace, and have been for centuries."

"Is Revan your master now?" Master Atris spat out at her from the right. Sera snapped her head to her, her eyes narrowing on her slight-white wrapped form. "Or is it the horror you wrought at Malachor that has caused you to see the truth at last?"

Her voice was even as she spoke, but edged with an icy tip. "Do not speak to me of Malachor. You were not there and wouldn't understand any of it unless you were."

Zez-Kai Ell raised his hand to silence them both, exchanging a look with Master Kavar and Master Vash. "You refuse to here us. You have shut us out, and in doing so have shut yourself to the galaxy."

"You are deaf, you are blind, and you are broken." Master Vash spoke, her light feminine voice sealing what Sera already knew to be true. "You are exiled, and a Jedi no longer."

So this was how it was to be. Her anger and fear screamed to the surface. No one would help her. She looked over at Master Kavar, and then Atris. No one, not even old friends. She started to turn from the group and leave, but Vrook stopped her with a raise of his hand.

"One last thing," he said. "Your light saber, you will surrender it."

She gripped her hand on the cold blackened metallic hilt. This was the last piece of who she had once been. Angered that they would take it from her, she scowled turning towards them. Her light saber flaring to life by her side, it bright silver blade glowing as hot as her fury. She spun around, jamming it into the tall pillar that was the center stone.

Her eyes fire and yet ice, she looked back at the Masters, her voice shaking. "You have all failed me. I hope one day you will all realize this and weep for what it is you have done."

Then she powered down her blade and let it clatter to ground, striding out of the chambers to face her new destiny.