Juhani bowed, then stared straight ahead. Bastila curtseyed briefly and trained her gaze at the floor. Jolee counted the ceiling tiles with total irreverence. The Council chamber was dark and somber; the lights of the city sparkled through the wall of windows, providing what seemed to be the only illumination for the room. Vrook and Vandar stood before them; the High Council remained behind, nearly obscured in the shadow.
"It is good to see you again, Masters," Juhani said with earnest. Bastila shared the Cathar's surprise and gratitude. Her encounter with the High Council the previous night had left her cold. With her former trainers, she felt she would get some compassion…well, from Vandar at least.
"It is good to see you too, Juhani. It would seem you have done well since leaving the enclave; the Light remains strong in you," he smiled slightly and bowed to her. His expression then fell into a forlorn frown. "We had planned on reuniting under more pleasant circumstances, however," Vandar sighed, his ears slipping to point downward dejectedly.
"Yes," Vrook remarked flatly. "We were summoned to assess some new students—former Sith acolytes who found their way to this temple—and while here we would join in the celebration of your victory over the Star Forge. Imagine our surprise at what we found awaiting our arrival."
"This took us all by surprise," Bastila said with a sour tone.
"Did it?" Vrook returned.
"We stand here, this day sadly familiar," Vandar sighed. "In the fading glory of a momentous triumph, the darkness stirs again: on the eve of peace and balance, our greatest champion is lost and the shadow threatens to eclipse the future."
"There was no warning, Masters," Juhani pined. "She seemed at peace, at least in my company. I do not know why she has reclaimed this path."
"Bastila, what of your bond with Revan? Is there any insight to this mystery?" Vandar asked. Bastila hesitated.
"Our bond is severed," she said finally. "It faded after I…when I was captured by Malak," she corrected herself in mid sentence.
"I see," Vrook said evenly.
"And what of you, Jolee Bindo? What do you have to say on this matter?" Vandar directed the words at the elder Jedi, but kept his gaze on Bastila. The old hermit continued to look upon the ceiling with complete fascination.
"Hmmph, why do you waste your time with this one?" Vrook grumbled dismissively.
"Every man is a volume, Master Vrook," Vandar intoned. "If you know how to read him, that is."
"This one is a closed book; he turned from us years ago," Vrook added with a wave of his hand.
"But I sense some information in him yet. Speak, Jolee Bindo, share your wisdom with us."
"Since when does the Council want to hear what I have to say?" he muttered.
"Since it may help your friend," Vandar answered.
At the words, Jolee relaxed his defiant posture and exhaled sharply: he hadn't realized he was holding his breath. "This is unexpected," Jolee admitted as he looked to Vandar. "She was strong, even through all these stupid damnable ceremonies. But yesterday…" he began. Bastila tensed—she had hoped this would not come up, but then, how could it not? "Yesterday, there was a darkness, something she had never called upon before, for any reason. It was sudden, and unsettling, and very powerful."
"I see," Vandar said calmly. "Bastila, what do you know of this?" Her reaction had not gone unnoticed. She stiffened again, then slumped as she realized there was no escaping the confession. "I suggest you begin at the beginning," he added with uncharacteristic severity.
"Yes, Master Vandar," she said softly. Bastila was allowed to relate the story uninterrupted, of Malak's plot and her revelation to Jiara. Juhani and Jolee looked at Bastila in unmasked shock.
"This is most unfortunate," Vandar breathed, disappointment thick in his voice.
"Why did you seek to hide this from the Council, padawan?" Vrook nearly growled.
"I saw no need to tell you, Jiara remained on the true path…"
"So why did you tell her?"
"She had begun to doubt herself, the Council, her actions as Jiara…I thought this information would help her," Bastila responded sadly.
"Instead, it sent her in search of her former self. It seems not to have been a long quest—Revan must have been closer than any of you realized," Vrook admonished. "Or wished to believe."
"So the cycle completes itself again. We had hoped Revan would stay with us this time… that her fall was brought about by the ravages of the Mandalorian War, the corrupting power of the ancient artifacts and the Star Forge itself. We gave her a second chance, to walk a brighter path away from the temptation of the shadow. But now, it is obvious, this darkness was in her heart, always," Vandar announced with deep sorrow.
"No!" Bastila cried. This cannot be, she thought. Though the bond was lost, there was still a part of Revan inside her, and if Revan had turned, how long before Bastila followed—perhaps even before Revan called her back to the Dark Side?
"Is there something else you wish to tell us?" Vrook eyed her warily.
"Carth said something…he does not think this is right somehow," she stammered, grasping at any excuse to avoid speaking a loud her fear.
"Carth Onasi looks through the eyes of love and emotion. He sees what he desires, not what is come to pass," Vrook dismissed.
"Hmph. Love saved the day once, it may do so again," Jolee grumbled.
"Or it may cloud our judgment against selecting the best solution," Vrook responded pointedly. Jolee looked back to the ceiling, his jaw quivering. "There is much at stake here, we cannot afford sentiment to rule logic. We have seen the cost of this choice before. A terrible price, indeed." Jolee took a deep angry breath at Vrook's words, but remained silent.
"Tell us more of the events this evening," Vandar requested. "What makes the captain believe this? Is there any reason beyond his personal hope?"
"Carth cannot explain how Jiara knew the Sith were waiting for her; how would she have known to seek them here on Coruscant?" Bastila's voice was a near plea, a request to refute what she too believed but so desperately did not want to. Carth had to be correct: something was wrong, but neither he nor Bastila could come up with a good explanation. The Masters would know, Bastila decided, they would tell her. She felt the tightness in her chest ease at the thought.
"She would have sensed them as she searched for herself, been drawn to them. The Dark Force brought them together in this way, it would seem," Vrook offered.
Bastila's shoulders rolled forward, defeated. This was not the answer she had hoped to receive. She blinked away the gathering tears and strove to center herself. There is no emotion, she thought retreating inward. She concentrated on her own inner voice, losing the sound of all others in the room. Vrook seemed to pay her no heed as he continued. "Now I would like to know how you three were overcome so easily. I was there, I felt the taint of dark power, but it was not all that strong. Certainly not what I expected from Revan."
"Our force power was exhausted, Master," Juhani answered.
"How did this happen?" Vandar asked, his ears perking in curiosity.
"We had meditated on Immunity for ourselves and the others," Juhani explained.
"For what reason, padawan? This seems a most futile exercise," Vandar's face wrinkled with confusion.
"Against your damn Jedi goon-squad, of course!" Jolee exploded. "You had every Jedi in the quadrant guarding us—what did you expect? We could tell what was going on," he grumbled.
"Apparently not," a voice from the back intoned.