At the end of that particularly strange meeting, long after, Anakin was sent away. As he was not a member of the council, the currently present masters decided to watch the security camera captured footage of that duel.

What they saw only strengthened Anakin’s statement and observations. The sheer skill and control of the young apprentice made the council feel uneasy. The entire room sunk into a thoughtful silence after the holo video ended. This silence was much more self-aware and sober than the ones before it.

This time, Obi-Wan was the one who broke the silence.

“I wonder, is there a possibility that what Vokara reported as a typical childish behavior could actually be the truth? I feel that the girl didn’t even take my ex-padawan seriously. You can see her roll her eyes here and there throughout the duel. Creating the impression as if she was merely going along with the necessary antics of an unruly teenager. It’s quite humorous actually, if we can overlook the more worrying implications…”

Yoda looked at Obi-Wan with apparent surprise in his old eyes, yet he did not say anything else. He was carefully analyzing this new possibility.

In another chair, Ki-Adi-Mundi was doing the same. He was a very traditional type of Jedi Master. In the meetings such as this, he mostly tended to listen. Hearing out the other masters’ more intuitive suggestions.

He was much more comfortable on the side of logical analysis. It was rare from a jedi to not be controlled by his or her intuitions, but he decided to listen to his logic in most of the situations.

It was more of a part of his race characteristics than a personal choice.

He understood as a cerean he had many small binary brains that made his kind natural in computations and logical analysis. Thinking of many varieties of different things at the same time was as common as breathing air for him.

But today, he felt that there was something very important here that didn’t make sense to him. His intuition that he generally used to ignore told him that there may be an answer to this in the words of Kenobi. He still wasn’t completely up to date with yesterday’s happenings in the temple, so he decided to ask.

“Pardon me, Master Kenobi, may I propose a question to you?”

“Naturally, ask away, Master.” — ‘He answered.’

“What was exactly the thing that Vokara Che, the temple’s lead healer, reported?”

“Ah, of course, we haven’t had the time to share those details yet. There was a small incident that led to Master Windu asking Vokara to check on our new guest.”

“Master Windu also asked her to try to figure out something new about her, while she was possibly too tired to think straight.”

“She reported later that she asked what her rank was in their order, and the girl answered with a childish glee that she was a master. On the other hand, she also told her that their order was an only children’s sect. Therefore, we thought of this as a lie, or a purposeful attempt to confuse us. I am beginning to lean towards the latter. But seeing how skillful a fighter she is, there is no reason why she couldn’t be as good with her lies, too.”

Yoda stopped Kenobi’s line of thoughts there.

“No, master Kenobi, I have faith in our abilities, that we would be able to see through this girl’s lies. What she told us in the council was true. We would have sensed at least the attempt of diversion; but there was not such in most of her words.”

Windu nodded, saying.

“However skilled she is, there is no way a kid as young as her could so easily deceive our eyes. If that were to happen, we may as well give the galaxy to the sith.”

He thought over his next choice of words, then continued.

“On the other hand, Vokara is known to be biased with children.”

This was the time where Master Ki-Adi-Mundi politely took over the discussion.

“I think that I found a possible connection that may or may not lead us to an answer.”

Everyone in the room looked at Master Mundi with silent curiosity.

Yoda urged him to continue.

“Enlighten us with your thoughts, then, Master Mundi.”

“Thank you Master. It will be my pleasure.” — ‘With that he started his explanation.’

“I sensed a controversial statement in Anakin’s report and the council’s presumption until this moment. The council was stating that there was a supposed master of this girl called Nizzal Grey.”

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Everyone nodded to this prelude.

“In Anakin’s report, he stated that when he praised the girl’s supreme skills by using a standard jedi gesture namely, your master must be proud of you. The girl dejectedly agreed by saying he would be. This means that she indeed had a master that was a male; yet he is no longer alive, or at least she believes so.”

There was a complete silence in the council room. The masters were thinking over Mundi’s analysis, yet they could not find any errors in it. Every piece seemed to fall into the right place; even the force seemed to agree with this conclusion.

The first to react was Master Shaak Ti.

“It seems to be a perfect answer; allow me to praise your outstanding intuition. Master Mundi. As they say, the devil is indeed hidden in the details.”

He nodded. Appreciating the heartfelt compliment.

“Yet I must say that there is a possibility that this was just another attempt at misdirection.” — ‘Shaak Ti added softly.’

Mundi nodded again.

Yoda chooses that moment to add his own points to the discussion.

“It is indeed a possibility; but from what I have seen, however good the girl is at hiding her presence, that didn’t help her holding back her tongue. She, in the end, is still a youthful spirit, which we can use to our advantage to learn more about her.”

Windu nodded to that saying.

“She is too impulsive. Her childish nature is still strong and livid. She didn’t learn proper emotional control like Jedi do.”

Obi-Wan added to that.

“Yes, her emotions are much stronger, much closer to normal people, who did not receive any formal training on controlling them, but she still has an unbelievably firm control over the force, as if her emotional state is completely separate from the surrounding force.”

“Well, we didn’t see her genuinely angry yet, but based on the reports of the Jedi Shadows, we sent to tail her. It seems this is the only explanation. To use the words of the shadow, the force surrounding her is alike to a still pond, until the moment she wishes otherwise.”

Kit Fisto began to talk.

“I am curious. Did she also notice the shadow following her?”

Obi-Wan answered.

“No, or she didn’t show any signs that would indicate differently. She overlooking them wouldn’t be a surprise with that many force signatures constantly moving around the temple. She might have sensed the shadow’s presence than thought of it as a temple guard patrolling the corridor.”

Kit Fisto nodded, realizing the possibility, yet he also gave voice to one of his doubts.

“True enough. Still, it is still hard for me to comprehend. How could she become a master so young?”

To that, Shaak Ti gave an enlightening answer.

“We know nothing of their order’s tradition. It is possible that her master died, and she simply inherited his title.”

Many of the masters nodded eagerly to that idea.

Kit Fisto didn’t let up on the argument so easily.

“That is true, but her skills say otherwise. What if she earned the right to be a master?”

Shaak Ti had no answer to that question.

Yoda, on the other hand, seemed to realize something. His eyes were closed and his face seemed unnaturally troubled. Soon he began to talk.

“There is an old, sith ritual that could make someone look younger than his or her current age, and there was one more that could stop your ageing entirely. Both of these rituals require an exorbitant amount of life energy, especially the latter, and that is usually drained off from innocent victims.”

There was a dire silence in the room.

“Speak of this. We shall not. Observe her, we must. Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, I ask you to become her substitute master and find out the truth about her. If she is indeed a sith, you must try to capture her alive. This is a force-given opportunity to learn more of our old enemy, or to find a possible ally against them.”

Master Windu nodded, agreeing to the grandmaster’s proposal.

“I agree. She needs to be monitored either way; she can pose a great danger to our order.”

Master Mundi and Fisto also nodded to this.

Shaak Ti turned towards her currently very uncomfortable friend. She gave him a predatory smile, one that was menacing yet at the same time caring. Those smiles were signature marks of the togrutas.

“Obi-Wan, you got a new apprentice, and a feisty one of that, too! You know, I am somewhat jealous right now...”

Obi-Wan finally awoke from his surprise-induced stupor, then said hastily.

“Oh, you can have her all you want! I am not really fond of the possibility of training a potential sith! Master Yoda, you have surely realized that this idea is doomed from the very beginning. Do I need to remind the council that my master was killed by a sith, before my own eyes?!”

Master Windu interrupted Obi-Wan’s sudden rant with a pair of furrowed brows.

“Compose yourself, Kenobi; you are in the presence of the Jedi High Council, none the less as a member of that.”

Obi-Wan seemed to realize his mistake and forcefully calmed himself.

Seeing the situation stabilize, Yoda answered Obi-Wan’s question.

“Master Kenobi, you don’t have to remind us of the unfortunate fate of your Master Qui-Gon Jinn. To be more precise, that is the exact reason why I trust you with this important mission. You were the only one who fought and killed a sith here. Your personal history with this matter will allow you to handle it with the proper care. You should not be biased even if your opponent hides behind the face of a child. Although, I sincerely hope that this is not the case.”

The others nodded.

Kenobi saw this happening and asked one more question as a last-ditch attempt to get away from this new heavy responsibility.

“Do I have a say in this?”

Yoda answered with stoic finality.

“Unfortunately, no.”

Obi-Wan breathed out a very long sigh, as he said weakly.

“Oh, boy, that girl is even more troublesome than Anakin was...”

Shaak Ti suddenly looked at him with the smile of a cat that had eaten the canary.

“Ti, stop looking at me like that... You should know that gloating over others’ misfortune leads to the dark side.”

She blinked, then said innocently.

“Thank you for the advice, Master Kenobi. I will meditate over it.”