//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Judge and Jury 
// by Tearsintheshadows 
//------------------------------//

	Blake had spent his whole life in worlds he did not belong to. He was a Judge, which was a fancy way of saying ‘neutral angel’. It was not an honorable role as it meant that Hell did not want you and Heaven would not accept you, but at least you had a role. When Heaven and Hell could not reach an agreement about what to do with a world, a Judge was called in. The Judge would then travel the world, cover at least 70 percent of the populated areas and then make the call on whether it would be protected by Heaven or destroyed by Hell.
Blake had only been a Judge for 20 years, not very long in terms of angels and demons, but he was the only mortal to be given the title. He had a moral code he lived by that was set around protecting others, but his hatred for the guilty was what stopped him from entering Heaven. He had not been offered the title; it was forced upon him. This gave Blake a hatred of those in authority. This hatred stayed inside of him, but revealed itself in a different way. Instead of corrupting Blake like it normally would, the hatred seemed to protect him. When he was angry the hatred would escape from him like an aura, but it would wrap around him, granting him additional protect from weapons. What was unusual is that when he slept, the hatred would hover over him and attack anything that got too close.
Blake cast his judgment on the last world he had been on as guilty and watched as the planet was handed over to Hell to do as they wished. The angels glared angrily at Blake while a demon walked up and hugged him. The demon looked up at Blake and froze when he noticed the ivory doors that appeared behind Blake. “Don’t ever touch me.” Blake replied angrily and the demon immediately backed off. He walked over to the Neutral Grounds to get his next assignment and was joined by a kind angel named Yuki, “What is it now Yuki?”
“Um…can you answer a question for me? After this question?” Yuki added as Blake opened his mouth to reply.
“Getting faster Yuki. Blake smiled, “What is it?”
“Why did you view that world as guilty?” Yuki replied. “Am I just naïve, I watched everything that happened, but I do not agree with what you did.”
“Of course not,” Blake shrugged. “I went against what your side wanted.”
Yuki shook her head. “You need to take a vacation.”
“Not a chance.” Blake replied. “And if it is really that important, think about how they viewed their offspring.”
Yuki giggled, “Still got a soft spot for the children?” Yuki pat him on the back and was rewarded with a warning glare. “Sorry.”

Yuki hovered around Blake the whole time he was looking through the papers. Yuki even looked at one and showed it to Blake. Blake looked at her and for the first time in his life, smiled. This world had a vast array of mythical wildlife and also contained, dragons, gryphons, magic, and still managed to have a peaceful existence. “Sounds fun, besides being peaceful. What’s the catch?”
“No catch, just the fact that this is a world you have been to when you were in training.” Yuki replied. “What is that look for?” Yuki nervously asked as Blake stared at her.
Blake only sighed, “Fine, I’ll go back, I wonder if Tia and Little Luna ever patched things up between them.”