Life after Legend
Chapter 15: The Debating Judges
Of the three great forces, the neutrals did not have a world to claim as their own. Instead these judges of balance resided in the world that belonged to the more powerful force. Since the beginning of time, this had always been the Highland, for the Dark forces of the Lowland had never been able to overcome the light. The Neutral Judges resided in a floating citadel above the Highlands. They were positioned directly over the Avalon Spike.
The Neutrals were to keep some sort of balance between the High and the Low. They tried to keep them at peace, not at war. To become a judge, one must prove thyself worthy and of great power. By taking those of great power the Judges ensured that one side did not become all-powerful. Judges come from both the High and the Low, but mostly from the High. Once inducted into the order, the laws of High Magic bind you into servitude. You are assigned to the Major or Lesser Jury. New recruits are almost always assigned to the Lesser Jury, and there they stay until they have proved themselves worthy of being promoted
The room was a bleak gray color. It seemed to stretch on forever. One man sat alone on a small chair. Looming above him were three Judges of the Major Jury. One sat directly in front of him, one to his left, and the third sat to the right. All of them were garbed in a gray cloaks. Although you could not see their faces, you could tell that they were all staring at the man on trial. His name was Tigris.
The Judge on the left began to talk first. "Tigris who are charged for events that happened while you were assigned on a mission to realign the Avalon Spike."
The Judge on the right began to speak. "You told a mortal man of the greater forces. Knowledge such as this is not to be lightly passed on to men, for they have a tendency to try to tap into these powers. Then the magics run rampant and cause chaos. Then we Judges must try and stop the chaos. Unnecessary chaos is punishable by our law."
The third Judge, the one directly opposite Tigris, finally spoke. "Moreover, you told a Hylian Mage. Mages always seek greater magic or power. Whether their intentions are good or bad, they cause trouble. Hylians always seem to have a knack for creating great evil. How many countless times has that cursed land been plagued by evil? The two worst qualities a mortal could have, and you give them knowledge that can allow them to create almost limitless chaos! What kind of fool are you? What do you have to say for yourself?"
"What does it matter?" Tigris asked. "He couldn't have been able to survive the incident."
"Oh but he did!" the center Judge replied. "He survived and now we have a Hylian trying to break the seal on the Dark City and free Euphrates!"
At the sound of that last name, something in Tigris clicked. He became more calm and his resolution hardened. He became so serious that someone would think that the fate of the universe hung in the balance. Then he spoke. "I do not see what that has to do with the "Hylian Mage" I encountered. He could have been no mere mortal simply because of what he did. He had to be already employed by a greater force. Since he was a Hylian, then he must have been under the guiding hand of the Golden Sisters. The only other explanation for how he became a beast of such caliber, is that he was under the influence of the Dark Side, but that could not be so, for if he were he would have tried to strike me down. Also, no "mere mortal" could have survived slipping through the crack between worlds. And as for my Coup De Grace to your argument, I never uttered a word of Euphrates to that man."
This seemed to enrage the center Judge and he began to show his anger. "Why you insolent-" but alas he never got to finish what he was to say because on of the other judges saw this debate falling into chaos.
"JUDAS! That is enough of your bickering," said the left Judge as he intervened. "The Hylian in question is currently in the care of Theik. He has yet to return to Hyrule. Clearly there is another Hylian trying to do the evil deeds. You probably know who it was who corrupted that poor Hylian, but that doesn't matter."
"I agree with Roob," said the right Judge. "There is unarguable proof that Tigris is innocent." He turned towards Tigris and said, "You are free to go." Tigris had no hesitation following the last command.
And unbeknownst to them all, they was a black fairy, cursing quite loudly at the event that had just transpired.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter of my story. This should give some new light to important things so far happenening in the background but are really important. You'll get the full story in about 3 chapters or so. I'm not going to be able to update for about two weeks, so don't expect another chapter until then.