Awash in radiant, golden light, was a room in tiered rings. In these rings were a countless number of seats, filled with beings so beautiful it would injure mortal eyes to look upon them.
There was a buzzing murmur among these resplendent, angelic beings, nervous and fraught with tightly wound tension. Eyes continued to glance downward, towards the middle of the room where a defendant's stand was placed. Opposite of the stand were eight figures seated at official judgement tables, with the largest and most dazzling of them placed above the rest.
The head figure tapped a finger against his desk, a ringing sound pealing through the air, and the room fell silent at once. Looking around, satisfied, he spoke.
"Permit the accused to enter." He rumbled, his voice commanding yet serene. Immediately the sound of rattling chains echoed against the wall, and a door opened with a faint boom. All eyes landed on the figure that entered, breath held as the clinking chains filled their silence.
Another beautiful figure, though disheveled and dim, paced forward. And yet, despite his chains and sorrowful state, his lean figure almost crackled with power. He looked around the room, cool, apathetic eyes causing trembling fright to surface in any his gaze landed upon.
Finally, he took his stand, looking upwards at the head figure. He seemed untroubled by the fact he was on trial, or that he was bound by his chains. He raised his chin, his lips finally drawing upwards into a sneer.
"Hui Shen!" The leading figure boomed, his voice shaking the very walls around all gathered. "Thou stand accused of grand conspiracy against the Celestial Court, consorting with Heaven's enemies, and the murder of thine wife, Ling Mu! How dost thou plead?"
The figure in the middle of the room slowly bowed his head. His hands clenched, the chains rattling powerfully as his head snapped upward.
"NOT GUILTY!" He roared, the force of it blasting outwards and causing screams to raise among those gathered. Even bound and drained of his power, a mere shout was enough to shatter the souls of lesser Immortals.
The lead figure nodded. "Thou art aware of the evidence of thine transgressions?" He questioned, and Hui Shen laughed wildly.
"Transgressions?" He snarled. "Mine transgressions are thus: strength, and loyalty. Mine strength is cause for jealousy amongst ye dogs of Heaven, and mine loyalty hast bound mine soul to the corruption of thine whims!"
Shocked gasps rang throughout the court at the audacity of the prisoner's words. The lead figure sighed, the sound spreading throughout the room and silencing them once again. He then raised his hand, and then sharply slammed it downwards.
"Then thine punishment shall be: the disintegration of thine soul, the scattering of thine mind, and the destruction of thine body. Thou shalt never be permitted entry into the cycle of reincarnation. Even the memory of thine's once shining divinity shall fade." He declared.
Hui Shen laughed once more, and then gnashed his teeth, madness burning within the gaze he cast upon the eight leading figures of the court. Even as they all pointed their fingers to him, unleashing their powerful authority to destroy him in body, mind, and soul, his voice echoed through the air.
"Mark mine words, ye dogs of Heaven!" He snarled. "Mine vengeance shall be etched upon thine very bones. Thou shalt be torn from thine Heavenly seats, and shall be made to perish in the same fashion thou hath slain mine beloved!"
His form began to disintegrate, cracking into shards of light that then scattered into fine particles of golden dust. With one last maddened howl, the last thing that could be seen was a shard of one of his eyes, glaring with venomous hatred towards the eight celestial figures.
And a breath later, that too disappeared.