Golden Horns and Red Thorns

Terinnian

"I'm not Asgardian." I replied to him.

Thanos looked at me with a blank face, his way of telling me to explain. I took a deep breath, preparing myself for the words that were about to leave my lips.

I tried so hard to forget who I really was - what I came from. I only ever talked about this to Loki, and even then I never told him every thing. But, with his powers came the ability to read minds, so that's what he did. I didn't have to tell him everything, because he already knew it.

"I'm Terinnian." I whispered, looking at my hands. Loki's ashes still covered every inch of them, no matter how hard I tried to wipe it off it wouldn't leave. It was like the stain of black berries - you could wash your hands a multitude of times, and the deep burgundy wouldn't get off.

Thanos hummed in interest, giving me his full attention. I had him hooked in. Now I just needed to decide what part would be the lie, and what part needed to be the truth. I decided to tell it all - the truth.

"Terinnians are born with magic. All of them are. It runs in our blood and has for eons. But, when I was born, there was no trace of magic within me. Every cell inside me was void of it..." I took another deep breath, the memories all flooded back to me, despite being so young when it all happened. I remembered all of it. "I was seen as a disgrace among my people. My parents were disgusted with me growing up. I never had their love - from the moment I was born, to the moment they cast me out."

My voice grew shaky with anger and sadness. So many centuries have passed, yet it still burned as if it had happened yesterday. Thanos was silent, listening on and taking in account every emotion I showed. How I clenched my fists, bit my lip to stop from trembling. How I clenched my jaw and moved my eyes to look at everything but him and my hands. He saw how tense I was - how I slouched against the wall completely and utterly defeated.

"My planet - Tera - is on the very outskirts of the same realm that Asgard lays in. Many know of the planet for our ruthless behaviors and our help in some of the wars Asgard has fought. But no one has ever been there. No outsiders are let in, and hardly anyone is ever let out. It wasn't a law to not leave or come in - just no one wanted to. Too terrified to enter, too angry to leave."

"I am aware of your people's ways," he spoke, almost with a fondness.

I grimaced. There was nothing of us to be fond of. Ashamed - maybe.

"I was born into royalty. I was the Princess of Tera, born from the King and Queen. And sense Asgard was the only planet close to us that they were somewhat friendly with - they sent me there. I never saw my parents again. I was ten years old, but time works a little different there than everywhere else, so on Asgard, I was already one thousand. Just in a kid's body, I guess..."

I was rambling - recalling everything and nothing.

"Ah, yes. Every one hundred years, you age - physically - one."

"To simply put it, yeah."

"I destroyed your planet." Thanos stated. "Their behavior grew to be... revolting, in my eyes. I set loose a plague with no source. Every one died off on Tera, except the animals that you all worship so very much." he reminisced with a sense of pride.

The thing was, it didn't bother me. I never felt sad when I had finally heard of my planet's demise. I felt relieved when I knew the animals were saved. But no anger. No heartbreak. It unsettled me and made me feel guilty that I felt nothing for my people. But, they felt nothing for me, so why should I for them?