Vormir

The surface of Vormir reminded Gamora too much of the dark halls of the Sanctuary, cold and lifeless. Vormir wasn't habited by any intelligent form of life, very few known species in the galaxy could survive conditions like these. Gamora was defenseless against any of the Vorms, lizard-like creatures that swarmed the planet. They could absorb a planet's energy, turning it into a cold wasteland for them to live. Gamoras eyes looked to the sky where the planets sun was almost completely engulfed by its moon. A massive obelisk seemed to almost touch the sky, that's where the stone would be held. "The Stone had better be up there. For your sister's sake." Her stomach twisted tightly as they began the climb. Thanos made sure his daughter stayed close to him, mainly because if she had the intent to run away he could easily retriever her or if she slipped. It was a long way down after all. The climb had brought them to archway above an outstretched altar. The stone floor was carved out with religious texts, most likely by worshipers.

"Welcome, Thanos, son of Eros. Gamora, daughter of Thanos." The voices startled her. Both of them were expecting the obelisk to be abandoned, who would possibly be guarding it.

"I'm not his daughter," Gamora muttered to the figure. "I had a real one once."

Thanos stepped forward, keeping Gamora behind him and silencing her. "You know us?" The way the figure spoke it felt as though he was lost, a wandering soul with no way sense of humanity. Someone who had once seen true power, but no longer sought after it.

"It is my curse to know all who journey here." He sounded so lonely, Gamora almost felt pity for him.

Thanos was tired of wasting time with this watcher. He turned the focus back to his intent. "Where is the Soul Stone?"

"You should know, it extracts a terrible price." There was that tone again, that sense of warning, almost pleading.

But Thanos thought nothing of it, he welcomed the challenge with open arms. "I am prepared."

"We all think that at first. We are all wrong." This creature didn't appear like any known species that was familiar to Thanos and Gamora. He was humanoid, his skin appeared to be nonexistent.

He guided them to the altar. Welcoming them to the domain he watches over for what must have been centuries from the way he spoke. "How is it you know this place so well?"

"A lifetime ago, I, too, sought the stones. I even held one in my hand. But it cast me out. Banished me here. Guiding others to a treasure I cannot possess." In all her life Gamora had not known of anyone else besides herself and her fellow guardians and father of who could hold an infinity stone. "What you seek lies in front of you. As does what you fear." He outstretched his phantom hand ahead of him and down below.

"What's this?" Gamora asked in curiosity, gazing far down below them. The thought of a leap like that made her dizzy

"The price. Soul holds a special place among the Infinity Stones. You might say it is, a certain wisdom."

Thanos was ready, he had been for so long. "Tell me what it needs."

"To ensure whoever possesses it understands its power... The Stone demands a sacrifice."

"Of what?"

"in order to take the Stone...You must lose that which you love. A soul, for a soul."

There was a pause, a single moment where Gamora actually took the time to laugh at this news. Her entire being became overjoyed with this revelation that she would have gotten on her knees and thanked her father for his selfish nature. "All my life, I dreamed of a day...a moment...when you got what you deserved. And I was always so disappointed. But, now...You kill, and torture, and you call it mercy. The Universe has judged you. You asked it for a prize and it told you, no. You failed. And do you wanna know why? Because you love nothing….No one!" He slowly turned to her. His eyes saddened on her as tears formed. Gamora scoffed for a moment almost out of sympathy, but at the same time only saw a pathetic and weak child. "Really?... Tears?"

"They are not for him."

Gamoras head snapped toward the figure than back to her captor. The sudden awareness of why the tears were there swam into her mind to see the truth and the intent. "No." She spat, eyes blaring on him in anger. "This isn't love." Her heart raced as she backed from his massive form. She was in complete denial that he had the capacity inside his blackened heart to feel anything towards her let alone love.

"I ignored my destiny once." He looks down to her with such sternness in his eyes. "I cannot do that again. Even for you." Her eyes were broken, shattered as her mind raced as fast as her heart raced and body trembled. The universe had not told him no, instead, it had given him a door and all that was required was to open it. "I'm sorry, little one." Everything slowed to a crawl when Gamora felt her fathers vice grip around her arm. The feeling of shame grew in the assassin, not because she cried out for herself and the fear of death, but because she had not done more to make him hate her. If she had he would not be able to use her to end the galaxy, all of this could have been avoided. Gamoras feet slid across the ground as she once again found herself struggling to pull away.

"No!" She screamed. "I am not yours to love!" The thought of begging for her own life was never Gamoras intent instead she was pleading for life for all of life. "I am not yours!" The young woman's fight was destined to fail when the solid surface beneath her was sept away and gravity took its hold. Gamoras heart jumped when she felt that single moment when everything stood still before plummeting. Screams filled her lungs until the falling had stopped and everything became still again. Tiredness was seeping into her as if she was merely falling asleep. She tried to calm her pain by simply lying to herself. It was time to rest, time to sleep, tear-filled Gamoras eyes as she lied motionless, unable to feel anything. She didn't want her last moments of sight to be thinking about how she had failed the universe. Instead, she thought of the love she had for the galaxy and those in her life. She felt sorry that she would never see her friends again, would never see the stars and would never….. "peter"… She had failed. Thanos now possessed another piece of his gauntlet and now was one step closer because of her. It wasn't long before the numbness had completely taken over and the world faded away.