The fate of the universe was decided in 3 hours and 7 minutes. The battle began at 10:32 a.m. This was the time displayed on the screens in the Iron Man armor that Dr. Banner was using when the barrier protecting the country had been opened. At 1:39 p.m. they had lost and half the living creatures had vanished into thin air.

Dazed, the remaining fighters converged, without consulting each other, on the royal lodgings. They walked without thinking, as if hypnotized, gazing into space, their throats tied. And when the Avengers were all together, they could only see those who weren't there.

No one spoke. The sound of the jungle had become deafening... Every twig that cracked seemed to make a crashing sound. Nature took its course, oblivious to the drama unfolding. Nothing prevented it from continuing, without realizing that for once, humans seemed to be frozen.

Shuri, the princess of Wakanda, watched over her half-destroyed kingdom from her tower. She felt as if her brain had stopped functioning. She could do nothing but look out the window, unable to move or even think.

When the girl regained consciousness after being knocked out, she approached the window to see the end of the battle. She had failed in her mission. The only one she had been assigned to. But what could she do against those monsters? She wasn't a superhero. She was nothing. An unfulfilled scientist. And now the enemy captured Vision. It was all up to the fighters. Panting, she could only watch the fighting and pray.

For a moment, she thought they were winning. The appearance of Thor and his allies had provided a turning point in the battle. The Nordic god had crushed a large number of aliens with a single bolt of lightning, giving the princess renewed hope. The earthlings had wiped out most of the enemies who were no longer numerous enough to attack the Spirit Stone. She felt reassured. But she could not see what was happening in the shade of the trees. She didn't see Wanda kill Vision, nor the appearance of a purple-skinned giant.

Suddenly, a silence fell on the battlefield. An agonizing silence, like the calm before the world seemed to turn in slow motion. Then, half of the remaining fighters fell to dust. All of a sudden, without warning, although they were never meant to disappear. It was as if an illusion was vanishing. Slowly, almost aesthetically, they faded away, their ashes dancing in the wind. They hadn't had time to talk. They disappeared without a word, as if swept away by a movement of the hand, the famous trick of a magician, but without trickery, thief of life, with no possible return.

Those who had escaped remained frozen. They watched the vanishing, their eyes wide open, their breathing blocked, unable to think. Then they began to panic, running around looking for the disappeared. Names echoed in every corner of the plain. But eventually the voices died, strangled by the silence. No one was able to understand what was happening. Shuri wasn't even afraid of disappearing herself, she couldn't imagine that it could happen. In her, there was only astonishment. Then, finally, she understood one thing: they had lost.

Now the princess was watching the outcome of the fighting. The plain in front of the castle had been ravaged. The dozens of alien machines, which had killed many of her subjects, had left as a trace of their passage huge furrows in the earth, reshaping the landscape. Their huge carcasses lay here and there on the battlefield. The black smoke they produced ensured that these monsters would not get up again.

War changes the landscape. It makes it ugly and marks it forever. Wakanda has a very advanced technology that could easily restore the country to its original setting. But it will never be the same again. It will only be a fake landscape, reshaped by the hand of men. It would only conceal what had happened. But no one will ever be able to forget. Shuri could never look at the plain in front of the castle in the same way again. Even after the repairs, she would still see it as a river of blood.

From the top of her tower, the young princess could smell the scent of death, a mixture of burning, blood and despair. The corpses, friends or enemies, mixed on the ground, all equal in the kingdom of darkness. So many lives wasted! Shuri felt nauseous, but she was unable to turn away from this vision of horror. Horrible but strangely mesmerizing. The girl wanted to continue to watch, to observe, to forget time.

"Shuri!"

Okoye's panicked voice allowed the girl to come out of her trance. She turned around. The army General looked miserable. She was covered with dust, had tears in her eyes. She clutched her spear tightly in her hand and seemed unable to let go. As if she could fight what was happening, as if without her weapon she was vulnerable, danger still lurking around every corner.

"Are you here?"

Okoye seemed to need vocal confirmation, as if she was afraid that the girl was just an illusion, or that she would disappear too. Shuri forced her trembling voice to come out.

"Okoye? What's going on?"

"They disappeared! They've all disappeared! The king... The queen mother…"

The soldier stumbled over her words, as if she couldn't understand them. Her voice was weak but audible because she needed to get the message out. Even though it made the event more real. Shuri understood very well what she was implying, but until the military commander made it clear, she could still hope she had misunderstood.

"What?" she asked in a white voice. "What do you mean? Where are my brother and mother?"

Okoye gave her a sorry look, her eyes shining brightly. She took a deep breath before she uttered the dreaded words in a clear voice.

"Gone. Vanished into dust."

Shuri had the feeling that cold water was flowing in his veins. She slipped to the ground, trembling, her breathing quickened. Her whole world was collapsing. What was she still doing there when her whole family was gone? Since her brother had taken over Black Panther's armor when her father died a year ago, she was afraid that he too would fall on the battlefield. But she would never tell him that. And now her mother disappears along with her brother! She had no family left.

"Why?"

That was the only word she could manage to say. She knew Okoye didn't have the answer to her question, that no one did. Except maybe the monster who had made everyone disappear. And then again... Can a maniac have a justification for his actions?

"Shuri?"

Okoye's voice was soft, tears finally streaming down her face as she saw the girl's distress. She came closer and closer. She needed an order. That's how she moved forward in her life. And now she had failed her king's clear order to watch over his country. She needed a new one. Something simple so she could recover and start over. And the only person who had the power to do that now was the little princess crying in front of her. She was sorry that this heavy burden was coming back to her, but they needed a leader around whom to gather. She knew that Shuri had the shoulders to do Okoye would do anything she could to help.

She knelt down beside the girl and put one hand on her shoulder. The princess slowly raised her head and their eyes bodies were trembling. They were still in shock, but they had a duty towards the people.

"I'm sorry. But, um... What are we going to do now?"

Shuri didn't want to answer. She didn't feel like moving. She wanted to stay alone and cry her eyes out. But Okoye's sentence at least reminded her that she wasn't alone. Now she was the sole representative of the royal family. It was up to her to make the decisions. And even though she had never really wanted to play that role, she was now the leader of her people. She didn't have time to complain. She had to rebuild. She should be able to do that. She wiped her cheeks and raised her head in a determined manner.

"Very well," she said. "Call the remaining Avengers, get them down here. Also call M'Baku, see if he's still here. We've got to get organized."

Captain America, Black Widow, War Machine, Hulk, Thor. That's what was left of the Avengers. Plus a talking raccoon. Shuri made a note in her head to ask him if she could study him later, when they're done with all this. These are the most powerful beings on the planet put together. And they all looked distraught. They were covered with dirt and filth. Their hair was a mess, and you couldn't tell the color of it anymore. Captain America and Black Widow's blonde locks were gray. Grey with ashes, dust and misery. Most of them were covered with bleeding scratches, but none of them had serious injuries. Blood has always been the price of freedom. Yet today, blood seemed not to be flowing enough.

The room they were in seemed too big. It was designed for crisis situations and had the capacity to accommodate the five chiefs of the Wakanda tribes and all their guards. But now the said warlords had fallen. And the nine people there looked like children trapped in a world that had become too big.

The left wall of this long room was covered with large windows overlooking the uninhabited city. The battlefield was on the other side of the castle. Otherwise, Shuri would have asked to close the shutters and hide the landscape. She didn't want to see it anymore. But there, every ray of sunshine that came through the windows was welcome by the girl, who needed to remember that everything hadn't collapsed, that the sun was still there, that there was still a city and its people to protect.

The wall on the other side was covered by sophisticated electronic devices that none of the Avengers understood. Anyway, for the time being, they didn't care. They were all sitting around the big table in the middle of the room. Shuri's gaze was slowly sliding from one to the other, trying to find hope in them.

Steve was sitting on a chair, his lip split, his chin resting on his was standing behind him, leaning against the wall, arms folded, looking down at the floor. She had a gaping wound on her forehead that let out a stream of blood. But, lost in thought, she didn't pay any attention to James Rhodes had sat across from Steve, his back straight, tense, with a big bump on his head. Bruce, meanwhile, was next to Steve, his arms folded on the table, his cheek bruised. Finally, Thor was sitting at the end of the table, his head in his his feet was Rocket, sitting cross-legged, back facing the others. The picture was a painful sight. Both physically and morally, the Avengers seemed broken.

The princess felt a relief as she saw M'Baku enter the room after the Avengers. She knew that, despite the disagreements between their tribe, she could count on him to help her. Then, in a short statement, he told her that they were the only ones. All the other tribe leaders had disappeared. And Shuri felt a heavy weight on her shoulders.

Okoye and M'Baku were still very shocked. They weren't used to this kind of fight. Yet they had managed to keep up with the Avengers. And they had just seen half their people reduced to ashes. It was hard for them to look the Avengers in the eye. They framed their princess standing at the head of the table, watching the heroes. Everyone was waiting for someone to speak up.

Steve felt unable to move. He thought maybe he should speak up, get the troops motivated to go back into battle. But he didn't know what to say. No one dared to look at each other. So many of them were missing. The Captain couldn't stop thinking about Tony, still missing, after he had chased the Thanos followers into space. What was the chance that he was still alive? He might even have been the first victim of this conflict. And despite the arguments he had recently had with the man, he felt his heart pinch at the thought.

He didn't consider himself as the leader of the Avengers. The Avengers didn't need one. Their instincts, built on their experience and trust in each other, were enough for them. Although Stark had to be disciplined from time to time, the engineer was usually able to stay serious during battles. So how could he ask them to go back into battle? He knew his friends would follow him because they wouldn't want to leave him alone. But how could he consciously ask them to go back to that hell? What if those who remained disappeared too? What if he was left alone? He wouldn't be able to bear it. If any of his friends died in battle, it would be his fault. And for the first time in his life, Captain America felt helpless.

Unable to wait any longer to find out what had happened to his family, and wanting to break the growing silence, Shuri finally asked the question, taking Steve out of his thoughts:

"So what's going on? What happened?"

As no one seemed to be able to talk to her, struggling to make the simple gesture of opening their lips to formulate the horrible truth, Steve forced himself to clear his throat to answer:

"It's Thanos. He managed to collect all the Infinity Stones. He wiped out half the population of the galaxy in an instant."

Shuri's breath was taken away. It was the entire universe that had just been slammed by Thanos. On every planet in the galaxy, families were crying for their loved ones. And it was partly because of her.

"I'm sorry. If I'd worked faster, Thanos would never have gotten the last stone."

The Avengers didn't dare answer, biting their lips. If they confessed what they'd been thinking all along, they'd crack. Because they didn't think the Princess was guilty. It was their fault.

"No Shuri, it's not your fault," replied Dr. Banner, sadly bowing his head to the princess."

That girl was too young, too young to think that! There were already enough people blaming themselves, so that what had happened weighed on a child's shoulders. What had they done? What had they been thinking about when they gave Shuri such a big role? What happened to the Avengers who were supposed to look after everyone? How could they let a young girl develop such a sense of guilt? Dr. Banner clenched his fists, praying that one day they would be able to make up to the Princess. But the priority was to help her.

"Thanos already had five stones and was almost invincible. Even though we managed to destroy the Vision Stone, he could easily go back in time to get it back."

"So our defeat was inevitable?" Asked M'Baku strongly.

"No. Not if I aimed for his head" Thor growled, not moving from his position.

"Thor" said Rocket softly.

Thor just groaned. Rocket took the liberty of leaning against the God's leg to comfort him. The friendship between the two of them was strange but seemed natural. No one said a word for a moment, lost in bad memories, thinking about what they could have done to win.

"We'd never have won," muttered M'Baku. "He already had the stones. Then why did he have them? Why did you make us fight?"

"What?" asked Steve. "Would you have let him snap his fingers without a fight?"

"I would have tried to stop my army from being wiped out!"

"Even if they hadn't died in battle, a lot of them would have disappeared sooner or later!"

"Maybe they would have! But this way I could have saved more."

"You would have ignored the rest of the universe? Would you have missed your chance to save them? "

"Who do you think I am, Rogers?" asked the African leader, clenching his fists. "You come to us and ask us to sacrifice our lives and our country in a fight that's already lost? Have you thought about the survivors of Wakanda? What will they do now in this half destroyed country? Because the Avengers have decided that everyone must be prepared to give their lives? We are ordinary people! We weren't ready to fight against aliens! You should never have come!"

That last sentence had been shouted out. M'Baku's sadness did not calm down and eventually overflowed. He could no longer manage the pain that the situation was causing him. In the end, he knew that he was responsible for the deaths of his men. The sorrow just kept growing inside him, and gradually turned into anger. First at himself and then at the whole world: this situation was unfair. Anger took over from sadness, and it was sadness that expressed itself. His flaming eyes stared at Captain America. The hero lowered his head, his throat tied. Natasha understood what her friend was thinking and put her hand on his shoulder, looking sadly at the African leader.

"No one is ever ready to fight," she said in a trembling voice. "But we had to come here. It was a risk we had to take. Unfortunately it turned out to be a disaster for the country. We're sorry about that."

But M'Baku could not hear that apology. Not now. He turned to Shuri.

"I don't know what you're planning to do, Princess, but I will no longer obey an order from this man. And you also need to think about who will rule your kingdom, and if possible, someone who won't lead it to ruin!"

"Someone like you," Shuri replied coldly, turning to him.

"It doesn't matter," M'Baku exploded. "Someone who will be able to rebuild the country and I don't think you have the shoulders for it, knowing that it was your brother's decision to help the Avengers that led us to this disaster!"

"Don't talk about my brother like that," the girl replied sharply. "Respect his memory!"

"I'll speak as I please! I don't take orders from anyone!"

And with these words, he walked out of the room, leaving the others clueless, wondering about their past or future choices. The princess felt left out. How could she hope to have the trust of her people after what had happened? M'baku was the one who could have given her the best advice. And he had left her in the midst of strangers.

Rhodes sighed deeply. As a colonel in the United States army, he could understand M'Baku's accusations but also knew that there was no real culprit. These were the laws of war. However, when he saw Shuri's trembling lips, he felt obliged to reassure her.

"No one is to blame, Princess, neither you nor us. But M'Baku is shocked! Give him some time. I know you'll make a fine leader."

A murmur of approval ran through the room. Shuri looked at the people in front of her with tears in her eyes. She too understood M'Baku. Her anger was justified. She herself would not deny that she had, for a while, wanted to blame the Avengers for everything that had happened. But in that moment, she only saw them for what they really were. Ordinary people who had lost their homes. The only thing they were holding on to was their group. And they'd just failed. They had nothing left. She swallowed her tears and thanked them with a silent nod.

"Princess, we'll do everything we can to help Wakanda," Bruce said in a firm voice.

"Very well," The princess sighed. "Please know, Avengers, I don't hold you in any way responsible for what happened. You're always welcome in my home. The one who killed my subjects was that Thanos and no one else. And I believe in you to kick his ass."

The Avengers kept their heads down. Shuri pretended not to notice. She counted on them to pull themselves together.

"Well…" she said as she sat down. "We must start by planning the future of my people and then the survival of the whole world."

"You can count on us," nodded the other Avengers.

"Princess Shuri," Thor suddenly said, raising his head, "may I abuse your hospitality by asking permission to use your technology? I wish to contact my people... well, those who remain... to ask them to join me here."

"Of course Thor, they too will be welcome," exclaimed the princess, confused by the sad gaze of the God. You will find all the necessary equipment in this room.

"Thank you." Having obtained what he wanted, the God let his head fall into his hands again.

Shuri sighed. Rebuilding physical things, buildings, bodies, landscapes, erasing the visible traces of the battle, it was going to be easy and wouldn't last long with their technological advances. However, the invisible traces, the moral wounds, the traumas... Who knows how long it will take to heal?

"We need all the help we can get." She turned back to Okoye. "Were you able to reach Nakia?"

"I'm sorry princess, but her communication device was ringing in the void. And we know what that means."

Shuri felt his heart fall out. She had to remember she wasn't alone. Not really.

To be continued ...

Note from the writer :

Hello! This is my first fanfiction, I hope you'll like it! English is not my native language so please bear with me! And a huge thank to Sarah, my wonderful beta reader who translated this story.

LAZOU

Hey, everybody! I started this translation mainly to prove to LAZOU, the original writer, that I could do better than her! But as I reread and translated the story, I became attached to it. I hope Zoe won't mind me saying it's also a bit my baby? Like her, English is not my mother tongue, so I'll ask you for a little indulgence on that side. If you spot any recurring mistakes, don't hesitate to let us know!

Thank you to you for following us in this adventure and have fun.

Sarah