After Meruem left her, Palm could not bare the thought of her King dying. Especially after such a display of kindness, compassion, and empathy. He would make a better leader now than ever. There must be some way to save him!

She stumbled out of the palace, not sure where to go or who to turn to. She was half ant now, would the hunters accept her? She looked up and saw a familiar face, "Pariston?"

Komugi continued to run her hand along Meruem's face. He had drifted into the slumber from which he promised to awake. She let the back of her hand linger near his mouth which was still allowing air to flow in and out slowly. Komugi knew he was dying, still, she wanted more proof that his promise to wake may still come true. She let her hand leave his face and find its way down to his chest where she could search for a heart beat. Why was his flesh so hard? She thought he must be wearing some kind of advanced armor from the battle. She could finally see what he looked like. He was very muscular and lean, unlike the descriptions of their former leader Diego. She pressed her hand against the cool, hard chest plate and felt nothing. Maybe she could hear something though? She lifted his hand to her ear and felt his skin, a bit softer here, beating with life. Just as tears began to soak his hand Komugi heard footsteps approaching.

There he was, just like Palm said. All Pariston could see was the dying King. He had been watching the Chimera Ants with a deep interest since the queen was created in his lab. They turned out a lot more powerful than he expected. Too powerful to control. But Palms story changed all that.

As Pariston calmly approached his vision began to expand to include the small, young woman holding Meruem. Palm had convinced him that Meruem was deeply in love with her which seemed out of the question. However, he had to admit to himself that the scene was a good indication that Palm wasn't just acting like a love crazy lunatic as per usual.

When Pariston spoke to Komugi he dropped his smarmy demeanor, "I will be taking the two of you to my lab. There is an antidote for the Rose Bomb's poison."

Pariston wasn't sure if the girl heard him. She had been holding the king's hand to her face. As he spoke blood began pouring from her nose and then she collapsed. She wouldn't be able to resist the poison for long. Still, Pariston continued staring at the two intertwined bodies unable to understand how this situation had come to pass. His team moved in to begin the healing process.

Human Palm would never have agreed to lie to protect the ant king. But he was now her king. She promised Pariston she would do her best to hide King Meruem and Komugi's rescue. She used her ability to watch Pariston carry out his mission. After he was done, she reported to Know and Morel that the king was dead.

When Meruem awoke he could hear. There was a steady, soothing beep coming from his left. He was lying down. Visions of gungi pieces began flashing through his mind. His attention shot to his hand. "Wasn't Komugi's hand there a moment ago?" he wondered "yes, I was dying from the bomb. My vision was lost but I still needed to know she was there. I asked her to hold my hand."

"Komugi!" He yelled aloud and shot straight up, not realizing he had gained so much strength back. His senses focused into his eyes in vain. His vision was still gone. The lack of control over his own body ignited white, angry flashes through his mind and sent his arms flailing wildly. The medical cords and equipment went flying, knocking out a nearby nurse. He heard the body hit the floor and immediately regretted his tantrum in fear that he had hurt Komugi. He turned toward where the sound had come from and tried to get out of bed. He stood but was disoriented and dropped to his knees. He carefully crawled forward to the body so as not to cause more damage. He found a leg. "These are pants. Komugi never wore pants! But how long have I been out," he wondered? "Maybe she changed." He moved up and found skin roughened from repeated washes, the hand of a nurse.

Meruem extended his aura to full strength in search of Komugi. The structure of the facility was clear as day in his mind, the aura's information was always much better than eyesight.

They were so far underground his aura couldn't reach the surface. In a flash, he knew the location of Komugi along with many other people. He used Pouf's inherited ability to gather information on their whereabouts and for what each room was used. Komugi was in a special intensive care unit meant for recovery after surgery.

Komugi lulled in and out of a hazy dreamland filled with endless gungi with Meruem. As far as she was concerned he had been there for ages playing happily, pushing her to new heights in game strategy. As she took a deep breath, consciousness poured over Komugi's mind and she knew this was only a fantasy. Her mind focused onto her hand. In her dream world she had been simultaneously holding Meruem's hand and playing across from him. But now all she could feel was a warm sheet wrapped around her fist. Where was he? She reached up to feel air, then brought her arm to the side onto a cold metal bar. Her heart filled with curiosity edged in worry "Meruem-sama?' she said weakly. A nurse looked over. Suddenly, Komugi could feel Meruem all around her. Although she was not aware of it, her nen abilities had been increases as the two played. They were now at the point where she could sense another aura. The sentiment Meruem's aura carried matched that of her own inner desires. She fell asleep with the comfort of knowing he was close.