A New Beginning

"Komugi…?" whispered Welfin in a voice unsure of itself and slightly on the verge of cracking as the name that he uttered pulled the King's attention to him.

Realization and remembrance flooded through the King as he recalled his forgotten memories that I had tried so desperately to hide for his sake…. For our sake. I knew I had lost this game, and in doing so I had lost my King. Everything that we, that I, had tried to accomplish will be for nothing all because of some blind and weak human.

I felt the King's emotions through our bond. I could feel is need and desire to be with Komugi above all else. The dominating instinct that is to be a chimera ant king and rule over all life has fallen to the way side. The King's need for Komugi has outshined his need to be a ruler, has outshined his need for his Royal Guard…. Has outshined his need for me.

I felt a sting within my heart and tears well in my eyes. My beloved King, will choose a human over me. Me, who stayed by his side since the moment of his birth. Me who has served him and can offer him things greater than any human can. The tears threatened to spill as I bowed my head into the ground and felt the raw emotions of the King flood through me like a dam finally breaking loose.

"So this is your secret Pouf" stated Meruem as he turned from Welfin to me. There was no point in lying anymore or trying to omit the truth. It was over, the King will abandon everything that is Chimera Ant in order to go be with a human.

"Yes" I stated in a low voice. The tears broke free and dripped down my face. However, there was no emotion on Meruem's face. He simply started to walk past me, no longer acknowledging me and effectively dismissing my presence.

Meruem and Welfin started to exchange words but I did not hear them. My chest was constricting and it was becoming hard to breathe. Is this what happened to Youpi before he died? Am I to suffer the same fate? Pain surged through me as more purple blood leaked out of my nose and out of my mouth. I struggled not to let it show in front of the King for I did not want him to think me so weak. 'How is this happening?' I thought to myself in confusion and disbelief.

"Welfin, I hope you find him….And I hope you can live as a human" said Meruem with a sincerity in his voice. No tone of anger or offense at all. Just the best wishes for Welfin as he made a move to leave the area and head to the warehouse.

Meruem did not even spare a glance to me as I helplessly stayed kneeled on the ground bleeding. He strode past me and that was the last I saw of my beloved King. More blood spilled from me and I felt myself grow weaker.

In desperation I tried to drag myself in the direction I saw Meruem go. But I knew this effort would be in vain. I don't know how much time I laid there watching all the hypnotized humans just mindlessly drooling; completely oblivious to what was happening around them.

The world was growing colder and the air was becoming thicker. It was becoming a laborious task to draw in each breath. 'Why?' I thought to myself. 'Why wasn't I enough for Meruem?' I cried out in my head. My thoughts were becoming heavy and my mind was beginning to cloud. My body was aching, especially in my head and stomach. It was like my organs were disintegrating within me.

I felt something was rising up my throat. I groaned as warm blood pooled into my mouth and dripped down my chin. Blood dribbled out of my nose as well and joined the trail of blood from my mouth. The taste and smell were so metallic and thick. It was overwhelming and made me dizzy. I wanted fresh air but knew I would not get any.

'I gave 6/7 of my body and my unconditional love to someone that didn't care' I thought bitterly. He didn't even stay with me as I lay here dying. He left to go be with that damn woman! I gave him everything! She gave him nothing. Still he chose her over me. I was there from the moment of his birth….. he couldn't even stay in the moment of my death.

Another cough wracked my body and I felt too weak to even keep my eyes open at this point. I felt too weak to keep breathing. 'So this is how it ends? Alone in the dirt next to a bunch of drooling humans and left behind by the King for a human….. I hate humans' I thought to myself as I opened my eyes one last time to weakly look where the King had gone. I let out one last shaky breath and then darkness overcame me.

Darkness is all there was before me. I was floating in nothingness. My clothes were gone and I felt exposed and vulnerable. Yet, I couldn't move my limbs in an attempt to cover myself. I just floated in nothing with my arms and legs spread out and my wings hung limply under me.

I don't know how long I stayed there. Minutes? Days? Years? Time couldn't be told or felt here. It felt like I existed outside of reality. 'I want another chance' I thought to myself knowing that it wouldn't be possible. My life was over as soon as it had begun. I was born as a species destined to be exterminated just like a mere bug.

How fitting that I was born with the appearance most like a human yet I am the one that functioned the most like a chimera ant. Pitou and Youpi looked less human than me and yet they strayed from the chimera ant path more. The King was no better, I bet if Komugi could have gazed upon his intimidating form than she wouldn't have accepted him so easily.

In the distance I saw a bright light suddenly appear. It hurt my eyes but I could not move my hands to shield them. I could only squint my eyes as I saw the light begin to grow. Slowly but surely it appeared that there was a world beyond the light. Closer and closer the light came towards me until I was engulfed by it. I was forced to close my eyes as it became blinding.

A coldness was piercing through my body. I felt something hard against my back as I struggled to come into the conscious world. My eyes were not opening and the more I tried the dizzier I became. My body felt so heavy and weak, it's like I was tied down and unable to move.

I felt a harsh wind rush over my body and it made me shiver in response. The coldness was numbing and burning at the same time. Slowly my eyes began to open and I saw darkness before me. I desperately tried to get my eyes to focus on something, anything. My head was spinning and nothing made sense. The feeling of needing to empty the contents of my stomach was making itself known.

'What is happening to me? Is it still that poison?' I thought to myself as I struggled to remember the events before now. Looking above me, I spotted tall flowers that were swaying in the wind. My amber eyes narrowed in confusion. I turned my head slowly from side to side to take in my surroundings and I began to understand.

It's night time and I'm stranded in a flower patch and it feels like it's Autumn here judging by the cold winds. I brought up my hands to weakly shield myself from the cold but it was no use. My thin frilled shirt was for aesthetics, not protection against the cold. I started to sit up only to feel the most painful feeling shoot across my head and stomach.

I flipped onto my hands and knees as a string of bile and salvia surged out of my mouth. The taste was so bitter and foul. I gasped as I sucked in a breath after painfully heaving my lungs out. The cold air burned my tender lungs. Dizziness shot through me again and caused me to lose my balance as I collapsed onto the ground.

Feeling wiped out and defeated for a second time I felt tears begin to well up in my eyes. 'How pathetic am I? I can't even stand and I'm supposed to be a Royal Guard?' I thought to myself miserably. Tears began to stream down my face and I let out sob after sob for hours. I didn't even have my violin now to console me.

Night began fading away as I saw the sunrise start to bleed through the darkness. I just sat there shivering against the cold with tear stained cheeks. My entire body was hurting and I knew I was vulnerable. I will be at the mercy of anything that comes across me. This thought made tears well up in my eyes again. 'What kind of hell is this?' I thought as I felt snot and tears dribble down my face.

I felt a dull ache in my stomach as it let out a gurgle. I couldn't even remember the last time I ate something. I looked around to see if there was anything I could use to alleviate my hunger but all I saw were flowers and dirt. Testing my strength, I decided to stand up and see if I could hunt something down in this new world.

My body ached so much with every move that I made. Slowly but surely, I managed to rise into a standing position. That's when I noticed my predicament. I'm at the smallest size my main body can be. A wave of panic flooded through me as I realized I am completely powerless and I'm so small. I couldn't fend off a bird or a small animal like this.

I tried to fly so I could at least try to gain some altitude and see where I have ended up. However, my wings were too weak to carry me. My beautiful and strong wings could now do nothing more than hang behind me. I can't do anything I realized.

Slowly I started to walk forward. Maybe if I start moving I'll at least find something. The dirt was soft beneath my feet as I walked by row after row of flowers. There didn't appear to be anything edible nearby. I felt another dull ache in my stomach as I trudged on. I paid close attention to my surroundings. I felt the chimera ant inside me stir to life and push me into survival mode. The weak emotional human side was beginning to take a back seat as my basic instincts to survive started to flood through me.

Hearing a soft sound to the left I turned my head to observe. There was a digging noise not too far from me. I began to head in that direction to check out the source of the sound, maybe it was food. The sound was becoming louder, like claws raking into the soft dirt and digging it up.

Pushing past another flower I came into a small clearing to look at the noise. Fear washed over me as I looked at what was making the noise. It was a giant tabby colored cat covering up its droppings with dirt. The cat didn't seem to notice me as it went about its business. I knew that in my current state I could neither out-run it nor fight it off.

Very carefully, I started to step backwards back into the cover of the flowers. I was almost back in when I bumped into a flower and caused it to shake ever so slightly. I cursed under my breath as I saw the yellow eyes of the cat flick over to the flower. It stopped digging at the dirt and watched the flower. I held my breath and dared not move a muscle in fear of drawing attention to me.

Slowly the cat's eyes seemed to lose interest in the flower as it had not made another move. It sniffed at the spot it was covering up and then started to make its way away from the flowers. I let out a breath and started to walk backwards again while keeping my eyes trained on the cat. The cat abruptly saw down and turned its head back to groom its fur.

Its eyes flicked over to me as it saw my movement. It stopped licking itself and just watched me. I watched it in anticipation. I could feel the adrenaline spreading through my veins, urging me to take flight and rush to safety. I opened my wings to prepare to take off. The cat, now fully enthralled with hunting me, turned to face me and crouched down as it began to stalk forward.

I attempted to lift into the air but my wings were still too weak. The cat was closing in on me and I had no other option except to run and hope it wouldn't catch me. I turned around and began to run into the flowers. My body brutally protested with each step I took but was able to endure it with the assistance of adrenaline.

It was no use though; the cat was a far superior hunter and I was just a mere game to it. It only took about five seconds for the cat to catch me. I felt a paw slam into my back and knock me to the ground. The wind was knocked from my lungs and my face crashed into the dirt. Its claw tore at the skin on my back and ripped my shirt. Again, a paw struck me and kept me pinned to the ground. This time a claw punctured me in the back and I knew it had broken the skin. I let out a scream as it tore my flesh. I couldn't get up, every time I tried to move I was knocked back down.

My body couldn't take much more of this. I was just simply too weak. My eyes were beginning to feel heavy and all I wanted to do was sleep. Pain coursed through my body but it was starting to become numb. Breathing became harder as my lungs struggled to keep inflating with air. I laid there panting and moaning in pain as I waited to die again.

In the distance I heard a small voice call out, "Sprinkles!". Slightly turning my head, I noticed that the cat relented on its assault and stilled its movements. Its ears were perked up and it was looking attentively in the direction that the voice came from. "Sprinkles! Where are you?" it called out again. It sounded like it belonged to a female child.

The cat looked at me and then looked back in the direction of the voice. It looked at me again and then moved towards me and hovered over me. It moved its mouth towards me and I flinched in fear but couldn't move. I was about to be eaten by a damn cat. It opened its mouth to reveal its large teeth. Its foul breath washed over me and I scrunched up my nose in disgust.

I felt its mouth enclose around me as it roughly picked me up. I hung with my legs and head sticking out of its mouth. Most of my chest and abdomen was caught between razor sharp teeth as it secured me. I could feel the teeth digging into my flesh and ripping at my clothes. I was going to be in little more than rags at this rate. It started to stalk off in the direction of the voice.

I felt like I was going to be sick again between being bounced up and down rapidly and the putrid stink of its breath. I couldn't even move my arms to cover my nose because they were pinned by teeth. I watched as the landscape began to shift around us.

We emerged from the flower bed and began to move through a yard with mostly dead grass. Up ahead was a wooden porch with a little girl. She was still calling out for someone named "Sprinkles" as the cat approached her. Her eyes shifted down to towards the cat which she greeted excitedly.

Her eyes darted to me and she let out a small squeal in alarm. Quickly she grabbed the cat and forced its mouth open to release me. "Sprinkles! Bad kitty" the child reprimanded and I dropped onto the wooden porch. The impact caused me to lose my breath as I collided with the hard wood. I let out a grunt as my ripped flesh made contact with the cold wood. It stung where the wood touched the wounds. I just didn't have any more strength between the hunger and my weakness. I felt weaker now than when I tried to crawl after the King as I was dying.

My vision started to fade as I felt the world start to melt away into darkness. Two gentle hands scooped under me and I felt myself lift off the ground and become nestled into the warmth of the hands. A shiver coursed through me at finally feeling some relief from the merciless cold that had been assaulting me since nightfall.

Gently, the hands cradled me and I could see that I was brought up close to a chest. I could see the rapid rise and fall of her breathing as she made her way into her home. I felt a small finger poke my head but I could only weakly move my eyes to look at it. My limbs were failing me and the urge to sleep was becoming too strong.

I let out a shaky breath as I succumbed to the darkness. I didn't even care anymore. Saved from the cat to be killed by a child? My body was too hurt to protest and try to escape. The world faded away and I wasn't aware anymore of what was happening around me.

I stayed in that darkness for an unknown amount of time. My mind couldn't even form coherent thoughts. I just existed in a void of nothingness. There was no pain here, no hunger, no danger, no emotions, just nothing. I was nothing in here and I was okay with that.

I heard a soft voice from somewhere above me. It tried to coax me out of the void but I didn't want to leave here. It sounded like a small child and it was whispering to me in a concerned and hopeful voice. Vaguely, I was aware that something was gently rubbing my head. It felt like a damp cloth. It gently wiped away at my clothes, skin, face, wings, and hair. Every so often the wiping would stop for moment and then resume again and the cloth would be warm and feel like it was more wet. It was soothing and it felt nice.

After what felt like an eternity the careful wiping stopped and I was wrapped up into something soft. I could feel that I was being carried. Slowly I opened my eyes and gazed up at the person. It was the same child as before. Her eyes were looking ahead of her and she paid me no mind as I looked at her through half-seeing eyes.

My strength failed me and I slipped back into unconsciousness. I felt my body go limp and my mind severed its connection with the conscious world. 'Why is this human child caring for me?' I thought in confusion and shock. If I was at full strength she would be nothing more than a meal to me. I am an apex predator to her species and here she is saving me.

I couldn't understand why a child would do something so selfless. Maybe she doesn't know any better? Maybe human children lack survival instincts and can't sense danger when they see it. They truly are an inferior species, no wonder a lot of them don't make it to adulthood. I stayed stuck in unconsciousness contemplating the strange actions of the child for who knows how long. The more I thought about it, the more confused I became.

A soft voice called out to me again, "Please wake up little fairy" it pleaded. It sounded sad and scared at the same time. For some reason I felt myself starting to wake up as I began to become aware of surroundings once again.

There was something soft under me now and there was a warmth on my face that felt like sun rays. Slowly I peeked open an eye and was met with a set a curious green eyes that stared down at me in wonder. I sat up alarmed and in shock because of how big everything was before I remembered that I was stuck in such a small size.

I looked under me to see that I was on a small bed of some sort. It looked like it was put together from cloth and small rags. 'Well that explains why I felt something soft under me' I thought as I took in my surroundings. I was in the room of a child that couldn't be more than about seven years old.

There were some toys here and there. Clothes were left in a pile on the floor and there was a bit of mess. The room was overall pretty bare. The walls were a light purple color and the floor was worn out hardwood. 'The child must not have much' I pondered as I looked over the sparse room. My eyes landed on something that almost pulled my lips into a smirk. A stuffed butterfly was clutched close to the child's chest as she continued to stare at me.

The child was a young girl that looked to be about seven years of age. She had green eyes and brown hair that was medium length and framed her round face. There were a few freckles dotting her small nose and her lips were thin. She didn't seem terribly tall and did look to be on the thin side. Her clothes, a simple blue dress, hung loosely around her frame.

'Well she can't want to hurt me if she's apparently been trying to take care of me' I thought to myself as I decided to try to make sense of the situation I now found myself in.

I looked down at myself and noticed that most of the dirt and blood had been wiped off my body. My clothes were stained from my blood but it looks like she tried to wipe it away. My body didn't feel as sweaty and nasty as it did before which was a relief.

"Hello, my name is Shaiapouf" I said politely as I stood up to give a small bow. I stumbled a bit as I felt a wave of dizziness wash over me. 'I must be very weak still' I thought in disgust. I saw the child take a hesitant step back as she held the toy closer, as if it would protect her. "May I know your name?" I asked as I looked up to meet her eyes.

"I'm Kaitlyn, but you can call me Katie" she answered shyly while looking down to break the eye contact. She backed up again, intent on keeping her distance away from me.

"Where am I?" I asked as I once again looked around the room. This room design didn't look like any type of layout that would be common in a house in the NGL at all. It almost looked like I was in a different world place then when I was serving the King.

"My room" she answered quietly. I felt my eye twitch a little as I should have expected a vague and useless answer from a child.

"Where do you live?" I tried again as I forced a smile on my face and tried to appear as friendly as I can.

Giving me a confused look as if it was obvious she answered, "With my parents?". I closed my eyes to fight down the urge to get mad. Getting mad at this child will not solve anything.

"I see" I said in a flat tone. Giving up on trying to get any information from the child about my location I settled on trying to gauge my strength.

I attempted to fly but was unable to do more than float a few inches off the ground. Any attempt to make more clones of myself was met with unbearable fatigue from the strain. I also could not make myself bigger. I was completely stuck in this tiny form with no way to defend myself.

Glancing over to the child I noticed she was giving me an odd look. "What is it?" I asked slightly annoyed by her persistent staring.

"Are you a fairy?" she asked in awe and amazement. I gave her an indignant look and took offense to her innocent question.

'A fairy?! I'm a Royal Guard to the King!' I thought in anger. A small voice in the back of my head answered 'Not anymore…. You have no King anymore and you guard nobody'. I stilled at the thought. I'm all alone with no King or any purpose. Slowly I drifted back down to the ground.

"I don't know what I am anymore" I responed in a dull voice and I looked at the ground. I could feel tears building up in my eyes. My whole world was gone and now I'm here all alone. I'm probably the only one of my species here.

"A fairy" stated the child as if she was confirming it. She nodded her head in approval. "Shoo Puff?" asked the child as she took a hesitant step towards me.

"Pardon?" I asked not understanding what she was asking. 'What the hell is a "Shoo Puff"?' I thought in confusion.

"Shoo Puff, you said your name is Shoo Puff" explained the child. Amusement flooded through me as I realized this child cannot pronounce my name.

"Shaiapouf…. But you can call me Pouf" I said calmly in an attempt to be nice. After all, she can't be that bad if she's trying to help me. I'll just play nice until I'm strong enough to leave.

"Puff" said the child as she tested out my name. "I like Puff" she continued as she gave me a shy grin.

I was about to say something when I was hit by an intense ache in my stomach again. The ache was so strong it brought me to my knees. I let out a pained moan as I began to lay on my side.

"Puff?" asked Katie in concern as she approached me. My breathing intensified as I waited for the pain to pass.

"Hungry" I whined out between aches of pain. I felt disgusted with myself that I was begging a damn human child for food. How pathetic and disgusting.

"Okay" she said in understanding and turned to leave. Probably to bring some disgusting inedible crap that humans eat.

I laid there for a few minutes until the pain began to subside. I never had to go so long without proper nutrients when I was with the King or at the hive. There were so many humans that I could eat whenever I wanted. Experiencing hunger on this level wasn't something I thought I would ever feel. I didn't know it could be so painful.

After a while Katie returned looking rather proud of herself. She raced up to me and put something next to me. It was a weirdly shaped disc with large brown chunks sticking out of it in random places. It smelled horrible and I didn't want to eat it despite my hunger.

"Excuse me but, what is that?" I asked, highly unamused with what the child has offered me.

"A cookie!" she answered proudly as she continued, "I helped Mommy make them" she said as she beamed at me. I felt my face blanch at the thought of eating a sugary treat enjoyed by humans.

"Katie, fairies don't eat cookies…" I said as I tried to hint that this is not an acceptable offering.

"Oh…." She said in a sad voice as she took the cookie and tucked it into her pocket and looked down at her feet, "What do fairies eat?" she asked in a disappointed tone.

"Raw meat, we need the nutrients in the blood" I stated in a tone that I hoped wouldn't scare her. I decided to withhold information on chimera ant diets because it would most certainly frighten her. She looked back up and then I saw her expression become solemn.

"We don't have any…" she said as she looked at me. Silently begging me to tell her what she can do.

I let out of sigh as I began to feel the onset of another ache. I wrapped my arms around my stomach in an attempt to stop the pain from intensifying again.

"Ohhhhh" she said as if she just had an idea. She ran out of the room and disappeared. Probably to go find something else that wouldn't suffice.

She returned a moment later holding a small knife. I instantly stiffened as she came closer to me and brought up the knife. I held up my hands in defense and closed my eyes.

I heard her let out a pained yelp and then a sniffle. I opened my eyes to see what in the world she was doing. My breath caught in my throat in shock and my eyes opened wider. There was blood on tip of the knife and her finger was bleeding. She had unshed tears in her eyes and she let out a sniffle, obviously it had hurt that she cut her finger.

She held out her finger to me and looked at me. She was offering her blood to me. Human blood which would have all the nutrients that I needed. I looked up into her green eyes and she asked, "This blood?". I nodded at her and she pushed her finger closer to me face.

Slowly I approached her offered finger that had blood oozing out of the small cut. I grabbed her finger and began to lap up the droplets of blood. The taste of her blood was on the sweeter side 'Maybe because she's so young' I thought absent mindedly as I continued to drink her blood. Soon there was no longer and trail of blood oozing out so she used her other hand to squeeze her finger so more blood would come out. I silently thanked her and I continued licking at the cut.

The blood of this child wasn't nearly of the quality of a regular human's blood. It was like she was malnourished, like her diet was insufficient for her to be at the peak of her health. However, it was enough to alleviate the awful hunger pangs that I was being plagued by. Feeling my chimera ant urges take over I latched onto her cut and began to suck the blood from the wound. Katie let out a squeak in surprise as she didn't expect to have her finger sucked on. Despite that, she didn't remove her finger. She just stood there and let me drink until I was satisfied.

After about five minutes I finally felt better and was able to release her finger. Without the pressure of me sucking the blood out of the wound, it wouldn't bleed on its own. I let out a breath and wiped my mouth. I looked up at her and upon noticing that I was done she pulled her finger away and gave me a small smile.

"Why?" was all I managed to ask. She saved me from the cat, cleaned my wounds, gave me shelter, and now offered her own blood. I don't understand why she would do that for me.

"You said fairies eat blood. I have blood" she said as she beamed at me. Proud that she was able to help me feel better.

While it was only blood and not flesh, I could feel some of my strength returning to me. Maybe I would be able to recover with the help of this child.

"Thank you" I said in a genuine voice as I felt my eyes soften at the sight of her.

"Mmmhmm" she hummed as she started to walk over to her bed. Still clutching onto the stuffed butterfly. I let a small smile spread across my lips as I watched her settle onto her bed and start to play with the toy. She pulled the cookie that she tried to offer me out of her pocket and started to nibble on it.

'Still just a simple child' I thought to myself as I watched her. Maybe I'll spare her when I return to my peak strength.

I sat back down on the make-shift bed that she had made for me by the window. The sun was starting to set again. I was able to look out over the yard and see the flower bed toward the middle of the yard where I had first woken up. 'If I ever see that damn cat again I'll kill it and eat it' I though bitterly. I laid down and watched as the night creep up on the world and decided that I should take advantage of being able to sleep without being in danger. Rest would help me recover faster.

Katie called over to me from the bed, "Good night Puff" she said as she let out a yawn. I looked over at her and acknowledged her.

"Good night Kaitlyn" I responded as I watched her lay down and start to drift off to sleep. I decided to do the same and turned over to go to sleep.

'Yea maybe she can be spared when I start to feed on humans again' I thought as I drifted off to sleep.

Author's Note: Only this chapter, unless otherwise specified, will be in Pouf's POV. All the rest will be in 3rd person POV for the most part.