He ran around the entire village but was unsuccessful in finding a single human being. Chuck was tired. He had first assumed that somehow everyone in the village had yot together to prank him and teach him a lesson. He had barged into houses of his friends' and still couldn't find them. After thirty minutes of constant searching and panicking, his body finally gave up. Everyone were gone. It was only him, all alone.
The next two days were not as painful as the rest. He cried the entire night of their disappearance. Then when he woke up, his stomach made sounds, indicating he was hungry. Chuck had to man up and find food all by himself. But it was fairly easy as he could just find fruits and vegetables all around him. He could find cooked meat too, in ice. All he needed to do was re-heat it in the pan, which he was trained to at a very young age, especially considering that his uncle was not a good cook.
Chuck survived the first two days easily, still scared to leave the village, hoping that someone would return. He had enough food and water to last a week. The nights were extremely cold and dark. And most of all, it was silent. It was too quiet, and Chuck was scared. Chuck also didn't light any candles, scared that some unknown enemy would find him and end him. It took him a week to finally get it that no one will ever come back.
Chuck was mature enough to eat the food that would rot quickly on the first few days. He then ate the long lasting ones. He also divided up the meal so that it can last a few more days, and controlled his urge to eat as much as he could. The tragedy was that, Chuck wasn't aware that his actions were the one that brought Savanta and Dreacon to the village.
After three more days, Chuck had given up on hiding. He was out all day, playing by himself in the sand. His mind had broken a lot, that he started laughing by himself. He would then sit the next hour crying, and then absolute silence. Everything in that village belonged to him, yet nothing mattered anymore. He was just waiting for the Grim Repear to knock on his door.
Thirteen days after the missing incident, two strangers entered the village. They both looked older than Chuck. They both were amazed to have found an empty city.
???: Wow, there really isn't anything in here....What do you think happened here, Lin??
???: I don't know be quiet, enemies could be lurking by..
The spiky haired guy and the red haired woman looked kind to Chuck, who was watching them from behind a house. They weren't emitting a strong evil "aura" that he felt from Dreacon.
Chuck was naive. He bad finally met humans after a long time and he was prepared to die. He wanted to be punished for leaving the village, a repetitive cycle of self-blame.
He came out with hands in the air, shocking both Lin and Melissa. Lin was always on guard, cautious and asked the right questions. Chuvk answered all his questions honestly. He didn't know how they died. He didn't know how they vanished. After that Lin turned to Melissa for affirmation, and she nodded, which made Lin lower his sword. This was an act that confused Chuck at first. He shared his food with the travelers, after knowing their names. He was running out on food for a while now, but he didn't care anymore. He just hoped that they would take him from there. But instead, they were leaving immediately as they had a "journey of their own goals". Chuck couldn't do anything about it and lied that he would be fine, so he waved at them. As soon as they left, he sat back and sulked about all of it.
He knew and could see that they were kind people, but he just couldn't ask them to take him, as he didn't know where his villagers were. If he could see his uncle once more, then that's everything. Maybe they were out of the village...he just needed to go out.
That night, another man came inside. He had a woven hat on his head, and had a huge sword on his waist. He had a threatening aura, but he didn't attack him. Chuck was hiding from him, but somehow the guy, calling himself a "Samurai" found him. Chuck didn't know how he did that, but he did. The Samurai asked the same questions like the other two, and Chuck answered honestly. But he mentioned that there were two humans who might have done it. The Samurai was angry for a minute.
Samurai: An entire village just erased from existence!!! What tragedy befell them!! The ones who did this shall pay!!
Saying that the Samurai took off, without a word to Chuck. Chuck decided that he would follow him. The Samurai kept mumbling something while going through the forest, but Chuvk was well hidden and maintained his distance this time. Somehow, the Samurai was unable to sense him this time. They walked the entire night, and he slept the morning on a tree, which was a dangerous thing to do. Chuck also slept for a while, until he woke up and realised that the Samurai was gone. It was almost evening, so he frantically ran in a single direction. He eventually came to an opening amongst the trees and found a huge black cylindrical building. He saw the Samurai go inside it. Chuck decided to do the same. As he went in, the ceiling above him broke and he beard screams.
Chuck was afraid he'd be noticed by unwanted people. After a few minutes, he saw Melissa walking with another man on her shoulder. That man looked curious, with a black arm, and a white patch of hair. He bad magical blue eyes, but Chuck helped them with the directions and ran away. He wasn't sure if he could trust anyone as he had seen the Samurai and Lin fighting each other, outside.
Chuck ran away into the forest and kept walking to his village. After a certain period of time, he finally came to the part of the forest which he recognized and he was navigating his way back. He then heard a scream, and that was when he met Maximus Augilleris Steefan again.
****
Lin clenched his palms in pain. Chuck was also holding his temple in pain.
Lin: What ...was that..? Your memories....??
Lin turned towards Chuck, and asked that question, and Chuck widened his eyes.
Chuck: You...saw all that??
Lin: Yeah...it felt so...real...is this also one of the powers of this monster..??
Lin turned towards Savanta, who was also writhing in pain.
Chuck: My question is...why do I have memories of my villagers deaths when I wasn't even there...?? AAAAAGH
Chuck screamed in pain once more. Lin got up and looked at Savanta and he realised.
Lin: Maybe we saw parts of his memories since he was there when your village was destroyed.
Savanta: Yuuu!!! I will kyill yuu!!!
Savanta became angry and used his axe once more. Lin dodged it and he ran towards Savanta. He jumped high in the air and grabbed the sword, stuck in Savanta's head and landed behind him and grabbed the other sword that he had thrown at the Lightblock.
Chuck on the other hand was finally revealed the truth. He was definently the reason his entire village died. His fingers started trembling as his mind broke. It was all his fault. If he hadn't gone out, everyone would be alive. He was just a coward who led the monsters to his house. He deserved to die. He raised his head, eyes full of tears, only to see Savanta about crush his skull with the axe. And Chuck closed his eyes accepting it.
Lin: Look out!!!
Lin jumped in front of him and blocked the attack with his blades and pushed Savanta back, and Chuck opened his eyes. Another memory slid inside his head, but it wasn't his. It was Lin's.
***
A teenage Lin, about thirteen years old was on the ground, crying for help. He was bleeding from his mouth and a ton of dead bodies were around him. And in front of him was a man standing and cutting them all up, as Lin kept screaming in horror.
Lin: Please stop!! I beg you!! Please don't kill them!! Please stop!! It's all my fault, please kill me!! Don't hurt them! Please!! PLEAAASEEEE!!!
The teenage Lin shouted on top of his voice but the blood kept spilling.
****
Chuck: What was ...that??
Chuck was scared of the little glimpse he got about Lin's past.
Lin: It's better to not talk about it kid...but let me tell you this..
Lin turned towards Chuck and smiled.
Lin: It was never your fault. The guilt...it never goes away. It'll eat at you and you will want to die. But do you really think that that's what your village would want you to do..? You saw them right? Even when they knew they were gonna die, they shouted to keep you alive...if you still regret living then I'd say it's a huge disrespect for their bravery...
Chuck was astounded by his words.
Lin: We need to live on!! Both you...and me. All of us...and the only ones that deserve to die are sick monsters like these...
He pointed at Savanta who was angry and in pain again.
Lin: Now remember!!! What did your uncle tell you Chuck?????
For the first time, Lin called him by his name. The book in Chuck's bag started glowing.
Chuck: Follow...the fireflies....