"Follow the fireflies"
That's the advice that was given to him by his dead uncle. It could be seen as a really bad version of last words. It could have just been the ramblings of a madman. No one could say for sure now. All they could do was try to protect Chuck.
Chuck always carried a small bag pack with food and necessary items whenever he went out. It was a crucial survival tactic that he had learnt about in books.
That day when he had decided to follow the Samurai into the forest, Chuck had hurriedly packed up his bag. But before leaving, he saw the "Book of Fireflies" on the table. The last two weeks, Chuck had been in front of the fireplace, just reading the booking again and again and again. He continuously read it, but still couldn't comprehend the language in it. Truth be told, be only did it because he missed his uncle. He wanted to translate the words in the book, but couldn't. There were still a few words that he understood, thanks to Uncle Matthew's years' worth of studies.
So when the time came for him to run behind the Samurai, he wasn't sure if he would survive. So he had brought the book with him, hoping he could last long enough to actually get to a place where he could translate it. Chuck wanted to spend his last moments with his uncle's prized possession. But he didn't know at that time, that it was the one which would save him.
The book in his bag pack started glowing a yellow gold colour. Chuck removed his bag and picked it up. He was shocked to see the letters in the book glowing...light emitting from the strange ink that wrote the words. The letters suddenly came to life, tearing its' connection with the book as it leapt out of the pages. Then these letters took the shape of fireflies. Lin and Chuck were both shocked. The Magical Book was real..!!!
Chuck was always a non believer. There was no proof that magic existed. It was only after he saw literal flying Cyclops monsters, met the others, that he realised, that the world was far more supernatural than he had thought. Even then, he didn't believe that the book that was there with him for his entire life was a magical book.
The fireflies began encircling Chuck and kept flickering their lights, almost as if humming in harmony. And for a moment it felt like they were communicating with Chuck himself.
Chuck: Are you guys....helping me..??
They kept flickering in the air, without an answer. For some reason Chuck had thought they would talk. This was one of the 151 magical books in the world.
Chuck: ....follow the fireflies huh..??
Chuck whispered slowly under his breath thinking about what it meant. He should be able to find the key maybe.
Chufk: Can you guys...help me find the key...?? To deactivate the bomb??
For two seconds the fireflies kept circling him, and then they immediately strted flying towards a different direction to the left of the place where he stood. Not all of them left his side, but most sort of created a line, lighting up the walls, as if they were leading him to the place. He saw the book, and saw words that he recognized as "finding" "way" and "follow". Maybe this book's purpose is locating stuff and leading the way. Chuck was still unsure on how he activated the book after this long, but he decided to use the chance.
Chuck: Lin!! I'm gonna get the key...can you handle him??
Lin smiled and looked confident.
Lin: This guy is no problem. You go get the key!!
Chuck nodded and started running, with the fireflies leading the way. Savanta grew angry and started running towards the kid, but Lin jumped ahead of him, just like before and smiled. He cut Savanta's arm and he groaned.
Lin: Where do you think you are going pal...I can't let you ignore me like that!!
Savanta: Okayyy fain!! I'll kyill yuu first!!
Meanwhile Chuck kept running, following the fireflies. He was scared that he would be stopped by some other enemy. He could hear the screams from Savanta, who was rage-filled. Snd down below he could hear two swords clashing, probably the Samurai and Dreacon. He didn't hear anything about Maximus though, which made him think of Max was also pursuing the key.
Ahead of him Chuck saw another Cyclops coming right at him. Chuck slowed down a bit, scared and unaware on what to do. But as the Cyclops came near, Chuck understood that it can avoid slight amounts of light but not entirely, so he just thought of the fireflies surrounding him, and as if they recieved the command telepathically, the fireflies made an armour out of light around him, destroying the Cyclops by going through him. After that they immediately dispersed and showed the way again. Chuck smiled. His uncle technically still helped him, even after he was dead.
The fireflies stopped in a room and kept flying everywhere. Chuck understood that the key was somewhere in this room. It was a rather dark room, with a huge table in between, a half lit candle on the desk, and a huge throne-like chair. This was most definitely the hedgehog man's room. He wondered why the fireflies didn't just point at the key, and thought about what the limitations could be with the magic fireflies.
So Chuck got to work and started checking every nook and cranny of the room. He found a special drawer, which was really suspicious. He opened it and found a key, which looked similar to the one Dreacon was holding. It could be the deactivation key, but Chuck didn't know for sure. Should he continue searching just in case?? Then Chuck realised that he does in fact know a way of checking.
He threw the key out of the room and fell on the corridor. The fireflies were still hovering everywhere in the room. Since they couldn't just point at the key, he realised that they can just show the region of a specific item. Since he had thrown the key out, he can now ask one more time.
Chuck: Can you please, show me where the deactivation key to the bomb is..??
As Chuck shouted a command, every single firefly in the room exited and started flying outside on the corridor, where the key he threw away was.
Now it was CONFIRMED. That was the key he was searching for. He ran towards the key and took it from the ground. All he had to do was run back and pass the key to someone strong like Max, Lin or Albert the Samurai. Chuck breathed in once, and then started running again in the same direction that he came from. Chuck was pretty good at directions, so he wasn't lost. He knew every single turn. He met two more Cyclops in front of him, but his fireflies protected him. As he came to the area he left Lin and Savanta, he was shocked.
The fighting duo were nowhere to be found, and what was left was a huge gaping hole in the ground. They were fighting almost two floors down.
Chuck started running again, that he couldn't waste any more time. He would just let everybody die. He had to save all of them, and he trusted Kin to win his battle.
As Chuck ran, he came to an empty hall that he hadn't visited yet. He hadn't seen these surroundings a lot because he was scared and running blindly from Savanta a while back. Chuck tried to find a way out. Just as he was about to hse the fireflies, he beard a sound from the opposite side of the hall.
A dangerous amount of zombies rushed in. This was the first time that Chuck bad seen them in person, the actual first being in the form of memories from Savanta's unnamed Blessing.
Chuck was terrified because he didn't know if the firefkies he had would work against them. But he still bad to find a way. They started running towards him, so he issued a new command to his horde of fireflies.
Chuck: Find me a way to Max where I won't be stopped by enemies!!
As soon as he shouted the fireflies flew in the opposite direction, away from the dead beings. Chuck started running, following the trail left behind the fireflies. Chuck seemed himself lucky as he found a small hole, before the dead ones saw him.
The fireflies didn't show him the way there, but he was tired and couldn't run anymore. So he hid on the hole until the zombies ran away. He just sat there silently and since the dead didn't have a brain, they didn't even try to follow the fireflies. As all the dead ones were gone, Chuck came out.
He huffed and puffed for holding his breath for so long and then turned to the direction that he had come from. And in front of him were all the villagers that died. They just stood there and watched him.
Chuck was taken aback and he actually fell down. He was supposed to collapse but seeing his uncle in the forefront made him snap back.
Chuck: Uncle...Matthew??
Matthew: You.....can see us now??!