At the count of three, the boys turned to face where the sound came from. Link was surprised then slowly lowered the broomstick. While Alex kept his eyes closed and threw the bottle in his hands to whoever was in front of them.
"Watch out!" The Mecum screamed as it avoided the bottle being thrown.
"That was not a dream, you are real." Link said, astonished.
"Of course I am!" The Mecum chuckled.
Alex opened his eyes and saw the Mecum floating in mid air.
"Whoa! Wha..what is that?!" Alex was baffled.
"Calm down, Alex. It's just a Mecum." Link pacified Alex.
"A Mecum, but how is that possible?" Alex knew what a Mecum was, he's just confused he's seeing one right now.
The moment was interrupted when Link's phone rang.
"Wait, my mom's calling." Link stepped aside and picked up his ringing phone.
"Hey mom!" Link answered.
"Hi love, I have an emergency at work that I have to attend to. Don't wait for me, I'll be home late." His mom said.
Since Alex was alone, Link thought he'd be spending the night at Alex's house instead.
"Oh mom, can I spend the night at Alex's? He's alone too, his father's away on a business trip." Link seeked his mom's permission.
"That would be great! You two can look out for each other!" His mom felt safe knowing that.
"Thanks mom! Take care and see you tomorrow!" Link's happy that his mom agreed.
"Don't stay up too late, there's school tomorrow and lock the doors. Be safe, I love you! Bye!" Then his mom hung up.
Link went back in the room and found Alex and the Mecum having a good laugh while eating all the snacks the Mecum stole in the store.
"You two better clean that up, let's go Alex. My mom said I can stay in your place since you're alone." Link told Alex.
"Whoa! That's awesome, we can play all night!." Alex ecstatically said.
Link just smiled.
After locking the doors and turning off the lights in the store. The two boys and the Mecum went on their way to Alex's house.
"Where's the Mecum?" Link asked.
Alex peeked at the window of the store to see if they left the Mecum inside, then proceeded to check around.
"Where did that go?" Alex looked puzzled. "He was just here a while ago."
"You can call me Peabo, that's my name." Out of thin air, Peabo appeared between the two boys.
"Whoa!!" The boys exclaimed in unison.
"That was amazing!" Alex blurted.
A car happened to pass them by, it stopped half-way to the street then started backing up. It settled in front of the boys. The driver then opened the car's window.
"You boys okay?" Asked the driver.
"Yes sir, we're okay." Link responded.
The driver noticed the Mecum floating in the air.
"What is that?" The driver said, pointing at Peabo.
Alex nervously stared at Link as if telling him how they can explain who Peabo was to this stranger?
"It's my new toy, sir." Link immediately grabbed Peabo.
"Is it flying? Does it run on battery?" Asked the driver curiously.
"Yes sir." Link answered rapidly. He's trying to think fast.
He opened his backpack, cautiously hid Peabo in it and got his cellphone charger out.
"It comes with a charger sir." Link then showed the charger to the driver.
"Can you tell me where you got that? I want to buy one for my son." The driver continued.
"You can buy it from the mall sir, but I think you have to wait for six months for the delivery of new stocks. There's a high demand for these toys." Alex said proudly.
"Okay boys, thank you!" The driver rolled up his window then drove away.
As the driver left, the boys expelled their nervousness out.
"That was close." Alex said in a sigh of relief.
"In the mall? Wait for six months? What was that?" Link quipped.
"I dunno, we have to tell him something so he'd leave." Alex bantered.
The boys laughed so hard they forgot about Peabo.
"Hey Peabo, how are you doing there?" Alex whispered.
Peabo popped in front of them frowning.
The boys were stunned, they're still not used to seeing Peabo like this. Link checked their surroundings if somebody noticed what Peabo did. He's thankful there was none.
"I don't think I can get used to this, Peabo?" Link said.
"I think it'd be safe if you go invisible again." Alex continued.
"Ok ok!" Peabo irritatingly said.
The three of them walked to Alex's house uneventfully. They were not worried anymore that someone would be interested in Peabo now that the Mecum was invisible.
After about a 15-minute walk, the three of them arrived at Alex's house. Link immediately prepared their dinner. He opened the refrigerator and found a frozen pizza, hotdogs and eggs.
"Hey Alex, what do you want for dinner?" Link shouted.
"I think there's pizza in the fridge, just pop it in the oven. I will be taking a bath first then I'll be down. Give me a sec." Alex replied.
Link did what Alex wanted plus the hotdogs and eggs to which he preferred. Peabo functioned as a sous chef, assisting Link with all the preparation.
Alex instantly went down after he's done bathing. He went to the dining room where Link and Peabo were waiting. He sat next to Link and gave his friend some clean clothes to sleep in.
Upon seeing Alex, Link and Peabo started to eat.
"Aren't you getting full, you just ate a bunch of chips 30 minutes ago and still have the same appetite?" Link said to Peabo, trying to be funny.
Peabo seemed to not hear anything, it just continued chewing.
"Hey Link I wanted to ask you, when Peabo showed up you didn't even flinch, it's as if you've been friends for a long time?" Alex asked.
"I met him last night. He magically appeared while I was playing Reverie." Link replied.
"Oh that makes sense." Alex's eyes widened.
Link remembered what he said to Alex when he came late to the store. They weren't able to have a chat after as there were a lot of customers they needed to attend to. Link immediately went to his backpack and got the magazine out. He opened the page where his father's picture was posted then showed it to Alex.
"That's my father." Link said pointing at the picture.
Alex looked closer. He read the caption under the photo, Reverie inventor, it left him speechless.
"Yes, exactly how I reacted when I read that." Link said upon seeing how amazed Alex was.
"Have you asked your mom regarding this? Did she confirm that this is your dad?" Alex asked excitedly.
"Yeah and a lot more…" Link answered.
"And the plot thickens…" Teased Alex.
"My father worked at Credo, he conceptualized and created a game called Juno. The year that he was able to finalize Juno was the same year I was born, then after that he vanished. My mom tried looking for him but all of my mom's efforts were unsuccessful, she said my father disappeared without leaving a single trace." Link recounted.
"Juno?" Alex curiously said.
"That's where I came from." Peabo stated.
"Yes, my dad invented Juno then Credo acquired it. I don't know how but they were able to release it as Reverie." Link explained.
"But at least the credit is still with your father." Alex said sensibly.
Link proudly nodded.
While Alex read the whole article and Link reached for another slice of pizza, Peabo let out a loud thunderous burp that echoed inside the dining room. The two boys panned their attention to the source of the noise. The Mecum was full and it sure did let the boys know.
Alex volunteered to clean the table. Link went up to the bathroom to have a quick shower. Peabo floated away and followed Link to Alex's bedroom. After cleaning, Alex made sure to lock all the doors, close all the windows and turn off the lights before heading up to his room.
Link was still in the shower when Alex entered his bedroom. He switched the TV on and powered the X-Play. He's always excited when playing with Link, they can go on for hours just playing their favorite game. While waiting for the game to start, Peabo was entertaining himself by hovering at the solar system replica hanging at Alex's bedroom.
"That's planet Earth, it's where we are right now." Alex said smiling when he saw Peabo admiring the display.
Peabo held the Earth model in its hands and examined it carefully.
After bathing, Link settled beside Alex which in turn handed him the other controller. Alex pressed start and the game commenced.
"Of course you'll be using Capt Link." Alex said as if he read Link's mind.
"So I guess I'll be using Magisto then." Alex continued.
Magisto is a support character in Reverie, a magical chemist who not only provides life and power ups to the team but also mixes some powerful potions that can be used as an arsenal against enemies and monsters.
"Let's go to the Dark Forest for a warm up before we get to the bosses." Link suggested.
"Aye aye, captain!" Alex heeded.
In preparation for their adventure, Link went to the Garrison to equip his desired weapons that Capt Link will use, while Alex went to the Forgery to get some ingredients that Magisto could mix for support and for battle.
"Woah! Is that a Phoenix Inferno?" Alex exclaimed upon seeing the weapon that Link equipped for Capt Link.
A Phoenix Inferno is a level 30 gunblade and a rare artifact in the Reverie universe. It was created by using a Phoenix claw and sun core which are hard to find items too. It only uses platinum bullets to effectively defeat enemies which only a high level magical chemist can create.
"Yeah, so be ready to make platinum bullets for me!" Link excitedly said.
"This is going to be exciting!" Alex was so thrilled, he couldn't wait to start the game.
Alex pressed exit and chose Dark Forest as their first destination. As their characters were walking the vast land of the Dark Forest, Link kept thinking what he felt when he dreamt about being there physically.
"Hey Peabo, let me ask you a question when I dreamt about the Dark Forest last night, did you do some magic stuff on me?" Link asked Peabo.
"Noooo, don't blame me. I don't do mind control, that's on you!" Peabo responded.
Link just smiled. He knew that Mecums are non-playable characters in Reverie, they are created solely to guide and narrate the story to newbie players. The only abilities he knew about Mecums are levitation and teleportation but since he experienced it first hand, invisibility does come in handy in some situations.
"Incoming Link, get ready!" Alex alerted Link.
"Electro-Hirikuri, nice!" Link said while eagerly anticipating to have his revenge.
Alex was so efficient in using Magisto, he quickly threw a potion that can manipulate the land as a result the Electro-Hirikuri's feet were stuck in the sand.
Link didn't waste the opportunity to strike. He quickly pressed the correct key combination to hit the Electro-Hirikuri.
"Triple Hit Damage!" These words flashed repeatedly on the TV screen.
The two boys gave each other an exuberant high five for a successful game play. Peabo somersaulted three times to celebrate with them.
Back to the game, the Electro-Hirikuri nudged and freed itself from being caught in the sand as the potion works for only 60 seconds. The boys automatically changed their demeanor upon seeing the game go back on.
"Let's finish this Link, distract him to buy me some time to prepare the platinum bullets." Alex relayed to Link his new plan.
"Got it!" Link confirmed.
Just like in his dream, the Eletro-Hirikuri lifted its axe into the air to charge it with electricity. When lightning struck its axe, the number 10 appeared on top of its head signifying that its life was increased by 10 points.
"Oh no! Hurry up Alex, he's charging!" Link reminded Alex.
Alex did not answer as he was busy mixing the ingredients to create the platinum bullets.
Link kept alternating between slashing and firing at the Electro-Hirikuri, but to no avail. The electricity flowing from its body acted like a shield protecting itself from any damage inflicted by Link's gunblade, the Phoenix Inferno.
The Electro-Hirikuri swung its battle axe charged with electricity towards Link, but he was able to dodge it. The battle axe gyrated backwards and hit him this time at the back causing him to lose 20 life points. Once the battle axe hit his back, bolts of electricity scattered all over his body that led to another 20 more life points being taken away.
Link checked his HP bar or health bar located at the lower left corner of the TV screen, he now has a total of 40 life points versus 80 life points of the Electro-Hirikuri.
"I'm done Link, let me transfer it to you!" Alex called out, letting Link know that the platinum bullets are ready.
As soon as Link saw the notification flashed on the TV screen that Alex was transferring two pieces of platinum bullets to his inventory, he quickly clicked Yes.
When the transfer was done, Alex threw the potion again to manipulate the land beneath the Electro-Hirikuri. This time it was not effective as the monster was covered in electricity, it quickly jumped to avoid the potion.
"Petrify him!" Link demanded.
"Let me heal you first." Alex insisted on adding more life points to Link.
While the boys debated, the Electro-Hirikuri released a bolt of lightning that struck Link, leaving Link with half of his total life points to 20.
Alex was stunned.
"Alex! Petrify him now! Link cried out.
Alex was left with no choice but to follow Link. He immediately threw the potion without knowing if it would hit the Electro-Hirikuri as the monster kept on hopping from one place to another. But the timing was impactful, the potion landed on the Electro-Hirikuri at the exact moment, the monster was stunned mid air.
Link wasted no time, he instantly fired his gunblade against the petrified monster. The platinum bullet pierced through the Electro-Hirikuri, lowering its life points to 40.
"Yes!" Alex threw a triumphant fist in the air as their strategy paid off.
Link wiped the sweat on his forehead, he never thought that would work.
The petrification potion weaned after 60 seconds. Alex thought if another lightning struck Link it would be over. The Electro-Hirikuri was still ahead of them by 20 life points compared to Link. They needed to think of another strategy or they would lose.