"What!!! Says who?!" Link almost shouted to ask the Mecum but he remembered his mother was just next door, she might hear him and get worried about why he was talking so loudly.
"Koyeus!" The Mecum answered out of fear.
Link thought hard, he knew who Koyeus was, it's the magical creature that resembles an owl in Reverie who bears all the knowledge in Juno.
"Koyeus sent you here to ask for my help?" Confirmed Link to the Mecum.
"Yes…I don't know what to do anymore. There are a lot of things happening at the same time, King Gaborei was captured by Zurg's army and now they got the hold on the Garrison's operation too!" The Mecum said to Link in just one breath.
Link was still perplexed on what's unfolding in front of him. The Mecum keeps on mentioning words that he is familiar with but was having a great amount of time absorbing the reality of all of it, he is still in disbelief.
"So, what are your plans, how do we go about this?" Link does not have any idea on where to start, instead he wanted to get the Mecum's insight on their next steps.
The Mecum just stared at him blankly upon hearing Link's question, when suddenly the Mecum's stomach let out a loud rumbling sound.
Both of them were startled. Link stared at the Mecum's eyes then to its stomach. The Mecum sheepishly touched its stomach, thinking of the last time it ate something. Both of their eyes met again then at the same time burst out a loud laugh. It was a nice ice breaker from the gravity of the situation.
"You stay here, I would take a look at the kitchen to fetch something for you to eat." Link hurriedly went downstairs to the kitchen to look for something that the Mecum could eat.
As Link was rummaging through the kitchen pantry, he thought to himself, "what does the Mecum eat?" While he's looking at the boxes of cookies, cereals, and chips he placed across the kitchen table. He thought it's not enough, so he went to the fridge and opened it, zoomed in on the leftover food and fruits, got it out and set it on the table. He thought of getting all the food he could get up to his bedroom until he heard a loud munching that made him stop his tracks.
The Mecum was already seated at the kitchen table, nibbling at the cereals and chips in large portions. Link could see how hungry this Mecum was, gobbling a lot of food at the same time. He got a glass of water and offered it to the Mecum. He felt at any moment now that the Mecum will choke at the rate that it is chewing its food.
Link slowly sat beside the Mecum at the kitchen table, watching intently as it satisfied its hunger. He noticed how comical it was watching the way this Mecum eats.
"You may want to take it slow, here have some water." Link offered a glass of water to the Mecum.
The Mecum gulped the entire glass in just seconds and let out a long sigh of relief followed by a thundering burp, it hurriedly covered its mouth in disbelief. Link and the Mecum looked at each other and at the same time laughed out loud.
After their trip to the kitchen, Link cleaned up all the mess they made and went upstairs to his bedroom. He does not want his mother to wake up seeing the mess they had made and question him about it.
It's already close to midnight and Link was very tired and ready to end his day. He's keeping a close eye to the Mecum in which to his own understanding is doing some kind of a ritual in preparation to sleep. The Mecum's hands were pointed downwards and it seemed its hands were emanating a white light, then a green smoke appeared from its feet slowly moving upwards covering the Mecum's whole body.
Link was left totally bizarre while watching this phenomenon, until now he cannot believe what it is that he is witnessing.
When the smoke disappeared, an egg-shaped pod covered in metal appeared before Link's eyes. It seemed pretty heavy but it floated in the air. He turned his night light off to go to sleep but when all the lights were gone inside his bedroom the metal egg that encloses the Mecum glowed a yellow light. Link can't help but stare at the glowing metal egg hovering in his bedroom, it's as if he had an instant night light until his eyes get tired and he falls asleep.
Link woke up at the eerie sounds that he was hearing. He got chills as the cold damp wind blew at his face. When he opened his eyes, he found himself sleeping under a large gnarled tree. He inspected the twisted roots that served as his shelter when he slept under it. He got up and climbed out of the roots, but he was unable to reach the top, something was preventing him from climbing out. His cloak was stuck under the roots, he reached out to free himself and noticed that his hands were wearing a gold gauntlet. He was discombobulated and amazed at the same time as he saw his whole body wearing this golden armor. He stood straight and pulled himself out of there.
While standing under this enormous tree, he surveyed the surroundings. The canopy of trees created a thick layer that filters and absorbs the light. He cannot tell if it's morning or evening as the overgrown plants block the sunlight from entering the forest. He can't seem to gauge the coverage of this forest.
"How did I get here? Where should I go?" Link said to himself.
He started walking forward not knowing where to go, until he heard a loud scream. He tried to calm himself down but it sounds like the scream is moving towards his location. He scoured his surroundings and his whole body for anything to hold on to as a weapon in case this thing comes face to face with him. He was not successful in obtaining anything until he saw his hands glow. He closed his eyes as the light bursting out of his hands got so bright it hurt his eyes. This time his heart is now beating so fast it feels like it's about to come out of his chest. He felt the light settle down and when he opened his eyes, a gold sword appeared in front of him and the first thing he thought was to grab it.
"Help!!!" The scream is now getting closer to Link now and he's looking in every direction to where it might appear.
Gripping the golden sword tightly, he is now prepared for what might happen next. Out of the bushes, the Mecum came rushing towards him with so much fear in its eyes. The moment the Mecum saw Link, it felt relieved and immediately hid behind him.
"What are you doing?" Link asked.
"Blow that up!" Screamed the Mecum pointing at the creature running towards them.
Link saw a Hirikuri rushing towards them. His eyes widened in disbelief. He now realized that he is actually in the Dark Forest, it is a playing field in the game Reverie where you can level up your characters by defeating different monsters from the weakest to the strongest and by beating these monsters your character can earn gold, weapons, food and other necessary items needed for your journey in the game. Hirikuri is a mid-range level 5 monster, 10 being the highest.
Hurling a battle axe, the very burly Hirikuri charged straight to Link and the Mecum, it got nothing in its mind but to get to the Mecum.
"What did you do to it, why is it after you?" Link asked the Mecum.
The Mecum did not utter a single word. Link prepared for the worst as the Hirikuri is fast approaching them.
The monster stared angrily at the both of them, salivating to crush them with one swish using the battle axe. Link's confidence in defeating this monster in a game is always 100%, but in this situation, he's not really sure.
He positioned himself like the characters he's played in the game, left foot upfront and the right foot at the back for balance. He knows that Hirikuri's are high jumpers that's why he needs to calculate his moves very accurately to win this battle.
They are now face to face with the monster, breathing heavily. The Hirikuri is now analyzing Link and Link is trying to predict the Hirikuri's next move.
"Be careful! One hit with that axe, it will crush us like watermelons!" Warned the Mecum while tightly clutching at his cloak.
Upon hearing that, Link's grip on the golden sword tightened.
Still no movement between Link and the Hirikuri, even the dust under their feet are quiet. Then without any warning the Hirikuri threw its axe at them, it flew in just a split second. Link did not blink and saw the axe disengage from the Hirikuri's hands. He thought for himself if he could instantly dodge the axe and be safe that would be a great move. Then all of a sudden, he found himself at the back of the Hirikuri.
"Kick it! Kick it! Shouted the Mecum still hanging on his cloak.
The Hirikuri let out a blaring roar, it was so upset that he was not able to smash Link. It has no idea that Link can move that fast. The monster stretched out its hands to summon the axe back. Like it has a mind of its own, the axe followed suit.
Link heard what the Mecum told him, repeatedly like an echo. He too was so astonished at what happened, he was just thinking about moving out of the axe's way and it came true. He moved in high-speed.
Link kept on staring at the Hirikuri's back and hearing the Mecum's yelp, he kept on thinking if he had super speed, what else could he do?
In a loud thump, the axe went back to the Hirikuri's hands, its eyes went from orange to rage red, scanning from left to right looking for Link and the Mecum.
Link saw how the Hirikuri's ears pointed upwards when it heard the Mecum. Hissing angrily, it held the axe above its head in preparation to strike.
Before the Hirikuri could turn completely, Link lifted his right foot and let out a high kick. It landed on the Hirikuri's chest and the monster was thrown five trees back.
The Mecum applauded in astonishment at what Link did. Link too was pleased, he cannot believe that he was able to do that.
The Hirikuri was fuming with anger, it did not want to accept defeat. It quickly stood up, dusted itself off and roared as if letting Link and the Mecum know that it will come for them at maximum capacity.
The Hirikuri lifted its axe in one hand, looked straight up in the sky and let out a loud howl. A dark rain cloud appeared above its head with lightning bolts coming out of it.
Link and the Mecum were watching in disbelief.
"Is he leveling up?" Link wondered.
"I think he is, that's an Electro-Hirikuri." The Mecum responded.
The Electro-Hirikuri was struck by a bolt of lightning that came out of the dark rain cloud above its head. The moment the lightning struck its body, its appearance drastically changed. Its nails on both hands and feet grew longer and sharper. Its body became bulkier with muscles so defined that one can draw lines in between. The hair all over its body grew longer and its eyes were glowing white with bolts of electricity coming out of it.
'Hide, I can't do this with you hanging there!' Link instructed the Mecum to let go of his cloak and find somewhere safe to hide.
The Mecum scurried away and hid behind a large tree.
Link kept on thinking on how he would strategize this battle in the game. The Hirikuri possesses elemental powers - that would be electricity and he would need something elemental too to counter off the Hirikuri's energy.
"Think Link! Think!" He's badgering himself to come up with something or he's a goner. He wiped his sweat off his hands to not let the sword slip. He's confident when playing the game but right now it's as if being scared has blocked him from organizing his thoughts.
Link tightened his hold on the sword, he focused all his attention on the Hirikuri who's fuming in anger. He tried to recall what element he could use to suppress lightning.
In a split-second the Hirikuri advanced towards him, Link felt the ground rumble a little with every step the monster made. He has to think fast and move much quicker to succeed.
Half way through Link's position, the Hirikuri jumped, hurling its axe in a circular motion while up in the air. Lightning started to come out from the axe, then the Hirikuri pointed its axe to Link. It let out bolts of lightning showering down at Link.
The Mecum came out of its hiding and ran while dodging the bolts of lightning raining down on them.
Link somersaulted backwards trying to evade the lightning bolts. He was surprised with the sudden maneuver of movements that he thought was impossible for him to do. Then it came to his senses that everything he focuses on and wants to accomplish, he can do it in this world.
He tried to test if his theory was true, he secured his sword and ran towards the Hirikuri. He thought of knocking off the Hirikuri up in the air by conjuring the wind.
Link stopped underneath the Hirikuri floating in the air and swung his sword towards the monster. A whip of strong wind hit the Hirikuri, throwing it out of balance and slamming it against a tree.
Link saw how the Hirikuri went down, smacking its head hard on the ground. He proved his speculation was correct, he can do anything in this world as long as he focuses on it just like in the game.
The Hirikuri stood up, angrier without dusting itself off. Locking its eyes to Link, roared with all its might as if letting Link know that he had enough and will not succumb to defeat.
Link smirked, conveying to the Hirikuri that he would not falter that easily.
The Hirikuri raised the axe again, charging it with lightning and Link already knew this. He immediately pressed his sword against the ground, then suddenly it started moving, resembling an earthquake but only on the ground where the Hirikuri was standing.
The big monster halted, its axe stopped charging electricity, then all of a sudden the Hirikuri found itself in the middle of two large boulders that Link conjured. Before the Hirikuri could move away the two large rocks sandwiched the monster, smashing it hard.
Everything went silent, Link was panting in exhaustion. The two large boulders had been joined together, motionless.
Link stood up and felt at ease, now it's finally over, he said to himself. He immediately looked around to see if the Mecum was safe.
"You can come out now, " Link called.
The Mecum hurriedly came out of hiding and went to Link.
"That was awesome!" Exclaimed the Mecum.
"Now all we have to do is get out of here. How did we ever get here in the first place?" Link wondered.
"I know my way here, just follow me." Said the Mecum confidently.
The Mecum went on its way, Link followed.
As they're making their way passed the boulders, Link could not help himself but to be amazed at the sight of the two large rocks. He was able to do that, calling forth these rocks, he thought to himself.
"I can't wait for you to meet King Gaborei and of course eat! There's always a feast in the castle whenever we have visitors!" The Mecum said jovially.
Link smiled as he was eager to meet King Gaborei, have a much needed break from the energy-draining battle he had and yes fill his stomach with great food.
Whistling while they walked the path to the castle, the Mecum felt peaceful when all of a sudden a loud bang reverberated through the whole forest.
Link felt the Hirikuri's enormous hands wrapped around his head. He swung his sword to stab the Hirikuri's arms but was prevented by its arm armor.
The Mecum took shelter at the back of the tree, scared and shocked on how to help Link break free from the Hirikuri's grasp.
The Hirikuri let out a thunderous roar, Link could not think of any escape tactic as the loud noise was piercing through his ears. His body went into a shock and was unable to move.
Then in an instant a high voltage electricity flowed from the Hirikuri's arm down to Link's body. He was electrified, doubled by the conducting effects of his golden armor. His eyes turned white with the amount of electric pressure his body was receiving. Then a fire broke out from Link's feet until it quickly escalated towards his whole body.
The Mecum was devastated as he saw Link hanging by the Hirikuri's clutches being devoured by the flame alive.