This story chapter was edited by Sakumira Agashi.

Ezlo-A Minish sage/mage. He works in the Minish Village in this story. He took Vaati in as his apprentice.

Vaati—Ezlo's apprentice, a villain.

Elder Gentari—leader of the Minish Village in Minish Woods.

Festari—priest of the Minish Village in Minish Woods.

Belari—bomb maker of the Minish Village in Minish Woods.

Minish Woods—a place where some of the Minish live.

The Minish Village—A place in Minish Woods.

The Minish and the Kokiri, they are the two tribes which are very small, but they are small in different ways.

The Minish, as small as a human thumb, are known for giving plenty of gifts to the good people of the world, but they are only seen by children.

The Kokiri are known for being both cursed and blessed with staying in children forms, so they are able to see the Minish. The Kokiri are not known for giving gifts, but in special occassions, they will give gifts, too.

The times they share and the gifts they give will set them on the path to friendship, which is one of the most precious gifts of all time...

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In Minish Woods, there was a small village with peculiar yet unique style of architecture—they lived in houses shaped like mushrooms, pots, boots, and barrel. Deep in the village lied a mushroom house with steps leading up to it, a crystal house and another house by the riverside, its water always clear and sparkling under the sunshine.

Just outside the village lived a normal-looking Minish that was anything but normal. Like a gush of wind, he ran as fast as his tiny legs could carry him to the village, his white tail feather with the red at its tip held high would be seen, but was hidden under his clothes. His leafed attire with his red hat made a whooshing sound as he dashed through his surroundings, his four-toed feet hitting the ground hard. He possessed a pair of big ears that allowed him to hear better and two small, beady eyes that gave him better eyesight. Green bracelets could be seen on him and were also part of the fashion of the day.

However, what made him truely different and distinguished him from other Minish was under his cap.

The said Minish ran past the mushroom house with steps leading up to it and finally made it inside the village.

"Wohohohoh!" yelled the house's owner. "Be careful, Belari!"

"Sorry, Elder Gentari!" the Minish in question replied hastily as he continued to rush forward.

Elder Gentari's trademark small eyes followed Belari's steps until his sight could no longer be seen. Lightly adjusting his brown outfit, Elder Gentari titled his head and sighed to himself, his big hat that touched the floor moving along with his his movement. As he tightened his grip around his staff, which consisted of a needle and a staff, and his tail stayed still underneath his clothes, he looked into the distance, talking to himself.

"I've got to keep that door sealed away."

Belari kept on running until he arrived at an ordinary-looking mushroom house. He walked up to the door and knocked, but upon receiving no response, he continued to knocm until a voice from inside was heard.

"Alright! Alright already! I'm coming, I'm coming!"

When Belari heard a clicking sound from the door, he stepped in and smiled brightly.

"Ezlari!"

In contrary to Belari's cheerfulness, the owner of the house was not amused.

"You come to my house early in the morning, call md by my so-called 'title', then—Are you laughing at me?"

"I'm s-sorry, Ezlo! It's just that—"

"Yes, I know I'm wearing green pajamas with blue bunnies on it, plus I left my staff that looks like a bird's head upstairs. Oh, and my tail is hidden as per usual. But I find it too rude to get dressed and then greet my guest afterwards."

Belari titled his head and gave Ezlo a confused look. "Really?"

"NO! I just don't care," Ezlo groaned. "Just—Stop yelling. You'll wake my apprentice up."

But it was already too late. Ezlo's apprentice, Vaati, could already be seen hiding in the doorway just outside his room.

"You won't catch me in my blue robe with the green chameleons," he whispered to himself, giggling quietly as he did so. It was true in a way. Vaati, even in Minish form, had light purple hair, beady red eyes and was usually in dark purple robes which coverved hs tail. Unill this day, no one knew why Vaati looked so different from the other Minish.

All the while Vaati was trying to hide, Belari found himself lost in thought as he looked around the room he was in.

There was a kitchen table that could offer enough space for six Minish all together, and while he could barely see the back room, but there was obviously a table with beakers and potions there. A library was right next to it and there was a winding staircase which lead to two different rooms on the upper floor. Belari assumed that they were the bedrooms.

"No matter how many times I come here, it always amazes me how it's always so much bigger on the inside."

"Yes, yes, it's magical." Ezlo waved his hand in the air and said in a tired tone. "Now—"

Hey, hey! I want to show you something first!" Belari cut the already annoyed Ezlo off, and before the latter could say anything, Belari took off his hat to show him what he was talking about.

"Look! Look!" He squealed excitedly as he pointed to his head. "My hair is blue! I dyed it just like Vaati!"

Ezlo gave his new hair a long, hard stare, crossing his arms as he did so.

"Yes, yes, that's nice, now could you tell me why you've come here?" Ezlo finished his sentence, ignoring the enthusiam on Belari's face.

Hearing Ezlo's question, Belari gulped, calming himself down before stating his request with slight desperation.

"I've come to ask you to take me on as your student. Again."

Vaati snickered from upstairs. Not just anyone can be Ezlo's apprentice, he thought to himself.

"Belari, I've already told you time and time again." Judging by his voice, Ezlo seemed irritated. "I've never taken more than one student at once. And besides, you're a bomb maker, not a mage."

"Oh please, Ezlo!" Belari refused to give up. "I promise I won't be a bother. And look!"

Belari proceeded to reach into one of his sleeves and took out a small, round, blue object. "It's a water bomb!"

Ezlo'a eyes widened. "A... water bomb?"

"Yup!" Belari proudly said. "I know everyone in Hyrule is against killing and violence, so I made one out of water!"

Ezlo squinted at the Minnish in front of him in disbelief. "Belari, don't you mean a water ballon?"

"With magic!" Belari declared with the pride that didn't seem to fade away even after Ezlo corrected him.

Ezlo raised an eyebrow. "Magic?"

"Yes, yes, magic! Wanna see?" Belari offered in delight, which seemed to make Ezlo panic greatly for some unknown reasons.

"NO! I mean, no." Ezlo cleared his throat in an attempt to remain calm and professional. "That would be quite alright. Could you explain to me how it's magic."

"Instead of just popping inwards, it splatters in all directions!"

"Still, doesn't that sound like a water—"

Ezlo let out yet another sigh as he started to pace back and forth near a window in his house, a thoughtful expression on his face. Belari was standing there still the whole time, keeping his eyes on the one he was anticipating a definite answer from. What was on his mind, he didn't know, but after a few painfully nerve-wracking moments, Ezlo finally stopped and looked Belari in the eye.

"Alright, I will teach you."

Belari cupped his hand together and smiled, on the verge of jumping through the roof in pure bliss while Vaati gritted his teeth.

"But"—Ezlo said before Belari could—"only to make magical objects. Not anything else."

Belari hopped up and down. He didn't care what he would learn. All he knew was that he was, at last, accepted as Ezlo's apprentice. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I won't let you down! I'm going home to prepare right now!"

"W-Wait, I didn't say what it was, or when to come back! Besides, aren't you hungry? I've got celery, Minish nut butter, and raisins, all Big-People-Sized!"

Too late. Belari had already left.

"Ah, kids these days. Actually, I'm the one who's probably getting old. Didn't even get a chance to offer him a seat," Ezlo mumbled as he got dressed, stretching and letting out a yawn beforehand. "Better prepare for Belari's next visit. Whenever that is. I was about to give him ants-on-a-log, too. Those are the ingredients to make it."

As Ezlo continued to talk to himself, Vaati quickly slinked back into his room where he wouldn't be seen.

In no time at all, Ezlo had gotten himself in a green robe, his white beard touching the floor and his hair put into a neat bun. A tail couldn't be seen underneath his robe and his small beady eyes now had a calm, relaxed look in them. Deciding to leave his staff there since he didn't need it at the moment, he started his daily routine, which began with making breakfast, not noticing Vaati coming out of his hiding place.

Meanwhile, the now ecstatic Belari was on his way home and ran past another Minish, who noticed Belari only slightly when he dashed past him and made his priestly robes and hat flew along. Although he did question what made Belari was in such a rush, he was too busy to think about it at the moment. Therefore, he decided to continued going on his way, reaching up his hand to fix his glasses as he kept on going forward, his tail under his clothes..

When he had arrived at Ezlo's place, he knocked on the door.

"Ezlari?" the man asked, and soon enough, the owner of the house was at the front entrance.

"Oh. It's you, Festari," Ezlo said in a surprised voice before getting annoyed. "Would you kindly stop calling me that?"

"But an Ari title is so unique! Everyone wants one!"

Ezlo groaned into his hand. "Well, I don't! You can keep it! Now, I assume you came here for a reason?"

'"Oh, yes! May I come in?"

"You may." Ezlo stepped aside to let Festari in before closing the door behind them and gesturing his hand to the table. "Take a seat."

"Now, what made you come here so early in the morning?" Ezlo asked after they had both sat down. "And would you like something to eat?"

"Uh, no, not yet." Festari shook his head.

"I'd like a book on a certain subject, and I know you have an extensive library."

"What is it?"

Festari was silent for a few seconds before speaking again. "Have you ever heard of the Kokiri?"

Ezlo leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms as he thought. "Yes. The people who are native to Hyrule, specifically in Kokiri Forest. Supposedly, they're trapped as children. Why the sudden interest?"

"It's not really sudden. I've been thinking about this for some time now." Festari's fingers intertwined and his elbows rested on his knees as he spoke, a thoughtful look in his eyes. "Us Minish gives gifts to the Big People, and the Kokiri are small Big People. Stuck as small people, like you said. That and we've never stepped into their forest to deliver them gifts. They've only recently began to venture out, which heard from my visit in Castle Minish."

"So, what are you suggesting?" Ezlo raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

"I suggest we venture into their forest and give them something nice. We're sure to make good friends!" Festari exclaimed happily, but the same enthusiasm he had could not be found on Ezlo's face.

"You're forgetting the worlds between the Big People and the Minish are closed for the next hundred years or so," Ezlo pointed out with a rather sad look on in his eyes.

"Oh, I should've remembered that. I get too excited..." Festari's excitement faded away, his eyes lowering before they looked up at Ezlo again. "Still, we should try to do something nice for them. Leave some rupees here, a heart there or so."

Ezlo was disappointed. "You should know by now that Elder Gentari would never go for it, even if he is your best friend."

"I could still ask." Festari insisted and Ezlo nodded.

"Speaking of asking things, have you asked the Elder if it's safe for me to teach Vaati, again?"

"I have, but he's not budging." Festari slowly shook his head. "He said having him in the village is one thing, having him study magic is another."

As they kept on talking, they did not notice the presence of another person nearby. There Vaati was, hiding behind the wall and listening to every words they had exchanged, and those last words hit him in a rather strange way. Clenching his hands, he quietly left, not making any noise that would indicate his presence as the other two continued with their conversation.

"I thought he'd say that. That's why, I'm going to bake him magic cookies!"

Festari raised an eyebrow at Ezlo, or rather at what he just said. "That didn't work the last time."

"That's why they'll be magic cookies!" A determined look could be found in Ezlo's eyes. "That'll make them tastier!"

Festari chuckled before remembering why he came here in the first place. "Say, could I borrow that book now?"

"Oh, of course."

Nodding, Festari proceeded to look through the bookshelves until he found a book with a child on it, who looked a lot like Link. The Kokiri, Festari read the title in his head before noticing another book behind it

"Huh." Festari said out loud as he took it off the shelve. "The Fortune's Cap."

Ezlo stood up so fast, his chair fell over.

"What did you just say?" Ezlo said in worries and rising rage.

"Um, The Fortune's Cap?" Festari repeated, this time more slowly and uncertainly.h

"Hold on," Ezlo uttered in an impatient manner before approaching Festari and snatched the book out of his hands. Seemingly aware of his temper and how startled the other looked, he sighed as he calmed down, speaking in a softer voice. "I must apologize. You see, this book isn't meant to be read, so I hid it."

"Why can't people read it?" Festari asked as he watched Ezlo putting it back to its original place.

"It's not like I want it to remain a secret." Ezlo explained in a slightly annoyed way. "Elder Gentari banned me and others from looking at it. Especially Vaati."

Festari was even more confused now. "But... why?"

"You know why! Vaati being banned and all, only making objects, never actually using them." Ezlo's tone was quite irritated, almost frustrated. "But you know, I trust you, Festari, and Elder Gentari's your best friend. I'm sure he won't mind if you know. Sit down and I'll tell you a bit about it."

"And the Kokiri one?"

"You can take that one."

"Thanks." Nodding, Festari sat down and Ezlo followed suit, beginning his explanation after taking in a deep breath.

"Years ago, before I took on any apprentice, I was honing my craft. I only made things I couldn't actually use. Then one day, while in the city, I came across a special book at the library. I found oodles of magical items and how to make them. Out of the things made by Minish hands was the Fortune's Cap, per its namesake. And so, I went on a quest to get this cap. I did find it. I modeled the Mage's Cap after it then put it back. The quest reset itself.

"That cap was my magnum opus, woven of all my hopes and ambitions.

The Mage's Cap is similar to the Fortune's Cap, same way of destroying it. When the third wish is made, it will be destroyed."Ezlo looked up at the ceiling as he continued. "Vaati wished to shape-shift so he could be a Hylain, become king. And everything that had happened before Vaati's rise to power, Zelda wished them all to return to normal. No one knew this, but I took the bits and pieces of the Mage's Cap home with me. I ended up destroying the book so no one could take advantage of the more powerful cap. Now, there are two copies of the book leftover in Hyrule Castle Town's library. It tells of the quest to find the Fortune's Cap, but that's it. Their copies are mostly gone, too,"

Festari tapped his chin and began to think. "So, if the book is destroyed, why were you so upset when I was fiddling through your books?"

"To be honest, I'm keeping a piece of one of the three books around in my house." Ezlo held up three fingers then took away one finger when he continued. "The two other books are in Castle Town's library. Elder Librari is upset with me and Elder Gentari for having the books destroyed, but one of the books in the library also has Minish hymns and prayers inside it."

"'Hymns and prayers'?" Festari raised an eyebrow in a curious way.

"These were from ancient Minish." A serious expression could be seen on Ezlo's face.

"But they're still prayers"—Festari pointed a finger to himself as his body slightly moved forward—"and I'm a priest!"

Ezlo crossed his arms and tapped his finger. "Do you think you can continue to talk to Elder Gentari about letting Vaati use magic? If you do, I'll put in a good word for you so you can look at the prayers."

Festari tilted his head. "B-But I thought Elder Librari was mad at you...?"

"It was a while ago, and the two elders are brothers."

Festari fell into silence, thinking to himself for a good few seconds before speaking again. "How about I keep asking Gentari?"

"That would be nice, Festari!" Ezlo beamed, a hopeful gleam in his eyes as he shook Festari's hands rapidly. "I appreciate your help!"

This time, Festari wasn't the one who was enthusiast about this.

"Um... Ezlo? I have a confession." Festari seemed nervous and he sounded like he was guilty about something. "I, uh, stopped talking to Gentari about this a while ago..."

Ezlo stared dead into his eyes before letting out a loud yell.

"WHAT?"

"I-I couldn't help it!" Festari tried to explain while trying not to sound flustered. "The truth is, I, I agree with him. I believe Vaati shouldn't practice magic. At all."

All the joy had faded away from Ezlo and only anger were left, his eyes fierce and burning with rage. "You were lying all this time?"

"I'm, I'm sorry, I—"

"Get out of my house!"

Ezlo backed up on Festari until he opened the door and Festari stumbled out. The mage was fuming as Ezlo slammed the door shut, backing himself to the door and trying his best not to scream at the top of his lungs because of how upset he was. Deciding to calm himself down, he took in deep breaths until his heart was no longer racing.

"I need a stress nap."

He said to himself before going up to his room and being met with a shocking sight.

"V-Vaati?"

Vaati turned himself around but kept his hands behind his back, which piqued the older man's curiosity.

"What have you got there?" Ezlo asked as he tried to look behind Vaati's back.

"N-Nothing!" Vaati replied hastily, failing at making himself look and sound convincing.

"Show me. Now," Ezlo commanded.*

Terrified by Ezlo's stern eyes, Vaati gulped and showed Ezlo what he had with shaking hands. It was Ezlo's bird-look-alike staff, but that wasn't the only thing scaring Ezlo to death.

Vaati was also holding the Mage's Cap.

"Vaati!" Ezlo screamed in panic. "W-What have you done?"

"Umm, I, I repaired the Mage's Cap, u-using your staff," Vaati admitted with a quivering voice.

"B-But why?" Ezlo asked in horror and confusion.

Vaati looked down at the ground, seemingly feeling guilty and afraid of what Ezlo was about to say or do. "I-I overheard you and Festari talking. I made it again so that the Minish can, can, can enter adulthood!"

Ezlo seemes to be hit by something and went silent for a while. "R-Really...?"

"Y-Yes, really," Vaati answered.

Ezlo found himself speechless, but he wasn't angry and no longer fearful. In fact, he was amazed. His apprentice, the little boy standing in front of him, when was the first day he was here with Ezlo? And how long had he been here? Ezlo did not know the answer to both of those questions, but the one thing he knew was that he was impressed by Vaati's progress. When he first came here, he barely knew anything and was extremely awkward. Yet now, not only did he understand Ezlo and Festari's conversation, but he was able to fix the Mage's Cap not for his own sake, but his tribe's.

By the time Ezlo had snapped out of his thoughts, Vaati was still standing there, his body shaking and his finger fidgetting, probably waiting for the punishment he was expecting. Letting out a sigh of relief, Ezlo patted Vaati's head, which seemed to surprise the latter and made him look up with wide eyes.

"I'm overwhelmed with happiness." Ezlo gave Vaati a smile. "I'm proud of what you've learned, what you've done and your utmost determination to help your people. In fact, I'm going over to the elder's house to tell him about you, right now!"

"What—W-Wait!"

Vaati tried to stop him, but he was too slow. The moment he could finally grasp what was happening, Ezlo had already run out of the house, leaving him there alone, amazed and confused.

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"So, is that what's going on?"

"Yes, Elder Gentari. And then—"

A slam of the door startled both Festari and Elder Gentari, interrupting their conversation that had lasted for quite a long while.

"Elder Gentari!" Ezlo exclaimed happily, not caring how he had almost scared the other two to death. "I must speak with you immediately!"

Gentari stared at him for a few seconds, seemingly to get a hang of what was happening. "E-Ezlari—"

"It's Ezlo, Elder." Ezlo cut Gentari off in annoyance.

"R-Right." Gentari cleared his throat before speaking in a serious voice, his eyes narrowing. "Ezlo, you know that you weren't supposed to talk about Vaati and your old gadgets with anyone but me!"

"Festari knows."

"Well, how do you think I know?" Gentari crossed his arms, still keeping his composure.

"You should also know that he was telling me he was talking with you about letting Vaati learn more magic for the past few weeks. Only"—Ezlo sighed exasperatedly and seemingly in dissapointment—"he wasn't."

Every Minish man that was present there stared at Festari.

Festari sighed, thinking that it's better to be honest. "He's right. He asked me a long time ago, but I never listened."

Gentari turned over him with a gentle uet stern eyes. "Thank you for being honest, Festari, but you should've told me he was harassing you so I could help."

"H-Hey!" Ezlo exclaimed. "Don't take his side just because you're buddies!"

Elder Gentari glared at him, then turned his attention back to Festari.

"I'm okay," the priest said.

"Good," Gentari replied before turning back to the one in green. "Ezlo—"

"Elder Gentari, you don't have to worry about Vaati anymore. He's proven himself to change."

"What are you talking about?" Gentari raised his eyebrow and asked in a worries-stricken voice.

"Vaati overheard Festari and I talking. Then he went to my room, took out the remnants of the Mage's Cap and made a new cap out of it. He said he wanted to use it to allow the Kokiri to enter adulthood." Judging from Ezlo's tone, he was clearly proud of his apprentice.

"The Who?" the Elder asked in confusion.

"Umm..." Festari held up his hand slowly. "That was my idea."

Gentari turned to Festari with wide eyes. "And they overheard you?"

"Yes, Elder." Ezlo answered.

"And that's a race of children, right?"

"Yes."

"Ah, just as I thought." Gentari leaned back to his chair. "You're really into studying the Big People so it doesn't surprise me. However, I can't allow any of my own people going so far for so, well, little. Maybe the Town Minish can help."

"Oh..." Festari lower his eyes in disappointment.

Gentari quietly looked at Festari, thinking about something before he called for the other's name. "Ezlo."

"Y-Yes?"

"If you or your apprentice ever use magic in the incorrect manner again, I'll have you out of town!"

Ezlo tried his best not to argue back and nodded, but he couldn't help scoffing. He was about to leave when Gentari said something more.

"And no matter how many cookies, magic or anything you may offer, nothing will ever change my mind!"

Then Ezlo stormed out for real.

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And it didn't help that he caught Vaati sitting on the top of the roof when he had reached home.

"Vaati, I know you were told you can use magic one day, not literally one day! Now get down from there!"

Ezlo could only hear rising laughter, and for some reason, something didn't feel right to him. That evil laugh, that manic light in his eyes... was that even Vaati he was seeing?

All at once, the apprentice's mage rose into the air. An orb flew past between his fingers and he aimed it at Ezlo.

Fortunately, Ezlo was able to dodge an didn't get hurt, but an indent was left on the ground at where he fell. And before he could do anything about it, the orbs started hitting the other Minish. Confused, flustered and enraged, Ezlo cried out.

"Vaati! How, how could you?"

"I'm taking over Minish Village!" Vaati laughed even more loudly. "Then the Human world!"

"You can't"—Ezlo dodged another orb—"the Doorway to the Human World is closed!"

"Oh?" Vaati glared at him before giving him a spine-chilling grin. "I don't care. I will wish it open!"

Driven by panic but also rage, Ezlo rose up in the air, emitting rings of flame in an orb around himself. He grabbed each and every Minish, including Elder Gentari with his whirlwinds, and placed them gently in the barrel house. He was relief that he had gotten everyone to safety, but the good moment didn't last long, because he saw Belari running in the opposite direction.

"You may be older and more experienced. "But don't think you're better than me. You have yet to know everything!"

Ezlo grabbed Belari by the sleeve and together they hid behind a mushroom house.

"I'm going to gather the rest of the village from the barrel house and across the pond behind Festari's house. Then I'll get you and the other Aris to the front of the village. Now I need some of you to go to Hyrule Castle Town and some other go to Kokiri Forest. Festari can fill you in.

"But how can you-"

Belair was cut off as Ezlo wrapped him in a whirlwind. All around him, from the barrel house were Minish, including the two other Aris. Ezlo carried them to the the water and put all the Aris at the village entrance. Finally, Ezlo flew himself to the water with the rest of the village.

Looking around to look for the Arise and the villagers, Vaati let out a small tch when he discovered that they had already escaped.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Festari and the rest arrived at the entrance.

"I see all the village leaders have arrived. Except for Expo. What do we do now?" Festari lamented.

Belari wasted but no time before speaking up.

"Ezlo and the rest of the town are past the pond and safe. He mentioned you knew what to do, Festari," he said. "Something involving Hyrule Castle Town and Kokiri Forest".

Festari's eyes grew wide.

"As everyone knows," he began, "adults of the Big People can't see us. Only children can. But there are children trapped to be young. They come from Kokiri Forest. And Link resides in Castle Town. He must want us to bring the children of the forest there and us-as translators!"

"Then we must head to those places at once!" Gentari declared as he raised his staff aloft.

"I'll go to the forest and you go to the castle, Gentari! After all, your brother is there," Festari already decided.

"Where will you go?" Gentari asked Belari.

Belari didn't answer him. Instead, he glued his eyes to the ground, thinking very hard about this.

"I'm going back to the village!" he said.

"Belari, are you—Are you insane?" Festari asked in disbelief. "It's not safe! You'll be in danger!"

"Our people need our help! I want to make sure they're okay!"

Festari opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to protest, but quickly cut himself off before any word could go past his lips. He started to look at Belari in silence with a thoughtful expression on his face. He did not know what was stopping him from disagreeing with Belari. Perhaps it was because he was right. Or perhaps it was because of the determined, unmoving gaze of his. Festari couldn't decide which one it was, but he soon found himself nodding.

"If so, then I won't stop you." Festari bid. "I wish you the best of luck, Belari. I trust you with the fate of our people."

"You can count on me." Belari nodded, a rarher down look on his face. "Good luck to you to, Festari, Gentari! Please stay safe. May we meet again."

"Goodbye, Festari, Belari!" Gentari bid.

"Goodbye, Belari, Gentari!" Festari bid.

With that, the three Minish went their separate ways.