Do What You Must
The village priest Festari reluctantly led the group to the Deepwood Shrine, but he was only willing to go as far as the entrance. That was sufficient enough for Link and the others. They weren't going to force the priest or any of the other Picori to come along.
The heroes stepped inside, but it was too dark to see anything. Link walked forward, but stopped as he heard the sound of water splashing at his feet. Suddenly, there was another noise that sounded like growling.
"What was that?" Joey asked in a scare voice.
"I don't know, but it sounds close," said Emily. She produced a small flame in her hands to illuminate her surroundings and her friends'. Then they all looked and saw that they were surrounded.
"Giant slugs!" Link and Ezlo screamed.
"Run!" Yugi shouted, and everyone hurried further into the shrine.
They came to a path covered with bean sprouts. Yugi and Link began cutting them with their swords, clearing a path. Once they all got through, they came to an arc and stopped to catch their breath. "Is everyone all right?" Yugi asked.
"I'm okay," said Max.
Joey cringed in disgust. "I hate wet and slimy bugs."
"Guys, look," Kaiba said, looking ahead. His friends followed his gaze and saw a symbol on the front wall. It was a circle split with a curved line in the center.
"Is that the Earth Element?" Link asked.
"No, it's an old symbol representing the Picori world," Ezlo clarified.
"Wow, Ezlo, you sure know a lot," Joey complimented.
Ezlo nodded proudly. "If there's anything you kids need to know, just ask me."
Unfortunately, school wasn't going to be in session at the moment. A horde of mushroom monsters appeared and began attacking, releasing poisonous spores. Max and Emily were safe thanks to the powers of the Stars, but the boys weren't. Max began using her wind magic to blow the monsters away while Emily began using Remedy to purify the poison particles her friends ended up breathing in.
"They're coming back!" Max shouted.
Emily saw this and asked, "What do we do?"
Just then, a group of Picori arrived. They went up to the symbol on the front wall of the arc and opened it, revealing a magic item called a Gust Jar. "Use this," a Picori shouted. "It's an item our ancestors made!"
"Turn it towards the mushrooms!" another Picori instructed.
Link obeyed and the Gust Jar began drawing the mushroom monsters inside and destroying them. The poison from the spores had also been cleared and purified.
A light also shined in front of the heroes, revealing a purple crystal. It was the Earth Element. The heroes cheered for their victory. Now they just had to find the three remaining Elements.
The heroes left the Deepwood Shrine with the Picori who helped them out earlier. "Thanks a lot for your help back there," Emily said with great appreciation.
Joey nodded. "You guys were really brave back there. I mean, when we first got here, you were scared to follow us inside."
"But you came through and helped us out," Yugi finished.
"Yes, we were scared," Festari admitted. "But helping people is our purpose."
Max smiled. "That's true Picori pride."
Kaiba looked at her. "It's called putting your duties first. There's always a time when we have to do what we must even in the face of fear."
The priest nodded in agreement to Kaiba's wisdom. He found it as admirable as the courage everyone displayed back in the shrine. The truth was, Festari was a fanatic of the ways of the human world; especially when it came to style and fashion. As such, he decided that not only would he be a village priest, but also a fashion designer. This caused everyone to sheepishly laugh. But this was natural; new customs inspired by the ways of different worlds.
Elder Gentari came by and informed the heroes about where they could go to have the Picori Blade repaired. "There is a Picori who masters in the metallurgical arts. His name is Melari. He lives on Mt. Crenel."
"Then that's where we'll go," said Link.
"Thanks for all of your help," Yugi said, bowing.
After saying 'goodbye', the heroes left the village and went back to the woods. "So how are we going to get to Mt. Crenel?" Joey asked.
Kaiba checked the map. Mt. Crenel was a long way from their current location. "Well, as small as we are now, I don't think getting there will even be possible."
"Then you'll just have to change back to your regular sizes," said Ezlo.
"Yeah, and how are we going to do that?" the brunette asked.
The answer to that was simple. Ezlo told everyone to go back to the tree stump where they all shrank. When they did, everyone passed through one at a time and grew back to their original sizes. "That tree stump is a Minish Portal," Ezlo explained. "That's how humans have been able to shrink in size and visit the Picori long ago. There are lots of different Minish Portals all over the land, so keep an eye out."
"Got it," Link said in understanding. He then repeated Joey's question. "So how are we going to get to Mt. Crenel?"
Kaiba smiled and answered, "We fly, of course." And he and his friends unfold their wings, amazing Link and Ezlo. The brunette told Link to climb on his back – to which the boy excitingly obeyed. "Now hold on," Kaiba ordered, and he and his friends took off and began flying.
Link laughed and cheered. "This is awesome!"
But Ezlo didn't share his enthusiasm. He kept begging Kaiba and the others to slow down and be careful. He groaned and asked himself, "What have I gotten myself into?"