In an alternate timeline, Jak, Calex and Zeelo are three kokiri of Hyrule who decide to travel to the Carnival of Time in Termina and have fun with the activities. Of course, with Calex and Zeelo being in on this adventure you know that the only costume piece accepted for the festival is a mask only. Masks that often have strange effects.

 

No Pants, Only Masks
By CalexTheNeko

 

It had been three days since the three young kokiri had set off from Kokiri Forest towards a festival far from their village. They were making great progress, but hunger dictated that they needed to stop for lunch. Thankfully, there was a river nearby for them to fish from. Calex and Zeelo sat on the deck preparing their fishing lines. They were the odd pair out of the three. They had shown up in the village a few years ago from parts unknown, but hey when you have a race of eternal forest children spawned from a giant magical tree, most didn’t ask too many questions.

 

The two new arrivals had shown up without faeries. That had happened before, and the person involved turned out not to be a true kokiri, but even he was eventually granted one by the Great Deku Tree and had gone on to save the world or something. No one was sure why these two didn’t have faeries, nor why the forest didn’t grant them one, but, after multiple years they hadn’t aged a day so it seemed like they were true fairy children. Perhaps there just weren’t any faeries willing to pair up with children as odd as they were.

 

As Calex and Zeelo sat on the docks in the buff. This wasn’t because they were fishing and wanted to avoid any risk of getting their clothes wet, no, they simply never wore a shred of clothing. Ever. It had been a huge shock when they first arrived, but the kokiri were kids, and to kids such things usually weren’t as much a big deal. So this particular oddity of the two just became a small detail that was routinely overlooked. Still, aside from each other, they hadn’t made a lot of friends in the village.

 

Except for Jak. 

Jak was initially drawn to them because of how strange they were, and their proclivity for being more than a little mischievous. Something Jak was proud to  say about himself. See, causing mischief was fun as long as no one got hurt. It was even more fun when you had people who would take it in good humor and not get mad. And so, it wasn’t long before they had become a trio doing everything together.

 

Calex and Zeelo were of similar size, but only slightly shorter than Jak. Calex had bright green eyes, with his long orange hair tied back in a ponytail by what appeared to be another strand of his own hair. Zeelo had short but wild brown hair and bright blue eyes.. Both were, as customary for the two, completely nude. Jak wasn’t wearing much more as he approached the pair. The blond haired, blue-eyed kokiri was clad in nothing but a simple pair of green shorts.

 

The old dock over the river was a popular fishing spot, and it promised them the chance of some fresh grilled fish if they were lucky. Zeelo and Calex had fashioned some impromptu fishing lines from deku sticks and skulltula silk. They were already working on baiting hooks made from smooth stones. Jak arrived a moment later, approaching the dock while holding his own deku stick turned fishing pole.

 

There was a clacking motion, and Calex’s fishing pole smacked into Jak’s stick. Jak, unprepared for the strike, was suddenly thrown off balance and fell right into the water. He barely had time to surface before Zeelo suddenly lit up.

 

“I got something!” He gave a shout as he reeled in his line. Instead of a fish though, Jak’s shorts dangled from the hook. “Wait, that’s not a fish.” He flailed his pole through the air to remove the not-fish from his hook, causing them to go flying back into the water, quickly floating downstream. “Oh um oops.”

 

“Yes… Oops.” Jak rolled his eyes. It was amazing how this accident had lined up perfectly to leave him naked. Just like how amazing it was an accident the day before cost him his shirt. And the day before that his hat. And his shoes went missing before they even left. The game the two were playing was pretty obvious.

 

Jak couldn’t help but laugh at the mischief instead of taking offense. He knew this was just part of the risk of hanging out with these two. This wasn’t even the first time something like this had happened, and barring him becoming a full time naturist, it was doubtful it would be the last time. He took it as good-natured mischief, which was the reason they continued to do it without worry. 

 

“Well… Considering that there’s no shops between here and our destination, I guess you’ll just have to go like us the rest of the way!” Calex had a smile as wide as the Cheshire cat.

 

“You know, this is a Mask Festival right?” Jak asked. “Doesn’t it defeat the purpose of wearing a mask to hide your identity if you two are running around naked? Everyone around here knows who you are.”

 

“Hey you said it yourself, Mask Festival.” Zeelo shrugged. “You don’t need pants, only masks.”

 

“Yes and I’m sure everyone else at the festival will also be pantless and only care about masks.” Jak stuck his tongue out.

 

“I mean, if they’re normal sensible people.” Calex suggested.

 

“Normal, sensible people wear clothes.” Jak winked playfully. “Being au naturale doesn’t make you natural.”

 

The rest of the journey went quickly for the trio as they passed the time with their playful banter. It was even going smoothly, up until the point where they encountered a cave. A cave with a giant hole in the center so large that it was impossible to see the bottom.

 

“Down there is where we go!” Zeelo grinned.

 

“Uhhh, how far is that? Aren’t we going to break a leg or something? And how do we get back?” Jak asked.

 

“It’ll be fine!” Calex patted Jak on the back. “These types of falls never hurt you. And when we want to come back we’ll just jump down again.”

 

“Down again?” Jak raised an eyebrow.

 

“Basic multidimensional stuff. The festival isn’t actually in Hyrule, but a world bordering it called Termina. We’ll jump down a hole, see a bunch of random colorful shapes flowing by and then we’ll land completely unharmed.” Calex explained as if it was obvious. “When it comes time to come back we just gotta find a way to do the jump in reverse. And the same thing will happen, colorful shapes, then landing unharmed.”

 

“Are you absolutely sure?” Jak raised an eyebrow. “Cause I don’t think you understand the gravity of the situation. I don’t want to break all the bones in my body because of, well, gravity.”

 

“Do you actually want an answer to that or were you just looking for a way to force that pun into the conversation?” Zeelo asked playfully.

 

“Answering that would ruin the fun.” Jak winked.

 

“At this rate the festival is going to start before we even get there!” Calex flailed his arms. “Look, I know about multiversal boundaries, it’ll be fine! It’s all quantum and stuff! We need to get going before all the good masks get taken.”

 

“So you’ll wear a mask but not pants.” Jak snickered then paused. “What even is a ‘quantum?’ Is it some kind of magic? Actually, do… You know what you’re talking about or just saying words at this point?”

 

“Look, my brother here may have a habit of getting us into trouble and letting situations get out of control…” Zeelo started.

 

“Oh, like you’re not just as guilty.” Calex huffed.

 

“But he’s never hurt any of us. There are a lot of things he might fail to consider, but keeping us safe from danger is not one of them.” Zeelo finished without meeting Calex’s gaze.

 

“I suppose that’s true.” Jak considered. “Except for the fact you don’t seem to care about keeping the contents of my wallet safe! I’m gonna have to buy new clothes, again. And since my wallet was in my pants, which went somewhere down the river, I’ll have to work to save up the money before I can place an order.”

 

“You’re welcome!” Calex said without a hint of irony.

 

“You’re lucky I’m okay with this.” Jak put his hands behind his head. “I just miss having pockets.”

 

“Then get a backpack.” Calex replied as if he didn’t see any other issue. And in his defense, it wasn’t as if Jak wasn’t above playing a practical joke on him and Zeelo. He could think of a few stories to tell if they weren’t in a hurry. “Anyway, the sun is setting. That means the festival has started already! We gotta hurry!” With that Calex took a few steps back, got a running start, and jumped into the abyss.

 

“That kid isn’t afraid of anything huh?” Jak asked.

 

“You’d be surprised what does scare him.” Zeelo smiled. “But I can’t tell you. Some things are secret only to brothers.” Zeelo paused. “Though I suppose you’re like a brother at this point, just missing the biological part but who cares about blood. I’ll have to ask him if he feels like opening up later. For now though…” Zeelo jumped ahead and pulled his body into a cannonball shape, plunging into the darkness below.

 

“And there they go.” Jak felt a tad nervous about jumping into a hole that went this deep without knowing what was on the other side. But, his two friends, while certainly eccentric, had never done anything to hurt him in the past. While the two brothers were chaos incarnate, they were surprisingly good at respecting people’s boundaries and not playing any jokes that’d make them uncomfortable. “Here’s ‘hopping’ this works,” Jak looked around and sighed.. “It’s not the same if no one is around to hear your good ones.” Without an audience to groan at his horrible pun, he simply followed the two and jumped into the hole.

 

Just as Calex had told him, several colorful shapes rose up from the bottom of the void to greet his fall. He was fairly certain he recognized some of them as various creatures around Hyrule. He tried to reach out and touch one, but his hand completely passed through it as he fell. Then, as quickly as they appeared, all the shapes were gone. With a small splash, he landed ankle deep in water, completely upright. Despite the long fall, he was completely unharmed.

 

“Told ya!” Calex stuck his tongue out. He was standing atop a large flower that placed him just above the water with Zeelo standing behind him.

 

“No time to be smug!” Zeelo shouted, rushing past. “The festival has started by now!” They were inside another cave, this one lit by candles and the glow of the sun through cracks in its walls. At the far end of the cave was a stone door, which he ran up to and touched.  In a quick movement, the entire thing slid aside without any problems. “Come on!”

 

The other two followed after him. There was one obstacle on the path, a small crevasse where the stone pathway had crumbled away to nothing, but  this was barely a setback. Working together, they managed to pry long vines off a nearby bridge, tie the end into a lasso and then catch it on a tree at the other side. Then, they swung across one at a time, throwing the rope back to the other one. After that was another door. Through it one could hear the mechanical sounds of gears turning in place.

 

“We’re here!” Calex beamed. “This is Termina! Though right now we’re inside the clocktower. We’re not going to see much of the festival from inside here. Door should be just around the corner though.”

 

“So… What exactly is our plan?” Jak asked. “You said this was a mask festival, so I’m guessing we’re supposed to get masks… But without my wallet, none of us have any money to spend.”

 

“Don’t worry!” Zeelo beamed. “We’ve been to this festival before. Ever since it was safe to come here again.”

 

“There was a bit with the moon crashing into the planet and wiping out all life,.” Calex expounded on Zeelo’s comment “but some blonde kid got that taken care of.”

 

“Ah of course, as these things usually work out.” Jak nodded, vaguely aware of his own world’s history.

 

“Anyway, there are plenty of free masks you can get if you look around. Sometimes they’re a prize for winning a festival game, but often just for talking to the right person.” Zeelo grinned. “Anyone who pays money for a mask is a sucker. Plus, the free ones are far more interesting and fun.”

 

“I’ll hold you to that.” Jak nodded. Considering this had been a decently long trip to get here, he’d have felt cheated if he left the Mask Festival without one.

 

“We’re not going to get any masks hanging around in here! We’re wasting time!” Calex pushed open the wooden door. The instant he did, the sound of the clock tower’s inner workings was completely overpowered by the sounds of the festival. Fairegoers moved about in the streets as music accompanied the festivities and fireworks lit up the sky..

 

“Festival time! Festival time!” Zeelo sang as he ran out the door.

 

“So… Are we sticking together, or what?” Jak asked.

 

“I say we split up, temporarily.” Calex crossed his arms as he thought. “Basically, we each go find at least one mask. And then we meet back up afterwards, can show off what we got and see about playing any games or getting some food.”

 

“Is the food free?” Jak asked.

 

“Of course not.” Calex grinned. “But, I know where a few hidden treasure chests are that always have some hidden rupees inside. More than enough to pay for snacks and stuff. Weird thing too, every time we come back the chests have been refilled, with the exact same amount too.”

 

“Huh. I’ve heard about someone or something hiding chests throughout the world with treasure,  but it’s crazy to hear they get refilled…” Jak mused.

 

“They normally don’t.” Calex shrugged. “But there’s timey-whimey stuff going on. But that’s not important right now! Gotta find a mask before all the good ones are gone!”

 

And with that, Calex took off running into the crowd.

 

“You know, he didn’t actually say where the meetup point would be.” Jack waved a hand dismissively. “Kind of a major point to miss.”

 

“Don’t worry it’ll be fine!” Zeelo flashed a mischievous smile. “Won’t have any problem finding each other.” Then with that, the brown haired kokiri took off into the crowds.

 

“Well, at least I got a smile, but don’t think it was for the wordplay. Maybe not my best, but still worth something.” Jak shrugged. “Genius is never understood in its time. Maybe in an hour though.” With that he turned around to go looking for a mask himself.

 

 

Jak’s Ping-Pong Plop

 

Jak found himself wandering through the crowd alone after the other two had run off. His goal was simple: Find a mask, then meet up with the others. Where? He had no clue, but he was sure they would. Still, was there really going to be any mask he could get without money? He was also aware that he was getting quite a few stares, and he overheard whisperered comments about his public nudity. Not that he was the only one unclothed, but society didn’t care when it was a goron or Zora strutting their stuff. Back in Kokiri Forest, everyone gave up when Calex and Zeelo were around. The fact anyone would even still bother to notice proved they really were in a different world.

 

He didn’t let that bother him, and instead focused more on finding a mask. It didn’t take him too long to find a square where several carnival games were set up.

 

“Step on up! Step on up!” A man in a striped suit with a mustache yelled. “Kids under twelve, your first game is free!”

 

“Really?” Jak glanced over at the man and looked him up and down. He wondered if he should tell him kokiri don’t actually physically age. Then again he wasn’t sure if they were a thing in this world. Probably best to be silent and let people assume he was a young Hylian or… whatever they were called in this world.  “What kind of game are you running?” He ran up to the stand to take a look at it.

 

“Simplest game to win in Termina.” The man held up a ping-pong ball and then gestured behind him to where there were several glass jars filled with water and fish. “All you gotta do is get this ball into one of the jars and you win a prize! You could take home a new pet fish today.”

 

“Not quite the prize I was looking for… But I’m not going to turn down a free play.” Jak took the ping-pong ball. No doubt the ball would bounce all around when he threw it, making it incredibly difficult to land inside one of the jars with the fish. He could try tossing it softer in the hopes it would bounce less… Or he could throw it as hard as he could in the hopes that in all the bouncing around, it would eventually by a shred of luck go into one of the jars. Well, neither ploy had a high hope of winning, so he thought he might as well go for what was the most entertaining. 

 

Jak swung his arm back to gain momentum and tossed the ping-pong ball with all his might. It bounced all over the place. It grazed the edge of several jars but bounced away before it could plunk into them. At one point it flew straight up to the roof of the stand, came to a sudden stop and then dropped straight down landing in a jar of water.

 

“We… have a winner?” The man in the mustache spoke as if he didn’t believe it himself.

 

“Really? Awesome!” Jak grinned. “So, what kind of prize did I catch?”

 

“Well… This jar doesn’t have a fish in it.” The man started.

 

“Wait, are you going to tell me it doesn’t count because the jar was empty?” Jak raised an eyebrow.

 

“No! Not at all! You win a different prize instead: A one-of-a-kind mask!” The man reached behind the counter and produced a mask of a blue fish-like being with pointy ears. It was clearly a Zora mask.

 

“So I caught a fish after all, then.” Jak grinned. A mask was what he was supposed to be after anyway. This was way better than a fish. He wasn’t sure how he would have gotten it home in one piece, especially to another dimension. Plus, he wasn’t sure that Calex and Zeelo wouldn’t try to eat it. “Bet I’m the first one to get a mask. I should see if I can find what the others are doing and dive into their business.” As he spoke, he placed  the mask on his face.

 

And suddenly the entire world seemed to be spinning. His body felt strange. He wasn’t in pain, but he definitely didn’t feel like himself. He tried to speak, but no noise came out. Unsure of what was happening he quickly reached for the mask to pull it off, but it was gone. His hands found only his own skin, except… it felt wrong. And then suddenly, there was a burst of light, and the world was back to normal. Well, almost normal. He felt odd, like, his senses had been enhanced in some way and that his body shape was different.

 

It didn’t take him long to see why. Looking down at himself, he saw that his skin was now a shade of light blue. He also had fins on his arms and legs. The mask was enchanted, and now he had turned into an actual Zora!

 

“Hey!” He turned around to address the man who ran the game, but found that he was gone. The game was still here, with plenty of fish still in the glass jars, but it was entirely unstaffed. “One of those spooky ‘up and disappear’ types, huh?” Jak sounded unimpressed. “I was just going to say that I thought this was a cool trip.” He wasn’t even remotely concerned about his transformation. If anything, he couldn’t wait till he found a proper body of water to go swimming, and see what he was capable of. But first, he should stick to the plan and find the others. They still needed to enjoy the rest of the mask festival. Others might not be able to  tell that he was wearing a mask, if he even was, but that didn’t matter. Time to find the brothers and show it off!

 

Zeelo’s True Fortune

 

Zeelo, meanwhile, looked around at the various shops that had masks on offer, but it seemed that perhaps he and Calex had overestimated how easy it would be to get a free one. All of the shops so far dealt strictly in rupees. Foiled by capitalism again! He needed to find some games or a contest or maybe a quest where he could get one for free.

 

“Child,” a cryptic elderly voice called out. Zeelo thought it belonged to a woman but he wasn’t entirely sure. “What an interesting story laid out before you.” The voice was coming from within a small tent off to the side. It was only big enough to hold its occupant and a large wooden podium that prevented anyone else from entering. Through the tent flaps, Zeelo could see nothing but glowing, golden eyes.

 

“What are you supposed to be?” Normally a rude question, but one that Zeelo asked with genuine, child-like curiosity.

 

“I am one who peers through the veil. I can see your past. I can see your future. I can reveal the truth no matter how well hidden it is.” The woman replied.

 

“So you’re a fortune teller?” Zeelo tilted his head.

 

“If you must put it in such simple terms, yes.” The woman sighed. “Do you wish for me to pull back the veil and reveal the truth?”

 

“Uh huh…” Zeelo crossed his arms. Fortune telling wasn’t outside the realm of possibility. In fact, he had some experience trying it out with his friends in the past. The problem was that there were just as many real fortune tellers out there as there were fakes, and it was often hard to tell the difference until after they had taken your money. “Unfortunately, I have no money.”

 

“You think I do not know that? I know and see all. For the truth is always open to me.” The woman snapped. “No charge for your first telling.”

 

“Is that so?” Zeelo grinned. He wasn’t sure if she was telling the truth, or if he had embarrassed her for not knowing he was broke, and she was quickly trying to backpedal and fix the situation. Either way a free reading was a free reading. “Alright, let’s do this.”

 

“Very well child. Take this mask and the truth shall be revealed.” An arm covered in a cloak reached forward and dropped a white mask on the podium. In the center of the mask was a symbol of an eye, encircled by many red markings and swirls.

 

“Ohhh a mask.” Zeelo didn’t know if the fortune teller was legit or not. But she had just given him what he needed more than anything. He quickly put the white mask on his face. And suddenly the entire world grew larger.

 

Including the mask! 

 

Zeelo let out a small squeak as suddenly the mask grew larger than even he was! It was soon large enough to cover his entire body, which it did as it fell on top of him, trapping him beneath it. A growing mask? That seemed like a poor idea for a product. He crawled to the edge and tried to lift it, unsure of how heavy it was going to be at this size. Surprisingly, it lifted up without any issue. But it seemed that the world itself had changed. Blades of grass next to the stand towered over him. Giant sets of feet walked by and Zeelo was suddenly very grateful he had stepped over to this tent that was slightly away from the main fairgrounds.

 

“Alright, a mask that shrinks people. I’ll admit that makes a lot more sense, but…” Zeelo paused. He was glowing. A golden-brown aura illuminated his entire body. He knew what this was. A glance over his shoulders confirmed it with the presence of translucent, brown wings extending from his back. He fluttered them, taking off into the air. No doubt about it, he was a faerie. And also only about an inch tall now.

 

“And so the mask reveals the truth.” The woman chuckled.

 

“Is this supposed to mean I’m some kind of prankster or something?” Zeelo stuck his tongue out. “I mean, it’s not wrong… but… Hey I got friends to meet up with! Bye!” He didn’t mind being a faerie, but he decided it was probably best if he stayed away from that mask for the time being. Besides, changing forms basically counted as a whole body costume. So, for all intents and purposes, he had his mask. Now to meet up with the others!

 

Calex’s Battle of Wits

 

“Aw man…” Calex kicked the dirt. He had moved to the most northern part of Clock Town away from the festivities. He hadn’t seen a single mask he could get for free, but had seen one he wouldn’t mind buying. Yet, when he went to check out one of the chests he knew about, for some reason it was completely empty! Had someone else already visited them? Or were things less timey-whimey than last time he was here? Either way, he now had no mask and no money. Maybe pranking Jak by sending his pants down the river was a bad idea.

 

No, liberating people from the evil of pants was never a bad idea.

 

Still, they must have arrived too late for most of the contests. If he was going to get a mask, he needed some rupees, and there was always one way to get rupees. Calex eyed a clump of weeds in a circular pattern.

 

“Hi-ya!” Calex swung his arm forward in a slicing motion and cut one of the weeds in half. A single green rupee appeared among the severed blades of grass. “Jackpot! Now just the-“ Calex stopped mid-sentence. All of the weeds had suddenly started shuddering and moving away from him, even though the wind was still and weeds can’t exactly walk. Then, they were all torn apart in a second, leaving nothing more than grass shavings to drift to the ground.

 

“Knock that Grade C spooky stuff off.” Calex huffed at what little remained of the greens. “I can already feel you there. You couldn’t have made it more obvious.”

 

“Ho ho hooooo!” The final bit of greenery was cut in two but the presence stayed behind. “You’re more than you appear.”

 

“Same can be said of you.” Calex paused. “Though I suppose that’s true for any invisible creature.”

 

“You’re not a normal child.” The voice sounded amused. “I suppose that explains the lack of clothes. Very well, you caught me. What do you want now?”

 

“What do I want? Well… Hmmmmm.” Calex took a moment as he considered his options. “Honestly, if I can demand anything, just a mask for the mask festival.”

 

“Very well. For such a curious child I’ll make a deal. Answer three questions correctly and I’ll give you a mask for the carnival.” The voice chuckled.

 

“You’re not gonna pull something like if I answer wrong you own my soul right? Cause I gotta warn you now, I will not hesitate to drop-kick an invisible thing through the center of the planet if they’re stealing souls.” Calex narrowed his eyes.

 

“Ho ho hoooo! Such suspicion! Where do you come up with such creative ideas?” Though it could not be seen, the grin could be felt coming from the voice. “If you answer a question wrong, you get no mask. That’s all. It’s a simple game.”

 

“Fine, let’s do it.” Calex nodded.

 

“Alright, we’ll start easy.” The voice sounded very entertained by the long orange haired kokiri. “How tall is the festival tower for the carnival?”

 

“Four stories, I passed it on the way here.” Calex stuck his tongue out playfully. “I know you said you were going to start easy, but you can at least give me something of a challenge.”

 

“Very well. The voice gave a soft playful chuckle. “What is the vintage milk sold at the Milk Bar called?”

 

“Chateau Romani.” Calex responded without hesitation. “You know, I was expecting more riddles than trivia questions.

 

“Erm um… How… Did you know that? There’s no way they let someone as young as you into the bar! You’re six! Six and a half at the oldest!” The voice objected.

 

“Fliers for the mask carnival listed it as one of the must visit places while you’re in town.” Calex stated flatly. “And it included their menu. Granted, as you said no one would let in a kid like me, so I haven’t tried any.”

 

“I… See…” The voice gave an animalistic bark of laughter. “Alright, final question. “What is the name of the festival being held right now here in Clock Town.”

 

“The Carnival of Time.” Calex grinned and nodded.

 

“What? But… I heard you call it the mask festival at least twice!” The voice sounded taken aback.

 

“Well yeah, because everyone is crazy about masks during the festival. But that was more of a description not a name. I mean, again, I read the flier about the festival.” Calex could not have looked more smug if he tried.

 

“Fine. I concede defeat. The mask is yours.” There was a strong gust of wind and then a yellow mask appeared among the grass. It was in the shape of a fox’s face complete with long pointed ears.

 

“Oh, this is even better than the mask I wanted to buy!” Calex clapped gleefully, then picked the mask up and put it on. A moment later three tails suddenly exploded from the end of his spine, each colored with orange fur and a red tip. Hefound himself suddenly losing balance as he fell down onto all fours. Before his eyes, his hands turned into paws and as he glanced back his legs were becoming the hind paws of an animal.

 

Orange fur spread over his entire body, matching the color of the three tails. Finally, his face pushed out into a muzzle as his ears moved to the top of his head stretching longer and fluffier.

 

He was now a fox, but one with three tails and longer ears than normal. A Keaton, to be specific.

 

“Ho ho ho hooooo!” The voice laughed. “In the end, I couldn’t help but play a little trick! I promised you a mask if you won, but never that it wouldn’t be cursed.”

 

“What are you talking about? This is great!” Calex wagged all three tails. “I get to be a magical, three-tailed fox kit, AND I can still talk? What’s not to love?”

 

“Well… When you put it like that…” The source of the voice materialized, revealing another fox with three tails, though this one was much bigger than the small fox kit Calex. It had yellow fur with black tail tips. “I suppose you’re not wrong.”

 

“Man, wait till I take the mask to my friends! I know they’d love to try it on and-“ Calex paused. “The mask is gone now that I transformed, isn’t it?”

 

“Pretty much.” The yellow fox chuckled again. “You’re a good kit. Enjoy the festivities.” With that the grass flew through the air and the yellow fox vanished.

 

“I have got to learn how to do that.” Calex mused. “But for now, time to find the others.” 

 

 

It didn’t take long for everyone to meet up. Calex and Zeelo both stumbled across Jak at precisely the same moment. As they came upon him, he turned around, all three suddenly meeting each other’s gaze. They all spoke at the same time.

 

“Hey guys you won’t believe what happened to me!” They paused and looked at each other, and spoke in unison again. “Okay maybe you will.” There was another pause. “That’s kind of freaky.” Another pause. “Three Deku Scrubs starred in three dramas. How many scrubs saw stars tonight?” After this one, there was a fit of laughter. It was finally Jak who broke it up.

 

“I was going to surprise you! I got a mask that turned me into a Zora, but I’m guessing you two had similar experiences?” Jak grinned.

 

“Yup! First I was playing a trivia game with an invisible fox! Then I was a visible fox!” Calex exclaimed. “Also, I might be able to turn invisible, and shuffle around grass and weeds and do other things. Things to practice when we go home.”

 

“A fortune teller gave me a mask and I turned into a faerie.” Zeelo stated quickly.

 

“So can you do any faerie magic?” Jak asked.

 

“Yes.” Zeelo said quickly then paused. “I mean probably. That doesn’t matter right now. The mask turned me into a faerie, and even though it’s now too big to carry around, I maintain that being transformed counts for the sake of wearing a mask.”

 

“I’d have to agree, especially since my mask disappeared.” Calex nodded.

 

“Same.” Jak put his hands back over his head. “Wait… Zeelo, your mask didn’t vanish? You just kind of shrunk out of it? Huh… I guess faerie masks are just weird.”

 

“Yes, I guess they are.” He didn’t bother to correct Jak that the mask in question had nothing to do with faeries.

 

“There’s no point in thinking about the why or how’s now.” Calex quickly interjected. “All that really matters right now is that we all have masks, and we can now enjoy the festival together.”

 

“And thanks to the masks transforming us none of us are getting weird looks for running around naked.” Jak snickered. “I can’t tell if that means your little prank backfired, or if it just adds another layer to it.”

 

“I mean, I’m fine with the end results either way.” Calex swished his tails. “I told you that you didn’t need pants. All we needed were masks.”

 

“Yes, yes, so you have insisted ever since we left the village.” Jak stuck his tongue out. “I really should have seen the prank coming. Not that I wasn’t expecting it, but just later in the journey.”

 

“If you were expecting it and you let it happen anyway, doesn’t that just mean you wanted us to do it?” Zeelo flew up to be eye level with Jak. “It wasn’t very hard to get you.”

 

“Hmmmm.” Jak thought and shrugged. “Who can say. Hanging out with you two always feels liberating. Not always in the way I expect or hope, but at least there’s never a dull moment. And… Now that I’m a Zora, I’m going to be able to swim so fast and… I have to find a waterfall to dive off of.”

 

“I think there’s a secret passage to Zora’s Domain somewhere in the Lost Woods. Or maybe it goes to Lake Hylia? I forget.” Calex rubbed the back of his head. “Either way we can definitely get to one or both of those places for you to test things out.”

 

“Hey guys!” Zeelo threw a small ball of light into the air that exploded into a bright flash to get their attention. “I’m glad we’re coming up with future adventure plans and all, but let’s not forget about the adventure we’re in right now! Don’t waste the entire festival worrying about tomorrow!”

 

“Zeelo’s right! There’s fun to be had! We can’t possibly let this opportunity pass us by!”

 

“Indeed!” Jak paused as he considered one last thing. “But… you are sure we can get back to Hyrule, right? That there will just be a hole on this side we can jump into?”

 

“Probably.” Calex did the best he could to shrug while standing on four legs. “If not, with Zeelo being a faerie, I’m sure he can find some way to shrink us with magic and carry us back up.”

 

“I might do that anyway!” Zeelo teased before flying over and landing on Calex’s head. “But not tonight. Your fur is very soft and makes for the perfect spot to tour the festival grounds from.”

 

“I know better than to ask if that was a joke.” Jak grinned. “Just gotta enjoy the little things in life and go with the flow. Alright… Let’s get us some money and then some carnival food!”

 

“Right! The chests I was going to use turned out to be empty, but we can make enough quick change cutting weeds up to buy food.” Calex marched back towards all of the stalls.

 

“I suppose some things are constant in all worlds. Huh, wonder if that means there’s Minish in all worlds to hide money and other things?” the boy turned faerie wondered aloud.

 

“Who knows? But you’re already Minish sized, so maybe you can find some to ask later!” Jak replied. “For now! Let’s get some money, and then some grub!”

 

The carnival was for one night only, and the three hadn’t crossed through to another world not to have fun at it. With the masks taken care of, and a reliable (if slightly slow) way to make pocket change secured, all that was left was for the three to enjoy their night in Clock Town. What came next, and what they would do about their new forms were opportunities to explore tomorrow. 

 

Tonight was all about the festival.

 

The End

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