Minish Legend

The War of the Bound Chestis a fanon name given to the conflict depicted in the backstory of The Minish Cap which features the story of the Hero of Men and his exploits to save the land of Hyrule from destruction at the hands of many powerful beasts that suddenly attacked the kingdom and cast it into shadow. Using two special gifts given to him by the tiny Minish race, the Picori Blade and the magical Light Force, the Hero was able to drive the beasts back and restored light to the land of Hyrule. To ensure the beasts could not bring further destruction to the land, the Hero of Men sealed them all within the confines of a magical container known as the Bound Chest. Sealing the chest with the Picori Blade itself, the Hero of Men was able to bring the destructive war to an end and brought peace to the kingdom. Meanwhile, the Light Force was secretly sealed within the body of Hyrule's princess to prevent its misuse, giving she and her successors many magical powers that would continue across the generations.

A World Cast Into Shadows
Long ago in the kingdom of Hyrule, the land was peaceful and happy in its early existence. One day however, the land was suddenly overwhelmed by evil creatures that descended upon it in swarms, driving the world into shadows and bringing the kingdom to near-ruin. As Hyrule neared the brink of collapse, the peoples' hopes dimmed more with each attack staged by the beasts as things continued to get worse. This created a sense of despair that made the people cry out for a heroic savior to rise up and help save their civilization from destruction. Even so, no weapon seemingly existed to repel the brute strength of the beasts, making any resistance to their attacks difficult to execute or sustain. In this sad state, Hyrule was in search of a miracle to save itself from extermination.

The Rise of the Hero of Men
It was in this moment, when Hyrule's need was greatest and its situation was most dire, that a young man known as the Hero of Men rose up out of the ranks of the people to combat the evil creatures that were laying siege to the kingdom. He was a young Hylian with blond hair and blue eyes garbed in a tunic of green, an appearance that would curiously mirror a future hero that would also save Hyrule from an even greater evil far in the future. In the face of such tremendous odds against these powerful beasts, the young Hero seemed to be the embodiment of courage and was the last ray of hope for a kingdom nearly devoid of hope for salvation. Still, though Hyrule now had an individual brave enough to face these dark creatures head-on, there was not any weapon the people possessed that the Hero of Men could wield against this army of evil, and it was here that aid came from the most unlikely source imagineable.

The Coming of the Minish
In this time of need for the race of men, the tiny Minish (known later as the Picori by Hyrule's general population), a tiny race of thumb-sized beings that nonetheless wielded powerful magic, descended from the sky to bring the Hero of Men a magical sword and a golden light. This sword, the Picori Blade was an immensely powerful weapon that could smite evil and was crafted by the magic of the Minish themselves as the first gift to the Hero of Men to assist him in his effort to save Hyrule from evil. The second gift, the magical Light Force, took the form of a golden triangle and was a relic of immeasurable power that would grant nigh limitless magical power to its possessor. It would come to be known in later generations as "the force of the golden light". These two gifts would serve as the tools that would enable the Hero of Men to take on the beasts that were now threatening the land and give him a fighting chance against their invading army.

The Battle for the Fate of Hyrule
Now armed with the two gifts of the Minish, the Hero of Men went on to confront the monsters assaulting Hyrule with wisdom and courage, the land's last hope for a turn of the tide in the war. Utilizing the two tools given to him by the Minish, the Hero of Men was able to drive the beasts back, reversing their assault on Hyrule and giving the people hope for victory against them. Not only did the Hero of Men succeed in beating back the beast's attacks, but he also turned the assault on them, driving them back and corralling their entire army into the confines of a single prison, a magical container that would come to be known in history as the Bound Chest. Once the beasts were all captured within the Bound Chest, the Hero of Men concluded his counter-assault on them by sealing the chest with the Picori Blade itself, sticking the blade through the top of the chest to act as a lock on it, so as to prevent the escape of the creatures contained within. With this, the bloody conflict that had plagued Hyrule was brought to an end with a victory for Hyrule.

The Enshrining of the Picori Blade
The people of Hyrule, jubilant at the victory of the Hero of Men over the beasts that had threatened their kingdom, immortalized the Hero of Men in songs and tales that spoke of his courageous deeds in service to the kingdom of Hyrule during the great war to save it from evil. The history of the war was documented in a series of stain-glass windows within the Elemental Sanctuary that acts as a bridge between Hyrule and the Minish Realm from whence the Minish came. In addition, the people enshrined the Picori Blade, now secured in the top of the Bound Chest, with great care and entrusted the Bound Chest to the Royal Family of Hyrule, who kept it within their home, the stately Hyrule Castle in the generations to come. The chest's story would also become legend with the passing of time and became sacred to the people, who knew that it locked away much evil within its depths and served to maintain order and peace for their kingdom.

The Fate of the Light Force
The fate of the second of the two tools wielded by the Hero of Men during the great war against evil seemingly vanished from the public's eye following the war's conclusion, and even Hyrule's best historians were unaware of what had truly become of it. Seemingly to prevent the misuse of such a powerful magical artifact, the so-called "force of the golden light" was spirited away, and secretly sealed within the body of Hyrule's princess. The strength of the Light Force gave the princess and her successors many magical powers that included telepathy and gave them a mystical aura through the generations. As a result, both of the Minish gifts to the Hero of Men were left in the hands of the Royal Family of Hyrule following the end of the war, with one being heavily guarded and the other secretly hidden within the kingdom's princess. From within her, the Light Force shone forth upon the land of Hyrule, now restored to peace.

Aftermath
In honor of their service to Hyrule in the war, the Royal Family of Hyrule established what would come to be known as the Picori Festival, an annual celebration that would honor the tiny Minish race. There would be storytellers who recounted the stories of the war and the legend of the Hero of Men as some of the many activities that take place during the festival, as well as prize competitions and a sword-fighting tournament, whose winner would receive a Smith's Sword and have the ultimate honor of approaching and touching the Picori Blade itself. It also became common knowledge in the stories of the Minish that the Minish Door, the gateway to the Minish Realm, would open temporarily once a century to allow travel between the two worlds and allowing the Minish to either come to Hyrule or return to their homeland.