Yuffie had heard a local legend in Gongaga of a cave in the mountains where 'the fair folk' had been carving tiny statues out of 'the knowledge of the ancients' which usually translated to materia. The story had her curiosity, but that (probable) keyword had drawn her attention. And so, she'd spent a little time searching around.

And now she'd found something after only one whole week of.... Having overlooked an obvious cave under her nose where she'd started looking.

"Sneaky mystery materia hoarders..." She grumbled as she made her way in.

Waving a flashlight around the damp and gloomy cave, she was disappointed to find many small carvings made of regular boring non-magic filled rocks. A brief moment of concern crossed her mind when she realised the carvings were all the right height to be something mini'd and petrified, but on closer inspection they simply weren't detailed enough, so she dismissed that worry.

And then something glinted and she almost whooped with delight. Green and semi transparent! She made her way over, grabbed the shining statuette...

... And sighed. It was just emerald or something, not Materia. She put it back down.

And then the cave rumbled.

"Uh oh. Mysterious undead guardian monster thing or something, should have guessed," she said to herself as something neared, and...

... It was a tiny glowing ball.

"You disrespect us! You dismiss the treasure!"

Yuffie blinked.

"You're mad I'm... not stealing it?"

The little ball seemed to puff with anger, as much as an orb of light could do so.

"A thousand years! We laid the trap, no one comes, and then you arrive and toss it aside!"

Yuffie gave an indignant response.

"Look, buddy, I didn't 'toss it aside', I put it back gently! It's not what I was looking for! If it helps you I thought about selling it but Materia is worth more to me."

"But it is emerald! Rarest of gems! Found only under these hills!"

"Uh, no, sorry, but I guess things changed the past thousand years cos you get them super easy just trading with villagers, like, I got four for a stack of paper..."

"... What."

"The economy has changed, basically."

The glowing ball seethed.

"You humans! Always so clever!"

"Hey, listen..." Yuffie hoped to try and reason with the orb, but this was the wrong move.

"DO NOT SAY THOSE WORDS! WE ARE SICK OF THOSE WORDS! You insult us, you refuse to even take our bait, well, curse you! We have waited too long! Even if you do not try to steal it, we curse you!"

The cave suddenly began to fill with a foul smelling smoke that made her eyes water.

"Hey, wait, that's cheating! You can't just change the rules because your plan didn't survive long term shifts in the gemstone markets!"

Yuffie coughed and spluttered, as the angry orb of light ignored her. She felt the smoke going into her lungs, and a tingle across her body. What little she could see through the smoke and blurred vision seemed to be getting bigger, and for some reason her back was itching. She felt a sharp pair of pains and hear a ripping noise, as the world beyond the smoke grew larger.

Eventually with a few more splutters, she found herself where she expected. About a foot high.

"So you shrunk me, big whoop," she sighed, wiping her watery eyes, and then blinked.

... Her clothes had changed. Her ninja gear had vanished and her green top had not just turned into what seemed to be leaves stitched together, but a dress! Her boots were now dainty glittering slippers. She flapped her wings in astonishment.

"...Wait, what?!"

Turning her head to look, she first gasped... Because she hadn't realised a golden choker had appeared on her neck, and proceeded to live up to its name. But then she gasped because on her shrunken back were a set of shimmering gossamer butterfly wings. Or more accurately, fairy wings!

"What the @&!# is this!"

The orb was now amused.

"You are now too small to steal the treasure! Have fun explaining to dumb humans why they shouldn't put you in a jar!"

The orb cackled and winked away, leaving one fairyfied Ninja confused. She reached to the choker and discovered that it apparently used to be her bangle, for tiny specks of Materia lay within recesses on it. A fallen wand on the floor was presumably her throwing star. She picked it up and tried to use the transform materia, expecting to at least remove the shrinking.

Instead, with a startled eep she made herself two inches high, and quickly reverted the spell.

"... Well, that was a bust. Remedy time," she said, and then realised.

Transformed clothes. No pack. No potions compartment. No cure on hand.

"Wait, hey! You assholes stole my stuff!"

She swore she heard more cackling deep in the cave at that exclamation....