Zell felt sore. He hadn't felt sore for a while. He was still in the pit of darkness. Trying to figure out what was going on. He wanted to know if everyone else was okay. If they had seen the monster too. But wait…what if it was only a dream? Then again why was he sore? Zell was fading in and out, now and then. He groaned as he opened his eyes. It was so dark. He blinked a few times before finding someone standing over him. Zell let out a sharp breath but the man standing over him shook his head.
"I'm not going to hurt you, kid." When he had spoke it sounded….strange. Like he was fading into the shadows. Zell groaned again rubbing his head. "Wh-where am I?" He asked weakly. The man bent down, resting an elbow on his knee. Zell could see him better.
He was possibly in his 40's. He had long dark hair with a red head band. He was shirtless, yet he had this tattoo on his chest and stomache. Shoulder armor on his shoulder and arm. He wore yellow pants. His body was crisscrossed with scars. A scraggly goatee on his chin and a light mustache. This was the strangest man Zell had ever seen.
"Your inside Sin, me." The man said. Zell looked up at him with wider eyes. "Wh-what?" He asked confused. The man shook his head. "I've picked you to help out my crybaby son, since you're a crybaby too." He said standing. Zell felt anger rise up. "Hey! I am not a crybaby!" He exclaimed now trying to get up but the pain filled his entire body. The man held up his hands. "Whoa, whoa! Your still hurt from getting knocked out that window. Cool it before you hurt yourself more than you did." He said.
Zell growled. "Then take that back! I am not a crybaby!" He said. The man smirked. "No, your not anymore. Your more a hothead than a crybaby." He said. Zell growled angrily but didn't say anything. He just looked around. "Where am I again?" He asked. The man folded his arms. "Look, I don't have a lot of time to explain. Your just not in your world anymore." He said. Zell blinked.
"What are you talking about?" He asked. The man shook his head. "Like I said. Your in a world called Spira. And your in the mouth of a monster called Sin. It's taking you to find my son." He said. Zell squinted his eyes. "Yo, dude, I don't like people messing with me. You've kidnapped me, haven't you? Look, whatever you want, my friends will come for me and kick your ass." He said.
The man laughed a harsh laugh. "Yeah, I kidnapped you. And you are going to help my son and his group kill me before I completely turn into Sin." He said. Zell looked wide eyed at him. "H-hey I just told you not to mess with me!" He looked at the ground and shook his head. "Wait, this is just a dream, right?" He asked. The man tilted his head. "You saw me, didn't you?" He asked. Zell looked at him again. "What the hell are you talking about!" He exclaimed.
The man narrowed his eyes. "The monster in the bay. It was waiting for you. I was that monster. You saw me. I am Sin. And your going to learn things before I let you go." He said. Zell looked scared now. This guy must have lost his marbles! And insane men were dangerous to mess around. Especially when you were the one hurt. Zell gulped. "Okay, okay. Whatever you say. But dude, what is it you want from me or Garden? Money? Squall would give you a lot of money to save me." He said. The man sighed shaking his head.
"Your still not convinced. Damn, I didn't want to convince you this way. But I guess I'll have to." He said. He turned away and started walking. Zell watched him go. He figured that he had better hurry and heal himself and take off before the guy came back. But then the man stopped and turned around. "You have just forced me to do something I didn't want to do. Not now. But I guess I better. Go over there and look between the teeth." He said pointing then he vanished in thin air.
Zell stared with wider eyes. He then looked at what looked like ragged boulders. But there was something weird about them. They looked more like teeth. Each one pointed and sharp looking. He staggered to his feet and limped over. Then gasped. He truly was in the mouth of a monster. And the monster was swimming in the ocean, towards a distant island.
Suddenly within the monster came a growl. Zell shook his head as everything unfolded right before his eyes. He watched the gigantic monster send a huge, massive tidal wave towards a small town by the shore. He could see people screaming and running. Children were being pulled with their mothers. The entire town was engulfed in water. Then everything began to get sucked up into the sky. The houses, the dying people, everything. A whirlwind surrounded the monster, Sin, full of corpses and debris. Zell looked on with horror. Tears in his eyes as he heard the screaming and saw the dying. Then the mouth closed.
"Now do you see why you have to kill me? Kill Sin? Because we destroy lives, we destroy everything in our path. Everyone will die." The man's voice came from behind Zell. Zell lowered his head then slowly turned around. "You son of a bitch!……how could you do that! Why!" He yelled. The man solemnly shook his head. "Because I am a monster." He then vanished.
The pain struck Zell again and he fell to his knees crying out in pain. He grabbed his head and screamed. So much pain. He was hurt emotionally, physically, and mentally. Then everything went dark again. Zell felt himself fall back into the darkness of sleep. He fell onto his side as he drifted off. He then could feel water surround him.
I don't know what was happening and why.
I haven't been that scared since…well, since the fight against Ultimecia.
Why did this guy take me? Why was that monster attacking innocent lives?
But most important, where am I and where are the others? They weren't
here too, were they? Then again, I had a feeling that they weren't.
I was alone.
There was no one going to help me.
I thought I was going to die in this strange foreign world.
But why me? Why did this "Sin" choose me?
Zell felt sore again. He was starting to wake up again. But this time, he could feel the dying sunlight on his body. The water lapping at his feet and legs. He felt the pain striking his body again and it hurt terribly making him whimper. He then felt a shadow fall on him.
"Hey! Look, ya? A survivor!" He heard a man with a strange accent.
"Looks like he took a beating. Should we get Wakka?" Another man with the same but deeper accent. Zell felt someone lay their hand on his back which made the pain worse. He gave a small and weak cry of pain. "Whoa! Be careful, Keepa! The kid's got cuts in his back, ya!" Another voice said.
"Sorry." "You better go get Wakka. He's got to see this kid, ya?"
Zell let out a painful but shaky breath. He tried hard to open his eyes but they didn't want to open. So he just laid there. He then remembered those words that the man spoke to him before he faded out. 'Don't tell Tidus.'
"Whoa!" He heard someone exclaim. More shadows fell on Zell. He shivered from pain and fear. Were these bad guys? Were they going to hurt him when he couldn't fight back? He didn't know. And he didn't want to know. "Where'd you find him?" A new thick accented voice asked. Zell felt the sand under him move a little and he knew that the new guy had bent down by his side.
"He was just laid out right here, Wakka, ya? Is he a fiend or is he still alive?" One of the older voices asked. Zell could feel this Wakka's eyes looking him over then he felt fingers touch his neck lightly. He tried hard not to flinch which was enough. "Nah, he's still gotta pulse. He's no fiend. Yet. He will be one if we don't get him cleaned up and taken care of." The Wakka said.
He felt several hands slid under him and then lift him up. He was now being carried, carefully to Zell's relief. He could tell that all of the owners of the hands were pretty strong and powerful. He knew he didn't want to get in a fight with them. He then felt his consciousness fade again. He was back in the uncomfortable state of sleep.
Zell felt himself coming to again. This time he wasn't so sore. In fact he felt healed up again. Not all the way but enough to open his eyes and stretch. He was laid out on a mat and covered with a blanket. Someone had taken off his jacket and shirt and hung them on some ply wood. Zell found himself looking around and saw that he was in some kind of tent. He could hear voices in the distance.
He looked around and sat up while rubbing his head. "Man, where the heck am I?" he asked himself. He looked himself over and found that most of his cuts and scratches were practically gone now. He was quite relieved that he was healed up. Zell turned and grabbed his shirt then pulled it on. Then he stood, staggering a little, and grabbed his sleeveless jacket and began walking towards the tent flap.
Just then before he reached it, the flap opened and in walked a young man. Both gasped almost walking into each other and stepping back. Zell stared at this kid with interest. He, too, was blonde and about 17 years old. Maybe a little younger than Zell. His hair was longer and messy though. He wore a strange yellow jacket with no shirt under. Strange black rubber looking pants with one long legging and one short. His eyes were a deep ocean blue that reminded Zell of Quistis's eyes.
The young man was also taking in Zell's appearance before he grinned. "Hi! I see that your feeling much better. Your walking around and all. How you feeling?" He asked folding his arms. Zell tilted his head and shrugged. "Sore…but alive. That's a relief. you tell me where I am? I have no idea what's going on." He said. The young man nodded. "Yeah. Your in some place called Kilika Port. The place was attacked by Sin yesterday. Wakka and the Aurochs found ya last night at sunset. Your lucky to be alive. We thought you were a goner." He said.
Zell was even more confused but he knew that the kid was telling the truth. He remembered what 'Sin' did to the town. This must have been what was left of it. Zell sighed shaking his head. "The town….Kilika Port….was there any survivors?" He asked. The boy nodded. "Yeah, a fair few and you. But there were sure a lot of deaths too." He said. Zell shook his head then realized that he hadn't introduced himself yet. He rose his head and smiled.
"Well….anyway, I'm Zell Dincht, SeeD of Balamb Garden." He said raising his hand. The boy frowned looking confused but shrugged. "Tidus, star player of the Zanarkand Abes." He said. Zell showed the same amount of confusion but shrugged and shook Tidus' hand. He remembered that name. That man had told him about Tidus. This must have been his son.
"Nice to meet you, Tidus." He said. Tidus nodded. "Same here." There was a small silence then they both tilted their heads, different directions and asked, "What are you star player of again?" "What's a Balamb SeeD?"
Both looked puzzled. "Uh…you first." Zell said. Tidus nodded. "I'm star player of the Zanarkand Abes, a Blitzball team." He said. Zell went wide eyed. "What the hell is Blitzball?" He asked. Tidus looked shocked. "You….you've never heard of Blitzball!" He asked. Zell shook his head. "Believe me when I say this, there is a lot of things I don't know. I don't even know where the hell I am. That monster, Sin, took me from my home, Balamb. He said something about killing him and finding someone to help him." He said.
Tidus nodded now looking like he understood. "Oh…you too, huh? Yeah, same here. I'm from Zanarkand, a city said to be destroyed a thousand years ago. But I know that it hadn't. I mean…how can that be? Sin took me from my home and brought me here to Spira." He said. Zell smiled softly. "So we're in the same boat but in different seats." He said. Tidus shrugged. "Guess so. So, what's a SeeD?" he asked.
So Zell explained everything to him. What a SeeD was, what they do. He told him about Garden and his friends. Then he told him about what he had done in the past. How he and his friends beat up the evil Sorceress. The whole time Tidus looked amazed. It was like listening to a wild story about super heroes saving the world. When Zell was finished, Tidus grinned at him.
"Cool! So that's all true, right? You must be from a different world. Didn't Sin try to destroy your town and world? You weren't at war, were you?" He asked. Zell folded his arms. The thought was terrible. He shook his head. "No. All it did was swallow me up and then…." His eyes went wide. "Oh, god!" He cried out.
Tidus frowned looking at him with puzzlement. "What?" He asked. Zell's mouth fell and fear rose up. "I don't know! It could have destroyed Balamb! I was out cold after Sin swallowed me up! We were sort of in a war still. Trying to get the Galbadians to stop being such jackasses and get them to sign a peace treaty! What if….." he let his head fall and clenched his fists. "What if Sin really did destroy my home!" He hissed between his teeth. Tidus looked pitifully at Zell. "I really wouldn't be surprised. Sin destroys everything it goes near. It's a horrible monster that needs to be stopped." He said.
Zell shook his head feeling the grief fill his heart. Then anger. His eyes opened with hatred burning in them. "I have to find him and demand him to tell me if He destroyed my world. If he did….I'll kill him." He said. Tidus smiled confidently. "Yeah, same here. Hey, come with me! I'll introduce you to the others. Wakka sent me to see if you were still alive." He said. Zell nodded and followed Tidus as he pulled on his jacket.
Kilika Port was a village looking town actually, although now it was completely destroyed because of Sin. People were trying to rebuild already. There weren't too many people still around though. Some children were still alive, which was good. But no one was smiling. Zell couldn't blame them. He followed behind Tidus towards a group of guys who were trying to rebuild a dock. Each one of them tan skinned and all of them wore yellow rubber jump suits.
One of the men was standing around and overlooking the others' work. He had fiery orange hair with a cowlick bigger than Zell's. A blue head band around his head. He was built quite strong and almost like a wall. Zell could see that he was quite powerful and it made him not want to get this guy mad.
The man had heard Tidus and Zell coming and turned around. He smiled brightly seeing that Zell was up and walking around. "Well, well. I see that our new guest is okay, ya?" he asked. Zell recognized the voice. It was one of the guys that rescued him the night before. Tidus nodded stepping up to Wakka. "Hey, Wakka. This is Zell. Zell, this is Wakka." He said. Zell nodded and outstretched his hand to shake Wakka's but Wakka didn't take it. He just did some weird bow.
Zell lowered his hand and looked at Tidus for the answer. Tidus shrugged and nodded. "It's the way they greet people here in Spira." He said. Zell nodded in understanding. Wakka straightened and rose an eyebrow. "Huh? Did I miss something?" He asked. Tidus looked at his big friend. "Zell, here is like me, Wakka. Sin took him from his home called Balamb and brought him to Spira." He said.
Wakka blinked then grinned. "Uh-huh, sure." He looked at Zell. "So you got too close to Sin's toxin too, ya? Ah, don't worry. It'll fade away some time. When it does, we'll find out what really happened." He said. Zell stared. "Uh…." Tidus shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Zell. He says if someone gets too close to Sin, you'll forget where you come from and will say funny things." He said.
Zell shook his head. "Actually, Sin came close to me. He nearly swallowed me up. And I know who I am and where I'm from. I'm Zell Dincht from Balamb Garden. A highly qualified SeeD." He said. Wakka tilted his head. "What's a SeeD?" He asked. And again Zell repeated it to Wakka. Wakka smiled. "Wow. That's some imagination. Hey! That reminds me! Besaid Aurochs! Huddle!" He said.
The rest of the men in yellow quickly joined the three. Wakka placed his hands on his hips and grinned. "On to the temple, where we pray for victory!" He said. The Besaid Aurochs nodded and started to take off. Wakka looked at Zell and Tidus. "High Summoner Ohalland used to live in the Kilika Temple here. Yep, Lord Ohalland was once a great blitzer, you know?" He said proudly.
Tidus frowned. "Wakka…." He paused. Wakka looked at him. "Hm?" He asked. Tidus shook his head. "Praying for victory's all good….but is this right?" he asked. Wakka let his hands fall. "Something wrong with enjoying blitzball?" he asked skeptically. Tidus shook his head. "Is this really the time?" He asked. Wakka nodded.
"This is the only time. The players fight with all their strength, the fans cheer for their favorite team. They forget pain, suffering….only the game matters. That's why Blitz has been around for so long. Least that's what I think." He said. Tidus nodded. "Whatever you say." He said. Zell was so confused. "Let's play….and win! Right?" Wakka asked. Tidus nodded with a grin. "Right!" he said. Wakka turned to leave. "Temple's beyond the jungle there. Let's go." He said starting to walk away.
Tidus looked at Zell. "Hey! Wait, Wakka! What about Zell? Can't he come too?" he asked. Wakka turned and looked Zell over. "Hmm. Don't know. We'd have to see what the others say. Lulu won't be happy of course. She never is, ya? And Kimahri….ah, who knows what the guy's thinking. Yuna might like the idea though. She's so friendly to any strangers, no matter who they are." He said.
Zell tilted his head. "Um, Wakka. I know this might sound weird and Tidus told me all about it, but what's Blitzball?" he asked. Wakka looked just as shocked as Tidus did earlier. "Whoa! You don't know what Blitzball is!" He asked. Zell shook his head. "Man, Sin's toxin must have fogged up your brain, ya? Okay." Wakka began to explain Blitzball to him. Zell looked surprised.
"So, it's all a game?" He asked. Wakka nodded. "Yeah! A fun one at that. It helps keep everyone relaxed and smiling, ya know. Keeps their minds off of Sin." He told Zell. Zell grinned. "Wow, I would love to play Blitzball! I'm good at T-Boarding, maybe I'd be good at Blitzball." He said. Wakka scratched his forward. "I'm not going to even ask what T-Boarding is but maybe you can show me how good of a Blitzer you are." He said. Tidus nodded.
"Yeah, should we test him before we head up to the Temple?" He asked. Wakka nodded. "I guess so. Tell me, Zell. You any good at holding your breath underwater?" He asked. Zell nodded. "Yeah. I've done a lot of diving back in Balamb. The last time I checked, my limit of holding my breath was seven minutes." He said. Wakka blinked. "Whoa, that is long. Okay, how about catching and throwing?" He asked.
Zell nodded. "I'm a martial artist. I'm really good with that." He said. Wakka looked slightly confused. "Martial artist?" He asked. Zell scratched the back of his neck. "Uh…fist fighter. I'm pretty wicked with moving around and all. Plus I can put a dent in metal. Or break it." He said. Wakka and Tidus both looked amazed. "Whoa! You can do that!" The blonde asked. Zell nodded. "I've busted up more machines than you could count.
Wakka looked happy. "So you don't like machina, huh?" He asked. Zell looked at Tidus. "Translation?" he asked. Tidus laughed. "He means machines. He doesn't like machina because it's said in Yevon that they started the whole war, creating Sin." He said. Zell nodded. "Oh. No, actually. I do like machines. I work with them really good. I'm sort of a mechanic too. I can work with any machine. You name it, I can run it." He said.
Now Wakka looked angry. He had this dark look on his face. "You aren't some Al Bhed, are you?" He asked darkly. Zell stepped back with the change in mood. "A what?" He asked. Tidus shook his head. "Al Bhed are some different people. They're not too popular with Spira." He said. Zell shook his head. "No, I'm not an Al Bhed. I don't even know any Al Bhed people." He said. Wakka nodded now smiling. "Good. You get mixed up with Al Bhed and you'll get nothing but trouble." He said.
Zell heard Tidus sigh and mutter something about 'Rikku'. He just shook his head. "Don't worry, Wakka. I'll take your word for it." He said. Wakka nodded. "Okay. We don't have time to see how good you are with Blitzball but later we can see if you are. We better hurry up and catch up with the others." He then groaned. "I just know Lu's not going to like this." He started to walk away.
Tidus and Zell walked with each other behind him. "So he doesn't like these Al Bhed? Why?" Zell whispered to Tidus. Tidus shook his head. "I'm not too sure. He believes that they're bad people but I know they're not. Some Al Bhed saved my life one time. A girl name Rikku was practically my first friend when I came to Spira." He said. Zell nodded. "Okay."
The three came up to two women standing before the jungle. One was dressed in a black dress and other in a kimono. The one in the kimono was about Zell and Tidus' age. She was awfully pretty though. The older one was about Wakka's age. But she looked like something was up her ass and kind of reminded Zell of Squall. Cold, stoic and not so nice.
Wakka stopped near them and put his hands on his waist. "What's up?" He asked. Tidus and Zell stopped behind him. The older woman gave Tidus a cold look. "Yuna's saying she wants you with us." She said. Tidus looked shocked. "Huh?" He exclaimed. The younger girl looked shyly at him. "I want to ask you to be my guardian." She said. Wakka looked shocked. "Yuna! What? This is no time for jokes, ya! He may be a blitzball whiz kid, but up against fiends, he's a newbie." He said.
Yuna shook her head. "Not a guardian, then.….I just want him nearby." She said. Wakka looked very surprised. So did Tidus. "What? What do you mean?" He asked. Yuna blushed. "It's just that, well…." She paused biting her lip. The dark woman shook her head. "We're all going to the temple anyway. Can't this wait till later?" She asked. Yuna nodded and looked back at Tidus. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…." She was saying.
Tidus shook his head. "There's nothing to be sorry about. I'm just not really sure what's going on." He said. Yuna nodded bowing her head. "My apologies." She said. She then looked at Zell and tilted her head. "Who's this?" She asked. Wakka and Tidus looked at the new blonde. "Oh! This is Zell. He's going to come with us. He says Sin got a hold of him too and brought him to Spira. Just like Tidus, here." Wakka said.
Lulu sighed shaking her head with annoyance. "Wakka! Will you please stop being so friendly! You can not just meet some stranger and then let them join us!" She said sharply. Wakka stepped back looking uneasy. "Uh….sorry, Lulu. It's just that…." He was saying. Zell felt a cold chill from this Lulu. She was like Squall and Quistis put together.
Yuna stepped forward and bowed to Zell. "Welcome, Zell. I would be happy to have you travel with us." She said. Everyone looked surprised but Tidus grinned. "That's Yuna for ya." He said. Yuna blushed. Lulu looked very annoyed. "Yuna! He is a stranger! For all we know he could be a fiend." She said coldly. Yuna looked at Lulu. "Lulu, he is not a fiend. There are no pyreflies coming out of him. Please?" She asked sweetly.
Wakka nodded. "Besides, he says he's interested in seeing how we play Blitzball. Come on, Lu. He might be really good like Tidus. And if he is, we could use both their help to win this years tournament." He said. Lulu shook her head. "Wakka, you are so thick headed. I can not see how you are a Guardian still." She said icily and turned to walk away.
Zell winced. "Man, she's just like Quistis." He said. The three others looked at him. "Who?" Yuna asked. Zell shrugged. "Quistis Trepe. She's a friend of mine back from home. She's really strict and can make a guy beg for mercy. We like to call her the Ice Queen but when she wants to be, she's really nice and can be friendly." He said. Wakka laughed a little. "Sounds just a little like Lu. But don't pay much attention. She'll warm up to ya sooner or later." He said. Zell nodded. "I swear I won't cause trouble for you. I just need to know why Sin brought me here." He said. Yuna nodded. "Your welcome to join us, Zell." She said.
They began to walk. Zell noticed a tall cat like man walking behind them. He felt kind of nervous and started to put up his guard. Tidus noticed and shook his head. "Don't pay attention to him either. That's Kimahri. He's one of Yuna's Guardian's too. doesn't like strangers. So whatever you do, stay close to Wakka." He said. Zell nodded and continued to walk.
Just then they could see a large red tentacle monster up ahead. Two people, a man and a boy ran up. "Company, halt!" the boy said. The man nodded. "The fiend before us is Ochu, Lord of the Wood. We've had trouble with this one before. Remember, discretion is the better part of valor." He said.
Zell folded his arms behind his head and snorted. "Ah, it's just a regular Ochu. They're so lame." He said. Everyone looked surprised at him. "Huh! B-but…" the boy, Gatta was saying. Zell shook his head letting his arms fall and looked at Wakka. "You wanted to know what a martial artist could do, right? Well, let me show you." He said now walking past the two soldiers right up to the Ochu.
Everyone stared after him with surprise but watched Zell. Zell walked right up to the monster and put his hands on his waist. The Ochu hissed at him, giving him a warning to stay back. "Oh, shut up, you ugly mutated plant! Someone call for a Gardener? I think it's time to pull up the weeds." He said tightening his gloves. He punched his fists together and stood in his fighting stance.
The Ochu hissed again and began swinging it's tentacles at Zell. Zell ducked each time and batted the sharp ends sharply away. He then jumped forward and began punching the Ochu. He spun a roundhouse kick and knocked it back a little. There was shocked gasps and Zell grinned towards the audience. They all looked shocked. Even the giant cat, Kimahri.
"Yo, Zell! Heads up!" Tidus quickly yelled. Zell turned back only to get hit in the face by a poisonous tentacle. It knocked him down but with an angry growl, Zell got back and wiped some of the blood off his face that the sharp thorn tore. "That was naughty!" He snapped at the monster. The Ochu swung another tentacle but this time Zell caught it making everyone gasp.
"You know, your starting to get on my nerves!" He growled and began to spin in circles now swinging the giant monster over his head. The monster crashed into trees, almost hit the group, which they quickly ducked, and then Zell released the monster sending it flying into the air right ahead of them. It crashed into the Temple stairs and exploded into several lights.
"Whooooa!" Gatta said with awe. Tidus grinned. "Wow! That was great, Zell!" he said cheerfully. Yuna smiled brightly and clapped enthusiastically. "Excellent!" She said. Luzzu smiled. "You have a very impressive Guardian there, Lady Yuna." He said. Everyone looked at him with surprise. Zell walked up digging into his pockets, looking for a antidote because he had been poisoned. "Sorry to disappoint ya, buddy. But I'm not her Guardian. I'm just a regular guy." He said now chugging down the antidote.
Luzzu rubbed his chin. "I see. Well, in that case, you should join the Crusaders. You would make an excellent soldier for us." He said. Zell grimaced because of the nasty flavor in the antidote and shook his head. "I'm already a soldier. I'm a SeeD." He said. Gatta grinned. "Sir, we should fight too!" he said. Luzzu looked at him. "We'll get our chance soon enough." He turned and saluted the group. Zell did the SeeD salute back in respect then faced the shocked group. He blinked and shrugged. "What?" He asked.
Wakka shook his head. "Man, Zell. I'm starting to believe that your telling the truth about that whole SeeD thing. I have never seen someone fight like that." He said. Lulu shook her head. "Me neither. I am impressed." She said. Zell shrugged the compliments away. "That was only a warm up. Believe me when I say this, I've fought some tougher and stronger things than an Ochu." He said. Yuna smiled. "We are all impressed, Zell." She said. Zell blushed a little while rubbing his neck.
"So, are we just going to stand here or we heading up to this Temple?" He asked. Everyone but Kimahri and Lulu laughed. They just continued on their way. They began walking up the stone steps. "These stone steps have a history, you know? Yep, Lord Ohalland trained here at this peak." Wakka said. Both Tidus and Zell looked up the stairs. They could see the Aurochs stretching and laughing an evil laugh.
Tidus grinned. "A race, huh? Think you can beat me?" He asked now stretching. Wakka looked at Zell. "You want to join us too?" he asked. Zell shook his head and waved his hand. "Nah, go ahead." He said. Wakka nodded and lined up with Tidus and two of the Aurochs. He looked at Yuna. "Yuna, if you would." He said. Yuna nodded and stepped up next to them.
"Ready?" She asked and then she sprinted up the stairs. Everyone laughed. "Hey! Hey!" Wakka called after and began running with the others. Zell laughed and slapped his knee. Lulu rolled her eyes as she calmly began walking up. Then there was a yell. The Aurochs came running back down. "L-Look out!" the one called Datto cried out.
Wakka ran back. "Everyone, quick! Sinspawn!" He yelled. Everyone but Zell ran as fast as they could up the stairs. Zell blinked then quickly followed. When he came up he saw everyone now fighting a gigantic creature with tentacles. It looked like a big ball though. He quickly joined Tidus by his side. "Count me in!" he said. Wakka nodded and threw a ball at it. Zell was a little surprised to see that his weapon was a ball but then again, Lulu was carrying a doll so he figured that they were stronger than they looked.
They all took turns in hitting the monster. Zell had to race forward and crack the monster's shell so the others could get to the inside and hurt it more. He saw that Kimahri fought with a spear and with that spear he could learn the monster's own abilities. He was impressed. Yuna was the weakest he could see that. Her staff wasn't causing very much damage. However, when she called a summon the others called an Aeon, he was in for a bigger surprise. Using those Aeon's she was quite powerful. The Aeon reminded him of GFs. He wondered if that's what they were.
Finally they killed the Sinspawn. Tidus was out of breath already. "Yeesh!" He gasped. Wakka folded his arms. "Sorry about that! Hoped to break you in a little slower." He said. Tidus stood up straight. "Being a Guardian's tiring." He said. Wakka grinned though. "You handled yourself pretty well. You got talent." He looked at Zell. "You too." He said. Zell shrugged. "Nah. So what are these Sinspawn anyway?' he asked.
Lulu answered this time. "Fiends. They fall from Sin's body and left behind in its wake." She said. Wakka nodded. "Leave 'em alone, and Sin comes back for 'em. You gotta be quick." He said. Zell nodded. "Okay." He said. They started up the stairs to get to the Temple.