THE ZELL DINCHT COLLECTION

WARNINGS

1) I do not own Zell, Squall, Rinoa, Irvine, Seifer, Selphie, Irvine, Quistis, or any other character I may mention from the FF8 series. I may add some more characters, which are mine. If you steal them, I probably won't find out about it. I also do not own most of the towns, monsters, etc… used in this story.

2) This was written cause Zell is the coolest character ever to be created in the FF series. It's rated NC-17 for mostly sex, but there's also some language and violence.

3) This is a yaoi story. If you are offended by yaoi or don't know what it is, I suggest you leave. You have been warned.

Ok think I got everything. Just read it and leave me some feedback. If you flame me I'll find it funny, so do whatever the hell makes you feel good.

A/N: Let's get the right pronunciation for one of my favorite monster in the Final Fantasy Series. Mostly because it has the Greek Mythology, it's an awesome beast. And don't write me and tell me that it is usually has a different number of heads of different animals, because I did my homework, and this is the actual form of it in FFVIII. Now let's all say 'Chimera'. NO! not (jim-er-ah), it's (ky-mare-ah)! (Jim-er-ah) just takes all the fun out of it.

CHAPTER 29: The Return of Death

"Did you ever think," Zell muttered after a long silence. He sat between Seifer and Selphie in a small circle the party created on the beach. "If we never talked to that guy, he'd still be alive. Or even worse, if it would have taken us ten seconds longer to get here, he'd still be standing." Water poured off of their faces into the sand, but nobody seemed to notice it.

"I know what you mean," Selphie nodded. "It's just randomness, and you can't put a reason behind it."

"It was my fault," Irvine mumbled with his head to the ground. "If I wouldn't have led you guys the wrong way, we would have never run into them."

"No you didn't mean to end it like that," Selphie comforted. Irvine still kept his head down, as a steady flow of rain ran off his hat.

"You're sure those soldiers weren't still alive?" Squall asked off subject.

"Not with the hole I left in their chest."

"And not without a skull," Zell muttered dully. "They were a scout party like us."

"Well put it behind you," Squall said without emotion. "If we sit here and mope, Puma might be…" He then caught Zell's glare, and decided not to finish the sentence.

"Did you see that fissure?" the blonde asked, cutting to the chase. "That's our best bet of getting in."

"I still don't want to go in there without an army," Squall muttered into the ground. "But it doesn't look like we got another option. We lost one life without even going in, and we can't risk another one."

"Let's raid the castle," Zell nodded with fire in his eyes. He got to his feet, and tightened his knuckles.

"Selphie stay here," the brunette ordered. "Tell the SeeDs about the fissure when they arrive, and make sure they get there as soon as possible." Squall looked around, as Irvine and Seifer stood up and prepared for battle. His glance then fell on Zell. "You're going to kill me one of these days." He pulled his gunblade out of his belt, and started to lead the way.

"So we're just going to go in there and fight 2000 people?" Seifer mused, shaking his head.

"It's called silent kill," Squall responded. "Get as deep in without drawing attention, and then hopefully the reinforcements will distract them."

"And if they don't?"

"Then we fight together," Zell answered. "We'll fight to the death." Seifer nodded, but he was hoping for a better answer. A bolt of lightning lit up the island, and then a low grumbling of thunder followed. In some places, the water was a foot deep because it had no place to drain. The group trudged onwards however, and made their way to the giant crack. Squall walked less then fifty feet from the dark base, and the party got a better look at it. Small cracks ran down the outside wall, as they appeared aged and beaten. The walls ran in a circle and were 15 feet tall; just tall enough to make climbing equipment necessary. The inside remained a mystery, but from Zell's prediction, the town couldn't be more then a mile in diameter. It wasn't particularly large, but who knew what hell lied inside.

"Don't take a swing if you don't have to," Squall commanded, as they were coming closer to entering the structure. "Don't fire your gun unless necessary. We don't have the means to take on an entire…"

"BANG!" Irvine shot with a sudden movement. A body fell from atop the wall and landed at Squall's feet.

"Army," Squall concluded sarcastically, moving against the wall.

"See this is why you need to talk a little faster Squall," Seifer chuckled softly, squatting next to the brunette. Irvine and Zell did the same, and waited to see if they awoke anyone else. A sniper rifle hit the ground beside the shot soldier, and the group suddenly became very appreciative of Irvine. The down pouring rain and claps of thunder made it difficult to tell if anyone was coming or not, but after ten minutes of waiting, Squall was satisfied.

"We're almost there," the brunette muttered, getting to his feet.

"You're Welcome!" Irvine yelled up to him, but Zell quickly hushed him. The blonde was starting to get suspicious and aggravated. Why would a scout party on as small of an isle as this consist of two people? Why wouldn't someone come out and investigate when a bullet was fired right into their home. It just didn't make sense. A raindrop dripped off of his hood into his eye, snapping him back to reality. Rubbing his eye, Zell wadded his way through the puddles that blocked his path. The water was freezing, and the blonde was surprised it hadn't turned to ice yet. Trudging onwards, a bolt of lightning lit up the fissure. It was a lot closer then Zell had predicted, and a wave of fear passed over the group.

"Here goes nothing," Irvine muttered, as the party was an arms length away from the crack. It was much bigger then they thought, and would provide a large enough opening for them to pass through. It threw Zell off however, because the structure was perfect except for this one gigantic flaw. Either someone screwed up badly, or the fissure wasn't a mistake. They didn't have another choice though, because if they scaled the wall, it would only bring more attention.

Breathing heavily, Squall led them into the dangerous fortress. "Welcome to hell…" he said under his breath. After everyone squeezed their way through, they looked up in wonderment of the innards. It was just like Timber; only it hid behind a 15-foot wall. They had to have built this thing way in the past, because they couldn't construct a town like this in two nights. It was a home away from home. A back-up plan. Like the walls, the entire town was granite black, but to their relief, barren. The other major difference was a dominant, palace-like governor's mansion. Another flash of lightning illuminated the dark citadel. A low rumbling sent a chill down the party's spines. It had several stories, and stuck out sorely against the small houses that surrounded it. That's where they wanted to be.

"Puma's in there," Zell whispered to the rest of the party, eyes lighting up in wonder.

"Correct…" a voice laughed down to them. Looking up, Zell saw Rinoa standing atop the castle wall, holding her blaster edge at them. "I would've thought the garden would send more then four people…"

"Shut up!" Zell yelled up to her.

"Ah…yes how are your legs? I hope they aren't too bad."

"Fuck you, what'd you do with Puma?" Zell shot again.

"Did you ever hear of the legend of Chimera?" Rinoa ignored him. "It was a four headed beast; one lion, one toad, one goat, and one eagle, which had a serpent tale." The black haired bitch paused for a second, as the wind and rain threw her hair around. "Used to run wild on the Galbadian continent, but the people subdued them. They only exist in one place today, and that's…"

A low growling interrupted her, and the group was sure it wasn't thunder. They turned to a large cage, which rested to their right, and their stomachs dropped as eight yellow eyes stared back at them.

"Have fun," Rinoa smiled, firing her weapon. Irvine blasted it to pieces before it did any harm, but matters were made much worse when the bars of the cage were suddenly torn off. Rinoa faded away into the shadows, leaving the group with Chimera. The four-headed nightmare emerged from its' lair and let out a terrifying screech. The rain plastered its fur, only pissing it off more. Staring down the foe, Squall tried to decide how to handle the beast. He had learned about it at the Garden, but that was a mythology lesson, and wouldn't help him slay it. Bullets suddenly cut into the dirt, as four or five snipers lined the top of the wall. The rest of town gathered behind the Chimera, too afraid to get near the monster.

"Retreat!" Squall yelled, pressing himself against the wall to avoid the bullets. He then shot a fire spell, which hit one of the snipers, causing him fell off the wall and land with a thud on the outside. The group quickly filed back out through the fissure, and the Chimera was left in the fortress, as it was too big to get through.

"Take out the snipes," Seifer yelled at Irvine. Raising his gun, Irvine nodded and shot the closest one. A thud was heard from within the wall, and the cowboy grinned proudly.

"Up against the wall!" Squall yelled. A second later, three bullets kicked up the soil, as the snipers had reloaded.

"So much for operation silent kill," Seifer mocked.

"Shut up, our first priority is those snipes, then we can worry about Big and Ugly," Zell took charge. The Chimera growled behind them, and a quick paw swipe widened the fissure by a few inches. "We don't have much time…"

"Right…" Irvine agreed, and quickly pivoted to take another shot at the two remaining snipers. He fired, but his bullet barely missed. It threw the man off balance though, and Squall cooked him with a fire spell. Zell watched the flame engulfed corpse fall off the wall, but then jumped when he was caught off guard by the sight of a gun barrel. A bullet whizzed by his ear, as he quick stepped left. The last sniper barely missed his target, and Seifer raised his gunblade to finish the bastard off.

"Watch out!" Irvine yelled, as the ground rumbled. Taking a running start, the fissure wall suddenly crumbled under the Chimera's brute force. With fear, the party took a few steps back and faced the rare creature. Another gunshot rang out from the sniper, but it was too low and accidentally struck the Chimera. It let out a horrid screech, as the rain only burned the wound more. Turning, the Chimera made his way back to the fortress. With a quick strike of its paw, the wall crumbled and shook, causing the sniper to fall forwards off the wall. Watching the way he fell, Zell knew that it wasn't good. The soldier wasn't even able to get to his feet before the Chimera loomed above him. The blonde looked away, as the four heads tore the body into pieces and munched on them loudly. A bolt of lightning stuck the scene in everyone's mind, but luckily the continuing downpour washed away most of the blood. The on looking townspeople watched from the now giant hole in the fortress, too afraid to come any nearer to the monster.

"Kay, how do we make sure that doesn't happen to us?" Seifer laughed with a hint of nervousness. He pushed his wet hair out of his eyes, and watched the Chimera turn back towards them.

"Take out their heads," Squall said straightforward. "They can't eat you without one." Raising his gunblade, the brunette watched the beast's approach.

Aiming his gun, Irvine took a shot at the eagle head. The Chimera moved it's face however, and the bullet fell into the dirt somewhere below it. "That thing's quick," Irvine muttered over to Squall, as the beast continued to approach.

Zell felt like the most handicapped. He couldn't go punch the thing in the head, or else it would bite his arm off, so he'd have to rely mostly on magic. The blonde looked up with a wave of terror, as the four-headed bastard came within ten feet of him. It screeched, and glared at his new enemies/food. Cheering began from the townspeople, as the true test of strength had come. Squall was the first one to move, and with a swift twirl of his gunblade, took a slice at the Chimera's Goat Head. The monster shifted its stance however, and the brunette was only able to knick it. Landing under the foe's stomach, Squall was suddenly in a bad way. A paw came out of nowhere, and knocked him to the side. The Chimera followed the brunette; already planning its first meal.

"I got you!" Seifer yelled over the rain. Raising his gunblade, Seifer fired a body shot to distract the nightmare. It was successful, as the Chimera quickly turned. With its' attention, Zell tried to shoot a thunder spell at the already injured goat head. The Chimera once again used its agility however, and the bolt only threw some dirt up. Irvine capitalized on the beast's quickness, as he took a shot shortly after Zell missed with the thunder. It was unable to dodge two attacks consecutively, and to Irvine's delight, the goat head exploded with the impact of the shotgun bullet.

"One down!" Irvine yelped. "Three to go!"

After spending a few seconds in a puddle on the ground, Squall regained his feet and picked up his gunblade. He heard Irvine's cry of joy, and then the groan of the townspeople. Finally looking at the Chimera, the brunette noticed the goat head had turned into a stump of ruptured veins and fur. The foe screeched in pain, as red rain dripped off of the beheaded neck. Squall took advantage of its' distraction with pain, and took a running jump. The Chimera wasn't didn't see the brunette move, and jerked suddenly as it felt the cool steel slice into it. The lion head landed on the ground with a horrifying thud, and another screech escaped the beast. The sound caught Squall off guard however, and he tripped on his landing. Determined not to make the same mistake twice, the Chimera quickly recovered and tried to take a bite out of the downed SeeD.

"I got you!" Seifer yelled again, charging the monster. It was starting to learn the party's tactics though, and knocked Seifer away with a swipe of its' paw. The large blonde flew for five feet, and landed on his back. Satisfied, the Chimera lowered its' Eagle head. Squall tried to roll at the last minute, but the beak caught his arm, pulling some flesh out. In panic, Irvine fired a random bullet. The foe easily dodged it, but using old tactics, Zell caught the eagle head ablaze with a fire spell. The bird like face let out a wail, but with help from the rain and a water spell from the frog head, the fire was extinguished.

Now they pissed it off. Finally being able to stand for a few seconds without dodging an attack, the Chimera decided to pull out the big guns. Seifer regained his feet, and dizzily ran back to the fight. Squall still lied under the beast's stomach.

"Spread out," Zell ordered. "Don't make yourself an easy target." Nodding, Seifer and Irvine spread the monster thin, as they formed a semicircle around it. The Chimera hissed and growled, daring the SeeDs to make a move. Irvine took the beast up on it, and fired a bullet into its' side. As if immune to pain, the foe didn't even make a sound. Instead, it made a terrifying leap, and faced the cowboy. The ground shook under the landing, causing Irvine to stumble. To his horror, a strong blast of wind came out of the burned eagle head, and threw him back against the fortress wall.

A new fear swept over Zell, as he knew that Irvine wasn't all right. He thought they had this battle won a long time ago, but the Chimera was suddenly pulling out an artillery of magic. Before he could move, the Chimera once again made a jump, and to his dismay, landed facing him. The frog head's beady eyes focused in on him, and Zell braced himself for the oncoming attack. Seeing Zell in dismay, Squall pushed his gunblade into the Chimera's soft underbelly. The frog quickly lost his interest in the blonde, and started to thrash its limbs frantically, as Squall continued to stab it with his injured arm.

Meanwhile, Seifer was busy dodging the biting attempts of the Chimera's python tail. The big blonde thought that the tail of the Chimera wouldn't be that hard to take out, but its' floating jerks and snaps kept him on his toes. Quickness was the tail's greatest strength, as Seifer was hesitant to take a swing at it, in fear he would be bitten. The python hissed and made a snap at him. Seifer jumped just in time, as he felt the leathery skin brush up against his elbow. Apparently the limbs weren't able to hit Squall, because the tail suddenly turned to see if it could reach the creature that was causing it so much pain. This proved to be the damn snake's last mistake however. With the speed of light, Seifer chopped the hissing bastard off of the Chimera's ass. Like a beheaded chicken, the snake continued to squirm in a bloody pool of water on the muddy ground.

"Yeah!" Zell yelled, as the party finally looked to have the advantage again. The townspeople groaned and were amazed to see their legendary Chimera begin to fall apart. Bleeding all over, Zell thought it was a miracle the thing was still on its' feet. "Just five more minutes, and we can go get Puma." Zell's dreams were crushed however, as a paw finally struck Squall. A bolt of lightning lit up the horror on Zell's face. The stabbing stopped at once, and Squall was pushed from under the Chimera's stomach and into a huge puddle to the right. He wasn't moving.

Zell and Seifer snapped. Using instinct, Seifer began to just chop furiously into the rear of the beast. There was no purpose to it but to draw as much blood as possible. Chop, stab, chop, stab, stab, chop. It didn't take the foe long to readjust its position. With a mighty jump, it turned 180 degrees, and faced the angry SeeD. The Chimera wasn't expecting Zell to jump with it however, and the hooded blonde mounted its' soaked back. Zell called on the power of Zeus, and bolts of thunder pulsed through the fiend's back. The monster bucked furiously, trying to get Zell off of it. The blonde gripped the fur tightly however, and started throwing powerful punches between the bolts of lightning. Busy with Zell, the Chimera forgot about the gunblade wielding fiend in front of it. Seifer took no hesitation in chopping off the frog head. Crying out in utter agony, the now one headed beast finally was able to buck Zell off.

The blonde didn't remember hitting the ground, but figured he blacked out for a few seconds. The huge drops of rain brought him back. He didn't land far from the bloody Chimera, which he wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. The fall had broken him, and he couldn't sit up. It was one of the scariest moments of his life, because he couldn't help. He was too weak.

Seifer continued to try to take on the Chimera by himself. The eagle head snapped this way and that, trying to catch him off guard. The large blonde was too quick for that though, and countered most of the eagles moves with a just as daring sword swipe. After a few rounds, the beast was becoming sloppy, and Seifer was able to slice off a large part of its' beak. Frustrated, the eagle stopped playing his games, and blew Seifer away with a strong gust of wind.

"NO!" Zell cried in his head. He couldn't get himself to say it aloud. The townspeople's whoops and cheers could vaguely be heard over the rain and thunder. "Game Over." Zell blurrily watched the blood stained Chimera, make his way over to him. It was a sucky way to die. To be eaten by a bloody eagle. This definitely wasn't one of his better days. Zell fired some very weak thunder spells at his executioner, but it wasn't doing anything. He eventually stopped altogether, and took his eyes off the Chimera and put them on the sky. Patches of stars could be seen between the dark rain clouds, which made Zell smile. He was broken, but he tried to think positively. "I'm sorry Puma…I tried my best," the blonde thought, as the Chimera's shadow suddenly fell on him.

He waited for the bird's cold beak to sink into him, but for some odd reason, the beast was distracted. It suddenly let out a cry of pain, as Zell heard bullets rip through the air. "Oh…they're putting the Chimera down. I guess a one-headed Chimera isn't that useful." The blonde let out a sigh of disgust, as the bullets continued to fly over him. "Great…getting killed by those Timber bastards is much better…" Shots ripped through the beast, but it refused to fall. Scream after scream sounded, killing Zell's ears. "Just hurry up and finish it!"

With the fortress to his right, Zell suddenly heard cries of pain and panic. That's strange, why would they be worried?" That's when a bullet landed to the left of him and kicked up some dirt onto his chest. "What the hell?!?" Zell thought, realizing that the fire was coming from the wrong way. Turning his head to the left, Zell beamed. The guns became closer, until they were right above them. The Chimera was still on its' feet, but due to a major loss of blood, it was starting to hover dizzily. A tremor ran through the ground, as a scythe cut off the eagle head, and the Chimera fell to the ground.