"The summoner wasn't in Kilika for the Sending, so they must have been here a while. Hopefully they'll be done soon."

"We can eat while we wait." They all spread their rations, dried fruit and nuts and bread, and have their late lunch.

They eat quietly for a bit but eventually Tōkan breaks the silence to ask, "So, how does this work, exactly? Zei mentioned trials, but..."

"The Cloister of Trials bars the way to the Chamber of the Fayth. A summoner and their guardians must go overcome it together, and it is meant to test our virtue and the strength of our bonds. The trials are not always the same; they are personalised to the people who go in."

"So you won't be allowed inside," he tells Tōkan. "It's not done, for an outsider to come in."

"...but if I were to become your guardian, I would be able to?"

"You must not become a guardian out of mere curiosity," says Kimahri, with a small growl.

"Being a guardian is a big deal, ya? It's a commitment, you're—"

"The summoner's light and comfort. The ones who will be there for them, come what may, and who will dedicate our lives to them. We will be to the summoner what the summoner is to the people of Spira: hope, strength, resolve, support, love. We only exist in the summoner's shadow, and our name is only spoken if the summoner's name is spoken first. We leave no mark in history of our own, and we are only remembered by their side. By his side.

"I know."

Lulu blinks and tilts her head. "Hmm. Indeed."

"...won't you find your people in Luca?"

He shakes his head. "I don't have any people. I lost everyone to Sin. Everyone. And I...

"...I want to defeat Sin."

"Well. We can talk about this after I've gone through these trials. If you still feel that way when we get to the temple of Djose, then... I would be honoured to have you as my guardian."

"I will. I know where I'm meant to be. But I won't push."

What a bizarre human.

After they finish eating Zei hops to his feet and goes to talk to a priest about lodgings for his non-guardian friend.

But before they're done talking, the doors to the inner chambers up the stairs open and a pair of people step through. The woman walks down the steps slowly and precisely, but from the way presumably-her-guardian hovers, she must be drained from the over-a-day-long affair.

She spots the group on the way down, and her eyes lock with Zei's. "Ah, another summoner, are you?" she says with affected incuriosity.

Once they have gotten down the stairs Zei walks up to meet them, and bows. "I am Zei, from the isle of Besaid."

The other summoner's eyes narrow almost imperceptibly. "Dona," she introduces herself, "and my guardian Barthello. But enough about us—you must be the son of the High Summoner. Quite a name to live up to."

The rest of the group follows after Zei, and if Tōkan doesn't miss his guess they feel... tense? Why would they feel tense? Aren't summoners meant to all be great people and all that?

Dona's eyes leave Zei's and scan his little crowd before they return to his face. "My, my, my... but all these people. Are they your guardians? What a rabble. I recall your Lord father had only one guardian. Quality over quantity, my dear, whatever are you thinking?"

...huh?

Zei's right eyebrow slowly lifts almost all the way into his hair. "I'm sorry, what are we, twelve? Comparing dick sizes? I'll bet mine is bigger than yours."

Lulu coughs into her hand, covering her lips with it.

"How crass," Dona replies between pursed lips.