Ah, the second chapter...this one I don't like at all, up until the end...NO! Don't scroll down to look! You have to read the whole thing first...that's right ALL OF IT. But as I was saying, I'm not satisfied with this chapter at all (don't scroll!) up until the end, but it's still a chapter important to the plot. Now, review responses!

KupoKupoKupo: Thanks, dude. And, your wish has been granted. ONE DAY! ONE DAY!

Here it is!

Chapter 2: Initiate Division 14

"Welcome!" As soon as they stepped over the threshold, the tiny, high pitched voice of what unmistakably had to be a moogle greeted them. They looked down at the tiny moogle, which wore a green hat, a brown vest and green pants. It waved at them kindly. "Are you the new members?"

"Yeah…" Warren muttered, looking around. The house consisted of one, large room. It had yellow walls and a green ceiling and floor. There were rows of chairs lined up in front of a stage at the other end of the room, on which Quentin, a nu mou and a bangaa sat on chairs. There were at least thirty or so members of the clan, it seemed, and all were sitting around the room, all watching the stage. Everyone were talking loudly and discussing, but as soon as the door closed with a low 'bam!' everyone looked around and saw the three standing with the moogle.

"Ah, the new members have arrived!" Quentin grinned, standing up. Everyone, let me introduce our newest members; Elroy the Battler, Delia the Black Mage and Warren the Thief!" There were a few hellos and greetings, but other than that, there were only curious stares. "Sit down; we were just starting the meeting!" The little moogle scurried off and sat down next to a tall viera while the trio quietly sat down on a few chairs in the back. Quentin walked over to a podium at the front of the stage and smiled at the clan's members. "Anyways, welcome everyone! Nice to see you all here! We will do the normal routine; first, Mission reports! Anything I need to know?" A rough, slightly scaled, orange hand was raised. "Yes?" The bangaa stood up.

"Me and the others in division eleven found Dolce, the wanted prison escaper!" The bangaa said proudly.

"Ah, good job. Meet me in the office later, Mr. Alnor. Anyone else?" A young Soldier raised his hand. "Yes?"

"We found another hidden adamantite vein during a mission in Lutia Pass!" The Soldier grinned.

"Really?"

"Yes! We called the union in Baguba Port, and they awarded us with ten thousand gil!"

"Impressive. Meet me in my office later as well. Anything else? No one? Alright then, on to the new members placement, then. Initiate division fourteen, please raise your hands." Three hands were raised. "Perfect. The new members will be joining Initiate Division 14. On to the Mission assignments, then!"

After the meeting, everyone moved the chairs around and sat with the members of their division. The trio took their chairs and walked over to the three who had raised their hands earlier. The rest of division fourteen consisted of a moogle Thief who clad himself in a black shirt and pants, together with black boots and a pair of green-hilted daggers, a human White Mage wearing a white robe with red patterns on the edges and a human Monk, wearing a breezy white shirt, black pants, brown sneakers and a white and blue headband.

"So, you're the new members?" The moogle muttered. "Don't seem too great."

"Elias!" The Monk exclaimed warningly.

"What! It's true!"

"Don't be rude, Elias." The White Mage muttered. She smiled weakly at the trio. "Hi, and welcome to Clan Baltind."

"Thanks…so, have you been in this Initiate thing for a long time?" Warren wondered as he sat down.

"Only for two months, so you better not screw it up." Elias said.

"ELIAS!"

"Sorry, kupo."

"Forgive our friend, he has yet to have learn the meaning of 'manners'." The White Mage sighed. "I'm Miruna." She added.

Elroy chuckled and Delia gave Elias a dull glance before looking at the Monk. "A Monk, hm? What made you pick that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" The Monk asked suspiciously. Delia smirked devilishly.

"Nothing, just asking you what made you pick the Monk job?"

"Nothing MADE me pick this job, I CHOSE it because I think Monks are the best and they are, too!"

"Chill, Morris, chill." Elias grinned.

"YOU CHILL!"

"DON'T SHOUT AT ME!" The two started bickering furiously, and Miruna's smile faltered slightly.

"Ugh…" Miruna sighed again. "Just ignore them. Anyway, onto our assignments-"

"We get assignments?" Warren interrupted. Elroy and Delia glared at him. "Sorry."

"That's okay." Miruna shrugged. "Yes, we get assignments. They're the missions that are mandatory each month. Other than those, we can pick whichever mission we want…higher ranked missions means bigger chance to get off the Initiate list…however-"

"However?" Warren interrupted again. A faint pink formed on his cheeks. "Sorry."

"That's alright. As I was saying, you can't pick any mission you want anymore, though. Since the last law, there's this weird system, so you're restricted to lower ranked missions when you begin, and then work your way up. It's some safety issue, kids were picking dangerous missions trying to show off to some friends and they got seriously hurt. Fired up the vast community of insanely worried parents." Miruna sighed. "Anyways, our assigned missions are…Late Spring Cleaning, from Aries Neinar, who needs help cleaning up her mansion…weird…apparently, she prefers if the dispatched one is male, human, young and does one or more of the following jobs; Battler, Thief, Beastmaster, Archer and Fighter…"

"Sounds good enough." Warren said.

"Alright then. It's a dispatch mission, so you're going alone." Miruna said, handing the surprised Warren a clipboard she had summoned out of nowhere and a piece of parchment with an address written on it.

"Oh, I'm doing it…" He realized.

"Mhm. Two more…Hurry And Save Me…another cleaning thing…why don't they just get a maid or something? Anyways, this girl, Nina Lennin, threw a big party while her parents were away, and now she needs someone to help her clean it up, fast, midnight…okay, I guess we need to get to this one at the moment…also a dispatch mission, so only one person will do it…who wants to go?"

"Not me. I ain't cleaning nothing." Elias said firmly, crossing his arms.

"Okay, I guess Ben is doing it." Miruna said, handing the Monk a clipboard and a piece of parchment. "And lastly…ah, a Battle classed mission. F rank. They need someone to go out into the forest and beat up six Flans. It shouldn't be too hard…I guess the rest of us should go on that one." She wrote something down on another clipboard and pen she summoned. "There! Now, Ben, get out of here and help that girl."

"Damn you." Ben growled and stood up, cracking his knuckles. He then walked away, muttering under his breath.

"Warren, your mission has to be done within the next seven days, so you should get that done. And the rest, this last mission can be done anytime, so when do you want to do it?"

"How about tomorrow? We could meet by the gates and head out." Elroy suggested.

"Sounds like a plan." Miruna stood up. "Well, we're done for today. I'm going home now, bye." And with that and a small wave, she walked off. Elias stood up quietly, glared at the three and grinned mischievously and then hurried off after the White Mage. There was a brief silence.

"Well, that was interesting." Elroy mumbled.

"WARREN!" Warren's eyes flew open and he winced. "The beast has awakened." He thought sadly. "WARREN!"

The blue-wall room was very quiet and empty. There was only a book case, a wardrobe, Warren's dagger, his Thief outfit and a bed. It was his sanctuary. Only he was allowed there if he said so.

Or so he thought.

"WARREN!" The door flew open and smashed against the wall. A girl with short, dark hair wearing a pair of blue jeans, white pants and a blue vest stepped in, furious, it seemed. "WHY WAS I NOT INFORMED THAT YOU WERE LET INTO A GUILD!"

Warren smiled weakly. "Oh yay, my sister is home. How glorious."

"SHUT UP! ANSWER ME!"

"At the same time? I think that's physically impossible."

"ANSWER ME!"

"Okay. You were not informed since you never asked. Maybe if you did a little more asking and a little less demanding, but hey, I can't control you, right?" Warren grinned as he watched his sister, who had spent the last four months in Dark Monk camp, become even more enraged.

"DAMN STRAIGHT YOU CAN'T!" She stood there, huffing and puffing, her face becoming even redder. Then, suddenly, she threw herself forward and hugged him tightly. "Oh, I've missed you so much!"

"Ooookay! Did they teach you Suffocate at that camp, 'cause I think only Blue Mages and Face Huggers are supposed to be able to do that!" He exclaimed. Peyton snorted and got off the bed, standing up with her arms in akimbo.

"Can't you ever be serious? Pff. I don't understand how you're gonna survive in a clan…"

"Bet I could do better than you."

"How much?"

Warren froze, staring dumbfounded at her sister. "…oh!" He gasped. "Which clan?"

"Clan Redders. They're new and pretty crappy, I'm thinking about leaving. But I'm making some cash from it, so it's sorta worth it."¨

"Cool!" Warren sighed. "Wow, it's going so fast, huh? One second we're learning our first ability (which were First Aid and Mog Aid for moogles), and the next, we're joining clans and doing missions…it's pretty sweet." Warren almost got out of his bed when he looked up, annoyed. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Get out of my room!"

"Yo!" Warren leaned out of the window in his room and shouted to the neighbor house, which was where Elroy lived. "YO!" The window opposite to his on the other house opened, and Elroy looked out, with unclean, wild hair and wearing only his underwear.

"WHAT!"

"Aren't you getting ready for your mission?"

"Wha? AW CRAP!" Elroy disappeared into his room. Then, an alarm clock came soaring out of the window and crashed onto the ground below, smashing into small pieces. "DAMN YOU, ALARM CLOCK! YOU BETRAYED ME!" And then he disappeared again, and the window closed. Warren chuckled and looked at his wrist clock.

"Well, better get going." He put on his tabis and hurried out of his room.

Warren strutted down Ambermore Lane, on which a few, huge mansions were lined up. He stopped at the fourth one, a purple mansion, the biggest one on the lane. He stepped over the gate and walked up to the front door on the small stone path, staring baffled at the mansion. He knocked on the large, white door and waited. Finally, the door was opened by who seemed to be Aries Neinar.

Warren's first impression was that Aries was very, very beautiful. She was a viera with tanned skin and long, snow white hair. She wore a purple skirt and a purple short-sleeved shirt with white edges. She smiled brightly at Warren. She seemed one or two years older than him.

"Ah, finally…" She grabbed his arm and pulled him inside. Warren looked around as Aries closed the door behind him. The entrance hall was a large, oval room, with light brown, almost golden walls, and a set of marble stairs leading to the top floor. Warren looked up at the crystal chandelier in awe.

"Wow…this is a really pretty house you have here…" He gasped.

"Yes, thank you…it's quite special to me…my husband bought it when we got married…" Aries smiled and walked past him. "So, now to your…mission…"

"Yeah? You want me to help you clean up, right?"

"Oh…yes…" Aries smiled again. "I would like to begin with the top floor…would you go upstairs and wait in the third room to the left while I get the cleaning items?" She asked sweetly. Warren nodded and headed upstairs. He walked over to the third door to the left and opened. It seemed to be a bedroom, and a very large one at that. The walls were sky blue, and there was a huge king size bed with purple covers. He raised an eyebrow, confused. The room seemed pretty clean, as did the other parts of the house he had seen. He put his arms at his sides and waited. He wondered if this was some sort of a trick, and he instantly felt angry at himself for not bringing his dagger.

"I'm here!" Warren let out a small gasp and jumped back as Aries suddenly jumped up in front of him, as if she had crawled in front of him and then stood up abruptly. His eyes widened as he calmed down. She was standing there in a very, very short skirt and a very, very tight shirt.

"Hello…where's the cleaning…things…?" He asked tentatively. Aries let out a small laugh.

"That's funny…" She walked in a half-circle around him, against the door. She leaned against it, closing the door with a slam. "We both know there is no cleaning to be done."

"Now I do…I guess…so…I guess the mission…is done…" With each word, Warren stepped back as Aries stepped against him. "Right?"

-Fifteen minutes past midnight the night before-

"See, now this is just unfair…" Ben stepped up to the house he was supposed to clean in his Monk gear. "Just plain unfair." The size of the house was anything but average. It seemed as if someone had taken a huge house of some hidden away island and placed it in this small neighborhood-ly street. "Goddamn moogle." He muttered, knocking on the door. It flung open to reveal a blonde, seemingly furious girl clad in a green robe, black shoes and a straw hat.

"LATE!" She shouted.

"Huh?" Ben raised an eyebrow. The girl moved to the right slightly to reveal who seemed like her very angry parents standing in a trashed living room inside. "Oh."

"LATE!" She shouted again, a green ball of fire forming in his hand.

"Take it easy, now- AH!" He ducked out of the way of the fireball and dashed off, zick-zacking to avoid the girl's outlet of rage.

-Back to present: Warren-

"AH!" Warren ducked again as Aries flung herself at him. "I thought-" He sidestepped. "- you said you have a husband! I don't wanna get in any trouble, miss!" He jumped away as Aries tried to push him against the bed.

"Oh please, he's just some forty-year old rich guy who needed someone to make him look better. Plus, he doesn't care; he's always on business trips around the world…" Aries stopped and her smile faded. She looked away and Warren froze when he heard sobbing sounds.

"Please don't cry…sorry…" He put his arm around her shoulders, stale but trying to be comforting. His eyes widened in shock as she grabbed his arms and looked up with a satisfied grin.

"Fooled ya."

"I'm not late, I'm not late, I'm not late, I'm not late!" Elroy dashed down the street to the town gates, trying to eat a sandwich, brush his teeth, drink a milkshake he had picked up quickly on the way and comb his hair as he ducked out of the way of the sword swing of a bangaa who was dueling a human Battler in the middle of the street. He turned and hurried over to the stone wall and the huge wooden and metal enforced doors which were the town gates. He saw Delia, Miruna and Elias already there. "I'm not late!"

Delia looked up and saw Elroy running against them, slurping on what seemed like a toothbrush jammed into a milkshake, trying to shove half a sandwich down the other side of his mouth with a comb with the same hand and combing his hair with a straw. He stopped in front of them, threw away the milkshake, swallowed the sandwich, dropped the comb and the straw and panted heavily. Delia looked at her wrist watch.

"You're late."

"Sexual harassment! Sexual harassment!"

"Oh please, a young boy like you, the only explanation to why you are struggling would be that you're-"

"HEY! You got a point there, but still, SEXUAL HARASSMENT! With the lawsuit and everything!"

"Hah!" Aries sat up. She was sitting in Warren's lap, pushing him down against the bed. "You wouldn't dare."

"Try me."

"Don't mind if I do!"

"Not like that!" Warren tried to get out of her hold, but she was surprisingly strong. He sighed and looked up at in her eyes. He stared for a long moment, and then, for some strange reason he didn't even understand, he started laughing. Aries furrowed her thin eyebrows.

"Why are you laughing? Stop it! What's so funny?" She got off the bed, glaring at Warren, who was still laughing hysterically. "Quit it!"

"I…can't…" Warren banged his fists on the bed, laughing. Then, suddenly, he stopped and rolled over to the other side of the bed. "Hah!" He backed against the wall and threw open the window. "Fooled ya!" He grinned, and then he jumped out of the window.

"Oh my god!" Aries screeched, running against the window. She looked out and saw Warren running down the side of the mansion, his tabis somehow sticking to the wall.

"See ya, lady! I'll come back for my reward!"

"But you didn't do anything!" Aries shouted, dumbfounded as she watched Warren land and walk against the street.

"But the house is pretty clean, right?" He shouted back, and then he jumped over the fence and ran off.

"Flans…pff, to easy." Delia flicked her hand tiredly, sending a flaming orb of fire at a blue blob known as an Ice Flan. The orb hit the flan and it closed around it, trapping the flan in flames. Then, the flames were gone, as was the flan, and all that was left was a burn mark on the dirty ground and a strange, whirling glow that flew away.

"Why don't you let us do some stuff, Del? You've been killing everything in sight!" Elroy sighed, frustrated.

"Okay…that's six flans." Miruna looked around, peering through the many trees at the sides of the road. "No monsters in sight. We can head back now." She wrote something down on her clipboard and then they headed back to the town.

"Report!" All six had gathered back at the guild hall. There were only a few there, and since it was a bit early, the door was locked. Luckily, Miruna had been handed a key, being the first member of Initiate Division Fourteen. Miruna had collected all the clipboards and was now inspecting the others with a glint in her eye. "First, Warren. How did your mission go?"

"Uh…it went…swell." He mumbled, scratching the back of his head. "But I haven't collected the reward yet. I'll do that later."

"Great! The battle mission went well too, anyone who wants to get the reward?"

"I'll do it." Elroy said.

"Perfect. Remember to stop by the office; a share of all cash rewards from assigned missions must go to the guild."

"Okay."

"Good then. Ben?" There was a strange tone of strictness and hope in Miruna's voice.

Ben looked at the others wearily.

"Ben?"

Ben sighed. "I was late."

"Late?" Miruna's gaze turned into a glare. "Late! You were late!"

"I was late! It's a big city, and it was dark, it's hard to find places!"

"How late?"

"I don't know!" Ben crossed his arms. "Does it matter?"

"Yes it does!" Miruna was clearly angered and frustrated. "This is the third time this month!"

"Yeah, you're on a roll." Elias sniggered. Warren almost started laughing as well, but Delia sent him a glance which alerted him in time to catch his laughter in his throat. Elroy shook his head.

"Two out of three is good enough, I guess." He mumbled. Miruna wrote something down on her clipboard and then she looked up.

"Oh well! We're done with our assignments! Now we have six days till the next assignments…we can pick more missions, of course, so if you guys wanna do some mission, just come stop here and check if we're in to come along." Miruna suggested. Elias snorted, as did Ben. "Check in if I'm in to come along, then." She added, annoyed.

"Yeah, we'll do that." Warren stood up and put his hands at his sides. "Well, I'll be going now. See ya." He smiled briefly at Miruna and glanced at Ben, who was cracking his knuckles, muttering, and then he headed against the door.

Warren looked up as he walked down the street, thinking about the day. It was already getting dark, even though it was quite early in the day. He sighed, putting his hand in his pockets. He thought back to the meeting. He remembered the ecstatic feeling he had felt as he had seen his clansmates.

"Heh…" He chuckled to himself as he thought he saw one of the stars sparkle. He stared at the star for a moment, but a loud bang and a scream shook him out of his thoughts. He looked around and heard a second scream not far away. He ran down the street and turned, seeing a blonde boy lying face-down on the ground, his dark robes burned on the edges. A girl in a white robe, apparently a White Mage, ran against the boy, kneeling down at him, her face streaming with tears. She let out a gasp and rolled the boy over. Warren hurried over to them. "Hey!"

The White Mage looked up, staring at Warren, terrified. "Please, help him! They're already on their way!" She grabbed the boy's hand, putting it to her cheek while sobbing hysterically. "Please…help him…" She whispered. Warren was about to ask what was coming, and what had happened, although the quickly approaching shadow not far up the street gave him a distinct suspicion. He got up from his crouch and walked past the girl. The dark form stopped. Then, the darkness wrapped around the form seemed to separate, and Warren realized it had been a slim man with a black cape wrapped around his body. He had dark hair which was held up by his black headband, and he was clad in black leather from neck to toe. There was a black bandana covering his mouth, and Warren saw the silvery glint of a pair of daggers hanging at his sides.

"Who are you?" Warren called out, although he knew there wasn't going to any answer. The girl turned her head and let out a small whimper.

"Him...he…" She stopped to breathe for a moment, wiping her tears off with her sleeve. "…he…chased us…I don't know…what he…wants with us!" She finished placing her face in her hands. "You have to get help…" Warren heard her whisper weakly.

"Did you do this?" Warren shouted, pointing to the boy. The man tilted his head a little, his gray eyes shifting from the White Mage to Warren.

"Yes." He said. His voice was strangely raspy, like a bangaas voice.

"Why?"

"Business." The man replied simply. He didn't seem to be bothered at all by the scene.

Warren glared at the man, frustrated and a bit frightened. "Who are you?"

"…I'm a busy man." Warren raised an eyebrow. "This is going nowhere." He thought.

"Look, I don't know what you did to this boy, but you obviously hurt him. Why?" Warren said, once again sure that he was not getting a direct answer.

"Because it's my job." The man stepped forwards slowly.

"Stop." Warren said. "You are not hurting them again."

"Are you trying to interfere with my work?" The man asked. Warren's eyes widened a little. He wondered where the judges were agitatedly.

"You are not hurting them again." He repeated, stepping back a little as the man took another step against him.

"I don't like interferences…" The man sighed. "I have to get rid of interferences." He stopped abruptly. Warren stared at the man, waiting. The man seemed to have frozen completely. Then he realized what had happened.

"Look out!" Warren was ready. He ducked and rolled forwards, right through the man who had been in front of him. He stood up and turned around to see the man he had first seen, with his back against him, and an exact replica of him standing next to him, staring at Warren. The bandana had fallen off, and there was a small grin on the man's face.

"You saw my trick…" He drove his hand through the head of the man next to him, and he seemed to vanish. The 'replica' stood let his hand fall limply to his side. "Very smart."

"Well, I am a Thief…I can see those kinds of tricks…" Warren smiled and leapt forward, his fist up. The man pulled out his dagger and shoved it into the stomach of Warren in midair. He smiled and pulled out the dagger, letting the boy fall to the ground. Although, as soon as he hit the ground, Warren vanished the same way the dark clad man's copy had done. The man staggered forwards as Warren, who appeared behind him, sent a swift kick to his back. "And I also know how to do them." He said as the man turned around. "Now, I'll ask one last time. Who are you?"

The man cracked his knuckles. "You're persistent…I like that…" He let his arms fall limply to his sides. "My name is Eol, I believe." He smiled a little. "Now, since you have delivered the first hit…I believe this is an engagement…" Eol's grin widened. "But there's no judge here…and you know what that means, right?"

A lump formed in Warren's throat. "I'll…I won't let you…"

"Hurt them?" Eol laughed a little. "Fine." There was a silence, as the two stared at each other. The White Mage seemed to be oblivious to the scene behind her, she was just weeping by the Black Mage.

"Are you-" As soon as Warren uttered those words, Eol seemed to disappear right in front of him. "He's fast…" He thought to himself. He stood still, closing his eyes and concentrating. He waited, and waited…and then, he bent backwards, avoiding two shurikens that had been thrown at him from behind. He landed on his hands and kicked off the ground, doing a strange half-wheelie into a fighting stance. He looked around, ready to attack. Then, suddenly, he saw a blur appear for a moment not far away. And again, a little closer this time. Then, he was knocked down as Eol's fist seemed to come out of nowhere and hit him on the shoulder so hard he whirled around and fell to the ground face down. He quickly pushed himself up, sending a kick against Eol. Eol grabbed Warren's foot and twisted it. Warren was thrown over again, but this time, he landed on his hands. While still in the momentum, he let his other foot fly up and hit Eol straight against the cheek. He dropped Warren, who landed and rolled forward, getting up.

"Had enough?" Warren asked, his confidence building up and his adrenaline pumping fiercely.

Eol smiled weakly. "Yes…" He pulled out his daggers. "I have had enough of this." Warren's eyes widened as Eol made a strange whirl against him, as if to stab him. Warren jumped back, but apparently, Eol had tricked him, as he threw the other dagger against him as he jumped back. There was a short, breathtaking moment as Warren looked at Eol before there was a strong pain the lower region of his chest, he landed on his head and went unconscious, blood spilling to the ground.

"I'll...I won't let you..." SOOOOO big of a cliché, I know. But it was necessary, really. Anyways, there it is. I hope you like cliffhangers, 'cause I haven't even started on the third one yet. I'll get right at it right...NOW!