A. N. The Challenge: Icey the Fox bet me that I couldn't finish one of my stories by the time he was back. Or maybe I bet him, or said both... Doesn't matter now, I have one week to prove him wrong, supposing a chapter a night... Will six chapters be enough to finish it? Will it seem rushed, and messy? Will all chapters be short and suck ass? Is there alien life out there? Stay tuned to find out, oh and by the way, I haven't put a disclaimer up till now, so here it is: I don't own FFTA. Too bad eh?

Chapter 5

Ten survivors inside the circle in the next room, not far from the third trial. They stood in the center of five statues, one of each race. The five statues looked tall, and full of power and pride. Rien wasn't sure but he assumed that they might be the creators of the Eclipsed. The right arm of each statue was outstretched and the hands were all piled on top of one another, almost like a symbol of friendship and teamwork. The new initiates stood just below the hands, and it seemed almost as if the statues were granting their blessings upon them.

Rien turned to face his new colleagues. They were gathered in a circle, facing inwards. Rien had only managed to figure out some of their names and occupations. Starting from his left was a timid moogle with large goggles named Guiness, Rien gathered that he was a gunner, though he once specialized as a gadgeteer and still used those skills from time to time. Beside Guiness was the fun loving mog knight named Kent. Next to him were two nu mous, Midas and Pikips, the sage brothers. Two tall vieras and a raggedy clothed bangaa stood next to them. Another bangaa stood beside him and finishing off the group was a cruel human called Roland. Rien didn't really get along with the man, who seemed to enjoy watching others suffer. He had even laughed when he saw what the chair had done to Rien. Rien eyed the ninja suspiciously, suspecting that he might have already made an enemy, even though they were all supposedly on the same side.

As the Eclipsed members gathered around the area with the statues, using the very same staffs they used before to summon the dragon, they placed them in the slots surrounding the area. The group was ordered to place their hands together in the center and so everyone obeyed. The room grew dark and a blue magic filled and floated around the room. Rien could hear the Eclipsed members chanting in the background but eventually all the noises seemed to fade away as he and the others beside him were completely enveloped in the magic. Then just as suddenly as it happened, the room grew silent and the magic faded away.

Rien and the others found themselves standing in the entrance room in the guild of the Eclipsed along with hundreds of other members all standing around them, no masks or anything. They all applauded as they saw the new members appear in a flash of dark blue light. The people cheered, laughed and many ran over to meet the group. After a few minutes of hand shaking, pats on the back and trying to remember all these new names a voice called out for silence.

Everyone quieted down and turned to face this important figure. "Welcome," (Rien recognized the voice as the one who lead them through the tasks) "I am Decker, the recruitment leader of the Eclipsed, and I am very happy that you all made it. It is no easy task and many congratulations are in order." Decker waited for the applause to stop before he continued. "These are the rulebooks for the clan; you will find that these rules govern every situation. I know that most of you will not even bother to read the rulebook, but at least read the first pages, they contain the most important rules of the guild in them." Decker motioned towards two of his helpers that brought forward several dictionary sized books.

"As well, please notice the rings on your hands," Rien stared down and sure enough, there was a ring on the pinky of his left hand. Rien thought it looked pretty cool, it had the symbol of a sun being covered by a moon. "These rings are your keys to get inside the guild; they are only visible to other members of our clan. The doors use a magically coded system, and the codes are automatically updated and changed every day. Guard your ring and your rulebook with your life! I cannot stress this enough!" Decker smiled before continuing.

"Now, you are never alone in the Eclipsed, all these people around you are your allies. However, you have all been assigned a partner, to compliment each other's personalities and abilities. This will be your best friend, your business partner, and your guardian angel all combined. You will have to take responsibility for your partner, and so you will share in their successes, and in their defeats. The partners are as follows…"

Rien was pretty sure that the Eclipsed would divide up the group by race, and was dreading the fact that he would be stuck with Roland for a "best friend". Rien shuddered. But he was surprised and quite happy when he found out he was wrong, and he found himself paired with the small bespectacled moogle, Guiness. Midas and Pikip stayed together, Kent was partnered with a viera, and Roland ended up with a towering bangaa gladiator.

After more clapping and celebrating, they were led off by Decker's helpers to various different wings of the guild, and Rien noted that he and Guiness had rooms right beside one another. Rien figured that all partners must be stuck together.

Ah well, no biggie. Guiness doesn't seem like all that bad a guy anyway. Maybe a little geeky, but whatever.

Rien used his ring to unlock his room and his mouth dropped open in awe. "Wow…" That was the only word Rien could manage as he gazed around the beautifully decorated room. Gold statues, paintings, silk curtains, a real bed! He resisted the urge to steal whatever wasn't nailed down from the room, figuring that it was all technically his now anyway.

"Wow, Guiness, is you seeing this?" Rien shouted out to his new friend.

Guiness laughed, "If you think that's kupo, check the chest!"

Noticing a chest in the corner of his room, he walked over to it and tried to open it. It was locked, but using the ring, he unlocked it and opened it. Again, Rien stared in shock. Gil, gil, GIL! The entire chest was filled to the top with it. It's all mine! I'm rich, I'm RICH!

"WHHHOOOO HOO!" Rien pumped his arms up and started jumping on his bed in excitement.

Looking at the chest, he saw one of Decker's helpers standing in his doorway with a smirk on his face.

"C'mon now, throw on one of your suits and come back into the main hall for the celebration." Noticing the puzzled look on Rien's face he added, "They're in your closet." The Eclipsed member left while Rien explored his new closet.

After about ten minutes of trying to tie his tie and finally giving up, Rien marched out and waited a little longer for Guiness to appear. The moogle came out a little later, looking extremely goofy in a small black tuxedo. Rien held back his laughter while Guiness scowled at him. He noticed the rulebook in Guiness's hand and gave him a slight questioning look.

"I hate celebrations kupo." Guiness informed him. Rien just shrugged and they left for the main hall. "Stop, you look like a complete dork," Guiness ordered and as he instructed Rien to bend down while he struggled to tie the tie.

"Where'd you learn this Guiness?" Rien said with a slight grin.

"Not a word kupo, or I'll put a bullet through your head while you sleep." Guiness finished and stopped to admire his work. "There, now you're looking quite the kupo." They headed off towards the main hall again.

Rien needed to take a second after arriving just to take it all in. The main hall itself was HUGE. The ceiling was a giant arc, the room basically a huge dome. Stairwells lined the walls and many hallways led off from them. The room itself was filled with people, males and females of all races. Rien immediately began mingling with the various others, trying to get to know as many as he could, although most names just flew past him. Rien found himself a chair and was delighted by the amount and different kinds of food offered.

After the great feast, the dancing began. Rien spied out Guiness sitting in a corner, skimming over the rulebook and occasionally gazing around the room. He also saw Kent, being thrown up and down in the middle of the dance floor by a group of vieras, laughing his head off. He couldn't spy any of the other new recruits, but all that was forgotten when he was asked by a cute girl if he wanted to dance. Rien, slightly startled, accepted and soon learned that the girl's name was Emma. After a whole night of partying and dancing, the dance ended and Rien gave a small goodnight kiss to Emma and left for bed.

As Rien lay in bed he thought about all the excitement, the dancing, joining the guild and all the other things that had happened in the past few days

This is perfect. This is the life. It just can't get any better then this. Rien thought as he pulled the covers up to his chin and fell asleep.

The next morning he was awoken by Guiness banging on his door. "Wake up!" the small moogle bellowed, "C'mon Rien, wake up!" Rien grumbled and rolled over. "It's too early!" He complained and covered his head with his pillow. "Kupo, it's already twelve! Plus, we have plenty of other initiation routines to complete!"

A whole week of boredom! I don't know if I can do this… Rien thought as he dragged himself out of bed and opened the door for the moogle.

"Finally kupo!"

"Pssh, I had a late night, so what?" Rien yawned.

"We've got to go!" Guiness announced.

"What, this early?"

"Yes kupo. I've been reading about the first week of initiation. There are plenty of events that happen during the day. Today there's The Rituals, then there's The Questioning, and then there's The Partner's Bond..."

Rien grumbled and hid his head in his pillow.

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A.N. Oh and by the way, there hasn't been that much action up till now, but expect more in the chapters to come.