It was a bright and sunny afternoon in the Bazaars in Aksyar that day when Ulrich, Belisarius, Churi, Osgar and Ybor decided to buy some supplies. Belisarius had his men carry a large chest filled with Ducats and other precious items exchangeable to the merchants.

Osgar, Ybor and Churi's job was simple, protect Belisarius and the money untill the deal is complete. Churi cocked her shotgun ready and walked with Belisarius.

The loud sounds of barking merchants polluted her ears Merchants yell to attract potential buyers from the Bakers selling bread to the common peasant to a perfume dealer exposing his collection to the wives of Aksyar's Elite. Churi hid her wallet on her neck so she won't get pick pocketed by any thieves that constantly prey around the bazaar.

"You smell that? Somethings cooking."Osgar grinned his teeth.

"What is it?"Churi ask

"Roasted Chicken."Osgar teased.

"Oh Shut up!" Churi said.

"Is he always like this?" Kikuchan asked.

"Yeah he is a jerk."Churi replied.

"What's a jerk?"Osgar asked.

"A good natured gentleman."Churi sarcastically said.

"Ooooo......Return fire I hear."Ybor commented.

"Okay here we are in the meeting place now where is he."Belisarius said raising his hand to look for the merchant.

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"Make that 5500 Ducats and its a deal." The merchant said.

"Fine! Here it is, weigh them and lets get this over with. It's almost night time."Belisarius said handing over a chest of Ducats to one of his servants.

"It is a pleasure to do business with you Magister Equites."The Merchant bowed.

Just as the money was about to be counted a masked man walked up to Belisarius and whispered some words to him. Belisarius in turn, whispered back and followed the mask man.

"Osgar! I that man."Ybor said.

"Who?"Osgar asked.

"Smuggling Syndicate messenger. There always up to no good, hey Belisarius! Can I join? I want to see some of those...goods from the other side."Ybor raised his voice.

"Sure, he is with me. Lead the way."Belisarius complacently said.

"Osgar, Ulrich, Churi follow me quietly, a lot of smuggler deals usually go south real fast."Ybor whispered.

"Ok, but speartip for a head better not make me look bad."Churi said.

"Oh boo hoo."Ybor snickered.

"Follow.....okay!"Ulrich enthusiastically said.

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Osgar, Ulrich and Churi stalked Belisarius and Ybor to alley where several armed men with guns, swords awaited them. They all stared sinisterly at them as they made their approach.

"Hey! I thought you promised no....wait are you Ybor? Okay, my syndicate still owes the Foreign Legion some favors even if you no longer work for them. I just hope you better buy something or I will cut your balls off and sell it to a Edanzi Witch Doctor."the smuggler leader said.

"Oh I am better buying whats in the store today." Ybor said.

"And do you got the you know what."Belisarius said.

"Yes, 5 kilograms of Hallucinogenic flowers for you."The smuggler leader said. He waved his hands and two of his men carried a small box containing the drugs.

"I thought Belisarius quit his drug habit already? I saw him toss his stache before we got to Baizan."Churi said.

"Well some old habits die hard. Just wait for the signal from my brother. If this deals goes loud we have bust Belisarius out of there." Osgar said.

"Ooohhh! I can feel my lungs getting numb and my eyes are flying away from my sockets already."Belisarius sampled the flowers by smelling its intoxicating scent.

"Well what's in it for me?"Ybor asked.

"Well some second hand weapons and I got a few rare spices....."

"Oh just grab the knife and cut it already you cheapskate rat!"

"I was just joking, I have standards you know. But....this might.... convince you to finally buy from me."The smuggler leader snapped his fingers and brought out a person that the smugglers had in prison.

"Kiku!"Churi recognised the girl.

"Whoa! What?"Belisarius and Ybor said.

"I got your lover Ybor! My spies saw you giving flowers to her in the Gimaelic embassy."The smuggler said.

"She just wanted something nice to go on her dress. She ain't my lover."

"Well if you insist...."

"Okay! I buy from your greedy hands twice the price for her and you let her go."

"Okay deal!"

"Hey! Did I asked for some crack or a painted flower!"Belisarius said, his hands containing the 'Hallucinogenic flower' whose petal's colors wore off to show it was just some cheap imitation.

"Hey guys we got some f******* buyers remorse!"The smuggler leader yelled.

"Go! Shoot!" Osgar threw a javelin at one of the armed smugglers killing him. Churi raised her shotgun and fired a few shells. Ybor unloaded his AK47 at the smugglers trying to get a beat on him and Belisarius as he dragged the Vanoran to some solid ground. The smuggler leader took Ju Jingyi away with him.

"We need to get her! We can't lose her!" Churi said.

"Go!" Ybor yelled.

The group fought there way through the alley untill they reached an open space where several horses, motorbikes and techinical jeeps trucks waited for the smugglers. One of the trucks was apparently a repurposed JSDF armored car with a heavy machine gun attached to it. The .50 caliber fired at the Gedriht as they covered the leaders escape. The smugglers boarded their vehicles before getting out. They were in such a rush however, that they forgot that they left behind an armored buggy when the left them in the dust.

"I can drive!"Churi said getting in the wheel. Everyone boarded the jeep eager to get Ju Jingyi and Belisarius money back.

"Let's floor it!" Churi said hitting the gas pedal.

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"It's like a maze here!"Churi said. She is still struggling to get used to the very touchy controls of the jeep. She only knew how to drive from those gaming machines in Sega Center back in Sunshine Nagoya she occassionally plays after SKE48 rehearsals.

"Whoa Whoa Whoa! Watch the road!" Belisarius shouted.

Churi looked to see there was a bazaar cart on the way and she narrowly dodged the cart.

The MG fired at the cart causing her too lose control of the cart and drive sideways into another road. The jeep recklessly like a wrecking ball smashed anything on its way from low hanging clothes line to carts. The Armored trucks was making chasing the smugglers difficult for her but she still persists.

"Do you have to hit everything you look at!"Osgar yelled.

"Do you want to drive?"Churi yelled.

"No! Your doing just fine for a birdie but stick to flying or fat wings bird brain."Osgar said.

"Belisarius! Why the hell did you buy drugs again? I thought you quit."Churi asked.

"It's Miyuki! The stress....being a father.....I needed to relax thats why."Belisarius replied.

"Well your not going to be a good example to Milky and the baby if you keep sniffing crack five times a day."Churi talked back.

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The jeep was now nearing the walls of the city and the convoy of smuggler vehicles was already gunning for one of the many gates leading out and into the city.

"Stop your vehicle!" One of the sentries in the gates yelled but to no avail the smugglers and the Gedrihts jeep ran through the road block.

"Oh crap, I think you just pissed off the guards. I hear that the Foreign Legion here got there hands on some nice stuff like this too."Ybor said.

"Hey get close! We are near the convoy."Ybor said.

The jeep was already closing into one of the trucks of the convoy. Just as she was about to get ready to bail the car, Ulrich jumped out of his seat and climbed on the ledge of the truck. He quickly punched one of the smugglers in the face after he grabbed on and the smuggler fell down to the sandy desert floor.

"Good Job Wolfy-sama. I'm coming in, Ybor you drive just press the gas pedal in the right and the brake pedal in the left okay?" Churi said before jumping off the driver seat and climbing onboard with Ulrich.

"We rescue Kookie!" Ulrich said mispronuncing Ju's nickname.

The two began to battle it out with the smugglers as Churi shelled out her shotgun while Ulrich threw heavy objects that he could find in the moving vehicle from a toolbox to even a dead body of a smuggler. Some of the smugglers would daringly jump out of there mounts to the truck and attack Churi in hand to hand combat. Akane pushed them back and Ulrich finished them off by biting them at the throat savagely with his sharpened Tetike-Human hybrid teeth.

"Rocket Launcher!" Osgar warned.

Churi turned around to see one of the smugglers brandishing a rocket launcher aimed towards them. The Berserker and the Birdlover jumped out of the truck into an adjacent truck just as the rocket fired and blew the truck they were in. Ybor's jeep also dodged the wreckage and they were still in the chase.

"That was close. Get my money and Kiku back!"Belisarius said.

"Hai!" Churi said. She turned around to now face the armoured truck with the machine gun. It was spraying lead at her direction with no regard over where the bullets land on.

Churi better think quickly otherwise she and Ulrich becomes swiss cheese. She dived down to scavenge anything that can help. She came upon a singular fragmentation grenade.

As she tried to throw the grenade she now realized that the armored truck is now to far away from what she can throw on her own with her arms.

"Churi! Pass the grenade to Belisarius!" Ybor shouted, His jeep was now cruising alongside their truck. Churi threw the uncooked grenade to Ybor who caught it. Belisarius passed the grenade to Osgar who quickly wrapped the grenade to his spear with a cloth and some adhesive. He bit off the pin that would activate the cooking mechanism. The 'God Spear' stood up from his seat and backed his shoulder to power up his throw and released the spear. It landed  near the left rear tire of the truck before detonating. The tire blew out causing the speading vehicle to lose balance and topple over to a sand dune.

After quickly dispactching the driver of the truck they were in, Churi and Ulrich got out of the vehicle and approached the ruined car cautiously with Ybor, Osgar and Belisarius following them after they stopped their jeep.

Churi opened the back door of the truck and then crawled out a unscathed Ju Jing Yi. Ulrich quickly got back the stolen gold from the hands of the dead Smuggler leader.

"Kiku, your not hurt aren't you?" Churi asked.

"I used the smuggler's body as a cushion when we crashed."Ju Jing said.

"Smart lass."Osgar complimented.

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(Back at the embassy)

"Hey.....Milk, So how are you? I heard that you were...."Belisarius said to Miyuki. He just heard of her and the rest of her friend's kidnapping by Grimaldus earlier.

"Don't worry, we are both still okay.  I am still thinking of a name for our little Akachan."Miyuki smiled before kissing Belisarius.

"Well I say give him or her a Vanoran name."Belisarius said.

"No, how about a Japanese one?" Miyuki asked.

"Oi! Get a room you two. And why the f*** not both?"Gizzur interrupted.

"That's actually a great idea."Miyuki smiled.

"So what about Rena? She has been walking around carrying that creepy helmet and not sitting for dinner with us."

"I rather not talk about it. She has very....rough day." Miyuki tactfully dodged Belisarius' question.

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(That night)

Rena locked herself in her private room from everyone. She held the only remains of her beloved friend Jurina in her hands, the Helmet of Black Dust Bishop Grimaldus. Despair took over her mind as she cried over what she had to do for the greater good. It felt a too heavy of a price to pay. She was a stranger to the word 'Sacrifice'. Even in her past career as an idol where she would sacrifice much of her personal freedom but to experience a sacrifice at the cost of a human life, a cherished one to be exact made her fragile mind crack open.

Not even the blood crazed outbursts of Samhane who now resides on her could harden her over the realities of the circle of creation 'Birth until Death'.

"Juu....rrrrriiiiii.......nnnnnaaaa......."She cried until her voice became so hoarse that she could no longer make a sound except a whimpy yelp. She tucked her head on a pillow and tried to drown herself to her tears or become so exhausted of the crying that she fell asleep.

"SAMHANE.....RENA....."A dark voice spoke.

Rena was suddenly flipped from her bed and was grounded by the hands of....

"Ju-----riii------*coughs*"Rena tried to say her name but the crushing weight of the hands prevented her. It was a Jurina wearing the Helmet of Grimaldus or perhaps a figment of her grief stricken mind. But the weight fell so real, and Rena's body was now gasping for air. She tried to muster her Red Dust powers but the overwhelming power of Black Dust turned off her powers.

"WE ARE THE MEANS OF WHY CREATION EXIST SISTER......BUT YOUR STUBBORN MIND REJECTED HOW CREATION MUST BE........"Grimaldus/Jurina's voice spoke through Rena.

"Noooo......"Rena spoke raising her hand to touch Jurina's face before fainting.

"AND NOW.......LIFE AND DEATH ARE ONE AGAIN......"Grimaldus/Jurina said. Rena now passed out from the lack of oxygen, slept peacefully infront of Jurina.

Jurina lay ontop of the sleeping girl and hugged her, caressing her head she whispered to her ear.

"I am sorry Rena....and Samhane for letting you kill me. But now I must set things right again. Grimaldus.....begin the Soul Fusion rite." Jurina said.

Black and Red dust spiraled like a quiet breeze around them as Jurina closed her eyes and prepared herself for what needed to be done with Rena. With a final tear from her eye, she began to feel that her very essence being absorbed into Rena.......