Am I Not Pretty Enough?

Chapter 1

"Cisqua, is something wrong?" Kuea asked Cisqua, who was sitting in the hot spring with her and Ren.

"H-Huh?" she looked up, "Oh, no, I was just thinking… How hard the battle against the dealer and ruler of Edil Raids has become."

"Eh? We're ALL worried about that. Just take it easy for now." The tan woman leaned back into the warm water.

"She's right." Ren said quietly.

"Yeah." But the truth was, Cisqua had something on her mind. Something DANGEROUS.

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"My masters love your skills and mind. We NEED you for the freedom of all Edil Raids and for the sake of the economy." A sting raid girl with bright red hair tied in a pony tail told the petite woman.

"How dare you…! I'll never join you!" she yelled.

"But Lady Cisqua…" the girl looked sadly down, "If you don't be our new master… The dealer said they'd kill all your family and friends… They have assasins who move at the speed of light all around them…"

"They what?!" she jumped forward. Coud, Ren, Kuea… Rowen… They'd all be killed…?

"If you help us, you'll save all sting raids! There won't be any made anymore!" she pleaded. No more Viros…? No more making Rowen suffer like he did before…? His revenge would be complete if…

"I'll do it," Cisqua told her. The tomboyish girl glowed with happiness.

"Thank you!" she bowed.

"What's your name, by the name?"

"I… I don't know…"

"Oh, right, you're a sting raid…" Cisqua put her finger to her chin, "All right! Your name from now on is Kira! Got it?" she smiled. The sting raid now known as Kira felt tears fall down her cheeks in happiness.

"Yeah," she choked a bit on her words, "I got it."

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Cisqua sat at the fire outside the two tents where the group were staying, thinking about how to leave. She wanted to see his face one last time. She didn't want to leave before doing that.

"You've been sitting out here for a while, Cisqua. Why don't you let me take over guard duty for a while?" a male voice asked. She looked up to see Rowen with his long blonde hair in a ponytail. But unlike most times, it wasn't tightened so hard that it stood up. It was just loose enough so it would hold the hair which went loosely down his back.

"Nah, I'm just looking at the stars."

"In that case," he came and sat down on the ground by the campfire next to her, "I'll watch them with you." Cisqua felt her cheeks go red.

"N-No, really, it's fine." She stubbornly pouted.

"I want to. Even if you're my senpai, you can't stop me from looking at the stars." He laughed a little, and she swifted her head away.

"You look so deep in thought."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Simple words exchanged between the two. Why couldn't Cisqua say anything special?! She was leaving soon!

"Hey… Rowen…?"

"Yeah?"

"If…" Cisqua looked sadly at her feet, shuffling with the firewood on the ground, "If no more sting raids were left, would you not be in my group anymore?"

"What are you talking about? Sting raids are made every day."

"I said IF."

"Well," he sighed, "I dunno. Maybe I'd go and find a home, maybe start a family, live a normal life, you know?"

"Oh, really?" she cheerfully smiled, "Well then, there's nothing for me to be worried about." Cisqua was happy. As long as he was happy with his life after her sacrifice, she would have eternal joy in her heart. She just let her eyelids close, and slipped off into her sleep.

"Cisqua?" Rowen asked, not knowing quite what she meant. But in the mean time, her petite little body had rested against him. He smiled and looked as her soft breaths went in and out. He observed how in the time when they had met Ren and Coud, her hair had grown about a foot below her shoulder. He gently pulled her jacket he found on the ground around her cute little body, only having on her combat outfit. The two of them just leaned against each other and fell asleep.

But Cisqua knew she couldn't stay long. She woke up after a while, happy that she had spent her last moments in the team with him, and slipped her Arc Aile jacket over him. She wrote a final letter.

Dear everyone,

Sorry for vanishing so suddenly. I need to go. To protect everything I love. My sisters, Mr. Cou, Ms. Ren, Kuea, Rowen… Maybe we'll meet again. However, the next time you see me, I may be already gone from this world. Live happily in my place, please. Thank you for everything.

Sincerely Grateful,

Cisqua

Rowen crumpled the letter in his hand, gritting his teeth.

"Is that why she was so sad last night…?!" he whispered in pure rage. Everyone else was just so stunned by her disappearance.

"Cisqua has her own path. I think…" Kuea hugged Rowen to comfort him, "We'll see her again. As long as we believe that, we're bound to reunite."

"You're right Kuea." He felt tears fall down his cheek. Cisqua was an amazing leader, and amazing friend, and she made him feel like he could do anything. He had to find her again.

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It had already been a year since the parting. Cisqua sat in a black leather chair chair, looking through a computer of Edil Raid files. Her office was beautiful, almost everything was made of glass. She had a cylinder kind of window that let her see all of Edil Garden, and all the lights that shined in it.

"My lady Cisqua." Two girls arrived through the automatic door and bowed. The brand new Cisqua stood up and looked at them. Cisqua had changed her looks quite a bit. Her reddish-brown hair reached down a bit below the her waist. It wasn't choppy like it was before. It was smooth and straight, perfect on each strand. The way it blew in the wind was as if a million thin, silk threads were shining. As for her outfit, Cisqua had changed to a new style. She had black chic pants, a long vest and cape like piece of clothing over a grey nylon tube top that showed her midrift. For weapons, she had been taught instead of guns to use blade tonfas. This helped her hide her identity, since her guns were kind of like her trademark before.

"We caught the Edil Raids you sent us out for."

"Good work, Kira, Pika." Cisqua smiled gently. Kira and Pika were twin sting raid sisters. Kira had red hair put into a spiky ponytail with green eyes, while the other, Pika, had red hair in a braid and blue eyes. Aside from these differences, they looked exactly the same.

"The Dealer is quite happy with your work. He's even stopped production of Sting Raids!" Kira was so happy.

"Although, we still need quite a few more Edil Raids to complete our mission." Pika told her mistress.

"I understand. In order to create peace for Edil Raids, Sting Raids, and humans, I must follow the dealer for now."

"All right." Kira bowed once more, and then left with her sister.

"Hey, Pika." Kira asked her sister, "How are we going to pull off their plan- whatever it may be- without the Shichiko Hoju?"

"Sorry, Kira," Pika giggled, "That's classified info."

"Oh come on! Lady Cisqua has been asking too!"

"That plan…" Pika smiled darkly, "Is not available to even Lady Cisqua."

"Is it that important…?"

"I'll give you a hint. Let's say that the Shichiko Hoju is a cake." She swirled around to Kira, "That's all I can tell you."

"Wait… This sounds familiar…" Kira thought out loud to herself.

"Wait, Kira couldn't possibly know what the plan is…?!" Pika asked herself inside her head and flinched in fear. She knew it was all over if she had leaked the information.

"Oh!" Kira's eyes widened at her discovery, "Wait, so the Shichiko Hoju is a chiffon cake?!" she asked, dead serious. Pika felt like faling over.

"YES, KIRA. THE SHICHIKO HOJU IS A CHIFFON CAKE."

"Oh, really?!"

"No. No she's not." Pika shook her head in pity of her sister's intelligence level.

"Oh, whoops, it's just, you said cake, and "Shichiko" sorta sounds like "Chiffon, you know?"

"No it doesn't." she slapped her hand to her forehead.

"It DOES! You know, the CHI in "chiffon" sounds like SHI, and Shichiko starts with SHI too!"

"Geez, you're such a dunce!" Pika laughed with her sister.

"Hey you guys!" Cisqua yelled to the sting raids, "We've got a new mission. I'll come with you."

"What is it?" Kira asked.

"In order to create a new Shichiko Hoju, we need proper data, so we have to collect data on her."

"Oh yeah, you're friends with her from way back, right?" Kira chirped. The young woman nodded.

"Just make sure they don't see my face."

"Huh? Don't you want to see them again?"

"Of course I do!" Cisqua snapped, then quieted, "But I don't want them to see me like this."

"I understand. I'll protect your identity." Pika bowed and headed towards the hangar, where the air ships were available.

"Rowen," Cisqua thought to herself, "You may not know it's me, but I'll be so happy to see you again… Even if I am your enemy."

The three airships flew off into the distance of the golden-colored sky.

I know, I know, I START TOO MANY STORIES! But when I get stuck on a story, I start another, and well... Yeah. Rowen and Cisqua! Don't see that too often... Not to mention you don't see Elemental Gerad fanfics all that often... But this is one of my favorite mangas and animes EVER, so... Yup. Hey, you'll never guess what?! I DON'T OWN ELEMENTAL GERAD. If people actually read this, please put comments, and Cisqua will answer them here next time. NO COMMENTS, NO CISQUA!