The Impossible War

Chapter 6

We walked out of the tent with high hopes. I didn't know what I could expect but I knew that what we were doing could go many ways, several of which could be bad. Armor and Raine met us outside with a golf cart. I was amazed that we still had some working. Jewel hopped on the back of the cart and sat beside her. She was hardly recognizable with all of the gear on which was good, I just hoped no one asked questions.

When we finally got out to the field we saw Hero, who we hadn't seen for several hours. He looked over at us with a look of what seemed to be a mixture of hatred and jealousy. I never understood him. I had no idea as to why he would be jealous, that was until Jewel spoke up, "He's mad because he likes you, ya know?" "What? How would you know?" I asked almost defensively. "Haven't you seen the way he looks at you? I know that look as I would come to think you would too. That look of a different level of affection, not just friends. I've looked at people like that though I've never dated anyone. I'm too shy, basically unknown and I didn't exactly fit in with those who did know me. Now Hero on the other hand, seems to have fallen for you but no longer has the amount of attention from you that he use to get because you've focused on protecting me. Yet he won't turn you in because he wants to protect you."

I just looked at her, wondering how could she read things like that with such ease. Jewel had now shown yet another stunning thing about her. She's so freaking amazing. I didn't think that was possible for someone to be that....cool. Careful what you think now. You don't know what you're doing. I thought to myself. I glanced over at Hero, Why would he like me, and if he does like me, how long has he liked me? I wondered. Hero didn't seem like the type to fall for someone like me. I always figured he'd go for Raine or someone like that. There were so many better options than me. Other people were smarter, more attractive, just better. I decided to focus on everything else then those thoughts. I looked around for any sign of trouble knowing that Jaunty was bound to show up soon.

Hero eventually walked up to me. He was still frustrated, I could feel the heat coming off of him. "Hey." He said, trying to make conversation. "What's up?" I asked. The conversation was forced but it was better than nothing. "Not much. Just another day in hell." "Sounds fun." "Most definitely." We paused and just stood there looking at each other, trying to read one another's thoughts and emotions. "You want to know why I saved her, don't you?" I could see the question in his deep blue eyes. "I didn't say anything." He said defensively. "No, but do you forget that I know you well enough to read you? Listen, I don't know why I did what I did but we can't change that now. Why do you hate her? Other than the fact that she's from Jaunty because it seems that it's more than just that to you."

He glared at me for a second and then his face fell. He wanted to lie to me, I could see it in his face but he knew I'd be able to tell he was lying. "Well...it's complicated, okay?" he finally spoke. "How so? I've never seen you hate someone so much. It's like you're jealous or something." I questioned. Hero stayed quiet for a moment. "Hero, are you jealous of her?" More silence. I was about to ask him again but he spoke up, "To be completely honest, yes. I am jealous. I feel like she's starting to take you away from us because she's all that you think about. Tell me I'm wrong." he said with a hint of frustration back in his voice. "What...no...well she's not taking me away from y'all but I do think about her a lot."

We looked each other in the eyes. "There's another reason you hate her, isn't there? What is it?" Hero had a face full of consideration. "I'll answer that if you answer my question. Deal?" He held out his hand. I took it into mine and gripped his as he did to mine. "Deal." Hero paused for a moment before speaking, "I hate her because...because I...I love you...and I feel like she's getting everything from you when I'm the one who's been there from the start. That's why I hate her." He stared at me, "Tell me, do you have feelings for her, Jewel?" My heart stopped. I hadn't thought about how I felt yet. "Hero...I..."

I didn't have the chance to answer because of the deafening crash of a cannon firing across the field. Jaunty was back and they didn't seem happy. They had never been this aggressive after a major battle before; this was something different, like they wanted to wipe us out once and for all. I turned to call Armor, Raine, Jewel and Hero to stand with me but they we already there, like we knew this wasn't going to end well. We pulled out the weapons we had and stood ready to face Jaunty together, praying that this wasn't going to be one of us that didn't make it through this.