I'd Freeze the Heavens for You

Destructive

Gray felt better now that his stomach was full. In the back of his mind, he knew he was already a dead man. It was just a matter of time. Still, if he could rescue Lucy and save her life...

It was worth it to save her.

His body felt sluggish. He had been roaming this maze for ... how long?

"You now have one day and seven hours left."

Yeah ... thanks.

He had no clue how big this maze was. He just kept following Lucy's advice: follow the left wall. It would probably take him through every twist and turn in this diabolical maze, but it was better than wandering for eternity.

Or at least until the berries killed him.

He heard a roar from somewhere and paused. Gray fisted up his hand and prayed that whatever made such a rumbling growl was in another part of the labyrinth, nowhere near him, and he would not have to fight in his weakened condition.

No such luck in this maze.

Two more twists of the path, he saw a massive purple baboon in front of him. The animal jolted around with a steaming snort and glared with red eyes. When it roared, Gray saw huge tusks in its mouth.

"Just great," he grumbled.

While the baboon stomped forward, Gray reached to the bushes, grabbed a handful of berries, tossed them to the ground, and stomped on them, making a red splatter. That would show him which wall he had been following so he would not get turned around while fighting. Then he glared at the beast and pounded his fist into his hand.

"Ice-Make: Spear!"

In his mansion, Whitehall watched the battle on one of his observation lacrimas.

"A smart boy, still following the left-wall rule. It's the long way around, but it'll bring him to his destination ... eventually. However, he has eaten the berries. How long does he really have left? Sacrificing himself for his beloved ... this is what I love about my job. I get to see so many emotions. The determination when he ate those berries ... oh, if only I could have frozen him right at that moment so I could see that face all the time."

He looked to another monitor, where Lucy and Wisteria sat in the central cabin, watching their own screen with rapt attention. Lucy was biting her knuckles as Gray barely dodged a fist from the baboon that shattered the stone floor under him.

"The girl still has hope, although she knows the bloodberries will kill him. Love truly is blinding. The boy is as good as dead, yet she cheers him on as he fights. Not for hope of her own rescue, no. Like him, she would probably risk her life for the boy, all without fully realizing why someone does such a foolish thing. I wonder if she realizes he has accepted death due to his deep love of her. Does she fully understand why he did it? I wonder. For that matter, does this ice wizard even understand why he has sacrificed his life to reach her in time? They are blind to their hidden love, and blinded by that love. I hope they both see it before the end. Ah, but what is this?"

Whitehall looked to yet another monitor based outside of the maze. Usually, he never monitored the outside, but the group of Fairy Tail wizards trying to break in had caught his interest.

"It seems the rescue party has gotten bigger. Fascinating. And those two," he said, leaning in to see a green-haired woman and black-haired man. "Lovers, for sure. Married, if I had to take a guess by their casualness around one another. These Fairy Tail wizards are indeed smart. They figured it out. Only people who love one another can enter this maze. Ah, but there's more to it than that. The ride isn't over yet, folks. You'll have to wait your turn if you want to play with Willie Whitehall."

Outside, Levy had finally arrived with Bisca and Alzack. They realized that the best way to enter the maze was to play by the rules, and the only (openly) in love wizards were the Connells. The married couple came prepared with food. Bisca understood the risk, and Alzack looked determined to enter the maze and succeed. Happy had mapped out as much of the maze as he could, and Levy took his drawings to determine the best route.

However, when they tried to enter, the runes block them. Alzack and Bisca walked right into a solid wall of magic.

"Nuh-uh-uh," came a voice. "One at a time, please." The runes flashed more writing.

"Levy?" Erza asked, glaring at the foreign letters.

Levy squinted and read aloud, "The maze only allows one couple at a time to enter."

Alzack frowned in frustration. "Which means we can't go inside to rescue Lucy and Gray."

"I'm afraid so," Levy pouted. "I'm sorry for dragging you two out here. There was nothing about this in the initial rules."

Erza hummed to herself. "I wonder if he makes rules up as he goes."

"That's bull!" Natsu shouted. "He can't just make rules up however he pleases. We gotta rescue those guys. Stupid maze! I'll burn this entrance down."

Levy turned in horror. "Natsu, no!"

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Flames shot out of his mouth, directed through his hands, and erupted against the bushy entrance.

The runes flash red and a siren rang in deafening wails. Magic sprinkles appeared above the entrance and doused the fire immediately.

"Natsu, you can't!" Levy yelled in anger mixed with terror.

Inside the maze, Gray nearly collapsed in exhaustion, but the baboon was down. Gray had not wanted to actually kill it. It was a prisoner of this maze, the same as him. However, he had no choice. That took way more energy out of him than it should have, and it took far longer than a fight with some animal normally would. Simply knocking the monster out would have been too challenging. Gray opted for a quick kill. At least it was merciful. The animal would no longer be trapped in this insane labyrinth.

Suddenly, the runes overhead flashed crimson.

"Penalty. Eight hours subtracted. You now have twenty-three hours remaining."

"What?" he screamed. "I didn't do anything. Don't tell me that was some no-kill monster."

"No, all monsters in Willie Whitehall's Wonderful Winter Maze are there to be defeated in any way deemed fit, including death. However, someone set the hedge on fire."

"Fire?" It took Gray less than a second to realize what must have happened. "That idiot flame-brain! I'm not associated with that guy. What he does shouldn't affect me."

"I'm sorry, but all damage to the maze will give you a penalty."

"Shit!" Gray hissed, and he began to hurry, his hand to the left wall so he would not get lost.

Erza had Natsu in a half-nelson, choking the flames out of him.

"It's a penalty," Levy explained in anguish as she read the red-flashing rules. "All damage to the maze will penalize the player."

"What?" Natsu yelled. "That's not fair. What if a blizzard came and destroyed the whole maze?"

Erza released Natsu and hummed to herself. "I wonder ... what if the entire maze was destroyed in one blow? A single blow would be only one penalty. Gray would have time to run through the destroyed maze and get Lucy even if he had to get an eight-hour penalty."

Bisca pointed out, "But anything that destructive could kill Gray."

"Ah, I guess so," Erza realized.

Natsu laughed maniacally. "Not if I burn the whole thing." He rubbed his hands together as if ready to take up the challenge.

Erza shook her head. "It took us three days to walk around this maze. I don't think even you can burn down something this huge in one breath. We now have less than one day to figure something out before Lucy ends up frozen. Come on, everyone. We need to think fast."