As soon as the voice shouted for them to start, Cana took off in a sprint, turning down path after path.

"Cana, wait!" Macao called. He could keep up with her if he wanted, but his plan had been to work through the maze a little more methodically. "Cana, if we just think for a minute, we can get through this much faster!"

Finally, she slowed and walked back to him. "Yeah?" she snapped. Cana was on edge. In nearing three days, she'd had only one barrel of beer and she was feeling way too sober. But she'd been this sober before, surely, and it had never had such an effect. I bet the maze is doing this, she figured.

"I raised a kid, remember? Romeo's doing mazes all the time, and I do them with him. I know all the tricks."

"Like what?" Cana scoffed, skeptically.

"Well," Macao started, unsettled by Cana's sudden sharpness. "Well, there's several tricks, but the one I was thinking of was keeping to one edge. Staying straight through the middle almost never works."

"Fine," Cana sighed. "Right or left?"

"You pick."

"Right." Of course she picked right: the right side of the guild's storage closet is where the barrels are kept.

"Hey, you alright?" Macao wondered, hoping that his efforts to help her hadn't ended up hurting them as a team.

"I'm fine. Wouldn't mind a nice strong drink, is all." Cana walked straight ahead, forcing herself to move through the hedges without focusing on the dryness of her throat and mouth, the emptiness of her stomach, the pounding in her head. This would be hard, but the sooner they finished, the sooner she could get back to town and grab a drink. She couldn't even wait to get all the way to the guild: she'd just stop at the first bar they passed. "What's up with Romeo? You said yesterday he's getting better at his magic?" she asked him about his son as a distraction from the lack of alcohol in her system: never before had her BAC been so low. She was sure of this.

"Yes, Romeo's magic is showing so much potential. He's only seven, now, and he can only conjure a small flame, but it's a lot better than it was a month ago." Cana truly did care about Romeo. Any other day, she'd be listening to Macao intently, hanging on every word and picturing little Romeo doing all the things Macao described, pretending she were really there. Sometimes, she'd even fantasize that she was there with Macao, and they were married, raising Romeo together.

But on any other day, she'd also be listening to this story with either a drink in her hand or a barrel in her arms. They'd be at the Fairy Tail bar, and Mira would be there, ready to fill her up as soon as she bottom. Cana could feel the smooth wood of a barrel in her arms. She could smell the drink it held so generously for her. And soon, the illusion became unbearable to keep up.

Cana snapped back to reality. She had no barrel of alcohol. She was walking through a hedge maze with Macao on their way to stop harmful magic, and he was still going on about Romeo.

"You know, the other day," he told her, not noticing how she'd zoned out, "Romeo made some blue fire. It was just a spark, really, and he wasn't able to do it again, but it made me so happy. He'll use rainbow fire, then, when he's older." Macao spoke as if in a daze, which he was, thinking about his son growing and thriving as Cana thought of an ice cold drink.

After only an hour of walking, Cana was completely fatigued. "I can't walk anymore, Macao. My muscles hurt."

"You did really well at this year's 24-hour race," Macao recalled. "Bring that kind of energy back up, and let's take this guy down!" He meant to be encouraging, but everything sounded bad to Cana.

"I'd drunk a full barrel just before that race, if you don't remember," she said forcefully. "Sorry, I'm just a little touchy. I think the maze might be some kind of catalyst to sobriety."

"Here, it'll be fine if we just keep moving and get to the end of this maze," Macao said, taking her arm and helping her along. "Whoa, are you sure you're okay, Cana? Your skin is so clammy and cold."

"Cold? Huh, I thought, if anything, I may be coming down with a bit of a fever."

"Cana, this is serious. If this is how you get when you don't get enough alcohol, isn't it reason enough to try and wean yourself off of it?"

"How does that make sense? First thing I do when we get out of this Hell whole is chugging my weight!" she snapped, snatching her arm out of his grasp.

"But if you didn't drink so much, you wouldn't depend on it like this. It's a cycle." Cana saw it, but she didn't want to give him the satisfaction, so she stayed silent. "Here, I'll carry you until you start feeling a bit better." Cana rolled her eyes but accepted. She jumped onto his back, and he held her legs under her knees and lightly jogged along. Soon Cana was asleep, her head resting on his shoulder.

"Cana?" Macao woke her gently.

"Hm?"

"It's mid-afternoon, I think. You feel like walking now?"

The time startled Cana, and she nearly fell off his back, unable to get off fast enough. "Macao, you didn't have to do that! You must've carried my for seven hours or more! How are you still standing? I'm so sorry!"

Macao laughed her apologies away. "It's fine Cana. I really didn't mind."

Cana gave him a joking smack on the back and cracked, "Well, I was just worried about your back, was you're so very old!"

"Cana, I'm only thirty-six."

"True, I'd say your back has a couple more good years. Then Romeo will have to buy you a cane for your birthday!"

"Very funny," Macao said sarcastically. He didn't like talking about his age. He wasn't that old, but he was twice her age, a fact that lingered in the back of his mind, always keeping him from letting himself like her too much. After her nap, Cana seemed to be at least somewhat back to her normal self, so he let himself smile about it. But that was one smile made to early.

As Cana took her first step to follow Macao, a wave of nausea coursed through her, and she puked in the grass.

"Cana! Oh, my god, are you okay? Do you have a fever, after all?" He put a hand to her forehead, feeling for heat like he would for a child, but she was still cold and clammy. "You don't have a fever, but you're definitely sick."

"I'll be okay. I actually feel a little better now. Let's keep moving."

"You sure?" he asked when she pushed past him, trudging along the path.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she lied. She still felt sick, thirsty, anxious, on edge, and sober, but she couldn't let Macao feel responsible for this when all he'd done was try to make her healthier.

"Wait," Macao stopped her when she began to turn right at a fork. "We're going to the left now. The right side lead to only dead ends, so I came back and tried the left while you were asleep."

"Oh."

Not much farther along, Cana and Macao found a large rectangular space in the hedge maze. As soon as they were inside the clearing, a transparent film tinted purple sprang up along the middle, separating them. "Macao!" Cana shouted, startled by the sudden challenge of what was previously only a maze. It seemed that now, their weaknesses would be tested.

Words appeared on the rune wall, reading The one to the east cannot speak, so the one to the west must be able to think. No one can use magic. Only one can be saved. At first, the words angered the both of them. If they needed all thirteen mages to stop the magic from hurting the town, it wasn't fair to lay a trap that eliminated one of them.

Macao said something, but Cana could only see his mouth moving, no words coming out.

"You must be east," she said. Pressure strangled her already throbbing head. She wasn't the best at thinking up plans of action on her best days, and today was the last day she'd want to be given this responsibility.

Just as she was trying to figure out what was supposed to happen, a pit opened up from the ground, taking up about half of her side of the rectangle. Fire rose from it, its fingers reaching up at least ten feet above the grass. The hedges on either side of it rose and turned to meet each other in an arch ten feet above the tips of the fire, and from the arch, two objects on ropes were lowered.

On the right was a keg, and on the left, under the influence of a sleeping charm, was Romeo.

Cana's face twisted in horror. She turned to Macao on the other side of the runes, and his face was the same. They both looked up suddenly, as new words appeared on the runes. As soon as one is touched, the other will fall.

The terrible truth that it was up to her to save one and sacrifice the other dawned in Cana's mind. Of course she would save Romeo. She would endure anything for the kid, but that keg… it looked awfully appealing.

Macao saw the horrifying look on her face and he waved his arms to catch her attention. She her eyes found his, he mouthed with perfect clarity, "Just get Romeo!"

Cana nodded to him, but the barrel never left her mind. Just looking at it, filled with alcohol—she could smell it—made her really feel how dry and heavy her tongue felt. Her headache worsened, and she threw up again. She could get them both, right? She could jump up, grab the barrel with her legs and Romeo with her arms, glide over the fire, release the keg when low enough and land with Romeo safe in her arms. It was perfect.

"Macao, I can get them both," she said, walking back as far from the fire as possible to get a running start.

Macao's eyes widened in terror and he shook his head furiously. "Just Romeo," he mouthed. "Only go for Romeo!"

Cana stopped looking at him, then. She wasn't an idiot. Nor was she so desperate for a drink that she'd let Romeo die. She felt like he was already her own son, after all. But the barrel was just so tempting, a relief from these crippling withdrawal symptoms.

"I can do it! I can get both!"

She didn't look to see him, but Macao was shaking his head so fast and hard that he could've broken his own neck.

Cana looked down at her trembling hands as she took a runner's starting position, focused on the center point between the two suspended treasures, which were so conveniently close. She set her shaking hands in the grass and tried to focus for a minute before taking off.

Macao couldn't look. Tears welled up in his eyes and fell down his cheeks. This wasn't Cana's fault. If anything, he blamed himself for setting the sober bar so high.

Cana leapt into the air, and just before she could turn horizontal to grab them both simultaneously, she saw that it really was Romeo she should rescue and Romeo alone that she would be able to. At the last second, she tilted herself farther to the left to get a better hold on Romeo's sleeping body, and together, they fell to the ground.

She rolled over like a log a few times, absorbing the impact of the landing, clutching Romeo to her body. He was still fast asleep. She looked up at Macao, who was smiling with relief and pride.

The runes dissolved, and Macao ran to Cana's side. "Thank you, Cana. You did good."

At the sound of his voice, Romeo's eyes opened. Only they weren't really Romeo's eyes. They were a vibrant, neon purple. And when he spoke, the voice was that of their challenger, not Romeo. "Congratulations. The real Romeo is safe at home, waiting for his parents." With that, the illusory Romeo vanished from Cana's arms.

Neither of the mages could speak. There was nothing to say. They were played for fools, but had it been the real Romeo, it was the right decision, definitely. This is what Cana tried to convince herself of as she saw the last of the barrel crumble to ash in the flames and the fire, which had flared up with the fuel of the beverage.

"Come on," Macao said, laying a hand on her arm. "We can't be far, if this was waiting for us."

"Yeah. But Macao, I was thinking, you don't suppose the one behind this may be—"

"I know. I was thinking the same thing."

"And?"

"It may be runes that make this maze dangerous, but I don't think Freed would do this to Fairy Tail," Macao said.

"He was with Laxus enough during the battle of Fairy Tail. He could turn on us again," Cana argued.

"But in the end, he stood up against Laxus, remember? He wouldn't have done that if he was just going to change his mind again and do this. Also, the battle was Laxus's idea and design, Freed was just a supporter and contributor."

"Yeah, whatever," Cana mumbled. "And what do think the voice meant by saying Romeo was waiting for his parents, if h only has you?" Macao didn't hear her, or else he did and just didn't respond. The sky had been dark for hours now, marking a full three days she'd gone with only one barrel of alcohol. Up ahead, a light caught her eye. "Hey, look! The center of the maze!"

Macao followed her, rushing towards the circular clearing in the hedges that had a large clock on the ground, reading nine-twenty. Erza was standing in an archway across the circle from them, 9:00 floating over her head, and Laxus and Freed were in the arch next to them, 9:15 above them. Macao didn't know what had gone down with Erza and Freed, but he definitely would not want to be on the receiving side of the glare Erza was shooting Freed.