Somewhere on the land, stood an edo style town where in the middle of the town stood a large palace that has a golden symbol of '土' on its front frame.
Within the palace, Daichi entered a room where he sat his knees down on a brown pillow while Erza and the others who followed the monk stood right in front of him.
"servants!" said Daichi as Geisha Servants came into the room, all giving pillows and tea for the group. Daichi placed his Tetsubo beside him as he looks to the side for a Geisha Servant is pouring him a cup of warm tea. Daichi holds the cup with both hands before looking to Erza and the others who slowly sat down on the pillows on their knees. "please, sit down in any comfortable position that you desire. You are guests with free will"
"t-thanks, I guess" said Elfman as the large man has a hard time sitting on his knees than usually.
"why invite us here? To your own home?" said Erza while holding her cup of tea.
"this is not my home" said Daichi as he blows his tea before sipping it then sighs. "this palace belongs to the Emperor and the entitled eight general member of the Earth"
"what do you mean?" asked Wendy with a slightly confused face.
"upon Lingyue since ancient times, the 8 Generals are the sole protector of the continent where each member oversees their governed land" explained Daichi before sipping his tea once again. "on each land, there are 8 palaces similar to this one that are given to the current member of the 8 Generals. In short, when my time as a General comes to an end, this palace will belong to the next General chosen to govern this land"
"so you got this place to yourself till you croak or something?" asked Mira with a sceptic look.
"if that is how you put it in terms in your continent's daily language…" said Daichi before he sips his tea and replied. "….then yes."
"enough talk about that part" said Gray before looking at Daichi. "tell us why you are being so….open armed to us"
"I may be a General of my land, but I am a Monk in heart." Said Daichi as a Geisha servant made more tea for the Monk. "my life taught teachings are that 'one's heart must be open to new possibilities'. Including accepting and welcoming strangers"
"you sound like someone who takes his life teachings to the heart, huh?" said Charla as Daichi nodded with a small smile.
"he somehow reminds me of Jura-san" whispered Lucy to Wendy as the Dragon Slayer nodded in agreement, thinking about the bald wizard saint's whose posture is somehow identical with Daichi himself.
"back to the main question here" said Cana while pushing away her cup of tea and holds a bottle of beer from who knows where. "tell us on why Natsu has a bounty on his head"
"I do not know" said Daichi in reply as he holds his cup of tea while having his eyes closed.
"what? what do you mean you don't know?" said Mira while raising an eyebrow.
"this guy must be keeping it a secret" said Gray with a hostile look.
"one of my life teachings is that one must never lie, and I take my teachings to my heart" said Daichi as he sets his cup down and looks at the group. "I don't know why Daimou-dono is wanted for the past 16 years, all that I know is that Gojin-dono, Mizuki-dono, Raikou-dono, Akari-dono, and Ayame-dono knows of a terrible sin that he had once committed. I and Yamika-dono do not know of what sin he has done, as it is kept a secret to the both of us"
"but you have to know, it's been around for 16 years!" said Charla, not buying what Daichi is selling from his mouth.
"I do not blame you for not believing it, but what I state is the truth" said Daichi with closed eyes while placing his hands on his lap. "the Emperor ordered for the capture of Daimou-dono in the past, I and Yamika-dono asked but he never answered, so as a member of the 8 Generals of Lingyue, I must heed the Emperor's command and ensure Daimou-dono's capture if I ever meet him once more"
"you want to capture Natsu so badly, but you sound like you respect him" said Lisanna, as Daichi nodded before he opens his eyes, within his eyes, are feelings of compassion, respect, and sadness.
"before the Emperor's order for the immediate capture of Daimou-dono. The later was once a member of the 8 Generals, formerly entitled as the Raging Dragon of the North" explained Daichi, his mind envisioning Natsu in his youth as the salmon haired mage wielded Chitetsu whose blade is burning in bright flames. "he was Gojin-dono's predecessor before he became who he is now. I and the other Generals of Lingyue respect Daimou-dono as the man saved various people from a different land, even though it is governed by a different General"
"Whatever happened?" asked Lisanna as Daichi shakes his head.
"he suddenly fled with Ikaruga-sama to Ishgar those many years ago. I for one wished to know whatever sin that he has committed and think if it really a sin that Daimou-dono really committed" said Daichi before holding up his cup of tea and looks at his reflection in the tea water. "I have been questioning what could he had done but I found no answer"
"so, you don't know about anything that got Natsu a bounty?" asked Elfman as Daichi nodded.
"wait a minute, I want to ask on Ikaruga's part" said Charla while raising a paw. "before the whole guild attack, two of your Generals, a lady with a naginata and another one with a bow and arrow said something about Ikaruga being an Empress and that they will follow her order or something"
"you are referring to Mizuki-dono, and Akari-dono, yes?" said Daichi with a raised eyebrow before he closed his eyes. "it is common sense for an 8 General of Lingyue or any citizen of lingyue to bow to Ikaruga-sama. For she is the previous Emperor's Daughter, meaning that Ikaruga-sama is of royal bloodline"
"eeeehh!?" exclaimed Erza and the others as this is the first time that they heard that Ikaruga is from the royal family of Lingyue.
"judging by your shocked expressions, I would say that Ikaruga-sama never told of your royal bloodline" said Daichi before sipping his cup of tea.
"s-s-so we had a princess or rather an Empress of Lingyue in our guild!?" said Mira in shock as everyone imagined Ikaruga in a queen's attire or something.
"i-i-I nearly tried to kill her once…" stuttered Erza, remembering her fight against Ikaruga in the past back at the Tower of Heaven. "the consequences that would come to Magnolia if I ever did something bad to her!"
"you didn't, right!?" said Lisanna and Elfman to Erza in shock.
"t-then…did Ikaruga-sama come back here because of the Emperor's orders?" asked Wendy in a polite tone, referring Ikaruga in a higher respectable tone.
"yes, the current Emperor is her uncle after all," said Daichi with a nod. "he has ordered us to return her back to her homeland"
"wait a minute." Said Lucy while raising her right hand up. "the current Emperor is her uncle? Don't you mean Ikaruga? I don't know the full details but if the previous emperor had passed away, shouldn't the new ruler be Ikaruga? Seeing that she's the bloodline of the previous emperor, right?"
"yeah, shouldn't she be the new ruler instead of her uncle?" asked Cana, seeing Lucy's point.
"it is of custom in Lingyue that if the ruler of Lingyue would produce a male bloodline, that next bloodline will become the next emperor by birthright, but seeing as Ikaruga-sama is not a male, she is seen as a governor of Lingyue, not it's ruler." Explained Daichi as he took out a scroll from inside his robe and laid it out on the floor, showing the content inside.
In the opened scroll, is the list of previous Emperors of Lingyue as each one showed the names of the Emperors and their child who became the next emperor to the previous one. Erza and the others looks at the bloodline as it reached to the predecessor emperor before the previous and the current Emperor.
"the previous and the previous emperor before the current one had two sons?" said Lucy seeing the name Yujima whose bloodline is followed by Ryuji and Nagano. Ryuji's bloodline is followed by Ikaruga while Nagano has no next bloodline.
"yes, it is rather very rare for any Emperor to have two male bloodlines" explained Daichi while pointing at Yujima's name. "in any occurrence, the current and previous Emperor had no male bloodlines, therefore after Ryuji-sama's passing 7 years ago, his younger brother Nagano-sama takes the title as the next Emperor"
"so you guys only take males as heirs to the throne, huh?" said Charla while shaking her head to the tradition that only male bloodlines can become Emperors while females don't. "what a stupid tradition"
"yes, I must agree with your feline companion," said Daichi as he rolled up the scroll and placed it back inside his robe. "usually if there are no male bloodlines within a generation and there are only female bloodlines. Therefore, a male grandchild would be chosen as the next heir of the Emperor's title"
"a male grandchild? Does that mean…" said Juvia as her mind went to Haruo, and Ikki, the two being Ikaruga's children, meaning that they're of the royal bloodlines. "Haruo-kun and Ikki-kun?!"
"I don't know if this Ikki child, but Haruo-sama is currently or rather was the only male grandchild who is of Ikaruga-sama's bloodline" explained Daichi thoroughly. "therefore, making him the heir"
"then that means, Ikaruga purposely left Ikki to us and not bring him with her!" said Lisanna while looking at Wendy and Charla.
"but why?" said Wendy, not understanding why Ikaruga didn't take Ikki who is also of male bloodline to the throne of the Emperor.
"I suppose that since Ikki-kun is still young, Ikaruga-san she didn't want him to be burdened," said Juvia, thinking of why Ikaruga didn't take Ikki with her back then. "a young child like him should have more freedom, after all"
"yes" said Erza with an agreeing head nod, not liking the idea of Ikki going through many hurdles at such a young age, now that everyone knows of the royal bloodline the young boy has.
"that Gojin-dono, what a foolish and sinful act that he had done" said Daichi while clenching his grip on his lap. "Haruo-sama was still so young!"
"Gojin…" said Gray while clenching his fists to remember the one responsible for Haruo's passing.
"but if this was all about the royal bloodline or something, why take Haruka too?" said Cana, breaking the previous conversation. "she's not of the royal bloodline to the throne, right? Why kidnap her in the first place?"
"I do not know" replied Daichi. "the Emperor's order was to destroy your guild, and anything that belongs to the Lingyue nature, return with Ikaruga-sama and any of her bloodlines. That is all that he has ordered us to do"
"then where is Ikaruga and Haruka? Where are they now?" said Erza as Daichi clapped his hands once for a Geisha Servant to come in with a scroll in hand. The servant presented the scroll on the floor as it rolls out to reveal a map of Lingyue which isn't one continent but rather islands. Each island has a symbol that starts from the top which is 雷 (lightning), 光(light), 火(fire), 闇(darkness), 土(ground), 木 (wood), 風(wind), 水(Water), all in a clockwise position.
"what the?" said Gray, seeing the layout of Lingyue's map as there are 8 large lands with one larger land in the middle of them. "this is Lingyue? It's not a single large continent?"
"no, Lingyue has 9 islands." explained Daichi as he points to one island with the symbol '土'. "right now, you are on my island; the Earth island. If you seek Ikaruga-sama and Haruka-sama." Daichi pointed to the middle large island that is the center of the other 8 islands around it, the island has the symbol '王' upon it. "you must travel to the land of the Emperor, which is in the center of all Lingyue. That is where Ikaruga-sama and Haruka-sama are"
"if that's where they are, you think Natsu might be there too?" asked Mira to Erza who nodded.
"it's possible," said Erza before looking to Daichi. "is there any fast route to the land of the emperor?"
"there is" said Daichi as he takes out another scroll from his robe and handed it to Erza who took it and opened the scroll, revealing the layout of the Earth Island. "follow the path of the mountain, there you will find the Dragon's Mouth that will take you directly to a hidden underground passage, only known to the Emperor and myself"
"are you sure giving us this information?" asked Juvia to Daichi who nodded.
"I respected Daimou-dono and owe him many debts. As a monk of Lingyue, it is tradition to repay that debt in any way possible" said Daichi before his eyes went serious. "but once you leave my island and the Emperor give the orders to capture and seize you all. I will hold no compassion to you all for it is my duty as an 8 General to follow the Emperor's order."
"it is fine" said Erza while rolling up the map scroll. "we plan to help Natsu in getting Ikaruga and Haruka back from all of you"
"and we do it by force if we have to" said Mira while cracking her knuckles hard.
"then" said Daichi before doing a bow "I wish you luck"
Erza nodded before everyone did a bow in return to Daichi.
Upon the next rising sun, Ash flew in the sky of the Earth Island as the Wyvern flew to the mountain of the island. On Ash's saddle, are Erza and the others; all are wearing kimonos and yukatas of Lingyue as disguises that were provided by Daichi's servants.
"if we were on holiday in Lingyue, this would be a good souvenir," said Lucy while admiring her whiteish pink kimono, her hair tied up in a bun that is held by a red comb.
"but we aren't" said Gray, the man naked to his boxers, as his yukata is gone. "so better not relax too much"
"CLOTHES!" shouted Charla while Wendy looks away with a blush as it is too much for the young girl to see.
"I can see the mountain," said Mira, wearing a black kimono as she pointed forward where there the mountain of the Earth island is seen. Mira looks down as her eyes squinted a bit when she sees a cave at the bottom. "and I see a cave"
"must be the Dragon's Mouth" said Juvia, referring to the hidden passage that Daichi had told them about.
"Ash, head down" said Erza while patting the Wyvern's head once. Ash growls before he flaps his wings and flies down.
Ash landed on the ground as the wyvern went down to the ground and leans his head down for Erza and the others to get off his back.
"now with a closer look." Said Cana as she looks at the cave that looks like a Dragon's head with its mouth wide open. "i know why it's called the Dragon's Mouth now"
"Ash, you stay behind" said Erza as Ash growls in response before the Wyvern got up and flaps his wings then flew to the sky.
"wait a minute, he's not coming with us?" asked Lucy.
"the cave is too small for Ash's size, and it's better if he stays behind if we ever need to make a retreat back to this island" said Mira as they don't know what they will be facing at the land of the Emperor.
"can we even trust that man's words?" asked Charla, the exceed somehow wears a kimono of her size. "for all we know, this might be a trap!"
"we can only believe that he is true to his words" said Erza before looking to the Dragon's Mouth cave. "right now, we have to focus on getting to where Ikaruga and Haruka are, and help Natsu if he's there"
"right" everyone else nodded before they all entered to the cave and disappear into the darkness within.
Upon the land of the Emperor, the island is surrounded with houses and towns whereas in the middle of it is a palace that is far bigger than the one Daichi resides upon on his island. The palace seems to be 4 times bigger and majestic as it has many soldier guards stationed upon it.
We turn our attention within the palace as in the many rooms, the sound of a child's cries is heard within. In the room is Ikaruga who wore a pink kimono, the pink haired woman holding and hugging Haruka with her, the young girl is crying to her mother as her eyes were puffed red from so much crying over the past few days.
"Mama….Haruo….Haruo…" cried Haruka in a soft voice, the young girl devastated to lose her twin brother.
"I know, Haruka…I know" whispered Ikaruga with some tears pouring down her eyes, the mother also felt devastated to know that she lost one of her children. "Haruo….he will always live in our hearts…always"
Haruka cried a bit more as Ikaruga embraces her closer, the mother comforts her daughter with all her grieving heart.
"I don't want to meet him anymore! I want to go home!" cried Haruka as Ikaruga frowns a bit before holding her daughter close.
"I know" whispered Ikaruga before pecking Haruka's head. "I wish to return home too"
Ikaruga soon looks to the window of the room as it shows the sky outside.
That's a wrap!
Bye bye
