Chapter 8

Lucy vs. Duke Everlue is the 8th chapter of Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail.

Caught by Duke Everlue, Lucy is demanded by Everlue the secret of the book or her arms will be snapped into pieces. Lucy escapes, but fights Everlue. When Everlue summons Virgo, Natsu is dragged along with her; as a result, Lucy and Natsu work together and successfully defeat Duke Everlue.

Summary
Lucy, who just finished reading the book DAYBREAK, is caught by Duke Everlue. Everlue is mad at what Lucy called him, an enemy of literature, and yells at her for calling someone that who was brought up as a well-educated man. Lucy retorts by comparing his education level to the types of maids that he has, and would lead people to think otherwise. Angered further, Everlue demands Lucy not to look down on his maids while locking her harder, Lucy feeling both the pain and the insult of his comment. Everlue then questions Lucy what secrets the book holds, such as a treasure map or a hidden fortune. Lucy says nothing, slowly reaching for her keys with her leg. Before she reaches it, however, Everlue threatens that he will break her arms if she stays defiant. Lucy, however, gives Everlue a raspberry instead, causing Everlue to lock her arm even further. He screams that the book is written by Kemu Zaleon specifically for him, and all secrets in the book belong to him.

Before Everlue has the chance to get anything out of Lucy, Happy appears and kicks Everlue in the elbow, effectively releasing his grasp. While Lucy admires Happy's timing, Happy shows off a bit, and landed in the water, leaving Lucy speechless for a moment. Everlue tends to his wound as he demands the identity of the cat. Happy introduces himself in the sewage while Lucy translates for him, but retorts that he goes in the sewage when he doesn't want to come up. Picking up her keys, Lucy says that the tables had changed in her favor, and that she will forgive him if he allows them to leave with the book, even though she wants to beat him up first. Everlue notices that she uses Celestial Magic and then laughs at her incorrect usage of phrases. He then uses Diver Magic to fight Lucy, Happy noticing that Everlue is also a Wizard.

As Lucy dodges all of Everlue's attacks, Lucy and Everlue talk about the topic of the book. Lucy starts with the content of the book and how it is an awful adventure starring Everlue. While Everlue is happy that he was the main character, the content was horrible, making him even more mad that it was written by Kemu Zaleon. Lucy stated that Everlue forced him to write the book while acting high and mighty, but Everlue replied that Zaleon should have felt honored that he could write for Everlue. Lucy then reveals that Everlue threatened Kemu Zaleon to write it, to which Everlue replied that it was Zaleon's fault from the very start.

As Lucy wonders what he meant, Everlue reveals that he first give Zaleon the idea to write about the former, but the latter rejected. Thus, he threatened Zaleon that if he didn't write the book, he would revoke the citizenship of all of his relatives. Happy then realizes that losing citizenship means that they can't join any merchant or worker guild, wondering if Everlue really has that kind of power. Lucy replies that some parts of the country runs under feudal rules, and this was one of them. Off guard, Everlue takes the advantage and grasps Lucy's ankle, revealing that Zaleon still wrote the book in the end. However, Everlue was angry at Zaleon's initial denial and decided to lock him in a solitary cell, which crushed Zaleon's pride as a writer. Stomping Everlue's hand, Lucy asks Everlue if can understand what it was like being locked for three years. Everlue replies that Zaleon realized his greatness, to which Lucy objects by yelling that Zaleon was fighting for his own pride and for the sake of his family.

Everlue now notices that something was up, and demands to know how Lucy knew such details. She replies that it was all written in the book. However, Everlue states that Kemu Zaleon didn't write about that. Lucy then told her that reading it normally would be a disappointing work, but Kemu Zaleon was originally a Wizard. Everlue finally notices what was going on, and Lucy reveals that Kemu Zaleon had cast a spell on the book, Happy expressing his amazement at this revelation. Everlue then questions if all the grudges Zaleon held against him would be shown if the spell was dispelled. At this, Lucy mocks Everlue's shallow mind and tells him that there was a greater secret in the book.

Finished with her speech, Lucy calls out Cancer to deal with Everlue. Happy is more than happy to see the Celestial Spirit. Cancer then speaks, but asks Lucy what kind of a hairstyle she wanted today while ending the sentence with "Ebi"2. Lucy and Happy are disappointed, but for different reasons. Lucy commands Cancer to fight the mustache man, Everlue. As Cancer accepts, Happy compares what he's currently feeling to a boxing match and tells Lucy that she can tell Cancer to leave. Everlue, however, is thinking about what secrets the book may contain, worriedly thinking that if it was material about his scandals and as a result presented to the Magic Council, he was finished.

Taking out his Celestial key, Everlue summons Virgo. Both Lucy and Happy are surprised by what Everlue just said, and notice that Everlue is using the same Magic as Lucy. Out pops the Gorilla Maid, and Everlue commands Virgo to retrieve the book. Lucy is shocked by the fact that the Gorilla Maid they met before is actually a Celestial Spirit. However, the everyone is more surprised by what Virgo brings along with her, Natsu. Confused, Lucy asks how did Natsu got there along with Virgo, to which Natsu replies that he followed her after she started moving. Lucy is confused as to how Natsu made it through the Spirit World without suffocating.

Natsu asks what should he do now, while Everlue is telling Virgo to eliminate all enemies. Taking out a whip, Lucy tells Natsu to stop Virgo. With a fire-boosted punch, Virgo is easily defeated, horrifying Everlue. Wrapping Everlue in her whip, Lucy stops him from diving back into the ground. With a tug towards Cancer's position, the two of them finish off Everlue, Lucy commenting that for Everlue, a role supporting character is more than enough.

Landing next to Virgo, Everlue has all of his hair removed. Cancer asks Lucy if Everlue's hairstyle was suitable. Natsu comments Lucy that she had done well and a real Mage of Fairy Tail, and Lucy is content with protecting the book from Everlue.

1"Ebi" is Japanese for "shrimp"

Characters in Order of Appearance

 * 1) Duke Everlue
 * 2) Lucy Heartfilia
 * 3) Happy
 * 4) Cancer
 * 5) Virgo

Fights

 * Lucy Heartfilia & Happy vs. Duke Everlue
 * Lucy Heartfilia & Natsu Dragneel vs. Duke Everlue

Magic used

 * Celestial Spirit Magic (星霊 魔法, Seirei Mahō) (Summoned the Giant Crab, Cancer and the Maiden, Virgo)
 * Earth Magic (土魔法, Tsuchi Mahō)
 * Aera (翼, Tsubasa)

Spells used

 * Diver (ダイバー, Daibā)

Abilities used

 * Hand to Hand Combat

Weapons used

 * Whip

Items used

 * Celestial Spirit Keys
 * Scissors