Chapter 5: a Date with a Darkar
The following day was the last day before the Weekend, if there was any chance to steal Stella's Ring without her noticing it was now before the Winx had to do their detention, which left Erasiel with only one option; a bit of matchmaking. "So here is my new plan, plan D as in D for Darkar, we separate Stella from the other Winx so that we can snatch the ring from her" Erasiel explained he and the Trix were sitting at a round table in their room while Pepe Icy's new pet duck playfully waddled in her lap. "First off Stella is in a relationship with Brandon alias Prince Sky, but what she doesn't know that he is just Sky's squire but rather she thinks he is the prince himself, so we arrange a Date for them; Darcy and I will go undercover to the restaurant: I will be disguised as Brandon, Darcy will simply be there for lookout purposes; Icy you and Stormy will wait in a back alley near the restaurant, Knut you and the Ghuls will knock Stella out, we will then take Stella back to a house that I have acquired for the purpose of the mission, take the ring from her allowing me to copy it, and return it to her, We'll then return her to the back alley where you will wake up being the heroes who saved her from her mysterious attackers; which for the purposes of this scenario will be Knut and the Ghuls, only Knut will assume the guise of a human for this scenario the alias of Mr. Logan a dark warlock who secretly hired the Ogre to steal her ring; while you three are waiting for her to recover consciousness we'll make sure it looks like there was an epic fight, while I implant false memories of the date in Brandon's head" Erasiel explained.
"All right but how do make sure no one comes looking for her, didn't Griselda and Faragonda confine them to their dorm?" Darcy asked.
"Yes and no more, I managed to convince Faragonda to let them off being confined to their rooms for their help in the Swamp, but I couldn't get her to budge on the school cleaning, but that doesn't matter anyway in fact that helps with another plan I had, one to cement their trust in us further; however, that plan only works if we can pull this one off without something going wrong" Erasiel responded, the Trix nodded in agreement.
Later that day… Erasiel had called Riven and had her deliver the message to Stella, he thought he did a pretty good job forging Brandon's signature and handwriting; and Stella fell for it hook, line and sinker. Unaware to Erasiel Stella was busy changing into her dress for the occasion, while in the adjoining dorm room Bloom was busy teaching Flora how to play Warhammer tabletop, and had just started a demonstration of a match between her Empire and Vampire Counts armies which was having the desired effect, Flora was quickly understanding the rules and was getting the hang of the game. "Well Bloom, Flora I'm off on my date see you later" Stella commented.
"Good Luck Stella" and "Have fun" were what Flora and Bloom had to say, while Musa was too busy with video games and had her music on full blast to hear Stella and Tecna was busy playing video games with Musa and wasn't paying any attention, Stella smiled and left. Shortly after leaving her dorm she was ambushed by Griselda who was wearing a different outfit than usual, but it was still utilitarian in design.
"Where do you think you're going Miss Stella?" Griselda inquired blocking Stella's path like a bridge troll.
"On a date" Stella responded.
"Which she is going to be going on and you aren't stopping her" Faragonda stated, "By the way good luck have fun Stella, also Griselda come here, I have a request from Professor Gelt for a lot of saltpeter and you are going to pick it up for him and bring it back to Alfea" Faragonda continued, Griselda snorted and then followed the headmistress, leaving Stella to leave.
Erasiel was already waiting for Stella and now while waiting he made sure that the Trix had taken all the proper precautions, most of which involved helping Knut to get his lines down properly and to make sure he didn't mess up; the Trix made sure to get the point across that if he messed up Erasiel would not hesitate to dispose of him and find them a new troll, they also made sure the Ghuls understood their place in the plan and made sure the creatures were ready for both parts of the plan, them swarming Stella and knocking her out, followed by creating a battle scene for the Trix to step into afterward, this stage was a lot easier, also they had prepared a portal to a cottage that Erasiel had purchased specifically for the purpose of the plan, and which Erasiel intended to use as a place for Knut to lay low if it failed; Erasiel had considered killing him but he viewed that as a last option for any scenario.
Erasiel soon found himself waiting in front of the restaurant that he had invited Stella to, it was a decent place with good food, however it wasn't out his budget even remotely, the pay tab for the date was like a drop out of an ocean, one that happened to be constantly filling itself, he was not afraid to go all out, on this occasion however he was assuming the guise of somebody else and on top of that the person was acting as a decoy for the real person he was guarding. So, in light of that fact plus that this was only a first date Erasiel was keeping the venue modest and out of the way so that no one could interfere in his plans, speaking of said plans; he already had Faceless monitoring the general area around the restaurant for any trouble and had Dark Elf Assassins on standby in case of witnesses to the latter part of his plan. "Keep yourself focused Erasiel; step 1 carry out the date don't act even remotely suspiciously, step 2 keep your cover under wraps she cannot know that you are really Erasiel Nathan Darkar, step 3 finish the date and lure Stella into the trap, step 4 implement the trap, step 5 take Stella's Ring, copy it and return it, step 6 allow the Trix to take credit for saving her" Erasiel mused in his head, after doing so Stella arrived and he examined her dress, which was sky blue and had sleeves, she wore modest pumps and of course her ring, which Erasiel wasn't eyeing as he was focused more on Stella's natural beauty and all that accompanied it.
The Solorian Princess approached and acted a bit nervous but that faded rather quickly "Hey Prince Sky, nice to see you here, I'm glad to see you waiting for me" Stella greeted, Erasiel curtsied and then took her hand, giving her an injection from his ring, and they walked inside, arranged for a table for two and received it, Erasiel then made sure to order his usual but made sure to allow Stella to go first. The Waitress took their orders and Erasiel couldn't help but sneak a slight butt-pinch at said waitress, who was rather attractive with her long brown hair and glasses; whose name was Lenora, Stella didn't notice him do this as it was quite out of sight and happened far too quick to be noticed. "So now that we are finally here together why don't you tell me more about yourself" Stella asked.
"I have been good, honestly it is tough being Prince of Eraklyion" Erasiel stated.
"Oh, I can see, how tough and what is it that irks you the most" Stella asked.
"To be honest it's the fact that there is so much attention focused on me, my parents have such high hopes for me and I don't think I'll live up to them" Erasiel lied, so far Stella hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary and was generally relaxed; he also noted that the Phoenix blood was having the desired effect as she accepted everything he said as fact. "So, did you hear about the latest news? Princess Esdeath just rejected another suiter and she did a number on him" Erasiel responded, attempting to make small talk, this was all the excuse Stella needed to go on tangent about the latest gossip until their drinks arrived, he noted her preference for Mountain Dew and noted that for future reference, he made sure to let her know his opinions when it came to certain political issues, notable though he made a note to avoid an important thing that he researched and this he made sure wouldn't go public for a while, the news of Sky's betrothal to Princess Diaspro of Isis one of Eraklyion's lesser kingdoms, but one that he made sure wasn't public knowledge to Stella or to anyone else on Magix bar the real Prince Sky; In fact he only knew of the Betrothal from Icy, something that he noted caused her both anger and sadness, he hadn't pressed the issue but mention of Sky made her lose her cool for a brief second before resuming her normal cold calculating demeanor. Stella's chatter returned to the Whisperia's politics when she said what she thought of Esdeath's recent break up, that was she thought it absolutely hilarious which he agreed with.
"I only hope my father doesn't get any bright ideas about an arranged marriage with Princess Esdeath" Erasiel commented, he knew full well that King Erendor wasn't going to do so because of the arranged marriage with Diaspro, though the thought of that relationship made him shudder, mainly because he knew that would never work out, Erasiel himself as Erasiel didn't think any relationship between him and Esdeath would be a good idea and that wasn't just because he had plans for the Trix, he was fully aware of what Esdeath did to men she didn't like and that was something that he wanted to avoid if he wanted to keep himself intact and not have to suicide an incarnation due some part of him being removed, like an arm or a leg, or worse eyes or at absolute worse being made a eunuch; also he believed that Esdeath was not someone he wanted to be remotely near mainly because A she was extremely powerful, not as strong as him though not even remotely close it was like comparing a planet to a galaxy, B though beautiful she was an absolute tomboy, a Yamadere, and didn't like anyone thinking that they were her equal in partnership, C he doubted his ring would work on her, and D she was Darancar's daughter and his plans to put Icy on Whisperia's throne didn't allow him to pursue her, he swore an oath to Seranna that he would place her eldest daughter on Whisperia's throne and he fully intended to do so, also there was the fact that he refused to be associated with Darancar's schemes.
Erasiel and Stella's conversation would have continued further but the food arrived and Erasiel was quick to begin eating while Stella wasn't too far behind on doing so. After dinner Erasiel paid the tab and left a generous tip to their waitress and by generous about a year's salary, Stella was shocked by his generosity and large amount of money but he easily wrote that off as allowance and she accepted that; they then departed; went three blocks down, and separated, then after wandering off he gave the signal to the Trix a solitary fireball which Stella didn't notice, Erasiel had at this point changed into his normal civilian garb and then flew up to the nearest rooftop to observe the plan.
Stella looked around when she noticed the familiar figure of a certain ogre duck into a back alley, she immediately pursued him, and suddenly he vanished into the darkness of the alley, she then saw a short funny looking brown messy haired man wearing glasses and the garb of warlock. "Get her my Ghuls!" the man shouted, suddenly out of the shadows from either side Ghuls came swarming towards her from either side and there were many of them too many, despite how quickly Stella turned into her Charmix and how many spells they swarmed her, though they didn't claw her they did drag her down and two of the creatures obstructed her mouth stopping her from breathing until she passed out. Stella lay unconscious, her fairy form turning back to her normal form and to her gown, from the shadows the Trix emerged floating and from the front of the alley Erasiel entered clapping slowly.
"It worked!" Stormy cheered eagerly, Erasiel shushed her and approached the unconscious Stella, then removed her ring and planted a light kiss on her forehead, the man turned into Knut in his baggy purple overhauls, while the Ghuls stood look out, Erasiel and the Trix entered a portal that he opened followed by Knut and the Ghuls carrying the unconscious Stella, they emerged inside the cottage he had bought, he had Knut deposit Stella on a nearby futon and had the Trix watch her, while he took the Ring over to a nearby table, on which he had a ring that was in similar style but had the letter E over a large half-moon and the ring itself was purple as opposed to the blue, Erasiel studied the enchantment then used a spell to copy said enchantment, he then picked up the new ring and it turned into a staff-like scepter similar to Stella's own then he vanished from sight and appeared behind Darcy "BOO!" Erasiel stated, noted that none of the Trix were frightened then giggled. "Always wanted to have one of these" Erasiel stated, then handed the ring to Icy. "Now that we are done with that Knut, take the Ghuls and Stella back thru the portal, Trix you know what to do next" Erasiel stated.
An Hour later Stella woke up to Icy looking her in the face. "Finally, you're awake you've been out for a bit" Icy stated to a rather confused Stella, who noted the Ghuls frozen in ice blocks, as well as an ogre impaled on an ice spike and a warlock with broken glasses and torn robes and well-cooked flesh which Stella could smell, the bodies were genuine and not illusions as Erasiel had found suitable body doubles for the purpose of his plan, but Stella didn't know that.
"What happened, the last thing I remember was Ghuls swarming me and then I blacked out" Stella stated.
"We saved your life, we were in the neighborhood and heard the racket, then the Ghuls and company attacked, it took us a bit to deal with them, we stayed here until you woke up" Darcy answered as sincerely as she could.
"I don't know what to say, thank you; I honestly never believed the witches of Cloud Tower were of the type to care" Stella stated as Darcy helped her up.
"An unfortunate stereotype Stella, Witches like faeries fight the forces of darkness we just use different methods and magic" Icy stated.
"Where's my Ring?" Stella asked noticing its absence from her finger.
"Here" Icy stated handed it to her. "That Warlock tried to use it during the fight against us, unfortunately for him it made a good lightning rod that Stormy exploited to his downfall" she continued.
"Thanks for stopping them, at least I don't have to worry about them trying to steal my ring ever again" Stella thanked.
"Indeed, you won't we'll notify the police about the incident, so you don't have to worry about that in fact we won't mention you at all in the report, so it saves you the trouble of all that paperwork, you want us to accompany you back to Alfea or are you fine to get there on your own?" Stormy inquired, Stella noted a slight pain in her knee but other than that she was alright.
"Thanks for the offer, but I think I can get back on my own" Stella responded, then left the alley, unaware of Erasiel on a rooftop above watching the whole scene play out.
After the Stella had left Erasiel gracefully hopped down the fire escape from the roof and landed next to the Trix. "Congratulations on a success, you three have more surpassed my expectations, they were high, yet you exceeded them, indeed you deserve your reward" Erasiel congratulated.
"Yes, the Dragon Flame, like you promised" Icy stated victoriously.
"Indeed, I did and I'm a man of my word, come with me" Erasiel stated, then lead the Trix through a portal which led back to Cloud Tower and to the Trix's room.
"So where is it?" Icy asked annoyed at the fact they were in their dorm room instead of some grand chamber where she expected the flame to be residing on an altar.
"Oh yes the Dragon Flame, or the Eternal Flame, I said knew how to get it for you but not specifically, now stand close together" Erasiel stated, and the Trix complied, he then let out a surge of energy from himself, that energy flowed into the Trix, their eyes glowed red at infusion of magical energy, the current of red energy flowed into them, soon moments later the flow vanished the Trix's eyes returned to normal.
"What did you do?!" Stormy asked incredulously.
"I gave you the Dragon Flame of course, I didn't tell you I had it on me; I have the power of the Eternal Flame as a Phoenix one of the three children races of the Great Dragon Sharukanaath and his sister Edheladrill the Great Shadow Phoenix, he poured his power into my race at our inception first the 15 Greater Phoenixes and then the rest of our race and that power resides in every one of my race, from newest hatchling to Asha the Phoenix Queen, the other Elder Races are the Great Dragons and the Faceless" Erasiel responded.
"You mean to say you had it the whole time?" Darcy asked.
"Yes, I did, I told I knew how to get it for you, just not how, besides isn't it easier to receive the Dragon Flame as a reward then to steal it" Erasiel responded.
"Yes, it is" Icy responded and they all laughed.
"Good now get some sleep tomorrow I will teach you three how to use it" Erasiel stated, the Trix complied, Erasiel noted that his plan had worked, and he began to test out his newest toy he would make good use of it.