Authors Notes: Alright, let's keep this train moving!

To those that only follow this story, I have no excuse for my absence. Just complete and utter laziness on my part. Sitting on my keister, playing video games and over all just slacking off. So as I stated in my update to Path of Destruction, if I am taking to long to update; start prodding me in PM's and such to get my rear in gear!

Anyways, on with the story!

Dynasty of Evil

Chapter 34

It had been just over two hours since Bloom had left the sun fairy. For her part, Stella wasted no time in digging into the book the young sorceress had given her. Slowly and deliberately combing over each page. Even though it had been hours since she began, the sun fairy was just a little of a quarter of the way through the book. Absorbing the words and diagrams that each page held. Taking each theory and instructions to heart in how to perform some of these offensive abilities. Though she couldn't help but feel something familiar about this book.

Stella made a mental note to ask Bloom if there was any place safe and private enough to use some of these abilities in practice. The sun fairy was fairly certain that Bloom would not want her to practice in the apartment, let alone her bedroom.

Setting the book down, she got up off the bed and stretched. Her legs feeling cramped and dead from sitting for so long. After getting the blood flowing back through her limps, she quickly teleported to the kitchen to grab herself a quick snack and something to drink. Even now, she couldn't believe that she had learned an ability that almost all the teachers in Alfea had trouble accomplishing. Yet here she was, doing it as if it were second nature to her.

This made her ponder what the teachers were doing wrong. She recalled that Bloom explained that in Alfea, they are taught to use incantations, runes and more or less channeling rods to use their magic. Where as Bloom harnessed her magic from its raw source, and she was teaching Stella to do the same. Wild and untamed magic was at her finger tips. It was then that she noticed that for the past months, since she started learning from Bloom, that she had not used any of the incantations that the school had taught her. This made her have a sense of pride.

While she wasn't exactly dead last in her academics, she surely wasn't a prodigy either. But now, she could see the school curriculum was no where near as daunting as it had once been. In fact, in the last few months she had found them rather boring as she ached for something that would actually challenge her knowledge. She couldn't help but wonder if Bloom felt like this the entire time. It was clear the young sorceress had no need to attend the school.

Shaking her head at the thoughts, she grabbed her snacks and drink and teleported back into the bedroom, to resume where she had left off in the book.

"Let's see here." Stella spoke to herself. "Chaos bolt, shadow bolt, lunar crush. Man, I can't wait to try some of these spells."

She continued to read the list of offensive spells. Each one sounding more brutal, and dare she say, even darker then the last. Which only excited her more. As she was reading down the list of spells, she heard the sound of voices enter the apartment. Lowering the book for a second, she concentrated on the voices in the living room area. Narrowing her eyes as she recognizes the voices.

"Timmy, I really don't think this is a good idea." Layla stated, unaware that Stella was still in the apartment.

"Relax." Timmy replied. "Everyone is out, now is the perfect chance to see if our host is hiding anything."

The water fairy remains unconvinced. Bloom had made a fool of her all throughout the school year with zero effort. Crossing her arms, she watches as the blonde specialist makes his way up the stairs, standing in front of Bloom's bedroom door.

"You know when she finds out, you'll probably be kicked out of the apartment and maybe even asked to return to Magix." Layla pointed out. Not moving from her position near the main entrance.

Shaking his head, Timmy reached for the doorknob. Before he could twist it, the door was suddenly yanked open, revealing an understandably upset sun fairy. The spectacled specialist almost wet himself, as he was not expecting anyone to actually be in the apartment.

"Well, at least one of you has brains." The blonde fairy sarcastically remarked.

"S-Stella," Timmy stammered. "What are you doing here?"

The sun fairy only narrowed her eyes at him before securing shutting the door behind her.

"In case you forgot, I am staying here this summer." Was the sun fairies sarcastic answer.

"No, I mean what were you doing in Bloom's bedroom?"

"Unlike you, I have permission to be in there." Stella replied. "Now, stay away from her bedroom. I will only warn you once."

"Come on Stella, just let me have a peek." Timmy tried to coerce his way into the room. Reaching for the door knob again before he was violently repelled backwards. Just barely stopping before the steps. Looking up, he could see Stella's eyes glowing a bright yellow. Her blonde hair starting to raise up from the amount of magic around her.

Layla was in shock at what she had just seen. Stella had pushed back Timmy with only flaring her magic around her. The water fairy didn't even think that was possible. But then again, Stella had been learning from Bloom in more advanced magic. Which still didn't sit right with the water fairy.

"I will not warn you again."

Timmy could only nod, unsure what to do. He had never seen Stella this angry before. Slowly standing to his feet, he begins to make his way down the stairs and quickly leaves the apartment. Not sure what to do now. His plan was to simply look around Bloom's room to see if there was anything she was hiding. He didn't count on Stella being literally inside the room, nor of her using force on him to keep him away from the room.

Seeing the blonde specialist leave, Stella slowly calms her magic down. Allowing her eyes to return to their normal color, a smirk across her face at what she had just did. It wasn't so much of a spell she learned in the book, but reading what would happen if she actually called her magic around her. Sparing Layla a second look, she disappears back into Bloom's room to continue with the book.

A Few Hours Later

Luckily for Stella, after her encounter with Timmy, no one else had interrupted her or tried to barge into the room again. She heard Layla leave again about an hour ago, not that she was concerned where the water fairy went.

As the hours had ticked away, Stella found herself towards the end of the book. The later sections mostly detailed rituals and such, but the sun fairy browsed over them none the less. As Bloom had once told her, she shouldn't limit herself in anything just because she found something boring and uninteresting.

"Better to know it and not need it, then need it and not know it." Stella commented to herself as she continued to browse over the various rituals.

As she continues on, she freezes on the name of a particular ritual.

"Army of Decay?" She whispered, her eyes wide in shock as she looks over the instructions to summon the army. Without a doubt, it is the exact same ritual that she found for Darcy to attack the school with.

'Could it be that Bloom is working with the Trix?' Stella thought to herself. 'Or rather, having the Trix work for her.'

Slowly lowering the book down to the bed, she leaned back against the wall and began to go over her thoughts on the matter. She recalled the time when the three of them first engaged the Trix sisters to prove Sky's innocence. While the others fought, her and Darcy spoke. Was it possible that Bloom had arranged that?

Not that she didn't mind. She found an unlikely friend in the darkness witch, and the spells she learned with the witch were an added bonus. Not that she was able to actually use them in front of anyone but Bloom. At least not yet.

Flashback

"Are there any others you are considering?" Stella asked, concern evident in her voice.

"There are three others who show potential as well as yourself." The red head replied honestly. "Each of you have great potential of magical capabilities. However, the other three are ahead of you in only one aspect."

"Which would that be?" Her face becoming determined. She didn't just want to become the apprentice of a powerful sorceress, she needed it. "Where do I need to improve?"

Bloom chuckled in response. She had come to like this about the Solarian Princess.

"What you lack is something that you need to figure out yourself." She replied in a serious tone. "However, if it is any consolation; the others don't know what they have that you have yet to show."

"Anybody I know?" Stella asked, a glint of mischief in her eyes.

"Maybe." Bloom responded with a smirk of her own. "Why, planning to eliminate the competition?"

"Of course not." The sun fairy feigned shock at the notion, though deep in the dark places of her mind; she had considered it an option to obtain what she desired.

"Of course." The red head smiled. "How about this, I'll tell you the first letters of their names."

"I suppose that is more then I should be getting."

"Their names star with, I, D, and S." Bloom revealed. "Now, we should move to a different topic before Layla begins to suspect we're plotting to take over the world."

Flashback End

"I, D, S." Stella murmured to herself, stroking her chin, deep in thought before her eyes opened wide at the realization. "Icy, Darcy and Stormy!"

It was almost as if she could see the pieces of the puzzle falling into place before her. She didn't rule out that it could be a coincidence that Bloom owned the same book Darcy had, but that felt very unlikely. No, her mentor had set this up. She wanted Stella to come to discover this. Question now, what would she do with this information?

Should she confront Bloom about it and lose her chance at becoming stronger, should she reveal this to Faragonda and lose her mentor, or should she just do nothing and see how things play out?

Shaking her head, she quickly dismissed the second option.

"No, I won't betray her like that. I owe her too much to even consider that an option." The sun fairy spoke to only herself, narrowing her eyes at the book that still lay on the bed. Picking it up again, she began to once again. This time, reminiscing of some rather fond memories of spending time with the darkness witch.

"No, I think for now I will just see how things play out." She smiled at her resolve. "After all, as Circe said, sacrifices must be made. This time, I am sacrificing my moral compass."

Additional Authors Notes: Uh oh, Stella is starting to fall more into the dark side! Who am I kidding, this is what everyone wants to see, right?

Anyways, no Stella has not won the votes. Yes those are still going on. She is just in the lead at the moment with Tecna and Musa still tied in the second place position.

Now originally, I was going to have the Specialist and Layla meet with Wonder Woman at the mall, but decided it was too soon right now. Also, a very big event needs to happen before that confrontation. What is it? Well, you will see in the future.

As I said above, if you feel I am taking too long, feel free to start spamming me with PM's to tell my to stop playing games and start typing!