The Secret Revealed

At the School, inside the room, the group gather their thoughts. Starlight, Ares and Abby couldn't believe Vamps' suggestion. Vanessa and Vamps were looking at everyone, the only one without a care was Gumball. The little blue unicorn was sitting next to Starlight, smiling and humming a tune as she wiggled her feet.

Vanessa focused her stare at Gumball, a little annoyed how calm she was after hearing the plan. "You think this is a joke, little girl?" Hearing this, Gumball looked towards Vanessa, her feet no longer moving; "We are planning a coup d'état against the Blackwing family! And our target is Lord Draique! Possibly the strongest of all the mythicals in this era!"

Gumball smiled at Vanessa, giggling as she scooted to the edge of the couch and pushed herself off, landing on her feet. "Oh, I know. But that doesn't matter." Gumball brushed her dress down, getting a few wrinkles out of it; "If the Blackscales' leader needs to die, than he will be dealt with! Simple as that~"

Starlight, the grey Alicorn, chuckled and nodded. "Truth be told, the Equestrian family have been looking for a reason to rattle Draique's scales for a while now. But there was never a good reason that wouldn't risk starting a Family wide war." He then glared towards Vanessa; "Also, we're going to look past that little insult you just said."

Vanessa raised an eyebrow. "Insult?" She looked at Vamps, then back to Starlight and Gumball slightly confused; "When did I insult you?"

Starlight pointed towards Vanessa. "When you said Draique was the strongest of all Mythicals." He tapped his horn, staring at her as his horn started glowing a feint reddish color; "Draique may have raw strength, but Gumball and I are the strongest magic users out there."

Vanessa bowed her head slightly. "Oh, I didn't mean to insult you. It's just-"

Gumball raised her hands in the air. "If you want proof that me and big brother are stronger than Draique, look no further than this room!"

Everyone but Starlight and Gumball looked around the room, her words confusing them. Ares looked towards Gumball. "And what if this room proves your prowess, if I may ask?"

Gumball giggled, holding her hands behind her back, smiling as she rocked back and forward on her heels. "Weeeelll? Why do you think there was a teleport veil to get into the room?" Gumball looked around, seeing the look on everyone's face the same. She walked over to the door, then turned to face the others; "If you think about it, the answer is really simple~"

Gumball turned back to face the door, standing on her tip toes as she reached for the handle, opening the door. Everyone except Starlight was left in shock as outside the door was a black void! Abby got up and ran to the door, trying to make sense of what she saw. She then gasped and covered her mouth, completely lost for words from what she saw.

What she saw wasn't a black void, but the star lit vacuum of space, with the earth floating in front of her. Ares, Vamps and Vanessa walked over to the door, and were also stricken with disbelief.

Gumball's giggle behind them snapped them out of their shock as they looked towards her, smiling and rocking her body from side to side. "See? We used the teleport veil to make sure our meeting was superdy duper secret! Can't have flies on the wall after all!"

Starlight let out a soft chuckle, leaning forward on the couch, looking towards Vamps and Vanessa, resting his elbows on his knees. "As I stated earlier, Draique may have power, but we have magic. And this is just a fraction of what we're capable of."

Closing the door, Gumball smiled up at Abby. "Super cool, right?" Gumball reached up and took Abby's hand, walking back to the couch; "But back to the mission."

Starlight nodded, looking at Vamps. "If you really are serious about taking out your old man, we're gonna need the backing of all of the other families to do this. The Equestrian family will definitely be up for it if we say so, and I'm sure with a little convincing, the Crimsonwings should listen to Vanessa, so that's 2 of the 4." He leaned back on the couch, raising his hand to his chin, resting his index and thumb against his chin; "As of now, it's a tie. Unless we have majority, this plan will crumble."

Starlight let out a sigh, raising his hand from his chin to behind his head. "If only we could get the Emberwings to come to our side. But they're too far into Draique's pockets."

Vanessa looked at Vamps, then at Starlight. "What about 'you know who'?" Starlight cut Vanessa a curious glare, but it didn't seem to affect her at all; "Come on, Starlight. Every family knows you kept close eyes on them when they lost their Royal title."

Starlight sighed again, leaning forward again. "Well that may be true, it still doesn't change the fact that they've been reduced to single digits. The family is all but erased from history, and the head of the family has been MIA for years. There's no way we could-"

"You speak of the Ticoré family, do you not?" Ares' question made everyone except Abby look towards him in shock. He sat on the couch after shaking off the shock of the reveal of the room being in space; "I'm to take your reaction as a yes?"

Vamps snarled angrily at Ares. "Don't speak that name as if you know anything about them! They were deemed traitors and lost their Royal title over-"

Ares looked towards Vamps. "Over 20 years ago, correct?" His interruption caught Vamps by surprise, mostly due to the fact he was right; "After the head of the family went against the orders of the Blackscale family, and thus the head of the Blackscales deemed the Ticoré family traitors."

Ares crossed his legs, resting his arm against the back of the couch, seemingly unfazed by everyone staring at him with a look of confusion and shock. "So answer me this, if you can…" Ares continued; "What was the order that the Ticoré family refused to fulfill?"

Vamps looked at Vanessa and Starlight, who were looking to her for answers. Vamps shook her head slightly. "I…I'm not entirely sure. I was only a hatchling at the time."

Ares took a deep breath, then exhaled. "The answer is quite obvious, if you think about it hard enough." He then looked at Vanessa, pointing to her; "In fact, you and Miss Vamps should know the answer."

Vamps and Vanessa looked at each other confused, then to Ares. "What do you mean? How would we know that answer? We were both too young for-"

Ares shook his head. "Wrong. You know the answer, because it's the whole reason we held this meeting in the first place."

Starlight looked at Vamps and Vanessa, raising an eyebrow curiously. "Mind filling me in on what he's talking about?"

Vanessa shook her head confused. "I don't know! The only reason we're holding this meeting was because Draique is trying to force my father to-" Suddenly, Vanessa's eyes went wide, slowly looking at Ares, who was staring at her with a serious look on his face; "You mean…?"

One by one the rest of the animals in the room looked at Ares, still sitting with his arm resting behind the couch, legs crossed. Ares then tilted his head. "I see you started figuring it out." Ares leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees; "Ticoré was deemed a traitor, because he was supposed to kill me, but instead rescued me and took me under his wing."

Starlight raised an eyebrow. "So what you're saying, is the Blackscales want you killed because…?"

Ares looked towards Starlight. "I'm saying that I'm the adopted son of Don Ticoré and heir to the title of Ticoré. As such, I could have the Ticoré family give us aid if needed."

Vamps suddenly stood up, her wings spread open. "You're WHAT?!? You mean to tell me after all this time, you were a Royal?? Why the hell didn't you mention this?!"

Ares turned his head to look at Vamps. "None of you asked. Not really something to bring up in casual conversation, now is it?"

Starlight started chuckling softly, then smiled at Vamps. "Well then, that makes 3 out of the 5 Royal Families."

Vamps huffed, sitting back on the couch, her arms crossed. "Fine, whatever. As long as we have enough of the families on board, we could stage a coup d'état against my father." She looked around at the animals, a look of concern on her face; "So are we 100% sure we can pull this off? This is my father, Draique Blackscale, we're talking about…"

Starlight nodded, Gumball jumping up onto the couch. "No worries. We got your back."

Ares cleared his throat slightly. "Well if we are in agreement, then miss Abby and I shall be leaving. I'm sure the 4 of you can handle the planning without us."

Gumball whined sadly. "Awwww…you're leaving? Can't you stay a little longer?"

Ares stood up from the couch. "Sadly, I can't. I did just get out of the hospital after all, I need to get some rest." He bowed politely; "Once you have the plan thought up, send me the details." Ares stood up, looking towards Gumball; "Also, is there a less uh…wibbly means of leaving here?"

Gumball tilted her head, slightly confused. "Wibbly?…oooh! Yeah there's an easier way back." She smiled as her horn started glowing, Both Ares and Abby getting surrounded by a light blue glow before disappearing.

Before Ares knew what happened, he and Abby were in front of the school's entrance. He let out a deep sigh, shaking his head. "I suppose that was easier than that other way." He then looked at Abby; "Will you be joining me miss Abby?"

Abby didn't hear Ares at all, her mind racing with everything that happened. The attack on Ares, the incident in the alleyway, the strange creature from the hospital, the weird teleporting, the room in space, the coup against the Blackwings, Ares being a Royal…Abby was trying to process everything.

Abby felt something on her shoulder, making her jump and bleat in shock. She looked and saw it was Ares' hand. She looked up and saw Ares had a concerned look in his eyes. "Are you ok, miss Abby?" His voice was so gentle that it took her by surprise.

Abby shook off the jitters, giving Ares a smile. "Of course! I'm fine, really!" She walked in front of Ares, turning on her heels and smiling at him, her hands behind her waist; "I actually just remembered i have something I have to do! If you want, I can swing by your place when I'm done, sound good?"

Ares nodded, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a key, offering it to Abby. "Then you'll need this. I intend to keep my door locked after last time, so as to avoid another incident." He gave Abby a slight bow, then left to his dorm room.

Abby watched Ares walk away, making sure he was out of earshot before taking out her phone. Her heart started racing as she called Sadie. "Hey Sadie!…Yeah I'm fine, hey listen. Um…are you free around 8?…Yes, it's a request from Mistress…ok I'll meet you at the usual spot." Abby hung up the phone, and took a deep breath, trying to calm her heart from racing. Whatever Phoenix had planned for them, Abby hoped it would help her take her mind off of everything that's happening.

To Be Continued.