Ms. Paint did indeed make very good cake. After everyone had eaten, she and Sollux decided to leave. He wanted to make sure his dad was doing okay with Mituna. "See, sometimes, my dad is a bit of an asshole, and he really doesn't mean to be one, but shit happens."
"I can't begin to understand. What happened to Mituna was terrible." Feferi was lucky enough not to witness it. Apparently, Latula and Sollux were the only ones to witness it. Neither of them talked about it, but Latula was forever put in Mr. Captor's bad graces.
"Yeah."
"Have you talked about it with anyone?"
Sollux sighed. "Sometimes, I try to talk to Mituna about it, but he always throws a fit. I can't push him like that. Me and Latula will talk about it if we need to. We don't need to as much as we did before."
"I never knew you two were friends."
"We aren't, not really."
They walked the rest of the way home in silence. Feferi was well aware that, no matter how large their group of friends was, Sollux was only really close with her, Aradia, and Karkat. Even if he did have someone to talk to, she worried that he'd let these feelings fester.
Mr. Captor wasn't home when they arrived back. Feferi asked Sollux if she could have a few minutes alone. He agreed without argument, and went to play with Mituna. From what she saw before locking herself in his room, Sollux was intentionally letting Mituna win.
She took out her phone and stared at it. Meenah's contact picture was flipping her off, something she was sure Meenah would do to her if she was present. Her thumb hovered over the call button. She needed to tell her what was going on. Karkat had said it himself, it was necessary to have as many people involved.
She pressed the call button. The phone rang, and eventually went to voicemail. Feferi hung up, then called again. This time, Meenah answered. "Beach, where the shell is yo sorry ass!?"
"Hey, Meenah," Feferi said, guilt lacing her words.
"Fef! What the fuck!"
"I can explain."
"You fucking better!"
"I found something out about Mom. Okay? It's really scary, but absolutely true, and I need you to trust me. Don't do anything impulsive."
"When do I ever do anything impulsive? Just fucking talk!"
Feferi chose not to address Meenah's question. "You know Kankri Vantas? I'm a friend of his brother, Karkat. Karkat found out some information not too long ago about his dad, who was assassinated. The bottom line is that Mom was responsible for it. She's part of a gang, the Protectors of Alternia. From what everyone has found out, they might try to take over the world and turn it into the new Alternia by killing everyone who isn't a troll."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"That's heavy, sis," Meenah said. Feferi chuckled as Meenah exhaled. "So you ran because you didn't want to be caught with this whole revolution shit?"
"Yeah."
"Fuck, take me with you! Where you at?"
"Sollux's house. His brother is Mituna, I think you know him?"
"Shell yeah, I'll be right over!"
"No, Meenah, wait! I need you to stay!"
"Why?" Meenah asked, and any fake hood tone completely abandoned her voice.
"I need someone to keep an eye on Mom!"
"Fucking do it yourself!" Meenah screamed, and Feferi turned the phone away from her ear with a grimace. "Do you know what it's like to have that woman breathing down your neck all the goddamn time? You were her fucking poster child! She'd be happy to show you every fucking thing you want to see!" Meenah stopped, and then said, "Fuck. I'll call you back. Voldemort heard."
Voldemort? When Feferi realized that she meant you-know-her, she was grateful that Meenah had been best friends with two of the biggest nerds alive. But Meenah had a good point. Was it selfish to leave and abandon her sister, who had never been on good terms with their mother, in hopes that she could gather information? Certainly, Feferi would be better suited for the task. Maybe she could convince her mother to adhere to Dualscar's plans, and introduce her to the Protectors of Alternia.
She groaned and rubbed her eyes. She needed a shower. She always thought better when she was completely surrounded by water.