Meenah, Barren Meenah
Three days later and the now seventeen were cleaning up after the hurricane that was Meenah blew through their house. They were all still shaking, their legs shivering, their bodies going into full freeze every time they saw him. As for him, well...he hadn't yet found his way home.
Meenah screamed in what was insurmountable rage, fear, and undeniable happiness. She screamed endlessly into the void, her cry nothing more than her body's response to the whirlwind of emotion spinning out of control in her brain, reducing her kind state into merely a paradox. Her scream was haunting and bloodcurdling as it shook its way through their home. For a split second the rest of the sixteen felt her insufferable agony inside, and they were all her. They felt what it was like to be Meenah, barren Meenah. When she ceased her roar she went after Feferi, swinging her knife down diagonally, and thankfully, she missed. But not by much. He who took the blunt of the knife was Gamzee. A long, deep gash stretched its way across his face and took home just above his left eye and down his nose. Karkat's breath hitched in his throat. Gamzee looked surprised, like he had gotten a question he guessed correctly. Meenah quickly moved on, her knife in the air, but Gamzee didn't allow that. Skillfully he snatched her hand and twisted it behind her back, bending, bending, bending until finally- snap. Her bone broke. She shrieked in pain, and even as she was running away she didn't escape Gamzee. Gamzee caught up to her so fast it seemed like he sprinted, but so calmly it seemed he had walked. He gave her a warm, genuine smile. Everyone watched in terror. Meenah panted shakily.
"You didn't motherfucking finish." He told her. "Sorry I went all snappy on your mother fuckin juggler there. See here, I'll do it for ya, just this once." Gamzee almost let her go. "Oh, wait, fuck. I forgot. I can't let you get all mother fuckin escapin all up on me and shit. Here, Meenah..." He dragged her over to Equius, who stood firm. "As a high-motherfucker I order you to hold her, please". Equius stammered as he held Meenah by the arms. "Now," he said. "This'll just take a bit." He sucked in a deep breath and let it out again. He proceeded to rip two new gashes in his face, slowly and much deeper, the blood flowing from his face, into his open mouth as he laughed. Karkat literally hyperventilated. Most of the rest just screamed.
Gamzee wasn't the same after. He was quieter. Softer. He didn't smile very much. He hadn't spoken to anyone since. As for everyone else, they steered clear of him as best they could without seeming rude. Feferi had bouts of crying every now and then, and Sollux was always there to comfort her. Eridan went about himself in silence, not joining into conversation like he regularly did. As for Kanaya, she took over as leader for Karkat and had to make sure that things actually got done. The day after the knife fight only Equius rose for work the next day- everyone else just stayed in bed.
Rose Lalonde made progress.
Kanaya knocked on her door in the morning, a soft double-rap on her door with the back of her knuckles. "Rose?" She asked softly. "Are you there? I-I've brought you something to eat."
"Kanaya," Rose smiled softly, "everyone knows you can't cook."
"Will you please just try it?"
Rose stood up to unlock her door, a smile on her lips. Kanaya smiled back. She offered her a plate of food- a blueberry muffin and an over easy egg. Rose smiled as she took the plate, and in front of her matesprit she took a bite of the muffin. It was remarkably dry and crumbly, like it had sat out three days, not to mention salty. Rose chewed painfully, wondering how anyone could manage to screw up blueberry muffins. She gave Kanaya a weak smile. "Thanks." She said. Kanaya cocked her head to the side with a weary smile.
"I messed up again, didn't I?"
"Unfortunately." Rose said. "Will you join me in my bed? I want to talk to you about something. Kanaya nodded, setting down her plate on a nightstand and rotting cross-legged across from Rose on Rose's bed. Rose took her hand. "Any news with Meenah?"
"She hasn't left the basement since we put her there."
"And you're sure there's nothing she could hurt herself with?"
"I doubt it. We basically stripped her naked, and I doubt she had a knife anywhere else." Kanaya said. "Any reason why?"
"I worry, I worry." Rose sighed. "Is this really what those awful people at the facility did to our professors? Is that really Feferi's mother?"
"As close as you can get, yes. It doesn't make us any less Ecto-Mistake." Kanaya responded. "All my life I've wondered- have I a mother? Will I ever meet her? Where did I come from? This answer is...disappointing."
"I'm sure it is for everyone else, too." Rose comforted her. "What did you have in mind?"
Kanaya blushed. "Promise not to laugh?"
Rose drew a cross over her heart.
"I used to think I was a daughter of a goddess." She looked up at her ceiling fan. "I would see her in my dreams- a tall, slender, beautifully tattooed woman with the most beautiful black hair flowing all down her back. She wore lots of jewelry and these beautiful flowing gowns: her preferred color was green, just like me. She was so beautiful, Rose. And in my dreams she would hold me close and call me daughter, and she would tell me that she was the goddess of childbirth, representing hope and motherliness to all children. And that I was her daughter."
"What was her name?"
"Porrim. Porrim Maryam."
"It sounds like a very beautiful imaginary mother." Rose said. "I used to pretend Roxy was my motht since she looked like me. And look at me, I was right. But, that's not really what I wanted to talk to you about."
"Then what was?"
"You know how I've always wanted to be a therapist?"
"Yes?"
"May I please practice on Meenah?"
Kanaya looked taken aback. "Um, Rose, are you sure that's-"
"Please?" Rose begged. "I promise you that I won't get hurt. This is a really big opportunity for me!"
"Rose, you've already lost an eye trying to help someone. Are you sure you want to do this?"
"That's the other thing I wanted to talk to you about." Rose looked down. "Ever since I lost my eye to Vriska, I really haven't been clear on what we are. Are we still an item? Are you and Vriska an item now?"
"...I...don't know...exactly." Kanaya sighed. "I just don't know. I'm sort of...torn."
"Right." Rose looked away. "So can I talk to Meenah or not?"
"Sure, if you want." Kanaya sighed. "But Equius has to be there at all times."
"What?"
"Kidding, kidding. Go ahead."
"May I come in?"
"Eh? Who's anglin'? No, wait, that pun sucks. Who's there?"
"Rose Lalonde."
"The one eye?"
"More vulgarly known as, yes."
"Cmon."
Rose pushed open the basement door at the bottom of the stairs, entering a dark and barren room, devoid of all and any objects. Rose stepped inside, flicking on a light switch to reveal Meenah laying flat on a mattress on the floor, her hands and legs tied down. "Agh." She gritted her teeth and squinted at the light.
"My apologies."
"So, y'here to let me go? Throw me back? Heheh, get it?" She grinned.
"No...I was actually just here to have a friendly chat with you. Ecto-freak to Ecto-Freak." Rose smiled.
"Really? No more questions?"
"No."
"Huh. That's a shocker."
"Again, I apologize." Rose smiled. "I'm training as a therapist."
"Eh? Those fuckers with the drugs? I'll pass, sister."
"Oh, no no no! That's not a therapist at all. Actually, that's a common mistake one makes when thinking of a therapist." Rose said. "As a therapist I am here for you to talk to, about anything and everything, 100% confidentially."
"So ya keep my secrets for me?"
"That is a big component of my job, yes." Rose nodded. "Another thing I do is, if desired, I can offer suggestions and helpful tips to solve problems. But I can also just be someone to talk to about scary stuff. So, where would you like to begin?"
"Oof. Ah, let's see...I'm debait'n on if I can trust you or not." Meenah said.
"It's your choice if you do or do not share your secrets with me. How about an easy topic: how was your day?"
"Barely started, I gather." Meenah groaned. "Didn't sleep much last night. Spent most of it cryin'. And you were there for what happened last night."
"Yes, I remember. I'm sorry about that, Meenah."
"Jegus. Any other topics?"
"Friends? Did you have any friends back at the...uh...is it okay if I mention the facility?"
"Jeez, no." Meenah winced. "And that ain't gonna get us nowhere with talking, because basically everything I have to do with is that goddamned place, and I don't wanna say shit about it. How 'bout you, one eye, how was your day?"
"M-Me?" Rose looked up. "Ah...I guess it was okay so far. My girlfriend made me this horrid blueberry muffin. Of course, I'm not sure if I can really call her that anymore, or if I should."
"Oh, a gillfriend? Wait did that pun suck too?"
"A bit. But, yes. Or she used to be."
"Aww, what happened?"
"Well, it's actually the story of how I lost this eye." Rose smiled. "So Kanaya, my lovely girlfriend, and I were together for no more than a day before her absolutely insane- um, ex girlfriend? I don't know, honestly. I guess there were just some red feelings there for a long time and hers were just way stronger."
"Sorry, pause button, can we use some names here?"
"I'm not sure if, as a therapist, I can do that."
"Try me, I'll play therapist. Confindential." Meenah said. Rose paused.
"Alright." She sighed.
"Who's the gullfriend?" She asked. "Also was that a good pun?"
"It's better, and my quote-unquote 'girlfriend' is Kanaya Maryam."
"Ooh, the Porrim lookalike? I gotcha."
"Did you say Porrim?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I- ...nothing. Nothing."
"Who's the exie?"
"Vriska Serket."
"Another Serket, huh? Nice. I'm on pretty good gills with the one we got. Anyway, what happened with your Serket?"
"She found out and got pretty bad. When Kanaya and she were driving a car with all the girls onboard she threatened to kill us all and herself. Thankfully, Kanaya stopped her. Anyway, I decided to talk to her a little bit because a lot of what she said really hurt Kanaya. Anyway, I went out in the woods to talk to her very calmly and, well, she attacked me. She wanted to blind me in both eyes, but I escaped. Equius managed to take out my ruined eye and stitch my socket shut. In a few more days I'll take off this bandage." She smiled, pointing to the bandage. "After I escaped I ran back and basically fainted. From what Kanaya told me, she said that she told Vriska to get out and never come back, but she didn't mean it, and so she went after her. It turned out that it was little Nepeta Lejion who saved the day, stopping Vriska from killing herself and bringing the two back together. Vriska and I are on surprisingly good terms, for someone who tried to kill me."
"Damn." Meenah said. "Looks like you've been through shit too, huh?"
"Yes. Especially with Dirk's suicide." Rose sighed.
"Ugh, don't remind me."
"Did Dirk ever do you wrong?"
"Yeah. They took away any chance of being a mama from me because of him and his carelessness!" Meenah glared. Rose went back into therapist mode, nodding.
"I can see how you would feel that way." She said. "You're right- what he did was careless and you took the punishment for what he did. You and the rest of your ladies. May I also say that Dirk saved all of our lives? You see, when he kidnapped us all he and the others have us a home and raised us wild and strong. They kept us safe. They showed us love. I've never felt any more love from anyone else."
"Really? Didn't take Dirk to be the sentimental type."
"Oh, you should have seen his suicide letter for Dave. He was very sappy in professing his brotherly love. Quite tearjerking, actually."
"Psh, you sure he didn't say all that shit ironically?"
"Very sure, actually."
"Huh."
"Dave likes the scar you gave him."
"Eh?"
"Yup. After you got locked up down here Terezi and he went for ice cream to calm down, and she told me he kept admiring it and running his fingers over it. He says he liked it ironically, but I think he really does." Rose smiled. "We did have to clean it up. You really can cut deep."
"What can I say? I'm a professional pokah." She grinned. "So what happens to me when I get outta here? Do I go back?"
"Actually, I was thinking you could stay with us."
"Uh?"
"Yeah. I mean, you're one more mouth to feed and you fucked up half our group, but hey, you're an Ecto-Freak. Who cares. Stay with us. Go on our adventure."
"There are more people coming for yous." Meenah said. "Serket and Maryam and Nitram and Megido...yuck. Megido. They're all coming after you guys."
"We might not be able to house them all, but you can tag along if you like. You might just have to fend for yourself." Rose said. "We'll do our best. I'll take it up with Karkat-"
"Shouty? I like shouty."
"I'll take it up with shouty as soon as I can. Until then, welcome to the team, Meenah. Let me undo those bonds for you."