Hello! Due to my inactivity, I thought I might make it up by posting a roleplay I'm doing that I thought would make a good fanfiction. Enjoy!

Also, the person roleplaying this with me wanted credit for her half, so half credit for this story goes to Snerpthesnerr.

Eridan was loosing himself, he just knew it. With the visions, the nightmares, and the voices, it wasn't hard for him to figure out that he was going crazy. But a few things were still unexplained.

It had all started after Feferi left him. Maybe it was jealousy, maybe it was sick relief, or maybe it was because she had been the only one who cared about him, but that's what had triggered it. The visions came first. He remembered almost screaming when he had looked at a picture of Feferi and seen her covered in her own fuchsia blood, a gaping hole in her chest. It had faded after a few seconds, but it held a lingering impact in his mind. Since then, the visions had grown more frequent, always consisting of blood and death in some way. Then came the nightmares. They were, for the most part, the same as the visions, but in these, he usually saw himself standing over the bodies of his friends, covering in their blood. Sometimes he saw himself dead, his body horrifically mangled and sliced in half. Since then, he had stopped sleeping, since even his recooperacoon wouldn't drive them away.

After Feferi became attracted to Sollux, the voice started to speak to him. It was a deep, gutteral voice, which spoke gibberish that Eridan somehow understood. It urged violence, telling him to kill anyone he saw in grotesque detail. He stayed in his hive, removing any pictures of anyone that he might accidentally glance at. Even then, it urged him to harm himself, which he had done the first time it did so. He had been trying to kill himself then, but had failed, resorting to slitting his wrists like it was a casual hobby. He kept his sleeves pulled down so that he couldn't see the plethora of scars crisscrossing his arms.

All the while, he had stopped eating as often. Whenever he did, a few minutes after, his stomach would convulse and he would dash to his bathroom, barely making it before he regurgitated anything he had consumed that day. Alarmingly, it seemed to have turned into black sludge and blood, and after a few days of this, strange things began to appear in it. Little black stones, ash, and sometimes even little bits of steaming orange gunk that he was convinced was lava were all beginning to arise more commonly in his stomach contents.

At the moment, the voice was being particularly insistent, so he was idly surfing the web and listening to music to drown it out. What did not get obliterated was the doorbell. He sighed and paused in his brainwashing session, staggering to the door and opening it. He looked horrible, resembling a sleep-deprived stick figure with skin a bit grayer than normal.

"Wwhat do you wwant?"

Feferi was concerned.

It was true, she had left him as a moirail. She couldn't handle it sometimes; his constant threats against her friends, his over-possessiveness, his mood swings, and the like. But she had truly wanted to remain friends. They'd grown up together and knew each other better than any two people on the planet.

At least, that's what she thought.

Feferi had been trying to contact his trollian for a while, but when she didn't get an answer, she became worried. Having deciding to pay him a visit, if only to confirm he was okay, she rang the doorbell. Her eyes widened at the state he was in.

He was definitely not okay.

"-Eridan! O)( my cod, )(ave you not been eating?!" She took his hand, and in her usual, impulsive way, stormed into his hive, attempting to drag him to his kitchen. "W)(y aren't you taking care of yourshellf!?"

SHE IS TOUCHING YOU KILL HER KILL HER KILL HER

The voice exploded in his mind and he quietly gasped, yanking his hand away and feeling his stomach churn. He tried to back away, knowing if she touched him one more time, he wouldn't be able to hold his lunch for the second time that day.

Feferi blinked in alarm at his frightened disposition, approaching with a few hesitant steps. He seemed panicked, and the ever caring heiress wanted to help him. "...-Eridan?" She asked quietly. "W)(at's wrong?"

"n-nothin..." He backed up farther, holding his hands up as if to protect himself. His stomach rolled and flopped, and he went pale, trying his hardest to hold the sludge back.

"-Eridan, you look awful. Please, let me kelp you!" She protested, approaching him more. She tried to reach for him, her fingertips brushing against his arm.

A faint touch with a horrible effect.

Eridan's body lurched and he dashed for the ablution block, barely making it before the muck erupted from his lips. He gripped the sides of the load gaper tightly, any other thoughts leaving his mind as he vomited.

"-Eridan!?" She called out, rushing after him. "W)(at's going on!?" She was panicked now, frightened for him. She brought a hand to her mouth, her eyes locked on the ungodly substance. "W-w)(at's...!?"

He coughed up a clump of lava and groaned, shakily reaching up to flush the load gaper and missing twice before he finally found it. After that he just lay there with his face in the bowl, arms folded around his head.

Was that fucking LAVA!?

")(-)(oly s)(ip...-Eridan, we...we )(ave to get you to a doctor!"

"no..." he growled, fins twitching angrily. "th-theyd just poke an prod at me like im some sort a science experiment. do you really wwant that?"

"I want you to get betta, -Eridan! You're...you're really sick, and if you keep up pike t)(is, you could be in danger! You look pike you )(aven't eaten in W-E-EKS and wit)( w)(at you're coug)(ing up..." She reached for his shoulder again. "-Eridan, please!"

His skin flickered a bit darker and he let out a deep growl, looking up and snarling at her. His pupils thinned into slits and his fins flattened against his head. Feferi's own fins lowered in fear, her hand snapping away from him. "-E-Eridan, w-w)(at's...w)(at's wrong? W)(at are you d-doing?" She was frightened now, and never before had she ever thought she'd be frightened of the troll she'd grown up with.

"dont touch me." He spoke with a slightly deeper voice, gritting his pointed teeth.

"Okray! Okray, no touc)(ing, I promise. J-just...clam down. I'm going to go and find someone w)(o can kelp, okra-"

"NO!" He roared, his skin fading even darker. It might have just been a figment of her imagination, but for a split second, Feferi could have sworn she saw purple flames dancing around his eyes. She flinched and backed up, her hands up defensively. "-Eridan you're...you're really scaring me..." She started to tremble. Maybe she could run and get help? He obviously wasn't himself, and it looked like something beyond this world was at work. With Feferi's relationship to the horrorterrors, she knew the signs.

His eyes widened and he suddenly stopped, his skin fading back to normal. He bit his lip and sighed, looking at the floor. "fef, i...im sorry..."

Watching him revert back to as normal as one could get only confirmed her suspicions. She approached him carefully, sure not to touch.

"It's naut your fault, -Eridan. Tell me, )(ow did t)(is )(appen?"

"...it started after you left me..." He got up and washed his face and mouth out, explaining all that had been happening to him lately. The visions, the nightmares, the voice, it all came pouring out like a tidal wave.

Feferi blinked up at him, listening intently. "I-I didn't know t)(at you'd be )(urt so muc)( by just wanting to be fronds t)(at you...t)(at your mind would become fragile enoug)( to manipulate in t)(is manner..." She whimpered. But he could see it, in her eyes.

She was scared of him.

"i-its not just that...you wwere the only person wwho really wwas wwillin to be in one a my quadrants..." His eyes widened as he saw her fear and began to tear up. "...b-but its ok...i can see that you dont wwant to be around me..." He walked past her and sat on the couch, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "the door is that wway..."

She sighed, moving to sit next to him. "I can ask mom for advice on )(ow to get rid of it...and...and we can be pike we were again." She didn't mind being moirails with him again if it meant she could keep him alive.

He looked at her with a longing expression, but shook his head. "no...wwe cant..."

"Yes we CAN, -Eridan! I know t)(ings seem bleak rig)(t now, boat we can work t)(roug)( t)(is! We can DO t)(is!"

"no, you dont understand! evven if wwhatevvers happenin to me stops, theres no tellin wwhether it wwont start again. it wwasnt just you leavvin me that started it, it wwas also seein sol steal you awway from me. i wwould prefer not to tell him about this, so hell surely still think theres nothin wwrong wwith teasin me."

"I won't let )(im do t)(at! And it doesn't matter w)(at you t)(ink mig)(t )(appen. You're my frond, -Eridan. You're wort)( it."

"if only that wwere true..."

"Eridan, what do I have to do to show you that you ARE worth it?"

He didn't answer, the voices beginning to scream at him

YOU ARE NOT WORTH IT SHE IS LYING TO YOU KILL HER WHILE YOU HAVE THE CHANCE

He winced and put a hand to his forehead, beginning to tremble.

"-Eridan? Are you okray?" She spoke softer and tried to reach for him, her features etched in concern.

SHE'S GOING TO TOUCH YOU KILL HER YOU ARE NOT WORTH IT KILL HER SHE IS LYING KILL HER SHE NEVER LOVED YOU KILL HER!

"NO!" he suddenly screamed, falling off the couch and onto his knees, his head clutched in his hands. He began to cough, bits and droplets of steaming magma flying from his throat.

Feferi stumbled back in alarm. "-Eridan, w)(at's wrong?!"

He didn't respond, being too busy with other things. As Feferi watched, his skin began to darken and he coughed harder, sending bigger clumps of lava and pebble-sized black stones onto the floor. Smoke drifted from his throat, as if he were burning from the inside out.

Feferi couldn't help but cry. She was useless. Absolutely completely useless. "I'm so sorry, -Eridan..." She didn't know what to do, scared of what might happen to him if she left him alone.

"...d-dont be..." As he said that, his voice began to deepen, becoming raspy and echoing. The smoke billowed faster from his throat, clumping on the ceiling. His pupils thinned into slits and what looked like purple fire flickered from his eyes.

"I want to k-kelp you, -Eridan...please let me...let me kelp." She whispered, trying to soothe the being that her friend was becoming. He still didn't respond, curling into a ball with his face down. Feferi hesitantly reached for him, trying to pat him on the back to let him know he would be okay.

"T)(-t)(is is my fault..."

As soon as she touched his back, a wave of heat swept up her arm, burning her fingers. She shrieked in pain, bringing her arm back, fingers severely burnt and bleeding. Eridan whipped around and stood on all fours in an offensive stance, teeth bared and a growl echoing from his throat. More flames erupted from his eyes and his skin was almost black. Feferi stumbled back, tears streaming down her cheeks as she stared at him in fear. "-Eridan, please! It's...it's me, Feferi!"

His limbs began to morph to suit his current position. His hands and feet stayed the same, but his legs began to resemble a cat in joint structure. His earfins flattened and he let out a screech of rage, loud enough to cause pain.

"-Eridan!" She shrieked before realizing that she couldn't get through to him in this state. There was only one thing she could do.

She turned and ran.