gG: so how was your visitor?

gG: eridan?

gG: hello?

gG: if you don't answer im coming over.

gG: eridan really this isn't funny; please answer me!

gG: alright. im coming over.

You log off Pesterchum, worry eating away at your chest. He's never not answered you before and you can't help feeling that something's terribly wrong. With a small sigh you push away from your computer and stand. The ears on your head are laid flat as the anxiety in your heart grows. You hope he's OK.

You've never been to his house but you know what the inside of his room looks like due to all the video chats the two of you have had over the past four years. Your heart sinks; here lately he refused to video chat with you and you think you know why. The last time you actually saw him he looked thin, that's why you always ask if he's been eating. You have a feeling he lies to you most of the time, but you prefer to believe him. You mentally prepare yourself for the jump your about to make; teleporting always makes your stomach flip flop uncomfortably and gives your head a rush.

Bringing up the image of his room in your mind's eye you take a deep breath and fling yourself towards it.

Seconds feel like hours but eventually there's stable ground under your feet again. You let out a pent up breath and put a hand on your head as the room tilts and spins for a moment. You feel queasy for a brief period but it's fast to fade. Your head stops spinning and you look around. Unease instantly flares back up again as you notice the room in shambles. Things are strewn around the room; knickknacks and shelves knocked from the walls, a mirror's splintered with its glittering guts lying dangerously on the floor around it. You spot an open door and without too much hesitation you walk out of it. It leads to a set of stairs and when you get half way down them you let out a gasp. A huge hole has been torn out of the side of his hive, letting the waves from the sea spray foam and water into the opening.

You reach the bottom and feel a crunch underfoot. You've stepped on one of his wands. Your heart thuds thickly in your chest as you spot his glasses not far from your foot as well. You pick them up, holding them gingerly in your palm. You move through the room quickly, your heart pounding urgency through your veins.

The next room is his living room. It's dark and you can just barely make out the shapes of couches and chairs. You grope blindly at the wall for a switch and sigh with relief when you find one. You flip the switch and blink as cold light floods the room. You scan the space in front of you and your heart leaps to your throat as you spy one bare grey leg lying behind the couch, a toppled kitchen chair a few feet behind it.

You call out to him softly, hesitation making your voice shaky and your feet slow to movement. He doesn't answer and panic starts to build, causing your breath to come in quivering pants. You take one, two, three steps towards him and let out a hushed oh my God. You're by his side in an instant as soon as you see his rag doll form lying crumpled on the dirty carpet.

He's naked from the waist down, pants thrown carelessly across the room. There's blood, and a lot of it, caked to the back of his legs and inner thighs and still dribbling out of his wounded gills. He has welts and scratches littering his back and thighs and there's dried yellow splattered on his lower back and legs. His arms are bound behind him with what looks like torn strips of cloth and it's cutting into his writs, making his hands almost white from blood loss. His breathing is shallow and ragged and his face is pressed into the floor.

You're on your knees beside him, hands trembling as they grasp his shoulder to roll him over. His face is a mess of swollen and bruised flesh; his lips busted and blackish purple marks paint his features an ugly picture. His eyes are closed; one swelled shut.

Tears began to prick your eyes as you gently let him fall back to his original position. You sniff and whisper a small apology before going to work on the knots around his wrists.

It takes a good twenty minutes but you eventually get the wretched bindings off and his arms fall stiffly to the ground. This causes him to stir and a slow moan slips out past his battered lips. Your ears perk up at the broken sound and you gently roll him over to his back.

"Eridan?" you whisper. He whimpers and cracks one eye open but the gaze is unfocused. He coughs and moans and you have one of his hands, offering comfort. He cries out and feebly pulls his hand out of your grip. You realize he's trying to get away and you frantically tell him that it's you. He seems to calm down at that and you gently brush a strand of greasy hair out of his face. Tears are rolling freely down your cheeks as he looks towards you and whispers your name.

"Yeah it's me, I'm here. It's OK." You're murmuring to him while softly petting his cheek.

"Why are you here?" He whispers through split lips, voice hoarse and pain laced.

His question takes you aback and for a small moment you don't know what to say; then your wits catch up to your mouth and you reply "Because you never answered your Pesterchum. I got worried…" you pause to wipe away snot and tears, "…it's a good thing I did come too, you're a mess. I was afraid there for a minute you were dead-"

"I wanted to die!" He coughs out weakly cutting you off, tears burning clean streaks down his blood crusted face. His exclamation causes your heart to jolt painfully in your chest and you struggle to form the words to ask why.

"I wanted to die and he didn't do it!" He's full out sobbing now and all you can do is sit there in shock as the reality of what he just said sinks in. You can't find the words to ask who was supposed to kill off your friend and he's managed to wrap his arms around himself and curl into a ball as he cries.

You find yourself scooping your arms under his fragile frame and pulling him into your lap, your lips placing small kisses on his grimy hair as you rock him back and forth. You don't know what to say to him; you know what happened by what you've seen but you don't know why or how it happened. And honestly you're not sure if you want to know right now.

"I'm going to take you someplace safe." You whisper into his hair. He doesn't seem to hear you, still too tore up to take in everything around him. You pull up your bedroom in your mind's eye and prepare to make that leap with him in tow. You wrap your arms tight around him and fling the both of you towards that vision, leaving the mess of his hive behind in a flash of green light.