Author's Note: I love Sailor Moon, but I own no part of it.

This is just the first set-up chapter.

Tokyo slept fitfully that night. Millions of beds went bare of blankets as their owners tossed and turned, kicking sheets to the floor. Sighs, groans, and murmurs came from normally peaceful sleepers. The whole city seemed to whisper in it's sleep.

If someone paused to listen, they would realize that some of the whispers came from no human throat. The sounds floated on an unnaturally cold wind, a wind which started from a silent alley. The air shimmered strangely, and seemed to twist and turn around a single point.

Then, with the sound of cloth ripping, a hole of ultimate darkness punched through into a place it did not belong.

The air rippled with the aftershock of this assault, and the terrible whispers road the waves, through walls and windows, straight into the minds and souls of the dreaming, speaking to them, telling them lies...

Meiou Setsuna rolled over in bed, burying her face in her pillow. Her eyes opened suddenly, and she stared at the pattern on her pillowcase without seeing it. She could not remember what woke her, except the echo of a name in her head, which came readily to her lips.

"Endymion."

I knew him first. I loved him before he ever saw her. She sat up suddenly, throwing her pillow across the room. She's a little fool, always simpering at him, always hanging off his arm. She has no right to him. She's a fool, and weak, and selfish. Everyone worships her, and she takes the only man I ever loved.

The Keeper of Time hurled a book at the wall. The loud crash pleased her, causing an ugly smile to flit across her face. The violence of her envy, of her hate, would have shocked those who knew her. So would the horrible image forming in her gentle mind.

Her own staff smashed down onto a head of beautiful golden hair. Blood coated the heavy silver head of her staff in her mind, and she imagined raising it for another strike. She could feel the bone shatter under the fierce blow to the skull, could smell the coppery tang of the blood, could see the strands of silky golden hair trailing from the metal as she raised it again...

Setsuna collapsed back on her bed, closed her eyes, and continued her grim dreams of her princess.

When she first awoke, Ten'ou Haruka was not sure of the cause. It was either the gnawing emptiness in her chest, or the rasping sobbing of terrible loss. It took her a moment to realize those almost animal sounds came from her.

Where is she? Haruka began hunting through the blankets, hands reaching desperately for warm flesh. She felt no one else in the bed with her, and her heart leapt into her throat.

"NO!"

"What's wrong?" came a voice from the door. Kaiou Michiru sounded cross, but her lover did not care.

"Where were you?" Haruka demanded in a cracking voice.

The other woman glided back towards the bed. "I went to get a drink. I heard a lot of banging from Hotaru's room. That kid is supposed to be the Silent one, damn it! People are trying to sleep."

Haruka choked back another sob. She could not be worried with Hotaru at that moment. She was so glad to see Michiru's outline, to hear her voice, she started crying all over again.

"Come here," she beckoned, holding out her arms.

Michiru got back into bed, but did not allow Haruka to embrace her. "Why are you crying?"

"I woke up, and you weren't here... Oh, Michiru, it was horrible! I thought you were gone!"

"I will be if you don't quit crying," she answered tersely. "I'm fine, there's no need to carry on."

Haruka shook her head. "I thought I'd lost you! I feel like my heart has been broken into a million pieces!"

"Stop being so dramatic, and go to sleep. I'm tired."

Without another word, Michiru lay back and pulled the blanket into place. Haruka gulped down another sob and buried her face in her lover's shoulder.

"Oh, get off, Haruka!" Michiru growled, rolling away. "And stop crying!"

While the auquamarine haired beauty fell easily back into her tainted dreams, Haruka stayed up for hours watching her sleep.

Huffing with exertion, Tomoe Hotaru shoved the bed firmly into place in front of her bedroom door. She had already locked all her windows, and closed tight the curtains. No one could possibly get in.

"There," she whispered, dropping to sit cross-legged on the floor. "Good. Keep 'em out. Keep 'em all out. They just want to use me because I'm strong. They don't love me. Liars! They're all liars! Don't let 'em in!"

A slight sound outside her window made her jump.

"Go away!" she screamed. "You can't use me anymore!"

She leapt up and ran into her closet, slamming the door shut. "Quiet. Quiet! They'll find you. Quiet."

Her body trembled as Kino Makoto lay perfectly still in bed. She could not move, could barely breathe through her terror. She could not even lift her wrist to call her sister Senshi.

"Please," she breathed into the darkness. "Please! Somebody help me!"

There came no answer from the dark, no sign of hope. She closed her eyes as tight as she could, tried to think of sunshine or flowers or anything good. The harder she tried, the thicker the darkness became. The fear trapped her to her bed, tears sliding down her temples into her hair.

"Somebody! Anybody!"

She was too afraid to turn on the lights, to confront the darkness. She just wanted to hide until dawn.

"Somebody help me!"

The night reeked of evil. The sour taste of something vile filled Hino Rei's lungs as she breathed the cold breeze. Something haunted Tokyo, something foul...

Rei listlessly pushed a lock of black hair from her forehead. She barely managed to lift her hand. She could not manage to care.

Evil comes, we fight it, something worse takes it's place, she mused. I could go out, put on the uniform, fight for love and justice, but what does it matter? Nothing we do can save the world from evil. It killed even Queen Serenity in the end. It will take us all, one by one, and nothing we do will ever stop it.

She turned her face away from the window and the city. Let it finally end. I don't care.

The soft illumination of the streetlights through the window was plenty. Aino Minako could see her face clearly in the mirror. She studied her features intently.

"I don't understand. Aren't I pretty enough? Aren't I nice enough?" She crumbled to sit on the floor, staring blankly at her carpet. "Why won't anyone love me?"

Tears dampened her cheeks as she curled into a ball on the floor. She burried her face in her knees, stifling her sobs. Her shoulders shook in silence.

I would give everything for someone to hold me right now. Just hold me, and love me. Love me for me, for Sailor Venus and Minako.

There was no one but herself, and the whispering wind.

Flying through the air, the laptop shattered on impact with the wall. Bits and pieces showered down onto the pale blue carpet. Several seconds later, a doll smashed to bits against the same spot.

Mizuno Ami paused, perspiration glittering on her forehead. Her room looked like a war zone. The dresser lay on it's side. The mattress had been pulled from the bed. Old toys, treasured souvenirs, and precious heirlooms lay in pieces across the floor. Several pictures had been shredded and strewn about.

The petite blue-haired girl bared her teeth as she pounced on her books. She ripped the covers free, tore the pages into bits. The scraps she threw into the air like confetti.

With a wild scream, she threw all her weight against the bookshelf . It teetered a moment, then smashed to the floor.

Ami hunted for something else to destroy, her blood burning. As she hurled a chair at the wall, she did not even question her rage.

In the silent alley, the pinpoint of emptiness grew with each evil thought, each quake of terror, cry of pain, or moan of despair. It swirled wider, sucking in the very light of the streetlamps, ripping a bigger hole into the very air.

When the wound in reality was big enough, a face appeared, looking from one universe into another. Black vortex eyes scanned the alley, and bruised, dark lips smiled. A long, black tongue slipped out, tasting the air like a snake. Whatever it found, it liked. Clawed hands seized the sides of the darkness, forcing it wider until it could fit it's whole body through.

Slowly, patiently, it pushed itself through the barrier. As it stepped into a world where it was never meant to be, the fabric of reality stretched, twisted, and changed.

Those sleeping the deepest sleep woke.

Unlike her friends, Tsukino Usagi did not wake. She dreamed of a place devoid of light, of laughter, of joy, of love. She dreamed of the Abyss.

The vortex dragged her mercilessly deeper. Heavy darkness shackled her. The mouth of infinite emptiness yawned wider, tongues of agony licking at her feet. The black whirlpool whispered.

She twisted, groping through thick nothingness for any friend to catch her, any light to hold on to. She saw no help, no escape. The dark current pulled her, struggling, down.

A maw of ten thousand teeth and a million screaming voices swallowed her. The pain of her flesh flayed off, the ache of her muscles ripped free of her bones, the horror of seeing those black tongues lapping at her own blood dimmed next to the wrenching agony in her heart. As the vortex devoured her body, the Abyss seeped into her soul.

Hate, loss, disgust, suspicion, terror, despair, loneliness, and rage shredded her spirit like so many knifes. Her soul shattered under the barrage of evil. The shards of her pure heart glowed briefly, then darkened and disappeared.

"MOTHER!"

Usagi sat straight up in bed, her blue eyes wide, her chest heaving. Her pajamas clung to her sweat drenched body, while golden hair stuck to her tear soaked cheeks. She clenched both hands over her breast, her heart feeling as though filled with ice.

The bedroom door hit the wall with enough force to rebound and almost slam shut on the woman running into the room. Mrs. Tsukino raced across the room to collapse on her daughter's bed. Her arms went protectively around her trembling child.

"What is it, sweetheart? What happened?"

Usagi froze for a moment, then buried her face in her mother's shoulder. "They were all screaming! All those voices!"

"Honey, it was just a dream," Mrs. Tsukino promised. "Just a dream."

"No! Mama, it tried to eat me! It was ripping my skin off, drinking my blood-"

"It was a dream!" her mother said again. "You're safe now."

Mother and daughter rocked gently together, Mrs. Tsukino humming softly, stroking Usagi's hair. As her tears wet her mother's robe, she felt safe, protected, cherished, and guilty.

When she screamed for her mother, this was not the woman she meant.

Yra: What do you think? Worth continuing? I will anyway. ;-)