Free falling. It was something that Cordelia Carden, now also Sailor Corvus, had become used to the feeling of. It was how she knew that she was doing it now, only this time there was no hand reaching out to catch her. There was no chance. No hope.

She was going to die like this.

Gasping she sat up in the darkness, heart pounding as she brought a slender hand up to rub at her face before looking around. Something still wasn't right, even in waking. "Imogen? Imo?"

Her calls went unanswered, the bed just across from her own in the Crystal Academy dormitories left empty. The sheets were neatly tucked, the covers still folded. Had Imogen never come home? No, she clearly remembered talking to her before they'd gone to sleep.

Maybe she was still dreaming...

Cordelia Carden closed her eyes tightly, bulling her own down comforter up over her head as she took a slow, even breath. "This is silly... It's just a dream." She murmured as she tossed the cover back down, opening her eyes to nothingness; a complete black void that seemed as though it was going to swallow her... And then she started falling again.

This time her descent into the darkness was controlled, not by a hand reaching out to help her, but by the shadows themselves. She could feel them moving, pulling, beckoning... Pressing.

Her throat closed and she tried to gasp again, only this time she didn't wake up in her bed as she had before. No, this time she hit something hard; the end of her fall.

She could feel cold cobblestones beneath her palms, warm tears streaming down her pale face as she tried to find her breath again. Cordelia pushed herself up, eyes wide as she searched for something familiar, never mind that all of this was familiar. She knew this alley... It was the alley where she'd nearly lost her life to the Negaverse, the night she'd become Sailor Corvus.

Swallowing hard she turned, trying to make her way out of the alley. No matter how hard she tried, though, she kept finding herself right back in it, drawn back into the shadows and the nightmare of everything that had been. The only difference now seemed to be that she was alone. Completely alone.

This time instead of trying to walk away she turned into it, heading for the back of the alley where the shadows were waiting for her again. She could feel her lip quiver, tears falling again as she felt the darkness embrace her, something so familiar about it...

Once again Cordelia Carden found herself alone, surrounded by the never ending black of the shadows. Her bare feet slid across the cold, black floor and she knew when she heard the sound of ticking heels on marble that she was no longer the only soul lost in the night.

Something at that moment made her panic and she took off running, tangled hair streaming behind her as she fled. It was a bad horror movie come to life; a dream she couldn't wake up from with an unknown entity taking chase behind her until she stumbled, skidding across the smooth ebony surface beneath her. "Please..."

Cordelia heard her voice mimicked behind her, the tone mocking and disdainful in a way she knew her own voice had sounded various times before. She wanted to push herself up, she just had to run faster, she needed to escape...

Whatever it was that had been following her paused, the sound of heels finally clicking to a halt. She soon felt the rough grasp of slender fingers wrapping around her arm, hoisting her to her feet and giving her a rough shake before embracing her. She could feel feathers brushing lightly against her shoulders along with the smooth touch of familiar gloves...

And then she was falling again; they were falling together.

When she woke up this time it was for real, panting softly with strands of sweat-damp hair clinging to her face. She closed her eyes once slowly, opening them to glance around. She was back in her room, safe at Crystal. Imogen was sleeping soundly in her bed.

She wasn't alone.

Cordelia took a deep breath before settling back down, pondering her dream as she closed her eyes once more. She wasn't alone. No matter what had happened in the dream, she knew the truth in waking... Even if she fought it tooth and nail, she wasn't alone and would never have to be...