Raye poured herself another cup of tea and picked her book back up. She'd gone to the library and checked out over two dozen books on Greek and Roman mythology. The librarian had nearly fainted when Raye set them all down on the check-out counter. The bus ride home hadn't been too pleasant either, with a ten-pound back pack on her shoulder and two duffel bags stuffed full with textbooks, but she'd managed. Now she was curled up on her bed, surrounded by a pile of dusty old hardbacks. It was almost five in the morning, and Raye was exhausted, but she just couldn't stop reading. If any of these myths had something that could bring Rubeus back to life, she was going to find it. Raye yawned and rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hand. She wanted to keep searching, but she was just so tired… so very tired…

Raye pulled her sword back for the death-blow, smirking down at Prince Diamond while her foot on his chest held him down.

"This is where you die, Diamond. For good." Diamond sneered at her and shook his head.

"Go ahead Sailor Mars. Kill me. I'll keep coming back. We'll all keep coming back."

Raye's eyes narrowed and she hissed, "Not if I have anything to say about it!" She thrust her arm forward, plunging the sword through Diamond's chest and pinning him to the ground. Diamond's back arched and he screamed in agony, as his hands clawed at the blade that impaled him.

"We'll destroy you all! All of you damn Sailor Scouts and your damn Princess Serenity! You'll burn in Hell!" His body slowly went limp and Diamond's hands fell back to his sides.

He lifted his head to smirk up at Raye and whispered, "Chaos will win this time. Chaos will have its revenge. We'll all have our revenge." His head dropped to the ground and his eyes stared straight ahead, empty and lifeless. Raye briefly wondered who Diamond had been referring to when he used the word 'we,' but she shook the thoughts off and jerked her sword back. She wiped the blade clean on the grass and sneered at Diamond's corpse.

"Feh. I can't believe I got your filthy blood all over my sword. Disgusting. I should have strangled you with my own hands." She turned around and gasped as she was grabbed by the throat and lifted off the ground. Diamond smirked and yanked Raye's sword out of her hand.

"You are right about that. My blood doesn't do your sword any justice. Your own blood would be so much more suitable." Raye's eyes widened in shock and pain as she felt her own sword thrust into her stomach. Diamond released her neck and let her flop to the ground. Raye struggled to breathe and clutched at the handle of her sword, trying to pull it out.

"But… you…" Diamond smirked and knelt down, grabbing Raye's chin and turning her head so that she was looking at him.

"But I died? Yes, I was dead. Just like Rubeus."

Raye felt her strength slipping away as Diamond's smirk widened and he whispered, "Too bad it wasn't Rubeus that came back." His hand gripped the handle of Raye's sword and he twisted it, making her scream and writhe in anguish. He let go of the blade again and smiled down at her mockingly.

"But I can make it so that you can come back too. Just forget about Rubeus, he's dead for good. But I will be reborn every single time you kill me, unless Chaos is banished forever. Of course, that won't happen. As long as Chaos exists, his servants will never truly die, and if you are one of them, then you will be saved." His icy blue eyes moved down Raye's body and then back to her face.

"You could be happy without Rubeus, you know. There are better men than him." Raye's face was contorted in pain and fury, but she still managed to sneer.

"Better men? Like you?" Diamond chuckled.

"Yes, actually." He shook his head, looking almost amused.

"I used to think that Neo-Queen Serenity was perfect, the ultimate prize… But she's so weak. She always looks for the peaceful solution, always refuses to fight. But you love battle, you charge into it without hesitation. You're so much stronger, so much braver, and so beautiful. You could be Queen of the Black Moon, maybe even the universe." Raye felt herself slipping further into darkness, but she didn't bother to hide her contempt.

"Flattery won't get you anywhere. I'd rather die." Diamond's eyes narrowed and he grasped her sword again, yanking it out of her stomach.

"I guess you'll get your wish then. But just remember, Sailor Mars, that without you, your little friends are doomed." Diamond pressed the edge of the blade against Raye's throat and smirked.

"Long live the war goddess." Raye squeezed her eyes shut, and tried to grab the sword, tried to push it away from her neck, but she couldn't move at all. Crystal Tokyo flashed in her mind, then crumbled to dust and was swallowed by darkness. A mocking voice sounded in Raye's ears, a voice that didn't sound anything like Diamond's. It was a strange voice, sounding both male and female at the same time, echoing inside Raye's head.

The Gods light the universe

But should they e'er fall

The one that is five

Shall forever rule all

"Aah!" Raye rolled off the bed and landed on the floor with a dull thud. She opened her eyes and panicked for a second or two when she couldn't move, but she calmed down slightly when she realized that her blanket was twisted around her body. Raye wriggled free and quickly felt her stomach, to make sure that there was no sword embedded there. She brushed her hair out of her eyes with shaking hands and heaved a heavy sigh of relief.

Was it a dream? Raye looked around her and regained her control as she surveyed her room. She'd been dreaming. Just dreaming.

But if that was a dream, why does my stomach hurt? Raye stood up and walked over to her mirror, frowning. There were no bloodstains on her T-shirt, no sign whatsoever that she'd been stabbed. Just to make sure, Raye pulled her T-shirt up to expose her abdomen. She stood there in shock for a few seconds, before clapping her hands over her mouth to keep from screaming. Her entire stomach was one huge bruise, colored a sickly yellowish green, and there was a small cut at the center of the mark. The cut was only skin deep- if it had been anywhere else on her body it could have been a paper-cut. Of course, Raye knew better. That cut was in the exact same spot that she'd been pierced by her sword in her so-called 'dream.'

No... this can't be real! It's over! The fighting is over! She touched the cut with a shaking hand and collapsed to her knees, biting her tongue to keep from crying.

Will we ever be able to live in peace? She hugged her knees to her chest and leaned her back against the wall, staring straight ahead of her.

"I don't want to fight any more," she murmured.

Okay girl, get a grip. This is definitely bad news, so Luna and the others need to know. We can throw a pity party later, but for now, there's work to do.

Mina and Serena stumbled up the steps to the Hikawa Shrine, panting.

"Gee Raye, you live on a pretty steep hill." Raye shot them both a death glare and tapped her foot while Amy and Lita carefully kept their distance. Raye had recovered, which had made everyone happy, but she'd also gotten her temper back, which was likely to send someone to the hospital sooner or later.

"You're a half-hour late!!! Where the hell were you?!"

Mina and Serena both pointed at one another and yelled in unison, "It's her fault!" Raye's eyebrow twitched and she tightened her grip on the broom in her hands. Oh yes, someone was definitely going to the hospital. Probably sooner, rather than later.

"I said, WHERE WERE YOU?!" Both blondes fell backwards, clinging to each other for dear life.

"It all started when Mina made me give her a ride-" Mina pulled away and jumped up, glaring down at Serena.

"I MADE YOU?! I asked you for a ride and you sat there and tugged on Darien's shirt until he agreed to take us both!" Serena climbed to her feet and crossed her arms.

"Well we both would have been on time if you hadn't started flirting with the guy in the elevator!" Mina tossed her hair over her shoulder and stuck her nose in the air.

"You're just jealous 'cause you can't get any." Serena gave Mina her best evil-eye.

"I can get some from any guy, I'm just committed!" Mina snorted.

"You mean your sweet Mamo-chan has to wear you as an accessory for the whole day. If we lived in the United States, you would've been arrested years ago for cruel and unusual torture. I mean, come on! I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy!"

Behind Raye, Lita leaned over and whispered to Amy, "That was harsh."

Amy sweatdropped and whispered back, "The truth hurts." They looked back to the two frozen blondes as total and complete silence settle over the Hikawa Shrine. Of course, in Serena's presence, silence never lasts very long.

"Mina, you're nothing but a dumb, blonde… wannabe Barbie doll!" Mina's cerulean eyes widened in horror, then narrowed until they were barely more than slits.

"Take that back." Serena returned to the bad habit of pulling down her eyelid and sticking out her tongue.

"Never! So nyah!" Mina's scream of fury echoed through the entire city as she pounced on Serena and grabbed both her pigtails, yanking as hard as she could. Serena's wails of pain chased Mina's voice through the streets mere seconds afterwards.

"Owowowowowow!!! Let go! That's my HAIR!!!" Mina held both pigtails with one hand and whacked Serena on the side of her head with the other.

"No duh! I, unlike you, am NOT a dumb blonde, so I know that sort of thing!" The cat fight soon ended, however, when Raye stomped over to the two shrieking girls and demonstrated one of the things brooms could be used for besides sweeping- namely, beating people half to death.

"GROW UP SERENA! AND YOU TOO MINA!" Once again, silence descended upon the shrine. Amy pulled a pair of ear-plugs out of her pocket and sighed.

"I hope she doesn't shatter any glass this time." Lita produced her own pair of ear-plugs and nodded in agreement.

"You know, this is sort of like the calm before the storm."

Amy rolled her eyes and responded, "Correction: the calm before the RAIN storm." Both girls inserted their ear-plugs with perfect timing, as the silence, along with almost all the glass within a mile's radius, was shattered.

"WWWAAAAAHHHAAAAAHHH!!!" Raye covered her ears and stumbled backwards, praying that she would still have her hearing by the end of the day.

"SERENA!!! STOP BAWLING!!!" The blonde menace to the windows of the world sniffed and attempted to dry her eyes. That was a wasted effort though, seeing as Serena was completely drenched in salt water, and sitting in a puddle that was roughly the size of your average car. Mina unclasped her hands from her ears and wrung out her soaked shirt (luckily, she hadn't worn white that day).

"I dunno about a Princess, Serena, but I'll bet you've been a fountain or something in a past life." Serena's eyes watered up again, and Raye grabbed her broom and got out of there while she still had the chance.

"You're always so cruel to me." Serena started wailing again, and the puddle around her got deeper by the second. Raye covered her ears again and waded over to Serena, slapping one of her wards over the crybaby's mouth.

"If you don't pull yourself together RIGHT NOW, then I'll hang you from a tree until Darien comes to pull you down. Do you hear me?" Serena blinked her watery eyes and sniffed quietly, but she stood up, wrung out her wet clothes, and trudged into Raye's house. Lita, Amy, and Mina all gaped at Raye in awe. Usually, Raye would just beat the dumpling-head unconscious whenever she had a fit, but this time, Serena had been able to walk away. Wonder of wonders. Miracle of miracles.