Author's Note - To tell you guys the truth, I just wanted to write a zombie story. But as I was writing up the outline, it became less about zombies and more about political dissension. I'm not sure how I ended up with this.
The Hungry Ghosts
Chapter 1
Chibiusa giggled, her entire body twitching in an effort to keep as still as possible while her mother drew a line onto the doorframe just above her head. "One inch!" The queen proclaimed. Immediately the girl jumped away to examine the mark herself. There it was, just above the last one her mother had made a month prior. The sight was mesmerizing. Since her awakening as a Soldier, she was slowly growing out of the childish body she had been trapped in for centuries. Chibiusa ran her fingers across the mark, pride swelling at the physical proof of her growth.
"Do you want me to go get Papa and show off how much you've grown?" The queen asked, patting down the pink curls as she stood up.
She did. She wanted to show everybody. She wanted Papa and Puu to gush at her and say things like, "You're growing into quite the lady!" She wanted to go back in time and make Usagi take back all the teasing things she had said and meet up with Momoko so they compare heights. She was sure she was taller than the other girl now.
With a sudden jolt, Chibiusa realized that she could see Momoko. She would be all grown-up now, but it would still be her Momoko. Maybe she had been waiting all these years for Chibiusa to meet her in the past, so that they could visit each other again in the future. "Mama, I want to go out into the city today," Chibiusa announced, with all the expectation of a princess who was used to getting what she wanted.
"Do you want to go shopping?" Her mother asked. "We could do a little sightseeing, maybe catch a play. Or visit a museum." She said the last option with a lot less enthusiasm.
"No, I just want to visit a friend."
"And who do you know who lives outside the palace?" She teased.
"Momoko Momohara."
All of a sudden, the queen grew very quiet and still. She took her daughter's hands and gently led her over to the girl's bed, picking her up and placing her next to her on the pink lace covers. "Small Lady," the queen began. "Your friend Momoko lived over nine hundred years ago."
Chibiusa scowled up at her mother, trying to understand what the other woman was getting at. "So? You were alive nine hundred years ago too."
"Yes, but I'm not like other Earth people," the queen explained. "I am the daughter of the Moon, my lifespan is much longer than theirs, though even I am not immortal. Sweetheart, I'm sorry, but your friend died a long, long time ago."
Chibiusa felt her face grow red as the anger began to bubble up at those words. She could handle Momoko being a grown-up, but to be dead for hundreds and hundreds of years? Not even the ashes would survive that long. "And what about Papa?" Chibiusa demanded, desperate to cling to any flicker of hope. "He's a regular Earth man!"
"The King is my husband and because of that the Silver Crystal has extended his life to match mine, and do not forget that he has a Sailor Crystal of his own. It is a powerful thing, this Crystal." The long, white fingers of the queen brushed the brooch that was pinned to Chibiusa's chest. "It has done a lot for the Earth people. It has eradicated disease, old age, and has lengthened their lives by about hundred years. But we, you and me and the other Sailor Soldiers, are destined to live much, much longer."
"But..." Chibiusa stuttered out. "Why can't we make the Silver Crystal do what we wanted? If it can make Papa live for thousands of years, then it should be able to do that for everyone! And you were able to use the Silver Crystal to bring people back to life! Sailor Mars told me the story of Sailor Moon's fight with Queen Beryl, and how when the Soldiers died you brought them back-"
The queen held up her hand to cut her daughter off. She stood up, holding out her hands for the girl to take hold. "Come, there's something I want you to see." Hesitantly, Chibiusa clasped hold and followed her mother out of the palace.
Chibiusa curled up against her mother's side in the backseat of their large, private car. She pressed her face into the cool, white leather, nearly dozing as her mother ran her fingers through her pink curls. They had been driving for hours now. In the beginning, Chibiusa had passed the time with her nose against the window, watching as the commoners stopped to stand at attention, their hats off, in a show of respect to their Queen. But they had long left the city and were now travelling deeper and deeper into the country.
"Wake up, Small Lady, we're here."
Chibiusa grunted as her eyes wrenched open, unsure of when exactly she had fallen asleep. Their chauffer opened the door and helped the queen out of the car, with Chibiusa scrambling after them. As she climbed out she finally saw where exactly her mother had brought her. It was a graveyard. She had read about graveyards in stories and fairy tales, but she had never actually been to one. She had always imagined graveyards would be very scary indeed, but standing there in the bright sunlight, holding her mother's hand, she couldn't help but feel a little silly about her old fear. Especially after everything she had already lived through.
Her mother gave her a small smile, as though she knew exactly what Chibiusa was thinking, and led her down the little lane. They came to a stop in front of a large stone monument. She watched with mounting horror as the queen took incense from their chauffer and placed it before the headstone, bowing in respect. "Can you read the names on the monument, Small Lady?" The queen asked quietly.
"Kenji Tsukino, IkukoTsukino, Shingo Tsukino..." She knew these people. She had lived with them in the past. They were her family.
The queen nodded. "I've been taking care of this grave for the past seven hundred years. Believe me, Small Lady, when I say that if there was anyway to bring them back with the Silver Crystal I would have done it already. Come on, there is an onsen nearby that we used to visit as a family. We can spend the night there."
With one last lingering glance at her sleeping mother, Chibiusa quietly slipped away into the night.
She made her way quickly over the overgrown hills towards the little graveyard, her geta slipping on the wet leaves and nearly sending her tumbling down a few times. When she finally made it, she raced down the lane in search of her family's grave. The graveyard was suddenly a lot more frightening now that it was night and she was all alone, but she couldn't get scared now. She had a mission to complete. She was a Sailor Soldier and Sailor Soldiers did not get scared.
She stopped in front of the grave and clasped the brooch her mother had given her after the fight with Wiseman and her transformation into Sailor Chibi Moon. She didn't know if her plan would work; there was nothing but ashes and bits of bone left, after all. But she had to try.
She remembered the story Sailor Mars had told, the one where Sailor Moon had made a wish after her fight with Queen Beryl and brought back to life everyone who had died during the battle. Chibiusa closed her eyes and made her own wish.