Visions of Love
Chapter Five: The Search for Mercury
Piper sat in her explorer outside of the Medical Center of the University of California. She picked up a sheet of paper in the passenger's seat. On it was a picture of a medical student by the name of Karen Anderson. The woman was studying to become a surgeon and from what Piper heard from Serena, Karen is good at what she does. She is also very loyal and trustworthy. Everything Sailor Mercury would be. Piper was sadden by the thought that she would have to be the one that told Karen that her daughter was going to die young.
Piper looked back up at the doors and saw that the young student was exiting with a young man, probably Mercury's soon-to-be-father. The witch put the paper back down and opened the door to get out. She pulled her hair up in a pony tail as she walked up to Karen. The student stopped and smiled at Piper. Karen was shorter than Piper and looked to be about nineteen. She had short brown hair, shoulder length and big glasses on. Her clothes consisted of a light blue sweater and a knee-length sunflower skirt with tennis shoe. Karen's glasses began to slip off and she used her index finger to push them back up.
"Can I help you?" She said in a low whispered voice. Piper could tell she was shy and not at all very social. She smiled back and extended her hand to Karen. Karen stared at Piper's hand before extending her own.
"My name is Piper Halliwell. I'm presuming you are Ms. Anderson?"
Karen nodded slightly and turned her head to the young man. She told him that she would meet him in the car. He looked at her oddly and then walked off. The student looked back up at Piper. The older woman motioned for Karen to sit on a near by bench and they did so.
"Listen I know this is going to sound crazy, but you have something I need. It's a blue pen with the symbol of the planet Mercury on it. Does this sounds familiar to you?"
Karen's eyes went wide at first, at the mention of the object. She stayed silent trying to contemplate if this woman was worth trusting. Karen knew exactly what the pen was. In her early teenage years, she had stumbled across a black cat by the name of Luna. The cat had given the pen to her and warned her that the pen was a way to transform into a special warrior and that no one could use it except for a Mercurian. Maybe this Piper Halliwell was the special warrior that needed the men. If she was, the exact symbol that was on the pen, would be on her forehead. Karen studied the woman and saw no symbol or anything that came close to it. She had made up her mind to just get up and walk away.
"No, I'm sorry. You must have the wrong person. If you'll excuse me, I have cram school in an hour and must get ready. Good day." She said in a final tone and walked away from Piper.
Piper had watched the woman leave her there on the bench and get into a car with a man. She knew that Karen had the pen and needed to find a way to get it. Piper stood up and got back in her explorer. She drove home and told Serena of her progress.
"This is no good." Serena stated as she paced the living room floor. "Karen DOES have that pen. I know she does. I wonder why she denied it?"
By that time Paige had orbed into the room and sighed. Serena looked up at her hoping that she was able to find Jupiter's pen. She held her breath and Paige gave her a face and shrugged. The blonde made a groaning sound and shook her head. She racked her mind, searching for some sort of solution.
"I'm thinking someone got to them before us." Chris said. Serena looked up at him and raised her eye brow.
"Who? We're the only ones." Serena said pacing again. She sighed and began walking out the door.
"Hey, where are you going?" Chris called out and started walking after her. Serena grabbed a jacket from the coat rack and started putting it on.
"I'm going to go talk to Karen." She said and walked out.
"What are you going to tell her?" Chris called out again, but Serena didn't hear him. She walked down the sidewalk thinking of something to say to the young woman. If someone had gotten to the parents first, then it was going to take a lot of convincing to let them hand over the pens.
Serena had finally made it to Karen's apartment around eight that night and stood outside. She froze at the sight of a familiar face and watched as the scene unfolded in front of her. There, 20 feet from her, stood Karen handing over the transformation pen to another girl. As soon as the girl held the pen, she turned a few degrees toward Serena. The blonde let out a grasp and placed a hand over her mouth. On the girl's forehead was the symbol of Mercury glowing in a bright blue. She looked around to see that gladly no one was around to witness it. The thought registered to Serena that it was Amy Anderson. One of her best friends...alive. The young girl held out the pen and shouted,
"MERCURY POWER MAKE UP!"
Serena started to run towards the young soldiers shouting out her name. The Mercurian wore a sailor outfit, as did Sailor Moon did, only different colors. Her hair was in a pixie style and a sky blue. Her uniform was filled with white and blue with a tiara that had a blue jewel in the middle. She had a matching choker around her neck with the symbol of the planet Mercury on it, also on the jewel that was placed in the middle of her blue bow at her breast.
"MERCURY!" She said with her hand waving in the air. The soldier looked at her oddly. The warrior grinned evilly. That made Serena stop dead in her tracks and stare at her. Before she could do anything the blue soldier shouted an attack and blasted Serena away. Then she turned to Karen, who had been watching from a distance.
"That woman is not to be trusted. Stay away from her." Then the soldier had shimmered out. Karen's eyes was fixated on the spot where the girl had once stood and then back at the limp body across the street. She had a bad feeling about all of this, but was only doing what she was told. Karen looked at Serena's body once again and then walked inside her apartment.