Léan smiled at her reassuringly, not sure if she could see it in the darkness. They spent the next few minutes sinking deeper and deeper...and the light became less and less until it was totally pitch-black. He made sure to keep a good grip on her hand.

Emy looked at him and could barely see his smile. This was starting to feel odd to her. She didn't want to not be able to see. Once the light was gone, her whole body tensed...she hated being blind.

Léan rubbed her hand reassuringly. They spent a few more minutes in darkness, silent.

Then, in the distance...there was a light. A pale, bluish-green light. It grew much brighter as they approached, and soon began to form the distinct shapes of buildings, streets. But so much different from human buildings and streets...differently-shaped...and made...

Emy blinked slightly, then squinted, trying to make out the shapes. It was a little hard for her.

Léan approached slowly. Going into unfamiliar territory at high speeds was not a good idea. Outsiders were not accepted right away. Sure enough, the few merpeople that were out and about fixed them with steely stares, whispered. After deciding that they weren't a threat, they then went back to their business.

The buildings had many doors on each level, since gravity was practically null underwater and any floor could be reached without the use of machinery.

Léan swam around, looking for the medical building. He would have to do some swindling in order to get what they needed.

Emy just held his hand and swam where ever he directed. Her eyes darted around slightly. She could see fuzzy shapes of things, so she didn't run into anything. But other than that, she was useless.

Léan sighed in relief upon finding the medical building. Before heading to it, he turned to Emy and put a finger to his lips. He'd forgotten to warn her beforehand, but human language was taboo in cities like this.

Emy just looked at him, not really sure what he was doing. Then she figured it out and nodded a little. She wasn't planning on talking anyway. It'd make her look stupid or something.

Léan quietly led her inside the building. It was large and bright. The fluorescent fish in the walls were well-fed and seemed quite happy. He studied the map on the side of one of the walls, looking for the correct floor.

Emy could sort of see around her know, but not in great detail.

Léan quietly led them across different floors, looking for the right one. He spent a few minutes just browsing up and down between different floors.

Emy didn't mind going with him, not that she had much of a choice anyways. She just stayed quiet and looked around.

Léan breathed a sigh of relief once he reached the proper desk. He leaned over and spoke with the receptionist in his native language, Rebenian, for a few minutes. He sounded like he was giving some sort of sob story. Luckily, the receptionist appeared to have bought it, and she disappeared behind the desk to fish around for some marconium, which was what they needed.

Once the girl was gone, Emy gave Leandre a funny look. But she stayed quiet like she was told.

Léan looked sheepish, and he didn't bother explaining. The mermaid returned a few moments later with a small bottle of clear liquid...it seemed to take on the colors of whatever was around it, like a chameleon. Léan shared a few more words with the receptionist, and then started to make his way out of the building.

Emy quickly kept up with him, making sure she had his empty hand. She was dying to ask what that was all about, but she wasn't supposed to talk.

The trip to the outskirts, where no one could see or hear them, seemed so much shorter than the trip in. Léan paused once they were far enough away and held up the bottle. "Drink it. It's terrible, but please keep it down," he warned.

Emy blinked at him when they were out, slowly taking the bottle. She eyed it, then looked at him again. "Do I even want to know what you two were talking about?"

"I told her a pathetic sob story in order to get the marconium," Léan yawned, stretching. "Try not to spit it out. Trust me...it's foul."

Jemini wanted to ask what the story was, but just shrugged slightly. "Bottoms up." She put her lips to the bottle and kicked it back, swallowing in two or three gulps. She almost instantly covered her mouth with her hand, trying her hardest not to spit it out.

Léan held onto her arm instead of her hand, so she could keep it in front of her mouth. He'd known that she would have that sort of reaction. Marconium was gross. But, her eyesight would improve tenfold once it stopped tasting disgusting.

Emy shook her head, fighting herself to keep it in. She sighed after a minute or two. "Ok...I'm good." She blinked and smiled slightly at him. "That was disgusting."

Léan chuckled. "So? How is it? How is your eyesight?" he asked, amused and hoping to get her mind off of the awful taste of the medicine. Its taste was the only bad thing about it.

Emy looked at him, then smiled brightly. "I can see you!"

Léan grinned, triumphantly. "All right. ...Since we are here...perhaps we could stay at the local hotel? We will have time to plan our course, and there should be writing materials we can use..." Merpeople wrote--if it was just temporary and not a book or something--using soft clay in a stone rectangle, as big as a piece of paper.