Crystal Falls

Iokaste couldn't help but laugh lightly, tilting her head some at the neko while a devious grin crossed over her face, "My, my...I do wonder myself. Could it perhaps have been a beautiful young girl with a charming personality and a great voice." She tapped the side of her face lightly, "Boy do I wonder if the voice had anything to do with that..." Her grin faded and just a smile took her place as she swam back over to the boy and placed a hand on each side of her leg so she could lean towards him some. She wasn't advancing on him, it was just her way of standing a bit closer since her being in the water put more distance between them than having just been standing near each other would. "A rumor? What kind of rumor would that be? I do quite enjoy them myself. Let's share some gossip...or rather, you share some." She giggled lightly.

Mori chuckled at her tease and he pretended to be dumbfounded as he tilted his head and moved one of his hands to his hair, scratching the spot right above his ear in a thoughtful manner.
"I don't know. I don't recall having seen or heard either of those things."
The neko chuckled in a good natured manner showing he meant no harm in his words as he glanced to the mermaid, noticing that he taken a place closer to him since she was quite away aways in the water. Contemplating on wether to tell her or not (because he actually put money on the table to prove this crystal theory right) would that mean he'd have to split it? He leaned forward again yet kept his distance from the girl; voice turning quiet.
"Rumor has it that this cave harbors a secret ruins of crystals. Diamond like substance that is told to have gone extinct a long time ago but some claim to have seen it though no one has seen them ever again. Now I've done my research (and gambling), spoke with a couple of old guys and figured; Let's find out."

Iokaste laughed lightly and said softly, "And now you insult me. Pay back, hm?" She was teasing, using his previous words when she had mentioned she preferred women. She tilted her head to the side as she pursed her lips, "Oh? I haven't really seen anything as of yet, but who knows. I'll let you know if I see anything. Perhaps I could help you. I do quite enjoy shiny things. It'd just be interesting to find." She had no thoughts of money on her mind at all. She was rather bored and had nothing to do...this would at least give her SOMETHING to do...seeming as her temporary obsession wasn't going anywhere since Cordelia proved to be a 'good girl'.

Mori grins to her words and gives her a helpless shrug of his shoulders. He watched as she thought about what he had just told her and he couldn't help but grow a bit restless, he knew he would probably need her help if he was going to find a clue. The neko smiled politely to her answer and he nodded as if he had half expected that which he did but that would probably insult the dear girl. Enough trolling for Mori.
"Good. Because I'm probably going to need your help. The crystals are almost near extinct from what I've found out and the only reason people haven't been able to get to it is because they can't get to it. I believe its underwater or maybe there's a secret passage I might find."

Iokaste raised her eyebrow and couldn't help but smirk some, "You dirty dog...you knew I wouldn't be able to help myself, didn't you?" She snickered a bit and shrugged her shoulders, "Ah, well. I'll see what I can find for you, neko-kun." She lowered herself back into the water completely before swimming backwards some to put some space between them so she could dive down without accidentally getting the boy wet with her tail. As she dove down she began to look around, mentally sighing as she realized just how big of a task she had gotten herself into...there was a lot of space to cover down here. Oh well. She just started where she was, deciding to search clockwise.

Mori laughed at her accusation and he straightened up from having leaned in when he wanted to tell her about the rumor. The neko couldn't help but grin and he stated as soon as she called him a dirty dog.
"Actually it would be called dirty cat but yeah, pretty much."
He bowed her head as she agreed to help him and he yelled a thank you before he watched her go. Knowing he shouldn't be making her do ALL the work, he stood up and shook off the water from his feet and started walking around, jumping in hops as he searched the rocks for another clue of some kind.

Iokaste had to swim slowly so she could look everything over from where she was. She may have been partially a creature of the water, but it was still hard for her to see in this water. It was somewhat dark already since they were in a cave, but the deeper she got the darker it got. She squinted her eyes as she went about. She had been down there for nearly 10 minutes now before resurfacing, not entirely sure where the boy was compared to her own positioning so she called out, "It's a bit too dark, neko-kun. I can't really see much the further down I get. I'll need one of those waterproof flashlights at this rate." She reached a hand up so she could slick her hair back and out of her face.

Mori blinked as he looked back down from being on top of a stone structure to the water where he could barely see the little mermaid. How he got up there was a mystery and many would question. The neko nodded though she wouldn't see it and jumped from where he was, landing perfectly on the ground a way aways around from her. Then Mori approached her and kneeled by the edge of the water, blowing into his hands.
"No need for that expansive crap."
A light shone in his hands and he opened them to show a black fire in his hands, then spread them blowing it away before grabbing a light from his pocket and grinning, just showing off a momentary skill.
"Let's go."
He checked the rest of his pockets before jumping in after making sure that he didn't have any cash or his phone in his pockets. Not really paying attention to wether he was going to make a big splash

Iokaste's eyes spotted the neko when he landed on the ground and she smiled some, watching him, "Pretty neat trick you've got there." She laughed lightly when he jumped into the water and smiled once more, watching him as she raised her eyebrows, "I've got a little trick of my own to help you breath under water if you'd like it. So you don't have to resurface all of the time." She laid back in the water, tucking her hands behind her head. She looked rather relaxed as she waited for a response from the boy, "The water's fairly warm for this time of the year, I must say. I guess it's because we're in this cavern." She shrugged her shoulders, not really sure why.

Mori rose to the surface and pushed his hair back so it wouldn't get into his face. Having the cold water greet him made every nerve in his body wake up as if on high alert. He was ready for anything now. He grinned to the girl as she commented on his 'trick' and nodded silently before swimming around, moving his sore muscles. Then he returned his attention to her as she mentioned something about helping him breathe underwater and mockling bowed his head as if he was some critque.
"Yes, yes. That might be very helpful indeed on our 'quest'. Do explain and/or show-off."
He smirked teasingly at her and ran a hand through his hair again as it begun to slip into his face once again.

Iokaste sat herself back up, watching the neko a moment before simply stating, "I'm going to use my control over the element of water to make it part around your head, kind of causing an air bubble so you can breathe." She smiled at him once before continuing, "That's all. You of course don't have to if it makes you nervous." She reached one arm up before moving the other to hold onto it as she tilted slightly to one side in order to stretch before returning her attention to the boy, awaiting the answer he might give her.

Mori nodded to what she was telling himself, showing her that he understood what she was saying. It didn't sound scary nor did the neko look close to being nervous or hesitant yet he did appear to be at the least cautious. If he didn't accept, he would have to keep making return trips to the surface so he could breathe and the girl seemed confident about her abilites that he trusted her with this. Frowning a bit at her last comment, he placed a hand over his heart like he had done earlier.
"Nervous. You have insulted me once again. I may be a cautious man (*cough* boy*cough*) but I am not one to be called nervous. Let's do this thing!"
He grinned at her before taking a breath of air, feeling his lungs with the substance of oxygen before plunging underwater.

Iokaste gave a light laugh, "No, no...of course you weren't nervous." She smiled before diving down after the neko, her tail making a slight splash as it entered the water behind her. She looked over to him, concentrating a moment before she molded the water around his head, shaping it like an air helmet so he would be able to breath, the area around his head now oxygen. She smiled at her own success. She wasn't too awful worried that she would fail, but it still felt nice that she had been able to succeed at such a task. She looked to the boy and waited for him to adjust. She was a fairly patient girl so she'd let him go as long as he needed.

Mori looked to her, unsure for a moment before daring himself to take a small breath. Finding he was able to actually take in oxygen, he couldn't keep back the relieved sigh and he smiled reassuringly at her before focusing on the task. A deep set determintation filled his eyes and he kicked at the water as he swam to the floor of the cave's, digging in his pockets for the lights and inspecting the rocks. His black eyes held a seriousness that hadn't been there before when he was speaking to the mermaid. It gave him a mature look almost as if he was an archealogist searching for bones, he swam slowly over the rocks looking for any clues. The light he held was giving the rocks a gleaming blue shade that looked strangely mystical and almost as if it was a exotic magic of some kind as they shimmered by unknown means.

Iokaste blinked some, shocked at the sudden look of maturity that the neko's face held. It caused her to smile as she could now completely feel the determination that the boy held. She swam down after him, moving fairly quickly through the water...well..she was built for it now, after all. Her head tilted slightly as she noticed the way the rocks looked and she blinked some. She was positioned behind the boy, and now she swam over some so she was now at his side. She glanced to the rock he held before picking up another, a curious look crossing over her face as she examined it...she thought it was quite pretty....and she did so enjoy pretty things. She glanced over to the neko with a questioning look, wondering if this was what he was looking for.

Mori stared at the stones for some time before looking around more, diving deeper and closer though the water pressure was beginning to annoy his sensitive ears as he was beginning to feel a little dizzy. It was strange how out of all these beautiful rocks that Mori could not be fascinated with their beauty. Maybe this was the treasure he spoke off. But surely, it couldn't have been that easy. The neko continued searching, for what, he wasn't able to tell and he frowned some before noticing something that finally seemed to take his interest. Mori looked to the mermaid and pointed to the rock, ifhe dove any deeper, the water pressure was sure to ruin his hearing. The odd rock was blue yet it held a certain ugliness that scarred the rest of the collection. certaintely there was something about it that was strange. It seemed to be able to be pushed as if it were a button or switch.

Iokaste gazed after the neko, watching him. She'd keep an eye on him to make sure nothing would happen...if anything did she'd be sure to scoop him up and immediately return him to the surface. She may have been one for drowning people, but she found herself having taken a liking to this boy. She watched and followed his finger with her gaze as he pointed, her eyes picking out the thing that was different...that 'didn't belong' in some sort of sense. She nodded her head and swam down to the rock, looking at it closely...she studied it for a moment before pushing on it some, a still curious look held to her face just as before.

Mori perked his ears and threw his head back, hearing a faint click somewhere and he couldn't help but smile childishly like a kid who foudn his toy underneath the bed, breaking his mature expression and seeming to return him to normal. Trying to locate where the sound came from, he let the light float in the water while he felt over the rocks, trying to search for something. The neko then noticed that his light seemed to be drifting on its own, floating away from him. Curiously, he let it be and followed it before finding that it was getting pulled by a current, he looked around and pointed to anotherold looking rock for the girl to push. It seemed to work. The passage was near but they needed to find all the clues before being able to pass. Mori motioned for her to help him look for more of those old rocks and he began searching the walls again.

Iokaste moved her own head around to look about as she herself could hear the click. She scowled slightly, being unable to locate exactly where the noise had come from. She blinked a few time before returning from her thoughts. She looked to the neko in time to see him point to another rock. She swam casually over to it, giving it a close study once more before pushing on that one as well. She stared, a curious scowl still on her face before it faded away and she swam back over to the boy, looking around at the walls some, the fins that were her ears twitching some.

Mori found another old rock and he pushed it in just as the mermaid did. He heard another click and watched as a section of the rock wall began to crumble. Swimming back, bumping into the girl, he made sure they were out of harm's way when the rocks started to collapses. A stronger current tugged at him and he watched the light move faster away from him. He glanced to the mermaid before motioning her to follow as he swam towards the small hole that had opened up them. He managed to squeeze through and swam down a small hole before popping out of another entrance. A cave inside of a cave. What would they call these? It didn't matter because Mori had then discovered that the small cave was full of the crystals he had been looking for. Grinning or rather smirking in a rather know it all way, he swam to the edge and sat up, his clothes dragging at him.
"Ha! Found them. Those old men owe me alot of cash..."
He blinked noticing something interesting about the glowing crystals, they were small, shorter than him...

Iokaste easily moved as the neko bumped into her, watching curiously as the rocks fell. She blinked as the boy began to disappear through the hole and she immediately followed after, placing her hands on the outside of the hole, opposite of where she was going in, and squirming her slippery tail around some so that she wouldn't get stuck or anything as she moved herself through. She looked around still under the water, looking curious once more before she swam up to the surface, placing her hands against the ground near the water and pulling herself up and out. She had her hands back behind her some, her arms holding her up so she was sitting, her tail still in the water some as she continued to look around, "Well...who would have ever thought?" She looked to the neko and snickered some, "I should have guessed money was involved." She shrugged her shoulders, "Ah, well...it was quite the adventure."

Mori took out a small water proof camera and began taking a few pictures of the place though if someone were to notice, he only took pictures were the crystals were next to none and not the bunches that were behind him. Mori grinned back to her and slipped the camera away as he approached her and leaned on one of the crystals, staring at it curiously.
"What did I tell you? I really love proving people wrong."
The neko grinned to her in a smirking manner before sitting down, deciding to rest for a while before leaving the area so he could return to his shoes in the original cave. Mori raised an eyebrow to the mermaid and snickered like she did.
"Don't make me sound like that. And...I just realized...I don't think I know your name?"

Iokaste laughed lightly as she watched the neko, remaining where she was. She didn't bother trying to move around too awful much...it was always a hassle being in the form that she was since she had no legs. The rocks would make her somewhat uncomfortable when they scraped against her scales, so in her mind it wasn't at all worth it. "I can definitely tell that...such a charming personality." Her eyes followed the boy, watching him as he sat down and she blinked in slight surprise. "Why...no you don't. Excuse my manners for not introducing myself back a while ago. I am Iokaste."

Mori gave the girl a frown at her comment yet smiled eventually none the less as he scooped up a couple of small crystals some that weren't as pretty as the others but it was evidence. The neko glanced to the girl and saw that she was just as surprised as he had been once he had figured out that he hadn't even asked her name. He gave her a sheepish smile and shrugged. This was probably the longest time he had ever gone without knowing someone's name and it shocked him greatly.
"Nice to meet you, Iokaste. I'm Mori. Iokaste...that's an interesting name, never heard of it before."
He gave her a kind smile and slipped the container that helf the crystals into his pockets.
"So sorry for being rude. I hadn't realized for a while that I didn't even know your name. That surprised me, I usually always introduce myself on the spot."

Iokaste smiled softly at Mori before speaking once more, "Mori...pleasure to meet you. I like your name." She shrugged her shoulders, "I guess it's not too common of a name. I'm not sure where it originated from, but I, myself, am from Ireland." She watched Mori curiously though she wouldn't bother him. She didn't really care what he did with the crystals one way or another...she had pretty much just 'come along for the ride'. She smiled some once more, "I wouldn't blame you. You were under my spell at first. Not that I really meant to put you under it. I was really only singing right then."

Mori rubbed the back of his head and smiled a silent thank you for her comment about his name. The neko curled his wet tail on the rocks and sighed in a tired manner as he leaned back on his two hands, glancing up at the cieling before facing Iokaste again. Ireland made him think of Scotland which in turn made him think of those plaid skirts which also lead him to making him think of funny accents, red hair, and a ton of freckles. Iokaste looked nothing like what he thought a scottish lass would appear to be.
"Really? Did you grow up there?"
He blinked at what she honestly said about her accidently luring him to her by her singing to pass the time he guessed. The neko nodded in understanding and smiled.
"No problem. You have a nice voice by the way."