Briar could feel the cold water already rising towards his chest and instinctively he knew that it wouldn't stop until it fills the chamber. Despite the situation which was not really good, the prince remained calm.
"This is a locked chamber with only one trap door as exit and now the place was being flooded." He muttered as he looked around for another exit.
Finding no options beside the trap door they had entered, he looked towards the solid slab and caught sight of his companion.
Atropa was somehow in panic while she was trying to work on their way out.
Hyperventilating a little, the girl raised her hand and created a pentagram to pry the door open. But due to the swirling current which was gradually filling the place, she could not seem to make her spell work.
With her spells not working properly, the girl gave up. "Please let us out!" Atropa cried hysterically as she hit the solid blockage with her fist.
The prince sighed before swimming towards her. "Atropa you have to stop!" he called out to her but the girl refused to listen.
Upon reaching her, he held her shoulders firmly and said. "Atropa you need to calm down. You have the opposite attribute and the water had affected your flame. It will be futile to use a fire spell. Besides even if you call out like that, nobody will hear you."."
The girl turned towards him with fright. Her breathing comes in gasps. "I am trying… But all I can think about is how to get out… We need to get out!"
Briar tried to pacify her once again and hugged her. "Listen… You should not panic. Panicking will get you nowhere."
He added while rubbing her back soothingly. "So, we have to calm down and think of another way to get out."
She considerably calmed down but the prince noticed that she was shaking. He knew that the water is cold but it should not be enough to cause hypothermia.
"Easy for you to say…" she muttered under her breath.
"What?" he asked as he somehow release her to look at her face.
"I have to tell you something…" she started. Her pale face looked even paler as the waters had already reached their chest.
"What is it?" he asked wondering what the girl was about to tell him.
"Your highness, I can't swim." She confessed.
"I will drown and die." She burst out crying.
The prince was a bit dumbfounded. He never really thought that the always prim and proper and the over all capable maid could not actually swim. "So, that was the reason why you were panicking."
Just then Atropa held unto him as if she was afraid of something. That was when the prince had noticed that the water had already reached their jawline.
"I could no longer touch the floor!" she said as another panic attack seized her. She held unto the prince as tightly as she could.
"Atropa, calm down." The redhead said as he steadied her. He then guided her to the center of the room where the whirl was located.
He remembered that the pedestal that held the tome was still there. So the prince led the girl to the pedestal and allowed her to hold on to it.
"For the mean time, you can climb on this so that you will not drown." He told her.
"But the water is still rising. This air pocket would not last long and will be filled with water." She said as she clung to the dais like a lifeline. "We wouldn't be able to breathe."
"I know. Hopefully, I can find a way out before this place will be filled with water." The prince said as he let his gaze wander around to find anything they could use to get out.
Since the water was still rising, Atropa climbed and stood on the pedestal. However, even though she was already on top of the platform, the water was quick to catch up and had already reached her knees.
Since the prince knew how to swim, he did not have to join her on the contraption.
"I have to look for another way out." He muttered to himself after he had given the area in the air pocket a once over.
Since he was not able to find any, the prince took a deep breath before diving and searching for any trapdoor underwater.
The prince could barely see the chamber due to some of the particles that had been churning with the current. But after a few moments, he found a chink on the side of the wall which created bubbles.
"Air… that place may be hollow." He swam towards it and tried to move the brick but to no avail. So he placed a gem on that chink and swam to look for another item that he needed.
Meanwhile, Atropa, who was waiting for the prince to resurface, was already close to losing hope. The water had reached more than a third of the room.
Even though she was already standing on the pedestal, the water had risen and was already up to her neck. She held unto the ceiling while gasping for enough air.
"Why does it had to be water?" she muttered in desperation.
"your highness!" she panicked as the water had already reached her chest. "Where are you?" she cried out as she tried to find the prince but all she could see was the rising current.
The water was rising fast and Atropa was left with no choice. With just the remaining few inches of the air pocket, the girl tried to take in as much air as she could.
Holding her breath, she tried to find the prince. In some stroke of bad luck, her foot slipped from the dais and she was sent into panic.
The girl lost the air that she had taken in and had drank a bit of water. She tried to get a hold of something but was unable to do so.
Since she could not hold her breath any longer, she finally gave in and lost consciousness.