"Aside from that chink, I could not longer find anything." The prince thought as he strained his eyes to see through the churning current.
The particles, which were stirred by the water, were clouding his vision and he could not see the area just a few paces away from him.
"Damn, I have to resurface. I am already reaching my limit." He released a few bubbles and dove towards the floor.
He then reversed his position and use the surface as springboard to boost himself as he swam to the air pocket.
While fighting against the current to reach the surface, Briar failed to see that his companion had slipped from the pedestal, flail around, sunk down and drowned.
"Haaahhh!" He gasped and took in greedily his much needed air, when he broke through the surface. It took some time to finally reach the air pocket due to the swirling water.
His eyes bulged from their sockets when he noticed that the remaining air pocket was only a few inches from the ceiling.
"Oh crap!" He panicked a little when he could no longer find the girl. While keeping himself afloat, he searched for his companion but there was no sign of her.
"Did she drown?" he frowned while he looked around the second time. "but how come I did not see her earlier? I guess, I need to look for her underwater."
"Haaaah!" Taking a huge lungful of air, he held his breath, dove, swam and tried to find the girl.
At first due to the dust and other particles, he had a hard time locating Atropa. Until he saw a very faint glow from her bracelet, Lumina.
He allowed himself to be carried by the current towards her. Then as he neared her, he took her arm and then towed her towards the surface.
Luckily, the water was still swirling and he was taken near the pedestal where he let the girl stand earlier. Using the dais as platform, he was able to somehow stabilized himself and break through the surface.
"Atropa!" he gasped as he tried to see if the unconscious girl was all right. But the girl failed to respond.
He tried placed his free hand near her nose. "Damn! She is no longer breathing…"
He then tried to feel her neck. "But she has a pulse and it is quite faint. We need to get out of here." He muttered. "I need to revive her."
While holding unto the girl, he concentrated his mana and willed the gem to explode. With the small amount of mana that he had injected into the gem earlier, the explosion was not that strong.
However, it was still a force to be reckoned with. When the gem destroyed, it created a little wave and it made that part of the wall shatter into pieces.
Briar grunted as he held unto the dais while embracing Atropa. The water burst forth from the hole from the wall and the current was strong.
But unfortunately, due to the force and his already wavering strength, Briar was unable to hold on. The two of them were caught by the current and were both flushed out of the chamber.
"Atropa!" Briar gasped.
Apparently, that was a huge mistake. He had swallowed quite a mouthful of water. Not to mention some of the fluid had already gone through his nose. It was painful.
Hence, the flaxen haired prince resolved to not open his mouth and held his breath as long as possible after he had swallowed water a few more times.
He then made sure to keep holding on to his unconscious companion. The prince embraced the girl as tightly as he can.
After which, he braced himself when the current tossed them about the labyrinth like passage. The pair was sent swirling with the water into what seemed like a huge water slide.
It was several minutes of being treated like a laundry with all the swirling and turning. He almost gave up until he finally saw that the tunnels had grown a bit bigger. He could also breath properly since the water had thinned out.
However, his eyes almost jumped when he saw the almost waterfall like end of that labyrinth.
He almost freaked out and looked for ways to avoid falling. He tried holding to whatever material he can hold to avoid their descent, but to no avail.
When he finally saw the huge pool underneath, he felt relieved. "For sure, we can survive that fall." He thought to himself.
"Haaaah…" Briar he took in a huge mouthful of air, embraced the girl tightly, braced himself for impact and shut his eyes tight.
He felt his heart almost drop when they plunged deep into a vast reservoir of water. It first felt freezing and due to the force of the fall, they were sent deep into the bed.
But Briar thanked his lucky stars when he opened his eyes. Unlike the water in the chamber, the water was clear.
Despite being disturbed by the water from the falls, he could see area above where he could safely bring the girl.
Even though the water was vivid, the reservoir was quite deep. Briar had a hard time swimming while embracing the girl so he held on to her collar and towed her towards the surface.
"Whooaaaa!" he gasped out as he broke through the water. He took in mouthful of air while making sure to stay afloat with the girl.
"She felt really cold." He muttered as he repositioned her with her head above the water. He then placed his arm across her chest. He swam while towing her towards the shore.
He then laid her down on the flat surface and placed his ear on her mouth. He also checked if her stomach was moving. "She is not breathing…" he frowned.
He placed two of his fingers on her neck and checked her pulse. "but the pulse is still there and very faint."
"I guess I have to do that." He muttered while a blush marred his cheeks. "Not the time to be embarrass, Briar! Although it is your first kiss!"
He pinched her nose, opened her mouth and in order to give her five resuscitating breathes. But as soon as his lips touched her, he felt a strange surge of mana.
But he chose to ignore it, instead he concentrated on reviving Atropa. Those breathes made her chest rose a little.
He angled her head sideways so that the water will come out, but it didn't. "Darn! It is not working!"
Gritting his teeth, he positioned his palms on her diaphragm and then compressed. "one… two… three…"
After about thirty compressions, he gave her two rescue breaths. "Come on Atropa! Breathe! Don't leave me like this!"
Fortunately, she finally responded after he angled her head on the side. She coughed out the water and took in lungful of air.