Water poured into the room from the shattered hull. The torrent would have been enough to drag any of them under, and they were lucky to have remained up on the machine. Liquid wasn't just entering through the massive opening. It also quickly began spewing through the ceiling and other walls. The hull of the ship had been waterproof, but the surrounding cabins were not.
The trio stood transfixed as the water levels rose. In a few moments, it had already climbed numerous feet. In a few more seconds, it would reach their position, and they'd need to make their move.
"When the water reaches us, keep holding onto the machine until you can't anymore. We need to exit when the rushing water settles a bit," Derrin called over the roaring sea.
Red nodded, "Hopefully, we aren't too deep."
Derrin's face tightened, "We shouldn't be. The island was very close, and I doubt it would suddenly get really deep."
The water had just reached the bottoms of their feet. It was cool, like he had expected, but not cold enough to be uncomfortable, at least for a small period of time. Red reluctantly patted the pockets on his coat. They weren't waterproof, and his new design would be thoroughly soaked. He had it memorized by this point, but it was still better to have exact details in front of him.
Derrin paused, "I'm surprised you aren't making jokes yet."
Red grumbled, "We have a dangerous escape ahead of us. Of course I'd be serious."
"That's not how escaping the Gearborn ship went…" Derrin trailed off.
"What?" Vizim stammered.
"Oh, did I not tell you about that?" Red asked, "Remind me to, if we make it out of the mess alive."
The water had reached their wastes.
"Don't do that if you want to maintain your sanity," Derrin whispered to Vizim in a not-at-all-quiet voice.
Red would have thrown out a complaint if not for the fact that they were about to go under. The others realized that as well. Their brief moment of distraction ended when the water reached their necks, forcing them to let go of the machine. Only a few feet of air remained in the chamber at this point.
"I'll go first. You guys follow on my signal," Derrin said.
They both nodded. In reality, he had quite a lot that he wanted to say, but held himself back for once. Red felt his vision focusing. The cold water felt good on his aches. That had been his biggest concern about the entire plan. He had been far more injured than the others, and having to exert himself so soon was risky.
As the space between them and the ceiling reached Derrin's threshold, he took a deep breath in the remaining air and dove beneath the waves. Red immediately did the same as he inwardly complained about the lack of a signal. Simply diving worked, but when you said you were signaling something, he expected a certain amount of flair involved. Like an explosion.
The teal water swirled around him as he dove after Derrin. He heard the splash of Vizim entering the water a short moment later. Derrin reached the hole in the hull and rushed through. The rushing expanse of water had stopped, making it dangerous to pass by.
Red feared what he would find on the other side of the opening. Who knew how far they'd need to swim up? He was also beginning to worry about Vizim. He was confident in Derrin's capabilities, but Vizim only focused on engineering. At the end of the day, it mattered little because he was more worried about getting to the surface himself.
He rushed out of the hole and spun upwards. Derrin was already above him, frantically swimming to the distant freedom of air. Red was momentarily taken aback by the level of carnage around him. The once glorious vessel was in pieces. There was a larger part of the ship remaining at a distance away, but most had simply vanished. Well, more like scattered throughout the ocean around them.
As he paddled upwards, boards, clothing, and countless other things floated past him. However, none of this truly stopped his upward motion. That was until he saw the body. It wasn't even really a body anymore. The entire area surrounding it was a cloud of red, and half its side was missing. He could practically taste the iron of blood despite his mouth being closed. Red felt sick as he refocused on his upward trajectory.
The light seemed to be growing brighter, and he knew the surface was nearing. Seeing the body had made him want to puke, which did not help him hold his breath in the slightest. It was also at this point that he began to notice the strain on his lungs. He could hold his breath underwater for minutes. But holding one's breath was much different than actively working while doing so.
The act of swimming drained his stamina, which in turn drained his oxygen. He briefly paused to glance down at Vizim beneath him. The man was struggling much more than he was. At the current speed, he wouldn't make it.
Red cursed to himself. He just needed to reach the surface. His own oxygen was already beginning to strain. Pushing against his survival instincts, Red waited and grabbed the shaky man. Vizim didn't even notice, and Red wrapped an arm around him and continued upwards. He was not doing well at all.
There was no more hesitation after that. All his focus returned to moving upwards. Derrin had fully disappeared, and Red hoped that meant he had made it to the surface. Red pushed all of the mist into his lungs as he swam. He wasn't certain if it would do anything, but he needed to try. Running out of air meant death for both of them.
He finally saw it. The vestiges of sunlight seep through the teal sea. The surface was finally there. Red kicked and paddled with every ounce of strength he had remaining. The mist did little to aid his burning lungs, and the rest of his body began to ache from overexertion.
They were going to make it. They were…it was at that moment that he realized that Vizim had stopped swimming. His arm was dropping limply to his side. Red nearly cursed, which would have been the end for him. Instead, he continued pushing even faster. He was close to the surface but simply not close enough. He'd make it alone, but not with Vizim's weight. But he wasn't inclined to drop him either.
Instead, Red focused. He had been training with his mist manipulation recently. Although that had been solely combat-related, he hoped there were some crossovers because this was Vizim's only chance. His mind raced as he continued upwards. Everything that Derrin and Ayjax had taught him came flooding back.
He needed to concentrate and not let his mind fall into a state of panic. That was very difficult at the moment. Still, he gave it his best shot. His mist left his lungs and traveled to his one moving arm. The other grasped onto Vizim, who had just gone fully limp. He had seconds, and Vizim would be dead.
Every ounce of focus went into pumping his arm up and down. His muscles locked into place, and Red used them to power boost his arm. For the first time ever, the mist operated with complaint. It usually tried to do its own thing, but now it did just as he wanted. Both he and Vizim lucked out as a result.
Red exploded to the surface, water pooling off his head. He took a deep gulp of air and pulled Vizim up beside him. He was fully unconscious in his other arm. Luckily, Derrin was there. Taking the man from him, Red very nearly collapsed back beneath the waves. Red didn't get to see what happened, but a short moment later, Vizim let out a wet cough. Water sprayed from his mouth like a geyser.
Vizim had very nearly drowned. Red was in a pathetic state, on the verge of collapse. Their ship was destroyed, and they had lost most of their items. All in all, things were in a rather terrible state. But they were alive.