Mera pressed against Ririko's lips, sending a warm, gentle energy from her mouth into Ririko's. It pushed a small pocket of compressed air into her throat, down her windpipe, and into her chest.
Mera released her lips, held her waist with both hands, and gave her a hard shove upward.
"Go up!"
Carried by the current and the force of that push, Ririko shot out of the cave entrance and floated toward the waters above the trench.
She struggled in the seawater, expecting it to flood her nose the next second. She would suffocate, then drown all over again.
She really was done for this time...
But a moment later, she realized nothing had happened at all.
The power Mera had passed into her mouth flowed slowly through her chest, supplying her lungs with a steady stream of oxygen.
The golden trident began vibrating underwater, its three prongs glowing gold.
Pulled along by the trident, she shot toward the mouth of the trench with a whoosh.
She passed through the Trench's palace. Their chief emerged from the shadows, his long fingers reaching for her ankle to drag her back into the nest.
Ririko did not stop. She gripped the trident tightly and swept toward the exit as the alerted Trench sentries swarmed in from every direction.
Ririko shouted underwater, "Stay away, you disgusting water cockroaches!"
She swung the trident back-
A golden arc swept from its tip, instantly stirring up an enormous vortex behind her.
The current twisted into a spinning wall and swept sideways into the hundreds upon thousands of approaching Trench, sending them all tumbling away into a chaotic heap.
Ririko hovered in the water and glanced back, making a face at the tangled mass of dark shapes:
"Stay down in your little trench, and don't get in