"Eterna? That Eterna?" The cult whispered to other members.
Mari couldn't eavesdrop on the conversation more. They softly talked as if hummed random words. But she felt relieved for a moment because she didn't die again. She thought it would be ironic if she died as a newcomer in another world. That was why she tried to think of ways to untie the rope. Besides that, The pain in her wrist was unbearable and made her couldn't move more.
'I assume that the Petechiae* and friction burn start to form. This happened because I moved too much. I need to calm down. With this position, I couldn't do any- Wait! Vasoconstriction*. If burn can affect me, the cold too,' She thought about it thoroughly.
'From the first time I came here, I slipped because of water on the floor. My back is kinda wet right now. It was cold since the only heat resources were my movement also the torch. Now, they are away from me. This is my chance. I will try to shrink my blood vessel by freezing myself.'
She then immobilized her body from head to toe. With the help of her deep breathing, she activated the parasympathetic nervous system* that slowed her metabolism and heart rate so she could freeze even more. After she achieved a certain level of coldness, The body activated the sympathetic nervous system* which could cause vasoconstriction. The main idea of that nervous system was to maintain her core temperature while shrinking blood vessels in certain parts like her hands and feet.
Since her blood vessel was shrinking, she could reach farther to the base of the knot. Then, she successfully untied one rope and opened her blindfold since the room was quiet for a straight 20 minutes.
*whoop*
She released the satin fabric that used to cover her eyes. After that, she tried to open her eyes, but she was shocked by what was happened.
"What the hell are you doing?" Mari screamed as she saw all the cult's members bowing down on the floor. The leader then answered on the current position.
"We repenting our sin, Eterna. You were the girl from the prophecy. After we knew you are the one that Goddess Yoko mentioned from the holy book, we quickly did this (the bowing down)," The leader answered.
"Yes, We repenting our sin..." The rest of the cult copied.
"If you know that I was the one that mentioned, you could start to untie me first, You stupid cult. You made me go through freezing hell for 20 minutes. NOW COME AND HELP ME, GOD DAMNIT!" She said as she showed a gesture of frustration by messing her hair up. Three cult members helped her untie the rope on her left hand and both feet.
"Finally! I can move again. Bring me some hot water and a blanket. It's so cold here," She hugged her knee and sometimes looked at the rope mark on her hand.
"O-okay, I will get it for you," Another cult member went to get what she needed.
"Anyway, you guys can stand up. Don't embarrass yourself." She peeked at them while showing her waving gesture as if want them to stand up.
"N-No, In the holy book said that we need to do this for a day whenever did a sin." The leader answered hesitantly.
'This bunch of moron. Yoko, you successfully created an army of stupid that will die for you.' Mari thought about the situation. She then had an idea to make them stand up.
"Guys, I know Yoko. I-i mean she sent me her prophecy just know and said that you guys need to stand up or the bad thing will happen," Mari decided to lie about it. She worried they would get sick because of starvation if they continued to go for the whole day.
"Yes, ma'am!" All of them then stood up.
****
*Achoo*
"Why do I feel someone talking about me?" Yoko sneezed while eating her food.
****
"Here's your water and the blanket you asked for," The cult member handed her the stuff she asked for. Mari held the glass to feel the heat with the blanket on her back.
"Where are we?" Mari asked the team leader as her body still shivered to do the cold.
"This is a cave near the sea. We found this placed in the holy book. It said that Goddess Yoko was here. She meditated when she first descended from heaven. Also, there are a few factors why we choose this kinda place. The first one was the ki-"
Mari cut the leader's explanation off. She then said.
"I only asked where are, not that much information. Ah... This cave near the sea, that's no wonder I felt cold easily."
"Ah, y-yeah sorry for over-explaining." The cult leader looked down as if he regretted his mistake.
"Then how come there's a hideout in a cave?" Mari asked out of curiosity.
"We simply built it. This cult has many people be the workers. Ah... Anyway, talking about your descent, we never expected there was someone inside the prison if you didn't scream. That prison already abandoned." The leader answered with excitement.
"What? So you said that I was directly sent into that abandoned prison? That stup- I mean that Holy Goddess want to kill me?" Yoshino squished her glass.
" I don't know what happened, but we thought you were the enemy of us. We usually pray for the goddess to help catch our enemies. We assumed that she answered our prayer with your existence as proof." The cult leader answered as he scratched his head.
"Doesn't answer why Goddess Yoko wants to kill me. Anyway, Just call me Eterna. That will be easier."
"Yes, Eterna!" The cult members answered in unison.
(Mari Yoshino was officially banished. The MC told us so. Now, she is known as Eterna.)
Note (*):
- Petechiae: The small blood vessels break and then a leak happens on the skin. In this story, causing a rope mark
- Vasoconstriction: narrowing (constriction) of blood vessels by small muscles in their walls
- Parasympathetic nervous system: Nervous system that predominates in quiet "rest and digest" conditions
- sympathetic nervous system: Nervous system that is activated during stressful situations with the response either "fight or flight"