So this is how it ends? Trapped with yet another perverted psycho forcing me to eat wolf meat? she thought. I've endured worse, I suppose.
But the thought was fleeting as the pain overtook her. A wave of unbearable heat and agony surged through her body, as if she were being burned alive on a pyre once more. No matter how hard she tried to endure, the torment was too much. Darkness enveloped her, and she lost consciousness.
When Anna awoke, her senses were slow to return. The first thing she noticed was the familiar cold air seeping through the cracks of her makeshift shelter. Calling it a "hut" was generous. It was more a cobbled-together shack of wooden scraps, leaves, branches, mud, and clay—anything she could scavenge. She could never afford a carpenter or builder to create something more substantial. Through the gaps in the walls, the pale light of the moon streamed in, mingling with the ever-present chill.
I'm alive? she thought, confused. Her mind struggled to reconcile the memories of her injuries with her current state. Her first instinct was to feel for the familiar, searing pain in the remnants of her ear and the hollow socket where her eye had once been. But there was nothing. No stabbing ache, no soreness. Even stranger, her field of vision felt wider, fuller.
Slowly, she turned her head, her gaze darting around the dimly lit space. "Finally awake?" came a voice from her side. She jerked toward the sound and saw Heimrich sitting nearby, his expression inscrutable.
Her confusion deepened. "I should be dead," she muttered, her voice hoarse. "You said the wounds were fatal. I should be dead." Her eyes flitted around the room, searching for some sign that she was in an otherworldly place. But no, it was the same filthy, decrepit shack she called home, the same rotten stench of damp wood and feces clinging to the air.
If this is heaven, God has a cruel sense of humor, she thought bitterly.
"You're not dead," Heimrich said flatly. He leaned forward, his hands clasped. "And this isn't heaven, as you can probably tell."
She looked at him, her confusion swirling in her mind. "What did you do to me?" she demanded.
"I saved you," Heimrich replied, his tone matter-of-fact. "The injuries you sustained were fatal, as I told you. But I possess certain… capabilities that allowed me to reverse the damage."
Anna's jaw tightened. "What kind of capabilities?"
Instead of answering directly, Heimrich gestured toward her. "Check for yourself."
Hesitant but curious, Anna slowly raised a hand to her face. Her fingers brushed against smooth skin where scarred tissue should have been. Her breath hitched as she traced the outline of a complete ear. She moved to her eye socket, expecting the familiar hollow. Instead, she felt an intact eyelid, lashes, and an eye beneath. Her heart raced as she turned her gaze toward a cracked mirror propped against the wall.
The reflection staring back at her was both familiar and foreign. Her face, once marred by burns and scars, was whole again. Her vision, now fully restored, showed her features as they might have been before her ordeal. She touched her cheek, her lips trembling.
"How… how is this possible?" she whispered.
"The ignorant are like frogs in a well," Heimrich said cryptically. "They cannot see the world beyond the walls that trap them. You've lived your whole life in this well, Anna, but now I'll show you what lies beyond. You are the first member of my cause, the first of my followers. You've been given a gift, one that very few will ever experience."
Anna stared at him, her mind racing. Is this some kind of trick? How could someone like him possess such power? But no matter how she tried to rationalize it, the evidence was undeniable. Her body was healed. Her sight was restored. The scars that had defined her existence were gone. Her breasts, too, were no longer marred by the horrors of her past. They were full and bountiful again, as they had been in her youth, a time when men had fallen in love with her beauty. It was not just a part, but a complete recovery to her former self, a life she had thought was lost forever.
"Why?" she finally asked. "Why would you do this for me?"
Heimrich's expression softened, though his tone remained firm. "Because I see potential in you. You have qualities that very few possess: an unyielding will to survive, enabling you to persist no matter how dire the circumstances, and a sharp ability to perceive your surroundings, read people, and draw conclusions. These are the qualities I need from you, as my right hand, to achieve my goals."
Anna's thoughts swirled. She had spent years believing she was nothing more than a broken shell of a person, barely scraping by in a cruel and indifferent world. Yet here she was, alive and whole. The man before her had done something impossible, something miraculous.
If he can do this… what else is he capable of?
She hesitated, then asked the question that had been gnawing at her. "If you can perform miracles like this… can you help me take revenge on Eberhart?" Her voice trembled with a mixture of hope and fear. "If you can give me that, I will swear myself to you. Body and soul. From now until eternity."
Heimrich's gaze locked onto hers, unyielding, his voice dropping to a commanding intensity. "If that is what you desire, then I will grant it. But know this, Anna: while vengeance may now burn brightest in your heart, it is only a flicker compared to the inferno of what lies ahead. The path to vengeance may seem like your greatest ambition now, but the road we will travel is far longer and requires unwavering dedication. Are you prepared to commit to what lies ahead?"
Anna didn't flinch. She nodded, her eyes blazing with newfound determination. If this is real, then I will see it through. I will no longer be a victim.
"Then it is settled," Heimrich said, rising to his feet. "You are mine now, Anna. Together, we will create an Eternal Empire—a legacy so great that it will withstand the test of time."
The first Pillar of the Wittelsbach Legacy has just been born. In later generations the first pillar will also be known and feared as the eyes behind the curtains.