Bolvoth decides to teach the young woman the lessons she seems to be refusing to learn. Lest she be the one he is called against to truly harm one day.
@internutter/challenge-04102-k084-truth-hurts -- Anon Guest
Love is very many things, none of them logical. So too is the determination of a rebellious teenager. When those combine, someone is going to come to some very bad damage. Whether or not there was a 'splash zone' involved was generally a matter for heroes.
Cosima Britelit could easily come to a bad end. She had the determination and internal vitriol to grow into a terrible, terrifying evil if she was allowed to continue.
Like it or not, Bolvoth found himself caring for the grumpy, obstinate teenager. Yes, he sponsored her as a demonic patron. Yes, he gave her "creepy powers." Yes, he encouraged her to spread darkness and despondency across the mortal world. That was just his job. For personal interest... he had to break the usual expectations.
A demon of darkness should not feel affection at all, let alone affection for a mortal. Infection from other Planes of Reality goes both ways. For each mortal accepting the relative evil of a demon's support, there was a little more mortal influence on the demon involved. Bolvoth had done more than enough to have soft feelings for his... well... pets.
He didn't want a bunch of heroes to end her with a sharp blade or a quick fireball.
So... for her own good... he had to engineer a sudden but inevitable betrayal. Giver a choice that was impossible, counter to her morals, and outright revolting. And then dish out a 'punishment' she would find so repugnant that she'd turn away from Bolvoth's path of evil.
Given Cosima's love of the dark, the dire, and disgusting; there wasn't a lot that could turn her off.
Except, perhaps, darkness itself.
She'd found a small pack of Adventurers by the time Bolvoth had the idea. They were on a macguffin hunt, and encountered more than a few eldritch objects along the way.
Bolvoth waited until she found a magical artefact that she really wanted for herself. Something that woyuld greatly help her and her new friends on their mission. That was when he slid into her thoughts and whispered, "Destroy it."
Selfishness battled with selfishness. On one hand, she wanted the power of the artefact. On the other, she wanted Bolvoth's favour. Further, her fellow Adventurers needed it for their ongoing quest.
She could not obey Bolvoth's order and they both knew it.
Inter-team bickering done, Bolvoth visited his 'punishment' on Cosima while she slept. When next she opened her eyes, all she saw was pure darkness. It took her a few minutes to figure it out, but... half the county heard her screaming.
There was another kerfuffle in the crew as they all discovered that Cosima was sunk deep into her own worst nightmare for siding with her crew above her patron. No prayer, nor curse removal, nor counterspell could lift it.
Not until she shakily recited an old, childhood prayer to Aurorus, the Dawn Lord.
That had to remove Bolvoth's influence. And cut off her Warlock powers until the sun no longer shone on the day.
So now she had a choice. Willingly walk down the path of darkness and face her own horrors in the process... or literally turn to the light and try to do good in the world.
She'd still have her Warlock powers, and bear Hellkin as a direct result of her demonic involvement, but those were the consequences of her original choice.
The rest of her choices were hers and hers alone.
[Photo by Milad Fakurian on Unsplash]
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