Like Starlight and Wine (A Baldur's Gate 3 Astarion x Tav Fanfic)

29. The Price Of The Pact

"That's no kind of talk for a lady," Mizora replies with a raised eyebrow. "By the way, Karlach - Zariel sends her regards."

Wyll struggles against the invisible leash that squeezes his neck, his words hard and forced. "You told me devils only. She's - a tiefling. Not a monster."

"How precious," Mizora coos. "The little pupster's found his bark. Unfortunately, he's very mistaken. Clause G, Section nine: 'Targets shall be limited to the infernal, the demonic, the heartless, and the soulless.' Karlach meets the criteria pet. She doesn't have a heart."

"I've heard enough," I growl, my patience wearing thin. "I've had enough devils to deal with for one week, and I'm not keen on picking up more. Leave now, or you're not leaving this place alive."

"Kill me?" Mizora laughs. "I wouldn't recommend it. I die, and Wyll turns into a lemure and gets sucked right down to the Hells. Which reminds me..."

Mizora flicks her wrist and a dark magic springs up around Wyll. Flames burst up at his feet and begin to consume him. He collapses to the ground as he burns in the fires of Avernus; the lighting storms of Dis striking his flesh. His soul passes through each layer of the Hells, gaining their essence - and their torment. Then, a flash of light as the fires seem to absorb into him, his quivering form hunched on the ground. They transform him. And as the infernal magic dissipates, left in Wyll's place is no longer the Wyll I know, but something entirely different. A devil.

My companions and I step back, watching in dismay as Wyll weakly pulls himself to his feet, his skin now red as the Hells themselves, and a set of long, black horns curving their way up and back across the top of his head. The look in Wylls eyes... sheer horror.

"That's better," Mizora smiles wryly.

"What in the hells have you done?!" Wyll demands through panicked breaths.

"A promise broken, a price paid," Mizora shrugs her shoulders dismissively. "You know the terms. Get used to the new form, pet - there's no going back. Some magic, even I can't undo. Now. Let's see how the Frontiers fare without the precious Blade. Karlach," she says, turning to my tiefling companion. "Keep an eye on him, would you? I'll be keeping mine on you. Oh - and Wyll? Don't forget. Our pact still stands. Ta - ta!"

With that, the flaming portal appears in the ground again and Mizora sinks through it, disappearing from our camp in the matter of a moment, leaving us all standing around in silence trying to process everything that just happened.

"Gods damn her straight back to the Hells," Wyll curses. "Just look at me. I did what was right, and Mizora made me pay for it. I'd be hunting devils and demons, she said. Traitors and hypocrites - heartless evils of all sorts - but not... not Zariel's victims, not innocent tieflings."

Warlock pacts tend to be unforgiving from what I remember about them. I know Wyll was lucky he didn't face a more severe punishment but still... being transformed into a devil... that would be difficult for anyone to endure. I can't imagine why he would ever have made such a pact with a devil in the first place. And while I know that we are all entitled to our own secrets and our own shrouded pasts, Wyll's darkness came a little to close to us for comfort.

"I guess the Blade of Frontiers has some explaining to do," I say plainly.

"I'll say what I can," Wyll answers hesitantly. "But it won't be enough. It's Mizora who grants me the power to conjure armor and cast eldritch blasts. Before I was infected with the parasite, I could even call hellbeasts and summon festering clouds. But I promise you, every thrust of my blade and every flame I sparked was for the good of the Coast."

"How in the Hells did you get involved with Mizora?" I persist.

"Ah. The one question that put me out of house and home... I can't utter the terms or circumstance of the pact. I can tell you most all else - but the pact? I'm forbidden, unless Mizora permits it. But I'll say this: the moment I pacted myself to Mizora I have not regretted for a heartbeat. It was my proudest deed. It was worth the sacrifice. All I can give you on that is my solemn word."

"Maybe..." I grumble under my breath. I have no idea if I can trust his word or not. "I still don't like it. I think you should try to get out of this pact."

"A possibility that's kept me awake countless nights," Wyll nods, and I an eerie feeling comes over me as I stare into his new face - the face of a devil. He doesn't look like Wyll anymore, but somewhere in his eyes can I still see the same companion I've been traveling with since Emerald Grove. "But I don't have a a clue where to start," Wyll goes on. "Other than to play her games, and play by the rules. That's the only language devils listen to."

"There must be some loophole in the contract that lets you out," I reply. "There's always a loophole."

"There could well be," Wyll agrees. "But she has the blighted thing. What I know of it is simply what has engraved itself upon my memory. My contract is very clear that I can bring Mizora no harm: she'll have to let me out of my pact willingly. The only way out is if I can out-bargain her. We're standing here with nothing but the clothes on our backs and the worms in our heads."

Something in his words sends my memory tunneling back to Astarion... something he'd said about learning how to control the tadpoles in our minds. At the time I thought he sounded insane... like a power-hungry asshole... but over time I began to understand why he felt the way he did. All of us... we're all under the thumb of some greater power and looking for a way to find our freedom. And the power that our parasites grant us may just be the thing to free us... in some twisted course of fate.

"We can beat her," I finally say after some thought. "Maybe... if we put our worms together."

"We can," Wyll nods. "I'm sure of it. How glad I am that you see me as more than my patron's pet."

"Of course," I say, my voice surprisingly gentle. "You're still Wyll, after all, even if you are a- " I stop myself from finishing before I wound him with the world 'devil.' It's too soon. "Anyway... I guess we should get some sleep while we still can... if we even can sleep after that."

Wyll laughs bitterly, his smile weak and wrought with exhaustion. "Of course. Goodnight."