I kicked my feet over the side of the couch. I gently moved a hand over Vambrace. They lit up when I did.
"What is it, sprout?"
"I need help," I responded. "Do you know who Black Rose is?"
"I am not familiar with that name."
"Then...why is it that every time Black Rose is around, you start melting?"
"It's..." Vambrace hesitated, as if unsure if they should share the information to me. "It's because, sprout, I can feel their villainous desires. It hurts me, along with you. They are greedy and selfish."
"I can tell."
"But," Vambrace resumed, "they are also powerful. Their powers are stolen, sure, but I'm not talking about that. They are smart. They can outthink any one of our rebellion without a second thought. That's how they were able to create that liquid darkness."
"Liquid Darkness...We need to find a way to not lose anyone to that stuff. If we lose me or Dimentio, then they already won."
"Unfortunately, that is correct. Along with Fawful, as well."
"What can he do?"
"He has control over the Dark Star, which is the essence of Darkness. And Dimentio has the Chaos Heart."
"Which is also a living essence of Darkness. But, it's more 'chaos' than darkness right?"
"Yes, but it's still darkness."
"Please, Vambrace. Tell me about yourself. I wish to know why Black Rose wants you so badly."
"I...was not originally made for good," Vambrace explained. "I was made out of Dark Magic to greatly enhance the abilities of whoever bore the symbol of the Relic of Ages."
"That's your title, right?"
"It's my true name, but I don't mind Vambrace. The person who created me was selfish and greedy. She wanted to be the most powerful person in the universe. At first, I obeyed. However, something about being used for that started feeling wrong. I chose to reject any evil uses of my abilities."
"So, how did you get to Dimentio's homeworld; and here?"
"I was transformed into pure energy when she had fallen. People discovered what she was doing and killed her. I left that world, hoping I would suffer from a repeated choice."
"So you went where?"
"I went to a few worlds after that. Some not even Dimentio knows of yet. After repeated corrupted souls, I decided to watch my target before selecting. The Elemental Master of Dimentio's homeworld started off a very nice person."
"But then your power-enhancing abilities corrupted him," I finished.
"...Yes. That is true. Dimentio had gotten a dare from his friend, who was currently being controlled by Black Rose, to fight the Elemental Master. Dimentio killed him, and went as far as to destroy his home."
"He told me about that."
"I followed him. I thought he would be the one I could choose but..."
"He kind of lost his sanity."
"He was still young when he had done that crime. It messed up his mind, and made him snap."
"I feel bad for him..." I rubbed the back of my head. "How old was he?"
"About thirty in your world, but twelve in his. The people in his world age slower than in this one."
"Makes sense that he said he was over a hundred then..."
"I decided to not go to him. But, I knew Black Rose was following me. I had not known their name at that time. I decided to go to you as a last resort to hide from Black Rose. Unfortunately, they somehow found a way to force a connection to me. That's why you almost died in the kitchen, because I was trying to fight off the forced connection...and I was losing."
"Well, I'm sorry you had such trouble finding somebody who wouldn't use you." I tapped the cushion. "But, I'm glad that I'll never become that type of person. Not again."
