“The Evil Devs,” Qube blinked at the Chosen One, surprised at his shock. “You know, the ones the Devs want us to help defeat when we ascend.”

The Chosen One closed his eyes for a long, long time. He opened them again and stared at Qube.

“What?” he asked eloquently.

“What to what part?” Qube asked.

“Why do you think there are Evil Devs?”

“Well, the first time I met a Dev, they spoke about there being Evil in our world and that it was there for a reason that I couldn’t understand and that if I tried to think about it too much my brain would explode.”

Qube twisted her fingers together as the Chosen One stared at her.

“So I tried to think of a reason.”

“Even though they said it would make your head explode,” the Chosen One said flatly.

“Yes,” Qube confessed. “So Evil exists in our world for a reason. That’s just a fact. The Devs had made the Golden Prophecy, which worked against the Evil Emperor. That’s also a fact. But then I asked myself: who’s guiding the Evil Emperor? And why?”

“You’re assuming someone’s guiding him,” the Chosen One said, not in an argumentative way, but more pointing out a potential flaw in her logic.

“Well, he has to have a reason for doing what he’s doing. And with how much power he gained so suddenly, and the Devs’ reluctance to explain why, and with how little idea they seemed to have about what was happening in this world, it all seemed to add up to them not being in complete control of what was happening in our realm.”

“That’s very true,” the Chosen One said wryly.

“Which means,” Qube said, excited by his agreement, “that other people have to be involved. Evil people, working against the Golden Prophecy and the side of Good. It’s possible they didn’t have a choice about whether or not to bring badness into our world, if these other Devs have access to the same mana pool, or can influence the working of the spell that made our world. That’s why they’re so interested in our party and our specialness, and why they want us to ascend. They need people experienced at fighting against Evil.

“Also when we met the Dan Dev you said he was Evil.” That last part was said as a clincher.

“I mean, yeah, he is, but not actually Evil,” the Chosen One said confusingly. “I more meant he’s an [apple]. No one’s actually Evil in the Dev realm.” The Hero paused, thinking. “Well, people do Evil things, but … huh. Okay, so there is, but not in the way you’re thinking.”

“But then why is there Evil here?” Qube asked. She tensed, afraid of her brain exploding, but instead there was only the echo of the Golden Prophecy’s displeasure.

“Oh boy, you sure know which questions to ask,” the Chosen One said with a sigh. “Why does Evil exist here…?” He dug the tip of his toe against the marble stairs, the full plate armoured boot making a horrible scraping sound. He was silent for so long that Qube was beginning to worry that he wouldn’t answer her question, when he finally stirred.

“Do you remember what you were like back in the village?” he asked. Startled by the sudden topic change, Qube just nodded. “Thinking about how you were then, and how you are now, do you feel like you’ve grown?”

“Yes,” Qube said, puzzled as to how this was relevant. “Although I still have a long way to go,” she added humbly.

“How are you different?” he asked.

Qube rearranged her robe, trying to think of how to express the multitude of ways she’d changed since leaving the village. How could she articulate, even to herself, how much she’d grown since she’d been nothing more than a potential companion?

“I feel… more solid,” she managed eventually. “Like I’m a fuller person. That I don’t have to constantly try to make myself smaller.”

“Do you prefer being this version of yourself?” the Hero asked.

“Of course!” Qube replied, astonished.

“But this new, better version of yourself wouldn’t have existed without all the terrible things that happened,” the Chosen One said. “If the Evil Emperor hadn’t attacked, or we hadn’t needed to set off to defeat him, you probably would have been stuck in that village your entire life, and never would have changed. Think of how boring that would have been.”

Oh, how Qube wanted the Hero to “skip” to the point!

“And?” she asked impatiently.

“So if it hadn’t been for him ruining everything, you wouldn’t have grown. It’s like, I dunno, making a statue. You gotta smash the rock a bunch for the true form to emerge.”

“Chosen One,” Qube said sweetly, “that is a very strange thing to think. If his threat against the kingdom hadn’t existed, I wouldn’t have needed to grow stronger. And, sure, I like who I am now, but I also liked who I was back then. If monsters hadn’t been a problem, the woods wouldn’t have been protected our entire lives, and we wouldn’t have had to train to be Chosen, and so we could have gone out exploring as much as we liked.”

Qube suddenly remembered. “I mean I would have gone out and explored,” she corrected herself, grief in her heart.

”But you wouldn’t have fought so hard,” the Chosen One pressed. “The group wouldn’t have come together. I never would have come to this realm. It would have just been aimless exploring.”

“The things we’ve dealt with haven’t all been Evil,” Qube said, struggling to remain calm. “Most of the time, it’s just been people on different sides of a conflict, and we’ve managed to appease both. That’s not Evil, that’s just disagreeing.”

“But Evil’s what happens when disagreeing goes too far,” the Chosen One continued. “When someone on one side thinks they’re so right they do something terrible. Sometimes they don’t even mean to do a terrible thing, or from their perspective it’s the right thing to do. So you can’t have people running around freely doing things without Evil entering the equation.”

“Well then they shouldn’t be running around freely!” Qube said, sharper than she’d meant to. “That’s why things like the Golden Prophecy exist! To stop us from being bad!”

“But that’s not right!” the Hero said, rising to his feet. Qube rose too, facing him down. “It’s not right that they did that to you.”

Qube gasped. “Of course it’s right! It’s Good!”

“It’s not Good!” the Hero said angrily.

“How else are they supposed to stop Evil?” Qube snapped.

“That’s not how you stop people from doing the wrong thing!” the Hero snapped back. “Even if people make the wrong decisions, you can’t control their thoughts by hurting them for thinking something you don’t like or feeding them pleasure when they think what you want them to. People do messed up stuff, and make mistakes, and learn from it. That’s what being a person is! That’s how you live a real life, and become an actual sapient being, rather than whatever it was you had back in the village.”

“My life was fine in the village, under the Golden Prophecy!” Qube declared.

“That wasn’t a life!” the Hero exclaimed. “You weren’t a person! You were just a puppet! Look at how much you’ve grown! That’s only possible because of bad things happening.”

“My personal growth wasn’t worth the price of Evil,” Qube said, shaking.

The Hero stopped. The two of them were practically shouting at each other, both of them trembling. There was a terrible gulf between them, far wider than any Qube had ever felt. Within it were the memories of her still-burning village.

The Chosen One sighed. His shoulders slumped.

“I don’t know,” he said eventually, sounding defeated. “I don’t know if you’re right. And I know that the reason I just said isn’t the only reason bad things happen in this place. Or even the main reason. But… surely you can see why the Devs wouldn’t want everyone to be completely controlled by the Golden Prophecy? Why they’d allow people the freedom to learn? Sure, people here might learn things they didn’t intend them to, but you guys are special because of how different you are from what they expected you to be.”

He ran a hand through his hair.

“There are those in the Devs’ realm who want to put you all back to how you were when I first arrived,” he said. “To make sure no one who ascends can do anything they don’t like. Does that sound like something you’d want?” he asked, in complete sincerity. “I just assumed…” he took a deep breath. “I thought you, and the others, would want the ability to make choices. Even if they were bad ones. The freedom to think your own thoughts, without the Devs having control over them. But I never actually asked any of you.”

He gave her his familiar lopsided smile.

“I guess, in the end, I’m not that different from the others,” he said sadly. “I just decided what you should want, without asking. I thought I knew best, because I knew what I would want.”

“They want to… rebind us?” Qube asked. “So we go back to the level of control the Golden Prophecy used to have on us?”

“Yeah,” the Hero said, studying her intensely. “I’ve been arguing against it. Saying that you guys should be allowed to continue growing freely. But… I really should have let you choose.”

So suddenly was Qube forced to evaluate the statements she’d just made! Would she be fine, going back to how she’d been before? She and the others were already Good, so it shouldn’t matter if they were rebound, forced back into being Good. Was it a fair price to pay, to be absolutely certain that they wouldn’t be Evil when they ascended? After all, who knew how ascension would change them?

She wasn’t sure. A part of her rejected the idea outright; she wouldn’t—couldn’t!—go back to not being able to think without searing pain. And there was the fact that the Golden Prophecy hadn’t exactly been subtle, or understood nuance in moral situations. As amazing and necessary as it was, it was a blunt instrument.

Plus, she had already been raised by it. She didn’t need it anymore. She’d only been growing better and better at guiding the Chosen One!

But…

“Do people in the Devs realm have things stopping them from being Evil?” Qube asked. “They can’t, otherwise there wouldn’t be bad people in their world,” she instantly answered her own question. “So it would be just us who had to be bound like that?”

“Just you and the others in the group,” the Chosen One said gently. “No one’s ever ascended before, so some of them are afraid.”

Qube understood that fear. She was often afraid.

“I think this is something we should discuss with everyone else,” she said, trying to put off the decision. “After all, this affects them too.”

“Sure,” the Chosen One easily agreed. “But what do you want?”

Qube internally floundered.

“So do our Devs want us to fight Evil Devs when we ascend?” she asked.

“I don’t want you being used for fighting when you ascend,” the Chosen One firmly replied. “I’m not going to allow that.”

“Do you think we’ll turn Evil when we ascend?” Qube asked in a small voice. “Do you think… I will?”

The Chosen One didn’t instantly reply, which frightened Qube more than anything else.

“I don’t think people are Good or Evil,” he said at last. “I think you, and the others, have potential to do bad things. Especially when the… reality of the Devs’ realm, and everything else, really sinks in. But I don’t think that’ll make you Evil. The others, even ol’ Sing-Song, might worry me, but I don’t think any of them should be controlled the way you seem to have been. And, at the end of the day, I’d rather trust you too much, and be wrong, than never give you a chance.”

Qube took a step back from the Hero, back towards the mausoleum and the others. She didn’t know what to think.

“Go ask them your questions,” she said, taking another step back. “I’ll wait with the others.”