So why is the color change "permanent"?

[bplus]

So the color handle isn't just a pointer? Thinking that it is may be part of my issue.   

The brighter function is just to get a lighter color of the original each iteration to do the shading look for the orbs.

Yes not a pointer, _RGB32 returns a very large integer best contained in the _Unsigned Long Type suffix ~&
Using _Red(), _Green32, _Blue32() is right, for getting a color converted to it's RGB elements and then using those to change gradually.

I worked up a little Demo of what I think you are trying here:
https://staging.qb64phoenix.com/showthread.php?tid=162