Before They Were Kings, Part II: Gray Rose

Twilight Town, 50 years ago

Twilight Town, Pennsylvania, was one of the most peaceful villages in the world. Bathed in eternal twilight, this village held strong connection with the Realm of Shadows. It was a poor village with wooden houses and no electricity, where pigs wallowed around in mud. The people who lived here, the Twili, were humans of unusual colors that ranged from white, blue, green, or purple. Everyone was a shadowbender, and as their shadows could freely drift and interact amongst each other, all was serene.

Daphne Anderson was a girl of five years old. She was the most quiet and most serene of all the Twili. She had the appearance of a ghost with white hair, white skin, and a white dress. She sat in the shadow of a barn, picking petals off a rose that was black like her eyes. Every day, she whittled away the hours by whittling away roses. She never knew why she enjoyed it, but it made good meditation.

"DAFFYYYY!" Daphne was tackled by a 7-year-old girl with white hair that had a hint of strawberry blonde and a green dress. She had fair peach skin like a normal human, since their father was human and their mom was Twili. Of course, enough time spent in this town would make a normal human develop Twili traits, especially if they were a shadowbender. "Tackle Hug, graaaahh!" She rolled on her back and squeezed Daphne's stomach.

"Ack! Bella, stop it!" Daphne gagged. "You're choking me!"

"You're so scarable, silly!" Isabelle dropped her sister. "Why do you always hide back here?"

"Because I like to be in the dark. It's quiet."

"Not anymoooooore!" Bella sang. While Daphne's voice was soft and dull, Bella's high voice complimented her peppy personality. "Daffy, you gotta spend more time in the sun! Mom says shadowbenders need both light AND dark, that's why we live in Twilight Town and not Night Town. Besides, look at your poor shadow. She's so lonely."

"But you can't even see her."

"That's the problem! If you really like picking roses, I know a garden that's full of colorful roses! Much prettier than those creepy little black ones. Come on, I'll show ya!" Bella grabbed Daphne's hand and joyfully dragged her to the back of town. "Let's use Shadow Veil and go down this cliff."

"Bella, Mom says we aren't allowed to leave the village."

"Why, Daffy, I do it all the time."

"Because there might be demons around."

"Daffy, the Demon Wars have been goin' on for like a thousand years, and they never came to Twilight Town. That's 'cause the Twilight Princess is one of the Firstborn, so ya know we're safe! Come on, Daffy, let's go." Bella pulled them both into Shadow Veil and slithered down the short cliff.

Bella pulled her sister along as they ran through the forest barefoot. The two sisters had always been polar opposites. Bella was full of life and excited for adventure while Daphne only wanted to sit in the dark and wait for time to pass. She didn't think there was a point to doing anything unproductive, but her parents always told her that was a grown-up's way of thinking, not healthy for a child.

"Look! We found the roses!" Bella exclaimed. They arrived at an area above a cliff where colorful roses grew about the soil. Bella ran to pick some blue ones and red ones and took a whiff. She looked to the right and yelled, "Look, Daffy! It's our shadows!"

Their shadows stretched across the forest over the edge of the cliff. "Hi, shadows!" Bella waved, and her shadow Akita mirrored her enthusiasm. Meanwhile, Daphne's shadow, Shaydes was as still as her master. "Daphne, you never talk to your shadow. You never see her when you're sitting in the dark."

"So what? I know she's there. She still talks to me."

"You should give her a present. Like flowers! Hey Shaydes, what color roses do you want?"

Akita looked at Shaydes for clarification. …I want gray.

"A gray rose?" Bella turned around. "I don't see any like that. Maybe we could paint the roses gray!"

"That's ridiculous." Daphne replied.

"Daffy, just pick out some roses. We'll put them in a cup and put them in the window, they'll look pretty!"

Daphne sighed and decided to pick roses alongside her sister. In this dull twilight forest, this rose garden was the most peculiar thing. Bella never sees anyone else come out and tend to them, so she thought it could be the work of the shadows.

"Well, I'm done. How many did you get?" Bella asked.

"Five." Daphne said as she was picking petals off a yellow one, and Shaydes a violet one.

"Daffy, you weren't supposed to pick theeeem!"

"I forgot."

"Oh, that's okay." Akita gathered up the scattered rose petals. "We can do something else with them!"

With their roses in hand, the girls began to return to the village. Akita scouted the way ahead, but they were shocked when the shadow flew back and yelled, Stop!

"Akita, what's wrong?" Bella asked.

There're monsters! Master, let's go another-

"RAH!" Twin Moblin jumped out of bushes from their right, the girls dropping their roses. They were large and muscular Moblin with hair on their chests. "Say, look, Phineas! Two young morsels that have lost their way!"

"Indeed, Herculi. Perhaps we should educate them on the danger of strangers!"

"Sic 'em, Akita!" Bella commanded, and the Moblin were instantly mauled by the shadow. "Daffy, run!" She grabbed her sister's arm and raced through the forest, passing by Bulblin that tried to shoot arrows at them. Bella pulled Daphne into a Shadow Veil as they slid up the cliff back to the village. The girls were horrified to see that demons have swarmed the place, putting young Twili into carriages while the adults were out cold.

"AAAH!" The girls were grabbed by Phineas and Herculi.

"These energetic youths will make excellent specimens! Let's clock them in the head one, Phineas."

"A bully idea, Herculi." They dropped the sisters and punched them senseless.

…

"AAAAAAAHHH…"

Daphne and Isabelle were locked in a dark, cold dungeon void of any life, except for the terrified souls of the young shadowbenders. Moans of agony rang throughout the halls. All they could do was imagine the horrible pain the children were experiencing before it was their turn. It was in this dungeon Daphne felt her first true emotion: fear.

Beside her, Isabelle was petting her shadow in her lap, holding Akita in a comforting fashion. "It's okay…" Bella spoke with a gentle voice. "I promise we'll go home… We'll be alright…"

"How can you say that?!" Daphne yelled. "It's over, this is the end! We're gonna die!" The other children in the cell began to cry.

"Daphne, stop! You're making your shadow scared!"

"She should be scared and so should you! Why are you always so happy, don't you see there's no way out?! This is why picking roses was a waste of time, we could've been running!"

CREAK! Light shone into their cell, and the kids froze with fear. A Moblin was looking in from the ceiling hatch, the only way out of their hole. "Guess what? One of the pipsqueaks DIED! Who wants to go next?" His pig nose whiffed inside. "That white one smells good. GRAB HER!" A Wallmaster dropped in and grabbed Daphne tightly.

"AAAAAAH!" The girl swung her feet desperately.

"DAFFY!" Bella held onto her ankles, but the Moblin jabbed his spear at her to knock her off. "Daf-!" They shut the hole to muffle her cries.

Daphne was slapped onto a table and chained by her wrists and feet. "What are you gonna do?!"

"You're a shadowbender, right?" A Bulblin in a doctor's uniform and mouth mask took out a syringe of purple liquid. "We're just giving you a little upgrade. You don't need to worry."

"B-B-But I don't want an upgrade!"

"Well, Shadow Queen Malevolous thinks you do! And she's dead now, so, honor her dying wish and all. Detach the shadow!"

A Wallmaster pinched Shaydes with a grabber and yanked the shadow from Daphne's body. "They say shadows are creatures of light and darkness, but King Benedict prefers them to be all darkness. Their masters have yet to survive the procedure, but perhaps you'll be lucky." The Bulblin injected Shaydes with the syringe, and the shadow started to squirm and growl.

"Shaydes?" Daphne said worriedly.

"Release her." the Bulblin ordered. "Let's see what happens."

Daphne was unchained, and the demons stepped away as she approached her squirming shadow. "Shaydes, what's the matter?"

HISSSSSS! The shadow bared fangs and red eyes, biting Daphne in the shoulder.

"OW!" Daphne grabbed and forcefully pried her off, trying to hold the shadow down. "Shaydes, please! Please calm down! Please calm- AAAH!" She was bitten in the leg.

"The Dark Chi we injected her with causes shadows to lose their loyalty to their masters." the doctor said. "All our other subjects were eaten by their own shadows. What a glorious fate to be eaten by a piece of your own being!"

"AAH!" Shaydes bit Daphne again. "Shaydes, please…" The child held her softly and pet the shadow. She cried tears due to the pain and wet the shadow's head. "Everything's gonna be okay, I promise. We're gonna go back home… just like Bella said…"

Hiss… Shaydes wanted to bite her, but she resisted. Her mind was swimming with rage and pain, but in Daphne's arms, she felt warmth. This girl was her master. They lived in the peaceful Twilight Town, sat under the barn shade and picked rose petals. Daphne was quiet most of the time, but she loved her shadow. And Shaydes loved her.

"Do you want me to talk to you more, Shaydes?" Daphne was still crying and blood leaked from her wounds. "Did I ignore you too much? I'm sorry that I did. When we go back home… I'll stand in the sunlight. So that I can see you, and we can talk. We'll go to the forest and look for gray roses. Do you think gray roses are real? If you really want one… we'll look together."

Shaydes shared her master's feelings. Her fear had become rage, but this rage was not her own. Now Daphne's sadness was conflicting with the poison inside her. Anger…sadness…anger…sadness… Love… These emotions whirled like a maelstrom. They were all too complicated… They clashed inside her soul like a battlefield. The battle was so intense that… both sides fell dead.

Master… The fangs and eyes on Shaydes' face began to fade. I'm… sorry… Her pitch-black color began to morph into a milky gray. I don't think we… can talk much, anymore… But I will be with you always… Daphne…

The doctors reentered the room to see the result. "That's never happened before." another Bulblin said. "What do you think, Marcus?"

"You idiot, don't say my real name in front of the mortals!" the lead doctor smacked his head. "It's Dracon. And it looks like she actually tamed it. Let's inject her again."

"YAAAAAH!" A band of kids burst into the room and started blasting the demons. "Your experiments are OVER, you walking bulls!" The leader of these kids, a chubby boy with brown hair, sunglasses, and a wood plate with a '0' over his chest set the room on fire. "Don't just sit there, let's go!" The boy grabbed Daphne and ran, her shadow returning to position.

"Who are you?"

"The name's Monty. But you can call me Numbuh Zero." He smirked.

"Numbuh Zero, my sister and the others are still trapped."

"No worries, we got somebody on that. Look, there he is! Hey, Daniel!"

"Hiya, Monty!" A boy with messy black hair and raggedy clothes flashed him a grin. He was standing with Isabelle while the other Twili ran. There was green gas emitting from the dungeon room. "Don't go in there, it smells worse than a bathroom at the moment."

"DAFFY!" Bella joyfully ran and embraced her sister in a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Catch up later, we're in the middle of a revolution!" Monty yelled. "That's all the prisoners, boys, let's burn this place to the ground!"

It should've been the most momentous thing Daphne ever witnessed: the end of Benedict Uno, Sr. and the end of the demons' reign. The kids had begun to rebuild the Sacred Trees and rebuild the world. There was light and there was peace.

One month had passed since then. Daphne and Isabelle were in a place called Cleveland, Virginia, far away from their home. They wanted to make plans about going back as soon as the KND finished building working ships. Isabelle began to spend time with Daniel, who was a poor boy that lived in a sewer and didn't have a family or a last name. He was a poisonbender that kept the demons away with his stench.

Daphne tagged along with them for the most part, but she didn't engage with their activities much. Shaydes, although the shadow still moved on her own, was dead quiet. With her new gray form, sometimes she was barely noticeable in broad daylight. Today, they were at a playground that was just built. They were told it was built over a mining ground. But while the children were playing carefreely, Daphne chose to hide in the shadow of a tree. Shaydes lay in her lap as she caressed her.

"Daphne!" Bella and Daniel ran over. "Danny says he knows a place where the demons kept a lot of treasure. Maybe we can take some back to Twilight Town! Wanna come?"

"Um… I don't feel like it."

Bella frowned. She stomped her feet and said with a grumpy expression, "Why don't you wanna do anything?! I'm sorry about Shaydes, but you don't have to be so sappy! I think Shaydes would want you to be happy. –Like that rhyme just now! Sappy, happy. Happy, sappy! Isn't that funny?!"

"I can't!" Daphne yelled. "You said it yourself, Bella. The Demon Wars have been happening for a long time. What if they come back? None of this peace and happiness is gonna matter. What happened to Shaydes… is just gonna happen with everyone else. Maybe worse."

"…Well, I don't wanna sit around and be upset. I think every day is a chance to be happy. So, I'm gonna go on an adventure. You can just stay here." She and Daniel left.

Any other time, Daphne would be picking petals off a rose. However, there were no roses. But when Daphne looked up, she noticed a small pink flower with five petals blooming from the scarred ground. She sent Shaydes over to pick it out. She slowly plucked its petals.

"Oi, who'd-a thought saving the world would make me such a ladies' man?" Monty Uno asked as he came around the tree. "Oh! I didn't know this spot was taken."

"I'll go if you want me to."

"No, it's okay." Monty sat across from her. "You know, you look familiar. Have I seen you before?"

"I'm Daphne. You saved me from the lab."

"Oh, right, you're the gray girl!" Monty lifted up his sunglasses. "Although without the glasses, you're more white. Pretty weird, though. Did those demons do something to you?"

"I always looked like this. I'm a Twili."

"Oh, one of those shadow people. Hey, I didn't mean to call you weird." Monty blushed, scratching his head awkwardly. "I'm one to talk, really. Benedict was my dad."

"I heard."

"Oh, but my mom was the Shadow Queen!" Monty beamed. "That means I'm like part-shadow! Or something."

"I think you were adopted. You don't look anything like your parents."

"Yeah, I wish. But I am a firebender, and I don't think Malladus would take two mortals under his roof. (I dunno why he got with a mortal in the first place.) So, what were those demons doing before I saved you?"

"They poisoned my shadow, Shaydes. She can't talk to me, anymore."

"Sorry to hear that. …So, what's the deal with that flower? Playing 'Loves Me Not'?"

"No, I'm just… picking it." Daphne picked the last three petals quickly. "I don't know why. What's the point to doing anything? Bad things are gonna happen."

"That's a real 'adult' thing to say." Monty cocked a brow. "We just defeated the demons, the bad times are over! Everyone's happy. Why aren't you?"

Daphne didn't have an answer. She stared at the dull gray shadow in her lap. "…I guess because Shaydes isn't happy. My parents say shadowbenders feel what their shadows feel. I wish I could make her happy."

"What does your shadow like?"

"…Before we got caught, she wanted a gray rose. I wonder if she would still like one."

"A gray rose? I've never seen anything like that."

"I've never seen one, either. But black roses grow where I live. Maybe there are gray ones."

"You wanna go look?"

"Huh?"

"I have a ship." Monty smirked, standing up. "Let's go to where you live and find a gray rose. Wanna?" He held a hand down.

Daphne stared at it. She wondered if there was a point in looking or if it even mattered. And yet, she wondered why this boy cared to try. She wanted to examine him. So she took his hand.

"Your ship is a dumpster?" Daphne said after he led her to a dumpster behind his house.

"I didn't say it was fantastic-looking." Monty blushed. "It's clean though, at least. Come in." They entered through a small door built in the side. The dumpster had controls and terminals inside. He began to activate it. "Where to?"

"Twilight Town, Pennsylvania."

"Pennsylvania it is. Buckle up!" The dumpster shook as it lifted off the ground and shot off with engines.

Twilight Town

Daphne brought Monty to the colorful rose garden. They explored the area around, finding lone roses under trees or in bushes. "Sure are a lot of them." Monty said. "Does somebody plant them all or something?"

"Bella thinks the shadows grow them."

"Well, you should ask them if they plant any gray ones, 'cause I'm not seeing any. Found plenty of red ones over here."

When Daphne was crawling by a tree, she found a bud that was in the process of blooming. When it did, it became a pretty pink rose. Daphne glanced over to Monty. She felt her cheeks redden. "Maybe we should go back. Bella might wonder where I am."

"Yeah, I guess." Monty stood up and stretched. "Flower picking is boring. Still, it was nice to get away from all the Supreme Leadery stuff for a few. We should hang out again sometime!" He returned first to the ship.

"Yeah…" Still blushing, Daphne followed him.

Over the next few days, Daphne, Isabelle, and Daniel have been exploring Kids Next Door Moonbase, a treehouse on the moon that had seemingly always been there. The base was dusty and disorganized, so the KND were working to repair it and establish communications with the Earth's treehouses. "Oi, it'll take forever to clean this dump." Daniel said loudly. "You'd think it was made in Medieval days or something."

"Holy smokes, there's a treehouse in Antarctica!" Monty exclaimed after looking at some old files in an office. "Cadets come there and train to be operatives. Sounds flipping cold."

"Monty, did you look at that computer?" his friend, Agatha Roberts pointed at the computer on a desk.

"I did, but it's totally busted." Monty sat at the desk and turned the device on, only to be greeted by a static screen. "I've been having some tech nerds fix the machines around here."

"YO, MONTY!" a voice called from outside. "We brought that console from the arcade!"

"Let me see!" Numbuh Zero ran out to find Hoagie Gilligan and Gabe beside a pink arcade console called Sugar Rush. The side of the console had a picture of a black-haired girl with candy in her hair driving a white car.

"Why did you steal something from the arcade?" Daphne asked.

"It started glitching up one day and the owner was gonna shut it down." Gabe replied. He was an orange-haired boy with buckteeth. "I proposed we save it because of the kids inside."

"Kids?"

"Videogame kids." Monty approached the console. "But who says game characters don't have feelings? Hook it up somewhere and see what pops up."

The characters on Sugar Rush were little pixelly children with colorful, candy designs, and sweet-sounding names. When the scientists finished repairing the computer system, they decided it would be easier to manage with artificial intelligence. So, Gabe downloaded Sugar Rush's characters into the Moonbase computer.

After a bit of tweaking, he was able to get the candy-haired girl's pixelly image to appear on the office computer. "What happened? Where am I?"

"Whoa, you actually got her to come up!" Monty beamed.

"Who the heck are you guys? A fat kid, a big teeth kid, and that girl looks like a ghost." She pointed at Daphne.

"We're the Kids Next Door. We downloaded your game into our computer network. Those blokes at the arcade were gonna shut you down."

"Shut us down? Well, we have been a little glitchy lately. Hey, my name's Vanellope! And not to toot my own horn, but I'm the princess of Sugar Rush. So uh, I'm a big deal." She smirked.

"So you are!" Gabe stepped in front. "Then we have a proposition for you, Princess. As the Kids Next Door infrastructure is in need of drastic repairs, we're in desperate need of a functional network. In regards to those circumstances, we would like to offer you the opportunity-"

The screen glitched. "My brain's not programmed to know that many words."

"You wanna be the boss of our network?" Monty asked. "Make sure everything works, get free digital cookies, have a good time?"

"Sure I will! I mean, as long as my friends can come, too."

"Sure, bring the whole lot!" Gabe agreed. "In the Kids Next Door, every kid matters!"

"Then you've got yourself a princess!"

Later, when Monty was staring at the Earth from the glass wall, Daphne came beside him. "So, did you only save her to help fix the network?" she asked.

"Well, not specifically. It was Gabe's idea, but I thought we should save them, anyway. Vanellope seems like a nice girl."

"But she's not real."

"She talked to us, didn't she? Take a hint from her and get a tan." Monty smirked, poking Daphne's arm playfully.

Daphne blushed again. "Do you… Do you like her?"

"Vanellope? She sounds nice, but I'm not in love with her if that's what you mean."

"Do you love Agatha?"

"Well, she… is my best friend." Monty blushed. "Why are you asking?"

"If you're nice to too many girls, they won't know which one you like."

"Heh heh, you make a valid point. But what does it matter, I'm nice to everyone. Kids at least. And just look at where that's got us." He opened his arms and gestured at the Earth. "If you looked at the planet when those demons were running around, you would've just seen a dark world that lost all its joy long ago. But thanks to us, our planet's so peaceful that aliens would wanna land here. Hopefully not to conquer it, but actually live on it. And if the Kids Next Door keeps up the work, we can make life better for everyone. You and your sister oughta think about joining. I can find you both a nice pair of shoes. I don't see how anyone goes that long without any."

"I don't know if I'm right for Kids Next Door."

"I guess you're younger than our other members. Wonder if I should make an age limit?"

"Monty… how many good things can you do?"

"As many as I want."

"…Can I watch you do them?"

"I don't see why not."

Daniel came to live with Bella and Daphne at Twilight Town, but their parents insisted on him taking a bath in a small tub. Monty flew to Twilight Town at least every day to see if they wanna hang out. Like he promised, he brought green slip-on shoes for Bella and black shoes for Daphne. He also fitted the three with coats when they visited the reopened Arctic Base. New children that dreamed of being Kids Next Door operatives were flown here to hone their skills.

Daphne bared witness to an issue with one of the cadets, Revan Bane Sidious, who dressed like he was from outer space. He wouldn't say where he was from, but he had telekinetic powers that made the other cadets feel concerned. Monty insisted that he should be allowed to join anyway, reminding the Drill Sergeant of his own firebending, and being friends with a poisonbender and two shadowbenders. Over the next month, Revan would make friends and become part of the Kids Next Door.

They received reports of various shores in the world getting attacked by a band of Candy Pirates called the Linlin Pirates, but with Numbuh Zero's leadership, they were driven away before they could cause too much damage. It seemed as though Monty was truly making a better world. Daphne was filled with a sense of hope. His actions were making her believe there was meaning in life, and they could do anything if they put their mind to it. But… that was before that day.

On a starry night, Monty Uno stood gazing at a marvel unlike any other: a UFO that looked like a giant cake. On one side of the walkway stood Gabe – Numbuh 74.239, and the Jamaican diplomat, Jeremy – Numbuh Infinity. The person to come down the walkway was a girl in a purple and yellow jester's shirt and hat, with black puffy pants and black shoes. To compliment her clown-like clothes, half her face was black and half was white.

"Greetings, Number Zero." She spoke with an echoey voice. "I am Dimentia, Supreme Leader of the Galactic Kids Next Door. My associates, Gabe and Jeremy have been monitoring your actions and your leadership. I have decided that you are worthy to join us."

"Join you? The Galactic Kids Next Door? How come I've never heard of you?"

"We are a secret society, an advanced organization that has existed longer than humankind can imagine. Our goal is to stop the dreaded disease known as adulthood, an epidemic that is continuously destroying the universe. We want you to aid us in our cause. But you must decide now. For certain reasons, we can't stay for long."

"The Galactic Kids Next Door…" This was so much to process. "Is… this for real? How many are there?"

"We have hundreds among us. One kid from each planet. It is a huge honor. Please, Monty… will you join as the first human operative?"

"Of course I'll join! Just let me say good-bye to my friends." He turned around.

"WHOA whoa whoa!" Dimentia warped in front. "The human race isn't ready to know about us, yet. This planet is… a tad primitive, no offense. If your friends know, they will tell others, and panic could ensue if they're aware of the existence of aliens. If you're going to join us, we must leave now."

"We took the liberty of packing your things, don't worry." Gabe assured. "The bright side is you don't have any parents that'll miss you! …No offense."

"I have a little brother." Monty reminded. "Besides, I'm the Supreme Leader! I can't just leave without passing the job to someone else!"

"You entrusted the duties of leadership to Robert McKenzie in case anything were to happen to you." Infinity said. "I'm positive he will be a great leader in your stead."

"Number Zero, you brought an era of peace and good tidings to this world." Dimentia said. "What if you could do the same with other worlds? Wouldn't that be amazing?"

Monty contemplated. It sounded like the adventure of a lifetime. An opportunity he couldn't pass up. But to just leave so suddenly without a sign of where he was going… Would the Kids Next Door survive? No, of course they would. Robert would be a capable leader, and they would follow the examples Monty set. Sure they would miss him, but they had nothing to fear. "All right. I'll go."

Nobody knew where Monty had gone. Not Daphne, not Agatha, not anyone. The pale-skinned Twili became upset, but it seemed as though things were still peaceful. Bella and Daniel agreed to join the Kids Next Door, and they brought Daphne up to Moonbase sometimes to show her how everyone was fairing. …Things began to fall apart.

The scientists designed a Program to aid in Vanellope's MCP duties, but the Program became a virus and nearly crashed the system. It was thwarted, but Vanellope was never seen again. Daphne had not been around when Revan Bane Sidious flew into a rage and called alien robots to attack the Moonbase, but she heard from Bella that it was something having to do with his powers. However, one peaceful day in Twilight Town, decommissioning officers landed and forcefully dragged Bella and Daniel to Moonbase. A law had been established to ban anyone with supernatural powers, so the two were decommissioned. Neither of them remembered Monty or his deeds. And some months later, through unexplained means, no one else remembered Monty.

It was like it had all been a dream. Bella returned to being her usual peppy self, and though she didn't remember Daniel, their friendship developed all over again. Daphne had not been outside Twilight Town ever since. She wondered if the world was still the same, or if all of Monty's deeds have been erased. All his valiant efforts were for nothing. A waste.

Daphne returned to the rose garden to pick petals. She found the pink one that had blossomed before. It could have been a different one while the first one wilted, but given how odd this garden was, perhaps it didn't. Daphne picked the pink rose and started to work on it. "It's a nice place you live."

Daphne looked right. A tall brown-haired boy was leaned against a tree. He had a white T-shirt and brown cargo pants. "Name's Reggie." He picked up a blue rose. "I just came by to visit. I'm in the Kids Next Door, too."

"You are?"

"Well, I won't be for long." He began to pick petals. "I'm turning 13 soon. Thinking of wiping my data from the Code Module and going AWOL. I saw what happened with your sister and her friend. That really stunk."

"I never thought there was a point to anything." Daphne said sadly. "Monty showed me that there was. I was happy. …But it didn't last." She finished picking the pink rose.

"He was a good kid, though."

"Do you remember him?"

"I do. And I know why everyone else forgot him, too. That's why I came to find you."

"Why?"

Reggie approached her with half a blue rose. "My dad is a leader of a group, too. They're trying to change the world. They know a lot of things. They know why bad things happen in the world. The reason demons attack us, the reason Monty's gone, it's all because of one thing. …They want to end it. And they want you to join them."

"But why?"

"They didn't say. But they know what you've been through and they know, deep down, you want to do what Monty tried to do. If you joined them… you could actually do it. Also… you can see a gray rose."

"A gray rose?" Daphne's eyes lit up.

Reggie picked the last of the petals and let them drift in the wind, across the garden of roses. "Shadows feel what their masters feel, right? Then these roses represent feelings of shadowbenders. When you see black roses, it means somewhere, someone is going to die. When they die, a gray rose appears… It represents their memory." He pulled a gray rose from his pocket.

Daphne gasped at the wonder. She looked down, seeing Shaydes reach up and take the rose. Her silent shadow sniffed it. "Will you take me to see the gray roses?"

Reggie reached his hand and smiled warmly. "Of course."

And from that day, Daphne would continue to pick black roses and decapitate them. Because then, she could watch as a gray rose blooms in her garden.