He turned back toward me and whispered with an echo that filled the room, "You are a Mocre," he noticed that I was confused and so he added, "you are the One. You have the power to see shades, wraiths, and ghosts." He paused and looked directly at me. "You have the power to control them," he finished.

My mind on high alert, I cautiously asked, "Which are you?"

He paused for a moment, then shamefully replied, "A shade."

Before I could retort, he hastily added, "Shade's are the lowest of the Vengeful world. The highest are wraiths, and after them, ghosts."

"How do you become a shade?" I asked, my curiosity filled to the brim.

He made a small choking sound and I realized that he was sobbing. He cleared his throat after a few minutes and answered, "W-- W-- W--" he cleared his throat again, "when you die, they decide which you will become. I don't know the selection process, but I do know that they look at your record. I, for one, never did anything wrong," he shrugged his shoulders, "yet, here I am."

He realized that I was staring intently at him and he coughed once more. "But, enough about me, I have been chosen to help you tone your powers."

He paused a moment to let his words sink in. It took about three minutes before I was shrieking at him, "Powers?!! What powers? Ughh, now I am even more abnormal than before!"

Ebony started emitting a strange wheezing sound. It took a moment for me to realize that he was laughing, but when I did, I snapped, "What?"

He took a moment to calm down. He was breathing heavily and clutching his side before he finally uttered, "It's just-- It's just, here you are, trapped in a cave. And you just found out that you are a Mocre. But the one thing on your mind is that you are abnormal!" He started his fit of laughter again.

"Excuse me, you are supposed to be helping!" I suddenly yelled. He abruptly stopped and turned serious.

"OK then, command me to unlock the door," he suggested.

I waved my arms around frantically. "How?" I asked, puzzled.

"So, start by saying: By the power invested in me, an abnormal girl--"

"Shut up!" I scolded. He erupted into a fit of laughter once more. "Get over it, you big buffoon!" I then knew what I had to do. "Lesse Nocobre!" I hissed at Ebony. He immediately went still as a statue: awaiting my orders. "Forgo Lisgar!" I uttered. He started to move robotically toward the door. He then gestured with his hands and the rocks flew out of the doorway. He turned toward me, bowed, and then returned to his statue-like state. I took a deep breath, then hissed, "Lesse Nocobre!" Ebony returned to his relaxed stance and muttered to himself, "Curious..."

I couldn't take it anymore. I yelled ferociously, "Are we done yet?!!"

He started chortling again, but this time, it was out of pity. "Dear girl," he whispered, "there is plenty more."

I sighed in exasperation. This was going to be a long night.