His bare foot swished water across the floor and a turtle came into the room.

“It’s not that you’re alone,” it said. It smelled like the ocean, but Ethan wasn’t sure what to think since the farmhouse was older than the ocean.

“What dimension is this?”

“If I could tell you, I would tell you with a song, but I am but a turtle – a turtle with a soul.”

“Don’t animals often have souls?”

“He said you’d be full of questions."

“Who said?”

“He said you would ask that one too,” the turtle mused.

“Of course I will! You’re a turtle that speaks. I’ll do nothing but ask questions until you answer me with a straight answer," Ethan paused. "This is bullshit – why do situations like this have to happen with riddles and vague answers.”

“It makes things mysterious. If I told you that some old man that lived in a rock with magic powers wanted to see you because you held a special power that no one else did, that would kill any effect on the journey of you finding your true power,” hissed the turtle.