Somewhere Beyond the Sea (Cerulean Chronicles, #2)

by T.J. Klune

“But I believe the greatest weapon we have at our disposal is our voices. And I am going to use my voice for you, and for me. Hate is loud. We are louder.”

You want me lost, but I am found in the breaths I take, in the spaces between heartbeats. I am found because I refuse to be in black and white, or any shade of gray. I am color. I am fire. I am the sun, and I will burn away the shadows until only light remains. And then you will have no choice but to see me.

“Let them listen to what joy sounds like. Maybe they’ll learn a thing or two.”

“When we live in fear, it controls us. Every decision we make is smothered by it.

“Sic parvis magna.” “Greatness from small beginnings,”

They live on in my memories, kept tucked away for the days I need to be reminded that my history, while difficult, began with people who loved me.

If you go into a situation expecting the worst, it may cloud your ability to see what good can come from it.”

Trust, Arthur knew, was a treasure effortlessly stolen, often without rhyme or reason. And this particular treasure was a fragile thing, a piece of thin glass easily broken. But here was David, surrounded by strangers in an unfamiliar place, attempting to pick up his pieces and put them back into a recognizable shape. Whatever else he was, David’s bravery in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds proved yet again what Arthur had always believed: magic existed in many forms, some extraordinary, some simple acts of goodwill and trust, small though they might be.

He hadn’t known what that meant, exactly, the old adage of “time heals all wounds” ringing in his ears. But that wasn’t quite true, was it? The passage of time might dull the edges, but it wasn’t a cure-all. No, it’d take more than that. So much more.

“They wouldn’t have learned anything because they were never given the chance. That’s why free will is important. It gives us the potential to change minds.”

He said it’s okay to not be okay, so long as it doesn’t become all we know.”

“Maybe she just hasn’t met the right person yet,” Chauncey said. “Someone who can love her and also scare the crap out of her.”

“That I like when other people are happy, and it makes me feel good when I get to be part of it,” Lucy explained. But because he was still Lucy, he added, “Not everyone, just the people I like. For some reason, it makes the spiders in my head go to sleep. Not forever, but for a little while.”

“Are you ready?” Zoe asked him. Arthur didn’t hesitate. He knew. “It’s taking everything I have not to run to him.” She reached up and touched his cheek. “If only the boy you were could see you now. What would he think, I wonder?” He turned his face and kissed her fingers. “That love and fire are one and the same.”