Somewhere Beyond the Sea (Cerulean Chronicles, #2)

by T.J. Klune

people in summer wear without a care in the world, safe, because why wouldn’t they be? They were human. The world was built for them.

AFP. Arthur Franklin Parnassus.

Rebirth. Perseverance. Color. Life. Everything important in the smallest packages.

“All I can do is tell you that things will be different this time around. I will give the children what I never had: a place to be whoever they want to be, no matter what they can do or where they come from.”

“Somewhere … beyond the sea … somewhere, waiting for me…”

“It sounds dumb and amazing, like Lucy.” “Happy birt!” Lucy crowed.

You are more than the sum of your parts, but your past is still that: yours.

“Because violence is never the answer,” Arthur said. Talia smiled sweetly. “But it can be the question.” “It can,” Arthur allowed.

“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.

“Oh no. Are you going senile again? I knew forty-one in human years was old as crap. We’ll have to put him into a home where we’ll promise to visit but then we don’t.”

lol

“You can’t protect us forever,” Sal said, and the sorrow Arthur felt was sharp, a dagger through the heart.

Sal cleared his throat, gaze darting around. “I know … we talk about it. About you adopting the kids.” He winced. “And I know I’m probably too old for—” “It wouldn’t matter if you were one or one hundred,” Arthur said. “You would still be mine as much as I am yours. Nothing will ever change that.”

“We can worry about tomorrow, or we can dance. I know what I want.”

“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. I refuse to live like that any longer.

It’s understood that one should never strike a pet such as a dog because it’s cruel, but when it comes to children, we’re supposed to think that it’s for their own good and they’ll turn out just fine?” He shook his head. “I refuse to believe that.”

omg real

we really need to have a discussion about how quickly Lucy agrees to a plan whenever murder is mentioned.”

“The man on the radio said you threw something at Arthur’s head.” Linus looked at Arthur helplessly, who shrugged and arched an eyebrow. “Yes, I did,” Linus said, glaring at Arthur. “But only because—” “Violence is acceptable when you need to get people to pay attention to you. Got it.” Linus groaned.

well, no actually...

“I was … young. Cynical. Angry. No one would listen to us. No one would protect us.

“Fires can’t burn forever,”

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

I’m not a perfect man, Linus. I’m riddled with faults. I don’t have all the answers, even if I seem like I do. I’m brash, obstinate. I make mistakes. And I worry! I worry all the time

I happen to love those things you call faults. They’re part of you. And they have served you well.

“Would you look at that! Warms my heart, it does. Love, lads. It’s what makes the world go round.”

cute

Good people don’t mind questions.”

“They’re certainly not kidnapping me,” David told the conductor. “Because I’m an adult who does adult things, like taxes and laundry and being sad for no reason.” Unfazed, the conductor said, “How wonderful! I, too, am filled with an encroaching dread over my own mortality. I’ve always thought that being aware of one’s impending demise makes for a more interesting life, but I have yet to prove this particular hypothesis.

lol what?

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

“Can I say something now?” Chauncey demanded. “I’ve been politely waiting my turn.” “Go ahead,” Arthur said. “Hi!” Chauncey said, waving a tentacle at David. Then he said, “That’s it. You may continue.”

oh okay lol hi

Talia waved at him. “I like burying things, like seeds and people who cross me.”

queen

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.

“We don’t have a yacht,” Lucy said. “I would know if we did. I would have crashed it by now.”

this kid lol

Why is it that I must always worry about tomorrows?

“Can we blow out the windows when we get home?” “We cannot,” Arthur said. “As it turns out, windows are important.”

He told them that he wouldn’t take them across. Said—and I quote—‘Why the hell would little ones need to talk to reporters? You damned vultures. You’ll never step foot on my ferry!’” “He did not,” Linus said, sounding just as shocked as Arthur felt.

MERELE???

Lucy stared at Arthur with ancient eyes. “It’d make things easier.” “Perhaps,” Arthur said. “But that doesn’t answer my question. Even if your intentions are pure, does eradicating free will to get the end result you desire make your actions right?” Lucy hesitated. “I … don’t know?”

if morality is based upon personal desire, how can one find a truly objective moral ground and make the morally right decision?”

That’s why free will is important. It gives us the potential to change minds.”

Though we may not always agree, nothing you could do would ever make me stop loving you.”

“Most parents don’t have the children we do,” Linus said. “No, they don’t. We’re lucky that way, I guess.”

“So what do we do?” “We live,” Arthur said. “And if they try and take our children from us?” “Then we fight.”

David raised his hand. Amused, Arthur said, “Yes, David?” “What if they see me? Will Lucy and Talia kill the inspector and bury them in the garden?” “Yes,” Lucy and Talia said together. “No,” Linus said loudly.

“You better not throw anything away,” Lucy warned. “If you do, there is nowhere on this earth you could hide that I wouldn’t find you.” “That threat worked better on me when I didn’t know you liked footie pajamas,” Linus said.

“Ha!” he said. “I have no problem turning anything over, because Linus said if we try, anything can happen.” Linus smiled. “That’s exactly right, Lucy. Thank you for—” “Which means anything can be a weapon if you try hard enough.” He began to tick off his fingers. “Spoons. A flight of stairs. Sinkholes. Peanut butter. Air.” “Lucy,” Linus warned.

Why is it on our shoulders to prove anything? We’re kids.”

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

He hated how easy it was to speak untruths when he wanted to protect others.

Lucy nodded. “And I’ll open up a dimensional doorway in the fabric of reality and send her to a place where even demons fear to tread. What is this evil place, you might be asking? Great question!” He spread his hands wide in a practiced display of showmanship. “It’s called … Florida.”

HA!

“Because we don’t hide. Maybe we did, once, but no more. We have the right to exist. Registered or not.

if you’ve convinced yourself there is darkness around every corner, you’re conditioned to fear it, especially when it goes hand in hand with a particular narrative.”