lingeringhope | ic inbox

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[Hope's voice is clear and clipped.]

If you would like to leave a message, you may do so here. I can't promise to respond. I have many demands on my time, and this sort of thing is far down the list. Still, if you would like to, you may.

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I lost my hand and part of my arm when the zombies were here. What would I need to do to get them back?

The same deal I have offered the rest. Your most hopeful memory, in detail. Relive it as well as you are able.

All right.

[He thinks it over, taking his time. While Adam's life has not been devoid of hope, it's also not been full of it. There are a few moments, though, that he can think of as purely hopeful. Walking out of the courtroom after facing his father. Hearing Cabeswater, truly and clearly. Waking up next to Ronan for the first time.

But when he finally speaks again, it's something else.]

When I got my acceptance letter for Aglionby. I guess you gods don't have school or anything like that, but - it was everything I'd been working for. Before it happened, I was afraid it never would. I was afraid it was impossible.

[He still remembers it so clearly, the sick feeling in his gut, the terror and sharp hope combined. The knowledge that he'd done it, did it on his own. That he was taking the first steps out of that cramped trailer.

It wasn't that easy, of course. There was the money problem, the partial scholarship, how to afford the rest. He knew his father would not be happy, he knew this letter would translate itself into bruises. But in that moment, none of that mattered. He'd clawed his way to the first of his goals, and that meant he could do more.

And the rest of it came from that. He didn't know that then, had no way of knowing. But Aglionby brought Gansey's friendship, Noah's thin presence, Ronan's loyalty. Cabeswater in his head, magic at his fingertips. Freedom from his father. True friendship, real magic, strength. Love. For all his conflicted feeling about rich boys and privilege, without Aglionby he'd have had none of that.

It was his first taste of something like real hope. He'll never forget it.]

That is sufficient. When you wake up next, your missing parts will have been returned to you.

Thank you.

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