The Luna Choosing Game

Chapter 0550

Elva glanced up at Veronica and her laughter stifled. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Veronica startled a little, then tried to smile again. It wasn't as big as before. It barely twitched her lip, and certainly did not meet her eyes.

"Nothing's wrong," Veronica said. "I'm glad you liked the trick."

*How long does it last?" I asked, though as soon as the words left my mouth Elva's purple glow began to fade.

"Aww," Elva said, looking at her hands. "Do it again!"

"Elva, honey," I scolded lightly. "We don't demand things from people."

"I'm tired now," Veronica said. "Maybe another time."

Elva tucked her chin down, disappointed. But she said, "Okay."

*Thank Veronica for the magic trick," I reminded Elva.

Elva kicked her feet on the ground. "Thank you..." she mumbled.

"You're welcome," Veronica said.

Elva lifted her folded bird again. She glanced at me, as if for permission.

"Go on," I said. "Have fun."

Nearby I saw the nanny coming up onto the deck. Elva saw her too, and ran toward her, holding up the folded bird. With Elva thoroughly distracted, I turned to Veronica, looking for an explanation. "What just happened?"

read about in this book." She motioned toward the merfolk book on the top

She said 'remove them'! That should be exciting, a great sign! If the book talked about how to remove the curse, then maybe we didn't need to

looked anything but

that good news?" I asked, because looking at Veronica,

"The purpose of the incantation is to show the nature of Elva's curse and the magical power level needed to remove it. It's easier, of course,

to make the curse, on her own daughter no less. I'd come to accept that Jane would never come around, not to help herself or anyone else. If left to

said. Cóntent

Is that good?" I was beginning

Although in this case, it pulled my heart out a little. I wanted

is the most intricate of the curses," Veronica said. "It will require the highest amount of

the only one I knew who could do any

you remove her curse?"

by far." She sighed. "What I do is mere child's play compared

dropped down to the ground. Any false hope I had built up for myself crashed and burned all around me. It was my own fault. I should have known from Veronica's expressions that the diagnosis was not very good. "I'm

No, no," I said quickly.

"If I were stronger-*

her. I dipped my head into her line of vision so she could see my face

head, clearly dissatisfied with herself. I couldn't talk. I knew

said. "She's the only one with

she would appear again to me when I had removed doubt from my heart. I wanted to arrive, to help Elva, but I still didn't know if I could fully trust her. The oracle was a stranger. This magic was foreign, even to Veronica. How could I be certain I could

Veronica said. "I've only just started.

told her, and meant it from the bottom of my heart. I hoped she knew how much I appreciated her.

her book, and I walked off a little ways, wanting to give her some space. I looked out over the water. The view was

just stepped out onto the deck from the house. She

Nicholas said

and she rushed over to a pile of napkins in an attempt to replicate the bird. Unfortunately, Veronica didn't notice to be able to help. The nanny did the best she could

stood side by

to cool down," Nicholas