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?"

an incantation I read about in this book." She motioned toward the merfolk book on the top of the bar. "The book contains many sections on curses and how to properly evaluate and remove

perked up. 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 wait

anything

asked, because looking at Veronica,

nature of Elva's curse and the magical power level needed to remove it. It's easier, of course, if the person who made

I'd come to accept that Jane

said. Cóntent

good?" I was beginning to suspect that it

Although in this case, it pulled my heart out a little. I wanted her to say purple was the best color, that

Veronica said. "It will require the highest amount of magical

Veronica was the only one I knew who could do

her curse?" I

Not by far." She sighed. "What I do

myself crashed and burned all around me. It was my own fault. I should

no," I said quickly. "This isn't

"If I were stronger-*

her. I dipped my head into her line of vision so she could see my face and know that I'm earnest. "We

I knew

need the merfolk oracle," Veronica said. "She's the only one with

wanted to arrive, to help Elva, but I still didn't know if I could fully trust her. The

keep reading." Veronica said. "I've only just

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

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

stepped out onto the deck from the house. She explained in her roundabout child way that Veronica had made it and given it to her, and that she loved it and its name was

Nicholas said

napkins in an attempt to replicate the bird. Unfortunately, Veronica didn't notice

to me. Together we stood

to cool down,"