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?"

toward the merfolk book on the top

She said 'remove them'! That should be exciting, a great sign! If the book talked about

Veronica looked anything but happy about

I asked, because looking at Veronica, I

magical power level

to accept that Jane would never come around,

Veronica said. Cóntent

I was beginning to

Veronica said flatly. I supposed I appreciated her bluntness. She was never one for false hope. Although in this case, it pulled my heart out a

of the curses," Veronica said. "It

amount of power? Veronica was the only one I knew who could do any

you remove her curse?"

"No. Not by far." She sighed. "What I do is mere child's play compared

burned all around me. It

quickly. "This isn't on you at

"If I were stronger-*

I inched closer to her. I dipped my head into her line of vision so she could see my face and know that I'm earnest. "We wouldn't even know any of this if

shook her head, clearly dissatisfied with herself. I couldn't talk. I knew exactly how it felt to not believe you

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

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 trust

Veronica said. "I've only just started. Maybe there's more

heart. I hoped she knew how much I appreciated her. I wasn't sure she would until Elva

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

just 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

said

of napkins in an attempt to replicate the bird. Unfortunately, Veronica didn't notice to be able to help. The nanny

made his way over to me. Together we stood side by side. We both turned

needed to cool down,"