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?"

the merfolk book on the top of the bar. "The book contains many sections on curses and how

I perked up. She said 'remove them'! That should be exciting, a great sign! If the book talked about how to remove the curse, then

Veronica looked anything but happy

because looking at

frowned. "The purpose of the incantation is to show the nature of Elva's curse and the magical power level

Jane was the one 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 Jane, the curse on Elva

Veronica said. Cóntent belong to

good?" I was beginning to

was never one for false hope. Although in this case, it pulled my heart out a little. I wanted her

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

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

remove her curse?"

Not by far." She sighed. "What I do is mere child's play compared to what is

ground. Any false hope I had built up for myself crashed and burned all around me. It was

No, no," I said quickly. "This isn't on you at

"If I were stronger-*

enough, Veronica." 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 it weren't

couldn't talk. I knew exactly how it felt to not believe you were

merfolk oracle," Veronica said. "She's the only one with enough power to have a

Elva, but I still didn't know if I could fully trust her. The oracle was a stranger. This magic was foreign, even

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

of my heart. I hoped she knew how much I

give her some space. I looked out over the water. The view was pretty good

house. She explained in her roundabout child way that Veronica had made it and given it to her, and that she

Frank," Nicholas said to the

after that and she rushed over to a pile of napkins in an attempt to replicate the bird. Unfortunately,

me. Together we stood side by side. We both

cool down," Nicholas