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?"

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

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 for the oracle to appear again

Veronica looked anything but

I asked, because looking at Veronica,

show the nature of Elva's curse and the magical power level needed to remove it. It's

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

said. Cóntent belong to

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 little. I wanted her to say purple was the best color, that it indicated a curse easiest to

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

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

her curse?" I

"What I do is mere child's play compared

I had built up for myself crashed and burned all around me. It was my own fault. I should have

said 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

head, clearly dissatisfied with herself. I couldn't talk. I knew exactly how it felt to

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

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

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

the bottom of my heart. I hoped she knew how much I appreciated her. I wasn't sure she would until

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

my birdie!" She showed her folded bird to Nicholas, who had 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

Nicholas said

fairly quickly after that and she rushed over to a pile of napkins in an attempt to replicate the bird. Unfortunately, Veronica didn't notice to be

Nicholas made his way over to me. Together we stood side by side. We both turned to look out over the

to cool down," Nicholas said. "I'm