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?"

a breath. "That magic trick' was actually an incantation I read about in this book." She motioned toward the merfolk book on the top of the bar. "The book

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

looked anything

I asked, because looking

Elva's curse and the magical power level needed to remove

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.

said. Cóntent belong to

purple. Is that good?" I was beginning

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

said. "It will require the highest amount

was the only one I knew who

her curse?" I

far." She sighed. "What I do is mere

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 sorry," Veronica

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

"If I were stronger-*

of vision so she could see my face and

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

Veronica said. "She's the only

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

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

hoped she knew

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

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 able to

me. Together we stood side by side. We both turned to

down," Nicholas