Annie hopped excitedly towards her apparent suitor "So great to *croak* finally meet you Prince Ook. If you *croak* kiss me I promise I'll turn back into a beautiful...oh, it's you *croak*"
"I'm sorry for the *ook* deception" Sophie felt bad for getting her friends hopes up, but the ends justified the means "But we need to *croak* get out of here and find Lucy"
"But Portia said she'd *croak* find me a prince" Annie looked over at the naked red haired girl who was scurrying around on all fours in the next room "though she is acting *croak* strangely. Speaking of which *croak* where did you get the donkey?"
"This is Laura" Sophie's pretty face temporarily flushed with embarassment "we had a bit of an *ook* accident"
"Yeah it's me" Laura confirmed.
"Wait" Annie looked baffled "So you named your donkey Laura *croak*? But how can it *croak* talk?"
That's right, Sophie thought, Annie would have been made to forget Laura as she too had done initially. She didn't want to confuse the poor girl any more or complicate any already tricky situation further.
"No, that was me *ook* throwing my voice. I can't believe you fell for it! You can't talk can you *ook* Laura?"
"Hee-haw" Laura played along grudgingly. Great, so she couldn't speak in front of Annie now. She was starting to feel even less human.
"So where is *ook* Lucy?"
"She was in that kennel over there *croak*" Annie nodded ahead of her. Sure enough above the empty kennel was a sign:
Name: Lucy
Age: 23
Species: Human/Dog
Special Feature: Fully Loyal and Obedient to Owner
Reserve Price: SOLD
The big red letters recently placed at the end of the sign made Sophie's heart sink. So Lucy was officially someone's domestic pet now. And if she was completely loyal and obedient to them could she even persuade her friend to return home? Still, she had to try. Anf she had the spellbook at least.
"We need to find Lucy *ook* now. Let's get out of here!" She demanded.
"Hee-haw!" Laura agreed.
"But what about *croak* Portia?" Annie wondered "she may be able to help"
Sophie thought for a minute. Leaving the rat girl on her own like this would be mean and Sophie wasn't a mean person. And maybe Portis could be useful, considering who her father was. On the other hand only her memories had been changed, not her personality. Could she really be trusted not to put Sophie and her friends in jeopardy?