"You're dead," said Phoebe. "We vanquished you."
"Don't you just hate it when you think everything is taken care of and then it comes back to bite you in the ass?" asked the warlock smiling at her.
"Whatever you're doing," said Phoebe, "I want you to stop it right now."
"Or what, sweetheart?" asked the warlock. "You can't get close enough to me to use your martial arts. I'd just blink away. And you don't have the powers your sisters have. Let's face it. There's not a whole lot you can threaten me with. But in all fairness I really can't do anything about it."
"Can't or won't?" asked Phoebe.
"You don't understand," said the warlock. "This isn't my doing. No, honey, I'm afraid you'll have to look elsewhere for the culprit. I wish I could take credit for all this, I really do. This has gone well beyond what I had originally intended. But I gotta admit I kind of like it."
"What are you talking about?" Phoebe demanded. "If you're not doing this then who is?"
"You really haven't figured this out yet, have you?" questioned the warlock. "I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised."
"Why?" Phoebe asked. "You think I'm too stupid or something like that?"
"Oh, no, quite the contrary," said the warlock. "You and your sisters have all demonstrated you're more than resourceful enough. Even the younger one who hasn't been at this game as long as the other two of you. Why do you think I used that spell? Anything else would have been much too risky.
"No, this has nothing to do with intelligence. It has more to do with experience. And knowledge. You haven't figured it out because there's still so much about magic you don't know. Things that take time to learn. You just haven't learned them yet, that's all."
"Okay, smart guy," said Phoebe. "Just what is it I don't know yet, then?"
"Oh, no, not yet,' said the warlock smiling again. "It's much too early for the 'since you're going to die anyway' speech."
"I see," said Phoebe. "Which means you don't know either."
"Bravo," said the warlock, clapping his hands, "pushing all the right buttons. I'm impressed. This would be the part of the story where I'm supposed to become outraged because you've insulted me. The part where I'm supposed to prove I'm smarter than you by telling you everything I know.
"Sorry to disappoint you, love. But you'll have to figure this one out for yourself. It's a shame the Whitelighter and the demon are caught up in the magic. I'm sure they could be of immense help. They have been around a bit longer than you."
"We stopped you before," said Phoebe. "We'll do it again."
"Not this time, darlin'," said the warlock. "As I said, I'm not the one who's doing it. I'm afraid going after me will do you absolutely no good at all. Even if you should manage to vanquish me by some miracle, it really won't do you any good. Nothing at all would change. And soon your friends will be so totally immersed in their roles there will be no way to save them. They will become their characters forever."
"I'll save them," Phoebe said. "I'll find who's doing this and vanquish them. Then I'm coming after you."
"That would be a very nice trick,' said the warlock. "And also a promise you can't possibly keep."
"Why not?" Phoebe asked. "Once I vanquish whomever's doing this everything returns to normal. And there's nothing to stop me from coming after you."
"There's one reason I can think of,' said the warlock. "I told you I'm not doing this and I was being honest when I said that. But I do know who is doing it. Unfortunately, you've not about to vanquish the person who is really responsible."
"And just why not?" Phoebe asked.
"Because," said the warlock, "most people don't have it in them. And I'm sure you don't either. You see, in order to stop this, you'd have to commit suicide. I'm not the one who's doing this. You are."