"This is ridiculous," said Piper. "There has to be some way to counter this magic."
"I wish that were true," said the warlock. "Believe me, honey, I have no more wish to permanently become the wizard than you have of becoming Glenda the good witch."
"Don't honey me," said Piper. "What do we call you, anyway?"
"My name is Jerrod," said the warlock. "As I told you, the magic is too strong. I'm sure your Whitelighter and the demon have told you about fantasy magic. It just gets stronger. It's too strong for even me to control now. There's nothing I can do."
"You'd better think of something fast," said Piper, "because before I turn into a falsetto Wicca wannabe I can promise you I'll make sure you're vanquished."
"It won't do you any good," said Jerrod. "Remember, I'm the wizard. There's no one more powerful in Oz than I am."
"What about the Elders?" Paige asked Leo. "Surely there's something they can do."
"Maybe," said Leo, "except that I can't seem to contact them."
"Of course you can't," said Jerrod. "There are no Elders in OZ. And no demons either. Which means no underworld. The only reason the two of your are still around is because you were caught in the power of my spell. That and you're integrated as important characters in the story."
"What are our options?" Piper asked. "There are always options."
"Well," said Jerrod, "ordinarily a Mystic spell can be broken if the victim wakes up from their dream. Only no one's asleep in this case so that won't work."
"You're only thinking about affecting someone's dreams?" Paige asked.
"That's where my power lies," said Jerrod. "A Mystic Warlock has mastery over dreams, imagination, anything that involves fantasy. But we aren't that powerful in the real world. Why do you think I wanted your power? It would make me as powerful in the real world as I am in the fantasy world."
"But all of this is affecting the real world," said Phoebe. "How is that possible?"
"Because the real world and the fantasy world are merging," said Jerrod. "It's allowing the fantasy magic to become real magic. Only fantasy magic just keeps getting stronger."
"Power increase," said Cole. "Maybe that's the key."
"What do you mean?" Jerrod asked.
"We've been trying to change things back," said Cole. "But it's obvious we can't. What if we could interrupt the power source that's changing all this?"
"I've all ready tried that," said Jerrod. "I've tried to stop the spell but the magic is just too great. It won't let me."
"No," said Cole, "the spell is only the mechanics of the changes. The mechanism that dictates what changes occur. It's the magic behind the spell that makes the actual changes. It's why mortals can't cast spells. They have the mechanical means but no power to activate the mechanism."
"You're right," said Jerrod. "And in this case the magic behind the mechanism would be the ruby slippers. It's why everything remained intact after the movie ended. If I had the ruby slippers I might be able to use their magic to change things back. At the very least I should be able to interrupt the power flow. One I do that reality should reassert itself."
"They're sitting on the coffee table in the living room," said Phoebe.
"I'll orb over and get them," said Leo. "I should be right back."
Leo stood very still for several minutes but nothing happened.
"Well?" questioned Jerrod. "Orb all ready."
"I can't," said Leo. "It's not working."
"Of course not," said Jerrod. "The cowardly lion couldn't orb in the movie. And the scarecrow couldn't shimmer so I'm betting Turner's power isn't working either. The magic is beginning to overtake you."
"I guess we do this the old fashioned way," said Phoebe.
The group hurried out of the audience chamber heading back to the manor. It would only take them a few minutes to reach the manor. And Jerrod could then use the slippers to reset reality.
After more than half an hour searching Jerrod suddenly stopped. He sad down on a bench on one of the streets made of yellow bricks.
"It's too late," he said. "Your manor has been altered by the magic. It's now apart of the Emerald City. We have no way of knowing where the ruby slippers are. And by the time we find them it will be too late to do anything about it."