"That's impossible," said George. "The Tome of the Ancients has been lost for millennia. No one knows where it is. And I don't see how resurrecting your ancestor is going to help with that."
"Oh, it will help plenty," said Jessica. "You see, Giles Corey wasn't a wizard. That's what they often call male witches back then. But he was a bit of an historian. Specifically, the history of ancient civilizations. With his knowledge he was able to piece together what happened to the tome."
Jessica walked over to the books on the shelf and pulled out one of the books. It looked very old. She casually flipped through the book as she talked.
"After they murdered him," continued Jessica, "the prosecutors packed up his belongings. Normally everything a condemned witch owned became the property of the state. But the prosecutors had little use for Giles' personal belongings. They were packed up stored for destruction later.
"But they never got around to it. After the hysteria over the witch hunts died down, one of the surviving victims sent the belongings to a relative of Giles'. Part of those belongings included this, his personal diary. Outlining his revelation that he had located the Tome of the Ancients.
"But it didn't say where the tome was. Or how he had figured out where it was hidden. Without that information it's impossible to duplicate what he did and locate the tome. There's only one person who can answer the question of where the tome is hidden. Giles himself."
"So you plan to resurrect him and learn where it is," said Leo.
"Exactly," said Jessica. "Once I have the tome I will be invulnerable. There are magicks in that book that make even the powers of the Elders and the Source's pale in comparison. Palmer and I will rule both the Elders and the underworld together."
"There's just one little problem with your plans," said Prue. "Us. We figured out what's going on. And we've come to stop you."
"Stop me?" laughed Jessica. "You think I'm not prepared for you? When you appeared in my home for the first time the other day I thought you had come to stop me then. I thought you might have figured out what was going on. I've heard you can be quite resourceful. Palmer and I were ready to kill you then.
"But as it turned out you didn't know anything. So I steered you in the right direction. So that we could learn where Penny had hidden what she had stolen from Palmer. We needed the Dark Grimoire back to complete our plans. Not to mention the athame specially enchanted to steal the souls we needed.
"I used my clairvoyant power keep an eye on you. I saw you find that loose floorboard where the athame was hidden. I figured Penny had put the other items in there with it. But Palmer didn't find them when he went back for them. That's why he didn't just kill you then, although he was quite capable of it. We still needed to know where the Grimoire was hidden."
"You played us from the beginning," said Piper.
"Of course," said Jessica. "The Tome of the Ancients is too great a prize. I must admit I thought you'd figure it out sooner than you did. Especially after I made that little slip to Leo about the enchantment on the athame. But everything worked out fine. I knew I'd have to kill you before I could go ahead with my plans. You know too much. The next time one of the descendents was killed you'd have figured out what was going on. I'll make your deaths quick and as painless as possible. I owe Penny that much for all those years of friendship."
"We aren't exactly unprepared ourselves," said Prue. "Maybe we haven't been fighting evil as long as you did but we've learned a thing or two since we got our powers."
"You mean your little spell and potion?" questioned Jessica. "Yes, I know all about those. Being clairvoyant has certain advantages over other powers. Like knowing what your enemies are up to without them knowing. The magic in Palmers' book makes your little preparations ineffective. I knew you'd be coming back here. Before you arrived Palmer and I both took a special potion. One that makes us immune to your potions. It won't last long but it will last long enough to finish you.
"As for your spell, I'm afraid that won't do you any good either. You see Phoebe prepared a spell for a Dark Priestess. Only I'm not a Dark Priestess. And Palmer isn't' a Dark Priest, either. When I learned the truth about the power evil can give you and decided to pursue it instead of good I didn't gain the powers of a Dark Priestess. I wasn't powerful enough for that.
"That Dark Grimoire belonged to Palmers' master, a true Dark Priest. He made the mistake of believing I wanted to follow him, too. Now, we have his magic, I'll soon have my ancestor alive to tell me where the Tome of the Ancients is hidden, and you will be out of the way forever. And I will take my rightful place as mistress of all magic. Those who don't swear loyalty to me will pay for their insolence."
Prue just glared at Jessica. If she were telling the truth then all their preparations went for nothing. The spell wouldn't affect either her or Stuart. The potion would prevent them from stripping the powers of these two warlocks. Stuart had all ready proven he was more powerful than they had first thought. And it was a safe bet that Jessica was also more powerful than she appeared.
"Oh, you'll try something foolish, I'm sure," said Jessica. "You won't believe that we're protected against your magic. But you'll learn that everything I've told you is true. Unfortunately it will do you no good. By the way, I must thank you for the idea of enchanting your attic to prevent Palmer from blinking out. I took the precaution of preparing this chamber in the same manner. Neither of your Whitelighters can orb out of this room. And the little charm you had to bypass to get down here? It was real enough. But it was also a ruse. To make you think you were safe. But you really don't want to try going back up the stairs again. You wouldn't care for the results."
"You can't harm us, you know that," said George. "We're immortal. Nothing you do will have any permanent affects against us. And you can't keep us prisoner forever. Eventually we'll escape. Once we do you'll never be able to complete your plans. We'll make sure of that."
"You're wrong," said Jessica, pulling a vial out of her pocket. "Concentrated Darklighter poison. Courtesy of a Darklighter who thought he'd share in the spoils. Someone else who underestimated me. You see I've thought of everything. I've had a long time to prepare for this eventuality."
Jessica formed an energy ball in one hand.
"You survived Palmer's attacks the first time only because he didn't use his full power against you," said Jessica. "We had to make you believe he was serious about attacking you without causing any serious harm. You won't be so lucky this time. Palmer, use the spell we discussed earlier. That should make it quick and relatively painless for the witches. Then we'll deal with the Whitelighters."
She turned back to the sisters.
"I would suggest you not try anything stupid," she said. "Dying by energy ball takes sometime and I understand it is quite painful. The spell from the Dark Grimoire will simply drain your magic. You shouldn't feel much. It's a much more desirable way to die. Trust me, it's easier this way. Very soon you will be reunited with Penny. Give her my regards when you see her."
They all watch as Stuart smiled at them and then opened the Dark Grimoire to cast the spell that would end their lives.
