6. The Quest for Truth
The journey to Quequeg was a long two-day ride to the east. By the last day, Sir Mulder had lost so much blood that he fell into a faint and Lady Scully had to guide Blue to Quequeg herself. Once they reached their destination, Lady Scully had her servants take to a small chamber in the castle where he could be healed. For days and days Mulder looked dead to the world, but because of Lady Scully's immaculate care his grim wounds slowly healed and he was revived. Lady Scully, who never left his side, was the first to see him awake. She advised him to rest until he had recovered his full strength before he moved from the bed.
It was almost a month later before Sir Mulder was able to get up and move about. By then, the entire kingdom knew that the great Sir Mulder was in their realm. Mulder then appealed to King Skinner, who accepted Mulder into his famed knights of the conference table. From then on Mulder was known as Sir Mulder of Quequeg. All of Mulder's adventures were now dedicated to King Skinner and his lovely daughter Lady Scully. Mulder, though he was not fully aware of it, had fallen in love with Scully and performed many great deeds for her. Likewise, Lady Scully had unconsciously fallen in love with Sir Mulder, who occupied her mind day and night. Unfortunately Lady Scully was supposed to marry a king instead of a lowly knight.

Although Mulder had encountered the Smoking Man's black knights many times before, Mulder jousted with them almost daily while he was at Quequeg. The Smoking Man had relentlessly attacked the kingdom before, unwilling to let King Skinner defy him for so long. When he learned that the son of the former Sir Mulder was alive and well and dwelling in Quequeg, he discharged twice as many of his black knights to attempt to destroy King Skinner's domains and Sir Mulder.
King Skinner's knights of the conference table and his other trustworthy knights had held off the Smoking Man for decades, but Mulder saw that they were beginning to wear thin. Mulder decided that it was time to begin his plans for the downfall of the Dark Lord. It was at a meeting of the conference table where he announced his intentions, but before anyone could comment on them, an elderly man suddenly appeared in the room.
King Skinner stood up, "Deep Throat, what a pleasant surprise."
Deep Throat greeted the king and then turned towards Sir Mulder, who hadn't taken his eyes of him since he appeared.
"Sir Mulder," said Deep Throat fondly. "It's been a very long time since I've seen you in person. When you were young, I was able to watch over you, like those nights you spent in the woods after the loss of your sister, but you soon became too alert, and it was very difficult to do so without getting your attention. But I have still watched over you, though it has been from afar."
"It was you who saved my sister and I, wasn't it?"
"It was"
"And you saved us from the Smoking Man's knights?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Deep Throat studied Mulder carefully. "So you could carry out your plan to bring down the Smoking Man, the Dark Lord. It is you and your son who are destined to bring him his demise and he obviously did not like that. I have been waiting very long for the day the Dark Lord will fall, so I come with this little piece of advice to help you and those who support you on your way. You are to quest for the Truth. Search the land for a full year. At the end of the year, all knights still living who are on the quest must return. You will know if you have been successful. I will return then to give you further instruction."
Deep Throat then disappeared as suddenly as he came. Everyone looked at each other, not sure how to react. Finally Mulder spoke.
"I guess I must go, for I am destined to take this quest."
"I will go also," announced another knight of the conference table, Sir Doggett.
"And I," conceded Sir Jerry, the knight Mulder had saved on one of his very first adventures.
Soon a dozen other knights decided to go quest for the Truth. The remainder would stay in Quequeg to keep the Smoking Man's black knights at bay. Those who were going on the quest began making preparations that night.
The next morning the knights began preparing to leave. When Mulder had mounted Blue and was ready to ride of Lady Scully ran towards him.
"Wait, Sir Mulder!" When she reached him, she grabbed his hand. "Please, take me with you. You may need someone to watch your back."
"M'lady..." Mulder was unsure of what to say. It wasn't that he didn't wish for her to accompany him. He knew that Lady Scully was strong and quite capable of going on the quest with him, but he also knew that it was very unladylike and not proper for a princess. "I don't think that others would find it very becoming of you to go on the quest and what would your father think?"
"I will not allow my daughter to go on the quest," said King Skinner who had over heard their conversation.
Mulder did some quick thinking. "My king, if I were to come back successful on this quest, would you permit me to marry your daughter?"
This proposal took everyone, including Mulder, by surprise.
King Skinner looked from Mulder' serious expression to Scully's earnest look. Finally he sighed. He had wanted her to marry a well-known king, but couldn't bear to have Lady Scully be disappointed and unhappy.
"Yes," he conceded. "If you come back successful, Sir Mulder, I will allow you to be married to Lady Scully and be my son in law."
It then came time for the knights leaving on the quest to depart. Sir Mulder and Lady Scully, both looking quite pleased, said their good byes and departed. Lady Scully had no doubt that Mulder would return home successful, because that was just the type of knight he was.

Uplifted by the prospect of wedding the lovely Lady Scully, Mulder rode day and night, stopping only to water Blue and let the loyal steed rest and gather its strength. On his quest, Mulder never saw another knight of King Skinner. He was on his own. But he didn't mind the solitude. The Truth was the only thing on his mind. He searched near and far for any sign of the Truth, never tiring. The thought of Lady Scully and the anticipation of avenging the death of his family gave him his endless supply of energy.
Seven months had passed before Mulder found anything. It was a little boy. At first, Mulder thought nothing of him, only stopping to ask the boy if he had seen anything strange. When they boy did not answer, Mulder prepared to move on. Then the boy spoke.
"I know what you're looking for."
Mulder looked down at the boy. "What's that?" he asked him.
"You're looking for the Truth."
Startled, Mulder dismounted Blue and took the boy by his shoulders.
"Do you know where I can find it?"
"I am part of it," the boy replied and slipped out of Mulder's grasp. He turned and walked away deeper into the woodland.
"Hey, where are you going?" shouted Mulder.
The boy said nothing, but turned around and beckoned him to follow.
Mulder grabbed Blue's reigns and went after the boy.
They had walked about a mile when they stopped at an opening in the forest. Mulder saw nothing out of the ordinary. He was about to speak when the boy began walking again, this time, towards the center of the clearing in the woods. To Mulder's wonder, the boy disappeared as if he walked through a curtain, leaving a ripple in the air around the place he vanished.
Not knowing what else to do, Mulder tied up Blue and cautiously went up to the place the boy disappeared. He stuck his arm out and felt it go through a strange substance. He could still see his arm, but it looked strange and wavy. Without realizing it, Mulder stepped all the way through the substance. He found himself in a very bright circle. In the center was the boy. But what was next to the boy was what shocked Mulder the most. It was very tall and gray. It's had long thin limbs and a large, strangely shaped head. Its large black eyes stared unblinkingly at Mulder. It was Sir Frohike's alien.
"Welcome," it said. But there was no sound. Mulder heard the voice in his head. "Your quest ends here. This is where you will learn the truth and free your people. The truth is that the ignorance and incompetence cast over your people was not entirely the Smoking Man's doing. In reality, it has nothing to do with you humans at all, but everything to do with you. You see, there are more creatures out there like us who have also found your world. These aliens have seen the potential your kind has and a number of them have decided to start the slow process of colonizing your planet to take over your world. The Smoking Man noticed this and made a deal with the... we'll call them aliens. They agreed to help the Smoking Man reign over the humans as long as he did not interfere with their plans. As part of the agreement, the Smoking man would also promote ignorance throughout the people, which would make the aliens' job much simpler.
What these aliens did not realize was that another race of aliens had the same intentions, only they have been on this planet much, much longer than they could imagine. They have now begun a war to see who will have control of this planet. To twist things up even more, my race of aliens found them in the middle of war. We realize that your race will play a very significant role in the not so near future, so we have joined the war though are intentions are not yet clear, not even to ourselves.
What we do know for sure is that we do not want these other aliens taking over your planet, at least not yet. So we have shown ourselves to you and we will help you bring down the Smoking Man."
The alien and the boy looked up and Sir Mulder did the same. Above he saw the underside of a strange ship of some sort with odd symbols engraved in the metallic surface. At the center of the craft was an intensely bright light, the source of the light that flooded the area Mulder stood in with the boy and the alien. The bright light began to dim a bit. Then Mulder noticed a sword slowly lowering down to earth. When it was in Mulder's reach, the sword stopped and hovered in its place.
"Although the end of the Smoking Man is still years and years away, this sword will help you defeat him. Take it. Only you and the one man who will kill the Smoking Man will be able to use it. Use it wisely, Fox Mulder. Although you will never know it, we will meet again."
In an instant, the light intensified and Mulder was blinded by the white glow. When his vision had cleared, he saw the entirety of the strange hovering craft, a massive thing that was at least two miles wide in diameter, high in the air. Then it lifted higher and with blinding speed, disappeared into the stars.
Sir Mulder stared up at the skies in amazement for a long period of time. When he came to his senses he realized that the sword, which now cast an eerie glow was still hovering right in front of him. After a moment's hesitation, Mulder reached out and grabbed it. It felt warm in his grip and a strange feeling passed through him. Then without a second thought he untied Blue, mounted the steed, and headed back towards Quequeg where his home and his bride awaited him.