DISCLAIMER: The Chronicles of Narnia belongs to C.S. Lewis, not me!
The lines I've quoted from the book come in italic.
I'll continue quoting lines from the original story as I want to stick to C.S. Lewis true story. The X-Files characters are just an additional element to the original story. Their presence will bring along some changes but almost all the characters from The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe will be present
AN: thanks to Andrea35 for reviewing!
Sorry but you'll have to wait for chapter three to see Scully enter the wardrobe...
Chapter Two
Emily's healing and the meeting with Mr. Tumnus
When he climbed out of the wardrobe, Mulder had a brief look at the surroundings. With surprise he found out that they were standing in the middle of a wood at night-time, with snow under their feet and snowflakes falling through the air. He turned immediately to Emily, expecting an explanation, but she only smiled in return.
"This is unbelievable" muttered Mulder.
"This is true" replied Emily cheerfully, taking further steps into the snowy countryside.
"How…" Mulder was so mesmerized by this place that it simply left him speechless. He paused for one moment and then gave it a second try.
"That… that place here… What is its name?" asked Mulder.
"It's another world and it's called Narnia" replied Emily.
"Narnia…" mumbled Mulder silently to himself letting the name and all the magic that was bound to it penetrate his soul.
Yes, that landscape was absolutely amazing, so peaceful and fascinating at the same time. "I love winter" whispered Emily quietly enjoying the cold and soft snowflakes that were falling on her, and lifting her hands up to the sky as if to catch them.
Mulder stared at the little girl in disbelieve. What he saw seemed so impossible. Emily's face was no longer sweaty and the abscess on her neck was gone.
She was dancing in the snow with the lightness and majesty of an angel. The fresh and light wind of this place was making her feel better, maybe even healing her.
There was a light coming from the lamp-post a few meters ahead of them. Mulder wondered why there would be a lamp-post in the middle of the woods but then, nothing could surprise him more than Emily's sudden recovery.
This entire magical universe was nothing compared to the joy of seeing Emily laughing and dancing.
This was a very quiet and harmonious wood; you could almost feel the trees growing and drinking the water up with their roots. Without being able to explain why, to Mulder this wood seemed very much alive…
"You'll catch cold, here take my coat" said Mulder taking off his coat and handing it over to Emily. "Thank you" said Emily looking up at him with her big blue eyes and then grabbed his hand. She put on Mulder's coat, which was too big for her, so that it came down to her heels and looked more like a royal robe than a coat. Then she pulled him towards a small path, hardly recognizable because it was covered with snow and hidden by the numerous trees and plants.
"Please be quiet, the whole wood is full of her spies, even some of the trees are on her side and they're always listening…" whispered Emily looking suspiciously at some of the fir-trees.
"Who is her?" asked Mulder quietly while forcing his way through the branches of the trees.
"The Dark Witch" replied Emily who had no problems at walking along this small and narrow path, as she was a lot shorter than Mulder.
"Oh… Do we need to protect someone from the Dark Witch?" asked Mulder intrigued by the little girl's story.
"Yes and even more than that…" replied Emily.
"So what are we supposed to do now and, by the way, where are we going? To see the Dark Witch?" asked Mulder whispering as silently as he could, still following Emily.
"No! That would be a very foolish thing to do…What about going to see a friend of mine? Mr. Tumnus knows all the details about Narnia and its history."
"And does he also know the Witch?"
"He has seen her a few times, but nobody here in Narnia, I mean… nobody who is on the good side, likes to see her. We all hate her. She's a very evil and fearful Witch, who claims to be the Queen of Narnia" explained Emily and told Mulder not to ask further questions and be quiet. Mr. Tumnus would explain everything…
In about fifteen minutes they came to a place where the ground became rough and there were rocks all about and little hills up and little hills down. At the bottom of one small valley Emily turned suddenly aside as if she was going to walk straight into an unusually large rock, but stopped just in front of it. She knocked at what at first sight seemed to be an ordinary rock, but in fact was a kind of door. While they waited for someone to open, Mulder suddenly realized how cold it was out there and rubbed his arms to warm himself up.
A very strange person stepped out from behind the grey rocky door. He was only a little taller than a seven-year-old child. From the waist upwards he was like a man, but his legs were shaped like a goat's and instead of feet he had goat's hoofs. He had a strange, but pleasant little face, with a short pointed beard and curly hair, and out of the hair there stuck two horns, one each side of his forehead. He was a faun.
"Emily! It's been such a long time… How are you?
And oh my God! You brought a friend with you! And what a tall friend he is…" said Mr. Tumnus looking impressed at Mulder's height.
"Welcome to you too, Emily's friend" said the Faun and shook hands with a stunned Mulder.
"Come in, you'll catch cold if we stand here talking in the snow" said Mr. Tumnus leading his two visitors into his cavern.
Mulder had to duck in order to get through the little door but fortunately he could hold himself up straight again when they entered the cavern.
He found himself blinking in the light of a wood fire. Then Mr. Tumnus stooped and took a flaming piece of wood out of the fire with a neat little pair of tongs, and lit a lamp.
"Tea?" asked the faun.
"Yes please" answered Emily.
"And your friend?" asked the Faun now looking at Mulder.
"Yes. Thank you." replied Mulder.
"Now it won't take long" said Mr. Tumnus and immediately put a kettle on.
While he had a look at the walls and furniture, Mulder thought he had never been in a nicer place. It was a middle big, dry, clean cave of grey stone with a carpet on the floor and four little chairs and a table and a dresser and a mantelpiece over the fire and above that, a picture of an old faun with a grey beard. (Probably the faun's father, thought Mulder)
"Mr. Tumnus… could you please tell me something about the Dark Witch?" asked Mulder.
"Wouldn't you like to first tell me your name, dear friend of Emily?"
"Oh excuse me… Of course I have to introduce myself… Hum… My name is Fox Mulder and I really insist on being called Mulder and not Fox. And I'm an FBI agent"
"The police? But you don't work for the queen, don't you?" asked the faun suddenly very anxious.
"No. I work for the FBI, over there in my world. Who's the queen?"
"I meant… I meant the Dark Witch. She calls herself the queen of Narnia but she's not the real queen, she's just an evil witch who makes it always winter. Just imagine always winter but never Christmas…"
"That's terrible" said Mulder regretfully.
"But then… who is the true queen?" he asked looking at the sad faun just in front of him.
"The throne of Narnia, the one at Cair Paravel, the real one, has been vacant for many centuries" explained Mr. Tumnus unhappily. He walked to the cupboard and took out three small mugs which he filled with boiling water. He put a tea bag and a spoonful honey in each of the mugs and handed them over to his visitors. "Thank you" replied Mulder and Emily simultaneously and they sat down in front the fire.
"Why has the throne been vacant for son long?" asked Mulder taking a first gulp of hot tea.
"The Witch… the Witch…" murmured the faun silently "You have to know that her greatest wish would be to become the real queen of Narnia.
She's a Daughter of Eve but has no husband, very important detail.
A magic spell was performed on her the day she was born, making her incapable of experiencing love. She has a heart of stone and is the most evil and heartless person Narnia has ever seen…
There's a prophecy and we all think that the Dark Witch wants to somehow prevent it from happening or turn it to her advantage as she would love to become queen…
The truth is that she can't, you see… two people are needed to fulfill the prophecy, two very precise persons" said the faun calmly and Mulder could feel his interest in this story rise.
"Tell me more about this prophecy" He said impatiently and even Emily noticed how interested Mulder was. She hoped he would be able to help the faun.
"The prophecy is quite complicated; no one here in Narnia has the same opinion on its meaning, so it is very difficult to tell you, my dear friend Mulder, what it really says…
In fact it consists of two parts; the first one is very clear and understood by everyone. Down at Cair Paravel, the big castle on the sea coast, are two thrones and the prophecy says that when a Son of Adam and a Daughter of Eve sit on these thrones, then it will be the end not only of the Dark Witch's reign but of her life. That's fairly easy isn't it?" asked the faun looking at Mulder for his approval. Mulder nodded and then the faun continued.
"The second part describes the nature of these two specific humans who are to be our king and queen… and that is where the problem lies…"
"Can you tell me what it says then?" asked Mulder, eager to know the second part of it.
"I'll recite the whole prophecy" said the faun and stood up. He cleared his throat and then began:
Wrong will be right and winter will meet its death
When Adam's Son and Eve's Daughter
Sit at Cair Paravel in throne.
Thanks to them
The evil time will be over and done.
But only two souls which are one,
By their love so much refined
That themselves know not what it is,
Will have the honor.
Inter-assured of the mind
Care less, eyes, lips and hands ,
As this love can transcend the mere physical.
"Well I would say that these two humans need to be lovers" said Mulder after Mr. Tumnus had recited the prophecy.
"I've managed to come so far myself, thank you very much, my dear friend Mulder…" replied the faun on a sarcastic tone.
"But how can one be lovers and do not know about it?" asked the faun and looked Mulder straight in the eye, knowing that he wouldn't be able to reply to this question.
Mulder shrugged his shoulder. If only Scully was here to help. She's so much better in riddles than him.
By the way, he wondered what she was doing. She had probably alarmed the whole bureau and ordered to search the children's center from top to bottom. He felt terribly guilty for having left her alone, she cared as much about Emily than him and deserved to be here with her.
What was he going to tell her when she would ask where they had been? Would she believe him, if he told her the truth? She would probably think he was nuts…
"Could you write it down on a piece of paper so that I can take it with me into my world?" asked Mulder.
The faun found Mulder's request quite strange, he didn't know that human's memory was not as good as that of fauns…; but he took a sheet of paper and a pencil out of a drawer and wrote it down, because after all, Mulder was a friend.
"Emily, don't you think it's time to get back? Scully must be very worried about us" said Mulder looking softly at Emily who was sitting just next to him in front the fire and took the little girl's hand.
"I can't go back with you… If I return I'm going to die" replied Emily quietly and Mulder could sense how sad she was about it "Tell Dana that I love her very much and that she doesn't have to worry about me, I'm fine here" replied Emily and a tear rolled down her cheek as she pronounced these words.
"Has it something to do with your illness?" enquired Mulder.
"Yes… I'm not sick over here. It's because my illness was created by man. They injected me something alien when I was just a baby and now I'm dying as a consequence of their unsuccessful experiments…" explained Emily.
"What was created by man doesn't work in this world?" asked Mulder surprised.
"No and magic doesn't work in our world" replied Emily.
"Here you are" said Mr. Tumnus and handed the sheet over to Mulder.
"Thank you very much for your hospitality, but I have to go now" said Mulder.
"But we need your help, you have to find out what the prophecy says" replied the faun, not glad at the idea of having to let Mulder go back.
"I'll help you. But I need to get back to my world. My partner must be very worried; I can't leave her alone any longer. I'll be back very soon with an answer... hopefully… I promise to come back" said Mulder, he too was sad, he didn't want to leave Emily behind but had no other choice if he wanted her to live. He kneeled down and kissed the little girl on the forehead. "Be a good girl" he whispered softly. Emily smiled faintly and gave Mulder a big hug "Come back soon" she murmured and hold him tight one last time. It was a difficult separation, but Mulder knew it wasn't for long; he'd be back as soon as possible.
Mr. Tumnus was very disappointed but agreed in guiding Mulder back to the lamp-post. They put on their coats and were off at once. Emily stayed at the faun's cave as Mulder wouldn't let her come with them, he feared she would catch a cold, it was so freezing outside and the snow kept falling without a break…
A quarter of an hour later they arrived at the lamp-post.
"I suppose you can find your own way from here back to the wardrobe?" asked the faun.
"I'm sure I can" replied Mulder. He looked very hard between the trees and could just see in the distance a part of the wardrobe.
"Take care of Emily"
"I will! Farewell my dear friend!" shouted the faun and the two parted.
TBC...
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