In The Realms of the Unreal

Chapter 6

After leaving the Village tunnels and making their way back to the TARDIS, the Doctor proceeded to set a course.
"So where exactly are we going anyway?" Scully asked
The Doctor grinned "Oh, just a little place that no longer exists"

Emma raised an eyebrow "Oh really? How so?"
"Well" the Doctor leaned on the TARDIS console "It was destroyed in a fire many many centuries ago. But now, thanks to the magic of Time Lord technology, we're going to be heading there!"

A short while later, the TARDIS made a series of noises. The Doctor checked over the console
"Now if I'm correct, we should be in the famed library of the Abbey of the Rose in northern Italy, just a few hours before William of Baskerville and Adso of Melk begin their investigation which ultimately leads to the entire library burning down in a fire"

Realising the group were looking confused, the Doctor decided he owned them an explanation
"Sorry." he said "I guess I should have explained. We can't just travel through space but through time as well"

"You mean.." Mcclane blinked "Time travel?"

"Exactly" the Doctor said "Now come on, the abbey's waiting!"

As soon as the group emerged from the TARDIS, they found themselves in a vast labyrinth with shelves of books running in every direction. When they stepped out, the Doctor paused and tried to get a bearing
"So what're we looking for anyway?" Mulder asked
"The Necronomicon" the Doctor told him "More specifically, we're looking for the copy held here which is the single most complete copy ever to exist. Of course in a weeks time it'll be destroyed in the fire, so I guess it's a good thing we've got a time machine"

"Hold on" Scully folded her arms "The Necronomicon? The mythical text of black magic?"

"The very same" The Doctor replied
"But I thought that was just a myth"

"Oh no" The Doctor shook his head "It's very much real, though as you've probably guessed, it's exceedingly rare. So if you ever find a copy, you can sell it for millions and retire comfortably to the tropics"
"So what are we standing around yakking for?" Mcclane was getting impatient "Let's go track this sucker down"

"Unfortunately it's not going to be that simple" The Doctor replied "The library of the abbey is a humungous labyrinth. If I recall they used to say it was possible to starve to death if you ever got lost in it"

"And we've got to find one specific book" Emma groaned "I though the Village archives were bad, but this is ridiculous"

"Don't worry" The Doctor smiled reassuringly "There's a method to navigating it and finding the book you're looking for. We just have to figure out where we are and-"
Then the Doctor realised "I think we're in the French book section. Now we just need to head to the Judea section and we'll be well on our way!"

The library of the Abbey of the Rose was far more spectacular then any of the group had ever imagined. As they walked through a vast area dedicated to Greek works. Emma couldn't help but admire the vast display of books that were spanning across the entire room.
"You know" she said "It's a shame that all these lovely volumes have to burn in a week's time. Perhaps we could save-"

"Sorry" The Doctor interrupted her "As much as I'd like to agree with you, we can't"

Emma folded her arms and scowled "Why not? The destruction of the Abbey of the Rose is one of the greatest losses in the history of the Medieval era. If we could preserve even one book, who knows how much more our understanding of the era could improve?"

"Because unfortunately it's a fixed point in time" The Doctor replied "In a week, the Abbey has to burn to the ground destroying everything in it, and we can't change it."

"Then what about that copy of the Necronomicon that we're supposed to steal?"

"We're going to put it back as soon as we're done with it" The Doctor told her "Even if it's the greatest copy of the Necronomicon ever to exist, we haven't got a choice"
Emma scowled "And what if we did save it. If it preserves that little part of knowledge, why would it be a problem"

"You don't understand" Now it was the Doctor's turn to scowl "We change history, even by a tiny amount, there's no telling what sort of chaos could spawn. Entire nations could fall apart or have their histories rewritten to something completely destructive!"

Emma was sceptical "And all because we saved one book?"

"Trust me" The Doctor replied "I've seen this sort of thing first hand. It's not a pretty sight"
"Excuse me! What are you doing here"

The group turned and saw a group of five monks standing before them.
"Don't you know this area is off limits darling?" said one of the monks "At night it's closed off and nobody is allowed until morning"

"Excuse me-" The Doctor started to say, but Mcclane stepped forward
"Now you listen up, you assholes! We're on a mission to prevent to destruction of all we know and love by some dark alien god thing. We need your copy of the Necronomicon and we're gonna get it! If you don't cooperate, we're gonna have to take it by force! So are you gonna help us or are you gonna just stand there yakking on about your stupid rules!"

"A dark alien god?" one of the monks said incredulously "Then what is its name, pray tell?"
Mcclane started to answer, but very quickly realised he didn't know "It ain't important! What is important is that we get that book and fast!"

"So if you can't name it, why should we believe you are what you say you are and not thieves come to plunder our sacred source of knowledge?"
"
Shit" Mcclane cursed "I guess we ain't convincing them that way"

For a few seconds, the group and the monks stared each other down. Then one of the monks broke the silence
"I think we've heard enough from you! Seize them!"
At that the monks ran forward. One of them tried to grab Emma, but she knocked him over the head with a karate chop which caused him to crumble onto the floor. Another lunged at Mcclane who landed a punch directly to his face. As the monk held his nose in pain, Mcclane landed a second blow directly to his gut which set him sprawling onto the floor.

As the monks attempted to restrain the rest of the group, the Doctor realised now was a good time to test something. Holding out his sonic screwdriver, he pressed the button. Immediately the Monks began to shimmer and fade.
"What the hell?" Mulder stared in astonishment
"I thought so" The Doctor nodded "They're projecting themselves from another location"

"Then who the hell are they?" Mcclane asked
"I'm not sure" The Doctor stroked his chin "But there's quite a few cults out there that worship the horrors in the Necronomicon. My bet is they're somehow involved in all that"

He then turned to the rest of the group
"But we'd better get moving. The sonic screwdriver will only repel them temporarily. Then I'm willing to bet they'll be back on our tail"

The group then hurried through the library towards the Judea section. The sheer nature of the library meant that a lot of the sections looked exactly the same and soon Scully was getting concerned
"Are we going the right way? I swear we've been here twice already"

"That's the point of the layout" The Doctor told her "It's made to confuse people who aren't familiar with it. It's a good way of preventing theft"

"Well they're certainly succeeding there" Emma muttered

A little while later, the group arrived at a section of the library that they hadn't seen before.
"Here we are" the Doctor said, looking over the vast array of bookshelves "The Judea section. And in here is where we'll find what we've been looking for"

Mulder raised his hand "Just curious. What does a copy of the Necronomicon look like?"

"The one here should be made of black leather" The Doctor replied "I've not actually seen it before, so you'll just have to look thoroughly"
"What do you mean "Before?" Emma asked
The Doctor grinned "Sometimes when I'm bored, I like to pay a visit to the library and thumb through the books. You know, there's some really interesting things in here-"

"Moving on" Mcclane walked up to a book shelf and looked up and down "We'd better get searching. Friar Tuck and his pals are probably looking for us right now and I don't wanna be there when they find us"



The group then began searching through the bookshelves. Very soon, they realised they'd got their whole work cut out for them. The sheer number of books contained in the Judea section alone made the Village Archives look incomplete in comparison.
As Scully ruffled through the books on a shelf, Mulder tapped her on the shoulder
"What?" she asked without looking at him
"I told you didn't I?" Mulder grinned "Isn't this just the vacation you need?"

"You mean being attacked by killer white bubbles and psychotic monks. Yeah, real nice"
Mulder nudged Scully "At least you're getting to visit the legendary Abbey Of The Rose. Not many people can say they've done that as a vacation"

Scully frowned "Mulder, in my experience vacations are meant to be nice and pleasant. Not running for your life repeatedly and-"
At that Scully paused.
"What?" Mulder asked. He then turned to see what she was staring at. What it was, was a black leather bound book. Scully took it out of the shelf and stared. On it's cover were large gold letters reading "Necronomicon"

"Hey!" Mulder yelled "I think we've found it

A short while later, the rest of the group had gathered round and were staring intently at the book. The Doctor took it out of Scully's hands and looked it over
"Well it's definitely the Necronomicon."

"Yeah, no shit" Mcclane said "Now what do we do with it"

"Well, there's long been rumours of hidden codes within the book" The Doctor explained "Apparently if you can decode them, it's supposed to reveal all sorts of dark secrets"

"And how do we do that" Emma asked
The Doctor paused "I'm not really sure. I guess we'll just have to take a look and-"

"Hey!"



At that, the group looked up to see the monks from earlier standing before them. The Doctor smiled an innocent looking smile
"Ah, it's our old friends again. I don't suppose-"

"Enough fucking around!" one of the monks snapped "Hand over the book now!"

"Didn't your parents ever teach you some manners?" Emma replied
"Now now" Mulder stepped forward "I'm sure we can talk this out like civilised people."

"Oh no you don't!" said another monk "We're through playing nice! Either you hand over the book or else?"
"Or else what?" sneered Mcclane
"We'll have to get very nasty" said a monk who stepped forward in a threatening manner
"Really?" the Doctor laughed before whipping out his sonic screwdriver "Threaten this!"


At that, he pressed the button and for a second, the monks shimmered out of existence. A second later however, they flickered back into existence.
"Did you really think we'd be foiled by the same trick twice darling?" laughed one of the monks "We've fixed up our frequencies so there's no escape for you this time!"

For a second, the group thought they were beaten. Then Mulder snatched the book from the Doctor 
"Well I guess we've got no choice. Here, take it"

For a second, both the group and the monks were more than a little shocked. Then one of them stepped forward to take the Necronomicon. However right before he could take it, Mulder swung the book and smacked him hard across the face with it which caused him to stumble back into the rest of the monks

"Run for it!" Mulder yelled
In the confusion, the group charged into the monks and fought their way through. One lunged at Emma who immediately knocked him to the floor with a second karate chop, while Mcclane kicked another one in the groin sending him sprawling onto the floor. A few seconds later, the group had charged past the monks and were disappearing into the corridors of the abbey library

"After them!" yelled one of the monks.

As the monks hurried through the labyrinth, all of them hoped they weren't too late. As they turned a corner and spotted the TARDIS, for a second, it looked like their mission would be complete after all. Their hopes were dashed a second later, when the TARDIS proceeded to fade away to nothing.
"Shit!" cursed one of the monks

On board the TARDIS however, the group were just recovering from their ordeal
"Thank god that's over" Emma turned to the Doctor "Now about the book..."

"Ah yes" The Doctor took a look at the copy of the Necronomicon "All we've got to do is decode it and we'll know exactly where we're supposed to go"
The group then stared at the book for several seconds
"So what next?" Scully asked
"I'm not really sure" The Doctor replied "I'll have to take a look over it and see what I can find out?"

"And where are we gonna go while you do that?" Mulder asked "We've got those mad monks on our trail and I doubt they're gonna sit tight forever"

"I have an idea" Mcclane said. The rest of the group looked at him
"I know an old friend who lives in Miami. Well I say friend, but I ain't seen him in a long while"

"Why not? Emma asked
"I used to know him when he lived in New York. Then he got sent to prison for a year and moved to Miami."

"I guess it couldn't hurt" The Doctor walked over to the TARDIS "We'll head there and work out our next move once we get settled in"

Notes:

The Abbey of the Rose is from Umberto Eco's In The Name Of The Rose
The Necronomicon is from the writings of H.P. Lovecraft