A Night at the Museum: Austrian soldier + Major Dopfer + BlĂŒcher + Unnamed Prussian officer + Russian hobo (mentioned briefly in one sentence lol)
Navigating your way around the establishment, you come to find your walk back a bit more peaceful, finding that as long as you kept moving forwards without paying too much attention to the chaos that surrounded you, most of the inhabitants tended to leave you alone. With this in mind, you strut down the hallways, feeling confident in your own safety.
Going through on a whirlwind adventure to the cultural exhibitions, your dead set on finding the Egyptian section, vaguely recalling its location during the tour you had hours ago.
(What you failed to recollect however, was Bubbleâs avoidance in venturing any further, glossing over one narrow passageway, instead, redirecting your attention to something else.)
After turning a corner and ignoring an Eastern Island Moai statue that started to hurl insults at youâunprovoked by the wayâyou finally come across your intended destination.
Admiring the artifacts that surrounded you, you had to force yourself to keep on walking, lest you get sucked into your admiration for the beautiful items. Traveling further down, you come and spy a dark and narrow hallway near the end of the exhibition; you hadnât caught a glimpse of that tablet the soldiers were talking about earlier out here in the open, leaving you to conclude that your precious tablet may be more well guarded than expected.
Peering towards the direction of the hallway, you began to second guess yourselfâyou donât know why, but staring at it has you feeling jittery. For a moment, you thought about turning back and making your way to the front deskâthat is, before a flashing image of Arnaud making fun of you for chickening out came through your mind, making the possibility of him teasing you for being scared of the dark as motivation to suck it up, and go through with it.
With a grumble, you march right into the hallway, thoughts filled with not-so-nice words to the rude Frenchman distracting you from the sudden shift from bright LED lights, to near-darkness within the passage.
ItâsâŠvery dark actually, coming back to reality, your fast pace immediately dies down, observing the environment you were in. The lighting within the narrow path had been set in a manner to mimic torches; orange warm tones beaming to the sides, with enough illumination to look up ahead, neglecting the darker corners and sides of the room.
Venturing further, you stop once you come to see the shiny, golden, artifact, keeping your distance from both the tablet, and, the sarcophagus that lay in the middle between you and the item.
âOh wowâŠâ Taking in the view, you studied the artifact for a moment, shining so brightly that it mirrored back your figure, along the surrounding environment it was housed in.
A loud rattle from the sarcophagus quickly interrupts whatever hypnotizing influence the tablet had on you, making you jump and shriek in the air at the unanticipated action. Soon after that, you could hear a loud shift of marble from behind, increasing in volume as you felt the ground below you quake a bit.
Thatâs when you realized that you werenât actually ever alone to begin with.
Turning around, you come face to face with two very large stone Jackal guards, each staring down at your intrusion, spear equipped in both hands.
By this point, youâve learned that negotiations have little to almost no effect on most of the inhabitants, so you instead opt for a better option: fleeing the scene.
The familiar feeling of adrenaline surges through your legs, jumping around and ducking as the statues follow right behind, intent on punishing the intruder.
Running out of the hallway, you donât stop once you make it out, not bothering to check behind you as the guards stop their pursuit once they see you leave, with their only priority being that no unauthorized persons enter the sacred room.
Slowing down once you feel your lungs burn, you take refuge within a random small room, falling onto the ground as you catch your breath.
Iâm actually going to kill that fucker, feeling safe, you allow your emotions to rise up to the surface, while also trying to return back to a normal breathing rate.
Looking up, you start to take in the room you landed yourself in; on all three wallsâminus the one that held the entranceâwere glass panels that started top to bottom. Within the panels, were about 3 shelfs, each holding different sized rectangles and jars.
Curious as to what the shapes were, you stand up and walk across to the panel in front of you, observing the artifact before it hits you: these were coffins.
Nervously shifting, you stare at the one in between the top and bottom shelf, peering closer to see that the lid was still closed, releasing a breath you didnât even know you were holding in. Peering below, you find three intricately decorated jars, with one of the lids missing and instead, replaced by a mummified cat, looking back at you in astonishment.
It didnât take long for you to immediately start to coo and babytalk to the mummified pet, making it the center of your attention. The cat seemed to enjoy it as well, slinking out the pot and pawing at the glass panel that separated the two of you, finding fun in following your finger as you moved it around.
Though, just as it was about to swat at the glass again, the wrapped up animal abruptly stopped in a tense pose, arching its back as if it were hissing. For a moment, you thought you somehow offended the little guy, trying to figure out why it suddenly switched up on you.
The loud thump of a glass panel being pushed open answers for you.Â
Turning around, your eyes widen as you see a mummified person fall out of its enclosure; observing the creature get up, you lock your eyes onto its exposed empty eye socket, watching its wrapping come undone around its face and arms, seeing the deterioration of its bodyâthough what really got to you was the horrific smell that it omitted, courtesy to the decomposition process.
Not wanting to stick around and see what its intentions were, you dart out the entrance, praying that the mummyâs rot would slow it down. Instead, you were surprised to see it move as if rigor mortis never settled in, looking behind to see the undead trailing right dangerously close to you.
All you could think at that moment was how unlucky you were, zigzagging around the hallways in an attempt to lose the creature.
Unfortunately for you, since you only began to work at the museum just a couple hours ago, you didnât have the greatest visualization of the layout, something you chastised yourself once you realized you ran yourself into a corner at the end of an isolated hallway, anxiety spiking through the roof as the mummy got closer, and closer.
With a deep sigh, you now really believed that this would be how you die; the dead end pun not intended that you ran yourself into was completely lacking any sort of figures or artifacts that could have helped you, there wasnât even a painting to jump into!Â
Just as you thought this was it, you hear a loud bang come from aboveâthe grid of a vent falls down in front of you, though, what followed next surprised you more.
Dangling out, the upper half of a figure slides out in upside down fashion, holding out some sort of gun; the moment the figure points it towards the creature, it fires. With the loud bang echoing, your immediate reaction is to duck and cover your ears, eyes squeezed in fright with the rapid succession of multiple things going on at once.
While you were tucked into a corner, unmoving, the figure lifted their body back up, before shifting around and falling out the vent, landing on their feet with a small huff.
Hearing the shuffling, you slowly open your eyes to see who might have intervened this time, seeing the back of yet another soldier (youâve started to notice a pattern hereâŠ), donning a white-ish uniform, the familiar cone-hat youâve come to recognize, and a neutralized creature, laying on the ground.
Poking the creature with the end of his antique gun, your savior turns around, eyes softening the moment they meet yours.
Besides the obvious white-dominant color scheme heâs got going on, you note the red accents around his collar, sleeves, and tailcoatâŠas well as the lack of hair on his head, getting a better glimpse of his appearance and concluding that this must be another wax figure (man, how many wax soldiers did the museum have?).
On the front, two rows of golden buttons ran down the upper body area, with some being hidden by two whiteâŠbelts? Honestly, you had no clue what those straps were there for, nor did you careâespecially once you saw splotches of dried blood that stained across his chest, and the blood-soaked bandages that wrapped around his lower left arm.
Seeing your frightened stare towards the stains, the man immediately begins to speak softly in an attempt to distract your mind, voice thick with an accent you canât exactly figure out where heâs from.
âAh, hello, you must be the new nightguard, correct? â Stepping closer in a docile manner, so as to not startle you anymore, the man offers you his hand to help you up with the ground. For a brief moment, you sat there in a dazeâmind still catching up that the area was safe from dangerâbefore you took his hand, and stood up.
 âAre you quite alright? I cannot even imagine the fright you must have experienced moments ago. You were very lucky that I heard you nearbyâŠâ
âI- I guess-â Stuttering a bit, your cheeks flush in embarrassment at your stuttering, clearing your throat before trying again, âAre you alright yourself? I can kinda see someâŠconcerning stains on youâŠâ
Now it was the soldierâs turn to be embarrassed, hands immediately trying to wipe and hide the stains, âOhâuhmâthese! Ah-do not worry so much, most of this is not mine, as I cannot bleed!â
That statement left you with even more questions, raising your eyebrows in slight shock at the confession of the figure.Â
Sensing that his answer didnât exactly quell your worries, the soldier starts to wave his hands around in a dismissive manner, rambling in a language that you couldnât exactly understand.
âAn-anyways,â switching back to a common tongue you both shared, he began to change topics, âthere are more important things to worry about, let us escort you out, and lead you onto safer territory.â
You would have immediately accepted the offer instantaneously, but there was one thing in his statement that made you confused.
âWhat do you mean by âus,â is there someo-â
â{SOLDIER! COME BACK HERE AT ONCE AND TELL ME WHAT CAUSED YOU TO RUN OFFâI SWEAR, THE MOMENT I GET MY HANDS ON YOU-â
With a sheepish smile, the soldier slowly turns around, trudging back to the vent he fell out of, clueless of the visible shock on your face at learning that there was another guy crawling around the ventsânot to mentionâan angry one at that what the fuck were they doing in the vents though.
Please dear God, donât let this be an Arnaud 2.0.
With a quick response back from the soldier, the voice above immediately dies out, followed by a loud grunt, a loud bang, and at last, a white blur falling down and onto the floor.
Your eyes trail to find a crumpled mess of a man on the floor, as a result of the less than graceful mannerism of falling out of aâŠvent.
At this point, that really isnât as surprising as the other bs Iâve seen tonight.
â{WELL DONâT JUST STAND AND LOOKâHELP ME-â immediately yelling, the new stranger looks up in embarrassed rage, though once his eyes lock onto yours, his outburst comes to a halt, replaced with a dumb expression across his features.
Sharing an almost familiar uniform with the first soldier, your eyes begin to pick out the differences: for starters, this guy actually has hairâa darkish-brown colorâwith blue accents on his uniform and a bright yellow sash around his waist to tie it all off. Though, what takes the cake for you was the sword that hung on his leftâŠand a small-looking pistol that was scattered nearby, no doubt, lost in the messy transition from air vent to museum floor.
In three seconds, the dude launched himself into the air, composing himself in record timeâyou almost got whiplash by the sudden change in demeanor!
âAh, you must be the new nightguard! Welcome, welcome!â exclaiming with a grin, the newcomer grabs onto your armâignoring the other guest presentâand begins to aggressively shake your hand, forgetting his own strengthâit was almost comical, really!
âLi-likewise, sirâsir, you can stop nowâŠuhm-â
Seeing you wince, the stranger takes the hint and stops, letting go of your hand, before turning around to look at the undead figure. Laying not too far from your group, his attention shifts onto its unmoving body (you swear, you thought he was going to vomit for a moment from his expression), before he turns to face you once more, deciding to take the silent opportunity to introduce himself.
âI am Major Dopfer, officer of the Linien-Infanterie-Regiment Nr.29, pleased to make your acquaintance,â voice laced with a noticeable accent, you watch as the strangerâwhom you know now as âMajor Dopferââstart to slowly lead you away from your corner, âI am not one to usually rush off on such as short notice, dear nightguard, but I believe it would be in your best interests to come along with me, seeing as you are easy prey out here with all these hooligans!â
â{Oh, officerâ}â began the first soldier, â{but what aboutââ}
Now, you canât figure out what the hell the two were talking about, but you could definitely feel the shift in vibe. Not wanting to simmer in the awkward air for much longer, you suddenly remember that you have something important to ask of the first soldier.
âWaitâI never got to know your name-â facing towards the soldier, you try to get to know the name of the person who just saved your ass, watching as he looks shocked for a moment, before opening his mouth to answer.
âOh, him? Heâs just one of my soldiers,â rudely interjecting, Major Dopfer swings an arm around your shoulder as he drags you off, âcome now, let me escort you elsewhere that is safer than these slums,â leaving behind the (rightfully peeved) soldier who actually rescued you.
âWeâre in a museum hallwayâŠâ
Ignoring your comment, the officer began to talk your ear off, ranting over the most obscure and niche political issues that were relevant at least 200 years ago.
After telling the officer to let go of you looking back and making sure that the first soldier caught up to your little group, you come to learn a bit more about these two; the two were soldiers of the Austrian Empire, supposedly hailing from the historical wing of the museum. When voicing how you donât exactly recall seeing their white uniforms anywhere on display, the two merely chuckled; the unnamed Austrian soldier had explained to you that, at the moment, they were tucked away in the museumâs storage warehouse, only being put on display for certain seasons. When asked how they managed to escape from there, all you got in response was yet another chuckle from the two.
Keep your secrets, I guess.
Making your way through the hallways and doors that have seen better days, you start to notice less and less sentient museum items, making you question where the hell you all were going; you guys have already scaled so many stairs, you donât think you have the strength to go up one more flight up.
âJust a couple of more steps, nightguard,â with a cheery smile, Dopfer tries to reassure you as you all walk into a dimly lit room, before sharply ordering the younger soldier to push an antique-looking bookshelf to the side. After a few minutes of pushing (with you deciding to help the poor guy), your greeted with yet another secret that the museum held: a secret, dark, passageway that housed EVEN MORE FUCKING STAIRS ARE YOU JOKING RIGHT NOW-
Trudging up slowly, you follow Dopfer as he leads the way upâwhile the younger soldier chooses to stay behind youâconfidently marching up the stairs as if they had no effect on him.Â
Finally, the bunch of you all come up and see the end of the stairs; laying up ahead were a pair of old-looking wooden doors. Turning back to see that everyone survived the trip, the Austrian officer turns around and taps on the door in a sequential rhyme. A minute of silence passes by, making you wonder if no one was behind the doors, before your assumption was turned flat on its face as both doors slowly opened.
Being dragged along by the officer, you get startled for a moment was you move forward: inside a somewhat cramped room, were a couple dozen of neatly dressed soldiers, adorned in different sorts of uniforms and hats; at the very least, you could recognize the few white uniforms and confidently guess they were from the Austrian empireâgiven the striking similarities from your two companions.Â
The rest of them thoughâŠehhhhhh.
In comparison to everyone however, the guy sitting across the wall and in the center has you getting real nervous, especially by the way the wrinkles on his face accentuate the growing scowl forming on his features as he looks up from his cup.
Adorned with a couple of shiny medals, you watch as the old man starts to slowly get up, interrupted by a sudden coughing attack that has him being guided by a nearby soldier onto some dusty old crate; youâre starting to think this guy might be kinda important.
â{Dopfer, do tell,}â in between wheezes, the rough tone of his voice has the hairs on the back of your spine jumpâyou definitely know his ire isnât being directed at you personally, but it still affected you no less, â{did I not instruct you to not return until youâve found what out the whereabouts of-}â
â{Oh, please donât be like that,}â the Austrian officer interrupts (this guy really doesnât like people finishing their sentences), making exaggerated, and over-the-top gestures to your person, â{I have good reasonâcome, meet the new nightguard!}â
DudewhatthehellpleasetoputmeinthespotlightlikethatIdonâtevenknowwhatyouguysaresaying-
Going rigid, you watch as the old figure sitting from the room moves his eyes slowly towards yours, taking in your appearance for a few moments. Just before you thought you would die from the tense atmosphere, the manâs face relaxes as he realizes who you are.
âOh yes, I remember you now,â shifting his body to greet you more warmly, he starts flicking his hand as a way to signal you over, âthe old night guard before you mentioned the arrival of a newcomer! Come, come here, let me get a good look at you!â
Slowly walking up, you get startled once the old man takes your hand and starts to study your features; he kinda gave off this, grandfatherly vibe? At least with you, the vibe around him shifted into paternal care, with the older figure fixing certain parts of your uniform that were a bit messy from all of the wildness youâve encountered so far.
As he finished, you thought now would be a good time to properly introduce yourself, with the old man doing the same; turns out, you were right about him being important, as you were in the presence of none of than Gebhard Leberecht von BlĂŒcher, a famous Prussian field marshal who had a critical role in countless of battles. Upon introduction, your memory seemed to be working again, recalling Bubbles talking about the man while you two walked through the historical wing of the museum when you came across some items related to him, though, you donât recall ever seeing a wax figure of him anywhereâŠ
Perhaps he and his men were also in the storage room, not wanting to question the old figure, you just politely continue whatever small chat heâs startedâbefore Dopfer loudly clears his throat, making the field marshal burrow his brows in response.Â
Now holding a cup of hot tea (wha-where did he get that-), the Austrian officer begins to speak in his native tongue, before being stopped by BlĂŒcher with a raise of his hand.
Guiding you to sit next to him on a nearby crate, the old field marshal begins to instruct an accompanying soldier next to him.
âAh, pour them a drink as well, will you son?â Without hesitation, the coolest looking guy in the room began to make his way towards youâadorned in a deep blue uniform with beautifully threaded ropes around his shoulder, you watched as the young man struts in a well-disciplined manner, watching him as his white sash tied around his belt area and tailcoat flutter behind in perfect rhythm. What really captivated your attention though, was the hat that he donnedâit was unlike any other youâve seen, which usually had some small decoration on it, this dudeâs hat had (what looked like to you) a whole mop on top of it! Well, if the mop was made up of fancy and silky feathers, of course.
Drawing near, you see his hands occupied with the most beautiful, antique looking, masterfully crafted teacup (with a matching cup plate by the way!!) you had ever seen in your life, paired withâpossibly one of the worstâworldâs dingiest looking, 21st century, modern coffee pot.Â
Pouring in the hot mystery liquid, you quietly thank the fashionable looking man in front of you, staring down at your cup as you could smell the sweet aroma steam outâor well, you tried to, as much as you tried to fight it, your eyes kept looking over the man with the pot (listen! In your defense, you had never seen such an eccentric outfit like that before! Totally reasonable!!).
To him though, it looked like you were startled by his presence, making him look behind him for a moment, before turning back to you with an arched brow, silently asking you what caught your interest.
âOhâuhâsorry. Itâs justâuhm.â FUCKKK WHY ARE YOU SO AWKWARD, you try and correct yourself, âYour hat looks cool.âÂ
Your comment seemed to have taken the man by surprise, seeing as how he blinked owlishly at you, before his aloofness melted into a small smile. âThank you. Though, I believe my hat is called a shako.â
Holy shitâthat was the most embarrassing encounter that youâve had here so farâŠwell, at least you know what those hats are called now.
Looking away, you come to find that the field marshal was in deep discussion with the Austrian officerâthe white-tailored officer abruptly shoving his finished drink onto the mop-headed man (who didnât seem to appreciate that)âboth looking agitated to some degree, as their voices waver between diplomatic negotiation, to a nuclear meltdown, as evident by how tense their postures were.
Peering over to your side, you lock eyes with the Austrian soldier, giving him a confused look as to what was going on.
Striding over, the young soldier peers over to the two, quietly translating to you the gist of what was causing all this fuss, whilst the tea-bearing man glances at the pair of you, suspicious of your conversation.
âYou must be terribly confused as to what they must be arguing about, hm? It is a whole dilemma with them, butâŠto keep it brief, they are talking about what course of action we should takeâgiven our very limited number of soldiers. Itâs either focusing on: the rampant undead that come alive each life, or, trying to hunt downâŠâ eyes filled with nervous fright, the soldier signals for you to come closer, cupping a hand near your ear, âNapoleon.â
Napoleon? Looking even more confused, you respond in a hushed tone: you were 100% sure you didnât see anything related to the guy whatsoever (besides the French soldiers, but even then, there werenât that many to begin withâyou were sure you could count them all with just one hand!), and you doubted that the museum housed him somewhere, otherwise, you would have seen him by now, evident by the escaped figures standing here currently when they should be in the storage room.
âIâŠI will be honest, the only one hellbent on such a quest is the field marshal himself. I donâtâŠI donât know where his reasoning for such a strong desire comes fromâanytime someone tries to talk him out of it, his temper only worsens!-â
Your hands fly up as a way to signal the soldier to lower his voice, both of you looking back to see how a couple of soldiers stare at the two of you, mainly at the Austrian soldierâs heated temper within his words. Slightly red from getting caught up within his emotions, he clears his throat before going on, much quieter now.
âIf I were to give my own opinion over such a matter, I would rather focus on the undead at hand. Recentlyâfor some reasonâthey have been getting aggressive by the dayâŠnone of us know whyâor-or even what to do at this point!â Sounding exasperated, you note how tired the young soldier looks. You hesitate for a brief moment, before giving him a small reassuring pat on the shoulder, and say some encouraging words in hopes of lifting his spirits, before letting him continue to vent out his frustrations.
âEven my officer is in favor of focusing on those wretched creatures himselfâwhichâif you have not noticed by now, he is usually not an agreeable man half of the time.â
Weakly nodding his head to Dopfer, you silently agree with the soldier, both of you deciding to watch the man of the hour try and work something out between him and BlĂŒcher. As he halts to come up with something, the Austrian officer looks over and makes eye contact with the two of you, pausing for a moment (you swear, you can see literal gears work in real time right behind his eyes as his demeanor suddenly shifts from serious to tired in an instant).
With a loud and obnoxious sigh, you watch as Major Dopfer slouches and looks over to your side, declaring loudly for the room to hear, âEvery night, itâs always the same issue with him, always wanting to fight a pointless battle with a make-believe enemy. Now, if I were in his place, why, Iâd host a glamorous feast as a celebration to not have to fight anymore!â
After the words left his mouth, it was as if they lit the fuse to an explosive; the field marshal suddenly jumped up and immediately start to bark at the officer, leading to yet another chicken squabble, with the others around them either trying to: prevent the fight from escalating, or, figuring out an escape from the tense environment.
Squeezing your body into the little makeshift seat you were on, you try to shrink away from the high school girls' fight, the Austrian soldier doing the sameânot really caring about saving what little dignity his officer had left.
âWhy hasnât anyone tried to tell him that?â Reigniting the previous conversation, you watch as the two men get pulled into different corners, observing as a different soldier pours and serves a cup to an annoyed BlĂŒcher, while soldiers on the other side do the same, except, instead of handing Dopfer a drink, theyâŠpull out a box of chicken tenders.?
âBelieve me, we have tried,â in a soft voice, the accompanying tea soldier on your right explained, almost giving you a fright from how quietly he came up to youâyou didnât even hear footstepsââbut no matter how much we explain, it seems as though he cannot recall our talks by the next night.â
âEither that, or,â on your left, the Austrian soldier shares his two cents on the matter, âhe cannot seem to let go that the battle has long since endedâit were as if he's holding onto some sort of angry grudge, letting it dictate his actions and spiting the rest of us.â
âWatch your tongue when talking about your superiors, boy.â Snapping back, the feather-headed man gives the Austrian soldier a warning glare, only breaking eye contact once the soldier responds with a âYes, officer.â
Officer?! Jesus, how many high-ranking officials are in this room right nowâalmost erupting into another cold sweat, you gain a sudden interest in drinking up your beverage, trying to act as you didnât notice: your pal get scolded at in front of you, a bunch of high-ranking officials losing their shit, the amount of property damage that youâll have to deal with once the night is over, the sudden loud rattle of a door knob trying to enter inside-
A loud rattle came from the doorknobs once more, followed by harsh thumping outside the doors, rendering the entire room silentâjudging by the looks on their faces, a mixture of confusion and fright, you quickly gathered that this room was probably some secret hideout, and that almost no oneâoutside of these guysâwere allowed access (...except you, I guess.)
In one moment, everyone was in different areas, but now, it was like watching the fucking Avengers getting ready to battle; the unnamed officer besides you had now stepped a bit closer infront of you, whipping out a pistol you swore he did not have 2 seconds ago. Major Dopfer, across the room, also had his pistol out, face hardening, and pointing his weapon with well-trained control, acting as though he wasnât just throwing a hissy fit moments ago. To your side, the Austrian soldier moved a few steps ahead, his weapon pointed with precision, along with other soldiers from different ranks and nations, all waiting to hear their commanderâs orders.
âWho the hell is up here right now-â meekly, you try to get an answer, talking to no one in particular but yourself.
â{Stupid boy,}â Dopfer angrily whispers to the Austrian soldier, â{were you so careless as to leave the bookcase ajar?}â
â{Donât blame me, I made sure that I did,}â shooting back an equally snarky reply, the young soldier tries to defend himself, â{besides, if you werenât on your high horse all the time, you could have been certain yourself had you helped me pull it back into place!}â
â{Both of you, thatâs enough.}â Settling the dispute, the Prussian officer silences the two, his commanding presence shutting down any possible refutes. â{Men, be ready for a fight.}â
Now, keep in mind, you have absolutely no clue what the hell everyone is saying at the moment; all you see are guns and sharp objects being pointed towards an increasingly, aggressive, shaking door, getting more hostile by the minute.
And then, it stops all at once.
You swear you could hear a pin drop by how quiet it gotâalmost nobody moved from their spot.
â{...ah, as expected, they have given up on-}â Dopfer drops his guard for a moment, letting out a sigh of relief, though a nervous smile could be seen on his face, before being immediately shushed by his Prussian counterpart.
A few more seconds passed, and before the Austrian officer could think of anything to say, the sound of a lock being picked could be heard.
âTh-the lock!â Immediately jumping, you get up to prepare in case you have to run, while also trying to help the old field marshal get on his feetâŠalbeit, his reasoning was more so leaning towards the fight instinct rather than the flight response you were feeling.
The door swings open, and everyoneâŠsees a little monkey?
â...George?â Stepping forwards, everyone turns around to look at you, in befuddlement, mainly questioning why you knew the name of the animal, and what your relationship was to it.
âDo-do you know himâŠ?â Hesitantly, the unnamed officer gives you a bewildered look, confused by the revelation of the intruder, before turning to look at BlĂŒcher to see what to do; the older man giving him a breathless chuckle once the adrenaline fades away, looking at the creature in amusement.
âYeah, the little guy kinda stole my keys earlierâŠâ trailing off, you stare back at the taxidermy chimp, watching as it slowly crept inside and into the light of the room, before looking back at the darkness where it came from occasionally. âI donât know how it found us though-â
A sudden burst of laughter interrupts your thought of line, turning to see Dopfer leaning forward and clutching onto a wall for support, trying to talk but failing as more laughter spills from his mouth. The Austrian soldier just deadpans at his officerâs behavior, before gazing at the chimp, relieved to find it was a mischievous animal behind the racket.
â[Oh, did you find them, George?]â a sudden calm voice chimes in: from the shadows, you come to find a very familiar monotonous-spoken soldier emerging into the light, stopping close at the doorway and scanning the room quickly until he makes eye contact with you.
Howbeit, as quickly as he spots you, his body immediately sizes, legs spreading apart and hands in a defensive position; weapons were drawn up and pointed right at him the moment he appeared, terror dripping from his expression, with the poor little creature running and clinging onto the soldierâs back.
â{A FRENCHMAN-}â watching the old field marshal get ready to give out the signal to turn Jacob into shredded cheese, you act quick and run right up to the startled soldier, shielding him behind as you stretch your arms out, and start to frantically plea for his life(?).
âNONONONOâPUT THE WEAPONS DOWN, HEâS FRIENDLY I SWEARâI AM NOT GOING TO WATCH YOU GUYS MASSACRE HIM!!â
âStep away from the enemy, nightguard!" In an authoritative voice, you almost flinch at the shift of tone that the Prussian officer spoke out (truth be told, you didnât think a guy with such a soft voice could have such an imposing tone).
Looking frantically, you make eye contact with the Austrian soldier, watching his confusement grow as heâs unable to decide what to doâwhile Dopfer and BlĂŒcher bark orders you canât understand.
âCo-come on guys, werenât you guys just talking about old-age grudges? Dopfer,â desperately, you turn to the officer, âyou said it yourself a moment agoâitâs a pointless battle!â
The Austrian officer faltered for a minute, realizing his words were being used against him, â{You-you cannot be serious} â nightguard, you would not understand-â
âYouâre right, I donât really understand, but come on manâeveryoneâletâs be honest, this a centuries old battle. Times have changed, maybe it would be for the best to make a truce?â
For a moment, it seemed like your words made a slight impact on these men, a couple slowly lowering their weapons onto the floor, while the field marshal was in deep thought, watching as you shielded the frightened enemy peering out from behind (all while being scared shitless yourself!!).
â[Nightguard]...you really do not have to do thisâŠâwhispering from behind, Jacob was almost in shock at the fact that you went out of your way to save his wax skin from such a situation. In turn, you just quietly affirmed that it was only right of you to do so; he helped you not so long ago, so therefore, you should help him this time around.
Staring back, the field marshal keeps a scowl on face, eyes switching back and forth between you and the enemy soldier. It was nerve-wracking; you couldnât tell what the old man was thinking about, only being able to deduct from his eyes that he was deeply conflicted on what action should be taken.
â...fine.â With a wave of his hand, both you and Jacob sighed in relief as the field marshal waved his hand, calling off the assault, men falling back in a neutral position, though a few still kept their weapon close, clearly still on edge, before BlĂŒcher suddenly growled, âThat does not mean that the intruder is no less at risk of losing his head. Leave now before I change my mind.â
Not needing to be told twice, the two or would it be three? of you immediately turn around and run down the stairs as safely as possible, neglecting to dismiss yourself to the new figures you met.
While making your way back, you start to question Jacob: first of allâwhat the hell was he thinkingâjust wandering right into a mysterious room without precaution like that, and also, why and how he came to find you, you were in a pretty unknown area of the museum.
Taking a moment to find the right words, the quiet soldier ignores your first question, choosing to answer the second one; right after you snuck away, his officer got worried about your safety, considering the area of the magical artifact was very well guarded (you learned that the hard way) and was worried you might get hurt, hence why Jacob bothered to look for you.
OhâŠthat kinda pulled on your heartstring a bit; you in no way, shape, or form, meant to stress out one of the few figures who seemed to show a shred of care towards youâŠbut hearing that at least one person was looking out for you lifted your spirits up a bit.
â[Though, I really donât see what the big deal was about that, you seem fine to meâŠ] muttering to no one but himself, the soldier clears his throat before switching back to a common tongue to explain how he found you; pointing to the furry fiend still latched onto him, he summarizes how the little monkey was the lead detective in your missing-personâs case, taking in note of disrupted areas, smelling faint traces of your scent, and somehow gaining intel from other animals who might have witnessed you, while Jacob briefly talked with any of the smarter sentient beings along the way.
âHm, thatâs really impressive actually. Guess you arenât so bad at all.â Getting a better glimpse of the creature, you give a small smile towards its way, the monkey chirping back happily in response.
âIâm kinda curious actually,â finally leaving the stairway and out the tunnel, you stop and turn to look at the heavy blockade that was pushed away from it, before looking back at the French soldier, âhow did you manage to push away such a heavy bookshelfâthat thing was packed with old and thick books, so I canât imagine it was a stroll in the park.â
Now, you didnât mean it in a bad way; you were sure that Jacob was quite strong and capable on his own, but even a well-trained bodybuilder would have a bit of a struggle with pushing away such a ginormous, heavy item.
âAh well, you are right, it was a bit heavy. I had to list the help of aâŠ[whatâs a polite word to describe him]âŠa hobo, along with the promise of fresh wine to obtain such help in the first place. â
Ok well, whatever works, merely nodding off the response, youâre just about ready to head off back into the heart of the chaos, when a voice shouts from the stairway.
â{Wait!} Hold on a moment!â
Jolting with surprise, you position yourself in front of the Frenchman immediately, hoping to mitigate the possibility that someone came back to chase you just to settle a grudge.
Instead, youâre met with sympathetic eyes of a deeply familiar blue-uniformed officer, walking quickly into the light as he stopped short of you, seemingly out of breath for a moment (did he run down here?), before taking in a deep breath and pulling himself together.
âI must offer you my utmost sincerest apologies, my commanderâand Iâhad no intention of frightening you with our violent attitudesâŠâ Trailing off, the Prussian officer had since then taken off his hatâwait, shakoâand held it snug between his arm and side, showing off his neatly combed brown hair as he bowed before you in an apologetic manner as he spoke, âwe acted in such a shameful fashion, and for that, we humbly beg for your forgiveness.â
Why do I feel like Iâve gone through something like this before, raising your hands towards the man, you get him to straighten up and reassure him that no offense was taken, while simultaneously taking note on how he seemed to have conveniently avoided mentioning or even glancing at Jacobâthe one who actually got the short end of it allâfeeling the aforementioned manâs ire grow from behind, as he stared holes into the Prussian officerâs head.
Quick on your feet, you switch gears and instead ask about where heâand the rest of his menâcame from; you donât recall ever seeing them earlier, and while you might have a hunch on the answer, you believed it would be best to hear it from one of the men instead.
âWellâŠsome of the men and I reside inside the warehouse of the museumâwith very few of us having any actual experience of what a typical night is like within the main buildingâsince we are only presented a few times every couple of years or so. For my regiment anyways, we usually stay inside there, not seeing any reason as to why we should go and venture forth. But, ugh, at the insistence of officer Dopfer, he somehow managed to convince us to leave our familiar safety behind, for âadventureâ as he put it.â
He continues to explain how the first couple of nights werenât as bad as originally expected, that was until, the group ended up encountering some very hostile undead, forcing them to all retreat up into the hidden little corner of the museumâup until Dopfer and his men had the courage to leave this night.
Watching as the soft spoken officer shared his perspective regarding the feats they faced inside the building, you start to feel a bit bad for themâit was almost canny to your current situation as well. They were just as frightened as you areâ thoughâunlike you, these dudes actually had some weapons to defend themselves with.
âReally, itâs not so bad out there in the museumâŠsorta.â Shaking off memories where you almost encountered death, you try your best at persuading the men to leave out of their little hiding spot, reassuring that almost no one there had any intention of fighting them over centuries-old discourse.
Before any of you two could continue your conversation, you felt a light tap on your shoulder; turning back, you see Jacob as gestures to his wristâimitating as if he had a wristwatch onâsignaling that it was time to go, briefly mentioning that sunrise was close.
With that in mind, youâre able to properly dismiss yourself from the officer this time, asking him if he could do you a favor and pass your farewells to the rest of the men for you, which he was more than happy to do for youânot before asking him whether youâd catch them in the main area sometime.
âI believe it would be better for us to stay hidden up there for one last time, butâŠif you are there tomorrow, then I have no reason to believe that most of the men would be opposed to try and explore it once more.
Satisfied with that, you part ways and begin to head down back in silence, taking in the peaceful atmosphere as more residents start to become aware that the night is almost over, heading back and wrapping up the show.
On the way back to the historical section, your posse ventured through multiple sections of the museum, coming across familiar faces (and foes) as you passed by, responding appropriately to each inhabitant, before finally reuniting the French soldier with the rest of his troops, conversing briefly with Jeanâwho upon seeing youâbegan to fret instantly, whilst the annoying little shit chestnut-haired man behind him just rolled his eyes at the drastic action.
In the end, you're able to convince the soft-hearted officer that everything turned out fine in the end, and that rather, he should probably focus on getting back to his spot before the sun rises. You notice how he hesitates for a bit before agreeing, wishing you a peaceful last couple minutes of your shift, before turning back and conversing with his men as they start to return to their familiar areas.
Now by yourself, all that was left for you to do was to retire back to the front desk, and take the time to reflect over your adventures as your shift was close to concluding.
