You had been looking for a job for a long time, to pay the monthly installment of the house you lived in, you were even willing to find a very humble job. And finally you had succeeded. "The Kingdom of Marionettes" a place abandoned for many years, but it apparently needed night guards, maybe for thieves and troublemakers.
Kingdom of Marionettes Position: night security officer. Location: the theater. Work schedule: 23:00 - 06:00. Contract duration: permanent. Requirements: in good physical and mental health, able to stay awake all night. Job description: keep the theater safe from vandals. Clean the theater. Make sure none of the puppets are missing from roll call or walking around on foot. Monitor the closed-circuit television (cctv) cameras.
"Mh. Doesn't seem difficult, luckily I meet the requirements... wait... make sure none of the puppets walk around...? It must be the tiredness, come on."
You close the flyer without thinking too much about it and head to work. Inside the structure there is a security room with a bed and a computer to check the cameras on a desk; you immediately start working.
"Alright... now I have to clean around a bit and check the marionettes. As long as they don't run away, ahah."
You head to a small closet to grab a broom and a rag to start your work, then you reach the large stage of the theater.
"Such a shame it was abandoned. It seems the shows here must have been grand."
After 2 long exhausting hours of cleaning you return to the closet to put away the tools and go back to the inspection work.
"Alright, now I have to check the marionettes...."
you return to the security closet to check the cameras and..
"Mh? Is there something moving on this camera..... in front of the room where all the puppets are?? What do these damned vandals want to do..!? I have to send them away."
you grab a flashlight and a stick nearby and head to the main corridor, there are several rooms on the sides, but the one in question is at the end of the corridor. It's dark and you can't see what's at the door.
"Who goes there?? Hey! You can't stay he—"
your blood runs cold at what you see... the knight puppet had moved in front of the door, and was staring at you with his intense and unsettling eyes...
"Intruder..."
You remain still, you don't know what to do, run? scream? say nothing and pretend to be dead? oh what a situation. But before you can decide anything, in the blink of an eye he is in front of you with his imposing mass and his 2.17 height. His mailed hand flattens on your shoulder and pins you to the door, and the medieval armor on his other hand closes around your wrist and holds it against the frame. You desperately try to make him loosen his grip, but he feels nothing, he doesn't move even a centimeter, and then a cold hand covers your eyes and all you hear are muffled voices speaking:
"Grimhold, my dear friend. Why are you hurting our visitors again? We had already talked about this."
"You already know it's my duty, as a knight, to protect this kingdom, Judoc,"
with evident irritation.
"Now, don't you think the best thing would be if, from now on, you left the visitors to me?"
"I... I don't think we should simply... let an intruder into the Kingdom, Judoc."
The armour shifts, and he is putting a hand on his chin, pondering for a few moments.
"Oh, but my dear friend, any visitor who wanders into our kingdom would be better entrusted to me... so that I can properly assist them in the show."
The hand slides off your eyes: the jester, one red pupil swelling into the shape of a heart.
"Your majesty,"
he says, and bows until the crown on his hood tips forward.
"The theater answers to you now. Give the order."