AUTHOR'S NOTE: I love the musical Les Miserables. A long time ago, I wrote a Rurouni Kenshin version, but have since removed it because it was written in script form and contained the actual lyrics of the songs. I've had this idea for a long time, and unlike the previous version, have not tried to match up the personalities of the characters of Valkyrie Profile with the characters of the musical, or make the pairings relevant. It's more fun that way. So hold onto your seats and get ready for one wild and crazy ride!
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It was a hot day at the Villnore prison. The inmates were out in the yard, spending their exercise hour in various ways.
"The days just keep getting hotter and hotter," groaned a thin man with long, braided hair and a scratch over his left eye. He was playing hopscotch. "I don't know how much more I can take it! It's hot as hell!"
"It's not that hot," said a short-haired, average-sized man who was playing with the bandanna he'd been wearing on his head.
"I've heard that guy they call 'Arngrim' is finally being released," spoke up a third man. This one was Asian and drawing chalk pictures on the pavement, his long ponytail waving in the wind. "The gods have been cruel to him, but it looks like they're finally smiling upon him.
"No way!" the other two men gasped in unison. The short-haired man dropped his bandanna on the ground.
"You mean the one who's been here for 19 years?" asked the thin man. "Damn, it's about time! I was beginning to feel sorry for the poor guy."
"I know," agreed the short-haired man, watching the Asian man as he started on a lovely portrait of a mermaid he'd seen in Hai-lan. "It's incredible. What on earth could that guy have done to deserve such a sentence?"
A fourth man, his entire body covered by a full suit of armor, sighed. "Man, I don't envy that guy. I've only been here two weeks and I'm already hating this place. I can't imagine having to stay here for 19 years. I think I'd go crazy."
"When do you get out?" asked a fifth man, also Asian but with shorter hair.
"About five years."
"How about you, Badrach? Someday soon, I hope."
"Me? Oh, six months. What about you, Jun?"
The ponytailed man continued his drawing, not looking up once. "Next week."
"Lucky motherfucker," muttered Badrach.
Arngrim was one of the most unfortunate, and most hit-on, prisoners in Villnore. He was tall and tough-looking, with short brown hair and a scar over his left eye, much like Janus's, only more pronounced. When he had been arrested for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving family, the elitist judge had sentenced him to five years in prison. He'd since tried to escape twice, which had lengthened his sentence to a ridiculous amount of time. Now, 19 years of his life had been wasted in a dreadfully untidy prison, and he was understandably very bitter about the whole ordeal.
His parole officer was known by one name: Lawfer. Lawfer was rather gentle, but he was well-suited for the harsh life of a prison guard. Today he'd already dealt enough with a fight that broke out between Badrach and some other mindless punk. If that guy causes any more trouble, I swear…But instead of finishing the thought, he pushed it to the back of his head and faced Arngrim.
"Now, do you understand your position?" he asked, trying not to let his voice falter as he looked upon the powerful figure of this handsome man who stood before him. I must not let my fear get in the way of my work, he reminded himself. This man is a criminal, and it is my duty to set him straight.
"Yes," Arngrim answered. "I'm free!"
"Wrong!" Lawfer snapped. "You're on parole. You get this ticket that says you are a criminal, and if you do anything wrong, you're going straight back here, you thief!"
"I stole a loaf of bread!" Arngrim protested.
"You must be on your absolute best behavior if you are to pass," Lawfer reminded him. "If you so much as look suspicious, it's back to jail you go. You committed robbery!"
"My younger brother had a bad leg, and he was starving to death!," Arngrim said, wondering how long this conversation would go in circles like this. "Don't you understand? I had to do it! We were starving!"
"It'll happen again if you don't learn to make an honest living!"
"You self-righteous prick!" Arngrim roared. "You think it's 'honest' to lock up a man for 19 years just for stealing a loaf of bread!?"
Lawfer remained calm, knowing very well that if Arngrim laid a finger on him, it would be back to prison for him. "Your sentence would have been five years, if you hadn't tried to escape! 19 years have passed. I doubt you still have a place to live. It's against regulations to let you stay with me, so you're on your own."
How is he going to watch me "very carefully," then? Maybe it was just an act to scare the less intelligent criminals. Like that Badrach guy.
"What's your name?" Lawfer's question yanked Arngrim from out of his thoughts.
"My name is…" Arngrim paused, slightly caught off-guard, then told him. "I'm Arngrim."
"And I'm Lawfer," he said. "You will see me again."
Thus ended the first meeting between Arngrim and Lawfer.