Hello, ! Today, I saw "Les Miserables" at my future high school. After it was finished, all I could think of was the similarities between Monsignor Thenardiner and Scott, then the love triangle, and a lot of things. I want to write a fanfiction using the storyline of the school edition (certain roles (many of the Thenardiner children) don't exist. Anyways, enjoy! There may not be any TD characters in THIS chapter, but I promise that there will be next chapter. But please still read this chapter, otherwise, you may not understand what happens later on in the story, and I can also promise that this is worth reading (I'm not bragging…I'm not creative enough to come up with my own storyline anymore).
Characters who are guaranteed to appear next chapter: Bridgette, Alejandro, Heather.
Characters who may appear next chapter: Scott, Blainley, Gwen, Courtney.
Disclaimer: I do not own Les Miserables, nor do I own Total Drama or any of its characters. All rights go to their respective owners.
Oh! And there will be the odd song here and there. Just the ones I couldn't bear to remove. (Examples: Look down (both of them), master of the house and little people (once again, both of them).
1815- Chain gang is working as slaves in a town outside of Paris (songs: "Les Miserables": Prologue (I edited it slightly, though. One line I found pointless is removed))
"Look down, look down, don't look 'em in the eye! Look down, look down; you're here until you die." The chain gang sang, it was their usual work song. The only one they wouldn't all be sent to the rack an extra time for singing.
"The sun is strong, it's hot as Hell below!" one sung, his usual solo.
"Look down, look down, there's twenty years to go" the rest responded
"I've done no wrong, sweet Jesus hear my prayer!" he sang
"Look down, look down, sweet Jesus doesn't care"
"I know she'll wait, I know that she'll be true!"
"Look down, look down, they've all forgotten you. Look down, don't look 'em in the eye!"
"How long, oh Lord until you let me die?"
"Look down, look down; you'll always be a slave! Look down, look down; you're standing in your grave."
A familiar officer stepped forward.
"Now bring me prisoner number 24601." He commanded.
Forward came two more officers, carrying the man he'd requested.
"Your time is up and your parole has begun! You know what that means!" the well-known inspector tells him, intimidatingly.
"Yes, it means I'm free." The slave responded weakly.
"No! It means you get your yellow ticket of leave; you are a thief!" the officer yelled.
"I stole was a loaf of bread!"
"You robbed a house!"
"I BROKE A WINDOW PANE!" the man yelled, angrily.
"My sister's child was close to death and we were starving!" the soon-to-be-ex-prisoner defended.
"You will starve again unless you learn the meaning of the law!"
"I know the meaning of those 19 years, a slave…of the law."
"5 years for what you did, the rest for your numerous escape attempts, 24601."
"My name is Jean Val jean" the prisoner, Jean Val jean, growled.
"And mine Javert. Do not forget me. Don't you dare forget my name, 24601!" Inspector Javert yelled
(If you're listening to the song as you read (which I always recommend whilst reading this story), pause it now.)
Fresh from the dust and dirt, Jan Val Jean stepped into the town, yellow ticket in hand. He soon found a man looking for a slave to work in his fields. It was now or never to make a living. He approached the man, and soon had a job.
The sun was just as hot, and the work just as hard as it was when Jean was a slave, but this time seemed to go faster. This time he was getting paid. This time, he was being treated like a human.
This humane treatment didn't last long.
As he and the other slaves finished their work and turned to the man to get their paychecks, Jean's was noticeably smaller.
"This wouldn't buy my sweat!" he told the man, outraged.
The man held up Jean's yellow ticket. Jean searched the pocket he put it in before approaching the man; it had obviously fallen out.
"You're a thief! Why should you earn the same as honest workers like me?" a female co-worker demanded of Jean. The man gave Jean back the ticket, disgusted.
"Now get off my property." Was the last thing the man said on the matter. "Or I'll call the police. And you obviously wouldn't care for that much, would you?"
Jean quickly left the man's property, outraged.
How the hell am I supposed to do anything with my life? He thought to himself.
"Excuse me, sir?"
Val jean turned to see a man he never thought of himself worthy of seeing; the Bishop of Digne. Jean didn't even know how to react. Should he bow? Should he shake his hand? Say "Amen"?
"Would you like to come in?" the honest Bishop asked. Jean didn't know what he meant, but he nodded, being lost for words.
Jean Val jean sat at a table, lit by candlelight, being served dinner off of the finest silver any amount of francs could buy. He could only remember that not 24 hours ago he sat at a table, eating whatever scraps he and his fellow prisoners could get their hands on, backs sore from being whipped on the rack.
"You may spend the night, if you wish, Monsignor Val jean." The Bishop told the ex-prisoner. Jean was taken by surprise at this comment. The Bishop had seen the yellow ticket, and knew what Jean was convicted of, and he was letting him spend the night?
Jean couldn't resist. In the night, he got out of bed and sneaked into the kitchen. He saw the silver, still where it was left on the table. He quickly slipped the plates into his rucksack and ran from the house.
What he didn't know was that a patrolling officer happened to look through the window of the home and call to his partner.
(Now press play)
"Tell his reverence your story!" the first one yelled at Jean after they cornered him 2 minutes later.
"Let us see if he's impressed!" The second added.
"You were lodging here last night."
"You were the honest Bishop's guest. And then out of Christian goodness when he learned about your plight!"
"You claim he made a gift of this silver."
"That is right!" the Bishop, who suddenly stepped out of his doorway lied for the stranger.
"But, my friend, you left so early, surely something slipped your mind. You forgot I gave these also, would you leave the best behind?" He asked, slipping the expensive candlesticks into Jean's rucksack.
He turned back to the officers.
"So, Monsignors, you may release him, for this man has spoken true. I commend you for your duty, may God's blessing go with you."
The officers released Val Jean and continued with their patrols. The Bishop turned back to Jean.
"But remember this, my brother; see in this some higher plan. You must use this precious silver to become an honest man. By the witness of the martyrs, by the Passion of the Blood, God has raised you out of darkness, for I bought your soul for Him."
The Bishop walked away, leaving the silver in Jean's possession. That's when it hit the poor man.
"What have I done? Sweet Jesus, what have I done?" He began
"I've become a thief in the night! Become a dog on the run! Have I fallen so far? Is the hour so late that nothing remains but the cry of my hate? The cries in the dark that nobody hears, here I will stand for the turning of the years!
If there's another way to go, I missed it twenty long years ago! My life was a war that could never be won! They gave me a number and murdered 'Val Jean' when they chained me and left me for dead! Just for stealing a mouthful of bread!"
"Yet, why did I allow that man to touch my soul and teach me love? He treated me like any other, he gave me his trust, and he called me 'brother', my life he claims for God above! Can such things be? For I have come to hate the world, this world that always hated me!"
"Take an eye for an eye! Turn your heart into stone! This is all I lived for! This is all I have known! One word from him and I'd be back beneath the lash, upon the rack! Instead, he offers me my freedom. I feel my shame inside me like a knife! He told me that I have a soul…How does he know? What spirit came to move my life?"
"Is there another way to go?"
"I am reaching, but I fall. And the night is closing in; I stare into the void, into my whirlpool of sin. I'll escape now from the world. From the world of Jean Val Jean. Jean Val Jean is nothing now."
"ANOTHER STORY MUST BEGIN!"
And with the last belted-out line, he tore up the yellow ticket, letting the pieces fall to the ground.
A/N: Like I said, no TD characters…yet! Just you wait…please?