Chapter Text
Madame Thénardier had not been the best of people.
She had been rude, selfish, greedy, and terrible to the girl who had lived with them when they had been but children. She had been a terrible person. But she had definitely been a better parent than her husband. Which was why, when she died, Éponine and her sister Azelma regretted being ungrateful for everything they had.
She had always wanted what was best for them. She had kept them fed, dressed them up, and treated them like princesses. She had spoiled them rotten, which was not quite a good thing, but to be fair, again, it was better than their father.
Monsieur Thénardier was a crook. When his wife had died ten years prior, he had sold most of the girls' possessions, thrown out his infant son (and threatened to do the same to the two sisters if they protested), and begun to neglect the girls entirely. He kept them around solely to do him favours and errands. They could have left at any moment, but stayed because they could not go anywhere else.
About five years after the death of Madame Thénardier, he had become acquainted with Patron-Minette, a gang of robbers and murderers. One of the younger members, Montparnasse, had always expressed an interest in Éponine.
Éponine, now nineteen years of age, lay in a room of the old building they had taken residence in, trying to fall asleep. Her sister Azelma was already asleep beside her. Their father had gone out heaven knows where and had not returned for two days now, slightly prompting her to take her sister's hand and get her out of there, anywhere being better than this place. But then, when their father came back, he would find them again, or have Patron-Minette do it for him. Eventually, Éponine's lingering thoughts caused her to sit up and light a candle.
She lifted a pile of rags, revealing a small stack of books she had managed to hide from her father. She loved to read, or more, the fact that she could, though she could only read the same books every night.
Her books seemed to always lead to happy endings, though it could not be true. One told the tale of a street urchin finding adventure and fame, but if Éponine could have done such things, she would have taken Azelma and left a long time ago. Another spoke of a humble country girl falling in love with a prince and living happily ever after, yet Éponine knew that happily ever after did not exist.
She had just opened one when she heard footsteps in the building. Quickly, she shut it again and blew out the candle. She lay down and shut her eyes again just as the door opened. She expected her father. It was Montparnasse's voice instead.
"Get up, 'Ponine." The phrase was rather blunt, but the tone was sweet. "We're looking for your father."
"Why do you need a girl's help?" Éponine asked, opening her eyes.
The dandy smiled sweetly and offered his hand. "I reckoned a tough girl like you could be of use."
Éponine furrowed her eyebrows and refused Montparnasse's hand, helping herself up. "I'll help, but only if you let me search on my own and give me my own horse."
Montparnasse cocked his head slyly. "Are you sure?" His voice changed, twisted from warm to menacing. "It's... dark in the woods. Awfully too scary for a little girl."
"Like you said," Éponine argued, "I'm tough." She would have preferred staying inside, but better to give Montparnasse a reason to leave her alone. The man sighed and agreed, to her satisfaction. He gave her the requested horse and led her to the woods where her father was last seen, telling her to meet at the edge of the forest by sunrise, whether she finds Thénardier or not.
So Éponine set off without saying much, advancing into the forest. She did not even plan on finding her father- she just wanted to get away from Montparnasse. She decided to ride for a little while to trick Montparnasse, then turn back to go home- she probably should not have left Azelma all alone. However, before she could turn back, something caught her eye: a moth. The moth was silver in colour, and somewhat too large to be a moth. She followed it deeper and deeper into the woods, the trees seemingly getting larger and closer together. The dandy had been right; the forest was dark and scary.
There was a gate. A rather large gate, to be precise. In the middle of the woods, there was a rather large gate. Who knew. On the other side was an immense garden of roses. Intrigued, Éponine, unable to open the gate, decided instead to climb it, leaving Montparnasse's horse where it was. It was not that hard- she had learned to do so at a young age. She then resumed her pursuit of the moth, who had landed on a rose nearby.
"Who's there?"
Éponine's first thought was Gueuleumer, the large, brute man from Patron-Minette, but it could not be. She bit her lip.
"Who are you?" the voice repeated. Éponine heard the rustling of bushes behind her and slowly turned around. It's no man.
A large beast stood before her, a snarl revealing fangs and a claw raised menacingly.
Éponine took a step back. "I- I'm called 'Ponine." she said, careful not to falter. "Who are you?"
The beast lowered its arm. "What are you doing here?"
"You didn't answer my question." snapped Éponine. "Look, don't think I'm not afraid of you. You terrify me. But I won't be ignored. I've been ignored too much in my life."
The creature gritted its teeth. "I..." Its (his?) voice softened in the slightest way possible. "I'm the master of the castle." There was a castle? "Now what are you doing, trespassing in my garden?"
"Exploring." said Éponine truthfully.
"I do not believe you. Just yesterday, a man tried to rob me! Are you his accomplice? Come here!" He seized Éponine by the arm and pulled her towards the castle. (!!!)
He took the girl inside, and Éponine saw that it was empty, and that it seemed like no one had inhabited the place in the longest time. She thought that it could not get any colder, but then she was led into the dungeons. She heard snoring as they trudged down the uneven stairs.
"Wake up." ordered the beast's voice.
The snores were interrupted by a snort, and as they approached, Éponine saw that they had come from none other than her father in a dungeon cell.
"Do you know this girl?" the beast demanded.
"Well!" Thénardier exclaimed. "I guess you found her!" Éponine froze, dreading what was to come.
"Found who?"
"Who I'd give in exchange for my freedom, no doubt!" said Thénardier. "This here's my daughter, Éponine, and you can keep her instead! We had a deal, now release me!"
The beast opened the cell and let Thénardier out, shoving Éponine in his place. "You disgust me!" cried Éponine.
"That's the way the world works, Princess." said her father as he strode out. "We'll be waiting if you ever get out!" With a crooked smile, he climbed the dungeon staircase, the beast departing in the opposite direction.
The girl sat there, thinking. The cell honestly was not as different from home. It was almost bare, the floor was covered in rags, and it was lit by candles. The only difference was that Azelma was not at Éponine's side, and that there were no books underneath the rags. Still, Éponine lay down, and after an hour, fell asleep, dreaming of happily ever after.