Searching for Andromeda 104 Long Fallen

The children then ran closer to the iron bars behind Samuel. The girl whose shoulders he was holding also ran to this 'Miko' as well.

Samuel turned his body towards the bars and saw a girl carrying what seemed like food.

"Miikkkoo!"

"Miko, we missed you so much!"

"Miko! Miko!"

"Calm down, now. There's food for everyone." A docile girl with a dark hair said with a chuckle. 

Samuel stared, all dumbfounded, at the opened prison cell. And in those opened bars was a girl holding a basket and tray of food. The children came towards her, and then came out of their cell to open the rest. The girl who had spoken to Samuel began opening the cell doors of the other children, making all of them come out at once as they surround the girl named Miko.

The girl named Miko had a small, dark hair that was straight flat; she had long, black lashes and a pale, snow-white like face. Her jaw was curved softly, complementing her plump, pink lips which were a tad chapped. She was wearing simple clothing, just a little step away from the rags the children were wearing. Miko was small in stature, but she wasn't as small as Esmeralda; she was a little taller than Samuel, and she looked older.

The children who came out of their own cells received food from Miko and were gobbling their fares rather cleanly. Those children gave Miko several glances as if to say 'look at me, look at me, Miko,' and then Miko would smile at them as if to reply, 'yes, I am looking.' Making those same children show satisfied faces upon receiving this reply.

"Will you help me feed the children . . . Boy?" Miko said to Samuel, who was dumbfounded at the opened cell door.

Samuel blinked. Help her? How would he able to help her when his leg's basically chained? Before Samuel could let out a sarcastic banter, Miko ambled her way towards Sam and knelt in front of him. Her fingers wrapped around the chains on his leg and then the next thing Samuel knew, the chain withholding his ankles loosened and fell to the cobbled floor with a clang.

"There," Miko smiled, standing up. "Can you help me feed these children? It's always difficult on my own; extra hands are way better to have since there is an increase in the captives just the last few days,"

Samuel's brows dared to crease, but Miko already turned away from him to feed the children. "I'm going to get the soup; can you distribute each of them equal portions of boiled tatoes?"

Samuel, who was hungry himself, didn't even have a chance to decline. It seemed like this Miko did not take no as well. Before he could even say a thing, Miko had already left—leaving Samuel with an opened cell, an unchained ankle, and the perfect opportunity to escape.

"Is this a trap? This is definitely a trap,"

Or so what Samuel wanted to think. 

"Sam, that's your name, right? I want tatoes," 

"Me too! Miko said we shouldn't touch the tatoes."

Samuel sighed; how can this be a trap? These children clearly did not incite any grand scheme whatsoever—they're too innocent to even do that. Samuel stared at the children who were waiting for the potatoes on the cloth-covered basket. Samuel wanted to sigh again.

Opportunity.

What in the world was happening?

That girl servant looked like it was normal for her to opened the cells—and leave them unattended by the looks of how she had acted. Really, that's something else. And that 'something else' was what Samuel was trying to figure out.

Was this Miko a naïve girl that just opens prison doors to feed her boss's captives just because they're children? Or is she underestimating Samuel, who was easily captured despite being the fabled 'dungeon conqueror's companion'? Either way, Samuel doesn't know. It's not that it matters whether this Miko was letting her guard down or she was arrogant. 

The important thing is that the prison cell was opened. And that means he could escape at this moment, right now.

But then again . . .

Samuel glanced at the hungry children, waiting to be fed.

"I guess that leaves me no choice,"

**

Miko entered the prison chambers carrying a large pot of soup. These were the portions she saved for the children when she was done cooking for Jaxon and the others. Miko wiped the sweat dripping across her forehead; it took the effort to hide this to Jaxon, but it was worth it. Those children haven't eaten anything warm for days—and the majority of them were malnourished when Jaxon took them in.

The healthier batch was with Jaxon's new capture, which was unusually older than others. Jaxon said before that children older than seven are a lot more difficult to handle, so he only captures those who are younger. This is why Miko took note of Jaxon's inconsistency and observed him better.

Miko sees the children eating the boiled potatoes she made, while the older boy, Samuel, was still distributing some on the others. Miko sighed in relief; it seems like he didn't choose to escape. She was worried earlier that Samuel was going to save himself and abandon his children, but Miko was wrong. He didn't. 

**

As Samuel distributed the potatoes to the children, he also made his way to examine the probable passages he would take as an escape route. Looking at this place, it seemed like he was at what seemed like the lowermost part of the ship. There seemed to be no ports or the windows, so Samuel couldn't pin where he was. From the way the place rocked, Samuel concluded he was still at the ship. But then again there were cobbled floors instead of wooden planks as the floor. Samuel didn't know if that kind of design would weigh the ship down instead.

Samuel glanced towards Miko, who had arrived with a large pot. Samuel sauntered towards her and helped her carry the pot. Soon he was also sitting on the floor whilst they feasted on the food Miko had brought.

"You eat very properly, Boy." Miko exclaimed. "Are you from the nobility?"

 "I'm not a noble or anything like that," Samuel answered.

"Is that so?" Miko smiled. "I think that's not what Jaxon knows, though."

Samuel lifted his gaze away from the soup he was eating, and then turned his electric-blue eyes to Miko, who was sitting primly in a barrel whilst a small girl slept on her lap. She was caressing her hair so gently, like that of a caring mother. The children were also scooting closer to her leg, seeking her warmth.

"What do you mean?"

"Jaxon . . . is searching for many children, particularly healthier children he could sell in prestigious countries," Miko said silently; her dark eyes were looking crestfallen as she stares at the children around her. "Although this might sound very odd, and you would not believe it—I believe Jaxon's goal was to have these children live a better life."

Samuel scoffed. Of course, he wouldn't believe such bull. No, WHO, in their right mind, would believe such a thing? Jaxon Sparrows, kidnapping children to have them like a better life? 

"Better life?" Samuel sarcastically quipped. "What the hell is that kind of bull? Does living a better life equate to being sold off to some slave trader at a foreign country where you're stripped of all your rights? Is living a better life mean to be a slave?"

The children who heard Samuel's sentiments froze on the spot. Some began to cry and head to Miko, who had embraced them back, trying to calm them down. Samuel, quickly realizing what he had said, retracted and had his head down low. 

But he couldn't contain it. 

There was no way someone could justify their actions; beating up a child just because you wanted to relieve stress, and then selling them afterward. Those actions were unjustifiable and there can never be good behind them.

Yet . . .

"Jaxon, you see, saved me."

. . . why is this girl defending him?

"He saved you?" Samuel's brow furrowed. That same young man with no emotion in his eyes as he beat up a young girl?

"Yes. We were both slaves in Patriargë. Back when we were children, he saved me and we escaped the market. We were able to live on the slums in secrecy afterward. But there wasn't enough money to sustain the two of us, so Jaxon did bad things to make us . . . make me survive," Miko exclaimed. "And then, he got caught in strife and lost his arm. And the coup d'état was that strife he was caught into. We were very young at that time when the king was overthrown by a certain organization. And before we knew it, we were captives again."

"But the strange thing happened afterward, and that strange thing led one after another. We were freed by one of the people who had overthrown Patriargë's king. That person who freed us gave Jaxon a magic item as a replacement for the hand he had lost from the strife and had given him a second chance in life."

Samuel stared intently at Miko, whose look got darker and sadder as her story goes.

"Human trafficking was worse on the country back when the king still ruled . . . but when he was overthrown, it was legalized."

Samuel felt his heartbeat going louder.

Human trafficking . . . legalized?

"Back then, you can only become a slave if you have fallen so low from debt or other things," Miko exclaimed. "Now anyone in the country can label you as one . . . because the organization made it so,"

"Organization?"

"The one who overthrown Patriargë, the organization, legalized parents to sell their children at a very high price," Miko said. "And with Patriargë ridden with debt, the legalized human trafficking became their capital."

Samuel felt his body going numb.

"You mean th-these children . . ."

"Yes," Miko said with a bitter pang on her voice. "The government of Patriargë mass produces slaves to pay off their debts—and the majority of those slaves are the children being born."

Samuel gritted his teeth.

Patriargë . . . is really long fallen.

**

It took me a while to actually write this chapter because I just finished doing the samples for my art commission; anyways, thank you all for the support!

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