The Frozen Melody

09.Freedom.

How long have he been here at the laboratory? Tiger couldn't be certain. There were no windows or calendars or clock nearby as far as he could see. The time seemed to pass with agonizing slowness, wasting his mind away.

Little did he know how much the outside world had changed since the magic providing stone was removed by Joker nearly half a year ago. The devastation had exceeded all expectations, and the magic structure of the world nearly collapsed completely. Many creatures thriving on the magic in the air wasn't able to adapt fast enough with the sudden change, and deaths were a common occurrence as a result.

The humans were no better off. With the lack in healing powers, injuries could no longer be healed instantly except by the highest class of healers. If Doctor Oka had known how much they depended on the stone, he would have never helped Joker take it. Though in his defense, he had not known that the blonde can take the stone out of this world.

The Doctor kept his dark secret, and worked day and night to make up for his mistake. He and his group of scientists had fully analyzed Tyson's blood and, in combination with a number of other solutions, deduced a serum from it. This fluid, they realized much to their delight, worked a bit like an eternal youth potion. Once a person drinks a cup of the serum, injuries would start healing at an astounding rate. If one were to consistently consume it on weekly bases, it would slow down the aging process. It was dream come true. Unfortunately, they could only obtain it using Tiger's fresh blood, so of course they kept him in his bonds to cultivate his blood.

The serum was able to function as such because of Tiger's magic flowing in it, magic originating from the undead powers of Hell, instead of the stone this world relied on. The magic would flow into the drinker's body and repair the cell damages; thus providing substantial healing properties.

Because Tiger was essentially an undead shapeshifter, he does not age and die easily. The Doctor was delighted at how Tyson was still alive despite all they forced onto him.

The boy, on the other hand, stopped speaking and stopped reacting to anything voluntarily. His mind became a fragile thing that had drifted away to hide itself under layers of protection. If he ever achieved conscious of his surroundings, his body would writhe and struggle with such fury that they must drug him to sleep. There was no peace for him without being heavily drugged.

How long was he doomed to stay like this for? How many more days? Months? Or maybe even years?

Through all these, there was one thought he held onto preciously; the fact that even though he was caught, at least Pye escaped. He had succeeded in protecting someone important to him.

Tiger had been originally content with Pye's words of love, whether or not they were true hadn't been important. But in this tortuous captivity, his mind became greedy for happiness, anything that could comfort him. So he came to believe in Pye's confession, and accept the idea that their feelings were mutual.

With no real disturbance to his train of thoughts, he allowed himself to fantasize and dream of how life could be when he could finally escape from this world. He had smiled and cried from the romantic dreams he woven for himself in his slumber.

In those dreams, he finally got the thing he wanted the most, a family that he can trust. He wasn't a disposable pawn that can be thrown away or sacrificed on a whim, he was needed and loved.

In his dreams, Pye was as nice to him as those three magical days at the hotel. Tiger couldn't wait to leave this world and see his lover again. His whole perception of Pye had changed. He had re-interpreted the pain he received from Pye before as all just a sign that the other guy loved him. He had also decided that being a masochist might not be so bad after all. Never before had someone loved Tiger back, not while he was human, and not after he died. This was a first, and he was so, so excited.