Chapter Text
Marius was NOT moping, not at all, thank you very much. And even if he was moping, then it was definitely not because they were missing someone. Especially not Inspector Second Class Lyfrassir Edda, gone too soon, along with the entire Yggdrasil system. Most probably. Marius still held onto that sliver of hope that maybe Lyfrassir had managed to make it out alive. But as the days turned into months turned into years, he was beginning to lose hope.
The Aurora was currently docked on a meaningless planet that wasn’t Midgard, and most of the crew had left to explore. Nastya stayed behind as usual, and so did Marius, which was not in their habits. Ivy had mentioned a museum of ceramic frogs she needed to visit before leaving, nose already burrowed in a book in the planet’s main language. Raphaella was probably flying around, waiting for something to catch her attention. Ashes had recruited Drumbot Brian and the Toy Soldier to help them 'buy groceries' after they had noticed the food stocks were running low. And as for Jonny and Tim, they had just said that they were going on a date. Knowing them, Marius knew it would involve chaos, explosions, and many deaths. Or maybe the two lovebirds were secretly sweet and would go to a nice bar or a fancy restaurant first.
Marius didn’t care. They turned around in his bed and tried to go back to sleep.
Jonny and Tim were having a lovely evening. Tim had quickly found a gun range, and after wreaking havoc there (and stealing some of the weapons), they had agreed on finding the worst bar in town. They were having a drinking competition when they heard a fight break out a few tables behind them.
Turning around, the pair saw the barkeeper quickly kick out the culprits, three shady-looking blokes and a fourth person they didn’t manage to get a good look at. Not their problem. They went back to drinking.
It was around half an hour later when Tim and Jonny came stumbling out of the bar, laughing and clinging to each other to stay upright. Inside the bar, panicked screams could be heard as the fire was spreading to the walls. The two lovebirds stayed a little longer, admiring their work.
“That was a wonderful day, we should go on dates more often.”, Jonny said softly.
“I knew you were secretly soft!” Tim laughed. “You absolute sap!”
“How dare you! I’m your captain!”. Jonny shoved him lightly.
“First mate!” Tim pushed him back. “Hang on, what’s that?”
Tim was pointing at a puddle of rainbow liquid, colours undulating and switching hues. Another slightly smaller puddle was visible further down the street, near a dark alley. The two men looked at each other and nodded, before following the trail of rainbow into the alley.
Approaching carefully, they saw the silhouette of a person sitting with their back to the wall.
It was clear that they were alien to this planet, with their blue skin, white hair, and a long tail that was currently trying to wrap around the wide stab wound in their stomach. But the most noticeable thing about them was the rainbow blood oozing from the wound. They looked completely out of it, muttering in a language that wasn’t Spcommon, but wasn’t the language of the planet either.
“Jonny, don’t you think that they match the description?” Tim asked, uncertain.
“That doesn’t make sense, that guy is supposed to be dead, completely Bifrosted” the first mate replied.
“Look at their blood, they sure look Bifrosted. We should take them back to the Aurora” the long-haired man argued.
“Only if that makes Marius stop mopping” Jonny sighed “But we are not mechanising them. When they die, they die.”
“Unless Marius, Ivy, or Ashes decide to keep them around. They haven’t cashed in their person to mechanise yet. And even if they don’t, a rainbow cadaver would make a fun present for Raphaella” Tim gave him a wide grin. Jonny couldn’t resist.
“Fine” he spat.
They grabbed the presumed Lyfrassir Edda and made their way back to the Aurora.
They had managed to sneak in the ex-inspector without the rest of the crew noticing and hid them in the medbay, which Marius didn’t visit anymore. Tim stayed at their side while Jonny went to look for Raphaella.
Making his way through the hallways, he listened carefully for signs of the rest of the crew. He passed by Ashes and the Toy Soldier reorganising the pantry, a faint smell of smoke still clinging to them. The Toy Soldier looked a little charred in places, but that didn’t seem to bother it. Neither of them noticed him.
Jonny finally reached Raphaella’s lab. Taking in a big breath, he knocked on the door, which immediately slid to let him in. Raphaella was bent over test tubes filled with various… stuff, muttering and flapping her wings in excitement, oblivious to the intrusion.
The first mate shifted on his feet and cleared his throat to catch the scientist’s attention. Raphaella turned around, almost knocking over an erlenmeyer filled with a dangerous-looking chemical.
“Jonny? Can I help you? You are unusually quiet.”, she asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I need you in the medbay right now, and without drawing any attention to ourselves” Jonny whispered back urgently.
Given his serious tone, Raphaella only nodded and decided against asking all questions right away. They made their way to the medbay as stealthily as they could, the Aurora seemingly shifting her hallways so they would not encounter any other crewmates.
Jonny stopped in front of the door.
“So, Tim and I brought someone back with us from our date - no not like that - and they’re badly hurt, possibly dead even. But I need you to confirm their identity and possibly tend to their injury.”
“Wouldn't Marius be a more appropriate person to turn to in that situation? Or Brian?”, Raphaella wondered.
“If the fucker was a qualified doctor then maybe I would trust him around a wounded mortal. And as for Brian, he can’t identify the person.” Jonny replied, opening the door and signaling the Science Officer to step in.
Raphaella slowly made her way to the bed, already rifling through her lab coat’s endless pockets for a notepad and a pencil. Any data was worth recording after all. She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the person lying on the bed.
Blue skin with barely noticeable swirls. White hair with a multitude of braids. A long tail. Lyfrassir Edda.
The pencil she had managed to find fell to the ground.
“Well Jonny, I believe that answers our first question.” Tim looked up from the gun he was cleaning. “Now the next question is : can you help them?”. This time, he was addressing Raphaella directly.
The scientist took a closer look at the passed-out Lyf, inspecting the stab wound that was still leaking rainbow blood. She mentally noted to collect some of it later. She had, after all, a more urgent mission.
They looked paler than usual, and their heartbeats were faint. There wasn’t much time to waste, but she didn’t know if they would survive an operation. There was however another option, but the crew probably wouldn’t like it.
“I could operate on them, but they have little chance of waking up. Or there is the other option. I know you don’t like it” she interjected when Jonny opened his mouth, “but Marius or Ivy would probably agree to claim them as their person. So they need to know. Also, if they do need to be mechanised, I will need Brian to assist me.”
Without leaving any room for argument, she left the room and started walking towards the deck, where she knew Brian would be. She had already claimed Marius as her plus-one shortly after joining the crew, but couldn’t let Lyfrassir die. She knew that one of the other two “Prison Mechs”, as they had come to call themselves when they shared a cell on Midgard, would happily ask to welcome the former inspector to the crew.
After yanking the Drumbot from his pilot seat -and his daydreams-, they were soon enough back in the medbay. Where Tim and Jonny were freaking out.
A bright rainbow glow was emanating from within Lyfrassir’s wound. Raphaella leaned in to observe the skin reform, the light dimming progressively until all that was left was smooth blue skin.
The midgardian was still out, but their breaths weren’t as laboured as they had been previously. The four mechanisms decided to take turns watching over them, starting with Jonny.
Brian was busy knitting what would hopefully be a scarf for Nastya when Lyfrassir finally started stirring. He put his project down and grabbed his comm pad, sending a quick message to Jonny, Tim, and Raphaella.
He sat at the end of the bed, while the former inspector was looking at him with wild eyes.
“Inspector Lyfrassir Edda I presume? It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Brian, I am the pilot of the starship known as The Aurora.”, the metal man said softly.
“No longer an inspector, but how do you know my name? And how did I get here?” Lyfrassir slurred, “The last thing I remember was being stabbed outside of a bar.”
Brian picked his words carefully. “Two other members of the crew found you bleeding out in an alley and brought you on board. You somehow healed on your own, but we took turns watching over you while you were asleep.”
He hoped that the newcomer would forget about their first question in their confused state. Unfortunately for him, they picked up on it.
“I most appreciate your crew’s generosity. However, you are evading my first question. How do you know my name and previous profession? I no longer have my badge on my person or any identity papers for that matter.” Any sign of confusion was gone from their face, and their rainbow eyes were piercing through Brian’s as if trying to pry the truth from him.
“Fine”, Brian sighed, “some members of the crew met you before. They should be on their way by now.”
As if the Narrative had heard him, the door slid open to reveal Tim carrying a dead Jonny, then Raphaella dragging Marius, and Ivy entering the room last, nose burrowed in a book.
Lyfrassir gave a horrified look in Jonny’s direction, before locking eyes with…
“Von Raum” they breathed. With an incredulous look on their face, the fake doctor rushed to their bedside.
“Lyf! By the Narrative, I thought you were dead! I was so worried about you, how did y-”. Marius never got to finish his sentence as Lyfrassir’s clenched fist violently collided with his jaw.
“YOU ASSHOLE! DON’T YOU DARE PRETEND TO BE WORRIED ABOUT ME WHEN YOU KNEW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN!” They screamed. “You could have warned me. Warned all of us. The three of you were in that prison for 60 years for crying out loud!”. This time they were addressing Raphaella and Ivy as well.
The Science Officer looked down at her shoes in shame, while the Archivist put on a blank face, although her tight grip on her book betrayed her. Jonny started shuffling in the chair Tim had gently put him in. Brian shot him a quizzical look, to which the gunner responded : “He walked in on Nastya and Aurora in the boiler room. Nastya got mad at him for ‘killing the mood’ apparently.”
Jonny fully woke up with a gasp followed by a string of curses. Recognizing the room, he gently pushed the rest of the crew away to stand in front of the bed, a manic grin already plastered on his face.
“Lyfrassir Edda, welcome to the crew of the Aurora”.