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When a Girl Falls from the Sky

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Hello reader! Welcome to my extremely last minute MerMay story. Truth be told, it is only tangentially related to MerMay - more set in an AU that has a lot of mers. Still, I hope you enjoy!!

Summary: Professor Laventon gets a new research assistant, but a lot of strange things seem to keep happening around her. Come Hell or high water - and both are very real options as Hisui finds itself sinking into the sea - Laventon will have Dawn's back!

Content Warnings:This fic contains brief mentions of blood and violence against children.

Notes: Thanks once again to all the inspiration from monsoon-of-art on Tumblr and their PLA Mer AU. You're amazing and your knowledge of the ocean astounds and frightens me. For more context on Dawn's encounter with Volo, please read here. Don't like to read on Tumblr? Read it here on AO3.

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The silence felt oppressive to his ears, the professor had forced himself to stop pacing around his lab to avoid burning a hole in the carpet. He tapped his foot to fill the quiet, anything would be better than to sit there with the thought that they would eject Dawn from the village.

No.

He had to have faith in Cyllene.

She was a fair captain.

Laventon closed his eyes. Rather than his worries that she would be kicked out, he felt the crash of phantom waves against his legs, threatening to bowl him over. His face scrunched, his mouth creasing into a frown when an involuntary shiver ran up his spine – he felt the cold screaming through his limbs. Early spring waters were deceptive like that; ice-free but retaining that deadly cold that would kill a human within minutes when left to their own devices.

Had he not seen her falling from the sky like a shooting star, her body enshrouded in a burning light that almost blinded him, she would have drowned. Unconscious and already sinking, he had barely managed to reach her in time before she went under.

Towing her back through the choppy water wasn’t easy. When he finally managed to drag her to the shore, she wasn’t breathing, and her skin was equal parts cold and pale.

“No, no, no!”

Laventon hissed through chattering teeth, hauling the girl into his lap so she wasn’t face first in the sand, before aiming some well-placed pats at her back. Nothing happened. He stifled a curse, measuring the strength of the next few strikes until he heard a guttural cough and then a sputter.

Quivering arms wrapped around him, but Laventon couldn’t tell if she was cold or scared.

Pesselle had yelled at him when he burst through the doors of her medical wing. Too busy getting yelled at, he did not see where the girl in his arms had been taken to, but he didn’t argue when she shunted him into his office to strip, chucking a blanket in as an afterthought. He couldn’t even manage an embarrassed blush – that’s how cold he was. He obeyed the medic’s command, after all, wet clothes were a death sentence.

Bagin was sent in a few minutes later, instructed to monitor and to stoke the fire in the hearth.

“The girl-”

“Calm yourself, professor. Pesselle will most likely bring her in here. This room is infernally hot.”

As if on cue, three of the Medical Corp opened the door, two of whom were carrying the girl on a stretcher. She was out cold, her raven black hair still damp and plastered on her forehead. The rattle in her chest was worrisome, but not something that Pesselle couldn’t work her magic on.

The girl’s stretcher was laid before the hearth and one of the medics remained in the room, told by Pesselle to be on standby in case their unconscious patient woke up. Laventon sighed, looking at this poor child and scootching a little closer to lay a hand on hers, her fingers twitched but she didn’t wake. He didn’t want her to wake up alone.

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Dawn.

Her name was Dawn.

That was all she seemed to recall.

That first night when she woke up in a panic, shivering and drawing the blankets tighter around herself, he was able to temporarily assuage her fears. Laventon was the one who convinced her to drink some broth and tea. It was Laventon who interjected on Dawn’s behalf as Kamado and Cyllene debated on what to do with her.

“She’s young! A young mind is moldable and inquisitive.” When that didn’t seem to move either the commander or captain, Laventon was quick to stammer out that he needed another research assistant. “Rei is a wonderful young man, but Dawn… she’s practically fearless. She would be an invaluable asset to my little team.”

His voice was bordering on pleading because he knew what happened to those who were not useful to the team. Kamado seemed skeptical and Cyllene looked as unreadable as ever.

Laventon would stake his reputation on it. If she failed, he failed.

He had seen her inquisitive nature when he took her back to the beach to find any possession that might have arrived with her. She seemed a little wary of the water but spent most of the time rummaging through the sand and surf asking questions about his research. Dawn hung on to his every word, beaming when he told her about his excursions to the north of the continent where a few species of penguin could be found.

He knew she was chock full of potential. It was just a matter of harnessing it.

The conversation that ensued between the professor and the soon-to-be researcher was candid. It had to be. Neither Captain Cyllene nor Commander Kamado would be sensitive to her situation, so Laventon merely did his best to mentally prepare her for the meeting that he was not permitted to attend.

She passed Cyllene’s test with flying colors and was in the field the next day with him and Rei at the tidal pools. Dawn would snatch crabs from the depths with lightning reflexes, careful to avoid pinching as she called out measurements and sex to Rei for each specimen.

A charming little quirk she developed over time was to thank every crab before tossing them into a bucket, so the creature was not counted twice that day. Laventon would then carefully tag each crab for future researching purposes and return them to the pools. With the three of them, they could get the work done with twice the speed, since Rei was hesitant to collect anything from the water; he was happy to just record numbers and sketch each specimen pulled from the pools.

“Professor,” Rei was bringing a small wagon for their supplies as the tides slowly began to reclaim the shore. Laventon looked over at Dawn as he dabbed at his forehead in the mid-afternoon heat, trying to avoid sweat in his eyes. “Thank you… for vetting me.”

Oh.

“Of course, my dear girl! Of course. I couldn’t ask for an assistant as hands-on as you.”

Dawn offered him a wobbly smile in return, sniffling quietly before dipping some of the instruments into the water to get the grit and grime off them.

They returned to the village in amiable silence.

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It took every fiber of his being not to panic. Rei was talking so fast, breathless and dizzy, but the words didn’t make sense – well, all but four.

Dawn in the water.

Since nearly drowning when Laventon found her, Dawn had been reluctant to get near water where she couldn’t see the bottom. Although he had done his best to route her research inland, Cyllene occasionally had her out on ships to take stock of the variety of fish surrounding the continent of Hisui.

On those days, Dawn would return to his office wordlessly, deposit the reports that Cyllene had already pored over into his overflowing in-bin, collapsed onto the sofa, and cocooned herself up in an afghan. It was an ordeal, but one that he found quite understandable given her circumstances.

Rei had found her, unresponsive and cold, on the rocks. Although close to the same age, Rei was smaller than Dawn, she was at least three inches and twenty pounds heavier than the other teen and, despite this, he single-handedly hauled her up the muddy path from the tide pools and the half mile to the village. The professor only just took in the splatters of mud and blood on the uniform newly adorned with tears from the branches snagging him as he ran. Blood dribbled from his balled fists, his head hung as he mumbled to himself about being faster.

If I had been faster… If I had realized sooner…

If, if, if –

“You did all you could, Rei. You mustn’t blame yourself for this. You hear me? You mustn’t. No use in it.”

He gently pried the young man’s hand open and took stock of the gravel and dirt embedded into the heels of his hands. Rei must have fallen carrying her. One pant leg was torn open at the knee and extended down almost to his ankle, it bore similar damage to his hands.

Laventon instructed him to sit so he might tend to his superficial wounds before Pesselle discovered that he avoided the medical wing. He wanted her to focus on Dawn, so he quickly fled to Laventon’s office.

With soft tipped forceps that he usually reserved for insect specimens, Laventon removed the gravel and gently washed the wounds with soap and water to avoid infection.

“Dawn will be alright.”

He said, unsure if he was saying it to assuage Rei’s or his own fears.

Dawn was made of tougher stock than that…

It just didn’t make sense to Laventon why she would have been down there at all in such a tumultuous storm. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t know until she awoke, and he had the distinct feeling that the answer would be unsatisfactory.

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He can’t say he didn’t notice the dramatic heel turn that Dawn took after her second, near-fatal drowning. Cyllene’s steely gaze flicked almost imperceptibly to him and then back to the eager girl before her, her expression neutral as she asked why she wanted to spend more time on the ships.

“I can’t avoid the water forever. If I don’t learn out at sea where I have no choice but to be surrounded by water, when else will I learn?”

While the reasoning wasn’t so sound, Cyllene wasn’t going to turn down a young, able body. Her stints on a research vessel and then fishing boat were – as the two captains tried to politely put it – filled with nausea. With Dawn’s fear of the water dulled with her three weeks at sea, she returned to her work with Laventon with little fanfare and worked just as hard as she ever had.

Something was different about her.

He couldn’t put his finger on it, but Dawn was different.

Almost distant.

She kept asking for assignments in parts of the region that were not well explored by the Galaxy Team. Even as Laventon tried to object, Kamado and Cyllene were swift to silence him, as the ultimate goal was to explore.

“Dawn…” Laventon loathed himself for even speaking up. His young associate was chatting away about her recent mission which involved her going to the far eastern shores where, or so he was told, the waters were warm, and a volcano smoked ominously just off the sugary white sand shores. “I’m worried about you.”

Her excited expression was wiped away with an abrupt and confused frown.

What was she doing wrong? She was doing exactly what the captain and commander wanted, so why would he say something like that? She didn’t understand.

His mouth went dry, his hand absently scratching his scalp under his woolen hat, which was just a vain attempt to avoid eye contact. He really did make this awkward.

“Er, what I suppose I mean is…” Laventon took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to slow down the flurry of words crowding his brain and trying to leave his mouth all at once. “The progress you’ve made is phenomenal. You’re doing such good work for the team… but I feel as though you’re pushing yourself too hard.”

That at least made her face soften.

“My job is important, professor. If I don’t do it, who’s gonna get it done?”

That was true to some degree. He was only one person and, although he appreciated him thoroughly for everything he did, Rei was not as willing to forge new paths to record the land of Hisui for future generations of field conservationists.

“I suppose,” he admitted, offering her a sheepish smile. “I just don’t want to see such a brightness burn out too soon. Like Eos, you need your rest to be the best version of you.”

Although the comparison seemed lost on her, Dawn did not ask him to explain, she offered him a tired smile and approached him with open arms. Laventon readily accepted her hug, resting his cheek on the top of her head as he felt her heave out a great sigh.

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“Good gracious!”

“You promised me you wouldn’t freak out!”

“Dawn – This is…”

Laventon was at a loss for words. So was Rei beside him, his jaw flapping like a fish gasping for oxygen. He had seen her toting that strange flute around for some time now and he had just assumed it was something she had bought to pass the time on long journeys across the continent.

That was not the case.

She played her flute and was swept up in bright light before appearing before them with the stark white tail of a harp seal pup where her legs should have been. Rei had stumbled back into a table, knocking the papers and instruments to the floor and Laventon stood motionless. It suddenly made a lot more sense why she spent more time in the uncharted wilderness.

“Are you… Is that thing cursed? How is this happening?”

If Dawn had been expecting him to be upset, she was mistaken. In fact, Laventon, after the initial shock, was beaming with excitement. Mysteries like these were the most intriguing things that the natural world had to offer!

The story had its holes, of course. Dawn had them both sit down so she could explain the whole thing, and both were glad that she had, because each twist and turn left them in greater shock than the last.

“A whole society of mer-people?”

He was almost giddy with excitement, but Rei was quick to put a hamper on it as he said something chilling under his breath.

“Beni did see a monster… They’re the ones destroying the ships…”

“They’re not monsters!”

“They destroyed ships, Dawn!”

“Alright, alright.” Laventon stood up quickly, inserting himself between the two teens with hands outstretched to signal them to stop. “We cannot pass judgment on these creatures – No, people. I apologize. We came into their territory, unwittingly or not, and they’re responding to that invasion. However, they seem like intelligent, emotional beings from what you’ve told us, so perhaps we can come to some sort of arrangement with-”

“I don’t think that’s possible, professor.”

Dawn interjected, nibbling on her lower lip. She had tried to get them to stop without outing herself as a human herself, but they still felt threatened. Laventon thought of a cornered cat baring its fangs, hissing and spitting in warning, but the Galaxy Team did not know of the existence of mer-people, let alone the signals of warning they were issuing.

Oh, what a sticky situation indeed.

Did these people have something to do with the rising waters that were threatening Galaxy Team? Each week the waters slowly swallowed up more and more of the land, forcing them to move further inland and abandon all the progress they had made. It would certainly benefit them. If this continued, then the team would have no choice but to return from whence they came, but Dawn told them no.

“It hurts them, too. They have these… Sacred animals. Some of them live on land and others have been going berserk. I’ve been – uh… Dealing with them.”

His eye twitched, trying to ignore the idea that Dawn was explicitly putting herself in danger to ask something else. The mere thought alone made his stomach churn uncomfortably. However unprofessional, Laventon had come to care for Dawn like she was his own, hence the immediate desire to tell her to never do anything so dangerous ever again.

He didn’t need to say anything however, because Rei did it for him.

“Didn’t you say one of those animals was a turtle the size of a mountain?”

Ludicrous. Preposterous. Absurd.

Dawn’s redirection spoke volumes.

“I need some way to neutralize jellyfish venom… From a big jellyfish.”

Laventon sat down heavily, head in his hands because he was starting to develop a headache. He was a scientist. He was trained to be open to any and all possibilities – magic though? Dawn had literally performed the impossible before his eyes.

In a sudden movement, the professor got up, startling both teens, and strode across the room to riffle through his unorganized papers.

“I have to have something here about jellyfish.”

It might have been impossible, but if Dawn needed his help, then he would do everything in his power to assist her.

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Cyllene levelled a hard stare at him and Laventon glowered right back.

Nothing he said swayed Kamado. Everyone looked at her like she was a monster when she was very much a sweet girl who had only ever done her best to help. He was inches from a row, one he would lose in heartbeat, and it would have been worth it for how Kamado treated Dawn.

Since Cyllene by way of Zisu had prevented him from engaging in any sort of fight, Laventon was now trying to drag a rowboat across Prelude Beach and again found resistance.

“Please move, captain.”

He was trying to keep his voice level. It wasn’t working.

“You know I can’t. We need your expertise now more than ever in the village. I cannot in good conscious standby and let you go on a fruitless rescue mission.”

“And I cannot in good conscious stand here while she’s out there fending for herself while the whole of Hisui gets devoured by the sea!” Laventon felt the blood rushing to his head, his thoughts as clouded as the blackening sky above. He had failed. “I can’t…”

The captain stood before, as unmoved as she had been before, and Laventon felt like all the wind was knocked out of him. All he could do was look down at her pleadingly and Cyllene’s face was stone-cold.

“I ordered Dawn to not die alone out there. She will come back to us – alive. Perhaps not unscathed, but she will come back. Now please, Professor Laventon, return to the village. We haven’t much time.”

Begrudgingly, he followed.

Zisu and Sanqua were in the process of evacuating, Pesselle and her staff helping the elderly and infirmed into a cart that was to take them further inland. Cyllene and Laventon splashed through the rapidly rising water, the encroaching sea which had been inching inland was now flooding the newly erected houses of Jubilife Village. Timbers groaned against the rushing rapids but were temporarily still upright.

Sanqua called out to them that they must hurry, because the structures would not hold for long.

Cyllene took charge in the commander’s conspicuous absence, barking out orders to her fellow captains and to the inhabitants. Laventon made a mad dash for Galaxy Hall where Rei was scrambling to collect all of his notes and books – anything that would be of use to them. His method was haphazard, but the professor wordlessly joined him and crammed a bag full before shoving his assistant out.

“Is anyone else here? Anyone?”

Laventon called frantically, but there was only the sound of water from outside.

He left Galaxy Hall, the stream flowing through Jubilife already overtaking its banks and the smell of salt stinging his nose as waves crashed into the western gate. Professor Laventon did not look back, only looking up to the blood red sky and silently begging Dawn for forgiveness and the Almighty for her safety.

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She barely got the words out as Laventon tackled her into a hug.

One so tight that she wheezed, but she returned his hug with equal vigor. He didn’t care about the mer-people staring daggers at him, his analytical mind didn’t immediately take over to have him barrel over and immediately begin examining every inch of Dawn’s new friends.

No.

Professor Laventon just held her, his knees aching from where they made hard contact with the sand and his heart pounding so hard and fast that he was fearful of a bout of tachycardia if he did not force himself to take a breath.

“You’re safe. Oh Dawn, thank the Almighty, you’re safe.”

She had some scratches and bruises, but like Cyllene suggested, she was mostly unscathed. Although not a particularly religious man, Laventon couldn’t help but thank all the gods listening for keeping her alive.

He drew back, carefully swiping the quiet tears from her cheeks and scrubbed at his own scruffy face with his forearm. It was only after that that he felt several pairs of eyes burning through him and he shrunk away from the imposing figures looming behind his young assistant. Dawn seemed to notice the radiating emotions from behind her and turned to say he was a friend.

“Professor Laventon taught me everything. He’s my biggest cheerleader.”

Dawn had to stifle a wet giggle when Laventon blushed, unconsciously rubbing the back of his neck with embarrassment. His reply was sheepish,

“Suppose I am…”

One mer-person, by far the biggest one there, emitted a low growl of contempt that made Laventon wince.

“Actually, that’s not fair. Ingo is tied with you.”

Dawn gestured to the merman in question, the bright blue of the sky sending his face into shadow and his folded arms made him remarkably unapproachable. The fact that his torso extended into the body of an absolutely massive orca did not send the best message either.

However –

“You, er – You looked after her, Mr. Ingo?”

He cleared his throat, but it still sounded a bit shrill.

“Yes, I took Dawn on as my charge when I became aware of her transformations. She has been a part of my cab for a considerable time now.”

Professor Laventon swallowed his fear, trying his best to replace it with the gratitude he knew was inside him under the intimidation.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

The merman lifted his hand and tipped a hat that Laventon had not realized was atop his head, his dark expression momentarily clear and he realized that he had nothing to worry about. He and Mr. Ingo were the same. They cared about Dawn and that was the only understanding they really needed.

“Would you mind introducing me to everyone else?”

The professor said after a moment, Dawn pulled him to his feet after she played a brief, haunting tune on her flute. This time, she hugged him properly, her fingers practically wringing the back of his shirt and her face pressed into the filthy tweed vest. That was all he needed to know that she had just been through an ordeal and was keeping up a front because that’s what she always did.

This whole time she had been living a double life and there were still unknown consequences to her actions. He didn’t need to ask to know she was terrified and didn’t know how to let it show to anyone but him.

“There, there.”

He soothed, feeling her sag against him. Laventon exhaled slowly, feeling her shoulders shake with a silent sob.

“Come what may, I will always be beside you and, in the end, it will all be alright.”

With that assurance and a hard gulp of air, Dawn turned around to begin introducing her mentor to the various members of the Diamond and Pearl Clans in attendance.

Even with his worries with Dawn, he had to tamp down the excitement he felt from being able to identify helpful adaptations and deviations from human and various animal anatomy.

By the time dusk rolled around, the one Dawn called Adaman – the leader of the Diamond Clan – was half blushing, half smirking as the professor marveled at the intricate webbing between his fingers.

Both leaders were giving him their assurances that they would assist the Galaxy Team in any way they could while the ocean slowly receded. It would be some time before that happened though, so they whole village took refuge in the skeletal remains of a temple on top of the mountain.

“Truthfully, I should not be the one negotiating this. You should really talk to Commander Kamado-”

“We would prefer not to at present.”

Irida’s voice was icy and Adaman pulled his hand back, a snarl morphing his face at the mention of the name.

“Erm… Perhaps Captain Cyllene then?”

She was the next best option, of course. All three mer-people turned to Dawn and only turned back to Laventon after receiving an assenting nod.

Thank Almighty. He was no politician.

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The constant flux between water and land was usual for Dawn by this point. Much of the unusual became common place by this point. The awkward first phase of the villagers meeting the mer-people was long over. Full cooperation was essential for survival.

Laventon likened it to anemones and clownfish.

Symbiosis.

The clans seemed to respond particularly well to him and Rei in particular, since their interest was in the natural world there was a lot less explanation involved with basic day-to-day activities that mer-people engaged in. They also were extremely careful with the world around them, admiring and studying, but never interfering.

All the wardens, however begrudgingly, allowed Laventon to examine them – and he was diligent but deferential. Since Dawn trusted him, they trusted him, and the professor would never betray that trust.

Once the waters lowered, Jubilife Village began to surge with life once more. Kamado had issued an apology to Dawn; everyone agreed it was half-hearted at best, but Dawn forgave him. The sad smile and haunted look to her eyes made it plain that she didn’t bear the commander any chagrin, because she knew exactly what he was afraid of.

For a time, everything seemed so normal.

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Dawn crawled back to Jubilife, blood matted in her hair and dried on her face save for the streak marks her tears had cut through it.

Volo.

Laventon had such admiration for the man. He had been such a help to Dawn when she had been abandoned on all sides. He even spent a lot of money on a bottle of Beni’s good sake to thank the merchant.

He had been conspiring. Boiling with an unseen rage and contempt that had nearly killed Dawn, twice.

Laventon insisted on telling the clan leaders – alone. He didn’t think Cyllene or Kamado would be able to explain it with the same level of anger that the man had burning through every capillary and neuron.

Adaman and Irida’s reactions ranged from confusion to shock to an unbridled fury that Laventon only gladly stoked the flames of. He would have wrung Volo’s neck himself, but he had to be long gone. Perhaps still skulking around the sea floor, out of reach of the consequences he would face for nearly killing Dawn at the hands of Galaxy Team, but not of the clans.

“She defeated Volo and the many-armed serpent, but at great cost. She’s laid up in the infirmary now. Our finest doctor is tending to her as we speak. As I have come to understand, the beast brought her to the surface as an act of atonement before absconding… I don’t know what became of Volo.”

He spit the last word. The damnable snake in the grass!

“That bloody bastard!”

Laventon couldn’t help it, barking out his frustration and ripping his hat off his head. He was shaking.

Twice.

Twice on his watch, Dawn had nearly died.

What good was he?

Laventon cleared his throat. Providing a description of the man and telling both leaders that Volo was extremely dangerous, the professor implied that no human punishment would be suitable for deeds.

“I’m sorry. I must get back to Dawn… She’s a most stubborn patient.”

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