Thread: Sympathy for the Siren (Leon & Roses)

Decades have come and gone. The extermination long over. Ariels face scrubbed from Disneys archives forever, no longer do little girls dream of being mermaids. For you see when the real mermaids were discovered and the humans childlike fascination forced them to try and make contact, their persistence did not end in a way anyone expected. At first they fled and humans pursued. When they finally stood their ground humans died, pulled to the depths by the sirens songs. Needless to say, the humans werent happy. Slaughter is what came next. Like the great shark hunts, televisions and newspapers were filled with images of merfolk strung up on docks and bows of ships. Mankind hunted the beast until they could no more. Rumor of their extinction started to spread, and once again people felt safe going back to the beaches. But one small aquarium, back in the very beginning, thought that they might be able to make a profit of the whole merfolk scandal. You cant keep dangerous sharks in tanks, but what about mermaids? It was a large tank compared to most in the building, but still too small for a creature her size. The filter in the wall broke almost ten years ago and no one had bothered to change it since, the algae clinging to the grimy glass and walls were proof of that. There were no decorations, live or artificial, just rough cement walls on three sides and a large glass window on the other. The dingy water was greasy and stagnant, full of filth and trash, the only movement coming from its single inhabitant. There were no signs or labels directing visitors to this exhibit and to get to it, one had to traverse down a dimly lit hallways devoid of any other creatures. The flickering lights threatening to go out revealed the almost lifeless creature sitting in the bottom of her tank. IT was clear that at one point in her life she must have been beautiful, but that was sixty years ago, back before her imprisonment, back before the war. Pale skin once flawless was now sunken and sickly, showing malnourishment her ribs and hipbones poking through the almost translucent layers. He cheeks were hollow, bright violet eyes were sunken. Long thick tail that should have been a vibrant blue green was dull, scales falling off in patches. The scales traveled up her spine and across her chest just barely concealing her, they covered her elbows and wrists, but even there too they were sliding off in dull groups. Pointed fin like ears poked out from pearlescent hair that had lost its sheen. The mermaid sat listlessly on the bottom of her tank staring at the wall trying to avoid the filth that floated above her. It had been a few days. Her bright eyes flicked towards the surface. The never fed her anything fresh or healthy but when you went days without eating even rotten fish would have appeal. She wondered if anyone would come today to feed her. Her ear twitched and her gaze shifted to her glass window, pale strands drifting and swirling about her face as she heard strange sounds traveling through the water. Odd noises started several days ago from somewhere else in the building. Something mechanical. Banging. Loud men talking. Something was happening but she didnt know what it was. As long as no one came to bother her, she didnt care. At this point all she wanted was food.