Note: So I'm kind of back from hiatus... This fic is based on sketches of a mermaid!Quinn by tumblr user luckypressure. Eh, I don't have much else to say right now, so I hope you enjoy this first chapter! Comments are appreciated.
It was so easy, singing people to their deaths. The mermaid contemplated this—what her life had become after a short, unhappy series of events—as she rearranged the many jewels and valuables she salvaged from the shipwrecks her voice caused in the recent past.
Her routine was simple, almost monotonous. First, she would search the ocean for signs of a ship's approach, and if one was on its way, she would position herself so that it would sail towards her and the rocky cliff face behind her. The days were usually foggy, and the ancient lighthouse at the top of the cliff was rarely used. It only seemed to serve as an ironic decoration. The mermaid's voice would float along in the fog, reaching the ears of the tired sailors. They would capture her voice in their minds, become fixated on it, and set a course for its origin. Before they could realize that they had made a poor decision, the ship would crash violently into the rocks, not before the mermaid swam to safety nearby, of course. After the crash, the mermaid would return from her hiding place and search the seawater for anything valuable. Jewels and the like had always interested her as a young mermaid, and even before this point in her life she had collected random pieces of shining jewelry that had floated into her domain. She would rarely give her attention to the humans, who were often dead or dying, and instead would swiftly take what she pleased and return to a cove nearby that she called home. After acting as a siren for some time, she had come to enjoy it somewhat; she believed she was carrying out acts of justice.
The mermaid had been alone for some time—her family suffered horribly in "accidents" involving humans, and the memories that haunted her were partly to blame for her murderous actions.
"Quinn! Go far away from here! Save yourself!"
The memory of her older sister's death crushed her every time it crept back into her thoughts. The mermaid abandoned her treasures as she sunk back into the salty water in the cove, clutching her head in agony. She remembered watching her sister tangled in that fishing net, and soon after her parents suffered a similar fate. The other merpeople that knew her and her family had offered their condolences and offered for Quinn to stay with them, but she refused, trying desperately to swim far away from them and the memories of her past.
This was her world now: killing the humans who killed her family. In her mind, Quinn was doing the right thing. She was getting revenge, and the jewels and treasures were just a bonus. She wondered sometimes if it was her destiny to lure sailors to their deaths and to be alone in her endeavors.
She rearranged her jewels again, looking them over quickly, and departed from the cove, hoping to find a ship on its way. As soon as she reached the rocky cliff, Quinn was in luck. She spotted a small, dark object in the distance—it had to be a ship. She positioned herself on one of the rocks and waited until the shadow came closer. The fog crept in, the waves lashed at the rocks, and Quinn began to sing. Her voice filled the air, reaching up to the ancient lighthouse, and out to the dark ship. It looked as if a storm were brewing, with choppy waves lapping at the ship's sides and winds whipping at the sails. But the voice of the mermaid gave the men fated to die aboard the ship at a false sense of ease. She continued to sing as the ship grew closer, and right when it looked as if it were going to run her down, Quinn ceased her singing and dove into the foamy water. She made it to her hiding place and the ship crashed violently into the cliff, sending bodies and pieces of wood into the air.
Some time passed, and the fog began to clear, exposing a late afternoon sun falling slowly in the sky. Quinn made her way from the hiding place and silently searched the nearby water. There were many bodies in the water, and the mermaid swam past them, not bothering to give them a second look. When she began luring sailors to the cliff face not long ago, Quinn's curiosity got the better of her and she had inspected a few of the dead bodies. She noted that they all had features similar to mermen—except for the tail. Most of them were rather hideous, and Quinn never regretted sending them to their deaths. As she collected a few treasures from her latest encounter, she wondered if all humans were as despicable as the ones who killed her family.
The mermaid carefully gathered up her new findings, took one last look at the wreckage she caused, and swam towards the cove, knowing that she was doomed to repeat the process the following day, and maybe forever. But for now, the treasures she amassed and the justice she thought she had carried out made it all bearable.