Chapter 1: Rock-a-bye baby

Rock-a-bye baby, in the treetop
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall
And down willcome baby, cradle and all

The normal is the good smile in a child's eye. It is also the dead stare in a million adults. Normalcy sustains. Abnormality kills. It was this very abnormality that appeared in the first few seconds of a normal video that played on television sets across the whole country. It was the hint of deviant behavior of a helicopter that arrested the attention of the entire nation, it was the launch of its first missile that had made the districts gasp and cry all at once. It was the sight of the broken wing of an airplane that had widened a million pairs of eyes. It was the fact that the plane was nose diving into the ground that many people had begun to pray. It was the abject horror of watching the plane crash that lead to a mass breakdown. And when the chopper had gracefully completed its terror, not many could watch the second explosion that occurred midair. The wisp of the smoked letters lingered in the skies and faded. But not before humanity's strongest soldier had noted them with disgust.

"Macavity." Levi muttered. His blue eyes became hard as he recalled the body count in the unfortunate accident – one hundred twenty-seven.

Levi looked at the clock – 2:03 pm. It had been exactly thirty-two hours since the demise had happened. He knew the crash would come to light but to think that Macavity would be as crude as to film the incident in all its glory and send it to the new stations. Levi pressed the mute button and shut off the annoying background tune of Rock-a-bye baby that accompanied the video. He glanced at the papers arranged on his desk.

He had, at first, assumed that Macavity was the usual everyday psychopath with a thing for nursery rhymes. He had been wrong of course. But in even in his wildest suppositions, Levi would not have assumed that last week's three murders would escalate into such terror propaganda.

"The bastard."

Levi leafed through the reports. He had read, re-read, briefed, noted, added new developments and mind mapped the reports. And the only clue he had was – Macavity had something against migrants.

"Typical." Levi said to himself. He wondered what the public reaction would be to the news and realized that they would not be pleased with least, so he left the subject altogether. He proceeded to put the reports back into his drawer.

That done, Levi turned on the sound and skimmed through channels when a video clip of the blond haired defense minister caught his eye. He read the headline: All incoming and outgoing transport banned, sine die.

"Smooth." The captain turned off the TV

Ring.

Within the first ring, Levi picked up the phone and listened for a while when suddenly, he started out of his seat. "THERE'S A SHIP OUT THERE? CARRYING MIGRANTS?"

"Yes." It was the defense minister – Erwin on the other side.

So much for unnecessary causalities. Levi thought and sat down.

"What do we do?"

"Try and bring them back." He doubted if it was even worth the effort. If Macavity had detected the ship Bankur then even the fastest boat and best soldiers would not be able to save it. And that was assuming the ship was not blasted already.

"When would the rescue team be leaving then?"

Levi picked up his smartphone, unlocked it and pressed the virtual red button.

"Now." He cut off the call and rose from his chair. He had to go to the harbor. His team would be waiting.

Meanwhile, the said ship was out by miles, having departed two days ago and everybody was enjoying the pilgrimage so far, except for a little boy who leaned across a railing, solitarily. He heard a faint sickening scream that pitched over the sea. The boy shuddered.

"Don't worry, laddie." A sailor patted his back. "We'll be around the land anytime soon."

The boy took no notice of him and simply shook his head. "We won't be around soon."

Children recognize the cry of banshees when they hear it.

Author's note:

So, I have been writing this Attack on titan fanfic and have been unable to write the other Harry potter fanfic.

And by the way, let's negotiate. You see, I absolutely detest using bad language which Levi is so comfortable with and so I will use mild language with bastard being the highest degree of it. Will you accept this compromise?

Did you like this chapter? Do you think Levi is in-character or out of character and in case of anomalies please review or PM me. Thanks!