Ceridwen Llewelynn
She could see it even from the window of the gradually descending airplane, as land that was previously indistinct patches of colours came slowly into detailed focus. At the end of their long journey from alpine heights to low plains across the breadth of Aquitania, the wide Adour flowed patiently on the man-hewn channel, while the cool Nive descended from the cold springs of the Pyrenees to bifurcate the residential district, crossed at points by arching pedestrian bridges. At the heart of the city the two rivers met, and the onrush carried their waters to the crescent of the Bay of Biscay to finally mingle in swirls of brackish water and silt. Around that propitious juncture a city had blossomed, a mix of modern French and traditional Basque aesthetics, with old fortifications and cathedrals dotting the banks of the two rivers.
One could almost feel the weight of tradition in the stone foundations of castles laid almost a thousand years ago. Truly, the south of France was a beautiful land.
Now if only the same could be said about its people.
If Emile Champollion had only thought to channel his grievances into sharp remarks, perhaps to alleviate his own frustration or faze the pair of women, then that would have been the end of it. Insults only wounded as deep as one allowed them to cut; in the case of Ceridwen, with her long years in the Clock Tower, the words of a boy that hardly seemed much older than herself didn't so much as dent her composure. She could hardly imagine Miss Lockhart, the consummate academic, caring one bit for a Second Owner's tantrum either.
But it hadn't ended there. Whatever the man's purpose was, it appeared that he was entirely serious in his desire to refuse cooperation with the Association's detachment; in fact, his openly hostile expression even openly implied that he had no intention of performing his duties of assistance should the Enforcers stay.
Ceridwen took in his features with a neutral expression, her eyes following the arcs of the twirling plastic card in his fingers for a moment. Perhaps he had noticed her scrutiny, as his scowl seemed to dip just a tad deeper than before.
It seemed that this Second Owner thought the issue of the murders fell solely to him to address, out of some belief that his abilities alone would suffice to subdue Perdition, or that the matters of Bayonne were under his own jurisdiction. For the Association to send the Enforcers in, that must have meant to him that the Clock Tower placed no confidence in the land's owner to deal with the danger alone; or that must have been the thought of the prideful magus, who saw his territory encroached upon by a murderer, and then found himself barred from acting against him.
A prideful and foolish magus, then. As if the ego of one man would hold any importance when measured against the gravest danger against the moonlit world, the disruption of the delicate secrecy that kept the entire system of thaumaturgy in balance. Thinking his self-satisfaction more important that safeguarding the veil that keeps the two world apart at any cost, this boy would have the two of them disobey their orders and leaving their mission to him - and for what?
This one thinks so highly of himself that he would try to buy off Enforcers as if they were mercenaries...!
It made Ceridwen want to forget composure and just laugh in his face, but that would hardly be proper decorum for an Enforcer, even more so on her first assignment. To begin with, there was no need to answer derision with mockery, not when she carried behind her - and was carrying out - the authority and will of the Association. To properly enforce these values, one had to take hold of the situation from the beginning and set the record straight.
"...if you have any complaints, Mr. Champollion, then be sure to submit them through formal procedures to the 14th Department directly. Regardless of that, the Association is expecting your full cooperation on this case as dictated by the duties associated with the title of Second Owner of Bayonne that has been granted to your family. We look forward to your assistance so that this matter can be resolved as quickly as possible."
In the small polite smile that capped off this proclamation, lay the simple, unspoken meaning.
The Association owns you too.
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Originally Posted by Kotonoha
