The Equilibrium Headquarters.
A mansion... no, a castle of hundreds of rooms, training grounds and the largest armory. It's spacious and posh, yet the atmosphere is always so thick, quiet and grim.
It's the gathering place of all rangers, who fight for the balance of the world, or rather - multiple worlds to which they have access to. From rookies to the elite squad, each of them carrying out countless missions, which involve purging rampaging "anima mortus" - dark creatures that were once cute and harmless, but due to absorbing negative emotions, they evolve into macabre uncontrollable monsters.
Shu was walking through the HQ's hallway, his steps muffled by the soft red carpet. He was minding his own business, when something picked his interest. He could hear the faint sound of music, a slow melody. He looked around, trying to locate the source. The louder it got, the faster he walked. Finally, the clues lead him to Cruz's office.
From all those rooms Shu could've find, why does it have to be exactly Cruz's office? The tall blonde ranger frowned. Cruz was the proud CEO of the Equilibrium Organization, but no matter how much authority he had, Shu will always despise him all the same. There were just too many things between them, that couldn't be forgiven easily. The mutual grudge may have lessened over the time, but it was still there, resulting in being catty with each other.
Shu would've just turn around and leave, but one detail was enough to spark his curiosity.
The door to the office wasn't closed properly. How weird. Cruz never really leaves his door open, even if it's just a crack.
The ranger sneaked up and moved the door slightly, then looked through the gap. He could see Cruz from the back, sitting in his arm chair, leaning over something. A book? Reports? The typical mana smoke was surrounding him, floating around. A bottle of wine was standing on the coffee table in front of Cruz, accompanied by a single half filled glass. A gramophone nearby was filling the room with a slow piano melody.
It wasn't the first time Shu would witness a drinking Cruz, but he never saw him drinking all by himself. He decided to enter the room and see how the CEO is doing. Maybe he could have a laugh at his expense.
"It's unlike you to leave the door open."
Cruz looked quickly over the shoulder. Once he spotted Shu, he frowned.
"Nebula." He mumbled with an annoyed tone "What do you want?"
"Nothing. I was just passing by." Shu closed the door behind, and approached the already drunken boss. "Need company?"
"Meh. Who would want YOUR company? You untamed nosy bastard."
Shu didn't give a damn about the insults, it's a daily thing for them to just throw a few curses at each other. He sat in the armchair next to Cruz.
"You seem like you need help to empty that bottle. Guess who's ready to volunteer?"
"Urgh, whatever." Cruz rolled his eyes and waved sloppily with the hand "Get yourself a glass."
But right after he said that, Shu just grabbed the bottle and took a gulp from it. Cruz just sighed at the manners. "Peasant."
"What'cha doing? Remembering the old days of glory or what?"
Shu pointed at the book that Cruz had on his lap. It turned out to be a photo album.
"...Maybe." he says short.
"Can I see?"
Cruz hesitated, but then just put it carefully on the coffee table.
"Yeah."
Shu took the album and paged through it. There were photos that showed signs of age, other seemed new. There were mostly groups of people to see, and some with Cruz accompanied by a single person, posing proudly.
"Who are those people?" He couldn't recognize most of them. Some only vaguely.
"Members of the Equilibrium."
"Retired?"
"Dead."
Cruz said with a straight face, which made Shu feel a cold shiver going through his spine.
The tired CEO sighed.
"Not all of them are dead... But... yeah." He finished his glass of wine in one go.
"They were... great people. Great fighters... But as you know. In this line of work. Everything can happen." he paused for a moment.
"Sometimes I just... like to go over the photos, and remember them... remember the times we spent together. That's all I have left. Old photos. And memories."
"You miss them a lot, do you?"
"Yes" The boss nodded slowly.
"I didn't know you can be this sentimental."
"Good. I don't want you to know more about me than you already do." Cruz huffed.
"...Would you miss me?"
Shu asked and looked Cruz in the eyes, which caught the CEO off guard.
Cruz inhaled, as if to say something, but he paused. He just stared at Shu with a mix of surprise and sadness on his face, like trying to reveal something really important. But then his expression changed to his usual grumpy frown.
"As if. Who would want to remember you?" he replied gruffly, crossing arms on his chest.
Shu's eyebrow twitched with anger.
"Tch" he hissed and closed the album with a loud slam.
"Oh yeah? Well, whether you like it or not, I am already a legend around here. After all, who else is filled to the brim with 3 mana types at once? Wasn't I like, the first AND only one to ever manage that? You may not have any photos of me in your stupid little book, but I will be always a memorable member of the Equilibrium Organization, ALWAYS."
Shu finished his heated up monologue and looked up, only to see that his boss has fallen asleep. How could he manage that with all the shouting? But that just pissed off the ranger even more.
"Oh, is that so? Just you wait, you damn asshole."
Shu grabbed a black marker from a drawer and decided to write "Cruz is a dick" on the last page of the photo album. His lovely memento to the shitty boss.
He grabbed the album and opened it on the last page, but a few photos were stashed loosely there, and they scattered over the table. When Shu took a closer look, he was surprised and confused. All of them were photos of him taking part in various events during his time in the Organization. Upon further examination, each photo had a small memo written on the back - the name of the event and probably Cruz's personal thoughts, how happy or proud he was.
Shu felt moved, then he sighed and smirked.
"Heh. You stupid old liar. You really would miss me."
Shu took the marker and decided to leave a message anyway, but less mean. He then stashed the photos together neatly, and closed the album, leaving it on the table. He stood up, turned the gramophone off, and put a coat over Cruz like a blanket. After that, he grabbed the bottle of wine and left the office quietly.
It was early morning when Cruz woke up, a bit woozy.
He rubbed his forehead mumbling, then just put hands to his temples and used his mana to get rid of that nasty hangover. A helpful trick taught by one of their medics.
Feeling a bit better, he looked around and remembered that Shu visited him before he dozed off.
"Heh. If he only knew." Cruz shook his head and chuckled, thinking that his little secret was safe. As to confirm it, he opened the photo album where his secret stash of photos was, and then he noticed the message left by Shu.
"You're a liar and a dick. But you're an ok leader and sometimes I hate you less. Don't get too cocky because I said that."
Nebula.
Cruz blinked then laughed leaning back in his armchair.
"Aaah fuck, he found out."
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