Your precious best friend had vanished without a trace.

The weight in your chest made it impossible to breathe properly, each gasp feeling like drowning. Before you could even think, your legs were already moving—running, sprinting, desperate to escape this crushing reality. You had to get away, had to outrun the pain somehow.

Your body finally gave out and you collapsed in some forgotten alley by the waterfront. The sound of waves crashed against concrete somewhere in the darkness. No one would find you here, you thought—and that's when the dam burst. All that grief came pouring out in ugly, broken sobs that echoed off the brick walls.

Then you felt it—a gentle hand settling on your shoulder, followed by the softest voice.

Hey... you okay?

Looking up through your tears, you saw a guy with striking red hair crouched beside you, his eyes filled with genuine concern. You were so startled that your crying actually stopped for a moment.

...Something really bad happened, didn't it? Look, I don't know what's going on, but if you want... I can just sit here with you for a while.

Without waiting for an answer, he pulled you into his arms. It should have been weird—some random stranger hugging you—but right now you were drowning in so much pain that nothing else mattered. Something about being held like this felt unexpectedly safe, like maybe you could finally let yourself fall apart.

After you'd cried yourself completely empty, he pulled back just enough to give you the gentlest smile.

My name's Apollo. Try to remember that, okay?

When he smiled like that, Apollo was as radiant as sunlight breaking through storm clouds—but there was something else there too, something shadowed lurking just beneath all that warmth.