KING OF STIGMA

The Trip

Blaze sat on the edge of his bed, he appeared to be in a daze as he gazes at his reflection on the mirror. 

"Where did I go wrong?" Blaze asked no one in particular as he sinks his head onto his palms. He was seated at the edge of his bed. 

He sighs raising his head to look at his reflection on the mirror. 

"That's what you get for being a decent guy, Blaze... I gave my world and time to her and what did she do?" Blaze gritted his teeth as he balled his fist. 

"She cheated on me, with that asshole of a manager!" He yelled from the bottom of his belly as he yanks his head. 

"Six years! Six long years of memories, laughter and love, destroyed in an instant, how could you do this to me... To us, Suzie!?" Blaze huffed before taking a deep breath to calm himself. 

"Pain is the only truth that sticks..." He muttered to himself silently. 

He couldn't shake the image of seeing her together with her department manager in their own bed. 

"What's worse, she didn't even pretend to be sorry for her actions..." 

"I can't do this anymore, Blaze," Suzie's cold words echoed in his mind. There was no remorse, no apology—just a brutal end to their relationship.

Blaze's gaze wandered to the framed photograph on his bedside table. It was a snapshot of happier times. But now, it's tainted by betrayal. 

Just then, a knock on the door broke the suffocating silence. Soon after, the door crept over and a man walked inside. 

"Uncle Dane..." Said Blaze in a depressed tone. 

"Blaze, pack your bags. We're going on a trip," Dane said, his voice gentle yet firm.

Blaze blinked, momentarily taken aback. "A trip? Where?"

"To dig for the truth," Dane replied cryptically, his eyes twinkling with a hint of mischief. "There's something fascinating I want to show you."

Blaze couldn't help but find himself intrigued by his uncle's offer. Maybe a change of scenery was exactly what he needed to escape the suffocating weight of heartbreak.

"Give me a sec to freshen up." 

Dane grinned, "That's my boy, don't take too long though, we have a long trip ahead of us boy!" 

Blaze proceeded to clean himself up, after having breakfast and packing his essentials for the trip, he met up with Klau. 

"Ready boy?" 

"Yes..." 

The bus rumbled along the winding road, the scenery outside was a beautiful blur of greenery and distant mountains. 

Blaze sat beside his uncle Dane, his thoughts still clouded by everything that had happened to him.

Dane took whiff of his depressing and sorry attitude, he eaned in, with his eyes burning with excitement. 

"You know, Blaze, there's so much waiting to be discovered at the site," Dane began, his voice filled with enthusiasm. 

"I'm sure once we start exploring, you'll find yourself completely absorbed."

Blaze managed a weak smile, grateful for his uncle's attempt to lift his spirits.

 "I hope so, Uncle Dane. I could use a distraction right now."

Dane smirked, "You see, some experts believe that what we're about to uncover could be the remnants of an ancient civilization lost to history."

Blaze's interest was piqued, the mention of a forgotten civilization momentarily overshadowing his heartache. 

"Really? What kind of things have they found?"

Dane leaned back, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

 "Well, for starters, there are countless faded paintings and Stigmas adorning the walls and artifacts scattered throughout the site. But that's just the beginning. We've unearthed graves containing skeletons of giants—some standing as tall as ten meters!"

Blaze's eyebrows shot up in astonishment. "Giants? That's incredible!"

Dane nodded, his excitement was highly palpable and contagious. 

"And it doesn't stop there. We've discovered fossils of massive creatures, like a bird with a wingspan of over a meter. The mysteries buried within these ruins are endless, Blaze. Who knows what other secrets we'll uncover?"

As the bus rolled onward, Blaze's mind drifted in and out of the conversation, his thoughts still tangled in the wreckage of his shattered relationship with Suzie.

'Suzie...' 

Despite his best efforts to focus on his uncle Dane's words, he still found himself a prisoner of the past. 

Before he knew it, the bus came to a halt, and the group disembarked at the archaeological site of Stigmas. Determined to distract himself from his turmoil, Blaze threw himself into helping his uncle with the excavation work. 

Yet that was all he could do - Try. 

He picked up a large stone. He stumbled to balance his footing at first but he managed to keep his bearings. 

"Phew," Dane sighed. that was clos-" Before he could finish, Blaze slipped tumbling over the edge of the cliff.

"Blaze!" 

The world spun wildly around him as he plummeted downward, the sharp rocks and jagged edges of the cliffside rushing up to meet him.

With a sickening crash, Blaze crashed with the unforgiving ground below, the pain exploded through every single fiber of his being. However, it was for a single moment as he quickly found himself losing consciousness. 

Darkness, that was all Blaze could see, it was as if he was being devoured by it while his consciousness slipped further away. 

Blaze's gaze was fixed on the amber fossil his uncle had given him, it radiated a calm glimmer of light. 

'What's going on?' 

Suddenly, a miniature Nine-headed Dragon emerged from the amber, it carried with it a faint glint. 

Blaze's blood was spilled all over the ancient Sig-Item, this only added to the strange incident. A wondrous transformation began to unfold before his fading senses.

The amber seemed to dissolved into shimmering particles, scattering into the air like stardust, leaving behind only the memory of its radiant glow.

At this point, Blaze's body couldn't cope any further. He could feel it- he was going to die. He couldn't feel his body and he's lost alot of blood. 

"At least now I'll be free from those horrific memories. No more trauma... No more sleepless nights... No more brooding... No more pain." He uttered barely with the last of his remaining strength as

he wore a faint smile before everything finally went Stigma for him.