Across the Great Plains was the small township of Plaros, whose people were known for their mastery in sculpting. This was where the ‘Thousand-Year Statue’ was discovered. The Thousand-Year Statue was one of the Five Artifacts, also referred to as the Five Truths, that displayed evidence to the people for the existence of the gods. This particular statue was of a standing woman cradling a baby and sharing her only garment with him. The people had believed that it was hand-carved by the gods themselves, as it was too good to have been made by human hands. A thousand years after the discovery, the town bred masters of sculpting for generations who went on to produce world famous works that even kings and queens from other lands would come to see. No sculptor had ever managed to come close in rivaling the mastery of The Thousand-Year Statue.

Alexandria, the youngest child of three, was raised within the small community of Plaros. Everyone was gracious to one another and well nourished, as their climate allowed them to grow crops year-round. This also made for good business to trade with neighboring lands whose climates lacked proper vegetation. The people were also well educated and cultured as they would meet many diverse travelers from around the world who would come to study their history and art. Alexandria volunteered at the art gallery of Plaros and provided guided tours to visitors. She would often gaze at The Thousand-Year Statue as if she was also one of the foreign visitors experiencing it for the first time. She shared a great passion for sculpting and spent most of her childhood learning the craft.

One year, there was a longer than normal drought in Plaros which impacted hundreds of kilometers in surrounding lands. It prevented farmers from trading crops as they wanted to preserve their food incase the drought persisted. This angered many neighboring lands.

Late one night, a sea of foreign men traveled across the Great Plains to strike Plaros. They broke into homes and viciously raped and slaughtered anyone in their path. They savagely destroyed many sculptures and statues and set fire to the galleria while survivors watched in horror. Alexandria witnessed the murder of her father and two brothers as they tried to fight off men who broke into their home. Her mother pulled her into a room and muttered in a panic to run away and never look back. As the men burst through the door, Alexandria disappeared through the window. The loud cries of her mother and all of Plaros became deafening as Alexandria ran towards the Great Plains while clutching onto the chisel that was passed down by her grandfather. She ran until she realized that the screaming voices and burning flames were only heard in her head. Depleted, she fell to the cool dirt ground that was illuminated by the moon and cried herself to sleep.

Three days and three nights passed. Alexandria was starved, weak, and sunburnt. She had collapsed numerous times but found miraculous bursts of energy to pick herself up to continue in the pursuit of shelter.

As she walked, a tremendous force had collapsed on her again. The chisel flung out from her hand and rolled a few feet away. She attempted to pick herself up twice but failed. On the third attempt, with all her might and effort, she picked her trembling body up halfway for a mere second before dropping back down to the ground like a sack of rocks. Alexandria became disheartened and yelled to the sky, “Why do you play me like your puppet? I shall cut these strings and be free from you!” She then rolled over with the only strength she had left and reached for the chisel. As she grabbed it, a new burst of energy pulled her up to her feet.

She walked for the next eight hours without stopping until finding refuge in a remote village called Samaras. She collapsed in the middle of the town square and slept for two days straight to awake in a cot next to a basket of fruit and water. A woman and a man stared over her and smiled.

Twenty years had gone by. Alexandria mostly kept to herself and lived a private life. From an early age, she taught the art of sculpting to a few students which led to a prospering career. She eventually opened a galleria, showcasing sculptures and statues of the best local artists.

Her favorite student was Diosponi—he reminded Alexandria of herself as a child. He asked many questions and gazed deeply into the statues that her gallery exhibited. One day, the young boy asked Alexandria the same question that many others had asked for years, which was why she had never finished a piece herself. Alexandria was known to pass off her unfinished pieces to students to complete. She usually shied away from this question but answered Diosponi truthfully. She told him in secrecy that she had been working on completing a piece and promised that he would be the first to see it.

Another few decades had gone by, and Diosponi had a wife and a son. He lived in a town next to Samaras and owned a school where he taught children math and arts. He left to visit Alexandria, as word had spread that she had become ill with little time to live.

Diosponi began to weep as he saw her old and withered body in bed. They both smiled and shared her final moments together. Before saying his last goodbye, Alexandria reminded him of the promise she had once made. She told him to take the key sitting on her bedside table and go to the back of her galleria through the locked door where he would find her completed piece. Alexandria smiled and so did Diosponi. He kissed her on the cheek and watched her fading smile disappear into a calm and peaceful state. Diosponi had noticed that Alexandria had been clutching onto the same chisel she had carried all her life. Her eyes began to close, and the chisel loosened from her tight grip until it gently rolled over to the side of her body, along with her last sighing breath.

Diosponi unlocked the door at the back of the galleria as instructed. A drape covered the piece in the middle of the organized work space. Within a moment of glancing down, he shrieked and jumped backwards as he stared at a white serpent coiled around the right foot of a person who remained completely hidden underneath the drape. After a long second, he noticed that the foot and serpent were frozen and stood on a marble slab, all made from one piece. He pulled the drape down with a quick motion and instantly fell to his knees in awe as he looked up at a young man who held a spear next to his heart. It was the most perfect statue he had ever seen, as if it were sculpted by the gods themselves.