There is an aged, weather-beaten statue made of crass marble or clay that sits deep within a nameless forest. The story of how it came to be is passed down generation through generation, inscribed in books and told through word of mouth.
Once upon a time, there lived a kindly prince. He was beloved by his people and adored by the king and queen. It was a most perfect life, befitting the most perfect ruler of men. There were no ails that befell him or his kin.
However, one day a disaster struck. A horde of fanatics tore hither and thither, razing the prosperous country into unfortunate ruins. And in the process of this maddened savagery, the prince's parents perished.
As the skies bled crimson, the poor son hugged his dear father and mother, praying to high heaven to save them. He would do everything, at any price. Yet, no miracle arrived and his caretakers were left to rot without the proper dignity of a regal and sacred farewell.
Alas, with all these horrors, the prince went insane. He sputtered about, talking to the air as if his parents were right there. He constructed dirt mounds and addressed them as if they were the king and queen. He sought after dangerous ways, attempting to build genuine bodies resembling his parents for reasons only his bereaved mind would know.
But it was in vain. He despaired, and he wrote of it in his journal he kept since childhood. His torment arose from the miserable reality that his parents were never more in the present. Only his memories sustained them. The images he had of them were imperfect. A living being could change, and become something else. His Idea of his parents however were unmalleable. In days gone, they had Life, life of their own. Now, they relied on his imperfect recollection.
He wanted to grant them life in the now, yet it was impossible. He was not capable. He wanted them to tell him secrets, tales of their youth, things never discussed. But only his imagination could imitate such acts, crude and solipsistic in nature.
Thus he stumbled into a nameless forest and wept bitterly. His tears dried around him, surrounding him in sediment. He clutched at his heart as he entombed himself in the mind, trying to create a picturesque replica of the world, one where his parents still were.
In it, he still resides. Hidden in his hopeless mind, he seeks to recreate the world, so that his parents may become alive again.