NOTES: Story was discontinued due to lack of ideas and I've actually wrote the second chapter to it a long time ago, but you can tell that I honestly didn't know where I was going with it at all because it's definitely not something that belongs to a story all about Greek gods and heroes and actually plays out too much like a child's story. I really didn't had very many ideas to start with and only wrote this story on a whim to be honest. So the story will remain here in the memorial unless I do get a lot of support from people believing I should continue to work on it (which isn't really necessary and I highly doubt it will happen, especially with how terribly the next chapter plays out.)

You may review this story if you wish, but please note that I probably won't work on it again unless I somehow get some revelation for it or I get support whatever which, so all of these stories that are in the memorial are marked as "Complete" because I am planning on not touching them for a long time.

The war has been won, but some of this world's greatest heroes, were lost.

A woman lost her husband, aged 27, in this war, and she couldn't stop crying on the news of his death. More and more women were told on the deaths of their husbands, sons, brothers, and they always shed tears when they heard the news. So many tears were gathered that day; they thought they could make a whole new ocean with them on the thousands, millions of the lives these women would no longer see. They never really told them goodbye, and that made them cry the biggest tears. They felt they didn't spend enough time with them. They felt they never kissed them before they left, unaware on how many lives this war machine would take. But death happens the least you expect it, and that's what gives it its most devastating effect. You met this man on the street a day ago, then you watch the news and you find out the very next day the man died of a sudden heart attack. And you say to yourself, "Damn, I just met him yesterday. I could've at least listened to his life story, to hear about his family and job and maybe warn him that he was possibly going to get that heart attack, but he's dead now." But Death will never let you know of your loved ones before they're dead. Or complete strangers. That's what makes his job so appealing to him. And maybe he's going to come after you. Who knows? He wants you to learn about your life after all, and learn of your regrets. That's why Death takes pride in his job, as he reaps the many souls that are destined to go into the Underworld, where the dark lord Hades and his many demon servants, reign. He works all day in his Soul Farm, reaping all those souls, and no matter how much you beg and cry to let you go back into the world of the Living, he decides that maybe you're a candidate to the Underworld, and off you went, to meet Hades and see his grinning wide-toothed puppy Cerberus, who was born with a slight malfunction: it had three heads. And was about twenty feet high. And his mouth can devour you whole if he wanted to. But it was under Hades' strict orders that he behaved himself around the new guests, or else he would get swatted with a newspaper. The guests were always surprised when this dog was scared of something as harmless to them as newspaper. Why, that's something I read everyday, and this gigantic dog is scared of that? Why yes, I do agree that the Politics section is quite scary, in fact, I skip it entirely! No one wants to hear of those crooked politicians with no heart and soul! Well, don't worry about that too much dearie, because they're going to become new guests in the Underworld. Very soon might I add.

This story isn't as dark as it really sounds, however. I might actually differ that it's quite "cheery" and "uplifting", but I never really liked those kinds of stories, but I'm sure the author told you that if you liked those kinds of stories you would be here, isn't that right? Well I'm afraid you're right. No one wants to hear dreary stories all the time. In fact, I'm afraid one of us might have picked up a Nora Roberts book from time to time to read something cheesy and uplifting. Well, let me begin by another path in this story. I only told you about the wives and Death and the Underworld to let you know a little about this story's background. Why yes, you would know that's supposed to be an element of "storytelling", and those kids who I would tell campfire stories to would always say I smelled like moldy fish and my stories sucked and I might as well tell them the story about the apes jumping on the bed or some nonsense. The stories we tell children these days have no substance, no character, but maybe you would say the same about this story. Because I, after all, smell of moldy fish.

We begin this story with one of those wives. Her name was Amy Emilia Rose, who was a pink hedgehog. Now, why would I tell you a story about a pink hedgehog? Am I smelling of moldy fish again? Well, even though she was an anthropomorphic animal, she went through the same ordeal these wives went through: the tale of how their husband died tragically in this war, and they shed those tears. Boohoo. If only anyone cared about me these days…but I simply avoided the war by faking my death. And no one mourned for me.

Oh, I'm sorry, are we off-topic, dearie? Well, her husband was a valiant warrior, and with his strength and courage, he managed to defeat the War Machine and everything was all right and peaches again. Unfortunately, he died, with a sword pierced through his chest. He bled to death, before anyone noticed how much pain and suffering he was in. But the pain and suffering didn't matter much to him. He fought bravely in this war. And that was all that really mattered to him.

She loved her husband dearly. She even did the usual kissing him before he went out to the war, wishing him good luck, and praying to Athena that he would come back home alive. But Athena is a cruel-hearted bitch, I assume. He died with a sword through his chest, and he couldn't even scream. There was a pool of blood around him, and he choked. And when Amy learned of the truth of how he really died, she cried even harder. And she vowed on this day that she would always remember Sonic for his bravery and valor, and that she would make a plea with the gods that he would arrive to Mt. Olympus safely.

She then did something peculiar, something that many of you would tell her that simply wouldn't work.

She went to her room on her simple little brown desk, got out her writing pen and a slip of paper, and she wrote a letter to Sonic, even though he was considered dead:

Dear Sonic (My Love),

I have heard that you died on the battlefield, and you fought valiantly. But when I heard of the news, I was devastated. I cried so many tears that day. I even wished that they were only playing a cruel joke on me and that you would come back someday. But I will bring you back to life, becoming a soul, anyways, and I wanted to plea with the gods to make you a hero worthy of respecting on Mt. Olympus.

I made a simple paper sailboat, and I attached a small lantern that will light your path while you journey through the seas. It will be a dangerous journey Sonic, the gods will test you, but I believe you can do this. Your sail will be small at first, but then you will grow larger as you traverse the seas, and your paper boat will become as big as the mighty galleons we would see sometimes in the mornings. And maybe you'll have others who will help you on your journey, and you'll see so many things and you'll face things you never faced before. But I believe in you Sonic My Love, and I'm sure you can reach Mount Olympus and be a constellation in the night sky. And then I will always see you at night, and I will always be reminded of all the good and loving times we had together. I will let you name your sailboat any name you please, but please choose wisely, as maybe the gods will laugh at how silly your name sounds. The gods can be cruel people, but if I can play their cards right…maybe we can make them…less cruel.

I will be waiting for you, under the night sky on a lone little green hill that kind of looks like it has checkerboards on it. It's such a strange little pattern on it, but you would always say that it was your favorite place to be.

And no matter how convincing he sounds, PLEASE never listen to Hades. Once you sign that contract with him, you're his forever, and I certainly don't want you to live that fate. Hades is possibly the cruelest god, and you cannot go to the Underworld, no matter how tough these challenges seem to be.

And remember: I will always believe in you.

Love,

Amy Emilia Rose

P.S. Watch out for Charybdis. Please. It's a monster that awaits you near the end of the Sea of Misery. It's going to take everything you have to defeat him. Don't get too cocky.

And she folded the letter into a small, neat little square, small enough for the brave little Sonic that was going to sail this mighty sea, and fashioned her other piece of paper into a sailboat. Her origami skills were a little rusty, but it was still quite a nice sailboat. One that looked like it could brave through the farthest shores. It looked more like one of those sailor hats really, but it was alright, it would still travel just fine, and she hoped maybe Sonic would make it bigger, into that galleon that she thought she only saw in dreams.

And she took a match and lit the small lantern, put it inside the sailboat, watching as the flame gleamed in the light. And it looked like it would clear away even the thickest fog. The glass behind the lantern began to glow a brilliant ruby color, and she took care to put it inside the sailboat, as she knew now his soul was inside it. She could feel his heart beating again, just for a moment, as she lifted the sailboat and traveled to the beaches.

She went to the shores of Napoli, and before she sent the sail drifting away in the Adriatic Sea, she kissed it, and it felt like it would even heal the most hurt of hearts.

The sail drifted away, into the distant fog, and she prayed silently that he would return, or else she might as well have been sent to the Underworld, along with Persephone. Nothing would wake her up more to see her husband back again. If he wasn't here…she wouldn't know what to do. She might as well have sold her soul to Hades just to bring him back to this world.

She could still see the sail's flickering light as it cut through the fog, and through all those nights, she would always dream of Sonic and his small sail that would journey through the Adriatic Sea, into the Mt. Olympus, and she wished she could see him in the stars that night soon, so she prayed to that goddess so far away, who was possibly smiling upon him that night…

And he awoke.

He awoke after so many years, with such a strange pain in his chest that he knew he couldn't stop and wouldn't stop, but he awoke that day without that pain, and he thought the whole thing was peculiar. Maybe the gods have chosen him. Or maybe they were playing a cruel joke.

He found himself on the dock of a ship, one that seemed white all around. He wondered if he was on a boat made with ivory, the boat that would take heroes like him to Mt. Olympus, but as he felt it, he could only feel that the boat was made with something much flimsier, something like paper, as it crinkled at the reeling of his hands. He could smell the sea's salty air and could even taste it in his lips, something that he rarely tasted or smelt, when only him and Amy went out to the shore.

He could smell smoke too, as a thin black wave of singed air came out of the lantern. It was shining bright, glowing red all around the sail, feeling his heart beating again and to see everything stir to life and when he felt all these new sensations, he could only sit back and smile. He was alive. For now. But for now was still a good time to enjoy his life while it ran in that lantern, the flame flickering and full of hearth as it kindled near him.

He saw the small note beside the lantern, wondering if it was some sort of note they gave him, a reason why he was here, a reason why his flesh and fur was here again, and it seemed to be kept clean and not full of blood and wounds.

He unfolded the note, seeing that it wasn't a tiny letter, but a full handwritten letter, a letter that he could tell was in his wife's handwriting. He was careful to have the paper read without feeding the fire and the water.

And he read it, discovering that Amy made him take this challenge of the gods, to make himself a constellation on the night sky. Amy was always a little…"devoted" he would say, but it was a challenge that he could take up. He thought on all his days he worked he was one of the fastest in this land, even as fast as Hercules and Achilles, and maybe he would soon outrun the fastest of those gods, and all he could think on all these challenges, was that he didn't think it would even be called a "challenge".

And he smiled.

As he found out that he was only small ("but I'll be big enough, soon enough!" he said to himself), and his sailboat was small as well, he whispered the name of the boat clearly to the lantern, and the name was chosen.

The White Rose.

And Sonic didn't notice, and if I didn't tell you you wouldn't notice it either, but Zeus handwrote the name on the sailboat with such nice cursive handwriting, and that was its new name, and the gods began to talk about this newbie hero trying to join them, and of the White Rose that sailed on that foggy, moonless night.

And the White Rose was small, but the children saw the sailboat drifting by as they played their games of catch, and saluted whatever spirit was inside it, as they knew a sailboat with a lantern inside it was possibly a spirit or an offering to the gods. They didn't know anything about that spirit, even if the older ones told them about the Great War that happened a while ago, as Sonic was only nothing but a nameless hero, and he only saw the children for a brief glance before he fell asleep again. He wasn't even sure what the children were doing on such an odd hour of the night anyways…but he was tired, even if he slept for so long after that war, and the boat continued on westward, straight to the first challenge the gods gave him…a strange, but still difficult (despite whatever he would think of this fellow), challenge.

And the children got their horns from their pockets, and began playing their songs, as they danced with their horns growing from their bodies and their legs becoming hooves and they grew furry tails, and they laughed and played their tunes and talked of this White Rose. They were uncertain of it becoming more than a passing story, but secretly, they were rooting for the young hero, as they used to be young themselves, and they were full of fur too, so they could relate.

Note: Really went through struggling writing this and I might edit the hell out of it cause I'm just not really proud of it…I will need to do research for this particular type of story, so I might not work on it for a while. I will work on it periodically, and maybe only make it five chapters or so? I'm not exactly sure just yet, but this was the only idea for the story I had for now…