Tried
part two

xi. late nights

"Welcome to Sweet on America." Sally's voice drifts through the store from her place at the register. "Do you need any help?"

"No, thank you," she says in a cultured voice. Amphitrite's view is slightly skewered by the aisles and aisles of candy. She looks around, observing the inside of the store.

It's a quaint but homey space. As expected, the air smells of all things sweet. The lights are bright, but the colors are brighter still. The walls are decorated with red, white, and blue. Candy is arranged by type, showing quite the array of colors. She picks up a basket sitting by the sliding doors and hangs it off her arm.

It's time to do some shopping.

She scoops out some chocolate covered almonds and pours the treats in a little plastic bag. Then she seals the bag with one of those bread label things, dropping it into her already full basket.

"Excuse me," a man says. His eyes are bright and his face kind. She smiles at him and moves out of his way.

Pursing her lips, Amphitrite stares at what she already has. There's the chocolate covered almonds, yogurt pretzels, two bags filled to the brim with jelly beans, peanut butter cups, licorice, rock candy, a handful of lollipops, gummy bears, and some little peppermints.

It's quite a lot, she muses, though it might not be enough. When it comes to sweets, gods and goddesses never hold back.

Making up her mind, she goes to the register, eyeing the bakery section thoughtfully.

"Hello," Sally says, not looking up. "I'll get you just in a second."

Over the counter, she can just barely see the gleam of a phone, a dim light glowing against her dark apron. Then, Sally finishes whatever she's been doing - texting, emailing, whatever mortals do with phones these days - and looks up. Her lips form a small 'o.'

Amphitrite smiles at her and takes the moment to heft the basket up onto the counter.

"Hello, Sally," she greets, her tone almost warm.

"H-Hello, Lady," Sally says back, taking the basket and gawking at its content. Then, as customary: "Is there anything else you would like, or did you find everything you wanted?"

She thinks about this for a second as Sally rings her up. Amphitrite eyes the bakery again, looking longingly at the cookies and small cakes.

"Are your pastries any good?"

To her surprise, Sally laughs, scanning another bag and weighing it. Numbers flash across a small screen.

"Oh," the woman answers. "The cakes are delicious, but just between you and me, the cookies could be better."

"What's your favorite, then?"

Sally smiles and walks over, pulling out a bright blue cupcake. She puts it in a little cardboard box and comes back to the register.

"It's double chocolate. Chocolate cupcake with chocolate chunks; delicious. Here," Sally adds, pushing everything - including the box, towards her. "On the house."

There's a faint feeling of surprise - because here is a mere mortal who has little problem with simply giving away gifts and expecting little in return. Amphitrite looks at her tired but happy face and her crinkling eyes and her worn, calloused hands.

"Thank you," she says quietly, taking everything.

"No problem." Grins are exchanged, and the mood is lighthearted, joyful. "So, Lady Amphitrite, what brings you to a small sweets shop near the subway?"

She leans over the counter a little and whispers. "Between you and me," she says, repeating the words from earlier. "Us immortals? We love sweets."

Sally hums. "I guess we're not so different after all, Lady."

"Maybe not so," she says, slinging the handle of the paper bag holding all her goods onto her arm.

Amphitrite takes her leave. Later, when she is long gone, Sally will find a cardboard box sitting on the counter, with a 'Savor this' scrawled on it in elegant script.

Hopefully, she thinks to herself as she catches the subway, Sally will.

"Welcome to Sweet on America," a familiar voice calls as she pushes through the doors, the bells jingling.

Do you need any help, Amphitrite finishes in her head.

"Actually," she says, approaching the front counter and smiling at Sally. "I do."

Sally inclines her head respectfully. "Lady Amphitrite. I see you can't quite resist the sweets," she teases, spreading her arms out and gesturing to the contents of the store. "What can I help you with?"

"When's your break?" she asks. Sally blinks, surprised, then answers.

"I get off in fifteen for lunch."

"I hope you like pasta," Amphitrite offers, holding up a giant bag of take-away lunch.

The mortal stares at her for a moment, bewildered. After all, goddesses - especially ones who are married to your godly ex-lover - don't just show up carting lunch. "Um, you didn't have to-"

"No," she says, waving her hand dismissively. "I wanted to talk to you anyway. Anywhere we can eat?"

Sally sighs, protests swallowed back. "We can take the subway to Central Park," the woman finally says. Then, suddenly: "I hope you brought linguini and alfredo sauce."

Amphitrite smiles and tosses a bag of jelly beans over the counter for Sally to scan.

True to her word, Sally's shift is taken over by a plump, flour-dusted lady who tells them to be back in an hour. They blow out the back door, Sally taking her apron off and hanging it on a worn hook.

They have small talk on the subway; Amphitrite asks after Percy, who is apparently in his troublemaking years, and she also confides that Triton has never quite grown up.

Central Park, Amphitrite thinks, is a good effort from the mortals. At least the land hasn't been completely overrun by buildings and whatnot. They find a picnic table in the light of the sun, and together they pull out the plastic containers full of delicious pasta.

As requested, Sally gets her linguini and alfredo, and Amphitrite pulls out another thing of penne pasta and alfredo for herself. The food is still warm, and she hums contently as the food passes her lips.

Technically, immortals do not need to eat. Of course, she thinks, shoving another forkful in her mouth, that part of immortality is overlooked by most of them. (Poseidon loves Korean food - especially pork bulgulgi, but Triton is still the teenager, all fried chicken and hamburgers, snacks and carbonated drinks.)

After basking in the sun, Sally sits forward, pointing at Amphitrite with a noodle-covered fork.

"Why did you come here, Lady Amphitrite?"

"Amphitrite," she corrects automatically. Sally swallows.

"Amphitrite, then," she says, obviously uncomfortable. "Why did you come?"

She has to think about it for a while. The truth is, she doesn't quite know why or how she's ended up here, buying lunch for her husband's mortal ex-lover. She just is, all of a sudden.

So she shrugs. "I'm not sure myself," she admits. A thought rises, unbidden, in the back of her mind.

"Though," she adds. "You are an interesting person... for a mortal. It's rare to find people like you."

Sally looks off into the distance, her expression somewhat wistful as she spots a nearby playground filled with laughing, running kids. Amphitrite tries to imagine Percy amongst them - doing rounds on the slide, maybe, or on that weird spinning thing that she still hasn't learned the name of even after all this time. (Looking at Sally then... perhaps they are thinking the same thing.)

"Thank you," Sally says quietly. Then, very softly, "That's what he told me."

Amphitrite studies the aging woman. She isn't very old at all, but the goddess can see the beginnings of wrinkles, the faint lines around her eyes and mouth. But in her eyes she can see a kindness and a sense for life that she will never be able to have.

It's very easy to see the mortal that Poseidon fell in love with, once upon a time, in a land she cannot fathom.

Amphitrite strolls around the store, munching on a bag of - ha - Swedish fish. Eating the little gummies, she wonders what Benthesikymê and Rhode would think of her if she were to strut about the palace popping fish-shaped candies in her mouth like they were nothing. (Bennie and Rho are the non-fish eating immortals of the family, as opposed to the other three. Despite the rumors, seafood is consumed by almost all seafolk - survival of the fittest, food chains, and all that.)

Sally finds her just as she is reaching the bottom of the bag. She's smiling, and her eyes are bright today.

"Hello, Amphitrite," she says politely, not looking at all surprised at her sudden appearance. She nods in return.

"Good afternoon, Sally."

"Are you coming with me?"

"Yes," says Amphitrite, though she doesn't know exactly where they are going. Sally smiles again, pleased.

They leave in silence; Sally explains that they will stop by her apartment first, since she's going to be driving instead of taking the subway later. She just nods and follows along.

The apartment building is smaller than Amphitrite expected, to be honest. It's not the newest; the last building in a row and next to a small alleyway. Graffiti covers the sides, some half-washed, some freshly done, and some being washed by a poor boy who is sweating and tired in the heat. Silently, discreetly, she waves her hand, and the graffiti fades a little more.

She frowns. This place does not fit Sally - not the intelligent and caring mortal who stands on the edge of two worlds.

"Don't speak to anyone," Sally instructs her quietly before entering. They make their way up, and before they go into the apartment, the woman spins around. She seems to gather up courage.

"Just stay outside," she whispers. "I'll be out in a minute." The life drains away, and Sally fumbles with her keys. She shoots a last look at the goddess before stepping in.

Inside is a pigsty. She can smell the faint tang of beer. Then sweat. And then, in thick, musty layers, fear. Sally moves in, jerky and hesitant. There's a man on the couch, and she has to hold herself back from barging in and beating him to a pulp.

He gives off a disgusting aura, tinged with malice and greed. He beckons to Sally and grabs her roughly. Treats her roughly. Touches her in a way that reminds Amphitrite of some gods; gods who are greedy and harsh, who care for only themselves, for lust, gods who will take what they want.

Sally returns, her hair slightly messed up, and slams the door. The two of them move down; she does not speak the whole time, not even when they climb into the car. Still, disgust oozes through her. It is a terrible feeling.

Sally begins to relax after a couple of red lights. She parks outside of a school - Hillbury Elementary, and when she steps out, her eyes are back to being filled with that bright light. There is no need for words. Amphitrite understands.

The two stand at the gate, near other parents who are waiting for their children. A few call greetings, and Sally replies, though her eyes are trained on the glass doors.

"Why do you let him treat you like that?" she finally asks, voice soft.

It occurs to her that here is yet another side of Sally that she has never seen, and it is one that surprises her. Yes, Amphitrite can see it - the young, beautiful girl who speaks to seemingly imaginary things and the older, kind man whose love is strong and power infinite.

Courage exists in all of us, she'd told her son and daughters once, before war.

Sally does not answer her, though. The answer comes a minute later, in the form of an excited, innocent boy who is picked up by his mother immediately, laughter ringing in the air. The answer in a loved boy who will one day grow to be a hero.

Ah, mortality.

I don't know what this is. Supposed to be the Sally-Amphitrite let's be friends kind of thing with lots of Percy cameos behind the counter of Sweet on America that morphed into...? But it was something that I referenced in the last chapter, where Amphitrite and Sally know each other and. (Though this was spur of the moment).

I like writing Amphitrite. So Tried is probably going to expand; it might not, so it's still considered complete because it is.

achieving elysium