His 'advice' didn't even work. 'Just go and swear an oath of equal value and it'll all be over' my ass.
Styx was quiet for longer than he would have liked. It was a menacing silence. Her milky black eyes seemed to bore into Nico's very soul, searching for something.
"...I have never met one who broke an oath yet is so... sincere." Styx mused, a ghostly black hand reaching up to flicker in front of his face.
"I kinda defy expectations like that," Nico murmured nervously, scratching at his tingly arms. The air in the Underworld felt sweltering against his probably frost-bitten skin.
Styx's expression didn't change, but Nico could almost swear he saw a hint of curiosity in her eyes. The Goddess's spectral form shifted, her long, flowing robes billowing as if caught in an unseen breeze. She took a step closer, the air around her growing colder, making Nico shiver even more.
The cold was torture.
"You may defy expectations, but that does not mean you are free from consequences," Styx said, her voice a haunting whisper that echoed through the dark cavern.
"I understand that. I've faced consequences before. I'm not afraid." Nico crossed his arms a little tighter, trying to preserve some semblance of body heat.
"Bold words," She murmured, a ghostly smile flickering on her lips. "But actions speak louder, do they not?"
Before Nico could respond, Styx raised her hand, and the world around him shifted once more. The rocky banks of the Styx dissolved into nothingness, replaced by a vast, desolate wasteland. The ground was cracked and barren, the sky a perpetual twilight. Shadows moved at the edge of his vision, whispering in languages he couldn't understand.
"What in tarnation?" He mumbled, spinning in a slow circle. This was not what he expected at all.
"I must admit." The goddess' wispy voice echoed from the darkness. "Your earnestness has truly intrigued me. I do not take well to people making false of my name... but, I have read the oath in your mind and I must admit, I find it quite amusing."
"Uh, I'm glad?" Nico's voice cracked embarrassingly. Styx remained as impassive as possible.
"Amusement is not something I often feel, young demigod. But your plight... there is a certain irony to it." She paused, the silence stretching uncomfortably.
Nico's teeth chattered audibly, the cold gnawing at his bones. He didn't get what the goddess was getting up to, but he wasn't sure he liked it. There weren't any malicious intentions behind her words, at least as far as he could sense, but he still didn't like it.
"You have a question burning in your mind, young one." That name immediately made him feel weird.
"Yeah... people who break their oaths on the Styx, you usually kill them immediately. Why didn't you do that to me?" Nico asked, finally letting his arms drop to his sides after coming to terms with the fact his internal heat source wasn't coming back for a while.
"Oh, that has a simple explanation to it." Styx's voice rang out again, this time with some semblance of emotion in it. "Most of my methods of killing wipe out a good five-foot radius within the violator. And I do not needlessly kill, especially mortals. It would feel cruel to end those other two boys just for your mistakes, correct?"
"...that's actually really compassionate of you." He had never heard of a god of any sort actually caring about the lives of people 'below them'.
"No. It's logical." That sounded more like a god. "Just like it would be logical to let you make your 'correcting oath' and be on your way."