Annabeth POV

Now as much as I'd like to say that I bravely went into battle against Erebos, primordial of darkness, I can't.

You can't blame me, really, a battle with a god is hard, a titan is even harder, but a primordial is nearly impossible.

The last primordial we went up against, involved Leo dying and I'm not exactly in the mood to go with that plan, considering I like my life.

I figured our best plan was to use brains rather than brawn. After all, that was how we got out of Nyx's grasp, whether she is on our side now or not.

"Erebos I would let us go if I were you," I said putting on a confident mask.

He chuckled, his deep laugh, echoing through the giant household.

Erebos had caught us when we were just about to get out of the basement via the stairs. We had just gotten to the bottom step when he appeared at the top of the stairway.

It soon became clear that he knew we were there the entire time and that he was just toying with us. I had a nagging feeling it was too easy and my fears turned out to be true.

"Tell me why should I let you go, as you say? Give me one reason?" He said amused.

"Well there's four of us and two are gods, so?" If I could make him think we could overpower him maybe he won't take the risk.

He put his hands up pretending they were scales and that he was measuring up the pros and cons, "I think that I will be alright. Demigods don't really count as a full person to fight. One of your gods is the god of beauty, which doesn't help in a battle and the other god is basically a demigod too with a power growth spurt."

I scowled at not being counted as a possible threat but I decided to leave it as I didn't want to anger the primordial. Percy didn't seem to think like me and decided to voice his frustration.

"Shut up Erebos, I'm not scared of the dark so you shouldn't be a problem."

Erebos growled.

Well, it seemed that Percy still had a knack for pissing off powerful immortals.

I decided to cut in before the argument escalated, "Ok so maybe we can't fight you but the entire Olympian council can and they are waiting for us right now."

"They don't care about demigods, Annabeth Chase, I thought you were smart enough to realise that?" Erebos said sounding almost sympathetic.

"But there isn't just demigods here, there are two gods and the council is waiting for us right now and they know exactly where we are. If they think anything is wrong they won't hesitate to show up." I said it mustering up all my confidence.

It was times like this I wished I had charmspeak like Piper.

But charmspeak or not, it seemed to work because when Erebos spoke his voice wavered slightly and he stepped back distancing himself from us.

"They won't come?" He said almost as if asking himself.

Just as I thought the plan was working and we might just get out, Erebos laughed once again, the fear leaving his eyes as if never there, because the fear was fake all along.

"You really think I'm scared, demigod? Your not so smart now are you a child of Athena, you cannot use your brain to get out of this one. No, there's no getting out of this. Even if the Olympians were waiting, gods are not a threat to me, few things are a threat to me."

I felt all my hope dissipate from my body and I knew Clarisse, Percy and Aphrodite were feeling the same from the way their shoulders slumped.

Then, suddenly, there was a puff of darkness from behind him and Nyx stood in a dress that looked at if it was made of smoke and black 5 inch high heels. Her outfit wasn't exactly great for fighting in, however, as much as I hated to admit it, she was gorgeous, although her completely white eyes were somewhat unnerving.

"Good thing I'm one of those few things, Erebos," She said with fake sweetness as she lifted up her foot and planted it in the centre of Erebos' back.

The primordial god wasn't able to stop himself from losing his balance and he toppled headfirst down the stairs towards us.

We moved out of the way quickly and didn't stop for a second to look at the heap on the floor which was Erebos. We couldn't let him get his bearings again or we wouldn't escape so easily.

Each of us hurtled up the stairs towards the waiting Nyx.

Just before we flashed out of Erebos' premise, Erebos said something softly to Nyx as he slowly got up, knowing he wouldn't catch us before Nyx got us the hell out of there.

"Nyx, we could do this together, just you and me..babe please."

Nyx looked at him coldly, "No thanks, and I've told you before, don't call me babe."

Before she got a response we were enveloped in darkness and then suddenly, we were collapsed in a circle in a different part of Tartarus.

I looked around at my surroundings and I saw a gushing black river, a little bit away, through a clearing of black, hair-follicle-like trees. It must have been the Styx.

I wonder if I could get there, could I find Lady Styx? But how would I get away from the group? I knew if I somehow convinced the others to come with me, Percy wouldn't let me absolve his oath. I needed to go alone.

"Well that was fun," Clarisse said dusting herself down before pulling Aphrodite to her feet.

Percy got up and stood in front of Nyx, "Thanks Nyx, I don't know what we would have done without you."

I noticed Nyx blush and mentally scowled. I noticed Aphrodite didn't do as well to hide her scowl as me.

"Let's get out of here then," Percy said oblivious to Nyx as always.

"Wait!" I blurted out, "we can't go yet!"

The group looked at me confused as to why I wasn't ecstatic to leave as I should be.

"Why?" Clarisse asked.

Uh Hades, what do I say? I said the first thing that came to mind, "Uhm, I need to pee?"

Percy and Clarisse nearly laughed but the two female immortals rolled their eyes.

Nyx groaned upon seeing I wasn't joking and pointed to the weird black trees. Good, that was where I needed to go anyways.

I told them all to turn the other way and sprinted towards the Styx and fast as I could.

Once I got there I prayed to whatever god would listen to me and said, "Lady Styx, I need to ask a favour."

I stood in silence with only the sound of the river and my friends talking in the distance to be heard.

I was about to leave, embarrassed, when she didn't show up for a moment but then a lady appeared standing in the middle of the river, unharmed and unwavering, as if on hard ground and not standing in a raging river.

She wore silky black robes, and her makeup was done expertly in shades of dark blue and navy. She had ebony hair that flowed gently even though there was no breeze in the humid climate. Her eyes were the colour of obsidian and her skin was pale and flawless.

"Daughter of wisdom, you seek to have an oath broken I see?"

Best to be polite in every dangerous situation with powerful immortals, I thought. "Thank you for coming, Lady Styx, however, I do not wish to have Percy's oath broken, I wish to have you to get rid of it, which is not technically breaking it."

A faint smile traced her lips, "Ah yes, many come to me with the technicalities of the oaths they foolishly made, but it was not an oath you made, was it, it was Perseus' yes?"

I nodded.

"An oath of your own would be easier to absolve, but for what reason should I do so, when it's for someone else's"

"Well-...I just..." For once I couldn't think of anything. It was for only my own selfish needs that I wanted this, not for Percy.

I looked at my feet in shame.

"You know, I'm quite fond of the young hero. He was one of the only three who have lived after bathing in my waters and the only who didn't die from it eventually. Actually, now that I recall, his anchor, once he entered my realm, was in fact you." Styx said reminiscing.

"What do you mean anchor? I thought an anchor was just another word for his mortal point" I asked.

"Well yes it is, but there was a point where he no longer had sight of his mortal point and he began to dissolve away and then he had a vision of you pulling him in and the very vision was what saved him. I suppose you could take it as you were his will to live."

His will to live. The words hit me like a sledgehammer. I was Percy's will to live. It must have ripped him apart when I left. Did that mean he no longer had a will to live? I decided not to dwell on it as I didn't want to go back to the group crying.

While on the topic of the others, they probably thought I had been eaten by monsters because I was taking so long to 'pee'. I would just tell them I was sick when I get back.

I looked up at Lady Styx who made her way out of the river and up the bank. She stood looking over the edge of the river as if she could see something in it.

Then after a while she turned back to me.

"I will do this, not for you but for the young hero. I sense it will be helpful in the future for this oath to be removed. However it will come at a price," She said her voice soothing, like the sound of gentle, flowing water.

Styx saying that removing the oath will help Percy, made me feel much more hopeful for the future of our relationship. I scrambled into my bag to get the spare drachmas I kept hidden away from Charon. I knew they would come in handy.

I handed them to her hoping they were enough to fulfil this 'price'.

She took them in her hand, studying them before throwing them over her shoulder into the river.

I wasn't sure if putting the money in the River Styx was some express, direct route for it to get to her bank account or she was just making fun of me and what I had given her did not fulfil the deal.

The smirk on her face, however, made me feel it was probably the second option.

"The price is not something physical, but it does not make it any less valuable."

Looking back on it, maybe I should have asked her for the Terms and Conditions, but I was so sure this was what I wanted that I instantly accepted.

Her face took a more serious tone and a small empty vial appeared in her hands. She then held the vial in the river, letting the air bubbles out and the murky, black water in.

I could of swore I heard her mutter something about 'stupid pollution' as she picked out bits of debris and junk that has made its way into the vial.

Styx fastened the lid on tightly and held it firmly with both hands while chanting something quietly. To my surprise, the murky water began to glow.

As she handed me the vial the water stayed in its glowing form.

"Usually if I were to absolve an oath I would have the person who made the oath put their left hand into the river, but since he is not here this will do. I already began removing the oath, but there's only so much I can do from afar. You will have to pour this on his left hand."

I nodded gratefully, "Thank you Lady Styx."

She shook her head slowly, "Do not thank me child for this shall have its consequences. The price is not always a fair deal."

I swallowed nervously and trudged back to the others but not before I took off my jacket and wrapped the vial in it, placing the carefully secured package in my bag. I couldn't have it breaking and it was hot down here anyways, it's not like I currently needed the jacket.

Styx's words rang throughout my head as I walked towards my friends.