The oath made by the Styx River cannot be violated; the moment it is established, it entwines itself around the swearer. Before this, neither Hecate, who made the request, nor Leto thought that the thing related to 'Moon' was an item. Their judgment was actually correct, it indeed was an item, yet this item had not yet been born.
It was one with its owner, which meant that Leto had to face a reality, her oath might become even more difficult to fulfill.
This was not even an issue that could be resolved by sending the child away, for Artemis is a deity, and to the world, she belonged to no one. No god could fulfill an oath with the 'ownership' of another deity, after all, in the divine hierarchy established by Chaos, even parents and children are by no means subordinates to one another.
"Mother Goddess, what's wrong?"
Looking at Leto, the young goddess was somewhat afraid, and somewhat confused; she just looked at the changing expressions of the Mother Goddess, stepping forward seeking comfort. Yet, seeing this, Leto took a step back.
At that moment, her heart was filled with fear and indecision—she was about to become the first deity in Chaos to break the oath of the Styx River, and before this, no one knew what this would truly entail.
All gods knew the terror of the Styx River, and therefore, they were unwilling to test these unknown risks under the premise of having eternity. Perhaps the oath-breaker would be shaken from their godhood, stripped of divine power, or suffer some kind of punishment from the Styx River. Leto knew nothing of this.
Her godhood was already weak; perhaps she would be completely stripped of everything, or maybe even fall into eternal slumber.
"No, it won't happen!"
She had, after all, avoided the worst outcome, yet at this moment, the goddess felt somewhat lost. After a short while, she leaned against a tree trunk, staring blankly at the starry sky above her head, unsure of what she was contemplating, or perhaps she wasn't thinking at all.
"Wah—"
In the silent woods, the infant's crying grew louder. As a deity, even though he had just descended to the world, Apollo wasn't supposed to cry like a mortal, yet as a naturally born deity, his acute perception allowed the young him to faintly sense the powers of the Styx River and the present-world laws that had descended here one after another.
Therefore, the newly descended Divine Child could only use crying to express his fear, and the increasingly loud cries finally brought Leto's attention back.
"Apollo, my child."
Reaching out to hold the infant in her arms, the warmth gave her some consolation. Coming back to her senses from the emotional rollercoaster, Leto finally realized what she had done.
She had made an oath that was impossible to fulfill and then terminated it at the cost of her daughter's Origin. Looking at Artemis who lay on the ground, a sense of absurdity surged in the goddess's heart.
She regretted it; perhaps she shouldn't have contested with Hera for the position of the eldest child. She had yet to gain anything and had already lost a daughter—when Artemis woke up, Leto could already imagine how she would view her Mother Goddess who had cruelly harmed her as soon as she descended to the world.
She, like her sister, faced disaster upon her daughter's birth, and yet, this unwarranted catastrophe was not caused by their daughters themselves.