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Steve Harrington is a demigod, human (piece of shit) father, absent, divine mother. He comes to camp Halfblood at the early age of six, moves into ther Hermes cabain, unsurprisingly doesn't get claimed Years pass, battles happens, the war happens, they just about manage to win and the gods take an oath to claim all there children. But even after the oath, Steve remains without a parent. He's a half-blood no question about that, he's been at the camp almost his whole life, has been on missions, fought honorably in battles, has the scars to show it.
Still, even after the last child at the camp has been claimed and the Hermes cabin has become surprisingly empty, Steve remains without a mark. He keeps a brave face, tries not to let his sting. His father never wanted him, why should his mother be any different?
He doesn't even mind staying in the Hermes cabin. He has been here all those years, it's become his home, his family. Now that there is enough space he even gets his own little room, right across from Eddie, whose counselor for the Hermes cabin and right after Robin and Dustin, Steve's best friend.
"Ya, know," Eddie says, arm slung around Steve, who wills his heart to beat at a normal pace, "I bet if Hermes could claim you, he would."
He is actually not that far off. The Gods are watching their children. And all of their hearts ache when they get to claim a new kid at the camp and Steve's face falls slightly as he remains without a parent. Most gods don't care about their siblings' children, but there is something about Steve the gods can't ignore. Tragic hero, so lonely, so brave, so filled with love despite everything.
There is a rumor quietly echoing through the halls of the Olymp that Steve remains unclaimed because he is Hera's child. It's a scandalous suggestion, a heinous rumor, a forbidden truth. Spreading it might be enough to cause another war. The goddess of marriage having a child with a human? Unthinkable, and yet. Everyone knows that marriage doesn't equal love, knows how spiteful Hera is, how most of her children are hated. No one could blame her for the affair really, if the rumors were true, if anything the gods are surprised she didn't snap sooner with Zeus having affairs left and right. But if the rumors were true, they definitely would blame her for not claiming Steve. Steve who protects the younger kids fiercely, how cares so much about everyone.
It hurts one goddess especially. Aphrodite looks down at Steve and aches. Aches how he thinks that he is hard to love, hard to want, always easy to leave. Who despite that fear won't stop giving pieces of his heart out, who loves so much even though it hurts. Sometimes when Aphrodite watches Steve, he already feels like one of her own. She loves her children easily, constantly, it's impossible not to for her yet at the same time she loves them on purpose. And as she watches Steve, she can't help but love him too.
She reaches her breaking point on a warm summer night. After the bonfire, Steve goes down to the lake, sits at the pier, legs pressed into his chest in a poor imitation of a hug. He looks at his reflection in the lake and wonders why. Why is he so hard to love? It's silly really, all that had happened was some new Ares kid talking to Eddie. Tall, muscular, pretty and the guy had made Eddie laugh. Steve's thoughts had spiraled from there on.
He's so busy licking his own wounds and wallowing in the feeling of not being wanted that he almost doesn't notice the goddess emerging from the lake like she had once emerged from the ocean at the cyprian shores. Steve startles when he does notice her, before he quickly bows.
"My lady," he greets her politely, always the charmer.
"There is no need for that, Steve," she says kindly and Steve looks back up at her. She is truly the epitome of beauty, dark, bouncy curls, deep brown eyes, dimples around plum lips. Steve is not stupid, knows the goddess appears in the form you most desire, he is just glad he is alone. Robin would never let him live this down.
"What can I do for you?"
"I've come to make you an offer Steve," she explains. "I want you to devote yourself to me."
Steve gasps, stares at her a little shocked. She can't blame him.
"Why would you want my devotion?"
She can tell he isn't asking why she wants devotion, but why she specifically wants his devotions, why she would want him.
"Because I love the way you love," she says with a smile. "I love the way you love and that makes me love you. I admire your devotion, the affection you hold for your friends. If I could, I would claim you as my own. But I can't, so I am offering my patronage instead."
Steve still looks a bit struck, surprised a goddess would want him like that, would appreciate the way he loves. Steve had always bounced back and forth between being too much and not being too much. No one has ever said that they loved the way he loved.
"What would being devoted to you entail?" he asks, knowing there very often is a catch when it comes to the gods.
But Aphrodite means no malice.
"It would essentially be the same as being my child. I will come to your aid, I will love you, I will lend you my gifts if needed. Only that since we are not bound by birth, you would have to take a sacred oath. Become a...paladin is the name your Eddie would use, I belive."
Steve likes the way she says it. Your Eddie. His Eddie. It sounds almost too good to be true, being wanted like that, being offered a family like that.
"Would I have to move cabins," he blurts, overwhelmed by al his emotions. Aphrodite laughs.
"Don't worry, I wouldn't dare to tear you away from the people you love so dearly. I believe you are friends with my children anways, strengthening that bond a little will be enough. But I am sure you and Chrissy will make sure of that."
"Then I take the oath," Steve decides and goes down on one knee. "I devote myself to you, goddess Aphrodite. I will worship at your altar and fulfill your quests. I am yours as you are mine."
There is a tingling sensation as he finishes his oath, warm spreads through him and he can feel himself be filled with Aphrodite's love. It's a lot. It's everything. Gently, she reaches out and cradles his face in her hand.
"Go on then, my brave little hero," she whispers. "I think you have a bonfire to return to, friends, family, your beloved."
"He isn't my beloved," Steve mumbles, blush on his cheeks.
Aphrodite just raises a brow. Steve knows she can see into his heart, he knows he can't lie to her.
"Remember that you are loved," she tells him and Steve will try his best.
He leaves the lake, a tattoo of a circle with a cross at the bottom carved into his wrist. Aphrodite watches him leave, casts a little blessing on the red string connection Steve's and Eddie's pinkie fingers. She knows her paladin doesn't need the extra help. He just needs love and she is willing to give to him all.
_____
The party is still full on and as close to Dionysonian opulence and indulgence as a bunch of underage demi gods can get when Steve returns to the bonfire. Despite the crowd, Eddie's eyes find him instantly. They always do. Steve hasn't bathed in the Styx yet, still, he can always feel that pull at the small of his back towards Eddie, always his anchor in an ocean of people.
"Where did you disappear to," Eddie grins when he reaches Steve, dimples sitting on rosy cheeks, colored from dancing and the heat of the fire.
One bitter part of Steve wants to be surprised that Eddie noticed that he was gone. After all, he had seemed mighty chummy with that Ares kid. But it's hard to be bitter when the blessing of the goddess of love is cursing through your body. "
The lake," Steve says before he takes a deep breath. "I ran into Aphrodite. She uh...kinda claimed me? Not like she is my mom, but...more like I devoted myself to her?"
"Holy shit, that's amazing," Eddie clasps him by the shoulders, shakes him a little, excitedly. It's stupidly adorable, the way Eddie shows his joy. "So what, you're a priest now or something?"
"More like a knight," Steve explains. "She said you would call it a paladin?"
"You talked about me?" Eddie smirks and despite it being a joke, Steve can't help but blush. Of course, he wants to say. You're my Eddie. Before he can confirm or deny anything though, Eddie's face falls.
"Wait, does that mean you'll have to change cabins?" Steve laughs, loves that Eddie is just as concerned about it as Steve was. Every time Steve loves it feels like a little sacrifice to his new goddess. No, not sacrifice, gift.
"Don't worry, you're not getting rid of me that easily, Munson."
It's a good thing that Steve can stay in the Hermes cabin, small little room just across from Eddie's. He wakes that night, covered in sweat, shaking in the aftermath of gruesome nightmares. It's a common occurrence, you don't win a war at 19 without physical and mental scars. He pads across the hall, doesn't knock just slips into Eddie's room, his bed, his open arms, because Eddie always knows, always wakes when Steve can't sleep and vice versa. They hold each other in the quiet of the night for a while.
It's comfort, it's home, it's safety that Steve finds in Eddie's arms. Enough of it all to sheepishly, almost inaudibly, confess, "Do you think she regrets it? Picking me?"
"What? Why would she?"
"I don't know," Steve shrugs, reveling in the way Eddie wraps his arms around Steve tighter. "I guess I just don't get why she would want me. Why anyone would want me."
"Stevie," Eddie's voice is tinged with sadness and Steve hates the sound. Wants to hear laughter and levity vibrating in the tenor of Eddie's voice. "Who wouldn't want you? I've never seen anyone love the way you love."
Steve doesn't point out that neither his father nor his divine mother wanted him. That maybe it was pity that made Aphrodite ask for his devotion and not love.
"Have you considered that being devoted to Aphrodite means not just to love others. But also learning how to love yourself?"
"Ufft, that's a pretty hard task," Steve tries to joke, but it doesn't land. Gingerly, Eddie cups his face and turns his head until they are face to face, jasper eyes staring into amber.
"Steve, loving you is as easy as breathing," Eddie says and maybe he is right.
Only that in that moment Steve is unable to get any air into his lungs. It's not a confession, at least not one for them to finally pull their heads out of their asses. That one happens at the end of summer, of weeks filled with unbearable heat and torturous yearning.
They'll get send on a mission, something small. Just go find a wild minotaur and kill him. Basic, routine, no danger. Despite the simplicity of it, Eddie still gets called up to the attic, a prophecy waiting for him. He is pale when he returns.
"And?" Steve asks. "What does it say."
Eddie recites it perfectly:
Two destinies connected by a thread/
shall retrieve the minotaur’s head/
one shall become lost to forever roam/
unless the call of true love guides them home/
Steve tries not to read into it. No one is going to get lost. It's a quick job, into the labyrinth, kill the minotaur, out again. They have a foolproof plan. Dustin and the other Hephaistos kids have engineered a rope that cannot be cut, cannot tear, is indestructible. They'll both tie it around their waists, Steve will wait outside, Eddie will go in, kill the minotaur and then follow the rope back outside. Easy as pie.
"See you on the other side, Harrington" Eddie says even though it makes very little sense.
"Not if I see you first, Munson" Steve says in turn and then Eddie disappears into the labyrinth, rope pulled taught between them.
It's fine. All Steve has to do is wait. He is good at that. And so he waits. Tries not to worry, why should he? Easy job, right? Only that about an hour later the rope around his waist suddenly goes slack.
Which it shouldn't it absolutely shouldn't. It's impossible to cut. But when Steve pulls on it, panic tightening like his very own rope around his throat, choking him, it comes back, end torn, no Eddie to be seen.
"Eddie?" Steve calls into the labyrinth. "Eddie??"
There is no reply, no sign of life, no nothing. Steve feels like he is about to throw up. He can't go into the labyrinth, even if he found Eddie in it, there is no way they would make it out again. So Steve does the only thing he can think of: he sinks to his knees and prays to the goddess he is devoted to, the goddess that has become so dear he has started to think of her as not just a patron but a mother instead.
He prays and brings her sacrifice in the only way he knows. He tells her about his love, tells her about all the ways he loves Eddie. How he is smart, so smart. And funny and a goddamn nerd but he pulls it off. How he is dramatic, loves to put on the show. But if it's just the two of them, secluded, clandestine, he never puts on a mask. Always shows Steve his true self, let's Steve see and sees Steve in return. How he is protective of their kids, will give his life or them, puts on a brave face even though in the quiet of the night he has confided into Steve how scared he is most of the time.
Steve is scared too. Scared for Eddie, scared that Eddie might not return, scared of how allowing himself to love Eddie, openly, fully, loudly might destory him. But he promises that if Aphrodite guides Eddie out of the labyrinth that Steve will do it. Love Eddie unapologetically. She just needs to bring Eddie home.
Steve can feel a surge of love vibrating through his body. A sign that his goddess has listened, has given her blessing. And when Steve looks up, tears running over his face, hope pulsing in his chest alongside all the love he has all the love he will give, he sees that his goddess has kept her promise.
Eddie stumbles out of the labyrinth, blood on his sword, his shirt, but none of it thankfully his own. In his right hand there is a bull's horn. Steve jumps up, hurries into Eddie's arm with such a force he almost tackles them both onto the floor.
"You came back to me," he whispers into the crook of Eddie's neck.
"Of course, I followed your call," Eddie says and when they part he lifts his left hand, a red string tightly wrapped around his pinky.
Steve follows the string, finds that the other end is tied around his own pinky. An Ariadne's thread, wool woven out of love, pure, true love. In that moment Steve knows he wouldn't have needed his mother's blessing to get Eddie back. The call of true love would have always guided Eddie back home. Still, Steve is thankful nevertheless. And he has a part of his bargain to uphold. And he does it so willingly, so happily, does it because it is as easy as breathing.
"I love you," he tells Eddie. "With all my being. With all my heart. I love you!"
"I love you too," Eddie whispers back, promises, swears it as his own oath to Steve. Eddie's own personal demi-god of love. They seal that oath with a kiss.
_____
The years come and go, kids grow up, teenage heroes turn into adult demigods, the wheel of time spins. They’re twenty-five by the time they decide to get married. Summer wedding at the camp. They both no longer live there, moved into a small but lovely apartment in Boston. But the camp is still the place they associate with home the most.
They get married at the lake, right at the edge of the camp border so that Wanye can come be a part of the celebration. Steve's dad, to no one's surprise, doesn't show. Steve can't even remember the last time they talked, isn't sure the phone number scribbled down on a half-dissolved paper is still the right one, doesn't really care though. His dad might be a no show, but his mom is here. Pretty in pink, celestial, soft eyes and even softer smile.
Steve is no longer just Aphrodite's little padawan. He is her child, her son. She's come down from Olympus to bless Steve's and Eddie's union. There still is not really a need for it, the red string tied around Steve and Eddie’s pinkies is sturdy as ever.
But Aphrodite has seen Steve and Eddie fall in love and be torn apart too many times before. She’s seen Steve get bitten by a venomous snake and heard Eddie sing in mourning, the sound beautifully that stones had wept. She’s seen Eddie lead Steve out of the underworld only to lose him again at the very very last second.
She’s seen them grow up together, not unlike now, boys easily falling into each other, body and soul. Boys being forced to go to battle, boys forced apart too soon. She’ll never unsee the harrowing fear in Steve’s face as Eddie bled out in his arms in front of the gates of Troye.
She’s seen them court each other, love each other, unaware of the looming shadow of jealousy whispering in the wind. She’s seen Eddie lose his life during a harmless game of discus, seen Steve try to preserve Eddie’s memory by turning him into hyacinths.
There are hyacinths all around during the wedding even though it’s been months since spring. A special gift from the dryads. Even after all those lives, hyacinths are still Steve’s favorite. Aphrodite thanks the fates for spinning a longer thread for Steve and Eddie in this life.
After the wedding, Steve doesn't see Aphrodite for a while. Another titan rising, another war, more loss, sometimes it feels like the fight is never-ending. But the gods and their children emerge victorious once more. Steve especially. He was the hero that got to slay the titan.
He gets called up to the Olympus to receive praise and honour and gifts from the gods. They haven't told Steve specifically to bring Eddie, but Steve doesn't go anywhere without his husband now a day. Especially not after almost losing him in the last war, a swarm of furies digging their teeth and claws into his torso.
"Not yet," Steve had sobbed on the battlefield.
"Not yet," Hermes and Aphrodite had whispered.
"Not yet," the Fates had agreed.
When they enter the Olympus, Aphrodite is the first to greet them. She rushes out of the throne room and wraps her arms around Steve in a tight hug.
"Hi mom," he says softly as he buries his face in her curly hair. Just like their little apartment, just like cabin at camp, being in Aphrodite's arms always feels a bit like coming home.
"I love you, Stevie," she whispers before she lets go. It feels final, like a goodbye, and Steve doesn't like it one bit. Before he can ask what's up though a thunderous voice calls out from the great hall, "Steven, come in!"
Aphrodite let's go of him, pulls Eddie in a quick hug too, before she turns to the great hall.
"Best not to let them wait," she says and it almost sounds like she is on the edge of tears.
She doesn't let Steve ask, just squeezes his hand before she slips through the door. Steve turns around to give Eddie a helpless look, Eddie looks back at him with the same confusion. Aphrodite is right though, best not to let the gods wait, no matter how beloved Steve is by them.
Something is definitely off, Steve realizes as they enter the hall and walk towards the front where Hera and Zeus are sitting. The other gods that usually smile at him look sour. Some bitter, some angry, some sad. Steve desperately tries to remember if he has done anything to earn their contempt, but he comes up empty. He literally slayed a titan for them.
The only one smiling at Steve is Hera, which, nothing against Hera, is low-key a red flag. Steve has never seen her smile reach her eyes, always empty, always put on, always pretend. Steve shivers as he reaches her.
“Steven.” Even the cheer in her voice sounds fake.
“My lady,” he says and bows. It’s odd that she is addressing him and not Zeus. Zeus is just sitting next to her, looking bored. Which is yet another red flag.
“You have done a great deed, Steven,” the goddess continues and Steve wishes she would just stop calling him Steven.
Only his dad called him Steven in the few blurry memories Steve has of him. Steve could really do without those.
A deed great enough for my husband to graciously forgive you.”
“Forgive me?” Steve frowns. He can’t remember a single thing he could have done to wrong Zeus. Sure, he once dated his daughter Nancy, but she was the one to break Steve’s heart. And Zeus never seemed to be upset with Steve for that.
“And he has allowed me to claim you,” Hera ignores Steve’s question. “For you are my child.”
The words my child echo through the great hall, reverb. It takes Steve a moment to take them in and then another to fully understand them. Child. He is Hera’s child Zeus isn’t forgiving Hera for having an affair. He is forgiving Steve for existing. Steve’s too familiar with that feeling, understands now how Hera might have fallen for his mortal father. They seem to be alike.
The joy that should come with your divine parent claiming you stays out. Technically nothing much should change for Steve. He no longer lives in the camp so he won't move cabins. Every little sacrifice he brings he now has to bring to Hera. In his moments of need he will have to turn to her. It sounds like nothing, but it's everything.
Because there is no way Zeus didn't know that Steve was hers. He must have known and he never threatened Steve, always was surprisingly kind to him. Even now he doesn't look at Steve with the hatred Hera claims her husband must have for her bastard child.
Steve doesn't buy it one second that only now Zeus allowed Hera to claim him. It's only now that Steve has slain a titan, has fought more wars than he can count, that he is good enough for Hera. She isn't claiming him out of love, she is claiming him to brag, to show him around like jewelry. He wonders for a econd if she even knows his husband's name. His friend's name, hell if she even knows that yellow and umber are his favorite colors. There is no love found in her gaze.
Steve is going to do something brave, something stupid, something based on all the love he feels. He turns to Eddie briefly, an apology in his eyes. But the way Eddie looks back at him means that he knows what Steve is about to do. And that two demigods might not do much against a whole pantheon, but Eddie will always have Steve's back. Steve tells Eddie one last time I love you with his eyes, before he turns back to Zeus and Hera.
"Lord Zeus, Lady Hera," he says already tasting blood in his mouth. "Thank you for the great honor, but I believe there has to be a mistake."
Eery silence falls across the large hall.
"I already have a mother," Steve says and holds up his wrist, Aphrodite's symbol etched into his skin.
The silence continues for a moment before Hera laughs. It's cold, it's cruel, downright sadistic. Everyone knows what happens to the people that wrong Hera. Steve just hopes it'll be painless and that Eddie will be spared as Hera strikes out.
Steve presses his eyes shut, ready to accept death with open arms. Only that the strike never comes. Confused, Steve opens his eyes again. Hera is up, arm stretched out, palm ready to slap Steve, but she is unable to. Two hands wrapped around her wrist.
"Don't you dare touch my child," Aphrodite hisses, her pretty face contorted like that of a siren that has stopped singing, eyes glowing red, yellow fangs flashed.
"What she said," Hermes, who the other hand around Hera's wrist belongs to, says with just as much anger.
He never asked Steve to devote himself to him, but Steve has spent his entire life living in Hermes' cabin, he's married to one of Hermes' favorite children. As far as Hermes is concerned Steve is as much his to protect as he is Aphrodite's.
"Traitors," Hera snaps. "You would start another war amongst us? For what? Some meekly, unimportant demigod? He's barely a hero."
"I would start a hundred wars for him. Because he is my son and I love him," Aphrodite grits back, her grip so tight it's going to bruise Hera's wrist.
Steve is not surprised. He would rather die for his mother's love before he worshiped a false goddess, she would start wars for him.
"What she said," Hermes confirms again and this time it does catch Steve a little by surprise.
"Wouldn't be much of a war though," a deep voice roars behind them.
When Steve turns he sees the entire pantheon standing behind them. Usually, they are never united, loyalties split between the big three, there were bound to be gods on Hera's and Zeus' side. But every single one is standing behind Steve and his family.
Because they too watched Steve grow, they too felt for he unclaimed child, they too felt touched by his love and they too want to express their thanks for Steve's heroism. As Eddie once whispered into the darkness of the night, arms wrapped tightly around Steve, so convinced that Steve had already been asleep: "It's impossible not to love you, Steve Harrington."
Hera falters slightly, looks at Zeus for help, but Zeus still looks bored.
"I believe the pantheon has spoken. You made a mistake Hera, the child is not yours," he says before he turns to Steve. "Your business here is done, you should leave."
Steve doesn't have to be told twice. He grabs Eddie's hand and pulls him out of the hall, away from the Olympus. They don't look back. They know Aphrodite and Hermes will wait for them when they come home. Hera might still try to come for Steve, but for this life, this love, the Fates have blessed Steve with a very long thread.