Steven Universe: Mom Swap AU

Past Mending Part One: Agnostic Thorey Crafting

Steven woke up with a start in an eerie place he didn't recognize, a dark room where the air was musty and warm in a gross way, like standing in a giant mouth. He was surrounded by darkness on all sides, and was confused and afraid until he lookes down to see a horrific sight. The ground beneath his feet was made of flesh, pulsating and bleeding with every step that Steven took, covered in eyes and mouths that moaned in pain.

Steven screamed in horror as tentacles stretched out from the sea of red and dragged Steven in as Centipeedle looks down as Steven is swallowed by the flesh. The Gem spoke, "You did your best, but this is past mending. Your world is still a grave for a massive corpse and me..."

Centipeedle clawed into Steven's face as she hissed with a deep and powerful hatred, "You let me die..."

Steven awoke with a start from the nightmare, shaking horribly.

"I'm gonna be sick," he groaned, "I'm gonna-"

Steven violently threw up onto the floor, catching his breath after as he pondered the dream, still shaking as he got a towel to clean up the mess, glowing pink brighter than the lightning from the thunderstorm outside, which he took as a silver lining that meant he didn't have to turn on the lights and let his eyes adjust.

Steven shook, looking at his hands as he recalled meeting Centipeedle when he died. The first corrupt Gem he ever met, the one Jasper shattered, thus saving Ocean Town. He let her, an inoccent Gem who had done nothing wrong, die.

Steven felt sick, like he needed to scream but the noise would only echo back into the screaming in his skull. Madness echoed in his mind as his sanity decayed, crushed by the weight of the hundreds of thousands of lives in the Earth's core, the massive corpse in the center of his home.

That's when his phone rang, catching him off guard.

"Who waits until three AM to call me?" Steven sighed as he rubbed his eyes.

"Oh boy three AM!" Yellow Diamond examined eagerly as the communication screen rang, "Steven must be awake by now."

"Yellow I think humans sleep for eight hours not four," Blue Diamond explained, "He probably won't answer."

"Oh but we must share the news!" Yellow Diamond continued joyfully clapping her hands together, "He's going to be so happy when he hears what we've discovered!"

Steven answered, groggy, "Hello?"

"Oh Steven!" Blue Diamond greeted, happy but concerned, "You seem tired, did you get enough sleep?"

"As much as I could," Steven sighed, "What's up? Why call me at this hour?"

"Oh we have the most wonderful news!" Yellow Diamond replied butting in in front of Blue, "We found a way to reverse shattering!"

Steven's eyes went wide with shock as he asked, yawning, "Wait what? Did I hear you right? Am I still dreaming?"

"No it's true," Blue Diamond elaborated with a softer, sweeter tone, yet still holding some excitement herself, "Yellow has repaired some formerly shattered Gems."

"So you can fix anything?" Steven inquired.

"Not anything but-" Yellow Diamond began to elaborate, but by then Steven wasn't listening any longer.

"If I bring you shards can you fix someone?" Steven demanded eagerly.

"I can try but," Yellow began to protest.

Steven however was already out the door as he exclaimed, "Great I'll see you soon!"

Steven then hung up and dashed outside, bumping into Buck who greeted Steven with his usual coolness, "Woah little bro. Cool it. What's got you so hyped up at three in the morning?"

"Oh Yellow Diamond can bring back dead Gems!" Steven exclaimed eagerly before he realized, "But uhhh... why are you up at this hour?"

"I don't need to sleep much anymore," Buck replied, "Since I'm... yknow... pink. Anyways, bring back the dead?"

Steven nodded, "I can finally fix this..."

"OK but it's dangerous to drive tired let me drive you," Buck explained, "Where we headed?"

"Ocean Town..." Steven smirked eagerly.

The duo drove down the freeway, making small talk as they discussed.

"So you met this Gem when you..." Buck asked, trying not to say it directly as not to upset Steven.

"When I kicked the bucket yeah," Steven sighed, "It was... Not fun."

"It was weird when I died," Buck sighed, "I was in Heaven... I think and I saw someone who would've gone there."

"I don't wanna pry but may I ask who?" Steven asked.

"My mother," Buck explained, "She was in this cafe which I think was Heaven but there's one thing I don't understand."

"What's that?" Steven inquired.

"My mother was a profound atheist," Buck explained, "So how could she have gone to Heaven assuming any God is real?"

"I don't think God would care what she believed," Steven explained, "I tried to visit a church in Ocean Town as a kid, and the people there were some of the worst I ever met. Racists and homophobes the lot of them. Your mother was a good person I presume?"

Buck nodded, "Ironically a far better person than my Christian father."

"Allow me to present an idea," Steven explained, "When I died I was caught in this space between life and death, a Purgatory of some sort. I didn't fully die like you and never saw like, Heaven or Hell, as I again, didn't fully die like you. This made me think, there might be a God of some sort, maybe the Christan God, maybe something else, but whatever it is, holy texts cannot be trusted. They've been translated and changed for thousands of years. Maybe one homophobic priest in year 502 and another bad pastor in 709 and the texts are tainted. God is real, but the Bible has been taianted by human hands and cannot be trusted. If we assume that God is loving and good however, and the Bible is tainted, then it's likely that anyone can go to Heaven if they are good. That God cares not what you beleive or who you love. A good gay atheist will go to Heaven. A homophobic Christian will burn in Hell."

"I agree with that if there is a God I don't have an opinion either way," Buck explained, "I'm agnostic you could say."

"Can't say I see things any different," Steven replied, "And there's also the irony of the fact that if God has been used to defend sin and Atheists would in thorey rely soley on ethics they would be the closest to God as they persue good untainted by zealotry and malicious church pratices. However that's enough thorey crafting. We're here."

The duo stopped outside an old, run down house on the beach of Ocean Town, the windows broken and boarded up, the whole house seemed to groan under its own weight.

"What is this place?" Buck inquired as he got out of the car.

Steven explained, "This is where I grew up with Lapis, Jasper, and Peridot. This is my childhood home..."