The smell of the sea was calm and peaceful, and the man—whatever he was but he certainly took the
shape of a man, Yasha, was a balm to her in a way. His quiet suffering, so clearly felt and one she could empathize with so well, added to hers and took away some the the extreme loneliness she felt in her emotions. But it was not enough to subdue them, and her tears still swam in her eyes and the eyes of her Pearl as they looked upon Pink's shattered palanquin

Most strangely, Yasha was not affected by this. She could see no tears flowing from under his mask, but maybe that was simply due to him not being able to cry. Still, she had her doubts. Everything could cry.

But then, something seemed to be amiss. She could feel the disturbances in the air and the emotions
around her. Some kind of savage, gibbering mind, barely intelligent, gnashing its teeth in rage and
howling its fury, caught in the storm of its own hatred and loathing and wishing to kill all that it saw. What was this now? Blue Diamond had not been told of the presence of such creatures here on Pink Diamond's colony.

She whirled around at the same time as her Pearl to see the creatures appearing from the environment. Twisted, corrupted things, looking like the animals of Earth but with terrible red growths sprouting from them in some kind of obvious infection. They were diseased, corrupted—something had changed them into this monstrous form in which they were concerned with their own bloodlust and nothing else.

In an instant her energy surrounded her hands, and her Pearl readied herself into a fighting stance, but before she could do little more than that Yasha stepped forward in front of the both of them. Blue Diamond opened her mouth to order him to stay back, but it was too late: one of the creatures leaped at him, howling in rage. Yasha made a slicing motion with his hand, and a blue scythe of energy cut the creature in half instantly, dissolving it.

That made Blue Diamond pause, admiration filling her. From what she had seen in her life, only the
Diamonds and very, very high-ranking germs were capable of such a feat as the manipulation of energy, and only the Diamonds could do it with ease. This man was clearly no Diamond, yet he had to be as powerful as one at the very least to possess such abilities

The rest of the creatures attacked, nearly a dozen in total, and Yasha slashed again and again, vaporizing them one after another until they had all been dissolved. There were more of the creatures hiding in the bushes, but Yasha moved fast. So fast that Blue Diamond thought he had simply vanished into thin air at first, but then she noticed him in flashes, his fists and feet flying, blue energy slicing through his hands, and he dispatched every single corrupted creature he found.

He was efficient and beautiful in his work, but Blue Diamond still could not shake the feeling of
overwhelming sadness that was coming from him as he attacked. It controlled every movement of his,
every word, and even when he was doing something as simple as fighting he still had his pall of grief that never seemed to leave.

And how refreshing it was, to feel that! To feel a kindred soul!

"There, that takes care of the Gohma," Yasha said, reappearing in the spot he had been occupying some seconds ago with his enhanced speed

Blue Diamond tilted her head at him. "Is that what those creatures are? Gohma?" she asked, frowning in confusion. While this development was of some curiosity, the Cluster would be activated soon anyway so she saw little need to be concerned. They would all be destroyed with the Earth.

Yasha nodded, his mask impassive. "Yes," he added to his nod.

Getting answers from him world take some effort, she saw. "And what, exactly, are the Gohma?" she
asked, hiding her hands within her voluminous sleeves.

He stared at her for a moment, before deciding to answer. "They are corrupted creatures of the planet, dark souls that can easily overpower and destroy the world if they are allowed to."
That was quite vague, but better than nothing. The more he talked, the more Blue was interested in what he had to say. Perhaps having and audience was too much for him, though? "Come here with me," she said, motioning for her Pearl to stay as she took Yasha's elbow and gently led him away by several places.

She hoped he would not mind the intrusive touch, but for now he seemed compliant enough. When they
were far enough away that she didn't worry about her Pearl hearing her (not that it really mattered, she was just a Pearl but still appearances were what counted) she turned to look at him. At that impassive mask that hid all yet she could still see right under it.

"Now, what are you, Yasha? And how do you know about these Gohma? No human I have ever seen is capable of the powers you just demonstrated, are you even from this planet?

"Not quite," Yasha answered, glancing away to watch the endless rippling waves of the sea. The wind
tugged playing at his white scarf, tossing the strands about in an almost lazy fashion white he stood there, otherwise impassive to it. "I am from a planet called Gaea, but from what I have heard of Earth they seem to be one and the same at times.

That was more than a little confusing, but Blue Diamond did not have something that she could so
immediately reply with. So was he from Earth...or wasn't he? She had nine planets under her control and none of the she recalled wee named Gaea. None of the worlds she had ever looked at were, actually. So an undiscovered world or...something else? "And your abilities?" she prompted inquisitively.

Yasha looked at his hands for a long minute, then abruptly looked away, as if he could not stand the sight of them. "You are correct in one aspect, though," he said, his voice so soft she had to strain her ears to hear him. "I am not human. I am a demigod."

Blue blinked, frowned, and tilted her head at him. She had heard the term before, in more cultures as this, but... "Gods and demigods are figments of imagination," she said confidently. "Used by other races to worship fake deities and explain perfectly natural events."

"Gods exist when people say they do," Yasha argued with her calmly. "Do you have an incredible power that can affect the lives of people around you? Then yes, many people and races will consider you a god for that."

There was a truth to that, but it was uncomfortable to acknowledge. Blue Diamond supposed that, in some way according to his definition, she could be considered a goddess among the Gems. But that was silly already, she was no goddess, she was a Diamond.

"And what you do with your hands," she said, holding out her palms and letting her energy pool into
them, responding to the shape of her will and design. "That you used to attack those Gohma. Is this a demigod power as well?

Yasha nodded, but reluctantly. "In a way, yes. Each of us has a unique skill special to us. Mine is creating the blasts of energy you saw earlier."

Exactly like a Gem then. Well, he was easier to understand than she thought he would be. "Yes, I know what you mean. Us Gems are very similar, we have different powers depending on what Gem we are."

"Ours are based on what Aspect of the Mantra we are," Yasha answered. He must have understood that
made little sense, for he quickly resumed his explanation. "I am thousands of years old. Demigods are immortal, we do not die of old age."

"Neither do Gems," Blue Diamond replied with an acknowledging nod. "I, too, have counted many
thousands of years upon my age."

"Ah, I see. That explains your melancholy then."

Age equaling such sadness? Perhaps he made a bit of sense there. Blue Diamond knew that Yellow was
sad too, in her own way, and the Gems who were made after Pink's shattering and the rebellion seemed to be happier and more innocent than the veterans of the war. "You have felt the sadness that comes with age, then?" she asked softly.

"It is my Affinity," Yasha replied, and his chest opened up, except her initial shock at the action soon turned to awe when she saw that it was opening because there were cybernetics that were implanted in his chest. The mechanics glowed in the soft light that pulsed from the middle of his chest, almost as if something was there but it was so light that it was impossible to tell what it was or discern any kind of features in it. But even that did not stop her from hearing the subtle song of the power inside of him and feeling its radiating energy washing over her. Calm, but powerful, like the deepest depths of the great ocean.

Yasha closed his chest then, tucking it back into place almost protectively, and Blue Diamond decided that she made up her mind about him. "I would like you to come back with my, to my Homeworld," she said, very simply and shortly. Was she being too polite as a Diamond? She was more than allowed to take what she wanted from this world, after all. But Yasha was extremely different, and clearly held a lot of power. When it doubt, it was better to assess the situation rather than charging in and potentially offending the wrong person.

He looked at her, clearly summing up her offer, and thinking about it. "Why?" he asked calmly.

"Because I think you are very intriguing, and I have a ship that may take us there, so there is little trouble involved." She waved her hand and, responding to her will, her ship appeared, nearly blotting out the sky with its size. "You see? This will get us to Homeworld very soon, and it is most comfortable there."

"Your Homeworld filled with people similar to you?"

"I am a Diamond, so no. But a Gem, yes."

That made him frown for a moment, trying to process her words, before Yasha shrugged and stood up
straighter, his clothes snapping smartly in the wind that was blowing all about them. "I think your offer is very interesting," he said, nodding. "Very well then, I will come."

There was a strange trickle of an emotion that she had not felt for a long time...something fluttered and light and...happy? Was she feeling happiness, even if for the briefest of flickering moments, after all of these heavy years of torture and endless grief piled one on top of another?

She commanded her ship to descend. She had no idea if he could fly like a Diamond could or not, but it certainly did not hut to try and see. "We can board then, let us go," she said, holding out her arm to gesture to the ramp that was descending from the ship. She waved to Blue Pearl, who quickly hurried inside.

"There's no need for that," Yasha said with a small, tiny smile. Maybe he was feeling the long-sought, but rarely felt, happiness as well. It would be nice if he did. Even if Blue Diamond did not know him that well, she knew that no one deserved such an unending sadness to be inflicted upon them all the time. "I have my own transportation.

That one made her blink. "Oh?" she simply asked

As if flying on some unspoken command, a hover bike came to him from the wilderness, stopping right by her side and purring idly as it waited for him to get on. Which he did, hopping into the driver's seat expertly and smiling. "So, when do we go?" he asked.

Blue Diamond's lips twitched. "Now," she said as she headed inside her ship.