A/N: It's out! Yay! However, I will give you fair warning - this story may have very slow updates. I am not as far in as I had hoped, and now I am also writing a LotR story (which I'm excited about). But without further ado, here are the first TWO chapters of The Power of Seven.


"Thoughts/Telepathy"

~"Artificial Communications"~

"Zanpakutou speaking"

"Japanese"

It was quite pretty, he decided finally, watching the faint strands of color interweave in his mind's eye. And it would be mesmerizing had he not understood and known what each fibrous filament represented. It was as if he was seeing Spirit Ribbons again, tracking his peers for the first time since his Academy days. Selecting one at random, he followed it with a telepathic finger, the vast capacity of his brain instantly analyzing and memorizing.

"I am…I am…I am…"

The voice was soft, a broken record, but it made him smile nevertheless. Every day the six others in his head – excluding Hyourinmaru, as he made seven – made a little more progress. Today, it seemed that Yellow was beginning to attempt describing itself. A big step, Toushiro knew, still listening quietly to Yellow's baby thoughts, blooming underneath his touch.

"Toushiro, my father says that lunch is ready, when you wish to eat."

Thor's deep rumble broke into the delicate filigree of his tenuous telepathy, and without warning the connection between his mind and the infant consciousnesses shattered – all save one. The Tesseract's blue power gleamed brightly on his collarbone, set into his skin, and it alone had flourished with the constant contact with his mind. By its glowing blue mark, five other small patches of color stained the smooth porcelain white of his skin beneath, each of which held a place for the other five Infinity Stones. They looped down over his chest like a large necklace like an oddly shaped sort of tattoo. One of two he now possessed.

"Hitsugaya-niitan! Nii-tan! Nii-tan!" Blue chirped anxiously at the back of his mind, the gentle buzz of the feminine voice still warped by lack of practice. Toushiro winced – Blue was the only one which could actually throw mental shouts at him now, and the sudden cranial noise still hurt him. If he had to guess, then Blue's mental age would be about equivalent to that of a four-year-old. A four-year-old Yachiru. Ergo, ouch.

"Easy, Blue. It's Thor."

The Tesseract's budding consciousness fell silent, satisfied, and then the last dregs of Toushiro's new mindscape vanished. Slowly, the room came back into focus. He sat cross-legged on a soft green cushion, his hands curved neatly in his lap, facing a wide window with a view that overlooked Odin's city below. He blinked, his eyes dry from staying open for so long, and without warning realized that he – and the cushion beneath him – were floating about a foot in the air.

"Bloody hell." He muttered, raking his fingers through unruly white hair and concentrating. Slowly, the cushion drifted back to the floor, and he sighed tiredly. "I keep doing that without realizing it…"

Thor's appreciative laugh came from the gilded doorway, and Hitsugaya stood and turned, the soft white and blue tunic he wore flaring out around his narrow hips, his left eye fading from Tesseract-blue to his natural green as the Space Stone withdrew from his mind. He rolled his eyes, rubbing the back of his neck and stretching like a cat to reawaken his stiff muscles.

"How long was I meditating for that time?" he asked, his voice a low groan. He felt rather weak, as if he'd been asleep for several weeks. Thor's fond grin never faded, though his brow did knit together in puzzlement.

"Four and a half days." He replied simply. A frown flitted across the blond thundergod's face. "The length of your trances worries me."

Hitsugaya scuffed the sole of his boot against the floor, the flexible grey leather supple against his foot. He shrugged blandly.

"That's why I'm trying to coax the other five into full sentience as quickly as I can while I'm here." He said tartly. "I know I'm vulnerable when I meditate like that. Hence why I'm not back in Soul Society. I don't want to be assassinated in my…whatever the hell I'm actually doing."

Thor nodded understandingly, somewhat amused by Toushiro's obvious disdain for his newfound powers. Together, the odd pair walked down the hallway, Thor keeping a watchful eye on the white, star/flower-shaped tattoo over the boy's eyebrow, ready to warn him should one of the Stones activate without warning. The demigod remembered the first time that the young shinigami had lost control with a slight shudder – this second tattoo and his left eye had turned blood red. And he'd nearly destroyed an entire room. It had been sheer luck that the teenager had been able to regain his lucidity and rein in the Reality Stone's power in time.

"That was an accident!" Toushiro suddenly snapped, gold creeping across the tattoo over his brow and lightening the emerald of half his stare into golden beryl. Thor raised an eyebrow.

"I said nothing aloud, Toushiro." He reminded calmly, allowing the telepathic invasion of his mind to slide. "Nor do I blame you for that incident. You've come a long way since then."

Winter flashed in Hitsugaya's eyes, a snowstorm of shamed recognition passing across his face. He couldn't always tell when he was using telepathy or telekinesis, especially after he'd been interacting with the other six stones. It took a while for him to readjust to the physical world.

"Well, it's been two months since I started training." He acknowledged, grateful for the Asgardian's understanding. Odin hadn't been happy the first time that Toushiro's telepathic abilities had allowed him to unconsciously access the old king's thoughts. Thor, however, was less judgmental.

They arrived at the soldiers' dining hall silently and stood idly in the wide doorway for several long minutes, observing the myriad members of Odin's elite personal guard eating in small clusters, all grinning and speaking animatedly with their fellows. Then the young shinigami let out an audible sigh and stepped into the throng of gold-armored guards, Thor keeping a pace behind him out of respect. As Toushiro passed by, the Asgardian soldiers all stopped what they were doing, be it eating or talking, and gave the shinigami captain a deep bow.

"Lord Hitsugaya." One of them intoned respectfully, catching Hitsugaya's attention. "Are you well? You have not been seen for some days."

Toushiro shot the man a cool, composed look, a passing flicker of irritation flashing over the shinigami's pale face at the ornery title. Odin had insisted that he and – somewhat begrudgingly – Steve assume noble status while in Asgard. It gave them a measure of immunity against the typical laws of the alien realm, and alerted most of the citizens to their importance. Of course, Hitsugaya had been bestowed with a higher title than Steve had, given that Odin valued the alliance with the shinigami more than the alliance with SHIELD and the Avengers, but it was a magnanimous gesture nonetheless.

"Aside from the fact that I still can't quite tell if I'm losing my mind or not, then yes, I'm well." He replied dryly. "I have been training."

The Asgardian nodded then, fully aware of what 'training' meant for the young man. He gestured to the table, smiling again.

"If you're looking for something light to start you off, I'd recommend heading away from any stew or casserole you see today, Your Grace." He advised seriously, though humor twitched at his lips. "Most are rather thick."

Hitsugaya took the information in stride, a perfunctory nod of thanks his only response, and set about making himself a plate of food. The atmosphere of the room, once light and rather jovial, had tightened into a quiet sort of politeness. The frozen wisps of Toushiro's personality seemed to instantly silence any thought of mischief. Even when the young shinigami wasn't paying any heed to what was going on around him, something about his demeanor made the soldiers straighten up and act properly. Thor had noticed it only gradually.

Settling into a ledge by the window, Hitsugaya proceeded to devour his meal with all the speed of a starving wolf, his focus entirely on regaining energy. Thor sat down across from him, wondering still about how quick the (pre)teenager's metabolism was. This wouldn't be the first time that the young man had to go back for thirds…correction, fourths. The duo spent an amicable hour in silence, the Asgardian prince's casual supervision drifting somewhat during the time in which Hitsugaya ate. All around him, the guards wandered in slow circles, giving their prince and his young duke friend a wide berth. They were also watching the shinigami captain, wary of his newfound power.

After eating Toushiro stood and closed his eyes. Thor shot to his feet, waiting on tenterhooks for any possible mishap – he knew what the boy was doing.

Electric blue stained the tattoo on the young captain's forehead, and without warning bionic-looking blue lines began to spiderweb over his skin. His breathing slowed and deepened, and slowly his arms went up and out, the Space Stone's blue energies seeping from his skin.

"Where are you going, Toushiro?" Thor asked, calmer now that he realized the Space Stone's power was well controlled. The shinigami shrugged.

"Might as well head to the practice arena." He said carelessly, his attention somewhat fractured by the sheer amount of concentration he was giving to the Tesseract's power. "See you there."

Hitsugaya pivoted sharply on his heel, trailing ribbons of blue power from his fingertips, and spun once before the room warped around him, stained blue by the twisting bands of light as it spiraled in on his features. Then, with a sound resembling the crack of a whip, the warping snapped back into place, and the dining hall once again looked normal. Save one difference.

Toushiro had vanished.


For those of you that have read Flashes of Color, you will recognize this chapter. Therefore, I have also uploaded the second one.

You're welcome

~avtorSola