Neutrality Order (TomBoo)

R.C. - Chapter 4

He didn't know when he'd opened his eyes, but when he did, there was darkness.

Tommy felt weightless, like he was on the verge of waking and sleeping, with nothing but a half-formed void around him.

He looked at his hands; they too were half-formed from a solid mist-like void and his only discernible part.

Did he exist here? he wondered. Was he even real here?

He felt a presence to his right and looked over, seeing a beautiful woman with powerful features beside him, her eyes holding a flicker of sadness.

He felt another to his left and saw a middle-aged man with age-hardened features that looked incredibly serene despite the harshness.

On either side of them were different people; a bald man who looked all business but laugh lines around his eyes, a woman with cropped spiky hair and sharp snakelike eyes, a young man with scars over his left eye, another with a serious face concealed by a high collar...

....a mostly-formed very familiar misty shape with glowing blue eyes that were warm and sad at the same time.

Tommy stared at the last one for a moment before turning to a presence in front of him, seeing a young man with an almost frail figure, pale hair, and the kindest eyes Tommy had ever seen.

That man held out his hand, and all but two others -the woman and the middle-aged man- vanished like smoke.

Tommy stared at the man before him, who came closer and appeared to study him.

"So...you are the Ninth," he murmured, his voice soft but powerful. "A strange turn of events...but not entirely unsatisfactory."

Tommy blinked, unable to speak, missing everything below his eyes. Still, his thoughts echoed in the void as his thoughts were broadcast. 'What is going on?' he asked. 'Who...?' He took in the frailty of the man, the ageless wisdom in his kind eyes. '...you're the First.'

The First smiled. "I am," he replied. "And I am incredibly intrigued now by your circumstances." He looked at the woman next to Tommy. "...among others."

Tommy looked over at the woman, his brow furrowing. 'What...do you mean?'

"If I may." The middle-aged man stepped forward, inclining his head with an air of quiet zen. "I am the Third. And it was I who was able to fully reach out because of you." He reached over, a finger hovering just between Tommy's eyes. "Your training in stealth, 'clearing your mind', and your mediation has triggered my own quirk to emerge from the core of One For All from which all of us and our flames reside." He lowered his hand, closed his eyes, and began a soft, quiet humming sound, and Tommy immediately felt the anxiety and tension from being here unannounced fading until the man stopped.

"In my time, I was known as the Gentle Hero. In my work as a hero, I never once resorted to violence. My quirk is Serenity, and I am able to abolish anxiety, stress, violent tendencies, and conflicted emotions to those who hear my humming. Almost none have the desire to fight when the source of their anger is gone." He smiled at Tommy. "With your own training, you were able to trigger the use of my quirk and open a way from your mind to One For All. Something none of the other Holders have been able to."

Tommy stared, looking between the three among him. 'I don't understand,' he said. 'Not even Cow Father...?'

The First shook his head. "He was able to invoke our power, but not our flames," he replied. "You were able to, from specific circumstances, combined with the overflow of power you hold from us. I would imagine by the Tenth, they would be able to invoke down to our very experiences. But that remains to be seen." He gestured to the two on either side of Tommy. "It is these two you have invoked most of all."