CN3 - 2 - Given the Vahi

“There is.” Vakama shifted his firestaff to the opposite hand. “I – I don’t know if the time is right. I don’t know if any time would be right for this. And the wrong decision...”

“Yes, what are you saying?” Tahu demanded. It wasn’t like Vakama to sound so hesitant. The Turaga was usually much more like Tahu himself – quick-thinking and decisive. “What’s the big secret?”

Taking a deep breath, Vakama reached into an opening in the wall and pulled something out.

Tahu stared at the item curiously. “What is that?” he asked, reaching toward it. “It looks sort of like a mask – but not any mask I’ve ever seen.”

Vakama held up the object. Its surface gleamed a deep flame orange.

“It is a mask,” Vakama said, his voice low and reverent. “The Kanohi Vahi – the Great Mask of Time. It is the most powerful mask of them all.”

“Really?” Tahu reached out eagerly.

(...)

Still, Vakama held the Vahi mask away. He shook his head. “This is not the kind of power you have known,” he said. “Your other powers are great indeed. But the power of the Vahi exists on a higher level. Do you understand what it would mean to control time itself?”

Tahu paused, turning over the question in his head. “I – I suppose it would be useful in battle,” he said. “I could slow down time for my opponent, giving me the chance to defeat him before he could even complete a strike. Or I could use it instead of the mask of speed, quickening time to get me somewhere faster. Or...”

“No!” Vakama sighed. “This is what I feared. You must think of the greater reality, Toa Tahu. For he who controls time controls reality – controls everything. Do you see?”

“I see that time connects all other powers,” Tahu said slowly. “Nothing else can exist without it.”

“Yes!” Vakama sounded pleased and relieved, though his voice still held an undercurrent of worry. “Now you begin to understand. It’s one thing to control time and with it all of reality – and another to lose control of it all. The Kanohi Vahi can only be used in the direst emergency – when there is nothing to lose.”

Tahu paused. “But, I might never reach such a state of desperation at all,” he said. “I might never find a chance to call upon the Vahi.”

“That is my hope,” Vakama said. “In fact, I think it would be better if the other Toa never know you hold it unless you need to use it. Can you accept that, Tahu Nuva?”