Just as Sylas was slowly recovering his mental strength, Gandalf walked toward him from the distant palace.
"Sylas, you came out earlier than I expected," Gandalf said with a surprised smile. "Have you finished your experiment?"
But almost immediately, Gandalf's expression shifted. He narrowed his eyes slightly and looked Sylas up and down with increasing scrutiny.
"Sylas," he said slowly, "why do I feel that you're a little… different?"
Sylas was mildly surprised. He hadn't expected Gandalf to notice so quickly.
"So you can sense it?" Sylas asked calmly.
Gandalf frowned, clearly trying to put the feeling into words.
"It's hard to explain," he said. "You're standing right in front of me, yet it feels as if there's a great distance between us. There's a kind of power surrounding you, subtle, but unmistakable. Almost like you're slightly out of phase with the present."
Then, suddenly, Gandalf's eyes widened.
He glanced sharply toward the office behind them, then snapped his gaze back to Sylas.
"What is going on?" Gandalf said, shock clear in his voice.
"Sylas, how can there be two of you at the same time?"
Sylas didn't panic. He smiled faintly.
"This version of me," he said evenly, "is Sylas from six hours later. As for the one in the office… he should be finishing the final steps right about now."
Gandalf froze.
"You succeeded?" he asked slowly.
"You created the Time-Turner, and then returned to the present?"
"Yes," Sylas nodded, taking out the Time-Turner he had just used and showing it to him.
Sylas hadn't tried to hide its creation from Gandalf. In truth, he couldn't have hidden it anyway. More importantly, he trusted him.
Gandalf, whose true nature was Olórin, a Maia who had studied under Nienna, the Vala of compassion and wisdom, was not someone who would abuse such knowledge lightly.
The only thing Sylas withheld was the Time-Turner's deeper function: its ability to allow perception of the River of Time itself.
When Gandalf saw the faint temporal vibrations emanating from the device in Sylas's hand, he couldn't help but gasp.
"A time-reversal artifact… created by you," Gandalf said in disbelief.
"Sylas, this is extraordinary. If Aulë, the Vala of Craft, knew that you had created something like this, he would almost certainly want to take you as his apprentice!"
Sylas shook his head.
"The power of time is too vast," he said calmly.
"This Time-Turner can only rewind a maximum of five hours per day. If pushed further, it will shatter. It also cannot change past events, only allow observation. It has severe limitations. Calling it a divine artifact would be an exaggeration."
But Gandalf disagreed, his eyes shining.
"Sylas, you are being far too modest," he said firmly.
"Time is the most unfathomable force in existence. Even the greatest minds among the Valar cannot casually grasp it. The fact that you can return to the past at all, even as an observer, is already an astonishing achievement."
He paused, then spoke with genuine conviction.
"Honestly, when I look at everything you've created, the wand-crafting system, the Floo Network, the Crown of Wisdom, the Philosopher-type magic stones, and now the Time-Turner, it's clear that your talent lies in creation."
"You should study under Aulë," Gandalf said plainly.
"With his guidance, your potential in craftsmanship would be limitless. It's not impossible that you could one day inherit his legacy as the greatest artisan beneath the Valar."
Gandalf wasn't exaggerating.
Though he would respect Sylas's choice no matter which Vala he followed, if the decision lay between Aulë, Mandos, or Manwë, Gandalf would unhesitatingly recommend Aulë.
Sylas's inventions weren't merely powerful, they were conceptual, capable of reshaping eras.
Given Sylas's exceptional aptitude and the long list of inventions he had created, it was only natural that he would attract the attention of Aulë, the Vala of Craft. If he chose that path, it was even possible that he might one day become the greatest craftsman beneath the Valar.
However, Sylas did not allow these thoughts to sway him.
"Thank you for your suggestion, Gandalf," Sylas said sincerely. "I will give it serious consideration."
He knew Gandalf's intentions were entirely benevolent. That was precisely why Gandalf had recommended Aulë, the path that appeared safest, most stable, and most promising in the eyes of Valinor.
Yet Sylas had already silently removed Aulë from his list of possible mentors.
Gandalf and the others believed that the wand-crafting system, the Floo Network, the Resurrection Stone, the Invisibility Cloak, the Philosopher's Stone, and even the Time-Turner were all born from Sylas's own genius. To them, his talent seemed nothing short of miraculous.
But Sylas understood the truth far better than anyone else.
He was not a peerless prodigy.
He was a borrower of wisdom, someone who had reproduced, refined, and recombined knowledge from another world. His strength lay in implementation, not in original divine inspiration.
If he chose to apprentice under Aulë and devoted himself fully to craftsmanship, then with the accumulated wisdom of another world, he truly could become an unparalleled master artisan, earning Aulë's recognition and securing an exalted position in Valinor.
But that path carried an invisible shackle.
Once he chose it, no matter how far he advanced, he would only ever be walking Aulë's road.
At best, he could approach the Vala's level infinitely, yet never surpass it.
Choosing another's path meant accepting another's ceiling.
That was why Sylas had no intention of following any Vala's established domain.
If he were to become a disciple one day, it would be to learn, not to inherit. He would take knowledge, not identity.
What he sought was a path no one had yet claimed.
And among all forces in Arda, there was only one that fit that condition: Time.
Time was not governed by any Vala.
The only faint connection lay with Vairë, the Weaver, consort of Mandos, who recorded all events into her tapestries of history. But even Vairë merely recorded time; she did not command it.
In truth, throughout all of Arda, only Eru Ilúvatar truly possessed dominion over time.
And Ilúvatar had long since transcended the world, never interfering in its governance.
Which meant that time remained fundamentally unclaimed.
If Sylas could grasp even a fragment of that power, his existence would undergo a qualitative transformation. His strength would leap beyond ordinary Maiar-level beings, granting him the means to stand among the highest ranks of the refined, perhaps even face beings like Mandos without being utterly helpless.
At the very least, he would no longer be defenseless.
If he could one day fully master the power of time, then perhaps, just perhaps, he could approach the level of a Vala-like existence.
That goal was distant, almost absurdly so. Sylas did not harbor delusions of immediate transcendence. He regarded it as a final destination, not an expectation.
After all, power and authority are not the same.
Power is the ability to wield force. Authority is the right to define it.
The Valar wield authority, thus they are gods of sky, sea, death, and fate.
Maiar wield power, but not authority, thus they cannot truly be called gods.
...
Stones plzz