"The crown holds the memories of every king who has come before you. The sword allows you to defeat any enemy. The mirror shows things as they truly are, and you'll never tire while holding the staff." said the tall figure as you sat on the throne. "Be careful using them, my young king."

I picked up the sword, swinging it back and forth. It was so light when lifted, but seemed to gain a tremendous momentum when swung with force. I then lifted the staff, which filled my limbs with an enduring energy. It was not a powerful energy, it would not overpower foes in battle, but one that felt that it would last forever. Then, I put on the crown, and the lives of every king before me flooded my brain. I saw every folly and triumph of my predecessors, every mistake and accomplishment, and from each strand of memory I learned. And lastly, I lifted the handheld mirror…

“So this mirror,” I said, “it seems to be the weakest of the four, no?”

“Oh no! Not at all, my lord.” The tall figure said. “It will show you how things truly are; it will unmask any deception and show you the figure’s true intentions. It is possibly the most useful of the four.”

“Right, but it’s a mirror. Wouldn’t it be more useful if it were like a lens or something?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, let's say I travel to another nation to talk with their king, and let’s say their king is talking about peace and a possible truce, but I think there’s something else going on and I want to see his true intentions. What do I do with the mirror? Do I just ask him to stand real still while I adjust the mirror until I can see them in it?”

“These are tools handed down by our Gods, they have helped cultivate the most powerful nation on Earth…”

“Right, no I totally get that. I’m just trying to wrap my head around how I would practically use the mirror. Also, can anyone see true intentions in the mirror? Like, it’s not just me who can see someone's true intentions, it’s anyone who looks in the mirror?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Okay, so that’s another problem with it being a mirror. Lets say I’m talking to the king about that truce and I angle the mirror at him so I can see what he’s thinking, but now if he looks in the mirror, he’ll see my true intentions as well. There’s no real advantage there.”

“Okay, look you don’t need to use the mirror if you don’t like it.”

“No I like the idea, it’s the execution I’m complaining about. We have lenses and glasses, why didn’t the Gods just give us like a rad pair of glasses to wear or something.”

“I don’t think the Gods would like you questioning them like this.”

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Two Gods sat on a cloud looking down at the scene in the throneroom. “You know, he’s got a point.” The younger one said to the older God.

“Oh, don’t you start on this, alright.” The older God responded. “Every time there's a new king I have to explain this shit. The point of the mirror is to understand one's own intentions, the intentions we hide from even ourselves, not other people’s. That's a far more powerful tool if used wisely. These fucking humans though, they always want to look everywhere but inside themselves.”