Richard slid the bolt into place and materialized the Hermes Mask.
Ever since he had left the restaurant by the breakwater, the mask had been hot, like a roasted sweet potato tucked against his chest.
He sat down in his chair and considered what his new Divine-forged Armament might be.
A shepherd's pipe would be best. Hermes had played a reed pipe to lull all one hundred eyes of Argus, the Hundred-eyed Giant, to sleep, then cut off his head.
Richard did not particularly care about cutting off heads. It was the hypnosis he wanted.
The mirror belonging to that figure from the Black Soil River, the pottery shards Apophis had scattered... and all those people endlessly scheming against him. If only he could lull them all to sleep in one go.
A lyre would be good too. Hermes had traded one for Apollo's forgiveness.
As he thought, darkness seeped across the inside of the mask.
Black water bubbled out of its two eye sockets, spilling onto the towel Richard had folded in advance and gathering into a large lump of unidentified matter.
Richard frowned and stayed still. Something seemed off.
A dozen seconds later, a cap appeared on the towel. He leaned closer to sniff it and could not help gagging.
A cellar's mustiness mixed with the rank smell of wet dog fur... the king of the Underworld probably did not wash his hair much.
Later, during the war between the gods and giants, Hades had lent this dogskin cap to Hermes so he could gather intelligence. Hermes had ultimately even assassinated the giant Sibrytes.
Among the demigod heroes, Perseus had worn this cap to cut off Medusa's head.
On his feet were shoes borrowed from Hermes, and on his head was the Underworld king's dogskin cap.
The panel