Obscurity

Kino double-checked her map. She was fairly certain she went the right way, but felt that she should have arrived in the country by now. Kino decided to stop and double check her directions. She tried to get a vantage point so she could check with her binoculars, but the view around was obscured by tall trees.

"How much longer do you think we'll be going, Hermes?"

"According to that sign, we're ten kilometres away."

"Sign, which sign? I don't see anything."

"It's right next to that big rock."

Kino turned to look where Hermes had indicated. It took a few seconds, but she finally made out an old, heavily corroded sign which was halfway eaten by the undergrowth. Now assured that they were one the right path, Kino hopped on Hermes and continued on.

"How is anyone supposed to see that?!" Kino asked, rather annoyed.

"No wonder we don't know where we are. How many signs have we missed?"

Hermes interrupted her rambling: "We're there, Kino."

The woods thinned as the pair came up on a large wall. By the looks of things, it seemed to stretch around in a massive circle. A guard post and gate were situated where the wall met the road. The area itself looked rather dilapidated; the exterior was overgrown and some parts were already reclaimed by wilderness.

Hermes was not feeling very confident. "Do you think anyone's there? With how dilapidated the road was, I'm not sure anyone's ever been out there for years."

"I don't know. We might as well go and check."

As they approached the gate, Kino spotted a figure in the booth.

"No, wait, I see somebody. Come on, let's see what's up with this place."

The two pulled up to the gate, where they were greeted by a guard.

"Greetings, traveler! Are you here to visit our beautiful nation?"

"I thought that was fairly obvious, but yes, we are here to visit."

"Fantastic. Wait, you said "we". Do you have someone with you?"

"Me and my motorrad. That makes two."

The guard looked quite happy, and leaned over to Kino.

"Amazing! We're so glad to have some more visitors! We don't get them very often."

Hermes interrupted with a snide remark: "Really? We couldn't tell."

The guard went back into his booth and snapped a picture of Kino. He then printed out and handed over two identical cards.

"These are all you'll need here. It is of vital importance that you do not lose them. Protect them like you would your life."

Kino thanked the guard, and then the gate opened. As Kino and Hermes drove in, they were greeted by a beautiful city full of Baroque and Rococo buildings. Its wide avenues were spotless.

Hermes was amazed by what he saw. "Wow Kino, this is amazing! And to think it looked like a deserted ghost town from the outside. This truly is a diamond in the rug."

"I think you meant "diamond in the rough"."

"Ah, that's it!"

It was truly a marvelous sight. The city was easily one of the most beautiful they had visited. In contrast to the deserted wilderness surrounding it, the city was full of people. Kino found their dress to be particularly interesting. Most were dressed rather old-fashionedly, fitting the overall fairytale feel of the city. There were others, however. Some were dressed rather plainly, some were dressed like the guard she saw earlier, but what really caught her eye was the robes a select few wore. Ornately decorated, all of them had a symbol which resembled a glowing eye. As she looked further around the city, the symbol popped up in more and more places.

The next thing that caught Kino's attention was a large structure further down the road. Hermes took note of how large it looked, even with the distance. He estimated it to be around 50 metres tall, give or take a few. From the distance, the two were again able to make out a massive eye symbol in the middle. As they got closer and closer, they began to run into a crowd. From the distance, they could hear a voice booming from the structure. Even though it was loud enough to hear from afar, the words were unintelligible. Regardless, the crowd seemed intent on listening, even from the very back.

"The crowd's too thick, Kino. I can't fit through.

Kino and Hermes had no choice but to stop. They tried listening, but still neither could make out a single word. At last, a few minutes later, the speaker finished up. The crowd erupted in rapturous applause, before proceeding to disperse, and surprisingly quickly as well. Within a minute, the streets were clear enough to ride through.

"Hey Kino, let's go see what all that was about."

Kino hopped back onto Hermes and began to drive towards the tower.