At first, she really thought that he was going to consider not letting her help. Declaring that she could still be useful, even though she had cried in front of him, was just her way of trying to be insistent that he ignore whatever possible disuse he may have regarded her with. For a moment, she really was convinced that he'd have thought that, despite the fact that she had only evidence to suggest the opposite. Everyone knew how capable of a fighter she was, and no intelligent person was going to deny the possibility of putting her to use just because she got a little bit emotional because death seemed like such an inevitability in their situation.

Once Eilert said that he had an idea of how she could help him out, Icsorue relaxed noticeably. Her illogical fear had been disproved--something that she need not worry about, now. As if she were taking orders from a superior in the organization, she straightened up and paid close attention.

"Coloured markers . . . flags or poles . . ." Icsorue whispered, speaking for her own sake. It helps her remember things better. "And things like wallets or small notepads. That'd work, roight? Hmm . . . we probably 'ave a tone of those loyin' 'round somewhere or the other . . ."

Icsorue was just thinking out loud. She did it when she received orders from any of the Prime Directors--Silver, Gold, or Sturm, when the latter two were still with them. Overall, it just made it easier for her to think sometimes. Ideas were better generated when vocalized.

"All roight! First--oI'll drag everyone's lazy asses outta hoidin'!" Icsorue announced, her hands upon her hips--a habit she never truly dropped from childhood, "Then, we'll 'ave wot you need in no toime at all!"

The hours flew by as they prepared for battle. Eilert worked like a man possessed--never before had any present seen him move with such vigor. He had always been one of the most passive of the organization, holed up near the gates for the majority of his time.

As he worked, he explained to Icsorue what he was doing. "The flags will mark the placements of my glyphs--I'm setting them so that if you or any of the others step on them during battle, they'll activate automatically. Don't worry--the shades will not be able to activate them, nor should they be affected."

"A red flag indicates a glyph that will increase your strength, and a blue one your speed. Each of these will greatly increase your abilities, but the effect will only last for a single minute, and once it wears out the same glyph will not affect you for an hour."

"A green flag will teleport you back into the temple. Inside, I've set up many glyphs that can heal wounds--however, they won't restore any lost blood or energy, so keep that in mind. I've set up a few out here as well, marked by a white flag, but the process takes a few minutes, so it will be difficult to use them once the battle starts."

"I've put glyphs on all the pocket sized items that will serve as a two way communicator to a room inside the temple. There, one of the less combat oriented enigmas will coordinate the battle, relaying messages to one another." Possibly Silver himself, though he wasn't sure--he'd never heard of any case where he'd fought, but that didn't necessarily mean he didn't know how.

Eilert was silent for a long time before mentioning the last support glyph he'd set up. "There's one more thing...inside the temple, I've set up a teleportation glyph that's connected to one of my glyphs back by the gates in Greoul. Whether it's any safer there I don't know, but...if all else fails the Enigmas will not die here today." It may not have done any good--if the Prime Director was right, the world would end if they failed...but he didn't say it would end immediately. It could give them a place to regroup and counter attack from if they had the time.

Not being a very good speaker himself, he had her relay the information to Silver and their comrades...besides, he was too busy to take the time to explain to a large group.

And so he continued for hours on end, not stopping until both his arms were cramped to the point where he was physically incapable of the precision he needed to draw further glyphs. In addition to the support glyphs, the mountain was riddled with his offensive ones. On the edges there were innumerate glyphs set to trigger landslides, layered so that if there was enough loose rock left he could even make multiple in the same spot.

There were also a healthy amount of Glyphs of Banishment. He didn't know how useful they would be--the shades seemed to be able to pop in from anywhere--but if used on a larger one it would at least buy them some time.

Sitting just outside the temple entrance, he stared out into the mass of darkness once more. He was still apprehensive, as he'd never fought in a battle so large before. Not even close. But he was no longer filled with dread like before, just a steel determination to do everything he could to protect those who, if not his friends, had grown familiar to him after all these years.

With the hours of time put into preparation, Icsorue had managed to get each operative helping Eilert except one: Silver. He was understandably busy, though. Silver mentioned once before that there were artifacts that could not be allowed to leave the temple, nor could their destruction be permitted. Those artifacts were all within their former Superior's quarters, and Silver had been working diligently on setting up internal defenses of that room.

Outside, Icsorue essentially followed Eilert and physically helped him as she could, either by holding his wrist while on steep slopes, so he could produce a glyphs upon those to trigger landslides when necessary, or by weakening certain areas to make them more suitable for landslides. Aside from putting the fear of God into the already hopeless, intimidated, lethargic, and/or resting operatives in order to get them working, scouting, physically helping, and blowing things apart for minor effects were the only three things Icsorue was good for regarding preparations.

"All roight . . . red, blue . . . green," Icsorue spoke to herself, just affirming aloud everything that Eilert said, helping herself remember better, "Got it."

She had to wonder, though, if the glyph of healing would have actually recalled lost limbs or not. It was a brief memory of that discussion that Sturm and Eilert had so many years ago--which, to this day, she couldn't understand. A lot of what those two men talked about was way beyond her ability to comprehend. Science really wasn't Icsorue's business; she had trouble remembering specifics about it, and especially had problems trying to reason it out. She just couldn't understand people like Eilert, Sturm, and Desmon--who had since lost his life to Azure some time ago, during Sturm's betrayal of the organization. Nonetheless, she refrained from voicing that question.

In the end, twenty of them stood together: black hoods, dark coats, bodies covered, eyes hidden under shadows, yet staring down from the peak and into the much more foreboding shadows creeping closer to the foot of the mountain. The shades could be counted by the thousands, but no more. Lands had seen worse scourges of darkness, but never so . . . organized. Shades hunted in packs, but never packs this large. The closer they were, the easier it was to see that, while still maintaining animal like disorganization, there was a semblance of rank and file.

Icsorue, who now donned her uniform coat just like the others, stood closest to Eilert. This had been what they were preparing for--the battle was coming. Silver was absent from the ranks of the fighters, still preparing the room, presumably occupied with sealing it.

". . . do ya really . . ." Icsorue gulped, "Think we're ready . . .?"

Eilert took a moment to ponder the question, trying to think of anything more they might do. "I suppose we're as ready as we can be," he replied at length. At the very least he'd done all he could personally do--the only thing he was really good for was setting glyphs, and what he'd done already would have to do.

His arms rested limply in his lap, motionless except for the occasional, involuntary twitch. It might seem a bit pathetic to others, but the only other place that boasted this many glyphs was in front of the gates of Heaven and Hell, and those had been created gradually over the course of years. Here he'd worked frantically for hours, and he was unused to even that level of activity...as the throbbing of his arms now reminded him. It took little effort to activate glyphs once set, so he'd be fine for awhile in the battle, but if it dragged on long enough that enemies got close to him...well, he was already one of the worst fighters, and he lacked the stamina for a drawn out melee, so his chances weren't so great if it came to that.

Still...twenty of his colleagues were here. Most of them he didn't know, but if they were all competent in battle with powers of their own, then maybe they'd see this through.

Besides, there was something he knew, something probably unknown to any of the other Enigmas unless they attended a university at some point or had the misfortune to experience one firsthand. In order reassure Icsorue a bit, he explained what he knew.

"Avalanches are a rather mysterious force of nature," he said contemplatively. "Or they were when I was studying, anyway." He didn't add that it was many years ago, and while he probably knew more of glyphs than any other human on the planet, he had no doubt that the rest of his knowledge was a tad outdated.

"When most objects fall down a slope, they run outwards from the slope about the same distance as they fell vertically." He would have demonstrated with a small rock, but he was slightly worried he wouldn't even be able to pick up a small rock at the moment.

"However, large avalanches--which do not look like rolling rocks so much as a flood of moving earth--run out many times their vertical fall. Last I knew, there are only theories as to why. The most prominent involved vibrations and sound..." he trailed off, realizing that it would likely either go over the Pink Enigma's head, or she just didn't care. He felt slightly embarrassed...it seemed all the words he'd held back over the years were now spilling forth. He made a mental note to try and keep his tongue in check a bit more.

"Anyway, what I'm trying to get at is that avalanches are more destructive than you can imagine. If a large one gets started from this height, it won't stop for many miles out."

Avalanches. Perfect. That could take out quite a few hundred if it hit correctly--and if they were all coming up one side of the mountain, causing a massive avalanche at the right time could diminish the force by half, at least. That would be slightly more manageable, considering how many other glyphs there were, and how between all of them, each had a different power--except for Icsorue. Over time, she'd come to know so many abilities it wasn't even humorous anymore. So many skills, so many powers, and she was still scared.

"Huh . . ."

It was kind of funny, actually. This whole time, Icsorue had been thinking about the past. Was it just an extended rendition of her life flashing before her eyes? It could be. At least it wasn't flashing all at once--that might have been too much to take. So much disappointment with so few redeeming events. Sure, she had a year long vacation a few years back, and before all that, she'd had some good times bothering Sturm or things of that nature, but it was altogether disappointing. Her work was supposed to benefit the world, but it always felt hollow.

They had a few minutes, and she was on edge. Icsorue just wanted to talk again--nothing important, perhaps even small talk, just so long as she was talking and someone was talking back. Icsorue sat down next to Eilert, trying not to look down. She was nervous as hell.

"Ya always been that smart?" Icsorue asked, her inquiry seemingly random, as she recalled many of the discussions between Eilert and Sturm, "Loike . . . universities or somethin'?"

Eilert wasn't sure how to respond to that, as he wasn't entirely sure what she was asking. After a few moments he decided to answer as best as he could. "I spent almost all my life in school, either as a student or a teacher. But if I'm smart, it's because I worked very hard and spent a lot of time studying."

It made him a bit melancholy again to think of it--back then, he'd been a teenager diagnosed with a terminal disease, determined to get as far with his life as he could before he succumbed to it.

It was funny how he remembered those frantic days when his time seemed so limited fondly, and now that he had all the time in the world to study the idea brought no joy to him.

In the end I suppose it wasn't my studies I was most passionate about...

"Hahaha . . ." Icsorue laughed a bit--just a chuckle, "You and Dr. Tyr both, huh? No wonder the two of ya were so damn smart . . ."

She definitely couldn't claim that much. Icsorue was inducted into the organization as a trainee at the age of ten. She didn't have the time for any sort of education beyond the basics, and she wasn't too great at even that. Truthfully, it made her a little jealous.

"I never went to school, y'know? All I got are wot I can do--not all the broight, roight? But I got good senses, and can do a hell of a lot of things. Foire, oice, water, wind, all that . . ."

Which was all true. In the past, during situations of Sturm and Eilert conversing, she'd have almost always been there to bug Sturm, and wound up sitting around, bored, unable to understand a thing that either man was talking about. It didn't happen often, just by nature of Eilert's primary mission, but either way, Icsorue's assets were in her ability to track individuals. She had good senses and a great deal of power . . .

"But even that ain't all that great," she sighed, "oI mean--people always talk 'bout me loike I'm some koinda goddess or somethin', and can, loike, stop toime and shit. I can't do all that--loike, I can maybe loight someone's cigarette or put out a small foire or make a small hole or somethin', but that's all pretty useless . . ."

"In this situation, your abilities will certainly be more useful than my studies," the Orange Enigma pointed out. His glyphs were certainly useful, but the more traditional knowledge did not much apply to everyday life in the organization, especially with his role.

Given how out of the loop he usually was, he wasn't aware of the opinions others held of her--especially not that some considered her some kind of war goddess. The only person offhand that he could recall being touted for legendary combat abilities was whoever was the current Azure Enigma--until recently it had been a young man named Shin, and before that Exitus.

Something struck him as kind of odd, though. "You do not like others looking up to you like that?" he asked curiously. Given how big-mouthed the girl was usually, he would have thought she'd eat up any praise for her abilities.

"I hope so . . ." she pouted.

Either she wasn't quite confident in her abilities, or there was something slightly off--because if a majority of the other operatives claimed that she could bend time, and she claimed that she couldn't, especially now when lying was absolutely unnecessary, then there was something a little off. Nonetheless, her abilities had been a little useful so far, but more often than not, it was just physical strength exertion. She more or less had to help Eilert out with balance for a lot of the glyphs, just in case, than she had to blow anything away to make space for him or make some key areas unstable.

"I loike it, don't get me wrong . . . it's just . . ." Icsorue sighed again, "Not that koind of loike, y'know? oI'd rather people loike me for personality or somethin', or look up to me for that or somethin'. oI'm not just some brute, y'know? I got a 'eart, and I loike feelin' with it."

Such was one of Icsorue's biggest complaints about her peers. She couldn't keep a stable relationship because people were afraid of her--of what she could do. It didn't help any that she seriously was a little crazy and lost many reservations when she drank too much, but even then, the majority of those social breakdowns was because of general fear. It made little sense to her, and had Icsorue both hurt and hateful for a good while.

And then, the first explosion.

Icsorue perked her head up and tensed every muscle in her body, subconsciously hoping that it was just her imagination--but it was not. It couldn't be, not when the darkness was that close. The wave of shadows was creeping up the slope, clambering up from the base of the mountain . . .

A second explosion.

Boulders tumbles and rocks slid down further in the shadows, but it seemed to do little more than just slow them down. Of course, it wasn't a full avalanche; but it was still daunting, as the creeping darkness simply paused the ascent at that locale, while other locales on the front quickened their ascent.

And for the first time in her life, Icsorue found her legs refusing to move . . .

It struck him that her conclusions about wanting people to see her for who she was and not her powers was unusually mature for both what he'd seen of her and for her age in general, but before he could say as much a pair of loud blasts rang through the air.

He stood abruptly, searching for the source. It wasn't one of his glyphs--it must have been something another Enigma prepared. Still, it was clear why: the shades were finally advancing, like a dark tide rising up to engulf them.

"It's time," he murmured to no one in particular. He moved rapidly to a position he'd discovered earlier, in from the sides and high enough that he could see down at the advancing lines.

Despite his extensive preparations, he was not actually in charge of any of the other Enigmas--he could not give them orders, and even if he tried they were not obliged to listen. Nevertheless he held an air about him, anxious and yet patient. Wait, it said, because he knew that the course of the battle could hinge on how many he could take out with the initial blast. To eliminate as many as possible, he'd wait until the creatures were practically all the way up before dropping the very earth they stood on from under them.

But...would his silent request be heeded was the question...

By Icsorue, at the very least, it was heeded: she had essentially crumpled. Even though she had everything that could have possibly calmed her down, she had still fallen victim to anxiety. Earlier, she had freaked out, but they were farther away then. Now, she couldn't move even if she wanted to. She remained sitting the way she was, legs out in front of her, knees raised, and her elbows upon her knees. Icsorue was leaning forward, though, with her hands upon the sides of her head. Her chest heaved with each breath and her heart pounded at such an extraordinary strength that it actually caused physical pain.

The shades were climbing--individual creatures all massed together so tightly that they looked more like a sea of darkness than they did an army. An army marched. An army had multiple colors, uniforms, shields, swords--these creatures were simply black. Nothing more. The living shadows blended together, and even still, while some pairs of red eyes could be distinguished, the shadows come together had the majority of them blended together.

They were ascending at an alarming rate, though. Tirelessly, they climbed, leaped, and ran, and when one fell back on a vertical drop, another was in toe to replace it. For extra speed, most ran on all fours, even though most were bipedal. Clawed hands touched rock and soil and pulled forward, and clawed feet kicked forward in conjunction, launching the individual creatures ahead much quicker than simple climbing--one foot in front of the other.

Seeing Icsorue in such a state, and Eilert doing nothing, the majority had hesitantly refrained from acting. Not that they weren't nervous; they all had their hoods up, but they had every reason to be scared, and were to a very strong extent . . .

A fellow enigma, his coat marked by green, was shaking as he approached Eilert from behind. "Wh-why . . . aren't you . . .?"

Eilert could only a spare a brief glance over his shoulder at the one who came up behind him; he needed to keep his eyes on the approaching darkness. It wouldn't do to have his preparations go to waste just because he stopped paying attention.

Even just a glance would allow him (and the other Enigmas, for that matter) to see that it wasn't fear that kept him from moving. "In order to take as many of them out at once, I need to wait until they get near the top," he informed the new Green Enigma. It wasn't a person he recognized--the previous one died recently.

If they were looking to him for words of inspiration, they would be disappointed. He wasn't a great speaker; he was hardly an adequate one. He would have to let his actions speak--if the fruits of his labor for the last half a day weren't enough to give them hope, then they'd be doomed anyway.

When he turned back to the watch the darkness he raised one of his arms, as though he was a conductor waiting with his baton held ready. At the rate the shades moved, it wouldn't be much longer, he knew. He would be ready--he was determined not to die so soon after finally realizing he wanted to live.

"A-all right . . ." the green enigma replied before sauntering back.

It was still a frightening situation, plan or no plan. They had their preparations, but none of them were Prez O'Connor. Not even Icsorue, who could only sit in a state of fear induced paralysis, couldn't be completely confident in their survivability. Sadly, Icsorue's state had an affect on the others. She had said before that a lot of them both feared and revered her for her power (which she added that she didn't like at all), and seeing her in an emotional state, so scared that she couldn't even bring herself to look at the wave of shadows encroaching upon their position, had the rest of them psyched out.

Truthfully, it had little to do with the amount of preparations involved, but the fact that only one of them was completely confident in its ability to work as something other than a stall tactic--and Eilert just so happened to be a man of few words, the type of person who had difficulty inspiring confidence in someone else by anything but his actions. Of course, this only applied to ten of them or so--the others weren't so bad. A bit paranoid, a bit edgy, with a couple of them ready to blaze into battle at any second, but still psyched out to at least a moderate degree, nonetheless.

As the shadows continued up the mountain, nearing the three fourths point, the observant enigmas would take notice of something . . . off. Very off. Closest to them, there was a visible gap amongst the grouped shadows, invisible to the naked eye until dangerously close. A lone gap, wide enough to discern what walked within it--traversing a beaten mountain path with a casual pace. It was something . . . familiar.

"Is that . . . one of our cloaks?"

"There's no color signature, though . . ."

But it was gone, just like a mirage, as the sea of darkness flooded up to the three fourths point, with one shadow creature stepping over the threshold that Eilert had mentally concluded.

Eilert only caught a glimpse of the figure--he couldn't afford to keep an eye on it, he had to scan a wide area to ensure that the shades wouldn't make a sudden leap forward in a place he wasn't looking. Regardless of what it was though, if it was coming up the mountain with the darkness, it was most likely an enemy...

As the dark tide drew ever closer, he became aware that regardless of his own personal preferences he was expected to say something by at least half of his comrades, including Icsorue who was currently too stunned to move.

He wasn't capable of making a speech (nor did he have the time now), but he spoke a few short lines as the first shade crossed the border he'd erected in his mind:

"My name is Eilert Draugr, the Orange Enigma. Witness my power."

The arm he'd held at the ready made a single, grand sweep, and as it the perimeter of the mountain lit up in a brilliant orange as the glyphs he set were activated. It was dull looking compared to the pyrotechnics that some of the others (particularly Icsorue) were capable of, but to his eyes it was one of the most magnificent things he'd ever seen.

It was what came next that would hopefully be impressive, and turn this suicidal defense into a winnable battle. All around the mountain dirt and rocks flew skyward, likely blowing away the first shades that tried to cross. A massive rumbling, the ground underneath their feet trembling in protest of the sudden upheaval it was subjected to.

And then it gave way--the glyphs had been placed entirely around the side of the mountain. Eilert knew a little about avalanches, but not enough to be able to accurately predict where a well placed glyph would start one. So he made up for that with sheer numbers, and the result was rock slide far bigger than any that could occur naturally.

It was the shades near the top that were the lucky ones. As the ground fell from beneath them, they had the chance to grasp cling, to avoid being dragged down to their deaths. It took only a few seconds for the falling earth to gather mass and momentum. Solid land flowed like water down the mountain, a mass so great it made the darkness look like tiny waves lapping on a calm beach by comparison.

Down it would spread, only gaining in size and destructive capacity as it rolled down the mountain, and from there it would spread out for miles, traveling over ten times the height of the mountain in distance out. Over twenty times, even.

Darkness had taken over the landscape. And now the earth was taking it back.

"Whoa~~!!"

The reaction was practically unanimous. Each operative was staring down the mountain, watching the earth expel its wrath upon the shadows at the behest of Eilert, the orange enigma. The preparations had paid off. They even had the world working for them. It seemed that it wished not to end just as much as they.

Indeed, he had instilled all the confidence he needed to.

Even Icsorue was standing. Her hood down, wind against her face, she stared down the mountainside, her fear averted and a grin upon her lips. There was much she could do, too. So much more than she had been doing--she could be helpful, too. Put out what she could, just like Eilert had, and erase any chances of an enemy surviving! Two waves of attacks would be unleashed before the darkness had a chance to reach them!

Icsorue let out an indiscernible shout, her words muffled by the sounds of the mountainside crumbling. Her arms were thrown out to her sides and then, with a sudden swoop, thrown forward. The extra trembling of the mountain could not be felt by the other operatives, but the effect was there: a second series of blasts, one after another dotting the area above the three-fourths point. Not only did she had to the avalanche, but she increased its distance. Beforehand, the creatures up front would have had a chance. Now . . .

It was going to be some time until the dust cleared from that one. The avalanche had presumably leveled so much darkness, rending it moot to the world, tearing up the earth, boring into the bodies, hearts, and minds of everything it crushed--of the enemies that had spread up the mountain and clambered with such tenacity and speed, and with Icsorue's input, there was little they could do. Even the stragglers up front may very well have been destroyed. What could possibly survive an onslaught like that?

"Oh, God--that--that was awesome!" Icsorue, who still couldn't shake the tears in her eyes--which streamed down her cheeks while she laughed, "Hahaha! Fuckin' bastards, die!"