The castle that loomed over port Perdita, swept in the cold that covered most of the mountain right now, was silent for most of the time. Deep within the castle, in a large hall which used to be the throne room, a giant chair made of ice stood on the end of the hall. On top of the chair sat a man. A giant man smiling while he was all alone.

'So, they finally decided to come' he said to himself.

The castle got bigger as they approached. Eto, Veronica and professor Hawk made the climb and the closer they got to the castle, the more severe the snowstorm became.

'This is it' professor Hawk shouted to Veronica and Eto who both stood before him, looking at the large and dark castle.

'Not a nice invitation, is it?' Veronica said and the professor shook his head.

'Once it was beautiful. For a short time I even stayed here but since Ased came here, the castle has been abandoned.'

'You stayed here?' Eto asked. 'Yeah' the professor responded. 'When I came here to town, the people helped me and gave me a place to stay in the castle. In return I helped them with the techniques and the machines of the town. That is, until Ased came looking for me.'

'And why is he looking for you?' Veronica asked who turned to professor Hawk.

'Beats me' he said. 'He came here, half wrecking the town before he even said what he came here for. With that, the townsfolk already decided they would not give him what he wanted. They paid with that as you could see for the town. They tried to get me away from Ased but when they put me in their local lab to hide, Ased started to freeze the town.'

'Is it smart for you to go here? What if he captures you?' Veronica said with concern.

'Then Eto will kick his butt' he responded with a smile and after hearing it, Eto raised his fist.

'I don't know what will happen or what he wants. All I know is that maybe after this, he will leave the town alone. Time to take my responsibility.'

Veronica took her eyes from professor Hawk and looked back to the castle.

It was scary, dark and she had a little moment that she thought it was a bad idea to come here but they had to. According to the professor, the only way for them to leave Capgelu was for him to get his ship back.

'Let's go' Eto said and he walked to the castle front door, not giving in to the cold.

The front door was large and like the front door of the building the professor was trapped in, completely frozen.

'You think you can handle this?' Veronica asked. Eto raised his shoulders.

'One way to find out' he said and like before, he took a stand to hit the door.

When his arm started to glow again, the professor took a chance to look at it. He wasn't as surprised as Veronica thought he would be but still he looked with much admiration.

He pulled his arm back, took a step back and jumped in front of him, hitting the door with all his might. They could hear the ice crack and everything moved a little but it didn open. Eto jumped back and prepared himself again.

He jumped back to the door and with another blow he broke the ice and the giant door behind it swung open. The doors hit the walls when they opened and the giant pop echoed through the building.

'That's one way to do it' professor Hawk said with a smile. He followed Eto who started to go inside the castle and Veronica went after them.

The inside of the castle was huge. It was a giant hall with at the end a massive stair and to the side different doors. The one thing they had in common was that everything was covered in a layer of ice.

'Love what he has done with the place' professor Hawk said sarcastically.

Veronica stepped inside and she could feel how her boots would slip away if she didn't pay attention to her steps. She looked around and she had the same feeling as she had when she walked over the plaza in the town. Like they were being watched.

'Where do you think he could be?' she asked softly but the professor didn't respond. He was looking around, also looking where Ased could be.

'Where are you Ased?' he mumbled as he took a few steps.

There was no sound, only the sound of their steps when they walked. Professor Hawk tried to focus if he could hear were Ased could be. Suddenly he was startled by a loud noise.

'ASED, WHERE ARE YOU?' Eto yelled and both Veronica and the professor their heart skipped a beat.

'Eto, you idiot!' Veronica said, wanting to scream but she kept her voice down.

They focused if Eto's shouting startled something and at first they couldn't hear anything but soon they heard something from atop of the stairs.

'Up there' the professor said and in a second, Eto took a sprint to the stairs.

'That boy' Veronica said disturbingly and she followed the professor's example by following Eto.

Eto almost jumped up the stairs, not caring if he could slip or fall. When he got to the top, he stopped and stayed still. Professor Hawk and Veronica also reached the top and stopped next to him.

'What is that?' Eto said and for the first time, Veronica could hear a slight sliver of fear in his voice. When she looked at what he meant, she could understand why.

In front of them stood a few men into their direction. They were humans but their bodies were white as snow and frozen in some parts.

Like zombies they gazed their eyes to them, growling and slowly starting to move in their direction.