"Are you ready?" asked Narvy. "I think we are," replied Rita with visible breath. "Should we bring the equipment? it doesn't look that steep," she asked. "Yes, we always need to take safety procedures," explained Oliver. "Let's grab the ascenders and put on the harnesses," he suggested. Within a couple of minutes, everyone got in and out, successfully finding what they wanted. Narvy, Rita, Elsa and Oliver all had a harness tied to their waist. In their hands were one ascender and one ice axe each. Their weapons were also on hand just in case.
Without wasting any more time, The Braw Agents stepped onto the rocky mass and began their climb. It wasn't too strenuous for the first five minutes. The terrain met Rita's expectations, and the blizzard appeared to be dying down somewhat. Surprisingly enough, there wasn't a ton of snow. In the middle of the trek, Narvy tried to climb up the rest of the path, but the mountain had become too steep by that point. "Good thing we bought these," he smiled, looking down at the tiny speck of green in the distance. He uncoiled a long piece of rope with a hook on it, tied it to his harness, swung it around like a lasso and threw it high into the air. When Narvy tugged the rope, it didn't fall down. "Do what I'm doing, and we should be able to get up safely," he instructed as he clipped the ascender to his rope.
As soon as he started climbing, Rita, Elsa and Oliver all copied what they saw him do. Within no time, everyone was off the ground. It might not have been as hard as they feared, but climbing the mountain was far from easy. The roaring blizzard messed with everyone's senses and made it difficult to determine where to step. Everyone held onto their flailing ropes tight and kept climbing up, even if the temperature dropped with every step. "Almost there, just, a few, more, steps," puffed Elsa. The high altitude and cold weather were not a good mix for her, or frankly anyone. Rita had gone up an indoor climbing wall before, so the experience wasn't as challenging for her. Eventually, everyone managed to reach their hooks.
When they got up, they noticed something odd in the distance. It appeared to be an icy platform attached to the mountain. No one could see the finer details from afar, but it seemed to go down on a continuous slope. The way it reflected light implied that there were multiple sections. "Is that a staircase?" asked Elsa. "I was wondering how people get up here," commented Narvy. "Would you like to take the easy way up?" he asked. Of course, everyone agreed with the idea.
Narvy pulled the hook out of the rocky mass. He swung it around once again and threw it towards the staircase. After releasing the ice axe, he swung across the mountain and landed on the icy platform. Shortly after, he saw three more hooks stab the rocky mass. The ropes came flying towards him, revealing that Rita, Elsa and Oliver were using them. Everyone immediately started to climb the stairs. They were smooth, blocky and way brighter than the mountain they were fixed to. Since they were made out of ice, they weren't as easy to navigate as ordinary stairs.
Elsa learnt this the hard way. After taking a few steps, she accidentally stepped onto a slippery area. She fell down and almost slid off the entire staircase. Fortunately, Narvy raced down and saved her just in time. Both of them were dangling off the icy contraption, but the ice axe provided some stability. Narvy climbed onto one of the steps before helping Elsa up. "I suppose falling off giant structures is just something that's going to happen on every mission now," she joked.
After that setback, The Braw Agents continued to walk up the unworldly staircase. To their dismay, the blizzard started to get strong again. Everyone was starting to get altitude sickness, but they pushed on regardless. For a while, it seemed as if the staircase would never end, but it did.
Soon enough, everyone realized that they were on the last flight of stairs. The mountain had decreased in width, and the summit was now visible. It was flat and appeared to have some kind of large building on it. This could've only meant one thing. Despite the brutal weather, The Braw Agents raced to the top. When they got there, they saw the building in all of its glory. It was a large brick castle that looked well maintained, considering its location. It was a deep royal blue and featured several stained-glass windows, glimmering in a bright cyan. The roofs were black but were obscured by massive piles of white snow. "Should...Should we go in?" chattered Rita from a mix of fear and cold. "Of course, that's the reason we came here," answered Narvy confidently.
Everyone approached the large wooden doors, although there was no chance, they would be unlocked, Narvy still tried to open them anyway. As expected, nothing happened. "We're going to have to break in, aren't we?" proposed Rita. "Yeah," replied Narvy. He reached into his toolbelt and grabbed the only screwdriver. He tried injecting it into the keyhole to no avail. "It's too big," muttered Narvy. "Does anyone have a paperclip, needle or anything?" he called. Rita, Elsa and Oliver all rummaged through their pockets, hoping to find something of use. "I found this hairpin, will that work?" claimed Elsa. "I think it could fit," commented Narvy upon receiving it. He went over to the lock and slid the hairpin into it. After a minute of fiddling around, he managed to unlock the doors. They slowly drifted open with a bunch of creaking. Shortly after, The Braw Agents walked inside.
As soon as they closed the doors, everyone walked through the castle interior. Some things were expected like the dark blue walls and the giant stained-glass windows. Other things were completely new like the long fur carpet. The Braw Agents followed it, hoping it would lead to something useful. Upon walking through the door frame on the other side, they noticed there was nothing but a brick wall in front of them. The path continued, but as two narrow corridors on both sides. "Let's go with the left one," blurted Narvy, feeling positive it was the correct path. Without questioning him, everyone else walked down the left path. It was narrow and dark. Only a few decorative lanterns gave light to the area. After walking through some more corridors and rooms, The Braw Agents reached something intriguing.
It was a large wide room, with more of those stained-glass windows. In the middle was an ornate gold and blue throne. The person sitting on it was a man in his thirties, with short black hair. He was wearing an elaborate dark blue robe that seemed to be made of thick materials. He also wore a cyan undershirt, a pair of black gloves and a pair of thick black winter boots. On his head was a golden crown, embroidered with a single blue gem.
"Who are all of you?" he demanded upon noticing The Braw Agents. "We're here because we want to know what you're doing," announced Narvy. "What do you mean?" snarled The Ice Emperor. "We heard all about you on TV, we know you're up to something," accused Narvy. "Tell us right now why you want to freeze the world," demanded Rita. "What are you doing with the people in Coppice Village? And what was I going to say, oh yeah, there's another person just like you in The Sunlands, do you know who that is?" she added. Hearing about The Sunlands struck a chord inside The Ice Emperor. "If you want to know me that badly, I suppose I can explain myself."
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