Waxing skis was Jess' favorite chore. It was easy, calm, and relaxing. Not meticulous like unlacing all the boots to disinfect them. She unloaded the supplies from the cabinet and then one by one, brought each pair of skis to the table to be tuned.

She sang to herself as she worked, knowing no one would be walking into the supply shed.

Until the door opened.

She was about to ask who was there. Guests weren't allowed, but there was always the possibility of someone wandering in. Something told her she should be quiet, and wait. So she did.

She peaked around the corner, barely enough to see the open door. Her eyes widened when Sigyn walked in and closed the door behind her.

Jess jerked back, hiding behind the shelf of skis. The last she heard, Sigyn had been brought to the police station. Had they let her out already?

The way she marched up to the workbench across the room made Jess believe she didn't know anyone else was in the room. Jess decided to keep it that way, and crept further towards the opposite wall.

But the old wood was creaky under her feet, and it only took one step to make Sigyn pause. She put down the burlap sack she had been carrying, which lolled from side to side on the table.

"Is anyone there?" she asked, her eyes searching the darkest corners of the rooms.

Jess fought to keep her breathing steady, synchronizing her footfalls to hide within the sound of Sigyn's steps. Every movement was a test to her patience. She could imagine the look of hatred on Sigyn's face if she caught her. The girl who ratted her out to her cop dad.

Sigyn hesitated at the end of the row and then bursts around the corner. But there was no one. She was about to chalk it all up to herself being paranoid when the hinges of the front door squealed.

Outside, there was no one, not even skiers on the hill. Sigyn looked on the ground for footprints, but the snow was too well-trampled. She closed the door, and turned back into the shed when her eyes caught a shadow moving towards her.

She grabbed its shoulder to throw it against the wall, but the being hardly moved. It swatted her hands away like flies and pushed her back with enough force to make her stumble. Sigyn knew then she was not dealing with a human.

She raised her palm, and a spike of ice sliced through the air, barely missing the figure's head before embedding itself in the wood of the fall wall.

The figure was not at all deterred by Sigyn's display of strength, which made her all the more concerned about who she was dealing with. It kept coming closer, blocking her attacks with fluent ease. All her speed and strength became clay putty in the stranger's hands, molding her into the perfect position to trap against the wall with their arm pinning her chest.

Sigyn's eyes turned a feral white. Each quick breath was a panicked snarl that would send the bravest men scattering. Slow and steady, the stranger lifted their free hand up towards Sigyn's face. Instead of attacking, they pushed back the brim of their hood.

Sigyn's scowl turned into a smile as strange words fell from her lips. The girl holding her against the wall smiled back before they embraced.

Hiding behind one of the shelves, Jess looked on in confusion. At first, they were fighting, and now they're holding each other like long lost friends and speaking a language she couldn't recognize. The hardest thing for her brain to wrap around was the icicle dripping water on the floor that had appeared out of Sigyn's hand.

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"I can't believe you're here!" Sigyn whispered, resting her forehead against Angrboda's.

"I wasn't about to wait for you in a cell." She gave Sigyn a quick peck on the cheek. "Thank Ymir you're alive."

They unwrapped their arms from each other and walked back towards the workbench, now side-by-side, like sisters.

"What's this?" Angrboda asked, unwrapping the burlap sack to reveal a severed wolf's head. She lifted it in her hands, inspecting if as if it were an interesting trinket.

"A gift from Åsa. She's been sending trackers after me."

Angrboda set the head down, her expression now grave. "She's about to send more. I hoped to warn you before they arrived. Whatever plan you have, it better act fast. There isn't much time."

Signy frowned. "Plan?"

In a slow voice, she answered: "Yes. Plan. Stopping your father before he finishes you off."

Sigyn turned her back, pacing the room. Angrboda studied her closely, searching for the tiniest spark of hope. "You have a plan, don't you?"

"This was my plan," Sigyn answered without making eye contact.

"Hiding in Midgard is not a plan! Especially now with Åsa on your trail!"

"Forgive me for fearing death," Sigyn snapped. "I already tried fighting, remember? It didn't work. If I never started it...this whole mess wouldn't have happened."

"No! Sooner or later, Trym would have invented a reason. This isn't your fault."

Sigyn knew she was right, but it changed nothing. Guilty or not, there was no force in the Nine Realms strong enough to pull her back home. The only problem left was convincing her best friend of this.

A creaky floorboard startled them. Jess held her breath and kept her body still.

Sigyn snapped her hands up. There was another flash of light, followed by a squeal and crack of splitting wood. All Jess could see was the limp tail of a rat poking out under a small stack of ice.

Angrboda smacked Sigyn's shoulder. "I hope you haven't been flaunting your magic all this time! The last thing we need is a village of humans throwing pitchforks at us."

"I have been careful! No one suspects a thing." With one hand, she scooped her hair out of her face. "Would you like to continue this in my room? Less rats."

Angrboda gave her a cheeky grin and strutted towards the door. "Typical Sigyn. Trying to get me in bed as fast as possible."

"You know it!" Sigyn said with a laugh, leaning in the doorframe and watching her walk ahead. She gave one last suspicious glance into the shed before flipping the light off.

Kark was mopping the lobby's hardwood floor when Jess ran in, nearly in tears. He dropped the mop and grabbed Jess' arms to keep her from slipping. Still rattled by what she had seen, her words were an incomprehensible rambling storm. Kark guided her to sit on one of the couches in front of the fire and tried to decipher her words about Sigyn, ice, and a fight. He reassured her that Sigyn wasn't even hear, but Jess was having no part of it.

"She made ice in her hand! Like magic!" Jess' eyes were wide as she spoke, pleading with Kark to believe her.

"I think you're just confused," Kark said, as much as it broke his heart. "There are plenty of things in this world that can't be explained."

"I'm not talking about a random anomaly! What I saw was magic!"

Kark nodded slowly, as if not absorbing the information at all, making Jess all the more desperate for a response from him. Some little hints that something about this wasn't normal. Maybe she expected too much. Kark worked for Sigyn. He probably knew more than she did.

"I know you're covering for her. I'm not asking because I want to expose her, or anything. I did, at first, but I didn't really know what I was getting into."

"What is it you want me to tell you?" Kark asked.

What did she want to hear? What could anybody say that would make this situation easier to process? She didn't even know what she was so upset about. Magic was real - this was amazing! But how could that be? She had to have imagined the whole thing.

He took her hand in his own to offer what little comfort he could. "Your shift's done for the day. You can go home, and get some rest. Maybe...for the sake of your sanity, don't tell anyone else about what you saw."

Jess dismissed herself from the couch and left to gather her things. Before she exited the room, Kark called to her. A moment of weakness had overcome him watching the girl's disheartened walk. "You're not crazy," he told her.

Those little words were all it took to calm Jess' panic. His eyes gave her all the reassurance she needed, and she lifted her chin a little as she left.

Once all the other employees left for the day, Kark went upstairs to have a word with Sigyn.