The top of a mountain is one of the brightest spots in the world. Above the clouds, stuck between the blazing sun and the blinding snow. Thin, arctic air swept across the sheer cliffs, a shield from the sun's heat. This is where Angrboda found Sigyn, sitting in the snow watching the dark sky ignite in shades of orange.

"Is this where you come to brood?" Angie sat beside her.

"I don't brood, I think."

"Thinking with a frustrated scowl on your face; that's brooding." She poked Sigyn's forehead to make her smile.

They sat in silence for a while. Sigyn braced herself for the inevitable, irritating words.

"You know," Angie said after a deep breath, "I don't always enjoy being right."

Sigyn pressed her lips together. "There it is."

"It's only going to get worse. We have to act now."

Sigyn nodded. "I agree. Which is why I'm gonna lay low for a while."

As deeply as Angrboda loved her best friend, she wouldn't hesitate to admit how insufferable she could be. "You learned nothing for the last 24 hours, haven't you?"

"Åsa wants me. I can keep her from hurting other people as long as she's chasing me around Midgard."

"Until she realizes your best friends make excellent bargaining chips."

"If she can't find me, she can't do shit. As long as neither of you knows where I am, you'll be safe. She might give you a hard time at first, but eventually, she'll figure it out."

"Sigyn." Angie put all her will into drilling into Sigyn's mind with her eyes, trying to extract some sense. "She's not going to give up. Our only option is to fight."

"You, me, and what army?" Sigyn rose to her feet and paced the ice-clad rocks. "We barely escaped with our heads today, and you want to go up against the most powerful people in Jotenheim?"

Angie shook her head, at a loss for a strong argument. "You didn't let this stop you the first time."

"And look where it got me. I have no home. No people. Nothing but a hopeless fate."

"You never believed in fate. Your mother whispered in your ear and you turned your nose up." Angie grabbed her hand. "Don't start listening now."

"I'm not," Sigyn reassured. "As long as I live, I defy it. That's why I have to go. Take care of Kark until I get back." She walked to the edge of the cliff, her toes sending pebbles tumbling down the mountain face.

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Angie stood to hug Sigyn before she left. "You know we'll always stand by you, right? Whatever you choose. Be it sane or suicidal," she whispered into her ear.

"I know. Thank you," Sigyn kissed her on the cheek and then stepped off the ledge.

Suspended in mid-air, her arms turned to wings. Her long copper hair turned to feathers, and her legs became the talons of a large golden eagle. Angie kept her eyes on the bird until she blended into the blinding rays of the morning sun. Her boots kicked at the snow around her feet, unable to shake the feeling of failure.

"She's gone?" [https://img.wattpad.com/2d3d001e05baba46e0c9f86431fb132cd6843c71/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f6b6d3865584e4c47654744462d513d3d2d313436383131363136392e313766316561356130646463656531313335363932333434313435322e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

"She's gone?"

Angie nodded. Kark's eyebrows knit together. He stood suspended in confusion clutching a glass he had meant to clean, but now completely forgot. "Why?" he asked in a small voice.

"She thought it was the right thing to do. She's wrong - it's the easy thing to do. I tried to stop her, but...it's not easy asking your best friend to put their life in danger for the greater good."

Using the dirty tablecloth as a tissue, Kark wiped his eyes and sniffled like a sad little human child. "I can't believe she would leave."

"Ymir. Pull yourself together!" Angie took a sip of her drink. "I told her I'd look out for you - not babysit."

A cold draft swept the room, rattling the upside-down stool on the tables and attacking the fire in the hearth. The double doors burst apart, sending the now-broken lock flying across the room. In marched Åsa with her fleet of Jotuns at her heels.

"Uh," Kark piped. "I'm sorry, but we're closed."

Angie glared at him to be silent. She kept still in her seat at the bar, no sudden movements, with her eyes lowered to a respectable plain.

The Jotuns scanned the room, empty of guests who had all retired to their rooms. Åsa hadn't expected to find Sigyn here, so she didn't waste much time looking. But she did expect answers.

"I don't suppose either of you knows where your boss is?" she asked Angie and the servant, who stayed quiet. "I didn't think so." Two of her warriors pulled them closer to Åsa and forced them to their knees in front of her. "You'll help me find her, either way."

"She's too far by now, Åsa," Angie snapped. "By the time she learns we're in trouble, you'll have lost your patience."

Cold, sharp ice tickled the bottom of Angie's chin to force her eyes up. Åsa smiled down at her, holding a frozen blade to her throat. "For the life of me, I will never understand the faith you have in that girl. She who lets you down time and time again? Yet, here you are, a traitor to your people in the name of someone too scared to stick around and deal with the consequences of her actions." The blade fell away as Åsa reconsidered her options.

A muted TV above the bar happened to be covering a violent storm raging in the Gulf of Mexico. Åsa hadn't cared about watching the anchors sitting around a large desk until the images switched to large gray waves crashing against a beach, and palm trees forced sideways under the wind. She paused, staring at the screen for a long moment.

"This isn't happening nearby," she muttered. "You. Slave. What is this? Speak!"

"Television, miss," Kark stuttered. "There's a big storm on the other side of the world. The humans like to talk about them over the news."

The other side of the world. Those were the words that especially piqued Åsa's interest. She didn't need Sigyn's beloved friends to lure her out of hiding after all. What she needed was a natural disaster big enough to capture the attention of the entire world. Something Jotuns were notoriously gifted at.