That very evening Christie knocked on Sif's door, the grip on her overnight bag getting tighter and tighter with every passing second. Luckily, it wasn't only her standing there - Jennie, Delilah and Renesme were there as well. They were standing behind her though, as they were admittedly a little intimidated by Sif, which Christie couldn't understand for the life of her.

Eventually the door opened, revealing an apprehensive looking Sif dressed in nothing but a white robe that was tied tightly around her waist, whilst her stunningly shiny black hair tumbled down her back. She looked rather agitated at the sight of them. "Oh, it's you. Good evening ladies. Do come in," she muttered, stepping to one side so that they could enter. Christie paused for a second before glancing behind her - only then seeing that the girls had bowed their heads humbly at the sight of Sif. She rolled her eyes in response and turned back to walk into the house with the others following suit. Sif's place was rather sweet - small but select. Rather minimalist, nothing inside but the essentials, no extravagant colours, just completely neutral tones.

"Would any of you like a drink?" Sif offered up a little stiffly. All four girls silently shook their heads. "Right…well, the three of you, feel free to drop your belongings in the spare room upstairs. Annerledes? Could I speak to you alone for a minute?" The serving girls exchanged other awkward looks with each other before obediently bustling upstairs without another word, leaving Christie standing there alone with bitterness plastered on her face. She crossed her arms and leant against the cool stone living room wall, glaring over at Sif as she waited for her to speak.

"Well?"

"Oh drop the tone, Annerledes. I actually wanted apologise," Sif came out with it bluntly, not even looking at her properly. "I mean, for what happened that time…the time when we first met. You know…in the training grounds? That time."

"Oh well God bless ya, an entire four months later, too! You know, that makes me feel a lot better," Christie practically spat, rolling her eyes at Sif's empty words. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm being held here against my will with a woman who once threatened to kill me after talking to me like I was dirt, whilst my partner is off to no doubt pick an argument with some ice monster thing. But I'm sure your apology will sink in a little later." Sif's cheeks flushed and clenched her jaw. Deep down, she recognised how hard this entire ordeal must've been for Christie, but she would never admit it out loud.

She still didn't particularly like her.

"Alright Annerledes, take a deep breath and calm down. I understand. I know you love Loki, or at the very least care for him greatly," Sif frowned steadily with a calming hand outstretched. Christie raised an eyebrow and said nothing back. She hadn't even thought about that…was that what this was? Love? Regardless, Sif was the last person she wanted to open that can of worms with.

She still didn't particularly trust her.

"If you know that then why are you agreeing to keep me here? Can't you get me over to wherever he is so I can be sure that everything's fine, or so that I can help him?" Christie suggested, first-handedly hearing how desperate she sounded and internally hating herself.

"Help him? Help him do what, exactly?" Sif couldn't help but scoff. "If there are problems with the Frost Giants, what would you do?" At that point, Christie bit down on her jaw and swiftly remembered her place. She very nearly blew her cover then, and she was internally scolding herself for it. Her arrogance and dislike for Sif almost caused her to forget what act that she was putting on in the first place.

She was Annerledes - not Christie Darmer.

Sif carried on speaking, noticing her silence. "I somewhat admire your willpower and determination Annerledes, but I have strict orders from Queen Frigga to keep you safe - so I intend on following them," she spoke firmly. Christie swore under her breath and shook her head. "Am I understood?"

"Yes, Lady Sif. My apologies for my outburst. As you can imagine, I'm just…on edge," Christie lied, although she realistically wanted to tell Sif to go to hell. "I'm rather tired. May I go upstairs and have a rest, please?"

"No, because I haven't finished," Sif interrupted her roughly. Christie couldn't help but glare at her again, that condescending tone rubbing her up the wrong way once more.

"My apologies. What else would you like to say, Sif?" she asked through gritted teeth, trying her very hardest to keep calm. Sif took a deep breath and ran her fingers through her locks before coming out with the next few words.

"The reason I've been so harsh is because…well…alright, listen - Loki and I were once…a…a couple."

"I'm sorry?" Christie spluttered, tightly clenching her fists to try and suppress those suddenly active feelings bubbling inside of her. She was unsure what the feelings were, but she was certainly struggling to bite them down. Sif sighed and sat down on her sofa, her head now buried in her hands as if she was deeply embarrassed.

"Please Annerledes, take a seat," she requested as calmly as possible.

"Nah, I'm good thanks. This isn't that kind of conversation… I'm sorry, Sif, I'm lost. You're now telling me that you used to date my…h-how long were you with him for?" Christie couldn't figure out why she was so enraged - she just was.

"A few years or so. Not too long," Sif answered a little sheepishly, still without looking up.

"Oh love that! It just keeps on getting better doesn't it? No wonder you had all that energy before we had even spoken. If you still love him, please, you can have him back. It's not worth the hassle," Christie shuddered. She knew that engaging with Loki in the name of a mission would cause her hassle eventually.

"I certainly don't want him back," Sif assured her with a scoff. Then Christie thought of something else.

"Tell me, were you engaged to him or something? Let's go for the jugular, why not." Sif didn't give her an answer - she just swallowed and bit down on her jaw. When Christie didn't get a response after a good few seconds, she spun on her heel and stared straight at Sif. "Right. To be honest, Sif, I'm a little light headed and I think we're quite about done here, don't you?" Sif let out another sigh, finally looking up at her.

"Annerledes, please sit down. You're upsetting yourself but this is important," Sif stressed. "You need to know all of this."

"Know all of what? What do I need to know that Loki couldn't tell me himself? What more?" Christie groaned, clamping her hands over her ears and shaking her head in pure disbelief. She was enraged, because she didn't understand why Loki wouldn't bring this up. He had months to say something. Now her head was hurting, and-

"Annerledes?"

"What?!" Christie finally broke, dropping her hands from her head again and staring at Sif helplessly. But Sif just blinked at her in response.

"I didn't say anything?" she mumbled back, her piercing eyes looking her up and down to determine whether or not she was joking.

"Didn't…you just call my name?" Christie stuttered. Suddenly, she felt herself entire body shiver a little, involuntarily, as if there was…something in the room with them.

Like a presence.

"No...I just told you to sit down but you already responded to that," Sif spelt it out, her thin black eyebrows knitting together in slight worry. Christie began to feel uneasy then.

"So then…what was that in my head..?"

"Annerledes, are you alright?" Christie stopped talking for a second and paused to listen hard. It was only then that she suddenly recognised the voice.

"Loki?" she whispered hollowly. Sif's eyes grew dark and she immediately leapt to her feet again, pure anger and resentment plastered all over her face.

"LOKI, GET OUT OF HER HEAD!" she shouted into thin air.

"Huh?" Christie blinked over at her, staring into the sky to see if she could see anything.

"I just wanted to check if Annerledes was alright," Loki's voice rang through the thin air smoothly. It sounded like he was right there, standing next to them, speaking into their ears. Christie knew he could do some odd things, but this one topped it all for her.

"Oho, don't worry about me! I'm perfectly fine, Loki - just here having casual convo with your secret ex lover," Christie growled back bitterly. If they were face to face, she could've genuinely fought him, that's how upset she was.

"Loki, I said get OUT!" Sif yelled again, getting angrier by the second.

"Why does he have to leave?" Christie hissed to her, the air getting thicker and heavier by the second.

"Because I need to tell you something important, and the last thing we need is for him to be hovering around," Sif hissed back. Her eyes were pleading with her to play along and for once, Christie actually believed her. Now things were beginning to feel a little uncomfortable for her and she didn't like how this was looking.

"Loki, please go. I'm fine," Christie finally told him, after contemplating for a while. She was clearly annoyed at him, and that appeared to be influencing her decisions rather heavily. After a few seconds, Christie and Sif both felt the presence lift off of them.

The room felt lighter, they could breathe a little better.

"I used to hate it when he did that," Sif growled, sitting back down on the sofa to try and calm herself down. Christie rolled her eyes at her words and finally sat opposite her, trying to stay as civil as possible.

"So, what did you wanted to tell me?"

"Right. The reason that I stopped seeing Loki was because my mother….well, my mother was a fortune teller. She forewarned me that Loki was going to end up a deceitful, borderline evil person under influence - and soon after I began to see the signs, as clear as day. I felt compelled to warn you, Annerledes, I still don't think he's reached his full potential yet. You must be careful," Sif explained awkwardly but earnestly, now not breaking eye contact whatsoever.

Alarm bells. That's all Christie could hear. Alarm bells.

"W-What exactly are you saying?" she choked out, feeling her stomach twist into knots. This was the sort of information that she had been anticipating, but she had been praying that Loki wasn't the subject matter.

Sif released a sigh through her nose and stood up, walking over to Christie, kneeling down beside where she sat.

"Listen, you're clearly stronger than I thought, and I admit that you look like you can handle more than anyone in this palace. But honestly Annerledes…it's been written. And it's going to happen very quickly - so if you're willing to stick by him, then you must be ready for anything."