"Who are you? Answer me!" Hansel demanded. He was burning with so much hatred that Jillian's tongue was frozen in fear. The look in his eyes was unnerving as he stared her down, waiting for her to speak.

Jillian opened her mouth, then quickly shut it. What was there for her to say? She had already condemned herself so what was the point in making him angrier?

"If you don't say something right now I'll-"

"You'll what?" she challenged. The words slipped out before she could swallow them back down her throat. Jillian knew that there were dozens of youth here that would gladly form a mob for the twins and chase her out, but she did have magic on her side. At this moment, her hands weren't even tied. Jillian could easily blast the teen aside and make a run for it.

"Hey!" an all-too familiar voice shouted. "Get off of her!" Suddenly, Robinson was there, pulling Hansel away and slamming him into the wall. The pirate held him there by the scruff of his shirt, pressing the flat edge of his sword against the boy's throat. "What were you doing to her?" he snarled, eyes blazing.

Hansel spluttered, "What I was doing to her?!"

Jillian tried not to panic as Robinson pressed his blade deeper into his neck, cutting his words short. She knew what he was capable of when enraged. She watched Hansel's face go ashen gray. "Don't hurt him! It was my fault!"

The young pirate followed her gaze to the patch of ice and frost glistening on the ground. It didn't take long for him to put two and two together.

Hansel seemed to think he knew what he was thinking. "Yes, she has magic and used it on me! She's a monster!"

Robinson paused. Then to Jillian's relief, he shoved Hansel into the hard-packed ground. "You moron," he spat at him. "You think that I had been traveling with Jillian for months and didn't know she was an enchantress? I think I'm far more intelligent than that."

Jillian remembered she had actually told Robinson about her powers herself, but decided to not bring it up.

"Could've fooled me," Hansel mumbled. He stared up at him with a twisted expression. "But if you knew, why did you stay with her? Magical people are evil and dangerous.They kidnap children and curse kingdoms and towns!"

"I'm not a bad person and I have never done those things!" Jillian exclaimed, stopping the pirate from answering. "You're just like the people in Grimm. Accusing those who are merely different, who were never given a chance to prove themselves. I was arrested before I even knew what I was, and I lost someone who did know, but wasn't ashamed of it. For one guilty person, there are hundreds of innocent."

"Then why do I only hear of the guilty ones?"

She opened her mouth but Robinson cut her off. "I'm getting a headache from you both." He gazed seriously at both of them. "If I judged every person I met by what flowed through their veins or what they looked like, I would be nothing short of a fool. Good and evil are hard molds to fit real people in. I've done some things in my life I'm not proud of, but I chose not to slit your throat tonight, Hansel. And I decided to help you, Jill. What does that say about me?"

Jillian was appreciative of this input, but Robinson would not let Hansel speak freely. Even if it frustrated her, she needed to know more. Exactly what make Hansel tick? Would she be allowed to continue her search? "Let me talk to Hansel alone," she told him.

"What! Absolutely not. That is not happening after what I just saw," the pirate growled, crossing his arms. "You too will murder each other before midnight."

Jillian rolled her eyes. "Its okay. Just stand over there." She pointed to a boulder a few yards away. He huffed and stormed off. As soon as he was out of earshot, she turned back to Hansel, who had clambered back to his feet, watching her warily. As they stood there, she saw something that resembled fear flicker through his eyes. Someone with magic had hurt him somehow, she just knew it.

But whoever they were, Jillian was not one of them. "Let's try to have a civil conversation, okay? I just want to learn some things. What could have happened to you, to hate me so much?"

Her confidence crumbled as Hansel's eyes hardened into diamonds. Soon they would shatter. "Let's just say I was left with more than enough scars. Gretel too. Even after our own personal encounter, our town was cursed. A strange man gave a boy some beans that allowed him to touch the stars."

Well that sounded familiar. "The Giant Slayer was a boy?" Jillian couldn't help herself for interrupting. "Is he here?"

Hansel smirked. "Yep, Jack was the one who met the giants. Never the same after he returned, though. He keeps to himself these days. Probably feels guilty for what happened afterwards."

"An earthquake caused by a giant," Jillian recited to the boy's surprise. "A plague of rats. A blizzard. A drought."

"How...?" he whispered.

"I've been to Brooks," she said simply. "I was looking for someone there."

"Are they magic too?"

"Perhaps," Jillian said carefully, thinking of the blizzard. "But either way, I am not looking to harm anyone. I just want to find him. My brother."

He studied her face carefully and then smiled. "You know what? I think I know who you're looking for."

"You do?" Jillian could hardly believe her luck. She opened her mouth to thank him, but he held up his hand.

"I'm only helping you because I want you gone from this place as quickly as possible. Magic has brought nothing to me and my sister but pain. You don't seem that bad, but who really knows?"

"I do!" Jillian said angrily.

"Well case closed then!" he clapped his hands sarcastically. "So tell me, you've never hurt anyone?"

Jillian swallowed hard. "Those were accidents. What I did to you, I didn't mean it either. I'm sorry." She poured sincerity into her words, hoping he would believe her.

"I think this conversation has gone on long enough." Robinson materialized next to Jillian. "I let you two talk for information, not to insult." He bored his sharp green eyes into Hansel's smokey ones. "Don't tell anyone about this. Not even Gretel."

"Wasn't planning on it," he whispered.

"Good. Then you have nothing to fear from me. Unless you screw up." Jillian gaped at him. She would never get used to Robinson's threats.

The other boy stepped back uneasily, but didn't miss a beat. "If you knew the things I did, you may think differently about the company you keep." He looked to Jillian. "I'll tell you who your brother is tomorrow. And I'll keep your secret. For now." He turned and began to walk away into the night.

"You want to know what flows through my veins?" Jillian called after him. She lifted the hem of her skirt, showing the dried blood caked around her knee. "Cut me open and all you'll find is blood."