Wilson, Charlie, Dash and Sofia finally arrived at their destination, Forest Garden - the most rogue part of Tiger City. They walked in amidst a sea of people as Charlie led the way to a small store.
*Ting*
As they entered, through the day, a small bell rang in a high timbre, alerting the store owner.
"Oh my! Is that who I think it is?" The store owner - an old, hairy man with a shaky voice and a shrivelled rat tail - asked rhetorically.
"Hello, Edward!" Charlie waved his hands as he greeted. "How are you doing?"
The old man beamed, his old yellow teeth somehow managed to make him look younger.
"I am doing better, all tanks to you." He said.
"Oh, it's nothing much." Charlie tried to wave it off.
"It really is. Thanks to you, this old man here has managed to cure and marry off his two daughters. Oh have I told you that we are expecting my first grandchild in three months time?"
"Yes, yes. you have a thousand times." Charlie said as he sat on a stool that the old Edward pointed out for him.
"I am just excited is all." Edward glanced at the others that came in with Charlie.
"You guys can sit on the chairs over there. Or, better still take a look around at my antique store. Perhaps, you will find something that catches your attention. I will be sure to give you a friendly discount, hehe."
Wilson nodded and walked to a side where old swords and knives were on display while Dash and his lolita of a sister walked in the opposite direction to sit on the chairs, seemingly uninterested in Charlie and the old man's small talk. It is actually only Dash that was uninterested. Sofia was just too tired to listen in on the gossip between strangers, so she laid her head on the table and instantly fell asleep.
Dash looked around the store from where he sat and soon enough, his eyes caught Old Edward staring intently at his sister. He frowned and looked at Charlie.
"You see it too, right?" Charlie asked.
Edward looked at Dash frowning, with an unpleasant gaze and responded, "More like 'I can sense it', but yeah, I do."
"She feels different, right?"
"She is different. I don't know much about her kind. Her ability is quite rare in itself. There is just not much knowledge about it so, there's very little I can say about it."
Charlie nodded with understanding.
"Is frowny-face her brother?" Edward asked.
"Yes. His name is Dash." Charlie responded.
"Dash." Edward repeated, "Sounds familiar."
"It does?" Charlie queried, his face showing his surprise.
"Yes, I just don't know where or when I heard that name."
"It can't be a popular name, right?"
"Definitely not." Edward answered, stroking his long rat tail. He continued, gesturing at Wilson who looked at the various olden days weapons with interest.
"What about the other guy? Her boyfriend?"
Charlie laughed and shook his head.
"More like adopted brother." He said.
Edward nodded and then shook his head.
"For now. Unless the little girl finds a way to control her charm, it will get increasingly hard for these young men to control themselves."
Charlie frowned and looked at the old semi-rat.
"Is there anything you can do to help?" He asked.
Edward sighed and responded, "I can try, but no promises. I haven't dealt with a variation of the charm ability like hers before. Call her brothers here."
Charlie called both Dash and Wilson over and together with Edward, explained the situation to the duo. Wilson nodded with understanding. It finally made sense to him; his inability to control himself when he first saw Sofia, the reason why he kept feeling like his attraction towards her was only partially genuine and just the general inability to avoid thinking dirty when he saw her. It took so much effort to restrain himself when she was nearby. It really was tiring.
Dash, on the other hand, looked around and his frown deepened.
Edward noticed it and questioned him, "I presume you knew about it prior to now?"
Dash did not respond while Wilson and Charlie watched on quietly.
"Why didn't you do something about it?" Edward's voice suddenly raised, scaring the three young men. "You should have taught her to control it. Do you know what happens when someone like her appears in a place like this? She gets raped. Violated till she mentally breaks down or dies. You know why? Because there is no law in this part of Tiger City. It is the only area in the empire that no law enforcement agent wants to pay a visit. Hell, if they come here, they are probably here to do terribly immoral things as well. Have you imagined what would happen if one of these powerful hoodlums should set their eyes on your sister?"
Dash's expression paled instantly. The horror of such was not something he wanted to imagine and yet, now that he had heard this old man say it, he knew that it was really a possibility. After all, she has been hunted a couple times already.
Edward sighed and bent his neck to peer into a small drawer. He took out a pink bracelet and handed it to Dash.
"Put this bracelet on her. Make sure she doesn't remove it for any reason, understand?"
Dash nodded sheepishly.
Edward looked at Charlie and continued.
"In the meantime, we need to consider certain other variables while we try to teach her how to control."
"What variables?" Charlie asked
"Hmm," Edward hummed as he stroked his tail. "For starters, where are you going to stay?"