“Music has a lot of power. The way it’s composed can reach into part of the brain and trigger physical and emotional responses we might not experience in the day-to-day goings of life. It’s why I developed my Hymn. Makes it easier to get into particularly difficult minds and control larger groups.”

Mantis scoops up Yaga and holds him up. Yaga bats at his mask with his front paws and settles a little onto his shoulder. Mantis strokes one wing slowly and carefully, getting a quick series of flaps that bat at his head more than the paws did.

“His name is Yaga, after a grandmother of great wisdom and strength from my childhood stories.” Ben talks of his own powers as being connected to a greater force, or perhaps even a Force? It makes Mantis wonder how in-born such powers can be. He never noticed a greater energy that surrounded those like him, but there must at least be a possibility. “Dogs are much more familiar to me, but this girl was in need of giving Yaga and his siblings homes.”