Even Aerich was hard pressed to steel himself against the little creatures. They had all the right qualities, so far: a tolerable size, an interesting appendage in the poof waving overhead, and an apparent desire to perform a noble duty set by an absent figure.

And if the panda's speech should seem at all ridiculous, it seemed just to a lyorn's ears, as his head was tilting in acknowledgment. Not an ounce of irony was evident as he answered, "Spoken like an Iorich, my friend -- if I may call you as such."

In truth, his gaze remained on the moogle that had introduced itself as having been assigned to him. Po said his arrival was unplanned, and that matched Aerich's experience. So how did anyone in this world have the prescience to arrange this? If only the Empire could work with such precision.

"Indeed, this would be a difficult request to refuse, despite a lack of proper invitations."