CW- I decided to wait until chapter 5 to unveil Angelos, but even so, there is only one chapter this chapter left between now and the unveiling. I would really like a few more votes before I write the next chapter, so please contribute you're ideas.

Here's chapter 4, hope you like it.

Chapter 4

Preparations and Invitations

Lloyd spent the next few days writing and sending letters, buying supplies, and traveling to different towns to gather information. Collette and Sheena, on the other hand, kept Kratos comfortable and kept the house clean, of course, this came after their daily workouts and practice sessions. One night, when Lloyd returned, he had some unexpected guests with him.

"Hello" called Lloyd as he closed the front door "I'm back, and I've got a surprise for all of you". Lloyd could hear a voice from the kitchen that sounded pretty upset.

"Lloyd" called Sheena "there had better be a good reason for you to ask me to make plenty of extra dinner, do you know how much it costs to………". Sheena fell silent for a moment and let her hands and her jaw drop in surprise. "No way" she exclaimed "I can't believe it's actually you, it's been forever since we've seen each other". To Sheena's amazement, there stood her friends Regal and Persea.

"It's wonderful to see you again Sheena" said Regal and Persea at the same time, "it's been quite a while". At this point, Collette and Kratos, both walked into the room at the same time, both of them, especially Collette fell into a state of shock from the sight of their dear friends.

Later, at the dinner table………

Everyone ate to their hearts desire, especially Persea, who until today, had been eating at restaurants in Altimeria and hadn't had a home cooked meal in ages. "This is wonderful" exclaimed the bright eyed little girl "you're cooking is fabulous girls". Sheena and Collette looked at each other, and smiled brightly at the compliment.

Meanwhile, across the table, Regal and Kratos stared into each others eyes. They didn't say a word throughout the whole meal, but they understood each other perfectly.

"Hey Lloyd" called Sheena "did you send invites to the others as well?"

Lloyd turned to Sheena and said "of course I did, they've helped us a lot, and I'm sure that if they knew about our upcoming trip, they would want to come along to".

"So, when are they going to show up?" asked Collette eagerly.

"Genus and the professor said they would meet us in Meltokio along with Zelos" replied Lloyd as he rose from the table and left the room. The others all rose as well, and when all chores were complete, and everyone was comfortable, they all went to sleep, eager for the coming day to begin.

The next day, at about 1:47pm…….

The group packed all of their possessions and supplies, and prepared to depart from Mizuho for the last time. Before they could reach the village gate, the vice chief came out to say goodbye.

"You have all done so much for us already" he began as he pulled a bag out of his pocket, "it is only faire that I present you with this". He handed Lloyd a bag which contained 1,000 gold for their journey, it also contained a card for Sheena. "Which card is this?" asked the young assassin.

"It is the card of mystery" replied the village chief "it is said that this card contains the power of all the summon spirits, but it chooses one at random for each use". Sheena bowed before the chief and said "thank you, vice chief". The chief nodded, and with one last goodbye, the group left Mizuho and began their journey, their first stop, Meltokio.

CW- I know what you're thinking, "this chapter is too short". Tough look, I wanted to make the next chapter a big deal so I had to take some parts of this chapter and put them in chapter 5.

Lloyd – lazy, lazy, lazy

CW- I am about 2 inches from hitting the reset button on you, so don't push you're luck

Lloyd hides in a corner

CW- that's better, anyway, until next chapter, later

Persea – please review

Regal – or don't, its you're call