Okay, so... I knew that I wanted to write a Tales of Symphonia fic, but since I'm still working on beating the game, a serious story wouldn't be wise... (Can't be messing with the facts now, can we?) And then I came up with this idea of making Zelos wander Tethe'alla in search of his true love, which will obviously end up being a comedic adventure of this... interesting... Chosen. Hooray! Well, enjoy the beginning of 'The Quest for True Love'!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Tales of Symphonia... If I did, why the hell would I be writing this fan fiction?

The Quest for True Love

{Chapter I: The Bet is Made}

Beams of sunlight shone through the window of the bedroom. The young man lying in the bed groaned at the light for waking him up... As far as he was concerned, no one – even the sun itself – had the right to tell someone of such importance to wake up so damn early.

"Master Zelos?" a voice from the doorway said in a questioning tone. The Chosen of Tethe'alla opened his eyes and brushed his long, red hair out of his face. He saw that the person who dared interrupt his resting time was his butler, Sebastian. "My apologies for disturbing your sleep, Master Zelos... but your presence is requested at Altamira..."

"This early?!" Zelos exclaimed in the loudest tone he could muster after just awakening, "Can't they wait till a normal hour of the day to tell me to go someplace?!"

Sebastian scratched the back of his head nervously, "Well... uhm... Master Zelos, it is a normal hour of the day... In fact, it is past noon."

Zelos sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes, glancing out the window. "Hm. What do you know..." he murmured upon catching sight of the sun suspended high in the midday sky, "It is the afternoon." Now that he knew what time it was, Zelos had suddenly gained tons of energy. He hopped out of bed and wandered over to his wide selection of clothes. "Prepare a nice breakfast for me," he said to Sebastian, "It'll take a while before I'm ready to go."

The butler nodded, and while walking out of the room muttered, "It always does..."

Now, everyone knows that a Chosen has to look their best... especially one of such high class as Zelos. According to himself, Zelos already looked great no matter what. However it still did not hurt to add to his appearance by: choosing the right outfit to wear... adding a couple of accessories for good measure... spending an hour or so fixing his hair so each strand was set in exactly the perfect place... Okay, so perhaps Zelos had a tendency to overdo it, but it was the best way to attract the ladies, right?

After several minutes of contemplation, Zelos finally decided on wearing his classic pink vest with gold trimming and a deep blue shirt underneath, and matching pink and dark blue gloves, with simple, white puffy pants. For one who makes such a point of liking girls, he sure wears a lot of pink, does he not? ((A/N: It still baffles me.)) Zelos then slipped on his white headband and began work on perfecting his hair. He gave it its hundred morning brushes, and then fixed it so that two strands of hair fell in front of his headband, while the rest of his hair fell perfectly in place behind him. "Flawless," Zelos announced to himself while observing his appearance in the mirror. Satisfied with what he saw, Zelos quickly placed his sword in its sheath, grabbed a fancy-looking shield and headed downstairs.

"Ah, you're finally ready, Master Zelos," Sebastian greeted as the Chosen stepped into the kitchen, "I have prepared you the requested 'nice breakfast'."

Zelos grinned as he took a seat at the table, "Good, good... It looks delicious!" He promptly downed the food as Sebastian explained the reason that Zelos was needed in Altamira. Apparently the Lezareno company wanted to discuss an 'incident' that occurred when Zelos broke into the mines. "Oh, that?" Zelos questioned before chugging the remainder of his drink. He heaved an appeased sigh as he set down his empty glass on the table. "This trip shouldn't take long, then. I'll just say it was 'Chosenly matters'!" Zelos said while making air quotations with his fingers, "It's like girls and their woman problems... nobody ever says anything more after it's brought up." Sebastian shook his head at his master's insolence, but kept any comments to himself. Zelos rose from his seat and immediately headed for the door, "Take care of the house while I'm gone!" and with that, he began for Altamira.

-)--{---[---]---}--(-

As soon as the Chosen stepped into Tethe'alla's biggest tourist spot, he was in heaven. Zelos knew of the different aspects of Altamira... The amusement park; good for dates. The hotel; good for nights with girls from dates. The beach; enough said. Zelos got so wrapped up in his own fantasies that he failed to notice the person standing in the middle of his walkway.

CRASH!!

"Watch where you're going!" the person whom Zelos collided with shouted. The person turned around and saw that it was not a stranger who bashed into them. "Oh... It's you, Zelos." They realized that it was for the best, considering that had it been someone they did not know... well... the outburst may have drawn too much attention.

A devious smirk tugged at the corner of Zelos' mouth, "Sheena... You're looking good..."

"Huh?" the Mizuho native stared at Zelos with a bemused expression, until she noticed Zelos' eyes cast down towards... her chest... "Zelos, you perv!" she screamed as her fist became acquainted with the Chosen's head.

"Owww!" Zelos whined while clutching his sore cranium, "Isn't it possible that I was just taking notice of your unique Mizuho wardrobe?"

Sheena sneered, "Yeah, right! More like taking notice of how my unique Mizuho wardrobe doesn't cover much of my chest!"

"Same thing, is it no–" Zelos' badly selected words were cut short by another belt to the head, "Ah! Sheena, stop being so harsh to my beautiful bod!"

Sheena rolled her eyes, "I don't have time for this..." She then proceeded walking away from Zelos.

"Hey, wait! Where are you going??" Zelos called after her. Once he figured that he would not be receiving a reply, he dashed after Sheena and walked alongside of her. "So where are you going?" Zelos asked again. Sheena did not respond. Zelos remained silent as the summoner turned towards the beach and began walking in that direction. "Whoa, you're headed for the beach?" Zelos enquired in disbelief. A slight grin found its way to the Chosen's face, "You know... I hear that girls can go topless at this place."

Sheena refrained from giving Zelos any more bodily harm. "You sick bastard. I'm only going to the beach to get a drink. I'm parched," she stated calmly.

"Then why don't you come to hotel with me?" Zelos asked; his grin growing ever wider, "I could easily get one of the luxury rooms... We could order some champagne, and then... who knows?"

"If you're suggesting that you get me drunk or drug me, it's not going to happen!" Sheena objected, "Why do you even bother trying to hit on me when there are all of these other women who would easily give into your charm?!"

Zelos' eyes shone with complete excitement, "You think I'm charming?"

"Ugh..." Sheena groaned, "I give up. You're absolutely hopeless."

The Chosen casually wrapped his arms around Sheena's shoulders and drew her closer to him, "Come now, my beauty. You know that you're the only one for me!"

"I bet that you say that to every woman you meet!" she retorted, shoving him away, "I swear, you wouldn't be able to settle down with one girl if your life depended on it!" Sheena paused for a moment, then became lost in thought, "Hmm... Zelos, how about we make a little wager?" Zelos raised an eyebrow in curiosity, urging her to go on. "I bet that you could search all of Tethe'alla without finding one woman who you'd be willing to spend the rest of your life with loyally."

Zelos placed his index finger and thumb on his chin, pondering this proposition deeply, "Well... what's in it for me?"

Sheena sighed, "You mean besides possible true love?" she took a moment to contemplate something that could be offered to Zelos, "Okay. How about this... If you succeed, then I will let you see me nude." Zelos immediately opened his mouth to shout 'deal!' but Sheena raised her hand to silence him, "However if you fail, you have to stop hitting on me."

"All right, all right! You have yourself a bet!" Zelos agreed without question. "Man... There's no way I can lose! I can just fake falling totally in love with some chick, and then after seeing all of Sheena, I can just return to my old ways! This is too perfect..."

Of course, Sheena had her own ways of getting out of a loss, "If by some crazy fluke he actually finds a woman he'd be willing to stay with forever, he wouldn't be able to see me nude because that would be disloyal, which would make him lose the bet. So either way, he has to stop hitting on me!"

Zelos tore away from his thoughts and recalled why he was in Altamira in this first place, "Ooh, right! I have to go to the Lezareno office building to get out of something I shouldn't have done! I'll meet you at the city entrance in an hour or so, okay?"

"All right. Then we head out on the quest for true love."

And so it begins... will Zelos succeed in settling down with a nice girl? Heh... We shall see! And it will become more amusing as the chapters go along. Please review and tell me what you think of this story so far, and I'll do my best to update soon!