Sorry 'bout the slow update, dudes and dudettes! School's been cruel – as always. So much for the plan of writing in homeroom... heh, heh. Well, here be the much anticipated update of The Quest for True Love!

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Zelos: I only have one body. I can't express my love for all of you at the same time.

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Disclaimer: So I says to Mable, I says, "I don't own Tales of Symphonia, that I don't!"


The Quest for True Love

Chapter IV: Undeserving – Exire

Sheena felt herself waking up, but she was not yet ready to open her eyes. The summoner rolled onto her stomach and plopped her face down in the centre of her pillow. "It's so comfortable here... Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to stay here a little while longer..." visions of her and Zelos being chased by angry townsfolk cut that thought short, "...then again, maybe it'd be smarter to leave as soon as possible." Sheena exhaled what was a mixture of a sigh and a groan... though either way it came out muffled through the cushiony pillow. She moved her hands so that her palms were pressed against the bed on either wide of her, and then pushed forward to help herself up. After getting into a seated position on her knees, Sheena finally opened her eyes and adjusted to her surroundings. Everything appeared blurry at first, and so she rubbed her eyes to try and clear the images. Finally content with being awake, Sheena threw her feet over the side of the bed and stood up; however the shock of what awaited her caused the summoner to fall back down onto the bed. "Zelos, what are you doing in here?!" she shrieked in what was a mixture of rage and humiliation.

The Chosen of Tethe'alla stood before Sheena with each of his hands resting on his hips, "I woke up early, so I decided that it would be a pleasant surprise for my beloved hunny if I greeted her when she awoke!" he replied as though it were a completely natural thing to sneak into someone's hotel room while they were sleeping.

"You don't even realize how weird it is to watch someone sleep, do you?!" Sheena asked in a raised voice as she fixed up her purple ninja outfit. She then looked back at Zelos, who was wearing an innocently confused expression. "It's not normal," Sheena explained simply.

"Yeah... well, whatever," Zelos said as he sat down on the bed, "I've decided where I want to go next." Sheena rubbed her forehead to try and calm herself down, as well as imagine what on Earth Zelos was planning now. "Exire!" he exclaimed joyfully. His Mizuho companion appeared stunned by Zelos' choice... and not in a good way. All of the Exire residents were half-elves... and on top of that, they despised humans. Zelos took note of Sheena's unease and questioned, "What are you so worried about?"

Sheena shook her head to try and come to grips with Zelos' suggestion, "But... you hate half-elves. And they hate you."

The Chosen shrugged calmly, "Oh well... you know the old saying: love is hate!"

"Love is blind, Zelos. The saying is 'love is blind'," Sheena corrected, still settling the thought that he was actually going to do something as foolish as going into a village of half-elves... and hit on them!

"Sure, sure. That's the saying," Zelos agreed without even so much as contemplating the meaning of the real expression, "So are we going or what?" Sheena stared out the window of her room of the inn and pondered... Even if Zelos' ideals ended up blowing up in his face, it wouldn't affect her, right? Then why did she feel so hesitant about Zelos screwing himself over? The thought of every possible situation made Sheena feel like bashing her head against the wall... but there was no way that she would break down and lower herself to actually doing so. "...Sheena?"

Sheena jumped slightly as Zelos' voice broke her away from her thoughts, "Huh? Oh... uhm... y-yeah. Let's go. It'll be fine, I guess." The Chosen grinned and skipped gleefully out of the room. Sheena casually reviewed her appearance before following Zelos out of the inn, and out of Flanoir.

-)---(-------)---(-

After a long time spent trying to locate Exire, the unusual duo finally arrived in the floating village of half-elves. Zelos' joy had risen as soon as he and Sheena had found their way. He energetically climbed to the top of one of the posts surrounding Exire's landing area and began scouting the area for potential permanent lovers. "Let's see... old woman, little kid, old woman, a man..." Zelos shuddered upon stating 'a man' while cruising for hunnies, "Hellooo..." he said to himself, "I found one! I found one!"

Sheena was looking up at Zelos from the foot of the pole he was atop, "Zelos, get down from there before you fall and kill yourself!"

The Chosen laughed confidently, "No worries! I'm on my way down now..." his certainty faded as he looked down and noticed how high up he was. Zelos gulped as he struggled to find a good foothold or... something of that genre. Truth be told, Zelos had no ideas as to how he would find his way to the ground.

Sheena held her hand above her eyes to shield them from the sun, "Do you even know how you're getting down?"

"Of course I do!" Zelos retorted in an act of mental strength, "Just give me a second to put my plan into action!" He lowered himself carefully down into a sitting position with his legs dangling over the side of the post. Zelos shifted backwards until he was on the side of the pole with his arms and legs wrapped around it, "Okay! I'm... coming down now..." he squeaked nervously as he began to gradually slide down. The slowness of his plan did not last as he abruptly began to glide down rapidly, "Aaaaah!!"

"Zelos!" Sheena shouted in alarm. As if on reflex, Zelos released the pole and hurled towards the ground, ending a large crash and unconsciousness for the Chosen of Tethe'alla. "Zelos!" the summoner cried again as she ran to Zelos' side. "Oh, no... Where can I take him?"

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Zelos sat up in the bed he was in and stretched with a loud yawn, "Ah, that was a pleasant nap," he announced, clearly forgetting about why he was sleeping. He then blinked a few times when, at long last, he realized that he had no clue where he was. "What the- Where is this place?? Sheena! Sheeeenaaa!!"

The summoner calmly walked down the staircase that was near Zelos' temporary bed, "Semmer down. You fell unconscious after falling off of a post... and now you're inside of the Katz Exploration Team's place. Exire doesn't have any inns, and the half-elves weren't exactly welcoming us... so it's a good thing that the Katz are set up here."

The Chosen's face suddenly perked up, "Right! I gotta go find true love!" he hopped out of his bed and immediately headed for the staircase leading downstairs.

"What—Zelos, where are you going?!" Sheena shouted after him. Zelos suddenly halted before stepping onto the top stair and turned around, wearing a smile that responded with a 'where else?'. "Zelos, weren't you listening to a word I just said? "The half-elves weren't exactly welcoming us"... that means that they won't agree to spare you a date, let alone a lifetime!"

Zelos clicked his tongue disapprovingly, "Sheena, Sheena, Sheena... you're missing the point entirely. I mean... I'm like a tenth-elf or something, so that's got to put me in their good books, right?"

Sheena shook her head, "Zelos, you just don't get it."

"Apparently not... but what are you going to do about it?" Zelos questioned with a grin. He then bounded down the stairs cheerfully with Sheena following close behind, making sure to keep an eye out for the carefree Chosen. As soon as he reached the foot of the staircase, Zelos caught sight of a – as he would say – 'fair-bodied lass' standing over a table. "Ooh... helloooo my beautiful hunny!"

The half-elf turned her head towards the source of the compliment, "W-who are you?" she asked nervously, taking a step backwards, towards the door of her home.

A devious smile spread across Zelos' gorgeous visage, "Well, my dear... I am the great Zelos Wilder... Chosen of this land; destined to grant salvation to Tethe'alla and, now, a woman who shall receive the honours of becoming my life partner. There is a chance that... that woman is you."

A horrified expression was present on the girl's face, "What are you talking about? You're a human! Humans shouldn't be here... humans shouldn't want to be here! I must request that you leave my house right away... please, go."

"What do you mean? Humans should be wherever they are needed – and I am needed here... with you," Zelos persisted without losing his romantic tone of voice.

The half-elven woman almost began to give in to Zelos' charm... but she shook her head, "N-no. No! Leave!" Never had she dealt with someone so insistent... in fact, the event had never aroused that she was hit on at all. Things in Exire were dreary... and that is how its citizens were used to things. A person like Zelos could never fit in with them... he simply had to go. "You do not belong here!"

Zelos sighed and leaned his back against the stair railing, "Oh, man... things aren't supposed to be this hard."

"Take it as a sign, Zelos," Sheena counselled from her seat on one of the stairs part of the way up, "You won't be accepted by the half-elves. You could spend your entire life here and never find someone to love you back... not even back, because you wouldn't find love either."

"Hmph," the Chosen pouted, and then glanced towards the half-elf who was watching both of the travellers intently, while holding a broom defensively. Zelos guardedly began to back his way up the stairs, "...Since I'm not in the mood to be injured right now, I think I'll just give into you this one time, Sheena..." Sheena turned around and swiftly walked up the stairs, while Zelos continued his cautious, backwards approach.

-)---(-------)---(-

"Just hurry and think of somewhere," said Sheena impatiently, "We should really get out of here as soon as possible."

Zelos scratched his chin in ponder, "I was thinking, my violent banshee... why don't you choose our next destination?" The summoner looked towards Zelos with curiosity. "After all, you're single, too. This should be used as an opportunity for you to find a love, as well!"

Sheena froze for an instant of surprise from Zelos' suggestion, "W-what?? T-that's not possible... no. I could only marry someone in Mizuho, anyway. So there's really no point in--"

"Then it's settled!" Zelos exclaimed, earning himself a baffled stare from Sheena, "We're going to Mizuho!"

"What?! Oh... no, that's not what I meant!" Sheena flopped down onto the bed and buried her face in her hands, "I can't possibly bring Zelos to Mizuho... He'll hit on everyone! And more importantly... I'm not allowed to being outsiders!"


Oh, my... that's quite a little predicament, isn't it? I wonder what will happen to our duo in the village of Mizuho. It should be pretty interesting, no? Well... please review with your comments/feedback/constructive criticism/etc! I'll try and make the next update quicker. Anyway... responses to reviews!

To potter29vo – I have to admit that I myself am also a Sheelos fan. But... uhm... that doesn't mean anything about this story, really. nervous laughter I'm really happy that you're enjoying this story, and hooray! Sheena's getting into character!

To jellybeanz225 – Ah, yes... Altamira fun shall come... eventually. Maybe since they started off at Altamira, that's where they'll finish. But who knows? This is unpredictable! Even to me!

To Kawaii Yoshi – Sheena's main motive for helping Zelos with his women problems is to make him stop coming onto her. Aha! A purpose! Somewhat... well, glad you like the fic!

To Luv2Game – Where this fic is going is a mystery... the mystery of mysteries! eerie music

To lor – Heh. A few people seemed to have liked that almost-hugging part between Sheena and Zelos. Good to know what 'the people' enjoy.

To KawaiiGirlNaru – Zelos is a character that you meet up with eventually in the game. But, so I don't spoil anything for you, I won't say anything else.

To Rin – It's a truly difficult decision to choose between having Kratos or Zelos in the party... I wish I could get rid of Regal. He's not amusing... or hot... he's just there. With handcuffs. Heh, heh... excuse my random musing.

To Asuka Efreet – If you want to fight Zelos, you have to be really nice to Kratos, and then in Flanoir when everyone's knocking on your door... reject all of the offers to go outside, and then Kratos should show up. Then eventually you shall fight Zelos!