Not really much to say… yea this chapter may be rushed and yes it may be sloppy, but I'll fix it and stuff. This will be one of the shorter chapters so yeah… Enjoy it and stuff…

Disclaimer- See other Chapters

Chapter Ten: Betrayal

Betrayal is a deadly thing. It can tear families apart and is usually the start of more bad to come. When betrayed, horrible things can happen to a person, and these things always seem to destroy them inside. Soon after betrayal, anger takes place which often leads to hate. After hate, revenge is needed, but even this is not enough. It is not enough until someone is killed. Someone must always be killed in the end.

---

It wasn't exactly that Zuku hated Link. No, it wasn't that at all. He wasn't at all fond of this idea of Chronos's; to kill Link. It hadn't occurred to him how cruel this plan was right away. But when it did, he realized that if he did do this than he'd be betraying Link. He could never do this. Link trusted him with his life and he was not ready to let his friend down.

He decided that he would formulate a plan of some sort. Whenever they got to this place Chronos was taking them he would figure something out. He didn't know what yet but he was smart and he knew he could do this.

Zuku looked up at Chronos and tried to figure out where he could be leading them. They had been on this mountain, this deathly cold mountain, for at least an hour now and neither had spoken a word to the other. Zuku squinted his eyes, trying to see through the snow that seemed to be blowing everywhere. The higher they went the colder it seemed to get, and he was surprised to see that Chronos had not once shivered and showed any other sign of being cold. The boy pulled his cloak tighter around himself and finally decided to break the silence.

"W-where are we going?" Chronos looked back behind him at Zuku, his face and eyes looking a pale blue color.

"We are going to wherever I lead us," he noticed Zuku shivering, "are you so cold that you wish to not go?" Zuku was silent trying to control his voice to make him sound normal.

"No… I just wanted to know where. Why aren't you cold anyway?"

"My power's source is of the cold. It doesn't bother me at all. In fact, right now I am unimaginably powerful."

"Oh." Zuku said simply. So this was it, the cold was where his power came from. After years of trying to track him down, he was just learning this about Chronos. He laughed inwardly at himself. He and Maku truly were foolish.

A few moments later Chronos finally stopped. Zuku stopped shortly after him. He looked down and noticed a large shadow at both their feet. What the… His gaze slowly turned upward and his eyes began to widened as he saw the large building, no, ice building that stood before them. Chronos turned to him, "This is my… 'home' I guess one would say." With that he turned on his heels and strode into his home. Zuku followed behind him quickly after and was amazed at what he saw inside.

The walls, the floor, the ceiling, almost everything in here was made up of ice. To the left there was a large set of stairs that lead to somewhere upstairs that was shrouded in darkness. He noticed various paintings around the room, some on the chairs, on the floor, the tables and hanging on the walls. Most seemed very worn out compared to others. Above him were chandeliers that looked to be most expensive, but they seemed to all be frozen over. He looked at Chronos who had already seated himself in one of the chairs up ahead. He carefully, trying not to slip on the ice, went to Chronos and stood next to the chair.

"W-what are we here for now?" He asked quietly. Chronos turned to him.

"Sit." He motioned to a chair, and Zuku did as instructed. Chronos only stared at him for a moment then smirked. "You, Zuku, have been plotting to betray me, have you not?"

Zuku could feel the blood rushing up to his face, and looked down, hoping that Chronos would not notice. How could he have known? How did Chronos find out? "Betray you… no, of course not. I promise I would not do anything like that. Maku… he must be alive. I wouldn't ever—"

"Stop it! Now!" He looked back up, alarmed and saw the fire in Chronos's angry eyes. "How dare you lie to me you worthless scum!" He stood and raised his hand, looking ready to smack Zuku, but he slowly lowered it, and Zuku could see his eyes become calm and confident once again and the corners of his mouth folded up into a sinister smile.

"I think I know just what to do to you, Zuku… stay here." Zuku watched as he turned and walked off into another room. Zuku looked around and decided that this would probably be the time to examine things.

He got up from the chair he was sitting in and walked around just looking at things. He then heard something break beneath his feet. He looked down nervously and noticed that it was one of the paintings and he had broken part of the frame. He bent down to look at it. This was one of the more tattered ones. There was dust all over it and it seemed to have rips everywhere, making it hard to tell just what the picture had been of. Judging by the frame, the picture it had held must've been very important, but if that was so then why did it look so beat up? Looking more closely at it he noticed the rips it had didn't seem as if they had been done on accident, it fact it seemed that they had been very intentional.

"What the…" He looked up, making sure that Chronos was no where in sight, and then turned his attention back on the painting. He wiped the dust from it, trying to get a better view of it. He noticed that it still was a little hard to look since there were little blotches here and there. However, he had already been taken by curiosity and carefully began piecing the parts back together as best he could to see what the picture had been of. He could see that it was a man… but he still could not tell of whom. He looked at it again and finally decided that it was useless. He stood to go back to his chair but out of the corner of his eye noticed a small engraving in the lower right hand corner of the frame. 'Why didn't I see that before…?' He kneeled back down and wiped his finger over it before reading: Zero, age 12. His eyes widened, as he dropped down the frame. Zero… why would he have a painting of Zero in here? And why was it so torn up and—he stopped and turned. He heard footsteps.

He quickly fixed the picture trying to get it to look as it had been before and hurried to his seat. Chronos soon came into view, holding a small bottle of some sort. Before looking directly at Zuku he eyed the room a little, to see if anything had been touched or put out of place. Zuku shifted slightly, hoping that he wouldn't notice. Whether he did or not Zuku wouldn't know, because he soon turned his attention to Zuku and hissed, "Come here Zuku, I have a…'gift' for you."

Zuku cautiously got up and walked to Chronos with a scared look on his face. Whatever this was… he had a bad feeling about this. As he reached Chronos he was handed the bottle. He looked at the deep red liquid inside. What was this? He looked back up at Chronos.

"Don't just stand there like an idiot. Drink it." Zuku looked down at the liquid and then slowly put it to his lips and swallowed it all. It wasn't until he saw Chronos smile again that he realized that he had done something he would soon regret.

"Good, now sit down, and let's talk." Chronos said in his snake-like voice. Zuku did as commanded. "Very obedient…excellent. Now Zuku, do you have any idea of what I just gave you was?" Zuku shook his head. "Well then, I'll tell you. It was poison." Zuku's eyes widened.

"Y-you poisoned me? But I—"

"Be quiet now. Let me explain. The poison I gave you was a rare kind called Zetima. This poison will kill you within 7 days, a week. Now, what I want you to do within that week, Zuku, is to kill Link and lead Malon to me. Now if you do decide to do this and you are successful, then I have the cure and I will give it to you. However, if you decide to betray me, then you will die on the seventh day at noon exactly. It is your decision Zuku." He looked at Zuku whose eyes were still wide with shock and fear. Chronos stood back up.

"Come, there's something I have to give you." Zuku stood immediately and followed Chronos as he walked into a dark room. Chronos lit some blue fire so he was able to see and Zuku soon noticed that this was a room of weapons. Big and small, strong and weak. There were swords, axes, bows and arrows, whips, spears, lances, knives and other things that he had never even seen before.

He stood there in the middle of the room, amazed at everything here, while Chronos went off to look at something else. 'All of this has been made with such care… and yet it looks as if none of it has ever been used…' He zoned off for a moment then noticed Chronos coming back his way with something wrapped in a cloth. He handed it to Zuku and Zuku looked at it curiously.

"The weapon I have given you is what you will use to kill Link. When you stab him the blood that gets on this will immediately dry up and will not come off, that way, I will know that you actually did it. Do not try to fool me on this Zuku. I will know if the blood is his or not so I wouldn't kill another to bluff if I was you."

Zuku nodded grimly in understanding and slowly took off the cloth covering the blade. It was a very fine crafted blade, with many engravings of the same monstrous beast on the handle. So this was it. This was the weapon he would use to kill Link with… he lightly rubbed his fingers over it. Yes, he could tell. One stab and this would end his life. He looked back up at Chronos who was already looking at him. Chronos turned away and motioned for him to follow.

"Now I'll get you off of this mountain so that you may begin."

---

He was staring at her again, and she was very aware of this. She shifted lightly on her bed and pretended to take a sudden interest in her tea. He stared at her for a bit longer before asking her once again.

"Are you ready to talk now?"

She immediately shook her head and he nodded in understanding.

Link leaned back in his chair, looking at the ceiling. It was now daylight and he and Malon had been in here for pretty much the whole night. All this time he had been trying his hardest to get Malon to speak to him about what had happened but she just didn't want to say. He closed his eyes now.

"Just tell me when you're ready…"

She nodded although she knew he couldn't see and took a quick sip of tea. How could she tell him this? She was certain that her story was just so unbelievable. She wasn't even sure if she believed what had happened herself. She looked at Link once more. He was always so kind to her, perhaps he would understand, but then again… she sighed. He opened an eye and stared at her.

"Something bothering you?" She shook her head.

"No… I don't think so…" There was a moment of silence and she averted her eyes downwards. "I just don't understand… how people could ever be so cruel." The room went silent again and when she looked back up she saw Link staring at her, right into her eyes.

"Keep in mind Malon… these are not people we're dealing with. In fact I don't even know what they are. But keep in mind this will not go on, I will do everything in my power to prevent them from hurting you." She stared at him for a second and was about to say something but instead took a sip of her tea.

"How do you think…Zuku will react once he finds out?" She asked very quietly. She heard Link sigh and knew that that probably meant that his reaction probably would not be very good. When they had came into the house they had seen the corpse of Maku just laying on the couch. She swore she could've fainted right there. The house had smelt of death, just as the room that her mother had taken her to did. Link had quickly removed her from the presence of it all and taken her to her room, telling her to rest and that he'd go bury Maku. She hadn't rested at all though. All this time she had been up, just trying to imagine what would happen next.

There was a light touch on her shoulder and she looked up to see Link holding out a hand to her. "You look like you need some fresh air; let's… go for a walk." She nodded and hesitantly put her hand in his and allowed him to help her up.

They walked outside in silence, both thinking of the same things. Malon sighed and she could see Link staring at her out of the corner of her eye. It was time. She… would tell him now.

"I'm not really sure how it happened…" she began. He quickly stopped walking along with her and began to listen intently as they both sat down. She took a breath before continuing. "But… all I know is I woke up and I was in this very strange place. I didn't know what had happened to me, I mean, I didn't even recognize myself. I was just stranded in this dark place and it was just confusing. Next thing I know I'm in some totally different room with this man telling me to wait for my mother… I could hardly believe what I heard, but then I just got so sleepy. When I woke up I saw her… there was this woman, whom I later discovered was my mom, just looming over me. Of course I didn't believe her when she told me who she was at first but then I realized it; this was my mother, standing right in front of me. She then went on to explain that I wasn't really dead, and that I had died before my time and she was summoned here to help me understand all of this. That I was in the Land of the Undead… a place where people go when they are dead, and yet not dead.

She paused and looked up at the clear sky, listening to the birds chirp about happily.

"Go on… I want to hear the rest of it." Link urged. She nodded.

"Before, my memory had been lost and she told me she would restore it for me. Once she did I remember getting scared and afraid, all the horrible things had been restored back to my mind. Afterwards she took me to a place, a very frightening place at that, and told me…all about what had happened to her, how Chronos and Zero had taken her away, and how everyone thought she had passed away wasn't true at all. She told me about Maku and Zuku and how she knew… she knew about everything that was happening to me and that she was so sorry that she couldn't be of any real help. And then… she gave me a choice… she asked me whether or not I wanted to go back to earth to live the rest of my life, or if I wanted to stay with her. At first I didn't know what to do. There was so much going on here that I just wanted to get away from… and I had a chance there to stay with my mother. I just didn't know what to do. I almost stayed there, but then I realized if I didn't go back there were so many things that I wouldn't get to do and I just didn't want that to happen. So I made my decision and I decided to come back here."

She looked at Link and for a moment they just gazed into the others eyes. She broke the stare. "How then, did you get all those bruises?" Link asked curiously.

She shrugged. "That's just the one thing I can't remember. Yes, she restored my memory, but I just don't remember any of that." He looked thoughtful for a moment. Maku had been found dead… and Malon had been injured… before all of this Zuku had told him that he left Maku with Malon. Perhaps there was a connection...

He turned back to Malon to see her staring up at the sky. She was silent for a moment then looked down at her hands. "I'm just… so scared Link." Link nodded.

"I understand that… but you have no reason to be, I promise I'll protect you… and that's a promise I don't intend to break." She looked back at Link gratefully… so this was her protector was it?

He stood and stretched. "You should go back inside, and this time actually get some rest." She nodded.

"You're… probably right."

"Of course I am." He held out his hand and she took it, allowing him to escort her back inside the house.

---

Yay! I finished :) Didn't think I would but what'd ya know? Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed this and stuff… hehe so the plot thickens. Personally I think this was the best chapter written yet. Oh and I didn't check over it so please don't beat me up too hard if there's something that sounds weird because I'll fix it later. I'm also going on vacation tomorrow (7/2/05) so I'm not going to be able to update until the twenty first. Please review and leave all your comments! Flamers meanies Constructive Criticizers cool people.

Too lazy to do review comments but thanks everyone!

REVIEW!

:chel:bel: