A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I've been preoccupied with other matters (mostly writer's block). Hope you can forgive me. As an apology, here's chapter two. I hope you're still interested with this story.


Two years later...

The world was such a big place, at least to a two-year-old is was. Archie stumbled into his parent's room. It was bigger than the other bedrooms, and a lot more interesting. He walked into the washroom. His grey-blue eyes sparkled with curiosity. A strange colored bottle sat on the sink counter. Standing up on his toes, Archie reached up and brushed his tiny fingers against the bottle. It rocked slightly. Archie hit the bottle again. This time there was enough force to knock the bottle over. A strange liquid poured from the top.

"Uh oh," Archie said.

The strange liquid was making the floor slippery.

"Ria!" Archie called. "Ria!"

He took one step forward. His foot slipped and he fell. Footsteps pounded down the hall. Maria ran into the room.

"Ria."

Maria hurried into the washroom and scooped Archie into her arms. She frowned when she saw the odd colored substance running through Archie's hair. The toddler sniffed.

"Are you hurt?" Maria asked.

"Ankle."

"What?"

"It hurts. My ankle hurts."

"Both?"

Archie shook his head, making the sticky substance run down his face.

"Right."

Maria checked the boy's ankle. Archie winced when his care-taker touched his right heel.

"Ow."

Maria sighed. There was something wrong with his right heel. She rubbed Archie's back to try to calm him down.

"Shh, come on, you're okay," she whispered.

Archie sniffed and wiped the tears from his face.

"Feeling better?" Maria asked.

Archie nodded.

"Now, let's get you cleaned up," Maria said.


A few minutes later Archie was happily splashing around in the warm water of a bath. Maria smiled as she tried not to get too wet. She gently massaged Archie's scalp, in an effort to try to get whatever he had knocked over out of his hair. She just hoped it wasn't permanent. Maria picked up a plastic tub and began rinsing the shampoo out of Archie's hair. She covered his eyes to prevent anything from getting in them. Naturally, Archie whined. This was the part he hated. But, soon, Maria was putting her hand down and he could see again. He looked up at her and frowned.

"Ria? What wrong?" he asked.

"Your Mommy is in for a big surprise," Maria said.

"Why?"

Maria picked up the bottle and looked at the label. Her eyes grew wide when she saw that it had been hair dye. Now, she really hoped it wasn't permanent. Hair dye couldn't change a person's hair color completely, could it? It wasn't possible. Unless it was some kind of mutation, unnatural hair color just did not appear in a child's genes. Maria had to sigh in relief at that fact. She looked down at the toddler and smiled. He smiled back. His grey-blue eyes sparkled with mischief.

Maria picked Archie up out of the water and wrapped a towel around his small body. She brought him out to his room. Maria placed Archie on his bed and took out some clothes.

"When is Mommy coming home?" Archie asked.

"She should be here soon," Maria replied.

She walked over to the bed and began the process of dressing the toddler. She was very careful when she slipped his socks on to his feet. The last thing she wanted was to injure his right heel even more. After a while, Archie began to bounce on his bed. Maria smiled. He was always full of energy. She finished dressing him. Archie jumped off the bed and trotted out of the room.

"Be careful, young master Archie," Maria called. She jogged after the two-year-old. But, he had disappeared from sight.

She ran throughout the house asking other workers if they had seen Archie. One man said he had seen the boy head off for the backyard. Maria raced outside. She nearly screamed. Archie was making a beeline for the pool. Maria broke into a run.

"Archie!" she yelled.

Archie walked up to the side of the pool and looked down into the water. He lend over to get a better look at the somehow fasinating clear blue water.

"Archie!" Maria screamed.

A fountain of water sprang up as Archie toppled into the water.


The last thing he remembered was looking at his reflection. Now, he was slowly drifting to the bottom of the pool. Suddenly, the water didn't seem so friendly anymore. He couldn't breathe and he was too scared to move. He tried kicking his legs, but instantly stopped when a sharp pain shot up his right leg.

"Ria!" he silently cried. "Ria!"

He felt familiar arms wrap around his body and quickly pull him to the surface. Archie gasped for air and coughed. Maria climbed up on to the side of the pool and held Archie close to her. He was like a son to her. Archie pushed himself further into the comforting arms of his care-taker and favorite maid.

"I don't like the water," the toddler whimpered.

The crystal blue water seemed dark and foreboding. It no longer seemed friendly and inviting. Maria gently rubbed Archie's back.

"You're okay," she whispered. "You're safe now."

Some of the other workers had come out to see what had happened. They saw a soaking wet Archie and Maria sitting beside the pool.

"Maria, what happened?"

"Shh," Maria hissed. "Not now, Claude."

The gardener fell silent.

"I'll tell you later," Maria whispered, while still rocking a shaking Archie.

One thing was certain, the poor boy would never like water for the rest of his life.


A few hours later Mrs. King walked through the door.

"I'm home!" she called.

"Mommy!"

Maria came out of the living room carrying an ecstatic Archie. Mrs. King held her arms out. Maria put Archie on the floor and he trotted over to his mother, who picked him up and gave him a hug.

"How was your day, Sweetie?" she asked.

"Okay," Archie replied.

"Dear boy, what happened to your hair?" Mrs. King asked.

"He found hair dye, ma'am," Maria replied. "He accidentally knocked the bottle over."

Mrs. King looked back at her son. His once brown hair was now replaced by a dark purple. Maria would never admit it out loud, but purple seemed to suit Archie better than brown.

"No matter, it'll grow out," Mrs. King said.

She noticed that Archie was wearing a bandage around his right ankle. She turned back to Maria. The maid felt her heart skip a beat.

"He twisted his ankle," Maria replied softly.

"Then, why was he limping?" Mrs. King asked.

Maria didn't answer right away. How could she explain it without sending her boss's wife into cardiac arrest?

"His right heel is weaker than his left. I don't know how, but something is wrong with his right heel," Maria explained slowly.

Mrs. King headed out the door again.

"Where are we going, Mommy?" Archie asked as his mother walked over to where the limo was parked.

The driver opened the door and Mrs. King climbed in. He closed the door and climbed into the driver's seat.

"Where to, ma'am?"

"The children's hospital," Mrs. King replied.

"Why?" Archie asked.

"We're just going to get your heel checked out, okay?" Mrs. King asked.

"Okay," Archie answered. This had been one crazy day.


Archie tried to keep back tears of pain as the doctor looked at his right heel. Didn't he know how painful it was?

"Well, there definitely seems to be something wrong. What it is, it's hard to say. It could be a number of things," the doctor told Mrs. King.

"Such as?"

The doctor sighed as he removed his glasses.

"Fractured or weakened bone, torn muscle, weak Achilles tendon, and so on. It's hard to pin-point what the real problem is."

The man looked down at the small child. Tears of pain filled the boy's eyes. The doctor turned back to Mrs. King.

"I can't guarantee that there will be anyway to fix the problem. But, I can give Archie an ankle brace to protect his heel."

Mrs. King could only nod. "That's all anyone can do, I guess," she said quietly.

Archie looked down at his hands. He didn't like seeing his mother upset. The boy looked up to see the doctor talking quietly to his mother. When the man said "The test results show that" the look on Mrs. King's face shone with fear. Before the doctor had looked at Archie's heel, he took a blood test.

"Am I going to die?" Archie thought as he watched the look on Mrs. King's face.

"Thank you, doctor," Mrs. King whispered.

She walked over to the check up bed and picked her son up in her arms. The doctor rummaged around in his desk for something.

"Aha! Here we are."

He held out a strange object. Archie took it cautiously. It looked like some sort of toy.

"Thank you," Archie replied.

The doctor smiled as mother and son headed out the door.


Maria glanced at the clock. It had been two hours since Mrs. King had left with Archie. Was his heel really that bad? She looked around the living room. Duke, Brock and Heather were playing Monopoly and Lena was watching a Barbie movie.

"Maria, when is Mom coming home?" Duke asked.

"I do not know, master Duke," Maria replied.

Just then, the door opened and Archie trotted through the door. Maria swallowed hard when she saw a gold ankle brace around the toddler's right leg. Mrs. King walked in. She was deathly pale.

"Ma'am? Is everything all right?" Maria asked.

Mrs. King didn't answer. She walked off to her husband's study. Mr. King looked up from his work when his wife walked in.

"Rodna, are you feeling well?" he asked.

Mrs. King closed the door and walked over to the desk.

"Something is wrong with Archie," she breathed as she sat down in a chair in front of the desk.

"What's wrong with him?" Mr. King asked, fearing the worst.

Mrs. King held a hand over her mouth as if afraid to share the awful knowledge.

"Rodna!" Mr. King hissed.

"Our boy is a child from Hades," Mrs. King whispered.

"That's impossible," Mr. King said.

"The doctor said Archie would never be able to get sick. And, remember when he fell down the stairs last month?" Mrs. King asked. "It was a miracle he only walked away with a sprained ankle."

"Even then, he healed from that a day later," Mr. King pointed out.

He didn't want to admit it. This was his son he was talking about. How could his two-year-old son be sent from Hades?

"Richard, what are we going to do?" Mrs. King gasped.

"Nothing. Archie is our son. He always will be, no matter what. Just...be cautious. You know...just in case," Mr. King explained.


I've had enough of this chapter! It's taken me almost a full stinkin' month to write! Please tell me what you think. I am so sorry for the long delay. And I think I put a too powerful a thought for a two-year-old somewhere in here. Oh well.