I wake with a heavy feeling that my brain turned to lead during the night. It was the dream again. Well what else is new? For twelve years now I've dreamed of that hideous monster. You'd think now I'm sixteen those childish nightmares would leave me be. If they had some meaning shouldn't I have worked it out by now? Surely.

A sound penetrates the dull throbbing of my head. At first I think its Omi. Sometimes he drops in before school and we catch the bus together. But then I realize today is Sunday and my slowly awakening mind begins registering that this mournful sound is coming from my parents bedroom. Its mum she crying, her sobs grow more intense, even while it's clear she's trying to muffle them with her pillow. I drag myself out of bed, groaning, and pull on a pair of jeans. At mums door I breathe in deeply. Pushing open the door I glance around for dad but I'm not really surprised when I see no sign of him when mums depression kicks in he's usually the first to run. She sees me and attempts to dry her face with the corner of her sheet. And through the tears and red eyes she smiles but she can't hold it for more than a fleeting moment before her face tumbles again. "Cup of tea?" She whimpers. I nod and back out quietly, relived to be doing something useful.

Dad's in the kitchen sitting at the table with his legs folded one over the other, staring into an empty coffee mug. His apathy hits somewhere deep and I turn on him. "What happened to set mum off this time?" he continues staring into his mug I don't dare move either. He finally replies, "Does there have to be a reason Eden?"

He's right there doesn't, but I'm not about to tell him so.

"For what it's worth" he goes on, "she had a disturbing nightmare"

"What her too?"

Dad's eyes flicker my way and I think wow great, a reaction, but then he goes back to staring into his empty coffee mug again. I try to remember the last time we had a normal conversation , but of coarse I don't have to think hard to figure it out. My sister Sera's sudden death was the start of all our problems. But when will it end?

Mum is waiting. So I make her cup of tea just the way she likes it with a touch of honey, and take it into her. She looks better and offers me a small brave smile as he takes the cup of tea from my hands.

We talk about this and that for a while and when I'm sure she's okay I leave her be.

Back in my room I find myself staring at my bedside clock like it has all the answers my family needs to prepare it's broken soul. I know it's only a clock, made of wood and glass mostly, but I picked it up at a junk market a couple of years ago, struck by the idea that it had a whole other life before I found it, in someone else's home, waking someone else up every morning.

I don't realize I'm staring so hard at the clock until it's hands start going crazy, rotating faster and faster as I unconsciously offload some of the frustrated energy pent up in my head. Suddenly the entire clock starts to move off the table and starts spinning in mid air. I've done this a couple of times- moving objects is one of my skills, but never like this. Suddenly and without warning it explodes. Pieces of glass and wood fly across the room. I start cleaning it up before mum and dad come to take a look.

Mum is first. "What happened?" she asks from the doorway. "It sounded like a bomb went off in here." Her eyes take in the debris littering the floor. "It looks like it too are you alright Eden?"

"Ah sorry mum I dropped my clock." Her eyes narrow slightly as she pointedly takes in the number of small pieces. "Were you standing on the ceiling?"

I shrug and give a lame smile.

"Alright just make sure you don't leave any sharp bits okay?"

I assure her I'll clean it up before I go out and she leaves me to take a shower. At least she's looking brighter now. I tidy up the rest of the mess and finish dressing, all the time wondering how my father can stay seated at the kitchen table, while an explosion rocks his son's bedroom just meters down the hall.

Minutes later I'm out, relieved I head straight for the mountain to a place that has become a sanctuary for me. To say this place puts me in another world is an understatement, really. It IS another world.

The first time I walked into the mountain I was four years old. I don't remember much that day except the long rocky climb and trying to get away from Dad, who wouldn't let me out of his sight in those early days. But it wasn't long before numbness sets in and the numbness hasn't lifted ever since.

It was in these hills, buried deep within the south-western slopes of the Great Dividing Range, that Clay found me. For days he spoke to me of great adventures and powers beyond my imagination. The one day this guy with strange blue hair and deep violet eyes took me and led me inside the mountain.

Of course Clay isn't really strange once you get past seeing him without his disguise on. His electric blue hair and violet eyes are that way only because your hair and eyes change over time, a long time. He never seems a day older, though I've known him for twelve years. His body stopped aging the day he turned eighteen.

Clay is still taller than me, though now the difference is barely noticeably. He has this aura about him; I can still feel it after all this time. Part of it is in the way he speaks, in soft tones that demand without arrogance. Part of it is in his violet eyes and their ability to speak to you without words. Over the years we've formed a friendship. For the first five years I was his apprentice, and he's still my immediate superior. But he taught me more than I ever learned in all my years in a mortal classroom.

The rock wall disappears the moment I step up to it and reappears after I have gone through it. As soon as I make my way down the softly lit hallway, I hear Clay call, "Eden I've been searching for you"

The hallway has many door some are used for training the others I've never been in.

I get to Clay's main chamber and as usual I am floored by the tools that do not exist in the mortal world yet. "Very funny Clay you knew I was coming you know everything"

He glances up at me from across the room and gives a little laugh. "You flatter me Eden, you must remember to know everything is impossible" His eyes remain on mine assessing me. It doesn't take long for him to notice the dark circles. "Did you have another nightmare?"

I shrug, glancing purposefully at the 3-D holographic sphere in the centre of the room.

"Sit down Eden"

He sounds serious I know this tone of voice.

"Stop worrying! It's good news" An antique stool appears before me with a point of his finger. I take the hint, sit on it and listen. He stares at me for a minute his head slightly angled. Today his blue hair is contained in a band at the base of his skull. It has the effect of making his eyes appear a deeper violet. "You're being promoted."

I jump off my seat leaping into the air. "Yes" This is fantastic news. Clay grins knowing how much I've wanted this recognition. No one works harder than I do. I would give the guard my soul.

"The tribunal is so pleased with your work that in a ceremony in Athens you will be made a full member of the Guard"

But the reality of his words is hard to grasp. "Full member"

He nods, still grinning pleased with my reaction. "But hold on Eden there's something else." I lean in grinning from ear to ear. "You're going to be given an apprentice."

It takes a full moment to register what an honor this is. "An apprentice of my own?"

Clay's eyes follow me. When I stop and search his face for confirmation, his eyebrows lift with a gentle nod of his head.

For the tribunal to give me this responsibility must mean that my wings are almost assured.

"Almost" Clay confirms reading my mind as usual. "All you have to do is train your apprentice , complete your next mission successfully and you wings will be assured by your next birthday"

"Yes this is brilliant, Clay. How did you swing it?"

He gives me a tolerant grin. "I'd like to take the credit but you did it with your own hard work" I grin jumping around like a little kid who has just experienced his first sugar rush. I stop suddenly seeing his serious face. "There's a catch isn't there?"

"Not at all," he quickly assures me. "But there is a certain urgency developing…"

"You don't have a lot of time before your next mission"

"How long?"

"A few weeks"

Weeks? What could Clay, or the tribunal for that matter, be thinking? To train a small child would take years. It did with me. I remember some of those early lessons- Clay was patient but relentless.

"I only have a few weeks to train an apprentice?" Clay nods "But it won't be as hard as you're thinking. Remember you were an infant when you came to me, an unusual occurrence. She's skilled in her own right" He chuckles, glancing down at his slender, ageless hands. "Quite surprisingly so"

I'm still taking in the part when he said the word "she". "I'm going to be training a girl?"

"Correct"

"How old is this girl?"

"Fifteen"

Suddenly the idea of training a girl takes an interesting spin. "Oh really?"

His head tilts with a small smile.

"What's her name? Do I know her?"

He remains silent and my body hair starts to prickle all over my skin with a sense of foreboding.

"Her name is Keiko" He says softly.

Even though it's an unusual name, it draws a blank. Clay keeps looking at me as if I should know this name. Slowly recognition deep inside my head starts taking place. Keiko…

"I think I do know the name. Remember when I was younger I had a best friend called Raimundo? His kid sister's name was Keiko. But you said my apprentice wasn't a child, The Keiko I remember was a wild little monkey who used to follow Rai and the rest of us guys everywhere."

Clay stares at me stubbornly, a funny knowing smile tugging at his lips.

"No way Clay I'm telling you it can't be her, tell the Tribunal they've made a mistake this time, Keiko's a pest, she'll just get in the way,"

"When was the last time you spoke to Keiko?" We have mixed age classes at school it's possible we have a class together. But surely I would have noticed, She's Rai's sister after all.

Clay is waiting for an answer and for a minute it's hard to recall what he asked. "Oh yeah, I haven't seen Keiko in a couple of years,"

He gives me one of his superior knowing smiles.

"That's what I thought."