PROLOGUE

With her parents always working and having no school to attend, Mari found herself wandering the canyons and caves near the Galaxy Garrison. It was dangerous, yes, but Mari had her cell with her and she was a martial arts champion. She was positive she could defend herself if there ever came a time to do so. But she honestly never expected to face any danger on her little expeditions anyways: she was in almost the middle of nowhere, during the middle of the day, and she was fairly close to a military-run academy. Mari hadn't ever seen a single person in the surrounding area before, so she figured she'd be relatively safe. So when she realized that she was being watched one day while exploring a cave, she was rather surprised.

Mari had discovered the cave days ago, but the strange symbols on the walls and the energy of the area kept drawing her back to it. She had begun taking snapshots of the cave drawings to see if she could find anything similar in books at the library—maybe then she could make some sense of their true meanings. But right as she took her last photo for the day, she sensed a presence near the mouth of the cave. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a figure hesitating next to the entrance before they suddenly hid from view.

Great, Mari thought dryly, readjusting the mask she wore over her mouth and nose to prevent inhalation of any dust or dirt. Holy crow, what if it's someone from the Garrison? Please don't let it be an officer. Mom and dad are gonna kill me if they find out I've been out here…Maybe if I ignore him, he'll go away?

Several minutes passed without the individual making a move, and she frowned to herself; whoever it was had no intention of leaving any time soon. Sighing, Mari stashed her phone and bent down to pack up her belongings. She could feel the stranger's piercing gaze zeroed in on her, watching her carefully as she moved. Slinging her bag over one shoulder, she straightened herself and casually brushed the dirt from her pants before suddenly bolting towards the back of the cave.

Just as she hid behind a large group of boulders near the back of the cave, Mari could hear the stranger's alarmed footsteps as they entered the cavern. She held her breath, her whole body tensing as she waited for them to come around the corner. When she could practically hear his breathing, Mari made her move, whisking her leg across the grimy floor and sweeping the stranger off his feet. He fell forward and he would've landed face-first on the rough cave floor if he hadn't thrust out his hands to catch himself. Now with the higher ground, Mari wasted no time in pouncing on him, driving her knee into his back and pulling one of his arms out from under him. This time, his face collided with the floor and Mari could hear him cursing as she had him pinned and immobilized.

"Hey!" the kid hissed, his voice slightly muffled as his face was smushed against the dirt floor of the cave. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What do you think you're doing?" Mari growled back. "What are you, some kind of stalker?"

"No!" the guy snapped.

"Then why were you spying on me then?" she demanded. "Are you from the Garrison or something?"

"No," he huffed, struggling under her grip. "And I wasn't spying on you. Will you just let me up and explain?"

Mari contemplated the idea for a moment. Now that she had a better look at the guy, she could tell he was just another teenager, not an officer from the Garrison and certainly not a student there either. The kid was glaring at her intensely from out of the corner of his eyes and Mari scowled before releasing him. She took several steps away from him, making sure that she was closer to the cave entrance in case she needed to make a break for it.

"You're freaking crazy," he muttered, standing up and brushing himself off. Mari glowered at him and went rigid, now noticing the dagger that hung on his hip. She braced herself, waiting for the moment when he unsheathed his weapon and attacked, but no such thing happened. Instead, he crossed his arms defensively and glared back at her.

"Well? Start explaining," Mari prompted coldly. "You can start by telling me who you are."

"I could be asking you the same thing," he said. "You're acting like I just broke into your house when you have no more of a right to be here than I do."

Mari said nothing and stood her ground. The kid finally rolled his eyes and relented. "I'm Keith. I live near here, and I've been exploring these caves for a while," he explained curtly.

"Really? You live near here, out in the middle of the desert?" Mari raised an eyebrow skeptically and Keith just scowled.

"Your turn," he huffed in annoyance.

"Fine," she sighed. "I'm Mariko, but my friends call me Mari."

"You a Garrison student?"

"Do I look like a Garrison student?"

"Then why are you out here?"

"I've been studying these markings in my free time," Mari explained, gesturing to the cave walls. "Just like you, apparently."

"Why?"

"I…can't really explain it," she admitted hesitantly. "At first it was out of boredom, but then it was like…some energy was…"

"Telling you to search?" Keith finished, and she looked at him in surprise.

"You've felt it too then?" she asked and he nodded. The two stared at each other for a moment before averting their attention to the cave drawings.

"What do you think we're supposed to be searching for?" Mari wondered aloud, frowning as her eyes fell on one of the blue lion depictions.

"I'm not really sure," Keith admitted. "But I have some theories."

"Same here," she said, smiling wryly. "I'd be happy to share them anytime too."

Keith looked at her sourly, most likely still bitter about her attacking him. But before he could respond, Mari's phone suddenly buzzed with a new message.

"I guess our discussion will have to wait," she sighed after reading her mother's text telling her to come home for dinner. "I've gotta get going now, but maybe we can meet up tomorrow or something?"

"I'm not really interested," Keith muttered, turning away from her with his arms still crossed indignantly.

Mari rolled her eyes and looked at him for a moment before taking out a small piece of paper and scrawling something on it. "Well, if you ever want to talk to someone about it, just give me a call," she said, holding it out to him once she had finished.

Keith glanced at the number and almost did a double-take when he read the name she had written down: "Mariko Shirogane".

"Your last name is 'Shirogane'?" he said almost disbelievingly, taking the paper from her. "Like Takashi Shirogane? As in the pilot from the Kerberos mission?"

"Yeah," she answered bitterly. "He's my brother."