Sagako

Every morning, Sagako polishes the great fish statue in the main plaza of Waterfall City. The children who play near the falls say they do it wrong, using the flail on their helmet instead of a proper cloth, laughing as Sagako nearly trips while adjusting their spectacles with a wide grin. The fishers downriver tell a different story. They speak of the day a supply barge broke loose, and how they saw Sagako charge headfirst into the rapids, running on the churning water itself to stop the vessel. The other museum guards just see their clumsy, optimistic colleague suddenly brimming with a strange new energy. But one elder, who remembers watching Toto in their prime, sees not recklessness, but instinct—a devastating power that has just woken up and is still learning how to walk.