Before she could even react, Toto’s already pulling her to his whims, towards the volleyball court.
Daisy had no recollection of what transpired here, but based on what Kaguya had told her… she doesn’t want to be here. Would Toto even listen, though? As quick as he is, he’s now already asking about her body. She catches the volleyball with her left hand, and holds it to her side.
What’s there to tell, though? She had three metal prosthetic limbs, a clockwork heart, and lacking in voice.
Daisy visibly sighs, and types her message listing those factors. She shows it to Toto. Once she’s sure Toto’s read it, she adds: You should ask Kaguya. She knows more about it. It’s her body, after all, isn’t it?
She even knows what happened… how she ‘lost’ them. The limbs and her heart. The voice, however, it seemed not even Kaguya could find a theory for it. Daisy takes the ball into both her hands, and she frowns at it.
It’s unfair. It’s unfair how she has to deal with Kaguya’s fate.
Taking out a marker, she starts writing on the volleyball. Afterwards, she tosses it high towards Toto. tell me about your pentury group, it asks.
Three prosthetic limbs, a clockwork heart, no voice. Toto gave three emphatic nods as he read the list over. “I seeee,” he said, leaning in close. The fascination was clear in his eyes, but when he looked up from the screen he saw that Daisy did not seem so happy. His smile faltered, and then fell altogether at the mention of Kaguya.
“But then, she’d take your place, right? You’d go away again.” Toto didn’t understand. “I don’t want that. I want you to stay.”
The volleyball was quick to steal his attention, and he caught it in both hands. When he read what Daisy had written there, he perked up an inch taller; in an instant, his mood was lifted.
“Aah, the Pentury Migration Circle? Haha! OK! Mmm, what should I tell you?” Toto spun on his heel with the ball held tight to his chest and his eyes on the sky. His mind raced as it filtered through dozens of starting points.
“It’s a place for people who know about the true life cycle,” he told her, as though the matter were simple—as though she should already know—but a second look at Daisy’s face made him doubt that those few words were enough. He took a step closer, letting the ball roll from his grip and onto the sand.
“Imagine that we’re caterpillars! You and me, and everyone else here.” His arms stretched wide to indicate the boat, the sea, the world beyond it. He wiggled his index fingers. “Right now, we’re all living like caterpillars. But some day . . . we go away—like Blythe and Fantasma did—and then we’re like cocoons. Our souls go to this other place. It’s dark and quiet. A lot of people call it ‘The Great Interim’. I was there once, you know! A long time ago. But I came back, so the whole world could learn the truth! It’s like teaching all the other caterpillars how to become a butterfly, you know? So, in that place—the cocoon place—there’s a ladder that only comes down every 500 years. Only strong souls can climb it to the top. And at the top . . . that’s the fully bloomed world. The final stage!” His eyes gleamed as he gestured left and right, beaming wildly.
“So the Pentury Migration Circle is all about letting the world know, and celebrating! We have big migration parties where everyone dances together before they go—I dance on a big stage,” he added with particular delight. Satisfied, he stepped back, plucked the volleyball from the sand and gave it a spin.
“How was that? You understand, right?”