"HaHa Ha haha! Oh! Oh my..." Caleuche wiped a spot of black pitch that had seeped from her eye, "No, dear child, no. Well, sort of." She put her thumb and index finger a hairsbreadth apart, "A little bit."
Konnie looked on confusedly, even as the other prisoners screamed. "Well?! Did I or didn't I?!" She caught herself a moment later, meekly continuing, "I-I uh, I mean, if you don't mind explaining, ma'am, I apologize I uhhh..."
Caleuche let out a rather unladylike snort, "Oh, I'd say we̷̝̦̥͐͆͊'re past formalities, wouldn't you say, child?" She walked up to the remaining men, cupping one's chin within her unbreakable grip. She tilted his head from side to side, looking at his face, before simply letting go and pulling her hand away.
The man keeled over, as a faint glimmer seemed to follow Caleuches hand, slowly compacting into a small ball hovering above her hand. She held it up for Konnie to see.
"Look closely, this is not a man's soul, it is his spirit. Which is FAR more important, to us, anyway." Konnie looked at the ball curiously.
"Aren't those the same thing?" Caleuche gave a bark of laughter.
"HA! Oh no, his soul is his thoughts, his memories, everything that made him uniquely... Him. This is the energy that enabled his soul to exert influence over his body. The same energy that makes beings like you and me... Possible." Caleuche brought the ball up to her face, breathing it in gently, when it was gone, she continued. "Humans, and other more intelligent animals, produce it naturally over time, some more, most less. Though few manage to harness it. It is also known to build up over time in inanimate objects as well."
Konnie leaned against one of the now-empty Ural trucks, "What kind of objects?"
"Humans, the main producers of this energy, have a knack for attaching themselves to inanimate objects, why, like ships, for instance!" Caleuche grinned, "Over time̷̝̦̥͐͆͊, if the feeling is strong enough, and the object old enough, spiritual energy will... Flock, to said object, much like hair to static, this is rarely more than a negligible, almost untraceable film of spiritual energy, but if enough builds up, over a long enough period of time..."
"You... you get guns that can affect spiritual beings?" Konnie gestures around at the surrounding cursed men, "Like these ghosts?"
"Exactly! And should... O̷̗͗̐́͜utside, factors involve themselves, you get the creation of beings like you and me. Or these fine gentlemen!" Caleuche continued as she moved to her next victim, "These 'cursed men' were simply souls attracted by the ritual, we, together, provided the 'spirit' to give them form! Add in a few tricks I knew to...Properly motivate̵̱̣̼͐͂͝͝ͅ and control them, and here we are."
"Are they... are they like fairies?"
Caleuche pulled out another man's spirit, consuming it before she replied. "Hmm, that IS a question, isn't it? A curious one, once you get the taste for answers, aren't you?"
Konnie ducked her head. "I'm sorry, it's just... No one I know knows where Abyssals really come from, or anything like this! Except maybe the Himes, but they don't tell us anything."
"Ha! It may surprise you, but most of what you would call 'Hime̷̝̦̥͐͆͊' are just as ignorant as you." Caleuche smiled at Konnie's shocked look, a whistful expression taking over her features, "Oh, to be young again, still believing your creators are infallible, all-knowing-"
Caleuche was interrupted, as one of the humans, the last one, tried to struggle out of the grasp of the cursed men holding him down, he didn't succeed, but it drew the two ships attention. "My, we have a... Spirited, one!" Caleuche said, drawing near to the man, who started sputtering out something in Vietnamese.
"What's he saying?"
"He̵̱̣̼͐͂͝͝ͅ is praying, the silly man." Caleuche knelt next to the human, laying her hand on the top of his head, giving it an almost affectionate rub. "Only I can hear your prayers here, human, and I'm afraid..." She withdrew her hand, taking his spirit with it, "I will not answer them."
...
Kaoh Thum, Cambodia:
With Georgia:
We said our goodbyes at the temple, Mr. Chan completely understanding our sudden departure in light of Lao's breakdown. We made our way to the Hostel where the others had apparently spent last night, while I had been busy drunkenly groping the local statuary.
We could hear Lao crying through the thin walls of our shared bedroom, we sat on the beds somewhat awkwardly. "You think she'll be OK?" I asked Anne, the tall girl simply shrugged. Meanwhile, Hakone had brought out a box from beside her bed, asking if I wanted to take a look, I waved her off for a moment as I continued. "I've always been bad at consoling and stuff, I hope Chitose can cheer her up."
Hakone, meanwhile, came to me from across the room, carrying the box with her, I saw a little of the box-art, it looked like a ship-modeling kit. "Alright Hakone, what is it?" I asked.
Hakone looked at me with a slightly strained smile. "I got this thing from one of the stores while we were looking for you earlier! Apparently its a tiny ship you can make out of plastic! It looks a lot like my ship-form too! I was wondering if maybe you wanted to help me make it?" She turned it over so I could see it properly.
"Heavy Cruiser Ashigara, 1/700 scale model kit" I read to myself. Huh, that was the Cruiser Hakone's design was based off of, wasn't it?
I shook my head, "I'd help you out, but knowing me I'd break something by accident, the antenna's always snap off for me." I said, Hakone slumped, aw jeez, quick! Throw someone else at it! "Maybe Anne or Diane can help?" I looked over with Hakone hopefully at the other two ships.
Anne, however, shook her head. "T̸o̷o̶ ̴c̴l̸u̸m̷s̶y̶,̷ ̸w̶o̷u̸l̸d̷ ̵b̶r̸e̵a̴k̵ ̵i̴t̵."
Diane also refused, "I apologize, but I haven't quite grown used to moving about, perhaps later when I've become more familiar with this body?"
Hakone's hopeful expression slipped off her face. Chitose was still comforting a crying Lao in the next room over, so she was out. Hmmm...
Oh right! The brothers! They were staying just down the hall from us with their dad, weren't they?!
"Why don't you go down the hall and ask Giang and Duc to help you?" I said encouragingly, "They have weak little human-hands, so they probably won't break anything too important, and it will give you the chance to talk to them for a while!"
We would be going our separate ways after we made the trip to the capital, most likely, it would be good for the girl to get some time in with her human friends before then, right?
Hakone's face lit up. "That's a great idea! Thanks Georgia! I'll go ask them now!" She hurriedly left the room, awkwardly kicking the door shut behind her. Meanwhile, a louder wail than normal echoed out from the door to the Kanmusu's shared room.
"Aww crap," I said, letting myself fall face-first into the me-sized pillow on the bed, I folded the sides over my head to block out the noise. I unfolded it just enough to let me peek out at Anne and Diane "You girls wanna learn how to play cards or something to pass the time?"
...
With Hakone:
'Knock Knock Knock!'
Hakone stood awkwardly in the hall as she listened to someone shuffle around inside. After a few minutes, the door opened, revealing a confused-looking Giang, who called back into the room in Vietnamese, before turning back to her.
"Hello?"
Hakone smiled, cheerfully holding out the box for him to see.
"Wanna make a ship with me?!"