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The bats gathered around to form a shadow, and their wings became Bastarache's clothes, his shroud, his skin, his teeth, his eyes. He stood there with his smile still remaining on his face.

"There is nothing that I can make you feel. I can't make you feel love, or lust, or pleasure, or delight, or divinity, or anything that belongs to those that belong to the day."

Bastarache's smile dimmed a bit, and then, he spoke;

"I cannot make you feel. If you loved me, it was not because I had loved you. I cannot make you angry. I cannot pleasure you. It is those that you feel on your own. I think it's about time you realized that, you felt for you all along."

Bastarache's smile faded a little bit, but it was still on his face.

"All those emotions you feel are merely amplified by the others'. You have them in your heart and soul, as every living creature does. You are not hollow, Raven. Admit it. You still can feel as you can... drink."

Blue suddenly appeared by the dead tree that was blooming with flowers. He took another step, and brought his face to a flower. He inhaled the scent, and as he did, the flowers on the tree started to wither. As his long breath ended, all the flowers had died.

"It's strange how death and life can be found on the same tree."

Bastarache smiled, yet again; but this time, his smile was directed at raven - and as disturbing and bloodthirsty as it was, his voice was subtle as it could ever be as he spoke.

"Most do not have a second chance in life..." he chuckled, "You have a third chance. Or fourth. Whatever the count is, the truth stands; Lady Luck is flirting with you alone. She only kissed me when you gave me another chance. It's not like most of us get a third one... Why not just enjoy it..?"

Bastarache chuckled, and stared at Raven rather intently.

"You don't have to be alive to feel joy. You don't have to be dead either. You don't have to understand why you were blessed as such. Don't think. Feel. Did you think of what would happen when I died for the... oh well, there is no telling how many times I did." he chuckled again, "In any event, you felt. Don't think why it wasn't you, don't think of understanding it. Feel. It is quite a simple path to take, wouldn't you agree?"

Lolita paced the woods, her white cloak slightly brushing the ground with each step. The cloak's hook was pulled up over her head, hiding her now long, jet-black hair. Her hand paused to reat on each tree she passed, her long white fingernails grazing each trunk softly.

She hummed a slow, soft tune, one that was all-too-familiar to her ears. She seemed to carry an almost child-like innocence, one that she hadn't had before. She seemed so graceful now, not like hos she was before; always had her nose in a book.

She looked up at the rays of sunlight which tempted her through the unforgiving canopy of tree branches. It cast earie shadows on her spotless cloak. Her face was rather porcalen-like, contrasting elegantly with her pale pink lips and black-lined eyes, which still remained completely white, even the pupils.

Raven was about to respond, when she felt the presence of someone near them.

She stood up, snapping her head in the direction from where the soft humming was coming from. She didn't know if Blue heard or not.

"There is someone else here..." she said softly.