Remnant: December 2946 A.D. (After Dust)
Earth: December 2013 C.E.

Team DMND of Beacon was in their dorm room. They were frequently found there, doing one thing or another. Today, with the academic finals coming up, they were studying. Well, most of them were studying.

"What are you planning to do for Winter Break?" Drake asked his partner.

"Nothing," Nyx said. "I'm staying at Beacon. I might visit Miranda at her house, but that's it."

"Really?" Drake asked. "You're not going to visit your family?"

"No," Nyx said in a cold and brittle voice.

"That's a shame," Drake said, utterly oblivious to to his teammate's discomfort. "I'm going to visit my family. It's nice to be able to go home and have fun with family. My mom makes the best pies. Have I told you about her?"

"Yes," Nyx said, gritting her teeth.

"I thought I had," Drake said. "Anyways, she makes these really good pies, but she only makes them for New Years. Says they're too much work to make any other time of the year. It's a shame too, they're really good. Hey, I don't think you've ever told me about your family."

"No, I haven't," Nyx said, silently willing Drake to drop the topic.

"What are they like?" Drake asked. "I bet your mom's cool too."

"Drake," Nyx said, a warning tone in her voice.

"What?" he asked, oblivious as usual.

"Drop it," Nyx said.

"Why?" Drake said. "I mean, I've talked about my parents, Dawn's mentioned hers, though I don't get why she's so nervous about them. Shouldn't you be comfortable about your parents? I don't know. And Miranda's talked about her moms. By the way, Miranda, your moms adopted you, right? Did you know your birth parents? What were they like?"

"Drake," Nyx said.

"What?" Drake asked.

"If you enjoy being conscious, I suggest you shut up right now," Nyx said.

"Huh?" Drake asked. Then he took a moment to observe his surroundings. The most prominent feature was the three women staring at him. None of them looked particularly happy with him. A sudden chill went down his spine. "Oh," Drake squeaked. "I'll be quiet now."

"Good," Dawn said. "Try studying. Your grades could use some help."

"Okay," he said, quickly turning back to his textbook. Apparently his teammates didn't like their studies being interrupted. Who knew?