A/N: I'm hoping everyone is having a great New Year, this chapter might be a little late but I couldn't simply skip this chapter just because Christmas is over, and now New Years is over.

After everything that's happened with Patrick's situation and then the jailbreak of Gaia, we now move on to the holidays where Team PASM and Team CPER are spending the holidays together, much to Patrick's somewhat disapproval. But we all know he really needs to chill out and socialize.

Chapter 24: The Night Before Christmas

Teams PASM and CPER are on board an airship, the ship soars through the skies of a cold winter's night. The landscape below is covered in a blanket of snow and ice. It is Christmas Eve and the whole gang decided to celebrate Christmas together.

Only there is one little problem:

Beacon is closed down for the holidays allowing the students to be able to return to their original homes with their families. But Teams PASM and CPER have a bit of a situation with that. Patrick and Earnest don't have a family to go back to. Clawdia has Peter and his parents but their hometown isn't very welcoming to any Faunus. Akira's home is in a similar situation, only with Humans. Rayla's only home and family is the Reinford household, but they are away on a holiday trip. Marlene doesn't have a family since her father died and her mother left them long ago.

That just leaves with only one opinion, and Selena volunteered.

"I can't believe we're spending Christmas Vacation at Elizabeth's Household!" Marlene says with excitement. "It's such a dream come true!"

Selena is feeling nervous. "I-I'm glad you think so, but please promise me you'll behave. My mother, she loves her fans but I'm worried. I'm bringing strange people to her household for the first time."

"But we are your team, and didn't you tell your mother about us during your time in Beacon?" Akira asks.

"I have but...I don't know, I just feel very nervous about all this." Selena says.

"Don't be, everything's going to be fine." Akira says.

Patrick rolls his eyes. He may not get in the way and he and Selena know Akira and Rayla are going to be on their best behavior. But Marlene's Fanatic Excitement and Peter's Perverted Nature are going to be different. And who knows what Earnest and Clawdia are going to bring.

"Can mew guys keep it down? I'm trying to concentrate." Clawdia says.

Clawdia stares intensely at Earnest. Lately, Clawdia is trying to study Sign Language and Earnest and Rayla have been helping her out. After a moment of frozen nothingness, Earnest begins speaking, and Clawdia shouts out what she believes he is saying. "'Nice to meet mew!'" Earnest nods and speaks again. "'The weather is nice.'" Earnest nods and speaks again. "'What is mew-r favorite Fary-tail?'" Earnest nods and speaks again. "'My favorite is...'" Clawdia pauses, he stutters as she tries to figure out what it is she's saying. Earnest and Rayla stare at her closely waiting for her answer. "Is...Is...The Season Maidens?"

Earnest facepalms. Rayla shook her head. "'The Man with Two Souls.'" Patrick corrects.

Clawdia looks down in depression. "Now, now, don't get so down, Mistress Clawdia. You are trying your best and that is what's important."

"I know, I know. But I'm still feline like I'm not learning hard enough." Clawdia turns to Patrick. "Mew make it look so easy, Pet-rick. How is it mew know Sign Language?"

Hearing that alerts Patrick. "Why do you even ask?"

"Actually, I have been curious myself, Master Patrick." Rayla says.

Patrick notices eyes are on him, and answers in defeat. "My mother use to teach sign language, I just picked it up. It came useful during certain jobs." Patrick says. Rayla and Clawdia mutter about Patrick's answer. He facepalms groaning in annoyance. "Why did I decide to come along with them?"

Flashback

Patrick and Rin returned to Beacon and report the incident they discovered to Mashika. Mashika was upset to hear about the sudden death of her idol Former-Huntsman. Patrick brings up the message he had found, which makes Mashika curious. He left that message for a reason, someone he wanted to tell the people who had found his body.

"I understand, I'll investigate the matter when I get the chance." Mashika says. Patrick makes his leave, then. "Mister Aki, there's something I need to talk to you about." She turns her attention to Rin. "Rin, would you please give us some privacy." Rin nods and leaves the room.

"What do you want?" Patrick asks.

"As you know, Christmas is coming and Beacon is closing down to send its students back to their families." Mashika says.

"Get to the point." Patrick says.

"I heard Selena is inviting you and your team to her house. I think you should go with them." Patrick doesn't say anything, Mashika knows the obvious answer. "I think it's a generous opportunity from a famous idol. Besides, I'm sure Elizabeth would be happy to see you after all these years."

"I'm pretty sure a world-famous model like her wouldn't have bothered to remember a nobody like me." Patrick says

"You make a point there but you and I know she's nothing like that. She still remembered us after the year later gathering." Mashika says. "Listen, Love. You need to spend some time with your friends. You can't just lock yourself away in solitude forever, and this is one of them. Even Professor Ozpin demands this request as well."

Patrick is surprised to hear Ozpin is included but realizes if he does this then it can only mean one thing: That he is not going to be able to see Amber during the holidays. It really gets him mad even though he's trying his best to hide it in front of Mashika.

"I don't want to force this upon you given the season, but I have no other choice. You can either go with your team or you can spend Christmas with me. I plan on going to drinking bars to participate in contents, I bet there be a lot of men there who would fall helpless in love with a 'soon-to-be-drunked' beautiful woman who-"

"Okay! Okay! I get it!" Patrick shouts. He lets out an irritated sigh. "You know I hate you, right?"

Mashika smiles as she pats Patrick on the head. "I love you too, love."

End of Flashback

The airship arrives in a large estate in Anima. Down below there are about 6 house buildings and one mansion at the very end of the rows of houses. The airship lands on the platform on the front end of the land. Everyone leaves the airship and starts walking towards the mansion. As they walk they take a look around the land.

"I kind of like mew-r hometown, Selena." Clawdia says.

"I agree. It feels quite peaceful in here." Akira says.

"Oh, this isn't a town. This is part of our gardens." Selena says. "This entire part of the land is the Akimura Estate." Saying that causes everyone to freeze in place, and this worries Selena. "Uh...guys?"

Peter and Clawdia start freaking out. "Holy Crap! She's stinkin' rich!" Peter shouts.

"And acts like it's nothing!" Clawdia shouts. Earnest falls back onto the ground and mines a flower in his hands, indicating he dies of shock.

Marlene is also in a panic as Peter and Clawdia are losing it and Earnest just falls. "Three of our best men are down. Captain, Akira. What do we do now?"

Akira just stares at the sky, her body under a completely white effect. "Wow. The sky is so beautiful in this night." She says very calmly, but everyone knows it means she's creaked as much as the rest of the group.

"We need a medic! Captain Akira's got a screw loose!" Marlene shouts.

Selena shouts in frustration. "Would you guys stop!? You're embarrassing me!"

Rayla and Patrick are the only ones who are not overreacting. Patrick just turns his head away from the drama scene. "Honestly, I'm surrounded by weirdos."

Once everyone calms down, they arrive at the front door of the mansion. Selena reminds everyone to be on their best behavior, certainly not acting out as they did earlier when learning about how big the estate is. After taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Selena opens the door. The inside of the mansion is huge, the foyer is silver marble and has vases and plants displayed by the walls. There are Grimm Statues made of glass. Beowolf, Ursa, Sabers. There's even a large Nevermore hanging on the ceiling and in its beck a chandelier.

"Wow. This place is huge." Marlene says.

"Indeed. It's quite as impressive as the Reinfold Estate." Rayla says.

Selena steps forward. "Hello? Anybody home?" She shouts her voice echoing in the largely empty halls.

The fainted sounds of footsteps echoes. The sound grows larger as the person comes closer to the destination. A long brown-haired Maid, who appears to be in her last 20's or early 30's, comes rushing down the steps and is astonished when she looks at the one who was calling out.

"Miss Selena." The maid hurries over to Selena and hugs her. "I have missed you, Mistress."

"I missed you too, Plumette. It's good to see you." Approaching from the steps is a butler who is slightly older than the maid with short blonde here. "Lumiére. It's been so long."

"Indeed it has. Welcome home, milady." The butler turns his attention to the guests. "Are these the guests' Lady Elizabeth spoke of?"

"They are." Selena introduces her friends to the servants. Each of them greets Plumette and Lumiére, except for Patrick who remains in cold silence, and Peter is just had his focus on Plumette. This not only aggravates Clawdia but Rayla as well and they both pulled Peter by his ears. So much for the big guy to be on his best behavior. "Is mother home?"

"I'm afraid the mistress is running late, but she promises she'll be home for dinner." Plumette explains. "In the meantime, why don't you show your friends around the house?"

"That would be a marvelous idea." Lumiére turns his attention to everyone else. "Please, allow us to handle your belongings, honored guests."

Teams PASM and CPER leave their belongings behind. Patrick has a hard time leaving his behind, having little trust for the servants even if they are loyal to Selena's orders. Selena shows everyone around the house as they wait for dinner. It's a large mansion so the tour takes a while, but she makes sure to show them the bathrooms firsthand.

Everyone is quite amazed at the household, especially Marlene, she can't help but feel the excitement she's in the household of her favorite idol. During their tour, Patrick stops in place when he spots a picture frame. He approaches the table it's on and gets a close look. It's a picture of Elizabeth and Selena as a little girl. He can't help but have his eyes locked on the date it's written.

"The day of her release..." He whispers.

"Hey, Patrick." Patrick turns in the direction Selena is calling him from. "You okay back there?"

"I'm fine." Patrick catches up with Selena and the group.

As the tour goes on, Selena gets word that dinner is ready and then escorts her friends to the dining room. The dining room has a large table, seats about 16 people. About half of everyone here. Before they take their seats, the door opens. Everyone looks to see who it is, and Selena is excited.

"Mother!" Marlene is overwhelmed with excitement as well but she tries to contain it for the daughter's sake. "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too, my daughter." After the hugging, Elizabeth gets a good look at Selena. "You sure have grown since I last saw you in two years." Teams PASM and CPER mutter with each other with the words 'Two years?' "Are you perhaps going to introduce me to your friends?"

"Oh, of course." Selena takes Elizabeth to her team. "This is my team. Marlene, and Akira." Marlene squeals with excitement as she grabs Elizabeth's hand and shakes it fast. Selena finds her behavior embarrassing even though Elizabeth doesn't mind at all. When Marlene is done with her greeting, Akira offers hers with a bow, saying it's an honor to be in her presence. "And this is Patrick, the leader I spoke of."

Elizabeth gets a good look at Patrick, head to toe. Patrick only offers Elizabeth a seriously stern look. Everyone else can feel the intensity between these two, even Selena is concerned. Finally, Elizabeth breaks the silence. "He seems like a fine young man."

Selena introduces her mother to team CPER, as she does, Patrick lets out a quiet sigh. 'Maybe she really doesn't remember me.'

With introductions out of the way, everyone takes their seats at the table. Their dinner arrives and the whole table set is a feast. Everyone except for Patrick and Rayla can't help but stare, and some of them drool, at the sight of this feast. Like they were stranded on an island with nothing to eat and a miracle of a feast is laid before them.

"Help yourselves, my honored guests." Elizabeth says.

Everyone grabs a plate full of a meal and digs in. Some among them can't help but feel amazed. Akira is eating well manner but is only doing her best to contain the excitement. Rayla finds it a bit unsettling her team and Marlene are lacking table manners, even Selena finds it mildly embarrassing, but in the end, she understands knowing this is probably their first, and who knows it might be their only time in dining in rich food.

Patrick is the only one who is behaving calmly in this matter, of which even Rayla wonders why he is. Even his cold distance personally doesn't appear to be a good enough answer for his reasons for behavior.

While they dine, Elizabeth has a friendly chat with everyone, one by one. She mostly talks about some stuff based on what Selena told her about. When Elizabeth gets to Akira, she talks about a surprising history in her past. Apparently, Elizabeth knew about Akira's family because Akira's mother once worked with Elizabeth on a Huntress Job. She finds it wonderful that she and Selena are working together. Like mothers like daughters. She also talked about how she knows of the Reinfold family and is pleased to be able to host a maid-in-training of that household. This pleases Rayla.

Patrick can't help but feel tense. Elizabeth may not remember of him but he wonders if she'll start to remember, or perhaps bring up anything that Selena could have told her about him. Including and especially the Gaia incident.

Dinner is all finished, there is nothing but empty messy dishes and carcasses of bones and shells. "It was wonderful to be able to meet you all. Please, make yourselves at home in my house." Elizabeth says. "If you need anything, my servants will be able to assist you."

Elizabeth takes her leave. Lumiére stands before the two teams. "If the boys will follow me, I will take you to your chambers." Patrick, Earnest, and Peter do as instructed and follow Lumiére.

"Where do we get to sleep?" Rayla asks.

"Actually, I made special arrangements so we can sleep in my room," Selena says.

Hearing that surprises everyone. "Why would mew do that?" Clawdia asks.

"Well...it's just I never had any friends I could invite over and..." Selena feels a bit embarrassed saying it. "I-I've always wanted to have a slumber party, so I thought since it'll be just us girls..."

"Oh. That sounds like a Paw-some idea, Selena!" Clawdia says.

"I agree. It's a good thing I brought my make-up kit." Rayla says.

Akira is the only one who is silent. She has her eyes closed and her arms crossed, looking down as if she's weighing something on her mind. Everyone takes notice. "You all right, Akira? You don't like the idea?" Marlene asks.

"Well, no. It's not that." Akira says. "It was thinking, and wondering...What's a 'Slumbering' Party?"

Hearing that sends a shock to the other girls. "Wha?! You never heard of a slumber party?" Marlene asks.

Akira answered by shaking her head. "Oh, sounds like Akira is in for a treat!" Clawdia says. "Mew're gonna love it!"

While the girls are settling in on their slumber party idea, the boys are relaxing in their guest room. Patrick isn't too relaxed. He just lays in bed staring at the ceiling, his mind elsewhere. He thinks back to the time when he knew Elizabeth. He can still remember the young idol, shackled and exposed. Body dirty and sometimes scarred. His mind shows an image of Elizabeth receiving a visit from a young boy who offers her some water, with a pained look of sadness and fear in his expression.

"Yo, Patrick." Patrick snaps back into reality seeing Peter's face. "You okay, buddy?"

"I'm fine." Patrick sits up. "Why are you asking me?"

"It's just ever since we got here you've been really quiet. Of course, you're always like this, but you seem like this more than ever." Peter says.

"It's none of your business, Kazuto." Patrick says.

"Okay, okay. Geez." Peter says. "Hey, you know what'll cheer you up?"

"You jumping in a Razorjaw tank?" Patrick asks, making Earnest roll his eyes and slightly shake his head.

"No, taking a little peek at the girls." Hearing that alarms Patrick, Earnest too. "Knowing Clawdia, she'll probably pull together some slumber party with the girls."

"Don't." Patrick warns him with a growl.

"If we're really careful, and maybe if we take shifts keeping watch for the servants, we can get a lovely view of the ladies in their pajamas. Oh, I sure hope they'll have a pillow fight."

Patrick stands up on his feet, looking at Peter right in the face with a mean glare. "Have you forgotten what we promised Selena? We said we'd be on our best behavior! And you suggest we do such a perverted act to the very person who had suffered being violated by a man who was like an uncle to her!?"

"You make it sound like we're committing a felony. Tell him, Earnest." Earnest faces both Peter and Patrick with an upsetting expression, then speaks through Sign Language. "See? He wants to do it too."

"No, Earnest says he agrees with me," Patrick says. Earnest does a look and gestures at Patrick, implying he's saying that Patrick is right. "Just what the Hell is wrong with you? Your stupid Perverted nature is bad enough but you go around acting like you're everybody's pal!" Patrick gestures his hands at Earnest. "You don't even understand what Earnest is saying and when it comes to moments like this, you just going on thinking he agrees with you. All just to get what you want to satisfy your stupid pleasures! Unlike you, Clawdia is ACTUALLY trying to learn Sign Language so that she would know what he is saying!"

"Calm down, Patrick. Listen, if you want I'll give you a little more time to look and-"

Patrick aggressively grabs Peter by the shirt and pulls him close to his face while also threatening him with a fist. "Listen and get this through your thick-headed idiotic-"

There's a knock on the door that silences everyone and then the door opens. Plumette comes in and takes notice of the scene that is happening. "Uh..." She feels nervous as she speaks. "A-Am I interrupting something?"

Like a flick of a switch, Patrick drops what he is doing as he lets go of Peter and backs off. "No, no. We're just...having a little disagreement." He then turns his head to face Peter and speaks again in a low growl. "A Dis! A! Greement!" Patrick clears his throat as he turns his attention to the maid. "Can we help you?"

"Oh, uh. I'm here for Mister Patrick Aki." Plumette says. "Lady Elizabeth wishes to speak with you."

"Is there a reason why she does?" Patrick asks.

"She didn't say. I was only ordered to escort you to her chambers." Plumette says.

There's a moment of silence before Patrick speaks. "Very well." Patrick follows Plumette into the hallway, but when he's by the door, he looks at Peter with a dagger glare and gestures he's keeping his eyes on him before leaving the room.

"Yeesh, what a Drama Queen." Peter says. "Guess that just means more fun for you and me."

Peter is about to leave until Earnest grabs Peter's arm and pulls him back. Peter looks at Earnest as he speaks. 'DIDN'T YOU HEAR WHAT HE SAID? WE ARE NOT DOING THIS! WE PROMISED SELENA TOO!'

"Of course, you can go first. Just don't hog all the enjoyment." Peter says.

Upon saying that, it makes Earnest quiver in anger, his head steaming even. Peter starts walking away, but Earnest gestures he is grabbing and slamming a door shut, resulting in the sounds of slamming metal. Peter bumps into something. He is confused and feels what's ahead of him. A wall. "What the?" Peter feels all around him, nothing but invisible walls. When he looks right at Earnest, Earnest deviously smiles as he runs his hand on the cell bars, the sound of clinging metal filling the air, then Earnest gestures he is locking the door, the sound of a lock clicking.

Peter grabs hold of the invisible bars. "Very funny, Earnest." Peter speaks in a disappointed tone. "Now let me out of here." Earnest shook his head. He then jiggles the invisible key in front of Peter, then swallows it whole. "Hey! I mean it, Earnest!" Peter starts banging on the bars. "Let me out of here!"

Earnest doesn't listen. All he does is kick back on his bed and read a book, completely ignoring Peter's shouts.