Aqua ran a hand through her hair that had recently been lengthened by her friend and wondered.

…According to said new friend, Isabel, this was the hair she should have had after spending a decade in the Realm of Darkness—if normal laws had applied there, that was—and after meeting that alien, and seeing the amazing things she could do to her own locks via magic, Aqua had been eager to give a new look a try. Especially since as she understood it, Isabel could instantly turn it back if she didn't like it.

But she wondered if Eraqus, if he had still been around, would have been a fan of it. And if not, Aqua hated the idea of defiling his sacred place (for they were at the Land of Departure now)—and his teachings to her—with long hair everywhere.

At the same time, however, Aqua didn't know if she cared. As sad as it was to admit… Master Eraqus was gone now. And how long had it been since Aqua had lived for herself?

And she was certain that Ven would love her tresses! He was still very much like a little boy, after all.

But more than anything… it was Terra who Aqua worried about responding to this, and she had no idea why But she had a funny feeling, that if she talked to her new friend Liz… That, well, the new girl would be able to explain it all too well.

Earlier

"Anyway, I'm not an alien like everyone else here pretty much is," this new girl to the Land of Departure, Liz, said to Aqua, Terra, and Ventus, as she kept moving the drink she carried into the sun, so that it looked more green than blue. "…But I guess you could say, that after Max saved my life in the Crashdown Café, our lives became intertwined."

And as Liz had said this, the image that had come into Aqua's mind for whatever reason had been when Terra had broken free of Xehanort's control and saved both her and Ven from the Guardian.

But Aqua didn't say that, of course. And just muttered a "That makes sense," as she tried to make sense of this entire story and thought of Sora and Kairi with their "intertwined destines" some.

"We never- we never know where we're going to find our family," Terra inserted after hearing Liz's story, as he came towards the girl and slapped her on the shoulder once before smiling at Aqua and Ven. Aqua grinned back at him. "Like, there was a time I was doubting Aqua and Ven… but I could never find anyone better to share my life with. And even my new friends, like Sora, Riku, Kairi, Roxas, Xion, Lea, Naminé, and you name it… I don't know where I'd be without them. So I definitely get why you'd make Max, Isabel, and Michael a part of your family, despite everything."

To Aqua, it looked as though maybe Max was going to say something to all of this—clearly eating up all the praise that his girlfriend was getting for her sake—when a short girl with curly, blonde hair and sharp blue eyes came into the conversation.

"So, the reason we're here now is to try and find the last of the Antarians responsible for the Collective Consciousness. You see, our planet has some sort of… afterlife that their thoughts can go into. And the alive Antarians can access it… And some alive ones even had to become a part of it in order to survive a certain trial. But one such one can become… seduced by the voices of their loved ones, and stay there forever… I know Max almost did. The Consciousness possessed him and tried to use him to make the Earth 'Antar Two'. But now it's escaped into what you call the 'multiverse', so that's why we're here."

Wow, all of this was absolutely horrifying, Aqua thought as she summoned her Keyblade into her hand for good measure. This sounded like the kind of thing that Master Xehanort would have done. And she was so sick of anything having to do with him, that she could've written a book about it.

And there was even a part of her worried now, that her wanting her hair to be similar to the Antarian Isabel meant that she was somehow falling into the Collective Consciousness, but she tried to wave it away.

"We'll do everything we can to find this threat and combat it. Thank you. All of you," Aqua said, as she reached her hand across the table she sat at so she could shake Max, Liz, Isabel, and Tess'—she thought it was Tess, anyway—from across the table. There was also a Michael, Maria, and Kyle somewhere here Aqua knew, but they hadn't been too keen on repeating their story it seemed, so they hadn't done that.

"There are also rooms all over the castle that you guys are free to, as you do your investigation!" Ven piped in now, as he handed everyone a plate of burnt pancakes. If she hadn't been trying to be serious in this moment, she probably would have laughed. It was clear that Ven was trying to cook like she did for everyone else, since she was otherwise occupied at the time, but had somewhat failed.

"Oh, dang!" Ven deflated as he took in all the burnt pieces, that were thankfully on all the edges of the chocolate chip cakes and could hopefully just be cut off. "I swear those can be cut off. Let me go get some knives to go do that now. But umm… I swear you can each have a room to yourself. I think this place used to have a lot more Keyblade wielders, when it was a part of Scala Ad Caelum, but now it doesn't. So…"

"It's fine, Ven," Max said with a wry smile on his face, as it was his turn to clap someone on the shoulder. "The pancakes will be fine… But if you guys want someone to cook around her, I'd suggest Liz and Maria because they can do it… but moreover, you guys should choose Michael—who can also cook—so that he's actually doing something productive here."

Aqua was about to tell Max that that was fine… but then she thought better of it. Not so much because it would be nice for these people to somewhat end their keep—though that was certainly slightly true—but because Terra and Ven usually refused to help her in the kitchen (unless nuts were involved, in which case Terra was always there to help her bake banana bread or whatever), so maybe it would actually be nice to have a guy alongside her for once and to see how they cooked.

But still… Aqua didn't want to be too pushy here, so she chose for something hopefully in between as she bowed at Max, Liz, Isabel, and Tess. "Thank you, Max. I can handle it for now… but if that happens, I swear I'll keep that in mind."

"…I can also cook," Isabel threw in reluctantly, it seemed, as she threw her hands up into the air. "Usually I think that kind of thing is below me, it's true—especially since the only one I ever wanted to cook for left me—but I'm trying to act like less of a princess lately, and I like you Aqua. So I'll also help you if you need it. But right now, I'm going to see if I can Dream Walk anyone in this world and see if they've seen the Collective Consciousness."

"Okay," Terra answered Isabel—somewhat stealing Aqua's thunder here, but she was trying not to judge. Especially since Master Eraqus had moreso left Terra in charge. But Aqua was just so much more extroverted than he was—"and while you do that, I'll have our friend Naminé do something similar as she tests our friends memories."

And they all set to work.