Annaka

"Annie!"

Kennedy embraces me tightly.

At first, I feel fine.

But when she wraps her arms around my back, I moan in pain.

"Ow, back," I say.

Kennedy quickly lets go. "Sorry. Are you ok?"

I feel a throbbing in my head so I hold my head in my hand.

"I...guess..." I reply weakly.

"You are most definitely not!" Kealani scolds. "We can all tell!"

"Well, I don't want you to worry," I say.

"We're your friends," Nya says. "We're supposed to worry about you."

I smile and sit up fully, my back and head aching.

I moan. "Wait...how am I still alive...?"

"Kennedy healed you," Alyssa says. "And drained her energy."

"What?!" I exclaim. "Kennedy!"

"I had to," Kennedy says.

You...you didn't have to..."

"But I did," Kennedy replies. "And I didn't care about the consequences. I couldn't handle you dying on me."

"..." I smile at Kennedy. "Thanks bro."

"Anytime," Kennedy replies.

"Anyways, shouldn't we get back to the class?" I say.

"Right," Juliana says. "We should transform back."

We all quickly transform back.

Kealani walks over to me and puts my arm around her shoulder.

She pulls me off the ground and onto my feet.

Nya does the same to Kennedy and we catch up with the rest of the class.

We walk on until we reach the waterfall, where we settle down and eat lunch.

I hike down close to the water and sit on the wet rock, knowing I'll get my shorts wet, but I don't really care.

I start to eat as everyone else is up more, eating and chatting.

I stare at the rushing water and the many rocks at the bottom.

I set my lunch down and walk a little bit more forward and dip my hand into the water.

The water is freezing cold, but I keep my hand in because...I don't know...I can...?

It feels...somewhat refreshing.

I stare back at my own reflection.

Until someone else joins my reflection.

I smile. "Hey Ken."

"What's up?" Kennedy asks.

"Nothing, just wanted to eat lunch down here," I say. "I don't want to be around anyone else. Not right now, anyways."

"You still thinking about what happened?"

"..." I don't reply.

"How's your back and head?" Kennedy asks.

"I dunno, they still hurt but I'll live, I guess," I say, looking not at my reflection but the water farther away.

"Tell me if you need some help, k?"

"You're not at your best either," I counter.

"Still," Kennedy says. "You're more important."

I scoff.

"You are," Kennedy says. "To me, especially."

"Thanks...I guess..." I say.

Kennedy nods. "Anytime. Just...tell me if something's bothering you."

"Sure..." I say.

I hear Kennedy hike back up and I stare back at my reflection.

Why must this happen to us? I mean, why us with Soul Power? Anyone else can fit the part of Soul Power...right...?

.

I land on my feet in Snowdin out of my portal.

Apparently, we aren't going to the underground tonight.

Well, not that I've heard of at least.

And I'm not thinking of going forward without everyone else.

I just need to ask Alphys about some stuff.

I start to walk into the town.

"hey kid."

I turn around at the familiar voice.

I figured I would hear his voice since I just walked past Grillby's.

"Hey Sans," I say, half smiling.

"where's everyone else at?" Sans asks.

I shrug. "Just me tonight...I guess..."

"why'd you only come tonight?" Sans asks.

I shrug again. "I dunno. I just...have some business I need to care for...I guess..."

Sans nods. "well, i heard about what happened earlier today. because the rest of them are down here."

"Wait, what?!" I exclaim. "They're down here?!"

Sans nods. "yeah. they stopped by not too long ago. asked if i had seen you. they told me about what happened during the hike. how are you doing?"

"I-I dunno..." I answer.

Truth be told, my back has been sore and aching, my head throbbing non-stop.

But I've tried to ignore it.

"Anyways..." I say, turning around. "I should be off. Nice talking to you."

I start to walk off and heading to Hotlands, hoping I won't run into the others until after I talk to Alphys.

.

I walk inside Alphys's lab.

"A-alphys?!" I call out.

Within seconds, Alphys has rushed into this room.

"O-oh, hello A-annaka," Alphys greets.

"Hey," I say. "Um...do you have any new information?"

"A little bit I g-guess," Alphys says.

"What do you got?"

"W-well," Alphys starts. "Some of the monsters-I a-assume that you guys had to send from the overworld back to the underground-have been saying stuff, so I've h-heard, like 'We shall get back at th-those kids,' or 'Once there are more portals, we can go to the overworld and show those kids what we're trly made of.' S-stuff like that."

I shake my head and mutter, "Then they truly don't know who they're messing with."

"O-oh, and I heard about what happened to you t-today," Alphys adds in.

I throw my hands up. "Does everyone in the freakin underground know now?! Good god!"

"S-sorry," Alphys says quickly. "A-anyways, did you want to ask me something?"

I nod. "Yes, actually I did. Um...do you...know why we are the ones that have Soul Power...and not someone else...? And...how did we get it...?"

Alphys thinks for a moment. "G-give me a minute."

Alphys rushes off to another room, then comes back with a file in hands.

She opens the file.

"W-well, I've been doing quite some research on your Soul Power," Alphys explains, flipping through papers. "It's quite fascinating, actually." Alphys clears her throat. "A-anyways, h-here we go. Basically, you've had this power in you since you were born. I-it just didn't activate until now."

"W-wait! Are you serious?!"

Alphys nods. "Yes. And why you were chosen to have Soul Power...I'm not entirely sure...I-it's just a matter of you guys being 'destined' to have it."

"Th-that's crazy," I say. "So why did it activate now?"

Alphys shrugs. "I'm not sure. I'll have to c-conduct more research."

I suddenly don't feel so good.

My stomach is churning and my head is spinning.

I hold my head and lean against the wall.

"Y-you ok?" Alphys asks.

"Y-yeah," I lie.

"Are you s-sure?" Alphys asks. "You're a bit pale."

I shake my head. "Fine. Thanks for everything."

I walk out of Alphys's lab and sit down against the wall, holding my head in my hands.

How did I not know about this? This is crazy. W-we were...destined?!

The excitement of new discoveries fills you with good ol' DETERMINATION

(Thanks for reading. Wowee, I never thought I would make it this far. Thanks guys! I really, REALLY appreciate it. As always, stay determined!)