AN: Howdy again readers. It's time for the final chapter in what I guess I would consider the prologue arc of this story, it's a bit shorter than the other ones, but from here on things are going to be a lot more action packed with twists and turns all along the way. Yes, there is another time skip this chapter, which is actually something I wanted to mention. I'm thinking about making a companion piece to this story titled something like Ebbot and the Goat Prince: Stories on the Surface. It'd be a anthology of mini one or two chapter stories from the three years or so that has been skipped in this story, and would let me explore Asriel's friends and Michelle's characters a bit more, as well as Asriel, Michelle, and Frisk's relationships. Especially because after this chapter we won't be seeing this story's original characters for a while. No, this story is about Asriel ,Frisk, and the rest of the Dreemurr family, at least for what I've planned so far.

Anyways, let's get to the actual story, enjoy the third chapter!

Chapter 3: Determined to Return

June, 201X, Ebbot.

Sunlight filled the room, lighting the small particles floating in the air. Summer was upon Ebbot, and Frisk and Asriel were enjoying the best part about it, sleeping in. Ever since the child had arrived at the orphanage, and Asriel offered his room to be shared since she seemed scared to sleep with the other girls at the orphanage, the two had become quite close. Though they have only known each other since January, passers by would think they've known each other for years, though likely the first thing they would notice would be the large goat monster, not his relationship with a young human child.

Asriel's eyes slowly fluttered open, not able to stay closed in the bright sunlight flooding the room. His eyes wandered towards the clock, which announced to him that he had wasted a large chunk of the day, and that it was currently 11:45.

He groaned, and slowly got up, changing out of his shorts and tank top, he put on his clothing, and went over to the other bed in the room. He softly shook Frisk, and her eyes groggily opened.

"What? " She groaned.

"It's almost noon. Come on, you don't wanna waste the entire day right?"

"Sleeping isn't a waste of a day" she said, as she closed her eyes again.

Asriel sighed, he knew that already this was a lost cause, when Frisk wanted something, nothing would change her mind. She had a will of steel, and that meant she was determined to sleep. However, there was one thing that could always get her up.

Asriel shook her again, and she looked up at him with an annoyed yet patient glare. "What if I make you a Butterscotch Pie?"

Frisk groaned, and got up "That's cheating Asriel." even though she sounded annoyed, a smile was forming on her face.

"Well maybe you shouldn't be such a lazybones"

"Fine, you win. I'm up, let's go make the pie so we can get on with our life"

The pair, Frisk deciding to not change out of her pajamas, began going downstairs and into the kitchen. It seemed that most of the other kids were either outside or playing indoors, so Michelle was quickly switching between those two places to make sure everyone was okay. She entered the kitchen, and the two asked to make a pie, she agreed, though made them promise to give some to everyone else too.

The cooking began, Asriel had the recipe nailed like the back of his paw, as his mother had taught it to him many times before, and Frisk knew it pretty well too. Though not as well as her monster partner.

"A cup of butter please" Asriel asked, as he whisked a few ingredients together in a small bowl.

"1 Butter Cup '' Frisk replied cheerily, placing it on the table, though that cheerfulness disappeared when she looked at Asriel. He seemed scared and slightly mad about something. He turned to her, and with a light scowl, put out his paw for the ingredient

"Asriel? What's wrong?"

He looked down at Frisk, noticing that she did indeed have the right ingredient, and not a poisonous flower.

He chuckled nervously "Oh, um, well when I made this as a little kid with my sister, we accidentally used Buttercup flowers, instead of cups of butter. I was scared you were going to do that too and get everyone sick."

"Oh, uh, sorry Asriel. I was just saying I had the butter cup, you know?"

"It's fine" he said ,sighing, as he handed the now completed filling of the pie to her, Frisk noticed that she seemed to have struck a nerve. "Can you chill this please?"

"Yeah" Frisk said, most of her enthusiasm for the treat faded away, replaced by slight concern for her friend.

The pair continued the cooking without much else, it was a bit awkward, but by the end it seemed the situation had blown over, both of them going back to their cheery and playful selves. And so, with the pie finished, they began to dig in.

"Mmmmmm" Frisk moaned happily, eyes filled with stars as she slowly melted into her seat, filled with the comfort of the delectable treat as the pie's filling and flakey crust melted in her mouth. "It's soooo good"

Asriel also took a bite, and while his eyes lit up, his reaction was nowhere as extreme as Frisk's "Still not as good as mom's" he commented.

"If you're mom makes pie even better than this, I may have to jump down the hole Chara did just to get some!" Frisk joked, earning a chuckle from herself.

"Wait, what did you say?" Asriel asked. His chewing instantly stopped as he seemed to be thinking deeply about something.

"I said that if your mom makes pie as good-" Frisk began

"No, I know that part" Asriel interrupted, shaking his head as his floppy ears moved in front of muzzle, and covered his nose, before falling off and returning to where they began. "What about the hole Chara fell down"

"Well, I was thinking that if I couldn't go through the barrier cause of whatever happened, I could just go down that hole." Frisk explained, though she could barely finish the second half of the sentence as she was picked up into a hug from her best friend.

Asriel spun her around and cheered "Frisk! You're a genius! I could go through that hole." he exclaimed, a huge smile on his face.

"Don't you mean we?" She asked, confused by the outburst, and slightly uncomfortable.

"What? Frisk, you couldn't go down there. You'd be trapped there." Asriel's smile slightly disappeared, and while he still looked happy, he also showed some concern for the child.

"Asriel, You'd be trapped there." Frisk pointed out,

"Well, yeah, but"

"Didn't you say you didn't want to be trapped down there, what with all that you have done up here now?" Frisk asked, pointing out how he would likely miss everyone here if he went "I could go there with you, and then, since we're a human and a monster, if we go through at the same time, we can come back, right?"

"Yeah." Asriel nodded, even with the way the barrier was now two way, a human and monster SOUL together should be able to go through.

"So, why don't we visit your family, tell them that you're okay and that the surface is great and that there are humans trying to help get them out!"

"That . . . sounds like a good idea actually." Asriel admitted "But Michelle would have to let us."

"I'm sure she'd understand!" Frisk cheered, as she darted over to the two's caretaker, who was currently watching two boys attempt to outmatch each other in a video game.

A bit Later

"I'm not sure I understand" Michelle said, looking at the two "Asriel, why would you need Frisk to go there."

"I don't, I'd need Frisk to go back." Asriel explained "The way the barrier works, if we went through together, our SOUL power would be enough to go through"

"Okay, but how does she feel about it" Michelle said, she was fine with the idea in all honesty, the two were close, and she had recently noticed that Asriel was especially missing his family. But she wanted to make sure Asriel wasn't pressuring her to go

"Yeah! I just said I did!" Frisk was hyped up, likely from the idea of adventure, as well as the sugar from the pie that she might have snuck more of.

"I'm just making sure, I don't want her to regret it. Do you know if cell phones would work down there." Michelle wondered, she was thinking of a solution for her only worry, if they took too long.

"I think so. Why?" Asriel asked.

"I want you to bring this Cell Phone, call me when you can on your little adventure, okay? How long do you think it will take?"

"Uh" Asriel began "I don't quite know, at worst my mom and dad or Chara will be able to convince me to stay until like the end of summer, but I will be back for school, I promise."

"Three months!" Michelle exclaimed, she expected a week or two, maybe a month, but three, while she could understand, it was family after all, she still worried for the human that was tagging along. "Frisk are you still fine with that?"

Frisk nodded in reply, and took the Cell Phone that Michelle was offering

Michelle let out a sigh. "Okay" she said "But if you guys come back and something weird happens I'm going to be on your case!"

Frisk cheered, and Asriel brough Michelle into a hug "Thank you." He whispered.

"You're welcome. Now go pack, you've got a lot to catch up with your parents on."

"Okay, love you, see you later" Asriel said

Michelle smiled at the mention of love, and spoke to herself as the pair of about to be adventurers bounded up the stairs.

"Love you too Azzy."

Mt. Ebbot, Secondary Underground Entrance

"Asriel, come on! This is like your dream."

The two were currently at the hole that Chara fell down, the hole that led straight to the ruins. The two had backpacks full of clothing and other supplies for however long they were staying.

"But, I'm not sure. What if we can't get back, I don't want you to be stuck down there. I don't wanna be stuck down there." Asriel sighed, he looked down the hole "I drag you along with me, and I can't even actually go through with it, wow, I guess I really am just a crybaabbbbbbyyyyyyyy" Asriel's voice plummeted as he was pushed into the hole by who he guessed was Frisk, as he heard her voice falling too.

"Weeeee!" She screamed cheerfully, before they both landed in a pile of flowers, and Asriel's vision became blurry, as his mind began to become cloudy, and his eyes slowly closed.

He rested for what felt like ages, but slowly he returned to reality

"Aaaarrlll" a distant voice called out to him, very incoherent, he couldn't make out anything.

"Aseulll" the voice was louder now, as his vision returned to him, though still slightly blurry, he could make out what he guessed was Frisk.

"Asriel!" Frisk yelled

"Huh?" He shot up, startled by the sudden increase in volume.

"You're finally awake." She said "It took you forever, what happened to you?"

"I fell down a giant hole, so I passed out, is that too confusing to understand" Asriel said, and while his snark that he had developed was still there, his voice was different, but still familiar.

"No, I'm talking about how you look. Here, I have the mirror that we brought, luckily we didn't land on it, so it only has one small crack." Frisk handed the small handheld mirror to Asriel, as he inspected himself.

"What!" Asriel let out "I'm little again"

Indeed he was, the three years that he had spent on the surface had seemingly disappeared, replaced by his old normal clothing of a striped shirt and black pants, his horns were back to the little nubs, and overall, he was smaller, shorter, and

"Adorable!" Frisk brought Asriel into a cuddle. "Oh my gosh, how come you've never said how cute you used to be Asriel. This is great, though it is kind of strange is it not. I didn't turn younger right Asriel?"

"No, you look the same." He said, still in a small amount of shock from the sudden backwards aging he had just done.

"Oh well, we still gotta find your parents right?" she asked

"I guess" Asriel replied, getting off his feet, and almost losing his balance, with the heavy backpack on him, and his new in proportionate body. His head felt lighter, and his arms felt heavier, it would take a bit of time to get used to.

The two continued from the flower bed, into the next room of The Ruins. But, surprising them, was a single yellow flower, at first, the two simply approached it, thinking nothing of the foliage, until . .

"Hiya!" The Flower said

AN: And that's Chapter 3! Like I said earlier, sorry for a shorter chapter, but I felt like if I kept on going we would go to like 6,000 words, and I want to keep chapters short and sweet for this story. See you next time!