Chapter 19: The Start Of Something Better

It did not take long for Atticus to find Courage a phone to use. Nothing gave Courage quite so much relief as hearing Muriel's voice when she picked up. Much 'arooo'ing followed, and while Muriel could not understand a single word of what he was saying, he was sure that he got the point across that he was in relatively good health and having plenty of fun on his 'road trip'.

Afterward, instead of bringing Courage food like he had originally intended, Atticus took Courage by the paw and brought him to the puppies tent. There he met Lily's mom for the first time, or more like he met her while not in the grip of the amalgamation's possession for the first time. Several other dogs were there as well, keeping the puppies away from supper before it could find its way into the endless pits that were their stomachs.

The food was nothing special, just the usual SCC rations. Still, as bland as it was, Courage enjoyed spending dinner among other dogs. While he tried to be discreet with his questions, as it was plenty easy to tell that these dogs had been through hell just by how skinny they were and by the various scars that covered their bodies, but it was inevitable that some of the talk they shared involved their imprisonment at Charon's. Much like Atticus, they were very guarded about their time in his clutches and would only speak briefly about it, but even that gave Courage a much greater picture about what had gone on there. With every snippet of info, he understood more and more why Atticus was so silent about his time trapped there.

They were just finishing up the rations when a massive shadow darkened the entrance of their tent before an equally massive, heavily muscled bulldog stepped inside. His tiny eyes considered every dog before fixating on Courage.

"Bruno?" Lily's mom asked, clearly surprised by the hulking bulldog's sudden appearance. "Why are you back here at the camp? Did something happen at the mansion?"

The bulldog continued to stare Courage down, something that he found very concerning. He looked to Atticus for help. Surprisingly, Atticus wasn't bothered by the bulldog's presence and casually took a bite out of the apple he was eating.

"Hrm." The Bruno fellow grunted. "So, you're the guy he's been swooning over, huh?"

Atticus proceeded to choke on the bite of apple. Coughing and sputtering, he somehow managed to blurt out, "I do not swoon, thank you very much!"

Bruno leaned down until he was at eye level with Courage. Even then he still felt way too big and that did nothing to quell Courage's nervousness. "Hrmmm," He grunted again. "For some reason I was expecting you to be taller."

Atticus cleared his throat in an obnoxious way to get the bulldog's attention. "Is there something to report? Why are you here? Did something go down at the mansion?"

"Been lookin' for you." He rumbled. "There's something you need to see."

"It's not serious, is it? Please don't tell me the mansion blew up or burned down."

"Nah, the mansion is fine, but you're gonna wanna see this. We've been waiting for you to come back, and since it looks like your boyfriend is back on his feet, now's the perfect time."

Atticus groaned at the word 'boyfriend' while Courage just grinned and slapped him on the back. "It's 'husband' now." He told Bruno, laughing mischievously.

All of the puppies gasped in unison and started giggling. Atticus just hung his head. "Do you have to tell everyone?"

Bruno blinked. "That was fast..."

Atticus looked up in alarm. "It was an accident!"

"Surrree it was." Courage teased.

Making what seemed to be a conscious effort to ignore Courage's comment, Atticus rubbed his chin, thinking. "You know what? Now that Courage is awake and Elizabeth doesn't need me to sit around in a court room for days on end, I think it's about time that we relocated." He turned to face the other dogs. "We don't have beds yet and we are nowhere near ready to bring all of the dogs in just yet, but if you don't mind sleeping on the floor for a few days, you're free to come with us. Unless you'd rather remain here with the others until we're ready for you."

Lily's mother stood. "I don't mind going. I'm a bit used to sleeping in discomfort."

All of the puppies jumped up and down with their usual maniac energy. "We wanna see our new home!" Lily yelled, followed by shouts of 'Yeah!' from her fellow puppies.

Atticus glanced over at Courage. "I'm assuming you don't mind sleeping on the floor for a little while?"

Courage let out a laugh. "I'll survive, but all that money and you can't afford a few blankets?"

Atticus turned up his nose in a huff. "It takes time for orders to arrive, especially with all of the damage that's been done to the surrounding area. It's not as if I can walk down to the local furniture store and buy out all of its stock when it's been reduced to a pile of rubble."

Courage grinned and pulled Atticus into a hug. "It's a good thing that I have you to use as a blanket then!"

Atticus groaned in annoyance and rolled his eyes...but he couldn't help but crack a small smile anyway. "Stop being the cheesiest thing on the planet or else I'll let you freeze instead."

With that, they all prepared to leave. Atticus gathered up the remaining papers he still needed to sign while Courage took it upon himself to carry their bag and keep the laptop inside safe during the journey. Amelia was told of where they were going and she promised to head out there in a few days once some of the medical supplies she had ordered from the SCC arrived. She also asked to be informed if anything about Courage's health changed during that time.

It took some badgering, but Atticus managed to get Elizabeth to agree to let them borrow one of the SCC's vans to transport the dogs in. Courage had clutched the bag close to his chest the entire time, hoping once again that he did not look too guilty in Elizabeth's presence.

"Well, then." Atticus said as he clapped his paws together. "I suppose you're just happy that I'm about to get out of your hair for what will hopefully be forever."

Elizabeth leered down at him. "Perhaps, but I should warn you, if you cause any sort of trouble with your abilities, the SCC will have no choice but to pursue you. You may be considered a person now, but you are still a dangerous supernatural entity. I am in no mood to take issue with the fact that I'm letting such a deadly being run free, so do not give me a reason to have to. You exist in a legal gray area and you had better remain on your best behavior if you do not want that to change."

Atticus turned and began to walk away. "It's not going to be a problem." He called back, dismissing her with a wave of his paw.

"We shall see." Elizabeth replied, sounding unconvinced. Hesitating for a moment, she added, "I wish you luck with this...project of yours. If there was ever any proof that you are not Edgar, that you are not even his shadow, it is this."

Atticus turned back briefly, walking backwards the entire time. "Was there ever any doubt?"

Elizabeth crossed her arms. "...I suppose not."

Courage and Atticus met the others by the SCC van that had been assigned to them. After a brief exchange, Bruno went to find the car he had traveled to the camp in. They would meet up again once they were at the mansion. As the puppies piled into the van, Courage turned back toward the camp. Elizabeth was watching them leave, half hidden behind a tent. Strangely, Courage felt as if he was going to miss this place, even if it had always represented a certain amount of danger for him and Atticus. Still. it had been nice to have a temporary makeshift home of sorts for a little while.

One look inside the back of the van and Courage decided that he never wanted to travel that way again, not after how the SCC had 'quarantined' him inside one. He turned to Atticus and said, "I'm going to sit up front. Is that okay?"

"If that's what you want to do, but I'm going to stay back here and help keep these overly excited puppies in line."

Courage nodded and made his way to the front of the van. A very tired looking SCC solider sat in the driver seat. Courage climbed up into the passenger seat beside him and waved sheepishly at the guy. He responded by blinking slowly, shaking his head like he thought he was going crazy, and turned his attention onto the steering wheel in front of him.

And they were off. The van passed by Atticus's eagle shaped robot laying sprawled out in the grass. It looked a bit like the bones of some ancient mythical creature, if not for the fact that much of the jutting metal shined in the sunlight. Well, eventually nature would begin to reclaim it and it would start to rust after a few rains, then it really would look like a mysterious oddity for some traveler to stumble upon.

For a long while, the road the van traveled down looked as normal as any, but as they neared the massive area the amalgamation had destroyed in their expansion, the damage became apparent. The van remained outside of the destruction zone, but did often travel just beside it. Courage could see people and machines picking through vast fields of debris. Atticus had been correct to say that it would be a very long time before cities, towns, homes, and businesses could rise up from the ashes of this level of obliteration. Courage clutched the bag to his chest once more, wishing that he could have convinced the amalgamation to stop so much sooner.

The mansion was impossible to miss. It stood atop a hill just outside the destruction zone. You really could see the vast apocalyptic expanse right outside its windows. It was facing toward where the city would have been been, if it were still around. The mansion was surprisingly ominous looking with the gothic design it was sporting. Courage would not have been surprised at all if he were to find out that Atticus had bought the place from Dracula himself. A small forest stood behind it and the trees sharp, jagged branches bare of any leaves only helped to add to the spooky feel of the mansion.

Courage had no idea how Atticus was going to make make this place feel like home for the dogs, because right now the mansion gave off a cold and hostile vibe that was not welcoming toward anyone. Long dead vines still clung to the walls, some having nearly managed to reach the roof before dying off. A spiked fence surrounded the parameter and Bruno had to get out of his car to open the gates. A long, winding road took them up to the mansion and the van slowed to a stop in front of a stone staircase that led up to a pair of ornate, arched, entryway doors.

Courage opened the van door and jumped down. The mansion was so tall that it hurt his neck to look up toward the roof. Despite the lack of curtains, each window had a dark tint to them. Courage half expected to see a ghost gazing down at him from at least one of them. He heard the puppies excited voices as they jumped out of the back of the van. They all let out exclamations of 'Woah!' as they sized up the mansion. They did not seem to find the place as creepy as he did.

Atticus soon joined him by his side. "Well?" He asked with a grin on his face.

Courage continued to look up into the windows, still keeping an eye out for any ghosts. "This place is kind of scary."

"What did you expect? I'm sure they wanted this place to look as imposing as possible to discourage robbers and the like. Well, once we get the inside furnished it will start to feel a little more like a welcoming home."

Courage raised an eyebrow at him. "You sure it isn't haunted?"

Atticus's grin widened. "We're certainly about to find out, now aren't we?"

The fact that Atticus sounded downright thrilled with the idea of potentially encountering a ghost did not inspire much courage in Courage.

"I-I think I'd prefer to sleep outside."

"Don't be a coward!" Atticus chuckled. "If a ghost tries anything stupid, I'll make them regret it." He tapped a finger against his head. "Nobody has as much encyclopedic knowledge on how to deal with spooks and spirits than I do...all because of you and what your, erm, our family deals with back in Nowhere."

Courage was not particularly comforted, but even then, he followed the dogs up the stairs and into the mansion. Amazingly, the inside was not quite as foreboding as the outside. He had been expecting cobwebs, dust, rotting wood floors, broken light fixtures and furniture. Instead, he found himself standing on a reflective, immaculately clean marble floor. He looked down into the reflection of his own nervous face and blinked in surprise. The pads of his feet were not made for this kind of flooring and he struggled to keep himself from slipping as he walked further into the massive entry room of the mansion. The other dogs were not having a much better time. The puppies held onto each other to keep themselves upright as they slipped and slid.

An impossibly huge, glittering chandelier hung overhead. Courage suspected that the thing would have been too difficult and expensive to remove so the rich guy had not bothered to take it with him. Two expansive staircases stood on both sides of the entry room and thankfully they were carpeted instead of being made out of the same dangerously slippery marble. In between was a wide doorway that led into what looked like an empty dinning room. To Courage's left were two doorways that looked as if they led into a kitchen, and on his right were three doorways that all led into three separate guest rooms.

He was finally starting to understand how this place really could house hundreds of people. Less than a minute inside and he already could not stop his mouth from perpetually hanging open at everything he was seeing.

Atticus turned around and asked the dogs, "Well, what do you think?"

Lily puffed up. "I'm going to be queen of this castle!" She announced, only to lose her footing, slip, and fall.

Her mom helped her back onto her feet. "It's a mansion, not a castle, dear."

Bruno crossed his arms. "Forget all of this fancy stonework. We should put some carpet down before someone breaks their neck. Rich people never care much about functionality, do they?"

Atticus carefully made his way over to one of the kitchen doors. "We'll have to see what we can do about it. I say we put down the cheapest carpet we can find just so the next rich person who lays their eyes upon it has a heart attack."

The mansion was not quite as empty as Atticus had made it out to be, but of course, since he had not been around for several days, he had not known that Bruno had managed to acquire a few necessities. The kitchen had everything you would expect to find in it, like a fridge, microwave, and oven. None of it was as fancy as what had once likely stood in the same place, but they would serve the same function just fine. There was even a small dinner table in the kitchen despite the massive, unused dinning room next door. An open door led into a pantry stocked with just enough food to keep a dog or two going for several days. The fridge was lightly stocked as well. At the other end of the kitchen was a door that looked like it opened to the outside.

"We'll need to do a grocery run now that there's more mouths to feed." Atticus muttered out mostly to himself. He then turned to Bruno and asked, "What was it that you wanted to show me?"

The bulldog raised his paws. "I, uh, will be right back."

The dogs watched him exit the kitchen, slide across the marble floor, and then make his way up one of the staircases.

"Okay..." Atticus said with a confused look. He shrugged and got back to showing them around while they waited for Bruno to return.

Two of the guest rooms were empty while the third had a couch and a TV that Atticus was surprised to see. All of the puppies immediately called dibs on using the couch as a bed and so Courage was still going to have to rely on Atticus for a blanket. They made their way upstairs, but there was still no sign of Bruno. Considering that this mansion had multiple levels and that the various hallways seemed to stretch on into forever, it seemed unlikely that they would just run into him. Courage swore that he could hear distant voices whispering though...which only helped to freak him out even more.

"It seems like it would be very easy to get lost in here." Lily's mom spoke up, glancing around warily. Courage was glad to know that he wasn't the only one getting bad vibes from all of this.

Atticus nodded in acknowledgment. "That's one of the first things I noticed and I'm planning on taking that into account once I have a better grasp of the layout myself. We'll post signs in every hallway and make sure every room has a map."

Courage's ear drooped. "Doesn't this seem a little unnatural to you?"

Atticus adjusted his glasses. "Oh, yes, of course! The rich guy tried to act like nothing was wrong when he showed me around, but I picked up on the fact that this place is bigger on the inside almost immediately."

"W-what?" Courage squeaked.

"It took a bit of prodding on my part, but I finally got him to spill the beans after I managed to convince him that the unnaturalness of this mansion was not a deal breaker for me. In fact, I told him that the extra space would only be a benefit given what I want to use it for." Atticus chuckled as he explained, "He went into this big speech about demonic sacrifices and ancient rituals, but all I really wanted was confirmation that what I was seeing was real."

Courage nearly fainted on the spot. "D-demonic rituals?"

"Don't pass out on me now, Courage." Atticus spoke, grabbing his arm to keep him standing upright. "It's not what you think. The mansion itself is not possessed or evil. The original owner made a pact with all of the evil nonsense that he summoned during the construction of the mansion, and he is long dead so those evil forces are no longer bound to the earth, or this mansion for the matter. We know it was him who was tormented by what he brought about because, uh, well, they found him hanging in the attic one day after years of him growing paranoid and hateful toward his mansion. The only thing that happened after he was gone and the pact broken was that the mansion stopped expanding of its own accord. The unnatural size remained though, and nothing about that has changed in well over a hundred years." He considered the wide eyed stares his companions were giving him. "Look, do you think the last rich guy would have lived here for as long as he did if there were demonic entities still lurking about?"

When he did not receive an answer, he crossed his arms and huffed, "Regardless, I know every form of exorcism you organic beings have cooked up since the dawn of time. If there really are any demons around, by the time I'm finished with them they'll think hell is a paradise made out of rainbows and sugar plums."

"I-I'm just going to pretend that I didn't hear any of this." Lily's mom finally said.

After a moment of being dumbfounded, one of the puppies uttered out a, "Cool!" and just like that all of the others were equally onboard. "I wanna exorcise a demon too!" Another cried out.

Courage was too busy fighting with himself to keep the contents of his stomach where they were supposed to be.

Atticus glared at his sickly green face. "You did not turn me into a mechanical encyclopedia on all of the world's various supernatural threats only for you to not have any faith in me to know what I'm doing when we're dealing with a supernatural but ultimately harmless mansion." He turned away with his paws clasped together behind his back. "I have not found a single sign that there are ghosts or demons lurking about, which is more disappointing than anything because I would have loved to give one a piece of my mind. All we're dealing with is a mansion that happens to be bigger on the inside than how it looks on the outside, and I fully intent to make use of the extra space."

He took a few steps forward before considering something and turned back around. Kneeling before the puppies, he told them, "Since we don't have this place fully mapped out yet, none of you should wander off looking for demons or whatever else. I suspect that the layout is not too terribly convoluted, despite what it might look like at first glance, but even then, if any of you get lost, we could have trouble finding you."

Glancing back at Courage, he asked, "Are you going to be okay?"

"No, no, I'm not." He sputtered. "Atty, the way your mind works really, really, really scares me sometimes!"

Atticus smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way!"

Courage desperately hoped that Atticus's warning had gotten through to the pups because he did not want to have to go on a search and rescue mission inside of this horrible place. He was certain that Atticus was way too sure of himself and way too sure that this place was safer than it seemed, but it was equally obvious that nothing was going to change his mind now short of Cthulhu himself manifesting inside one of the hallways.

Trying to get the tour back on track, Atticus showed them one of the rooms closest to the two staircases. Inside were three beds. Another of Bruno's unexpected additions. Before anyone could call dibs, Atticus quickly told them that Bruno was not the only dog from Charon's who was helping to get the mansion ready and that the beds were most likely for them.

All too aware that he could not see the end of the hallway in either direction, Courage wasn't sure that he could handle the rest of the tour with how unsettled he already felt. Thankfully, the tour was cut short when Bruno poked his head out of one of the distant rooms.

"I know you're in the middle of showing 'em around, but could ya go back outside for a minute? We want this to be a surprise."

"What on earth are you up to?" Atticus asked, crossing his arms. "I'm not the sort who likes to be surprised."

"Just do it, you big baby! Your boyfriend looks like he's about to pass out anyway. Give 'em some air!"

"Ugh, fine." He relented. Grabbing Courage by the arm, he said, "Come on, you." and it was good that he did because Courage wasn't sure he would have been able to walk otherwise. He wondered if Bruno's strange behavior was the evil of the mansion already manifesting itself.

The other dogs followed along with them. The puppies were talking among themselves about how to deal with ghosts and demons. Courage could only hope that Atticus was thinking about putting up a few barriers to keep the puppies from going off and exploring. It was just his luck that half the dogs here were thrilled about living in a scary mansion rather than fearing it like any sane person should.

They stepped back outside. The SCC van was long gone and the front yard of the mansion was barren of anything but a single rundown water fountain and an equally rundown pathway that snaked across the grass to circle around it. Courage sat down on the topmost step of the concrete staircase, since he didn't trust himself to make it all of the way down. The puppies played in the yard, having immediately come up with a game where one of them was supposed to be a demon that the others needed to chase down. Atticus stood in the driveway, watching them play, although it was clear he was too lost in thought to really be paying attention to them. Lily's mom had taken an interest in the vines that covered the mansion and was trying to pull one down, but even in death those dry, creeping fingers would not release their hold on the mansion willingly.

Courage ran his fingers over the concrete step and felt them catch on a weird dip. He looked down and saw a strange symbol etched into the concrete. Forcing back a scream, he jumped and proceeded to tumble down the rest of the steps and practically tackle Atticus to the ground as he tried to cling to him in his terror.

"For goodness sake, Courage! Stop being so scared!" He cried out.

Babbling nigh incoherently, Courage pointed toward the step over and over again. "Demons!" He eventually managed to yell out.

With a look of skepticism, Atticus went over and checked. "I'm pretty sure this is just the initials of the person who helped make these stairs!"

"But...but...it looks demonic!"

Atticus shook his head. "I am an expert in demonology! I know all of the symbols involved and none of them look remotely like this!"

Courage collapsed into a heap, deciding that for the sake of his own sanity he was going to believe Atticus just this once.

Making his way back down the steps, Atticus sighed, "With the way you're acting, the only thing that's going to end up summoning demons is your cowardice!"

Courage winced. "C-can that really happen?"

Atticus sat down beside him. "I was being facetious."

"D-don't scare me like that!"

Atticus hung his head in defeat. "Look, if you really don't like it here then we can work something out and find you somewhere else to stay."

Courage sat up. "No way! I don't like this place but I gotta stay. Who else is going to protect you from the demons?"

Atticus chuckled at that. "If anything, you're going to have to protect the demons from me."

"Hey!" Bruno called from the doorway. "You can come back inside now!"

Atticus looked to Courage once more. "I'm not sure I want to find out what it is that they're trying to surprise me with."

Getting onto his feet and brushing himself off, Courage replied, "If you're not scared of ghosts or demonic entities, I'm pretty sure you can handle whatever this is."

"I suppose so." Atticus said with a shrug. "Let's get this over with."

They both headed for the staircase with Atticus taking the lead. Courage, along with the rest of the dogs, trailed behind him. Bruno had left the door standing open and the moment Atticus saw what was waiting for him inside he came to a sudden halt and caused Courage to knock into him followed by all of the rest of the dogs. They collapsed into one big dog pile in the doorway.

Courage was trying to untangle himself from the pile when one of the puppies toward the top shouted, "Spot?"

Atticus was the first to escape, mostly through sheer force of will, and once he was back on his feet, he looked onward in disbelief. Twice he tried to say something, first looking angry and then relieved.

Courage rolled free of the pile and looked up to see a puppy with droopy ears sitting in a tiny wheelchair just the right size for him. His torso was covered by a cast and his legs were notably hanging limp.

With some difficulty, either because the cast was immobilizing him or due to some unseen injury, the pup brought a paw up to one of the ears that drooped in front of his eyes and tried to flick it out of the way only for it to fall right back into place.

"Hey," He said as though this were any casual meeting.

Clenching his paws together, Atticus finally managed to get a few weak words out. "What were you thinking back there?" He demanded, although there was not any actual anger in his tone. He spoke more like he was talking to a ghost who would disappear the second he made his peace with it. "Running back into danger like that! What would have been the point if we both ended up dead?"

Spot let out a dismissive snort as he flicked his ear again. "I saved your butt, didn't I?"

"Barely..." Atticus huffed. He then started to look around, as if expecting one of those demons to suddenly pop out. "And what about 'her'?"

Bruno was the one to answer that question. "Nobody has seen her since she went along with the kid in the ambulance. She seemed to know that something big was about to go down and requested that he be taken to a hospital outside of the city." The big bulldog shook his head. "How the kid survived the trip, I'll never understand."

Spot added, "I don't remember much. After I woke up from all of the surgeries, she was nowhere to be found and nobody could tell me where she had gone."

"And what about your injuries?" Atticus asked, his eyes lingering on Spot's limp legs.

The pup's cool demeanor broke momentarily. "I'm...never going to walk again. The teeth really messed up my spine. That's not all of the damage the teeth did, but it's the worst of it. The doctors told me that they did what they could but those teeth just cut right through my..."

Cutting him off, Atticus said, "You're not going to need to worry about that. We'll make the best out of a bad situation. I promise you, you'll never need to scrounge for food again."

The puppies surged forward and all hugged Spot as one. Never letting his devil may care attitude falter, Spot cried out, "Hey, hey, hey! I already got a broken spine and I don't need you guys breaking it even more!"

"We've missed you!" One of the pups exclaimed.

Spot looked upward with a small smile on his face. "Yeah...I guess I missed you guys too."

Atticus had already gone back into Planning Mode. Rubbing a paw against his chin, he considered the stairs. "We're going to have to make this place wheelchair accessible..."

Still being crushed by his fellow pups, Spot looked around. "Hard to believe we're gonna live in a big place like this."

"It's even bigger than you know!" A puppy cried out.

"And there are demons!" Another yelled with excitement.

"And we're going to kick their butts!"

Sighing, Atticus called out to them, "Which part of 'do not go running off looking for demons until we know the layout of this place' do you children not understand!" Seeing that this was not going to end well, he relented. "Okay, we'll let you help us out when we start mapping out the mansion...but do not go anywhere without adult supervision! Got it?"

Spot grabbed one of his fellow puppies by the scruff of his neck. "Don't worry! I'll keep these dorks in line!"

"It's just like old times..." The caught puppy groaned.

End Of Chapter

A/N: Now that Computer owns something that is bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside, he is just one step closer to becoming the Courageverse's equivalent of a Time Lord LOL.