Well the story is doing better than I honestly expected it, so might as well get back to it.

Just a little heads up, I will do most of the episodes in order. But to start off, they will be a little out of order. Partly because of how I remember it, but also so that I can set stuff up to lead into following episodes.

On a further note, I won't be doing every single episode either. I'm sorry, but some of the episodes would be a bit too difficult to do justice with this story. I love some of the episodes so it does pain me to skip them. So instead, I'll be filling those in with original chapters that may or may not run concurrently with said episodes.

It took about ten minutes or so for the truck to make it back to the farmstead that Avery would be calling home for the foreseeable future. Not that she minded as the sight of the farm brought back some old and mostly pleasant memories. Mostly memories that didn't involve her freaky cousin, but she'd rather not think about HIM right now. Instead, she couldn't help but smile brightly as the truck pulled up to the farm and parked up, just a stone's throw away from the farmhouse.

"Well Avery?" Muriel asked.

Avery chuckled and said, "It looks a lot like I remember."

"Yeah. It's falling apart more and more these days," Eustace said.

Avery frowned at her uncle's pessimism and said, "I'm sure you do a good job keeping this place together Uncle Eustace."

"Bah!" Eustace said as he shut off the truck. "Don't forget your stuff and don't drive me crazy with your guitar playing. I get enough of that hippy music as it is."

Avery just rolled her eyes as her uncle departed the truck and her aunt followed after as well, grabbing her groceries out of the bed of the truck. Courage hopped off of Avery's lap and padded towards the farmhouse as well. Avery was the last one to leave the truck and as she gathered her belongings, she got a good look at the area around the farmhouse. Land was as barren as when she was little, barn was still barely standing, farmhouse was well up-kept though. There was one thing missing that she vaguely remembered.

"Hey aunt Muriel, I thought you guys had chickens around here. Where did they go?" Avery asked.

Muriel scratched the side of her head and said, "We used to, but they all disappeared a couple of months ago. We still don't know where they went."

Avery could hear Courage cringe and she swore that she could see his heart pounding in his chest. Something must have spooked the poor little guy. She merely patted him on the head as she walked past him and gave him some sweet reassuring words as she went past. He seemed to calm down as Avery comforted him and was followed by Muriel doing the same.

Avery stepped into the house and took a deep sniff through her nose. The house still had that old wood grain smell that she was all too familiar with, even in her old home back in Florida. A pang of sadness began to run through her as she thought of home, but tried to push that back. There was no use in thinking about home, her parents or the past anymore. She took another deep breath and made sure to compose herself before anyone noticed, but could still feel a tear trying to work it's way out through her eyes.

"So? What do you think of the old place?" Muriel asked from behind.

Avery nodded and said, "Looks cozy. I think I can get used to this."

Muriel nodded as well and said, "Well that makes me glad. Go ahead and look around and make yourself at home while I prepare dinner. If you're looking for your room, it's up in the attic. I do recommend getting a nap in once you finish unpacking though. I can tell you've hardly slept."

Avery had been hoping for some place a little less spacious, but still it sounded better than living in a closet or a basement somewhere like she had been expecting. Back in Florida she had a fairly nice home and room. But that was no longer a viable home for her, so she should really take whatever she could get.

She gave an approving nod and said, "Good to know. Thanks."

Muriel accepted this response and walked out of the room with her groceries and back into the kitchen.

As for Eustace, he was already sitting back in his favorite armchair and was flipping through channels, getting more and more irritated as he continued flipping through the channels and not finding anything to watch. Avery decided that now would probably not be a good time to bother him. So she decided to just leave him alone and take her stuff up to her room.

She set the empty suitcase inside the closet under the stairs since she wouldn't be needing it now. Before she knew it, Courage was picking up her other suitcase, leaving her just the guitar case to carry up with her.

"Oh? Courage, you don't have to help me, I can take care of everything myself," she said, but Courage shook his head.

"Uh-uh," he grunted and proceeded up the stairs with her suitcase.

Avery picked up the guitar case and followed the little dog up that stairs, past a couple of doors and up another small stairs that led to a door at the top. She opened the door to a room that overlooked the entire farm. Inside the room there was a bed large enough for her, a wardrobe for her clothes and a computer sitting in the opposite corner of the room.

Who would be using a computer in this house?

The only issue was the heat, which was to be expected in a house this old. There was air conditioning, but it took time for it to cool down the room.

Courage took her case and set it down on the bed and Avery set her case on the floor next to the bed. She lied herself down on the bed and watched as Courage padded over to the computer in the corner. He booted it up and began typing away at it.

"A dog using a computer? Weird... but kinda cool," she said as she sat up.

Courage continued typing away and the computer let out a beep and said, "A new family member you say? Oh how quaint."

"What the? Who said that? Who else is here?" Avery said in surprise.

A chuckle came from the computer and said, "That would be me thank you very much. What the matter? Never seen a computer before?"

Avery shrugged and said, "Not that much. Never really owned one. Dad said that they cost too much and never got one for us. Plus the ones I did see had never talked before."

"Well I'M a top of the line model. I can communicate with almost anyone and can scan through many files in the blink of an eye. Just know that I am also very very condescending," the computer said smugly.

Avery narrowed her eyes at the computer and said, "Well that figures. I get a computer for a roommate and it's going to treat us like we're beneath him."

"I like to think of myself as a superior piece of technology really and less like a roommate as I'm technically not even alive you twit," the computer responded.

"HEY!" Avery hollered at the computer.

Courage glared and growled at the computer and began typing furiously.

"Okay okay, calm down now. No need to be pounding my keys. Look I can try to keep my scathing words to a minimum, but that can't be promised as I am just as I was programmed. So you might want to get used to it," the computer said with only SOME smugness this time.

Avery rolled her eyes and went back over to her bed. She opened her suitcase and began the process of unpacking, looking forward to a much needed nap afterwards.

Avery woke up a few hours later with Courage napping right beside her on the bed. He looked so sweet and peaceful while he was asleep, especially when one of his back legs twitched in his sleep. She carefully got up from the bed to keep from disturbing him, but patted the top of his head regardless. She stood up and looked out the window to see that the sun was already beginning to sink lower into the sky. Best she could figure is that it was close to dinner time about now and could practically smell the good food cooking below. She stretched a little and decided that now would probably be a good time to head downstairs, see if there was anything she could do to help her aunt.

She reached the bottom stair in the den to see that her uncle was asleep in his armchair and, to her surprise at least, her aunt was sitting on the floor with her sitar, strumming away at it. She leaned against the wall and listened intently as Muriel continued to play. This brought back some pleasant memories from when she was a little girl, always sitting intently while her aunt played her music. Not that her uncle ever cared for it, but it always made her feel calm, even when she was upset.

Oh how the years pass.

Before long, Muriel finished her song and Avery clapped quietly for her.

"Why thank ya Avery. Glad to see you still like my playing," Muriel said with a smile.

Avery shrugged and said, "What can I say? I've always liked it. Even made me want to play it as well. But dad gave me a guitar instead."

Muriel laughed and said, "Aye, your father was always one to find ways to save money. Your mother married him for more than just his looks you know."

Avery couldn't help but laugh with her. It was too nice a moment for the sadness to overtake her again so the feeling entirely remained dormant.

"I thought you were making dinner though," Avery said.

Muriel nodded and said, "It needed to simmer for a while. It should be just about done now though. Do you mind setting the table while I put on the finishing touches?"

Avery scratched the back of her head and said, "I was kind of hoping we could play our instruments together while you still had it out."

"I'd love to right now Avery, but dinner will be ready in just a wee bit and your uncle isn't very fond of my music. I don't think he wants two instruments going right now. Especially when he's napping," Muriel said and pointed at Eustace.

That's when Avery remembered that while she and her parents had loved the sitar music, Eustace constantly complained about it whenever he got tired of hearing it. Not that it made Muriel stop, but they all knew better than to wake Eustace from a nap as his already nasty tendencies tended to get worse when he was roused from sleep.

Muriel put her sitar away and said, "So why don't you come help me prepare the table for dinner. By the time you're done, dinner should be ready."

Not having anything else to do, she shrugged and followed her aunt into the kitchen.

Dinner came and went uneventfully with all that happening was Avery's surprise of Courage sitting at the table, much to Esutace's ire. But he couldn't do anything about it while either Muriel or Avery were at the table. As soon as Muriel had served dinner, Avery practically tore into the chicken that Muriel had set out on the table. After spending several days on a bus with nothing to eat but snacks from various bus stops and greasy sandwiches from fast food dives once a day, she was excited at the prospect of real food. But she had also forgotten just how good of a cook her aunt was and couldn't help herself to the chicken along with real mashed potatoes and gravy. In that moment, nothing in her life had tasted better to her.

After dinner, Avery made sure to help clear the table and even offered to assist her aunt with the dishes. Instead, Muriel thanked her for the help and took care of them herself, telling Avery that she needed to relax a bit more after her long journey and suggested she go and get a bath, saying that she'll have her nightclothes ready when she was done. Avery decided that that would probably be the best thing to do right now and walked out of the kitchen.

Eustace was already sitting in his armchair and was watching TV once again. Avery paused behind him and decided to observe what he was watching this time. It was some older horror about a vampire stalking people on board a sail ship and right now it was approaching the captain who was busy with the ship's wheel. Eustace was even laughing up a storm as the scene went along.

"Still like these old horror movies Uncle Eustace?" Avery asked.

Eustace's laughs calmed a bit and said, "Are there any other kinds?"

Avery had to shrug. She wasn't much into horror movies herself. The most recent one she had watched was about a group of students lost in the woods and looking for some witch out there. She had lost interest in it and had been dulled to the point where she actually fell asleep in the actual theater and had to be woken up by the cleaning staff after the show ended. But yeah, she could agree that these older films were much more entertaining and more well made anyway.

She chuckled and said, "I can't argue with you there."

"You can have your younger, prettier actors of nowadays. But they can't even begin to compare to the ones who actually knew how to scare you properly," Eustace said rather proudly for no particular reason.

"That I can't agree more with," she said.

She looked over at one corner of the room and saw that Courage was lying there, chewing on an anchor, AN ANCHOR of all things. She already liked the little guy, but couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking right now. She wanted to find out more, but now that she had some food in her, she could feel the exhaustion beginning to weigh her down. It had been days since she had properly washed and now would be the perfect time to do so. Without another word she went upstairs, grabbed a couple of towels from the closet under the stairs and proceeded up to the bathroom.

"Aunt Muriel? What are these?" Avery said while pointing at the bed, still wrapped up in her bath towel.

Muriel looked at the bed as she walked back in said, "Oh these are the nightclothes I promised ya. Is there something wrong with them?"

"They're nightgowns Aunt Muriel. Night. Gowns," Avery said, trying her best to not raise her voice.

Not that she was even that angry, but she just didn't exactly feel comfortable. Avery never was one for dresses or gowns for that matter. Sure she wore them from time to time on hot days or for special events, but that was about it. She had always preferred casual shirts and jeans or the occasional skirt. She had never really liked wearing one if it could be helped, but unfortunately right now it couldn't be.

"I'm sorry Avery, but it's all I have for ya. I just wanted to help," Muriel said in apology.

Avery let out a little sigh and said, "Sorry. It's not that I'm ungrateful, far from it. It's just... I don't like dresses that much."

"Neither did your mother, I tried to help her get a better feel for them, but it couldn't be helped with. She liked sleeping in them though and I know she'd want you to take her old ones," Muriel responded.

Avery looked back at the nightgowns in front of her, but now in a new perspective. These were her mother's nightgowns? That would explain why they were her size at least. Her aunt had kept them after all these years? She knew that her mother had practically lived on this farm when growing up as her parents had to travel for work a bit and her aunt had taken good care of her whenever they were away. And this reminded Avery of how close she and her mother had been. She had practically inherited most of her mother's looks and some of her personality traits as well. She appreciated her roots and her family more than anything, so she at least owed it to both her mother and aunt to suck it up and deal with the gowns.

"Fine, I guess I can bear with them," Avery said with a defeated sigh.

Muriel smiled and said, "Everything will be fine dear. At least they'll be good until we can get some replacement sleepwear for you that you're more comfortable with."

Avery nodded and turned her attention back to the clothes on the bed to get a better look at them. The first one she picked up was a gaudy pink color with lacy frills along the neckline and skirt. The part that got to her the most though was the skirt hardly went down the leg at all and ended around the upper thigh.

"What the heck is this?" Avery asked as her mouth began to hang open.

Muriel saw it and said with a chuckle, "Oh my! I forgot all about that one. Your mother got that during the mini-skirt craze of the 60's. She looked silly wearing it."

Avery tossed it aside and said, "Well it gets a no from me. Geez mom, what kind of standards did you have?"

Muriel wasn't bothered and picked up the old one and said, "I hope you find one ya like."

As Muriel left, Avery stood alone in the room and looked through the rest. The next nightgown was a white satin one with puff sleeves on the shoulders.

"I think I'll save this one for a warm night, not good for a sweltering one," she said as she tried to fan herself.

The air conditioner hadn't kicked on yet, so she was at the mercy of the summer heat in the attic for now. She passed on a long purple one and a black nightgown as well, opting to use those for a cooler night. Each one she came across she didn't care much for, because they just didn't seem suitable or she just plain old thought was tacky.

She was reaching the end of them when her eyes landed on a simple nightdress. It was white with thin straps on a sweetheart bodice, good for keeping the shoulders bare on a night like today. Moreover, while the skirt of the gown wasn't long per say, it at least came down to just above her knees and gave her legs enough room to move around. Not to mention that it would be good for keeping less heat on her skin.

"I guess this one could work," she said.

After removing her towel and preparing herself, she slipped the nightgown over her head and let the straps droop down and come to a rest on her shoulders. Sure enough, the heat of the room became much more bearable and the air brushing against her exposed skin felt so nice. The room still felt hot, but now it felt like she be able to sleep in it. She adjusted the nightdress to fit her more properly and took a moment to look down at herself and get a decent look at herself.

"Not bad. Looks like it works," she said to herself.

She picked up her towels and proceeded out of the room to throw down the laundry chute by the bathroom door. Along the way, she came across her aunt who was also preparing for bed as well. Avery gave her a nod and threw the towels down the chute as she waved at her aunt.

"Well it looks like you found one you like," Muriel said.

Avery shrugged and said, "Can't say I really like it, but I can tolerate it at least."

"Well it was your mother's favorite so I'd say you chose very well," Muriel said.

Guess it's true what they say, the apple truly doesn't fall far from the tree.

"Well that's interesting to know. Thanks for the gowns anyway," Avery said as she walked back towards the attic. It wasn't long before she heard the clanking sound of the air conditioner turning on. "Maybe that will take care of the heat at least."

She walked back into the attic and sat down on her bed, slipping some slippers onto her feet. She was about to lie down, when her eyes darted over to her jeans that she had set down right by the wardrobe. She should probably pick those up before going to bed and save her aunt some trouble. She stood back up from the bed and walked back over to her jeans. She picked them and out of the pocket tumbled the bracelet case.

"Whoops! Can't lose that now," she said as she picked it up.

But as she grabbed the case, it began to pulsate in her hand. Not a violent pulse, but one that was strong enough to make her curious. She opened up the case and peeked a look at the bracelet within. It looked the same as she had bought it earlier with it's silvery color and purple gems, but now she was practically mystified with the thing. She brushed the gems with the fingertips of her other hand and she swore that, for a moment, her arm was glowing. Taking a quick glance at the rest of her body, she swore that the glow surrounded her entire body and even her nightgown had taken on a bright sheen. She drew her hand back and the glow died down.

"What was that?" she asked herself quietly.

Now she was extremely curious about the bracelet. What WOULD happen if she were to put the bracelet on? It was big enough for her hand to fit through and she could remove it quickly afterwards if things began to feel wrong.

"What could it hurt?" she asked herself.

But then the mysterious chihuahua lady's words began to ring through her head one more time. That she should never put it on and that not even she knew what would happen if Avery did. But if she didn't know what would happen, how would she know if it really was that dangerous or if there really was any danger at all? She wasn't sure how to go about this.

The bracelet began to pulsate again and appeared to be shining even brighter than it had before. The temptation was becoming far too much for her and the pulses were getting stronger.

"Maybe for just a second and then I can pull it right off," she said.

And with that, Avery took the bracelet out of it's case and could sense the glow around her once more. She brought the bracelet close to the wrist of her right hand and narrowed her hand to allow it to slip onto her wrist.

Just as the bracelet had slipped past her fingers and the back of her hand, she heard the sound of the attic door opening and looked over to see Courage standing in the doorway.

His eyes were wide and he screamed, "NOOOOO!"

But before Avery could react to his scream, the bracelet slipped onto her wrist and the glow around her suddenly flared and enveloped the room in brightness. So bright that Courage had to look away from it and rub his eyes before they melted out of their sockets. When he looked back, the glow around Avery had disappeared and he was glad to see that she was completely unharmed. But now the bracelet on her wrist had shrunk in size and was clinging to the skin of her wrist right now.

Avery let out a startled gasp and grabbed the bracelet and tried tugging at it. However, the bracelet was stuck fast and wouldn't budge. She tugged harder and harder, but the bracelet wouldn't move in the slightest. It got to the point where tears began to form her eyes and she was practically kicking at the ground under her. But no matter how hard she pulled at the thing, the bracelet would not slip off of her wrist.

Courage was now in panic mode himself as he ran over to her and began babbling at her.

"Courage, what happened when I was putting this on?" Avery asked in a panicked voice.

Courage babbled some more and, to Avery's shock, morphed into a copy of the bracelet and then changed form into herself and then finally into the shape of a blank eye, before turning back into himself with a whine.

Avery stood bewildered by what had just transpired. Not just with the bracelet, but what Courage had just managed to do in front of her. But thanks to him, she was sure she had an idea of what had just happened regarding her and the bracelet.

"So I have two questions Courage. One, did my eyes go blank when I was putting this on? And two, how did you just do all that?" she asked.

Courage nodded his head, "Yes" and then shrugged, "I don't know."

Avery sat back down on the bed with a groan and stared at the bracelet on her wrist.

"So how do we fix this?" she asked out loud.

So originally I was going make Avery's introduction to two chapters and move one with the rest of the series, but I had an idea for a couple of extra scenes and to keep these chapters from getting too long I decided to extend this into three chapters instead. And I promise, after that we'll get into the main series.