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Act XXX: The Truth About Homecomings

The lock on the front door was opened by Leia's set of keys, as she led Josh and I into the mansion itself. Leia looked around casually, then called out with caution...

"Damon? Devyn? Anybody? I'm calling out because I don't want to get pounced!"

Jonie Dreamsea emerged from the library and stopped short at the library door.

"Leia? Um... But... Who is that?"

Leia smiled at Jonie.

"Oh good! One of the normal residents. Where's Dominic? It's really important that we speak to him."

Jonie blinked her eyes.

"But... um... Okay... Dominic and his friends went to the Furry Realms on a mission for King Bighorn... at least... he was supposed to have gone there..."

Leia nodded her head, then turned to the two of us.

"Josh, you can use the phone in the kitchen to make your phone call."

Leia pointed the way into the kitchen. Josh thanked Leia and headed into the kitchen to use the phone. I then looked at Jonie.

"Your name is Jonie? Calm down and don't stutter. This is very important. Where exactly in the Furry Realms IS Dominic? It's extremely important that we find him."

Jonie had to sit down. She was that much in shock.

"Dominic is heading up the security team at the kings summit. I don't know where the summit is being held, but someone is bound to show up sooner or later. Um... Are you...?"

I nodded my head and flashed my badge to Jonie.

"Jansen Tanner, White Bishop of Chess."

I then put my badge away.

"Great. How are we going to get to him in time now?"

Leia hummed.

"I think I know a way. Jonie... did Dominic leave his Artemis medallion in his den?"

Jonie nodded her head.

"Yeah, he didn't think he'd need it, this time."

Jonie led Leia and I into the office/den, to the case where several special items were stored.

"There it is."

Leia smiled and picked up the Artemis medallion.

"Here goes nothing..."

Leia rubbed the medallion three times, then waited. Almost instantly, with an accompanying flash of lightning and thunder, Artemis and Apollo appeared in the office/den. Artemis was surprised when she saw that it was Leia who summoned her. But she was even more surprised when she saw that I was standing with Leia.

"Jansen Tanner?! But... you can't be here! Dominic is supposed to be you and..."

Then, Artemis stopped and took a good look at me.

"By Zeus, it IS you!"

I smiled.

"Artemis, lovely goddess of the hunt... and Apollo, grand god of the sun..."

I kissed Artemis' hand, and shook Apollo's hand. Then, I continued.

"Artemis, we called you because we need to find Dominic immediately. Jonie told us that Dominic is on a mission in the Furry Realms, but not where. That's why you were summoned."

Artemis blinked her eyes.

"Athena recently said that Jansen was smarter than Dominic. I didn't understand what she meant then, but the light is starting to shine now. How'd you pull it off?"

I smiled again.

"Never tell a Tanner what will happen to them before it happens. Thanks to all the warnings I got from you and your friends, I was able to make some magical arrangements upon returning home. I controlled the time gate and arrived at the Saudi Arabian campsite of a genie hound friend of mine. He granted me a very special wish..."

Leia grinned, as I continued.

"...a wish to create Dominic Bastian Vanlyone as his own person in my time period. He was to be an exact twin of me in every way and form, memories included. As an extra bonus, I arranged for that special memory loss magic that was on me to be fully removed from me and affect Dominic fully. I then made a deal with my employer to let Dominic think he was Jansen Tanner and continue working as me, while I continued working for the organization away from headquarters. Also, whenever Dominic was near death, I received a special warning that allowed me to make special arrangements to have him brought back to life. This last time, I happened to be in Cairo, Egypt, at the temple of Ra when I got the warning. I made a deal with Ra and had him reincarnate Dominic into that lion form he was fond of. Josh Savage Jr. caught up with me in Cairo and explained the mess that was going on back home here in Rocky Falls, Missouri. So, the two of us used Dominic's own portal gateway to return to the mansion, where we exited through this den and proceeded around to the driveway where we met up with Leia."

Josh emerged from the kitchen, at that time, and stood with Leia. Evidently, seeing two more gods meant nothing to Josh. Leia nodded to Josh to be quiet and listen.

Artemis smiled.

"I must admit, Jansen, you certainly have earned your reputation. Okay, I'll help you find Dominic before it's too late. Our white cervine friend predicted that Dominic was going to die, yet again. I have to assume that is why you're here now."

I grinned.

"You mean the White Stag? You can say it out loud. As a Chess agent, simply knowing he exists is all the desire I need. Now, if you have any idea where Dominic is and what he's doing, you need to come clean and tell us."

Artemis hummed.

"You've never been dead, have you?"

I chuckled.

"As Athena said, I'm the smarter one. I know how to stay alive."

Artemis hummed.

"There is one person who might know where Dominic and the others are. I think you've met him before, if I recall correctly."

I knew that Artemis was referring to Reed Huxley. It was going to be nice to see him again. But before I could reply to Artemis' statement, Sallee, Jo, and Shane entered the den. And boy, Jo and Shane looked relieved to see me. Sallee was... the third Tanner sister was always the hardest to read... And I wish I could've read her this time, too... as I got belted by Sallee!

Shane and Jo smirked, as I picked myself up off the floor.

Sallee growled.

"Why was I the LAST one to learn about this whole fiasco? Tell me that!"

I didn't want to reply that Sallee was the biggest blabbermouth in Rocky Falls.

"Don't ask me... Ouch... Jo was the first one I told."

Jo grinned.

"Unlike some siblings, I know how to keep my mouth shut!"

Sallee started to object, but Leia stopped her. For that I was glad. A Tanner argument isn't something that I wanted to deal with right now. I needed to deal with Dominic before he did something extremely stupid.

Shane grinned and winked at me.

"I believe Artemis was about to tell us who might know where Dominic is, correct?"

I nodded my head, and turned to face Artemis once again. Artemis looked as if she was glad the attention returned to her.

"Reed Huxley should have a good idea on where Dominic is. And asking him shouldn't be too difficult of a task."

I smiled.

"Reed. Yes, I would be glad to see him again. Shall we head over there?"

Moments later, after walking through yet another portal gateway, for which I could see which one led to Reed's workshop, this time, as I had been shown the gateway from Reed's side of the stone archway. We proceeded forth and found Reed relaxing in front of his TV set in his full werekangaroo form. He looked as if he'd just sat down. And he started to get up when he saw our group but I stopped him.

"No, Reed. You've been on your feet all day, looks like. All we need to know is where Dominic is. It's come time to tell Dominic the truth."

Reed smiled, pulling me into his lap!

"Yer mah favorite mate in the whole world, Jansen. And yer right... Ah just finished making a 'ome remedy cure for Gotaki and Jago. Dominic and party are off in the Furry Realms in the Lutraon Kingdom. Jago is running around doing mini quests for some new friends 'e met."

I hummed, petting Reed's shoulders.

"I hope we can find Dominic before he gets himself killed again. It's very urgent."

Reed smiled, letting me up, as he too got up.

"Ah better come along, just in case. Dominic, despite his ability to get into dangerous situations, is actually... well... Ah really like 'im. Ah'm sure yas understand... Damon and Ah kinda can't live without 'im. We needs 'im."

Artemis smiled at that.

"Circe and I both regard Dominic like that, as well. We need him, too. Come, then. We'll teleport to the Lutraon Kingdom and ask someone where Dominic is staying."

One thing I rather enjoyed about traveling with gods is that they could zoom your whole group into a location faster than anything. And Artemis was no slacker, from what I did remember about her. Back when she was in disguise as Diana, she struck me as being a real worker, unlike some siblings I knew of...

Soon, we found ourselves in the coastal grandeur of the Lutraon Kingdom in the Furry Realms of Hollow Earth. Now I knew what Dominic meant during the time we had teamed up against the two Infinity Vales. When Dominic told me of worlds beyond the norm. Of course, I had already been to Atlantis and Asgard, but this was a place that was simply within the same dimension as the one we lived in. Artemis and Reed procurred the information we sought and afterwards, we were entering Sir Dominic's sleeping quarters, where General Damon Kestornath and the demonic hellhound Devyn were resting, awaiting Dominic's return from a meeting.

When Damon saw our party entering the chamber, and he saw me, he seemed to figure things out fast.

"Jansen Tanner. I never forget a scent. You and Dominic may look alike, but Dominic has that weird... off scent... sort of like a lion... while you have that definitive wolf scent. Dominic should be returning soon. The Lutraon Queen wanted to talk to him this morning."

Artemis arched her eye at Damon.

"She did? We just saw her with some sea otter knights and the king himself and Dominic wasn't with her. I'll be damned... could he be in trouble already?"

Devyn suddenly stood up.

"I smell something like Ares approaching the door, but it walks like Dominic."

We all turned toward the door, as Damon and Devyn prepared themselves for pouncing whoever came into the room without knocking. The strange-smelling figure barely had entered Dominic's quarters when he was suddenly ambushed in an attack. Damon and Devyn fought and pinned the figure to the floor after several minutes. Finally, Damon inquired of Artemis.

"What the hell is this thing, anyway? It looks like Dominic, but it isn't."

Artemis approached slowly.

"It is a simulacrum. A living golem created by Hephaestus, though someone has altered this one to look and sound like Dominic. And I can guess who..."

The simulacrum spoke.

"Ares will triumph in the end."

Artemis pulled out one of her vorpal arrows.

"Like he did the last time? Damon, you may kill this simulacrum. It has no further use."

Artemis put the vorpal arrow away. Damon grinned.

"With the utmost pleasure!"

And Damon then proceeded to dismember the simulacrum, then Damon disintegrated the remains in holy fire, until there was nothing left. Suddenly, the white stag appeared in the chamber!

"What I had envisioned has come to pass..."

Then, the white stag saw me standing there.

"What the...?"

Josh blinked his eyes.

"You mean there really is a white stag?"

I grinned.

"Yeah, but trust me. Catching him for three wishes really isn't worth your trouble. If you need a 'no strings attached' wish granted, my genie hound friend can just as easily grant your wish as this white stag can. And he's easier to find and talk to, as well."

The white stag stared at me.

"You tricked me!"

Artemis chuckled.

"He tricked me too, but he has a good reason for doing so. In fact, if this scene of Dominic dying is what you envisioned, then you tricked yourself, as well. That wasn't Dominic we just destroyed. It was a simulacrum. The real Dominic is elsewhere. But so is Ares."

I grinned.

"I am surprised that Dominic never asked who 'the harvest stallion' was. But enough nostalgia. We need to find Dominic and get everything settled out, before it's too late."

The white stag never took his eyes off of me.

"What do you mean 'before it's too late'?"

I then explained.

"Remember the last time Dominic got brought back to life? Ra was involved. Well, thanks to me, Ra granted that life to Dominic. But there is a catch this time."

The white stag arched an eye.

"What kind of catch?"

I replied.

"The catch was this... Ra would bring Dominic back to life, but if Dominic were to die again, he'd automatically come back... as a teenager."

The white stag hummed.

"Then I suppose we should try to locate Ares. Finding him should be easier than locating Dominic. For I am sure Ares is trying to locate Dominic as well."

Artemis nodded her head.

"My brother is going to get sorely punished this time. I thought he had learned his lesson the last time. I guess I was wrong. Let's go find the scummy god."

Have I mentioned how much I like it when gods decide to get things done? Well, this was certainly one of those times. It took some searching, but by the next morning, Artemis and Jo had Ares hog-tied in the stables. And Jo was offering to let Artemis use her branding irons.

King Lutraon had just announced that the kings summit would continue for another week, when Gotaki, Damon, Devyn, Jago and Faroth Walker entered the stable courtyard. They came to a stop when they saw Artemis half-standing on a hog-tied Ares, with Jo next to her. The rest of us were standing nearby. Jago hugged Jonie, then asked.

"What are you guys doing here?"

Then, Jago noticed that the person he thought was Dominic was actually me.

"Um, why is Jansen Tanner back again? Where is Dominic?"

Gotaki seconded the question.

"Yes. Where is King Lion?"

The white stag stepped forward.

"Dominic was almost killed by Ares. He is currently in Santa's Village at the North Pole. He's lucky that he remembered that he was wearing Robin Goodfellow's magic ring. He was able to transport himself out of Ares grasp and into a white reindeer's body. Dominic will rejoin us back at the mansion. As for Jansen Tanner, he is going to inform Dominic about something important, then hopefully..."

The white stag shot icy mental daggers at me.

"...he will go back to where ever he was before all this started."

I grinned.

"After I tell Dominic the truth about himself and the Ra catch, I'll be heading out again. I am the real Jansen Tanner after all. There can only be one."

Jo piped up.

"What?! You're going to leave again? But you just returned home! Why are you leaving?"

I growled back at Jo.

"Cassander Vulcan is an ivory graveyard thief and if I stay in the same area as him for any length of time, he'll end up being murdered and I'll make sure the whole area knows who did it!"

Gotaki smiled.

"Imagine that. Jansen Tanner has some backbone after all. Maybe I was wrong about him."

Gotaki opened the shadow gate back to the mansion and we all headed through it.

---

She and Joe were laughing! She took a breath, then released it.

"The white stag must hate Jansen a lot! And Ares seems to constantly get himself into trouble whenever he goes after Dominic."

Joe grinned, as he ate some popcorn.

"This is better than a movie, love. There wasn't anything good on TV, anyway."

She and Joe took a short break, used the bathroom, and refreshed their sodas and popcorn, before they once again sat down to read more of Jansen's agent history.

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