Aka Amy

"Have you all got everything you need?" I asked as I looked at my three companions. "Euros? Credit cards? Phone chargers? Does anyone need to go to the bathroom before we get started? I don't want to get halfway across the Atlantic and have to turn around because someone forgot something."

Tess rolled her eyes and Alex smirked, while Hailey asked "How long does teleporting actually take? Are we going to see the world moving past around us?"

I stifled a giggle, "Nah, I'm just being silly. It's instantaneous. One moment you're here, the next moment you're in Dublin. You won't even feel us move, which can actually be a little disorientating?"

My sister frowned, "If teleporting is so fast and easy, why'd you make me and Alex come over here first by ride-share? Why not just teleport us straight from our apartment?"

"Hailey?" Alex gave their girlfriend a look, "Maybe don't complain or antagonize the friendly Goddess who's about to teleport us more than five thousand kilometres across the ocean?"

"She might be a goddess but she's still my baby sister," Hailey responded with a grin. "Right Amy?"

I rolled my eyes but answered her earlier question, "It's quick and easy for you, but it still requires time and concentration and energy on my part. And both Tess and I were busy packing and making sure we had everything ready before you got here."

My girlfriend added, "Stuff like making sure the apartment was locked, the windows were all closed, there's no perishable food left in the fridge, the garbage is all out so nothing's going to go bad while we're away."

Alex responded, "We did most of that last night. We only had a few last-minute things to take care of this morning."

Tess blushed slightly and admitted, "Me and Amy might have been too busy celebrating my graduation and her last day before summer break."

"You couldn't even wait one day?" Hailey laughed. "Alex and I figured we could celebrate tonight, once we're in our hotel room."

"Speaking of, we should probably get a move on," I told the others. "It might only be one in the afternoon here, but don't forget we'll have a five-hour time difference. It's just past six in the evening there."

The enby suggested, "We should turn our phones off before we go. Or at least put them in airplane mode."

"Why?" I asked them. "It doesn't interfere with my magic in any way."

They explained, "It might be nothing, but I was thinking more that if anyone ever happened to look at the logs they'd notice our phones lost contact with a cell tower here then connecting to a cell tower in Ireland a moment later? I know if I saw something like that I'd start investigating immediately. I wouldn't necessarily assume magic, but it'd definitely raise some warning flags that something unusual was going on."

My cheeks coloured slightly as I grimaced, "That's actually a good point. I'll try and keep that in mind next time I teleport around the world."

Then as we all switched our phones over to airplane mode I asked, "So who wants to go first?"

"What do you mean?" Tess asked. "I thought we were all going together?"

I shook my head, "So far I've only ever teleported with one passenger at a time. It's probably ok to take more, but I'd rather not risk it. So I'll take you all over one at a time."

Hailey asked, "Where exactly are we going to end up? I doubt you're dropping us directly into the hotel lobby, even if that would be very convenient."

"Sorry sis," I smiled. "St. Stephen's Green Park is right across the street from the hotel. There's a couple ponds, lots of trees, and walking paths and things? That's where I'll be taking us. So who's first?"

After a couple seconds Alex volunteered, "I'll go first."

"Then grab your stuff and we'll be off," I told them. I moved to stand next to them as they lifted their pack up and slung it over one shoulder then added, "And try to relax, there's nothing to worry about."

The physics major opened their mouth to reply but before they got a word out the two of us were surrounded by trees. There was a footpath to our right, and a pond on the left. Further to the right, past some trees and bushes was the sound of traffic and people. Alex's eyes widened as their mouth hung open and they just quietly stared at the surroundings.

I gave them a smile and said, "Don't wander off. I'll be right back with Hailey."

They slowly nodded as I returned back home again. Hailey and Tess both looked like they were equal parts nervous and excited.

"Ready sis?" I asked as I stood beside her.

"I guess so," Hailey grimaced. She already had her pack in hand, so I didn't waste any more time. The apartment faded away and the two of us appeared in front of Alex, who was still looking around in wonder.

I gave them both a smile, "I'll be right back, then we can go find the hotel. And maybe you two can get a drink if you need it."

Tess was waiting nervously when I returned. She had her backpack in hand, and I picked mine up too and slung it over my left shoulder.

"Are you ready love?" I asked as I moved to her. I wrapped my right arm around her and pulled her into a hug. "Hailey and Alex are waiting."

She took a deep breath then grimaced, "I guess so..."

I gave her a sympathetic smile, then leaned closer and stretched up on tip-toes to give her a kiss. Tess leaned down to make it easier, and we exchanged a long kiss. Then as we pulled apart her eyes widened and her jaw hung open, while I just smiled.

"I think the hotel should be in that direction?" I said as I pointed behind my girlfriend. "If I remember the map right, it was to the west of the park."

The four of us slowly started moving together. I took the lead, but I kept one arm around my girlfriend's waist as we made our way onto the footpath then continued in the direction I indicated. Hailey and Alex followed behind us, and a moment later we emerged from the trees into a clear section in the corner of the park. There was a commemorative archway thing that we passed under, and beyond that was downtown Dublin.

We were at an odd corner where one road made a sharp turn to follow around the outside of the park, and two other roads connected at a strange angle. The street directly in front of us had two sets of tram rails in it, then a narrower one-way section for cars.

"Oh my Goddess we're really here," Tess mumbled as she looked around in wonder.

Alex and Hailey seemed equally amazed as they slowly looked around as well. I was looking around too, but rather than being amazed I was trying to get my bearings to make sure we were where I thought we were. It only took a few moments for me to confirm I'd got us to the right spot.

"Ok there's the hotel," I said as I pointed across the street to the left. It was only about fifty or sixty meters from where the four of us were standing. Then I gestured, "So this road here that goes around the park is St. Stephen's Green, same name as the park. That one that heads west is King Street, and the one that goes off at an angle is Grafton Street."

"Grafton's supposed to be the main shopping district or something," I added. "And there's loads of restaurants and shops and stuff right around here. Anyways let's go check in, then we can figure out what we're doing with our evening?"

The others all nodded and we got moving again. By the time we reached the hotel they'd mostly snapped out of their shocked state, but once we arrived they slipped into a different kind of shocked.

"Amy this place looks expensive," Tess whispered. "This is some kind of five-star luxury hotel, isn't it?"

Hailey nodded, "She's right. Are you sure this is the right place?"

I shrugged, "Yeah this is the place. I know it's fancy but I figured we should kick off our vacation with some style? We're only here for two nights."

The four of us definitely looked out of place in our casual clothes and carrying backpacks instead of leather luggage and designer-label outfits. The hotel staff didn't give us a hard time though, and we got checked-in without any fuss.

I'd got us a pair of rooms that overlooked a little courtyard. The rooms were a good size, equipped with queen-size beds and sofas. They also had desks and mini-bars and wifi and all the other modern amenities. The courtyard wasn't as picturesque as the actual park, but it was probably quieter since there wasn't a busy city street out there. And it had grass and trees so it wasn't just pavement.

We all went into our rooms for a few minutes, just long enough to get a feel for them and to put down our things. Then we ended up in the hotel lobby again to talk about what we all wanted to do for our first night in Dublin.

"I was going to suggest we grab a bite to eat in the hotel restaurant then hit the bar," Hailey half-whispered to me and Tess, "But have you actually seen this place? The restaurant has Michelin stars! And have you seen the prices? Dinner starts at seventy euros each and goes up from there!"

I smiled and shrugged, "There's probably a hundred bars and restaurants in walking distance sis, if this place isn't your style we can try somewhere else? But if you want to try the food here it's my treat tonight."

Alex looked at their girlfriend and suggested quietly, "When a Goddess offers to buy us dinner, we should probably take her up on it?"

Hailey rolled her eyes, "Fine. I guess when you have heavenly power at your fingertips money isn't a big deal."

Not long after, the four of us were seated in a nice table in the very posh dining room. The menu wasn't like restaurants at home where each meal had a price next to it, instead there were a couple fixed-price options and each was more elaborate than the last. The minimum was a three-course meal, but I talked the others into trying the five-course 'tasting menu'.

Each of the five dishes was paired with a drink that accentuated the food. And while five courses sounded like a lot, the portions were small and they gave you plenty of time to enjoy each selection and its accompanying drink before bringing out the next one. The whole dinner ended up taking us about two hours, between savouring the food and the beverages and all the conversation. And we had a lot to discuss, between talking about the entrées and the drinks and our plans for the next ten days.

"So we've got the hotel rooms here for tonight and tomorrow night," Tess said after we'd all finished our second course. "That gives us all day tomorrow to do some sight-seeing around Dublin. If we don't waste too much time Monday morning we can probably spend another half day touring on Monday too? Then me and Amy are going to rent a car and start making our way south."

She paused for a sip of her wine before continuing, "The only thing in our itinerary that's sort of a fixed point is we'll want to get to Rosslare Harbour by Thursday night. We'll need a hotel room there, because the ferry over to Pembrokeshire sets out first thing in the morning."

I added, "There's two crossings, we're taking the one that leaves at a quarter to nine in the morning. The other one isn't till late at night, so if we miss the morning ferry we're stuck for the whole day."

"I'm sure you could port us over to Wales," my sister grinned. "Faster and cheaper than a boat, right?"

"Maybe," I shrugged, "But I kind of like the idea of taking the ferry."

Tess continued, "From Dublin to Rosslare Harbour is probably only about a hundred and fifty kilometres by car? It's the kind of trip you can do in less than two hours, so it's not like we'll be hard-pressed to get there for Thursday night."

"In other words we have all day Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for sightseeing," I said. "Like Tess said, she and I are renting a car. We'll be heading south through Wicklow and into County Wexford. The village her granny came from is sort of in the middle of the county, just off one of the main regional roads I think?"

My girlfriend nodded, "I'd like to have all day Wednesday to explore around that area. So Monday we rent the car, Tuesday we can do some touring in Wicklow or the north half of Wexford, then Wednesday we're going to check out my family heritage. Thursday we'll do more touring on the way south, and we'll aim to have dinner and stay the night at the harbour."

"So you two are free to do whatever you want for three days," I explained, "But we suggest you meet up with us Thursday night so all four of us can take the ferry across on Friday morning. The ferry will get us to Pembroke Dock around one in the afternoon, we'll find a place to stay there while we plot out the second half of the vacation."

By that point Alex had their phone out, they were looking at maps and car rental places and stuff. They nodded, "Sounds good to me. Hailey and I already figured out some stuff we want to see, and I'm sure the two of us can work out the finer details tonight or tomorrow. It won't be a problem meeting up Thursday evening. Maybe we should book something in advance though, so we know where we're meeting ahead of time?"

Hailey asked, "Are you taking the rental car on the ferry?"

"No," I shook my head, "There's a rental place in Rosslare where we can return it. Then we'll probably rent another one in Wales? I didn't want to worry about taking a car from one country to another, that sounded like a hassle."

"We were actually looking at taking trains instead of renting a car," Alex commented. "Or busses or taxis I suppose, for places that we can't get to by train."

Tess nodded, "We looked into that but we'd still need a rental car to get to my granny's home town, so we'll just stick with that."

At that point the waiter arrived with the third instalment of our five-course meal, so our planning conversation was put on hold while the four of us enjoyed then discussed the latest delights.