Chapter 56: Fairy Rings

Marie and Elise leaned back in their seats as the plane came in for a landing to Dublin Airport. They had a thirty hour layover in the city before finally heading back to the states. They'd been living out of a suitcase for too long, and both women were ready to spend a solid week doing absolutely nothing. However they were excited for one last hurrah in Dublin. They had already planned a pub crawl hitting all of the best pubs playing live traditional Irish music. Then they had a hotel for the night near the airport since their flight back to the states left at 6pm the next day.

After their flight landed, they made their way out of the airport with their carry-ons and to the line of taxis waiting for customers. Marie picked one and they hopped in before telling the driver the name and address of the hotel they were staying at for the night. They checked into the hotel and rested in the room for a bit, ordering room service for lunch, while they mapped out their path around Dublin for the rest of the day.

Finally they headed out into the city. They decided that since they had limited time, a hop-on-hop-off bus tour would be fun. On the tour they visited Parnell Square, Trinity College, Christ Church Cathedral, and Dublinia, making sure to get pictures of everything to add to their personal travel blogs. Marie tended to go for the more artsy photos (as she was a professional photographer, this didn't surprise anyone), while Elise just snapped photos of everything multiple times figuring that at least one would be awesome.

After their bus tour, they headed back to the hotel to drop off the souvenirs they'd bought and change clothes before heading out for the night. Marie changed into a knee-length black dress with corset lacing up the back and ankle boots. Elise wore an emerald peasant shirt and dark jeans with knee-high boots. They then headed out to hit up the pubs.

The whole experience was fantastic! They stayed for a few songs and a drink at each pub before moving to the next. Finally, at the last pub (they'd honestly lost count, but it was somewhere around nine? Maybe ten.) they hit paydirt. They walked in to hear some very familiar music and a decent crowd gathered around the lone man on stage. "Elise, is that who I think it is?" Marie asked grabbing her friend's arm.

Elise stared, wide-eyed. "Yeah, that's Hozier! But I checked his tour dates before we came here! He wasn't scheduled anywhere for tonight!"

"Well let's don't look a gift horse in the mouth! Come on!" Marie pulled her friend to the bar where they ordered drinks then found a table to stand at (all the seats had been taken).

Hozier played several songs before pausing to thank everyone for coming out. He also said that he wanted to give back to the community he'd grown up in and so had agreed to play for free tonight at this particular pub. Marie and Elise mouthed along to all of his songs and drank several more beverages than was probably wise considering all they'd already drank.

When the god known as Hozier had finished up his last set, he thanked everyone again and walked off the small stage to loud cheers and applause. Elise clapped and shouted while Marie whistled at him. They then finished the last of their drinks and decided that it would probably be a good idea to head back to the hotel. However when they got outside, they discovered that there were no taxis nearby, nor were they on a main road. "Looks like there's a park over there and then a main road that might have some taxis," Elise said after pulling up a map on her phone.

The two friends weaved their way into the large park, navigating the dark trails to get to the other side. They heard some people up ahead though and saw several fishy looking men casting furtive looks around them, so they decided to avoid that whole scene and cut across the grass between several tall oak trees. However as they walked under the tall oak trees there was a faint shimmer coming from the ground up ahead. "What is that?" Marie asked as they got closer. There was a large circle of shimmery golden light emanating from a ring of toadstools on the ground.

Elise followed her friend towards the light, curious as well. All of a sudden, it clicked in her head. Her eyes widened and she tried to reach out to grab Marie, but the other woman had already jumped into the ring. "Marie, no! It's a fairy ring!"

Marie turned back around with a frown on her face. "Say what?"

"It's a fairy ring, and I have no idea what will happen to you now that you've jumped inside!"

Marie ran back towards the edge of the ring and tried to jump back through the light, but smacked into the wall of shimmering light. "Shit!" She looked down at the toadstools frantically and tried to reach out to pluck them out to make a hole in the light, but her hand was stopped centimeters before she could touch them. "Elise! Help!"

Elise, only slightly panicked, paced back and forth, unsure of what to do. Suddenly, an idea came to her. "I have an idea, but I'm not sure it's going to work, and I know you're not going to like it."

"What is it?"

"Jareth."

"No! Don't do it, Elise!"

"I don't really have another choice, do I? Who else would be able to help us out of a fairy ring?"

"I don't know, but that fae will only try to trick us."

"Look, it's the best plan we have right now."

"Elise…" Marie whined.

The other woman ignored her though and hit the call button on her cellphone. She spoke a few words then hung up. Not moments later, there was a small breeze that ruffled the leaves on the trees then promptly died away. Out of the shadows, stepped a smug looking Goblin King, garbed all in black, arms crossed over his chest, and a smirk on his pale face. "Well, what do we have here?"

"Jareth," Elise admonished. "I didn't call you to make fun. I called because you're the only one who can help."

"Oh I don't know," Jareth replied. "I might have to think for quite some time about how to get her back out. I may even have to just complete the process and bring her down into the Underground. And who knows how long it will take to get her back up here?"

"Jareth," Elise said again, but this time her voice took on a more pleading tone. "Please help her?"

"And what will I get in return?"

Marie rolled her eyes and scoffed. "I told you not to call him."

"Is there a problem here?" another voice asked suddenly. Everyone whipped around to see a very familiar man. Elise and Marie gasped as they recognized Hozier. He was wearing what he had at the pub with his guitar in a bag strapped to his back. However there was something different about him. His features were sharper, and his hair just a little more wild. His eyes shone brighter as he assessed the situation. "Got yourself stuck, then?" he asked.

"What?" Elise asked at the same time Marie did.

Jareth however, waved him off. "We're fine. You don't need to be here. Go home," his voice held a second element to it and a lower timber indicating he was using magic to compel Hozier.

Hozier only gave him a calculating look though, seemingly unaffected by the magic. "I don't think so," he said. "I get the feeling you were trying to extract payment from these ladies for assistance that we, as fae, are compelled to do anyway. Weren't you, Goblin King?"

"Say what now?" Marie asked looking back and forth between the two.

"You know who he is?" Elise asked.

Hozier nodded. "Of course, I know who he is. His insignia is unmistakable," He gestured at the triangular pendant Jareth wore as his badge of office. "That and we've met before at the last Beltane Festival in the Underground."

Jareth's eyes widened as he finally recognized the other man. "I didn't expect to see you here, your Royal Highness." He gave a low bow. "Pardon my offences. I will help them straight away."

"I don't think so," Hozier frowned. "Consider yourself warned, Goblin King. I shall tell my father, the High King of the Underground of this event. I will help them, and you will magic yourself back to wherever you came from."

"Of course, your Highness," Jareth gave another low bow and disappeared in a cloud of glitter.

"There, now that he's gone, let's get you out of there," he said as he moved forward. He stepped into the fairy ring with Marie and held out both of his long fingered pale hands. Marie hesitated though. "Go on then, I won't bite."

She clasped both of his hands and felt a warm sensation spread over her entire body at the same time a whirlwind blew through the trees, lifting their hair. Hozier stepped backward, pulling Marie back out of the fairy ring. Once they were clear, he let go and gave both her and Elise a smile. "There, now please do be careful. I'm afraid there are more trickster fae out there such as the Goblin King than there are honor bound ones. However if you ever need help, don't hesitate to call."

"Call? How?" Elise asked.

"You only need to ask and I will hear."

"Oh, Jareth is so going to regret not helping me," Marie grinned.

Hozier gave her a concerned look, but didn't comment. "If you'll excuse me, I must return to the Underground. I need to speak with my father about tonight."

"Of course," Elise said and gave a low bow to the crown prince of the fae.

Marie gave a curtsy and when they both looked next, he was gone. "Whoa… I mean I had suspicions that he was fae, but wow," Marie commented.

"Yeah, no kidding! Wait till we tell Dawn about this!" Elise said referring to their friend and fellow Erudite, Dawn Summers.

"Oh she's going to be so jealous!" Marie agreed.

They two continued on their way towards the other side of the park then. "So, when did you learn to actually curtsy?" Elise asked.

"I'm a woman of many talents, Elise. Never doubt that," Marie answered cryptically.

Elise chuckled. "No, never."