A/N: Well, hello. This is a re-writing of my previous fic, My Angel. I was completely blocked with it and when I did decide to restart writing, I realized that my style had changed considerably. And I had a little different idea on where to take things.

This story is takes place in Celes before Fai embarked on his journey set by the sadistic son of a Dalek, Fei Wong Reed. Like I mentioned in the note of My Angel, this will be a multi-fandom fic. But since it's AU, you needn't be well versed or even familiar with all the fandoms. I'll put notes at the end of the chapter if there's something from a fandom that needs explaining for anyone who's not familiar with it.

Disclaimer: I do not own TRC, Fairy Tail or the Barimaeus Trilogy or the portal that's being used in the story.

Prologue

Author: XxArtemisxX

Beta: lady sovereign

"Drip, drip, drop."

Thunderheads invaded the sky. The setting sun's slanting rays disappeared behind the rumbling clouds. A steady patter of rain descended, rapidly gaining.

A cold wind picked up, grazing the pale skin of a strange blue-haired woman in a blue dress and blue umbrella.

"Drip, drip, drop." She mumbled again as she sighted her targets.

In a little clearing that slanted away on the side of the asphalt road stood a circle of ancient stones on a rough carpet of grass and sunny buttercups. The Dance of the Gods: it was practically singing with power.

Inside the Dance, a fair-haired girl kneeled by the king's stone. Her bleeding wounds stood out in stark contrast to her pale skin. She was mumbling something to the young Egyptian boy who stood guard outside the stone circle.

The wind picked up again, sending the boy's loincloth fluttering—which unfortunately happened to be the only piece of clothing on him. The girl sent a strangled cry of indignation and hobbled uncomfortably to face the other way. Even the 'blue lady' bristled with discomfort.

"Cover yourself up!" the girl yelled.

"Hurt your virgin eyes, have I?"

"We're standing on holy ground. Put some clothes on!"

The boy sneered and shifted his form to look like the girl's, only with an additional spiked tail and clawed left foot. "Better?"

"Much."

Sighing, Yuki turned her attention back to the king's stone, trying to read the ogham script engraved into the smooth surface.

"I can't understand this," she muttered. "Bartimaeus?"

The other Yuki with the ugly extra features grinned. "If you need my extraordinary services, you'll have to say the magic word."

There was a moment of silence in the clash of wills. Finally Yuki threw her hands up in defeat. Time was of the essence here. "Plea—" she began when a blade whistled past her, gazing her cheek and exploded in a shower of water on one of the Dance's stones.

"Water," the voice was accented, "Slicer!"

Another blade—this one more on the line of its mark—rushed for Yuki who could hardly move with her wounds.

"Bartimaeus!" the girl screamed.

"Yes, yes," drawled the djinni. "I'm on it."

He flourished an electric blue ball and with careful aim and a showy manoeuvre sent it zipping towards the blade. There was a bright flash of green light and a thunderous explosion as the djinni's detonation—for that's what the blue ball was—collided with a tree, way off mark from the blade that was a mere second away now.

It nicked Yuki's arm this time.

"Oops," Bartimaeus said sheepishly.

"I will kill you," threatened Yuki. "I will strangle your essence and burn you!"

The duplicate Yuki rolled her eyes, "Oh sure yo—"

"Water Slicer!"

Quick as a fox, Yuki clapped her hands and pressed them to the earth. The ground rose around her, creating a barrier. Bartimaeus was ready this time around too. The detonation met with the target this time and there was bright flash of green again followed by a boom and then a hiss as steam mingled with smoke.

Bartimaeus transformed. This time into a gargoyle and with a beat of its leathery wings rose into the air. "Come out, come out," the djinni sang. "Let's get a look at you."

"Water Slicer!"

This time the blade came flying for the djinni and it ducked while hurling another detonation.

"Is this a new trend that I hadn't been informed about? This naming of attacks?" Bartimaeus taunted. "I'd like to join in too. Seems rather fun—"

"Water Slicer!"

"Awesome Detonation of Doom!" cried the gargoyle.

This time there was an agonized scream that echoed along with the explosion. The gargoyle whooped and did a complicated somersault in the air. When the smoke cleared, there lay a body sprawled on the ground a few meters away. It was that of a woman, clad in blue, lying face down and her indigo hair spilled around in disarray.

Yuki emerged from behind her mud wall just as Bartimaeus came down, transforming back to the Egyptian boy.

"Is she dead," Yuki asked cautiously.

Bartimaeus shrugged and bent down by the body. Picking up a charred stick that lay beside the woman, he poked her experimentally. The woman groaned.

"Nope," said the djinni. "Unconscious."

"Okay. Good," mumbled Yuki. She turned back to the Dance of the Gods. "Help me with the ogham script before she wakes."

The djinni stood up and turned back around towards the stone portal. Ducking around the mud wall that Yuki had produced, he kneeled by the king's stone. His kohl lined brown eyes regarded the text for a few seconds.

"Well?" Yuki asked.

"Worlds wait," Bartimaeus translated. "Time flows. Gods watch."

A slow hum of power resonated around the circle. Reaching into the leader satchel around her shoulder, Yuki pulled out a crystal wand and lifted it up towards the sky and repeated the words.

"Worlds wait. Time flows. Gods watch."

A thin spear of light cascaded from the heavens and hit the crystal. Yuki shuddered as magic surged up her veins.

The djinni stood up and joined Yuki in a chant. ""Worlds wait. Time flows. Gods watch."

The wind whipped and the crystal shone bright. The words that awakened the portal sounded like a song in Yuki's ears now. Intoxicated with the magic surging through her, she hardly heard the strangely familiar whoosh that flew in her direction. Bartimaeus only just realized what was happening. Yuki had her eyes closed and concentration attached to the words that escaped her lips. The djinni abandoned the chant and positioned for a throw as he produced another of his detonations and aimed for the Water Slicer that cut through the air towards them.

Just as he was about to release the explosive, the wind screeched and the crystal glowed brighter than ever, blinding everyone momentarily. When the light dimmed, the djinni and the girl were no longer inside the circle of stone.

A ripple of magic ran across the entire land of Celes. Even the giants in the Northern Mountains and the Merrow of the Southern seas felt the disturbance in the air.

In the Central library at the heart of Leval Castle, the king's apprentice lifted his head from the book he'd been reading and narrowed his cerulean eyes at the bright, blinding flash of light that emitted from twin hills located a few miles from the castle.

He stood up and moved towards the window as he realized that that's where the Dance of the Gods was located. This was a rather...interesting development. That portal was not to be used without authorization and as far as he was aware, no one had requested passage through the Dance as of late. Which could only mean that the flash had not been that of a departure but that of an arrival.

We have guests.

And not just any guests. Unexpected, uninvited and very powerful guests. He smiled and then raised his eyebrows in surprise as a bright green light followed seconds after at the Dance.

That's never happened before. Definitely interesting.

A/N: For anyone who hasn't read the Bartimaeus Trilogy (which, by the way, you really should), Detonations are common, simple-to-cast spells of varying degrees of power (depending on the caster), used primarily in fierce combat. They appear to be large green explosions (although blue before thrown, as depicted in The Ring of Solomon) usually strong enough to blow apart walls or 'vaporize' a human being.

Also, the Dance of the Gods belongs to Nora Roberts. It's found in the Circle Trilogy. I know that fics on her work aren't allowed here so this is not a NR fic in any way. I'm not using any of her characters. Only a portal for convinience.

So, anyway, if you're reading this, I'd be really grateful if you could take a few seconds to let me know what you think. Reviews are the greatest motivator. I'll be posting the first chapter soon. See you then.