My power was far to much for those stupid people of Solaris... their gear forces were scattered before me like leaves on an fall day. The city itself, Eterank, capital of Solaris, shudders along its axis, perparing for its long descent to the surface... to its fiery death.

To its final destruction.

I laugh softly, in my own, special way. To destroy has been my only purpose since my creation... since my expulsion from the greater part of myself. To let the world feel the pain that I was forced to endure, the pain that has been my only life.

I sail far above Eterank for a moment, Weltall is its 'true' form hanging there like some obscene angel, suspended upon six wings of light and dripping with blood. This gear, this Weltall, has been a part of me... what Fei refuses to accept, I embrace. What he hates, I cherish. This gear is a living, breathing extension of myself, an engine with which I can deliver my hatred to the world.

I am the destroyer. I am Id.

They have feared me since I was 'born'. Born in hatred, rage, and pain. They call me 'Grahf's second Advent'. They fear that because my power is so similar to his, I will destroy the world.

They will learn not for fear me for whom I resemble, but for who I am. The world will once again feel the tender kiss of the assassin Id. I will let cities burn, let mountains be turned to gravel, until I have ground this world to dust. Until I have made everyone else feel what I feel.

A sparkle catches me eye. The flash below announces the death of over a million people... those who had not died when I rampaged through Eterank. The city falls to the earth in a brilliant fireball, an all comsuming flare of energy.

Again, a sparkle catches my eye. The flying sandcruiser... They too shall not escape my wrath. Like an avenging angel, I fall towards them, watching as they try to evade. Their efforts will amount to nothing, in the end. No one has ever run from me... no one has lived to say that they have...

...

I should have expected her. But for some reason, I did not. Elly stood there, before me, stating her defiance of my power. The fool... I could reach out, and crush her with one hand, and no even break a sweat. I should not even respond to her... I should just do it. Kill her there, where she stands.

But something makes me stop. A small part of myself... not the coward, not 'Fei', but part of myself. A small part, deep down, recognizes her... identifies with her. I put my hand to my head, shaking it. Why was I called here? Why did Fei's mental energy drop so low, allowing me to come on stage...?

...

The aura of ether energy around Elly was intense, pushing everyone back a step. Her rage was visable... how could it not be? The executioner stood there, her head cocked in posture of interest. We couldn't see her face, obscured as it was by the mask.

"Interesting... having such an Ether level, even in an unawakened state." she commented, glancing over at Grahf with a disinterested expression. The masked man nodded slightly.

The executioner raiser her staff again... just as she had when she had destroyed Elly's father, and his gear. A pinpoint of light grew into a blinding flash, and Elly screamed.

I watched through Fei's eyes, in my 'true' body... The only body I was permitted to have while this inferior personality remained on stage. I heard Elly scream... a scream that I had heard before, in my memories.

"No!" I shouted, slamming myself against the barrier around me, like a wild animal. I heard Fei echo my scream, as he took a step towads Elly. The executioner's staff glowed even brighter, and everyone around me was caught in it. The pain was intense... I could even feel it, cut off as I was from the rest of my body. The slammed on the restrains even harder, feeling them weakening.

Fei took another, faltering step. "Elly... no..." he was saying. I could feel his desire to help her, to protect her, as he had been unable to protect her from Krelian.

It swirled around me, a visable force, drawn to a similar force. Drawn by my desire.

To protect?

That thought makes me pause. Why do I have this... feeling? Competely out of context with the rest of my life... not rage, not pain, not anger. A feeling sparked by... a memory? A dream? A bit of warmth, of love... something I have not felt in a long time.

Fei takes another step, moving towards Elly. The pain intensifies... the executioner is not going to stop until we all collapse, or die. I can feel Fei weakening... but not enough. Not enough for me to force my way on stage... not enough for me to act.

I claw at the walls imposed around me, screamed at the top of my metaphysical lungs. "DAMN YOU! DO IT, OR LET ME! BUT STOP STANDING THERE!" I can feel Fei start... he hears me. He asks who I am... not that I intend to answer. I watch as he falls to one knee, no longer able to stand against the pain.

I slam into the barrier again and again, to no avail. His will, his desire, is too strong for me to penetrate. I can feel his growing desperation, MY growing desperation. Snatches of those dreams are coming to me... dreams that Fei catches glances of. Dreams that haunt my sleep, night after night. Dream of who I was... of who I could have been, if not for that coward.

And in all of them, I see HER.

"Damn you!" I scream at Fei, unable to stand his weakness, his inability to move. For perhaps the first time in my life, I place to force of my own will behind his, driving him beyond his limits. Driving him to the point of accessing MY power.

Fei manages to rise to his feet, glaring his defiance at the executioner. He takes another step foward.

A heartbeat.

The executioner intensifies her attack, forcing Fei to give up that step. And then another. And another.

"Help me..." Fei begs, silently in his mind. Ask for someone, anyone, to help him. To help him save Elly. "Please... Elly..."

A heartbeat.

I can feel Fei's personality falling backwards, into darkness. I see my chance, try to leap, to take the stage. I scream in pain and rage as the barrier stop me, restrain me, hold me in place. his will is still there, not folding even as he begins to lose consiouness. Not for the first time, I find myself admiring his tenacity. I reach out, and catch the falling spark that is Fei.

The cross swings against the background of my memories.

"Sleep now." I whisper, softly, as if talking to a child. "Sleep, and I'll take care of everything."

I feel Fei moving aside. I feel the barriers fall away, like a silken spider webs. And I laugh, softly.

Eyes, my eyes, open to see the executioner standing over Elly, bending to pick her up. A flash of anger travels along my veins... how dare that woman try to take my ELLY? The power is there... it always has been, available to me alone. Perhaps that coward could have used it, if he were so inclined, but he would never take the stage. He would never to anything that would endanger his happiness.

I will not allow anyone to endanger my own sense of happiness... that small glow of warmth that I feel everytime I see her. The bit of love I can draw up from my distant memories.

A shockwave ripples along the walkway as I telekeneticly alter Fei's clothing, into my deep red body suit. My hair changes, from his dirty black to the glorious red that I so love. And my now golden eyes glare at the executioner in contempt.

"Touch her." I whisper, gently. "And you death will take YEARS longer than the one I have already planned for you."

She jerks he head up in surprise... I can almost see her paling inside of her mask. I smile, almost smelling the fear of those around me.

The walkway behind me explodes as Weltall arrives.

I am Id.

I will protect that which is mine.

...

Perhaps this confrontation was inevitable... as inevitable as the freezing of day by nights icy grip, of the breaking of that grip by days first golden lights. Perhaps I had to face her... Or she had to face me.

"Give Fei back to me!" Elly shouts, Vierge brandishing its rod towards me. I can hear her every word, even without the benefit of the comm system. I know what she is thinking, I can see what is in her heart... after all, I know her better than she knows herself. Part of me is angry for this... does she really love 'me'? That part of me that is Fei? It is not just anger, but envy... envy for the fool who has won this woman's heart. Envy, because I was not the one to be able to do it.

That part of me sceams for me to kill her, to make Fei pay for taking her. Another part, quiet and calm, asks if I would ever be able to live with myself if I did so. So I do not attack... I respond with words... words that I have seldom used to anther being. For the first time, I ask a question... not a threat, not a demand, as I have always done, but a question.

"Do you really want him back? Would you be willing to die for him?" I don't know what else to say... is this all that I have to express myself? Again, I pause and take stock. Do I even know the word 'love'? Is it a concept, or a feeling? I have no answers... if Elly truely is the woman from my dreams, perhaps...

"Yes. Yes, if that is what it takes... kill me now! Strike me down, and let Fei go!" Her response tells me much... the conviction in her voice, the resolution in her spirit. Again, I envy Fei... I have never had anyone offer to die for me. The feeling is... unusual. Understanding, compassion? Again, I have to words with which to reply.

For a moment, my reason slips away in her rejection of me... consumed by the flare of rage, envy, and pain. "Good girl." I whisper, softly, lovingly. "Die now."

Before she can reply, Weltall slamms into her, nearly crushing Vierge's cockpit. I hear Elly gasp in pain, panting. Then, her gear reaches back, slamming its fist into Weltall's cockpit... slamming it into me. I grunt as the metal compresses around me, biting into my bodysuit.

"No... I never let go... I'll... never... let go... Fei..." She whispers, obviously in pain. Her voice, so weak and feint, tears at my heart. It erases all doubt from my mind... this is the woman from my dreams. The dreams that filled me with happiness, no matter how bittersweet it may be. I push Vierge from my gear, watching as she falls to the deck.

"Perhaps... this woman is... the one..." I gasp out, breathing heavily. There is something clamped around my heart... guilt? Sorrow?

"El...ly..." The voice is my own, yet not. Within the field of my mind, I feel the barrier again, beginning to surrond me.

"Damn! He's waking up!" I swear aloud, realizing what is happening. How? He surrendered control to me... he should no be able to awaken until _I_ release control! He... should... not...

Unless I help him. Unless some small part of me wants to help him. Unless I want to go to sleep. Unless... I want to protect Elly. I glance across at her gear, looking at the massive hole I put there. I remember the pain in her voice, the curious sense of guilt, sorrow... To protect her, by not being there.

There will be other times, I reason. I withdraw to my corner, and sit there waiting. I watch as Fei climbs from his gear, running towards Vierge. I watch, and I wait.

There will be other times, other chances. Until then, I can wait... here, with my dreams. Dreams... or distant memories. Of one woman.

I can wait.

One, my mother told me I was an angel. A perfect, little angel. That I would make all of her dreams come true. I may not have been able to do that for her, or for who she became. Perhaps I can do it for Elly.

I place my hand against the image, upon Elly's cheek at Fei stares down at her. "Sleep well, dear Elly." I whisper, softly. "Your guardian angel is watching over you. And upon our blood, neither of us will let you come to harm."

Again, I wonder if I will ever understand half of what Fei feels for this woman. Perhaps, someday... long in the future. When I have had a chance to grow, to learn... to live.

I am Id.

I am the destroyer. The slayer of God.

I am the protector. And God help anyone who harms those I care for.