Disclaimer: I do not own FF7 or any related materials, those are all Square Enix. This writing, however, is mine.

Warning: eventual yaoi, eventual dark stuff, etc. Possible language, alcohol, unethical scientific practices and other such, possibly sensitive topics. If any of these things bug you, turn back now.

Author's Note: so, I asked myself earlier today, what if Dr. Gast hadn't died? What if he had lived long enough to raise Sephiroth? That would make him a really different person, right? Well, my muse has latched on, so here we go. I realize this is AU, because of the different Sephiroth and Gast being around. Let a writer have some fun, k? This also means that Aeris was never born. You guys have no idea how happy that makes me.

A SOUL SEEKING HOLY

Prologue: What Have We Done?

"I do not approve of what you are doing here, Hojo."

"You started it." A smile spread on his thin lips, the flickering mako light illuminating only parts of his face, giving it a grotesque look. That light glinted across his glasses, concealing those malicious eyes, though Gast knew exactly what was in there. At one time, he had trusted Dr Hojo. And then, Hojo had been taken over by ambition and became this. It wasn't right. "This is your project, after all."

"It was all theory when I worked on it! I never thought it would be put into practice!" Gast took a step forward, tension taking his brows, his jaw, as he saw what was behind Hojo. There was a medical chair, partially reclined, with a woman sitting on it. Gast recognized her immediately, with her brown hair, spun up in a golden ribbon, her pretty face, which was slack now. Lucrecia and Hojo had been inseparable for a while, and now Gast knew why.

She was pregnant. She was the one who was carrying the monster Hojo had created. Gast, even in the dim light, could see the faintly glowing needle on the table next to her. It was empty, but had just recently carried within it mako. It made Gast's stomach flop. She was taking mako treatments as well as the initial intake of Jenova cells. Gast was surprised the baby had not died, or that Lucrecia hadn't. It was… a miracle and a nightmare all the same.

"The child is due in a week's time." Hojo turned back to his computer, no doubt typing up the results of his latest experiment on the duo. It was sickening. But, with her already this far along, it would be even more unethical to abort the pregnancy. There was nothing Gast could do, and Hojo seemed to be relishing in that fact. "Soon, all of the world shall tremble as ShinRa's own personal army is born in this one boy."

There was something he could do.

"If President ShinRa found out about your interdepartmental relationship with Dr Crescent, where would all of your research go?"

The scientist froze, turning slowly, eyes widening behind his glasses. Gast felt a smile of his own twisting onto his lips. Being the head of ShinRa's Science Department had its advantages. For the longest time, Gast was going to abandon this project, leave it behind and never look back. But then he realized, scientists like Hojo and Hollander needed someone to look over them, to serve as a moral compass. Too bad he had found out too late.

"What do you want from me?"

Gast's smile grew. He already knew exactly what he wanted. Though he would not step in and intervene with Hollander, since he had given the children born normal lives with normal parents. Hojo hadn't been planning on doing that with this child. That just wouldn't do.

The baby made a soft cooing sound. Gast had yet to hear it cry. He moved the blanket away from its puffy, baby-fat face, looking down at it. There was a small amount of hair on its head. For a moment he thought the child would be oddly platinum blond, but upon closer inspection, found out it was even stranger. Silvery, almost white. Gast ran a hand over it, the baby cooing again, opening its eyes just a little.

Those eyes were violet, like Jenova's. That made his stomach clench, his heart too, and Gast held his breath. The child's eyes would not remain that color for long, he knew. Part of the agreement with Hojo was that the boy would receive mako treatments as soon as he was one, and from then on. And, in return, Gast could raise the child. It would make all the difference, he was sure.

Hojo didn't have a human touch. Hojo hadn't even mourned when Lucrecia died in childbirth. Hojo just saw the boy as another experiment, a number in a file.

To Gast, the boy would be more. Hojo had insisted upon his being named Sephiroth, for some reason. It was an ancient term, part of the Tree of Life, which they figured the Ancients had called the Lifestream, before they understood what it really was. And Sephiroth was one of those Ancients, because of Jenova. Gast smiled.

At least something good had come out of this experiment. Gast would make something good out of it.