Turning
The aged man, presumed dead, bobbed his head in recognition. "Indeed. But, you probably can't recognize me after so long, can you? Aside from my voice. You always could remember voices."
Vincent shook his head. "But...how is that possible? You were thought to be dead..."
"As were you, and Lucrecia, and Sephiroth, before the Meteor incident. People have a habit of coming back to life, don't they?"
"But how?"
Gast shook his head sadly. "Well, my rival, Hojo, ordered his guards to shoot me. But Shinra guards are notorious for having bad aim. Hit me in the shoulder, and broke my collarbone." He sighed. "I was nursed back to health by a wonderful, sweet woman afterwards, after they took Ifalna and little Aeris." He smiled wistfully. "A lovely woman, indeed. She helped me get over the loss of that Ancient, and we were married afterwards. We moved to Junon."
"Why did you lay low, though? Why didn't you come out?"
"Well, a number of reasons. Shinra and Hojo were probably still after me. Besides, I wanted to stay with my wife. We had three beautiful children, kind and sweet as their mother. But then...the war happened."
Vincent looked at him oddly. "Which war?"
"The Shinra-Junon war, of course. Sephiroth led the forces for Shinra; they were just testing him out as a general. He succeeded masterfully." Gast sighed nostalgically. "My little creation, all grown up."
Vincent repressed a shudder. "You sound like Hojo."
Gast laughed. "Hojo and I are more alike than one would think. I suppose I'm just better at hiding it. But back to my story. Somehow, my connections with Shinra came out. The Junon rebels found out. One night, when I was out working...they murdered my family. All except my wife and one of my children. I learned they fled to Midgar only several years later, once my wife, Kailyn, was dead of the cold and starvation, and my daughter unreachable, deep within the clutches of Shinra, completely turned against me, I'm sure." He looked an openmouthed Elena straight in the eyes and raised an eyebrow. "Was she turned against me?"
"Kailyn...Mother..." Elena gasped. "No...That can't be!"
Gast chuckled. "Why can't it? You have all the facts. Why can't it be true?"
"Because...Because I was born just outside of Midgar!" she exclaimed. "I wasn't born in Junon. My mother told me I was illegitimate. I never had any brothers or sisters! You're just a deluded old man!"
"Ah, poor Elena Saynha Gaciam..." he sighed. "You were only two at the time. You probably couldn't remember anything. After all, it was so long ago. Your mother told you that you were just another bastard child, but you were my daughter."
Once it was so baldly stated, it seemed to hang in the air. Elena shook her head in denial. "No...No. I am no one's daughter. I'm just another unclaimed child born because of a night's entertainment. I am not the daughter of someone who has played with lives. I am not the daughter of someone who should be dead! My father did not create Sephiroth. My father did not play god. My father was some faceless, nameless-"
"Scientist who is standing before you," he interrupted.
"Oh, my god..." she whispered. "No..." She turned and fled from the room. Several of the guards started to run after her, but Gast chuckled and shook his head.
"I expect she'll get herself pretty well lost, and a couple of days of wandering around the halls with no food or water will teach her not to run off." He laughed again, a bit cruelly. "From what I remember, she always was a brash, foolish girl. Maybe she'll end up starving to death. Wouldn't that be ironic."
Vincent ran to the door to stop her, but she was gone. He shook his head, then looked at Gast in shock. "She's your daughter, and you don't even care if she dies?"
"Why do you care, Valentine?" Gast snarled. "You've always been singularly heartless. Maybe she means something to you?" He scowled. "Maybe a bit more than my sister meant to you."
Vincent glowered at him. "I loved Lucrecia. She meant everything to me...But she abandoned me. I was not responsible. You experimented on her. Why should you blame me?"
"Because...you were not able to love her well enough. You were not willing to sacrifice everything for her." Gast smiled almost dreamily at the ceiling, the madness in his burning brightly. "Odd. When we experimented on you, such an accusation would have sent you into a self-destructive depression. Or into a blind rage. Perhaps my daughter means quite a bit, quite a bit indeed."
"I don't love Elena," he protested weakly. "She's merely a colleague of mine, and calling us friends would be a stretch."
Gast laughed. "But often love comes from bitter hate."
"What are you trying to do, play matchmaker?" snarled Vincent. "What did you want us here for?"
"Oh, nothing, nothing," he sighed. "Can't two old friends catch up on old times?"
"Friends. Ha. Funny." Vincent snorted. "I'd say you relinquished the title of friend when you ruined my life."
Gast sighed. "That's a pity." He glanced at the watch he was wearing and sighed. "Oh, well, it seems I must go. So much to do, so many lives to ruin, hm?" He walked off with a sort of wave to Vincent. The guards walked off, pulling Vincent along behind them, and returned to the cell. He was disappointed to see that Elena hadn't been found yet, then reminded himself that as long as she was out, they had a chance for escape.
He lay on the bed with a small groan and covered his eyes with his arm. If only the arm with my claw wasn't injured...I could have killed him. But then, what would Elena think of me if I killed her father?
He noted with surprise that he was thinking of Elena and what she would think almost before what he would do. Was Gast possibly right...? No...I can't be falling in love with Elena. She's just someone we hired to help us. I can't fall in love. It's just not possible!
He thought in wonderment of all that had happened that day. Professor Gast is the enemy, and he's Elena's father...How very odd. No; "odd" doesn't even begin to describe it. I never would have believed this was possible even a week ago.
"Ohhh, poor Vincent," cooed an incessantly annoying voice from outside his cell. "Lost his little girlfriend, has he?"
"Go away." Vincent sighed and didn't even remove his arms from over his eyes. "You're becoming a pest, 'Crecia. And stop insulting your niece."
"Hah. Do you think to shock me into silence with that? I knew that long before you had any inkling that I was still alive." She snorted rudely. "You really do say stupid things, sometimes."
"I need my sleep. From now on, I'm going to listen to nothing you say. Good night." Then again, a week ago I wouldn't have dared to speak like that to Lucrecia. Now...I know she hates me. Odd how it doesn't even bother me any more. Odd...
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