Jupiter floated.
In a place in-between. It was strange to describe- It was not space, or a place exactly. Not form or matter. Just... Somewhere in-between.
Across her was herself.
Partly at least.
She was taller, thought vexingly not by much. Her hair was dark and just as black, but so long and nearly to her feet. It looked so incredibly lush, soft to the touch. Her skin was pale but touched with a hint of olive, flawless and smooth. Her eyes, two different orbs of a pale green and pale brown, sparkled at her, framed by heavy lashes. Her lips, blush and plump were set in a distinct and neutral expression.
"I did not think to be reborn would be so confusing," mused the who she thinks was who she was before.
"Did you expect it all?" she asks.
The before- Seraphi smiles. It is not a nice smile. It is perfect, cool beauty on an ageless face, but there is not any life to it. The only thing she could understand from the woman was the distinct impression of cold and exhaustion. And that is not through her smile, but rather from her very being. Jupiter notes, absently and with pleasure and no small amount of vanity, that she will be beautiful. It is a matter-of-fact observation. And the one who she was before is what she will be when she is older a curious thing that she had not thought possible.
"No. No, I did not. Not like this at least. Perhaps a genetic copy of myself in the cosmos, but not like this," her voice is tired, almost dull. But lovely to listen to. There is grace and beauty to everything Seraphi does.
Jupiter frowns.
"I don't want to be you."
Seraphi blinks.
"I do not think that is the purpose of your existence Jupiter. To be me is not what you are."
"I am. But not. You are before. I am now."
Seraphi nods, a small but firm dip of her head.
"You are. But not. I am dead, Jupiter. But you are not. You are new, I am old and gone. We are not the same person, but rather the same soul and that is a distinction that you seem to understand."
"I will be better then what I was. What you are."
Seraphi sighs.
"I suppose that is your purpose- To be better. "
"Is that why I remember what it was like to be you? And how you ended?"
Seraphi gives a strangely crooked grin. It is the only expression that she has given that looks unpracticed and strangely alive because of it.
"Who knows? We could just be crazy for all we know."
Jupiter cannot help but giggle at her wry tone. She returns the smile, a mirror in her childlike face.
"I don't think we are."
"Neither do I."
Silence falls between them. Seraphi hums, gently, a tone that feels so familiar to Jupiter.
"The Verse is a dangerous place," Seraphi says, simply, "You must correct my sins, Jupiter, to be better."
"They are stains on my soul," Jupiter whispers. It is a fact, "You put them there. But only I can wash them away."
Seraphi nods again.
"Yes. I am so sorry that you must make up for what I have done. It is not fair for my Recurrence to fix a system well into place before my own birth and because I was too much of a coward to do it as me. But what is done is done. I am before. You are the now."
Jupiter nods, slowly. Seraphi sighs again, expression fierce and urgent.
"Be gentle as I could not, be wise as I was not, but be as fierce. I had a saying, a mantra that I wished to follow but never seem to be able. I am but the wind. It means to be invisible but present, to be gentle or destructive. To pass like a whisper or a roar."
"I am but the wind," said Jupiter. She nods again, carefully.
The words seem to vibrate within her, strong but gentle. A truth.
Seraphi gave that crooked smile.
"Yes. Be but the wind. But for the sake of us Jupiter, also remember to have fun."
Jupiter laughs, and Seraphi is a deeper and fuller echo.