Welcome again to Portal! I am very happy that you have decided that I'm not completely retarded with writing and have continued reading. I hope you left a review; those make my day! Plus, I can gloat that people do like me and rub it in my stupid brother's face! Anyway, read on for chapter 2!

Jack watched the JackBot come back through the portal with a large box. Following close behind the robot, there was a person, a girl, carrying another box and suitcase, and a bright green bag slung over her should. Jack didn't get a good look at her because she rushed away from the portal and quickly hopped down from the platform. She deposited her things on the floor.

"Hurry up and close it! My step-dad is IN the driveway and on his way into the house, and I'd prefer it if he and my stupid brother stay over in that world thank you!" she yelled. Jack had to turn around to his control panel and hurried to shut the machine off. He flipped several switches and pushed buttons and finally he shut the thing down. The portal between the walls of the machine disappeared and the lair fell silent, save for the girl's panting for breath.

"That was close—shit, NOW what's happening?" a female voice said. Jack turned and stared in shock. It seemed as if bits of the portal still clung to the girl. She was completely engulfed in pink, purple, and even bright blue. The colors were spinning around her and hiding her from view.

"This should be interesting," Wuya commented drily. She floated around to peer over Jack's shoulder.

'Asta's mind was reeling. She was aware that things were changing but she'd never had this happen to her before. (1) All the colorful sparks swirling around her were making her dizzy.

She felt a prickling sensation all over her skin, making her shudder. The top of her head grew hot and the feeling trickled down the sides and the back of her head, too. Her eyes began to burn and her face was itchy. She wanted to scratch, but she was frozen; she couldn't move! It was hard to breathe, and several jolts of electricity shot up and down her spine numerous times. She couldn't even scream for the astounding pain that gripped her. A splitting headache made itself known and her teeth felt as if they were being ripped out one by one. Her bones felt hot, like they were melting.

When it was over, her legs refused to support her weight anymore and she collapsed, gasping for air. The light vanished and suddenly 'Asta could feel the cold concrete floor beneath her begin to sap her body heat.

When she had collapsed, Jack rushed to her side and helped her to stand. He kept a hold of her elbow while she rubbed her head, trying to make the memory of pain go away.

"Are you okay?" Jack asked. 'Asta nodded.

"I am now. That was…strange. And painful. What happened?"

"Dunno." Jack admitted. He let her elbow go. "You gonna be okay now?" He was secretly freaking out.

"Yeah, I am." At that moment, she spotted a full length mirror in the corner and saw her reflection. "No way…" she muttered. She walked slowly up to it, confused and cautious, as if it were dangerous. When she stopped in front of it, she had the barest of smiles on her face. She touched her cheeks with her fingertips, tracing her bones and the contours of her face.

She whipped around to face Jack, who came up behind her. "Is this trick mirror?" she demanded of him.

"No, why?"

"Because I've changed. I look different. I remember when I was younger, before I stopped seeing my dad, that I kinda looked like this. Only smaller and young.

Her eyes roamed freely over the reflection as she turned to it again. After spending most of her excessive free time with her mother and her mother's family, 'Asta had begun to lose her father's traits. She believed in the chameleon effect, especially when she had started to look more like her mother, something she definitely did NOT want. At age 17, she was already almost the spitting image of her. The only things different were her colorings. Her hair, her eyes, and her skin tones were the only things that had stayed true, although they had already begun to change. Particularly her skin.

Staring into the mirror, however, she was surprised to see her father's features writ there once more. Her face had been wide and blockish before. Now it was narrower and smoother. The shape of her eyes had also returned to that of which they had been when she was little. Big and beautiful.

One of the things that had constantly changed throughout her life had been the irises of her eyes. They had been hazel; they were still somewhat hazel. But throughout her lifetime, they had always shifted, from different shades of amber-flecked to dark shades of green-brown; they still retained the speckles of gold sprinkled within them. Later in life, they had brightened and shifted into a more noticeable green, if you happened to be looking at them and wondering what color they were.

'Asta squinted slightly and took off her glasses. Her eyes grew wide as the world came into sharp focus. No more slight fuzzy edges!

"Perfect vision? That's new!" Perfect vision wasn't common on her mother's side of the family. Of course, maybe 50% of the American population wore glasses or contacts now anyway, so 'Asta had never really minded. Her glasses tended to help her hide when she wanted to, or make her stand out when she didn't. But they always cast shadows over her eyes. Now though, they stood out extra bright as the darkness was lifted and the world was no-longer framed in a little black box.

She looked in the mirror again and examined her eyes once more. They had changed like the rest of her. Whatever magic that had taken place had made them almost glow with the bright energetic green that had filled them. The intricate swirls of her irises were outlined neatly in pale green and splashed with golden scraps of tincture.

Another thing she noticed was that her nose wasn't as wide as it used to be. Without her glasses, 'Asta could see that the small horizontal dent that had formed from wearing glasses for 12 years had gone, leaving the bridge of her nose straight and perfect. She could no longer find fault with it.(2)

Jack watched 'Asta inspect herself. He turned and ordered the JackBot that had gone through the portal, "Take her things upstairs to the left wing bedroom on the second floor. The one toward the front of the house. We'll be up later." The JackBot floated away with the box 'Asta had had it carry through the portal. Jack ordered two more JackBots to carry the smaller box, the suitcase, and the green bag to what would be 'Asta's room.

'Asta noted these things in the back of her mind and continued her inspection. Her upper retainer was hurting her. Making sure Jack didn't see, she popped out the top piece and the bottom piece and held them in her hand. The top was cracked and bent out of shape! She examined her teeth in the mirror. Having had to endure 3 years of braces and a pervy orthodontist,(3) her teeth were close to being perfect. Her mouth had been fixed and her teeth straightened. They had to be; $5,000 worth of dental work had better be worth something! 'Asta shuddered. Now she had to wear retainers for 2 years to make sure the changes were permanent.

'That's why my teeth were hurting,' she thought. 'They were being repositioned and straighten even more. 17 months of work done in 7 seconds.' The little ridges left over from when her adult teeth were coming in had gone away, leaving perfectly straight, sharp edges. Her teeth were also unnaturally white, like the models' on TV. 'Asta smiled. Her canines had grown sharp and pointed, returned to their former glory after their predecessors had been forcefully ripped out. They were one of the traits from her mother's side that she really liked, and it came from her mother's father's family. Vampire teeth, straight and sharp, gleamed prominently and proudly among a set of beautiful and now faultless teeth.

Next, 'Asta noticed her hair. To her dismay, she found that the dye had been cleaned out, but her hair was still different than what it'd been before. When she was young, as in, pre-school young, her hair had been a beautiful soft gold that glowed brightly when illuminated in direct sunlight. It was always smooth and shiny; she had baby-fine hair. Although it was difficult to style, it worked perfectly just lying down naturally. As 'Asta had gotten older, the color slowly darkened until it was caramel colored. It would still shine dazzling gold when in direct sunlight, but it was still not the same. Now it was. Her hair was still thick and long and straight, no style but its natural style of being wild-rolled-out-of-bed-yet-in-a-tame-ish-way-so-it-looks-amazing, but now the color was the same as it had been when 'Asta was a toddler, and not a dirty dishwater blonde that looked more like a brown.

She lifted a hand and touched her hair. It felt the same too! Smooth and soft… She brushed it every day, morning, noon, and night, and often times in between as well. It was hardly ever tangled; a perk of having her particular hair type.

Her skin used to be an Indian sort of tan. Her father's side of the family were part-Native American. She herself was part Indian. She had the same evenness in her skin that her father had had. While her father had darker skin than her, her's was pretty dark. And yet it was pale tan as well. She had always wondered why her skin used to seem like it changed colors. She had discovered that she was light-skinned around her father, and dark-skinned around her mother. 'Asta's mother had told he it was her imagination, that she had her father's skin. But after she stopped seeing her father's family as often as she used to, her skin had begun to lose her father's coloring. It was still there in her arms and back, but everywhere else had adjusted to match her mother's type of skin. Which wasn't good, in 'Asta's opinion. (4)

'Asta hated how red or pink or how purely pale and blotched her mother's skin sometimes seemed. Her own skin had begun to betray her by allowing these traits to pop up, particularly in her face. However, her skin had reverted back to its Native American roots, though still somewhat pale in that peculiar way it was before. In the dim light of Jack's lair, though, she still seemed to give off a golden sort of glow, if very faintly.

'Asta had her old face. That's why it had been so itchy and sore when the changes took place. Her mother's face was gone and she had her own face back. 'Asta almost didn't recognize herself at the first glance into the mirror. Her eyes were naturally big and her lips held no pout. Her face was more defined in this state, even though the last time 'Asta had worn this face she had been 9 or 10. It was almost the same; it had been aged to match the rest of her.

One of the things that hadn't changed on her face were actually two somethings. Her two beauty marks were still in their usual places: one on either cheek, evenly spaced from her nose, left mark slightly higher than the right. They blended into her skin a little more evenly, but they were still a medium brown.

'Asta stared and smiled. If she could see the image of her soul, she felt sure that it would look just like she did now. She looked exactly as she felt!

Her tummy was flat again; no slight awkward pudge or teenage hormones slowing her metabolism down. Her muscles were slightly more toned and firmer than they had been before 'Asta had grown less active. She was leaner and taller, her waist was slimmer. She had filled out and all the natural fat in her body had finally moved to all the right places. And she had proper muscle build!(5)

Among all these alterations, which only she could truly see, 'Asta saw that while she had lost the diminutive amount of fat that had so stubbornly stuck around for the last 3 years, her bones didn't exactly jump out like they used to. She was still bony, but in a softer kind of way that was less noticable.

'Asta looked at her hands. Her fingers were tapered and straight, all except the pinky on her right hand. It still looked the same as it was. An injury long ago had rendered the digit crooked at the second joint, one up from the knuckle. Its current condition was permanent. 'Asta didn't mind though. She liked her scars.

And while she was thinking about it, 'Asta figured she'd better make sure they didn't all disappear. She proceeded to inspect her arms, legs, and the right side of her face.(6)

"What are you doing?" Jack asked, amused.

"I look like me again. I get to look the way I feel, and I get to keep my scars. Although they're a lot fainter than I remember, they're still there. I'm fine now. Thanks for the save!"

Jack smiled a little. "Don't mention it. I'd like to have a little help when the next Shen-Gong-Wu pops up. Um, what's your name? You never exactly said." 'Asta blinked and said, "I didn't tell you 'cos I don't plan on going by my old name. I'll make up a new one, I just gotta think." Jack shrugged.

"Sure. Whatever floats your boat." He beckoned for 'Asta to follow him and he led her upstairs.

The mansion was huge. Jack led 'Asta past the party hall, the kitchen, the dining room, the meeting hall, and several other rooms that 'Asta couldn't name right away, until they reached the foyer. 'Asta , always having an eye for art and architecture, stood in awe of the elegant room as Jack led her through the several rooms into it. 'Asta marveled at the many statues and sculptures, the many paintings adorning the walls, and the immense staircase that split off in two directions at the top, leading to separate wings on the first floor.

Jack took her up the flight of stairs, well aware of the girl's increasing joy at the beauty of the mansion. He smiled, warmth glowing in his chest as he thought about the ego boost he was getting. Truly, if the girl was so amazed by this 'mediocrity', she mustn't be too smart. 'Oh well,' Jack thought. 'The stupid were meant to be led, I suppose. It might be nice to have a stupid friend, though. Although I really hope she isn't a really dumb blonde...'

Jack brought her to her room and opened the door. He glanced at her and froze. This was the first time he really looked at her eyes. There was something about the way she was looking around that intrigued him. Her eyes were not glazed over with the dull glass of ignorance and stupidity. There was a light behind those green eyes that darted everywhere and scrutinized all they lighted upon. And those eyes were focused, unwavering, on him. For just a split second, Jack was caught in the swirling eddies of harlequin, with pools of intelligence hidden behind the intensity of her gaze. The next second, she wasn't even facing him anymore, and was stepping into the room. Jack shook his head, trying to clear it of the questions that seemed to pop up out of the depths of his brain.(7)

When 'Asta walked into her room, she fell in love with it immediately. The walls were painted a sky blue and three sets of windows were set into the wall opposite the door. Centered underneath the middle window was a dark wood desk. Against the right wall, in the corner, was a single-sized bed with blue sheets and a navy comforter. On the other side of the room, in the left corner against the wall with the windows, there was a tall, empty bookcase. Set into the left wall, there was a closet. It didn't have doors; there was a curtain rod attached to the wall above it. Black lace curtains hung down, draped off to either side with silk black tassels.

'Asta walked into the middle of the room and slowly turned, looking around and admiring. In the left corner of the closet wall, a big plush armchair lounged angled toward the center of the room. Behind it, there stood a reading lamp, an arm extending directly over the seat. Beside the chair, a round antique side table stood faithfully, ready for use.

Jack watched her unpack. First, she emptied the suitcase. She pulled out three fabric-bound binders and set them on the bookshelf. She tossed the bed's pillow to Jack, who fumbled for a moment before holding it, and she replaced it with her own. The pillowcase on it almost matched; it was horizontally striped with different shades of green and blue, with thin strips of white in between. She took a fuzzy pink butterfly-print blanket, folded it twice in half, and laid it across the end of the bed.

"What is that for?" Jack asked. 'Asta smoothed out the blanket.

"Do you really want to get to know me or are you just curious?" she answered. Jack thought for a second. He know that she must know a lot about his world already. She claimed to be a fan of his. Both her knowledge and her loyalty would come in handy in his quest for world dominance. And also, she was the only person he could think of besides Wuya who wanted to be around him. It would be nice to have an actual friend for once.

"I want to genuinely get to know you," Jack answered honestly. "If you're gonna be staying here and working for me, I might as well, right? Especially if you're gonna help me take over the world."

"Right," 'Asta answered. Wuya floated through a wall to watch them. 'Asta sat on her bed with the suitcase. "I brought photo albums from home," she said, gesturing to the bookcase were the 3 binders were stored. "Memories are a person's greatest treasure." Jack nodded.

"And the pillow and blanket?" he asked.

"I find it harder to sleep without my memory foam. I think it is THEE best material to sleep on, and so comfortable." Jack and Wuya drew blank looks.

"Culture shock," Wuya muttered. 'Asta tossed Jack the pillow and he dropped the other one just in time. After giving it a few tentative squeezes, he laughed out loud.

"This is pretty cool stuff! We don't have this kind yet." he said, tossing it back. 'Asta replaced it on the bed.

"The blanket was a Christmas present from my dad. Since everything else my father has given throughout the years was confiscated and thrown out, that blanket is all I have.(8) It's one of the few exceptions to my hatred of pink."(9) She paused to make a face before continuing. "I have memories and photos, but it's nice to have something tangible to hold on to."

Next, she pulled our a little brown lump. It was limp and floppy, but the look 'Asta gave it was one of pure adoration. She straightened it out and Jack noticed that it had eyes and a face. There were four limp appendages attached to the main lump that was supposedly the body.

"This is Flopper. She's my stuffed dog. You can laugh all you want, Jack, but she's one of my prized possessions."

Jack, who was stifling his snickers rather unsuccessfully, asked, "And how did this come to be? It doesn't even look like a dog! It's more of a dead baby bear." 'Asta ignored Jack's laughter and mockery. She arranged her little dog at the head of the bed reverently.

"When I first moved into Coloma(10), I got her for Easter. It was the first Easter in our new house and when I came back from my grandmother's house, she was sitting in a little basket on my headboard, waiting for me. I've had her from a very young age, and she's the oldest toy I have. I couldn't leave her behind. It would've felt like abandoning a baby on a mountain, or betraying a good and loyal friend who didn't deserve it." She then went back and pulled out a knitted doll. Jack groaned.

"And what is that?" he asked, laughter still in his voice. 'Asta scowled at him.

"This is Gloria. She was a keepsake from Iceland and I saved her from being sent into the dump." Jack took a look at the thing. She was wearing an old fashioned purple dress with white trim, ruffled in the back, and a purple bowler hat over dark brown hair. She had pretty blue eyes sewn into her face and full pink lips.

"I think that was a mistake on your part," he mumbled shrewdly. He chuckle at the glower sent his way.(11)

Wuya looked bored and frustrated. "Are you good or evil?" she asked bluntly. 'Asta paused in her unpacking, then answered, "It's not as strictly clear-cut in my world as it is here. We throw the term 'evil' around like it's a compliment, which, in my group, it is. (:D) Being evil is a good thing where I'm from. It's kinda funny. I dunno. Lemme think on it. In the meantime, help me unpack."

Jack consented and opened the big box and started hanging up clothes. He made faces at most of the stuff inside.

"Dude, your wardrobe sucks!" 'Asta sighed, rifling through another box.

"I know," she groaned. "Mom hates shopping for me. Every year, just before school starts, my brother and I each have only $100 to spend on clothes and shoes. I'm never able to get the things I want."

"And that is...?" Jack prompted. 'Asta wore a wistful expression on her face when she answered.

"My preferred style is Emo or Goth. Sometimes Scene, if I'm feeling like it. But I like anything dark and/or cute. As long as I'm comfortable and I look good, I'm cool. But black is preferred. Somehow, it seems to look better on me than everything else."

Jack suddenly jumped up and pumped his fists into the air.

"SWEET! Perfect opportunity! We can get rid of most of this stuff and get you something more tasteful to wear. You don't want to look like a slob in front of the monks, do you?" 'Asta drew her head back a little, clearly insulted.

"A slob?" she began, but Jack interrupted her.

"We can head over to the mall. I have money to spare. Heck, I'm practically drowning in it!"

"My clothes don't make me look like a slob!"

"I know so many awesome stores that we can go to—"

"How do I look like a slob?"

Luckily, Wuya interrupted Jack before he could progress further in his frenzied rant.

"Jack!" she screeched. He flinched. "We hardly know anything about her. Don't you think you should take time to get to know her first before you try and get 'companionable' with her?" Jack opened his mouth to answer, but 'Asta spoke first.

"Look, if it makes you "feel better"," She made air quotes. "I can tell you all about myself before you make any decisions." She leaned back with her hands propping her up on the bed. "So, what do you want to know first?" she offered.

"Your name," came the immediate response. 'Asta didn't like her real name enough to keep it in this world. She viewed this as a second chance; the choice to start over. Of course, she kept these musings to herself, but she still needed a name. But a name was an important thing. To have the ability to choose your own name was like choosing exactly who you are. Names and what they meant had always been an important thing in 'Asta's life. But right then, only two names would surface in her mind, so she was only allowed to focus on these.

In her head, she had two beings. You could say they were alter egos, of a sort, only they were real enough to be actual people. They were her voices; her good and bad personified. The combination of the two of them living inside her had become necessary for her own sanity, she knew. Melody, the good, and the heroin of all her fantastical stories and imaginings, made her strong of heart, made her feel loved, cheered her up, and gave 'Asta her hopes and dreams. She was an inspiration. And she was exactly the kind of person that 'Asta had always wanted to be when she was younger and more innocent.

But she wasn't. She wasn't really like Melody at all. Because is impossible for humanity to actually produce a Melody and you couldn't have Melody without Morgan. Morgan was her bad. She was created of darkness and evil, an opposite twin to Melody. In 'Asta's stories, they were Light and Dark incarnates. They were living representatives of yin and yang. Melody was Good. Morgan was Evil. And just like the balance of yin and yang, they could not exist separately on their own. So Melody was Good with a little Bad, and Morgan was Bad with a fairly generous amount of Good.

'Asta knew all this by heart. She knew that she created Melody from herself. But the old saying was true: The characters you create are real. Melody turned into her own person. She was born of 'Asta, but she was changed. Morgan, however, was not.

Morgan was created from Melody, sort of like a clone. They were twins, yes, and they both shared the same creator, yes, but Morgan was closer to 'Asta's heart than anyone else. 'Asta had been under Morgan's influence for a long time. She often felt Morgan surfacing in her actions, oozing up through her skin, overshadowing her and attempting to control everything about her. 'Asta knew it and had tried to resist her. She wasn't very strong, though.

Which is another reason that Melody was her idol. Melody saved her from being controlled by her own inner darkness. Melody saved her from going insane. She was still the person who protected and persevered.

So that's why, at that moment when her name was asked, and those two names were the only ones to choose from, 'Asta chose the way she did.

End of chapter 2! Everything is true, including my chronic depression. Not joking. You can call me crazy if you want, but just know that insanity is a term of endearment, and not just among my friends; my family too! The crazies are fun, remember that. Now the numbers:

(1): DUH. I've had bees swarm around me like that, though. Still not fun.

(2): I'm very hard on myself and how I look. That's why I'm changing myself to look like how I feel I look inside.

(3): He was a MAJOR creepizoid! *shudders* If you live in berrien county in michigan, do NOT go to Dr. Bednar…

(4): She gets horrible zits and redness in her face. Yucky.

(5): HAH! In my dreams...

(6): If you really read all of that without clicking away from the page, I would gladly give you a cookie. If I had one. And was in the mood to share.

(7): I KNOW! Where the hell did THAT come from?

(8): I think the only reason it wasn't ever taken away was because it was a blanket and not a toy. I remember a lot of the things Daddy gave me: Piano, stuffed toys, books, jewelry, make-up, etc. I still don't remember what the hell I supposedly did to have my stuff thrown out. Apparently I was a very bad girl. Naughty, naughty, naughty. :D

(9): PINK IS EVIL! ! ew-ew-ew-ew-ew-ew-ew-ew-ew-ew-ew-ew-ew-ew-ew...

(10): That's the name of my town.

(11): Hey! I'm defensive over my toys.