We contemplated the view of the castle, the forests and the bird creatures that flew in the purple sky and we did it for quite a while. It was strange to see a purple sky. I didn't know if I'd ever get used to it. With all of its crazy flaws, contaminated air and busy streets I seriously missed the city of Chicago. If thousands of years had already passed on Earth as I arrived here on Sha I wondered how it looked like today. Were humans finally able to get rid of the contamination of the world? Were robots now the new waitresses and security guards? Did I have any descendants from my brother's side? I was certainly curious about it.

"What are you thinking about?" Brok asked.

"I'm thinking about Earth. I'm wondering how it is today," I said.

"Oh. I thought you were enjoying this moment?" He asked.

"Yes, I am." I nodded.

"Good. However, I am growing bored. I would like to do something else," Brok said and got up from the ground. It was another subject that he was avoiding and for the moment I chose to follow, but I knew that this subject would come up again sometime soon. I would talk to him about it again at the right time.

"Like what?" I asked. Brok extended his hands to help me up. I grabbed them and got up as he pulled me. Then I wiped my skirt a bit and stretched. Brok seemed as joyful as a child. It was both strange and refreshing.

"I do not know. Tell me Anabella, what did you enjoy to do on Earth? Have you any hobbies?" He asked me. I was thrilled about the question, but I didn't have too much hope. I hadn't seen any books here on Sha.

"I loved to read," I replied.

"Read? But is that not an individual activity?" Brok asked me with a lifted brow.

"Yes... you're right," I replied. Brok crossed his arms for a moment and stared at me. I wondered what he was thinking, but he was seriously too alien for me to guess.

"What about games? Did you play games on Earth?" Brok asked. I laughed with disbelief.

"Games? I haven't played a game in ages. I used to play when I was a girl."

"What games did you play?"

"I don't know," I answered embarrassed.

"You don't know?"

"Well... I used to play with dolls."

"Dolls? What are the rules of that game?" Brok asked me.

"There really are no rules. I used to play imitating my mother. I used to be the mother of the doll or had tea with it."

"Tea?"

"It's a drink. I thought you knew everything about my world," I replied.

"I know enough, but not everything. Anyway, that game does not interest me. Tell me now, what games do you play as an adult?" He asked me.

"Are you kidding? I don't play games anymore. I rarely have time for that," I replied.

"You play no games? Certainly, you must get bored."

"Not with the two-part time jobs I have... I mean had. I rarely had time for myself," I mumbled out loud.

"Well that is no longer your situation. Let us play a game. I will teach you. Come," Brok said. I followed him down the stone steps. Again, I was confronted with the view of the mountains and the sea of Sha. They were absolutely breathtaking with colors of red and yellow. The trees looked like the dry ones on Earth with huge yellow spikes like leaves. The large tree that attached the islands above was simply overwhelming. I could see the constellation from where I was and the anchored space ships that floated on the air. I held on to the handles as I walked down. My feet were smeared with dry mud, but Brok didn't seem to mind.

Brok's long hair ruffled with the wind. His hair was so straight and so beautiful. It shone with the sun's rays and although he had on a long white sleeved shirt I could still see through some of his blue strong-muscled arms. Why was I looking at his arms anyway? That made no sense to me, yet it was hard not to look at them. He was so surprisingly athletic that I could still see him bare chested in his room. Was I actually fantasizing with his chest and hard core abs? I had to stop. I gazed elsewhere distracting my mind from such insane thoughts until I reached the bottom of the garden.

We walked back into the castle and into the halls. I checked out the kitchen, but Krimla was no longer there. I wondered where she was and why was she behaving so strangely, giving me these insane glances. I didn't know why, but I promised myself that I would find out. As Brok and I walked we talked a bit more.

"Anabella, I must confess that I have not played this game in a long time," Brok said.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it Prince Brok. I'm sure I've never played it before." Brok laughed showing some of his fangs.

"Ha, ha, ha. Yes, of course you haven't. It's called Tipshtalpult."

"No. I've never played that," I said. Brok smiled.

"I will teach you. It is not so difficult," he said. We arrived at what seemed to be the living room.

"What is this room for?" I asked.

"It's for entertainment," he said.

"Oh. We have a room like this. It's called a living room," I explained.

"Yes, exactly," Brok agreed.

Brok approached a dark table that looked like it was made of oak. He touched the table and purple hologram buttons appeared. I didn't recognize any of the symbols, but I smirked trying to keep my calm. After a short-period of time a huge screen appeared in front of us. Inside of the screen I saw purple water with some waves.

"Okay so this is Tipshtalpult. In this game, you must swim with a ball in your hand. Your goal is to get the ball to the other side and into the net. If you're able to swim below the water and get it inside of the net you get a point. The short version game is to reach three points and the long version is to reach seven points. Because you're so new at this game, we'll play the short version," Brok said. I crossed my arms and frowned.

"Oh, so you think I can't play the long version?" I uttered out.

"This game is extremely physical. Do you have the endurance?" Brok asked. I thought about it for a moment and realized that he wasn't really being cocky with me, he was just looking out for me. Honestly, I didn't have the physical endurance.

"No," I admitted kind of annoyed.

"So, we will play the short version. Anyway, whoever reaches three points wins. In the game, we will each have three team members with us because it's the short version. If it were the long version, we would have seven more team members with us. When you're the one holding the ball, I must try to take it away from you, the other team members will do the same and vice-versa. If I am able to take the ball from you, you must give up the ball to me in the place where you stand and from there we play. No one does any points until the ball is placed inside of the correspondent net," Brok explained.

"Oh. So how exactly do I know which net is mine?"

"The net will be placed at the edge of the pool facing your position," Brok said.

"Okay. I seriously don't understand," I replied.

"Once you enter the pool with me the nets will form automatically. They will be placed behind you," Brok said.

"Oh," I remarked still a bit clueless.

"We shall begin. You can go into the water now to start the game," Brok said.

"What do you mean? Is there a control or something?" I asked.

"A control?"

"You know a control for the game," I said. I didn't quiet explain it right and so as he looked at me with bewilderment I tried to explain again.

"I mean to say a control with buttons or a computer of some sort to manipulate the game. Something with buttons to control the movements," I said trying to explain myself the best way I could.

"This game is physical," he said. I stared at the screen with the purple water in it and then at him. I was still quite clueless.

"Oh, of course. I forget humans don't have this technology. I will explain. You just go to the screen and touch it. Like this," he said walking towards the screen. I hesitated for a moment scared.

"Brok, wait!" I said. Brok tilted towards me for a moment with a frown. I shook my head apologetically.

"Never mind," I said. Brok touched the screen and in a flash he was inside of the screen. My jaw dropped.

"Come on in," Brok said waving at me. His strong chest was bare. I could see his six packed abs and arms. I gulped for a moment as I saw him smile. Was he seriously talking to me or was I imagining all of this? I stared inside of the TV silently. I didn't know what else to do.

"Come on Anabella! Let's play Tipshtalpult," Brok said again. I glanced sideways before entering wondering if it was a joke. I didn't know how to talk into the screen. Was this seriously going on? Was Brok really inside of the screen or was he somewhere else and he was just transmitting? This was the weirdest thing I have ever experienced in my life. It was surreal like the rest of my new experiences in this planet I supposed.

"What if somebody turns off the screen? Would we be inside of it forever?" I asked.

"What? No, of course not. I have the control. Come in," he said to me. Shakily I touched the screen and I felt a strong pull. I screamed in one moment and in the next I was in the water.

"Oh, my God, what is this?" I asked. I was inside a swimming pool with a yellow bathing suit on and purple water below me waved. I had to move my legs. It wasn't as warm as I was led to believe, but I imagined that since we were going to swim so much it would be okay.

"This is Tipshtalpult. Here," he said. He tossed me a small blue ball and I caught it. It fit perfectly in the palm of my hand. Then purple digital figures began to appear beside me. I stretched my hand to touch them and felt a pleasurable vibration on my fingers. They looked like thousands of broken pieces of glass.

"What?" I wondered shocked as the shapes formed beside me. They were also forming beside Prince Brok.

"Don't worry, those are your team mates. They are avatars," Brok explained. The shapes formed into pink avatars. I touched them again and this time they were solid bodies.

"Okay, so the nets are already placed. So, this means that you have to turn around. Are you ready?" Brok asked with a grin. I looked up at him and nodded.

"Okay good. One, two and three go!" Brok said. I turned around and dove into the water. I swam as fast as I could. I blew my nostrils out and felt the cold liquid touch my face, skin and hair. Some bubbles came out of my nose. I opened my eyes to see a blurry purple floor. I could hardly see a thing as I continued to flap my legs and arms. One of my hands was shaped with a fist as I swam. The water splashed as my limbs crashed with it. The avatars beside me swam and I could hear them below water.

"Swim faster, swim faster. You can do it. You can do it," They chanted and so I did without stopping.

"One avatar has been defeated," I heard under water and I made a sudden stop. I turned to see two avatars, one being pulled into the water and another one freeze. I didn't know who my avatar was, but I saw Brok swimming towards me.

"Another avatar has been defeated," I heard. I looked back and noticed that only one avatar swam behind me. So, the dark pinks were mine and the light pinks belonged to Brok. He was so close by I almost shrieked both with the fear of loss and with joyful laughter. I swam on and heard a roar coming from Brok. I didn't even bother to tilt around.

"The third and final avatar has been defeated. Player's defensive tactic is weakened," I heard a voice say, but I didn't stop. Instead I pushed my legs hard, as hard as I could and I opened my eyes underneath the surface. I was at the corner of the pool and I could see the net down below. I swam down towards it. I was close to the net. I could almost reach it, but suddenly I felt strong hands on my legs. My heart beat jumped and I knew that I had been caught by Brok. I didn't know what to do, but I could feel his strong arms pulling my legs and hips. I did the only thing I could. I dropped the ball and continued to fight Brok off like if I did have the ball. Brok pulled my arms with force to try to take the ball away from me without knowing that the ball had already been dropped.

"Gotcha! Give it to me," He said with a broad smile. His sharp fangs showed. I felt awkward in his arms. I looked into his bright, golden eyes and he looked into mine. Time froze, his smile dropped and changed into a glimpse of wonder. I wasn't conscious of my facial movements, but I knew that I wasn't smiling anymore. I looked into his face. He looked into mine. We didn't move.

"One point for the Anabella team," the computerized voice said.

"What, how? That is impossible! Open your hand, let me see," Brok said. I opened my hand and he was surprised to see that it wasn't there. I smiled.

"Gotcha," I said laughing, but Brok's smile turned into a frown and he immediately let go of me. He stared at me with his golden eyes for a long moment until it became strange to me.

"What?" I asked.

"You humans are certainly not as unintelligent as you seem to be," he remarked scanning me all over.

"What do you mean?" I asked confused with a half frown and a smile on my lips. Brok shook his head.

"Nothing. Nothing at all," Brok said observing me. A light pink avatar swam towards Brok with the small blue ball on its hand.

"It is your turn Prince Brok," the avatar said. Brok took it without removing his golden eyes away from me. I didn't know why, but he seemed different.

"Let us play on," Brok said. I wondered what he meant by his comment. I wanted to ask him about it, but after a while he seemed settled in so I decided to forget about it and play along. Although I tried my best to win, I didn't. Brok won the game, but it still felt fun. I really needed a distraction from the sadness that over swept my heart. It was a breath of fresh air.