Rhea: Welcome, Ten. I am Rhea:.

Ten: This is Shambhala?
Rhea: Yes, for you, this is Shambhala.

Ten: There are many things I do not understand.

Ten: Does my journey end in this place?
Rhea: No, Ten. You and the power you carry are part of each other. Its journey does not end here; neither does yours.

Ten: Please explain this power to me.
Rhea: It came from somewhere in the stars. It was infinitely wiser, more intelligent than our ancestors. But they had something which it lacked: a physical body, sensations, joy and pain, the cycle of birth and death.

Ten: It wanted to suffer and die?
Rhea: The power does not die, Ten, but it can share the experience with whoever carries it.

Ten: What happened when it came to Earth? Did it seek out a body to inhabit?
Rhea: No. It lay inside a crystal and waited, until a small tribe of islanders discovered it. The power gave them knowledge and, more importantly, the thirst to discover. They left their island and travelled the world around.

Ten: And did the power get its wish?
Rhea: Eventually. You are proof of that! But it did not ask; it waited to be invited. And while it waited, some of the travelling islanders, hungry for more knowledge than the power was willing to impart, found a way to smash the crystal and split the power in

Ten: Light and Dark!
Rhea: Chaos and Order. Opposites. The two halves of the power fought; the people formed two factions and many lost their lives. Finally, the followers of the Light prevailed.

Ten: What happened then?
Rhea: To prevent further war, some of the people took the Light back to the island where it had first been found. Then they came here and built Shambhala.

Ten: And the others? They kept the Dark half of the power?
Rhea: Yes, they kept it prisoner and buried it. And they settled on an island which they called Atlantis.

Ten: But they no longer had the power.
Rhea: They had echos, Ten. The crystal had been smashed into a thousand pieces and each of these contained some memory of the power. The people of Atlantis used their crystals to create a brilliant civilization, hidden from the rest of mankind.

Ten: Are they still there?
Rhea: No, they were scattered long long ago, when their island sank beneath the ocean.

Ten: How did that happen?
Rhea: Some of the people, eager to be masters of all the world, unburied the Dark half of the power and unleashed a tide of destruction. One man, your ancestor Seth, travelled to where the Light was hidden and took it into him. Together they defeated the Dark.

Ten: Well, I have come. I still do not understand why.
Rhea: You are here because the Light heard the call and began to awake, and led you to the Road.

Ten: Was the Light asleep?
Rhea: Yes. After the sinking of Atlantis, the people of Shambhala were afraid of another confrontation between the two halves of the power, so they devised a way of putting the Dark to sleep.

Ten: And the Light?
Rhea: One cannot sleep if the other is awake, Ten. They are halves of one being, much more than twins. The Dark slept in its prison, the Light inside many succeeding generations of Bearers. You are the last.

Ten: Why? Why am I the last, and why has the power come awake?
Rhea: Your ancestors knew a sign would one day come, calling the power back to its origin. They suspected that nothing would prevent the call from waking both halves of the power, so they made what preparations they could.

Ten: What were they?
Rhea: They built a Road to Shambhala and scattered its parts in different places, so that only the Light Bearer, possessing the crystal, could follow it.

Ten: Why did they want the Light Bearer to come here?
Rhea: From here you will find the way to the Dark One's prison. There, Light and Dark must be rejoined so that the power can answer the call.

Ten: Why didn't my ancestors, with all their skills, join the two halves?
Rhea: Only Light and Dark themselves can join and become one. One must absorb and dominate the other. Before they were separated, Light was master. That is how it must be again.

Ten: And if Dark absorbs Light?
Rhea: That is what your ancestors feared, Ten. And that is why the the power was put to sleep. But now the joining must be done. And Light must be the stronger.

Ten: Why didn't the halves join when they last fought?
Rhea: Because your ancestor Seth, the first Bearer, was not willing to risk Dark absorbing Light and so he prevented their joining. Now, though, the call has come and there is no choice. The power cannot be put to sleep again.

Ten: But what is this to do with me? I am only the Bearer of the Light!
Rhea: The power came in search of physical form, Ten, to fulfill its destiny. Today, that form is you. You and the Light are one and inseparable. Soon you will also be one with the Dark.

Ten: And what will I do then?
Rhea: Fulfill your destiny, Ten, whatever it may be!

Ten: You know of the man who helped me follow the Road here?
Rhea: The Guardian of the Crystal. He was the last of many.

Ten: Tell me more.
Rhea: When the preparations for these events were made, here in Shambhala, a crystal was entrusted to the first Guardian and has been passed, with precise instructions, from master to apprentice down through the ages.

Ten: My crystal contains a journey.
Rhea: The way back, for the power. When Light and Dark are one, you will finish that journey.

Ten: Do you know what I'll find there?
Rhea: No. The power will guide you.

Ten: How will I know the Dark?
Rhea: You will know it when you meet it, Ten.

Ten: How can I help the Light absorb it?
Rhea: You will subdue the Dark together, as one, or be absorbed and subdued by it. Wield the Light with your hand!

Ten: With my hand...

Ten: Where is the Dark?
Rhea: In its prison, waiting for you. There is a final screen of protection between this place and the Dark, which only you can cross. There is no way back from there, Ten. Once you leave Shambhala, Light and Dark will come face to face at last.

Ten: The star that shines in the day... That is the call?
Rhea: Yes. The power must go back to its source and find completion.

Ten: What kind of star is it?
Rhea: It is a great death in the heavens, Ten. An ancient star that exploded many thousands of years ago.

Ten: How do you know this?
Rhea: The power spoke of it, before your ancestors and mine broke it in two.

Ten: Who are you, Rhea:?
Rhea: I was the last queen of Atlantis, Ten. And not a good one; I did not foresee the tragedy which had threatened for years to befall our island. I was forced to seek refuge in Shambhala. Now I repay my debt, in part.

Ten: But you told me Atlantis was destroyed long in the past! How can you be here now?
Rhea: I am not, not exactly. I am a message, Ten, a message which has waited for this day. When you leave, so shall I.

Ten: What will become of you?
Rhea: Whatever words become once they are spoken.