Page 20 of Barbie: Dreamscape

I reach up to my necklace. To the “B” there, with the same stars surrounding it.

The moment my fingers brush the charm, the stars on the wall begin to shine, pink light flooding the small room.

I gasp. Suddenly, my necklace lifts off my chest, glowing, tugging me forward toward its matching symbol. I panic, trying to fight it—but my feet glide toward the piecemeal map, compelled by the pull of the necklace.

And the closer I get…

Color begins to spill across the wall, bleeding from the circle of stars and filling in the blanks between the specks of paint, forming what looks like an entire land full of pinks and glitter.

I stare at the colors in awe.

A word begins to take shape over the now-completed image of the land below the symbol, appearing one letter at a time in a sprawling script.

Dreamland.

My eyes widen. My thoughts race. I don’t know anything right now, but the pulsing necklace at my throat is still pulling me toward this place, like a message. Telling me I need to go there and find answers. Is this where the Fates live?

Even if I were certain… how would I get there?

I rush out of the room, getting lost before finding my way down to the first floor. There, I run through the different letters of the alphabet, reading the spines of all the books starting with “D,” but there’s nothing on Dreamland. I even hunt down another Librarian, and she sends off a faerie who comes back with little luck.

This library doesn’t have any information on Dreamland.

But I know someone who might.

I march toward the doors of the library and almost run right into Callie. “Oh, thank the Fates! Where did you go? I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“I have to run,” I say with energy I haven’t felt in days. “I’ll explain everything later!”

She gapes at me as I push through the doors. “Barbie!” Callie follows me outside, quickening her steps to keep up with my pace. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to find my destiny, even if I have to go to the Fates themselves to get it. And if they refuse… I’m going to claim one.”

For days, I’ve felt unmoored, but right now, I’m rooted in confidence. In conviction. In… hope. And purpose.

She blinks. But she doesn’t try to stop me or ask me how I came to this conclusion. She doesn’t ask me if I’ve lost my mind (probably). All she says is, “Okay. Be careful!”

I look over my shoulder at her. “When has being careful ever gotten me anywhere?”

I’ve been careful my entire life. And now… look where I am. Fateless. A disgrace. A cautionary tale.

Callie considers this, pursing her lips. “Right. Be not careful, then.”

Not Careful

When I return to Swancrest, I head straight for Robin’s office, ready to ask her about everything I learned.

But she isn’t there.

She must be in meetings. I sigh and sit down in the chair in front of her desk, ready to wait all afternoon if I have to.

My fingers brush over the thinly pounded silver of my necklace. It’s still warm. I think about how it glowed, how it moved me toward that map.

In all my years of wearing it, nothing like that has ever happened before.

It was like… something within it had been awoken.

Why do the stars on my necklace match the symbol for one of the lands on the map? A scratch interrupts my train of thought.