Page 66 of Barbie: Dreamscape

I strain against the iridescent gold barrier, fighting to see the lion through its glimmer. But you all have magic—magic that isn’t dependent on anything else. You’re stronger than him. Why don’t you rise up? Revolt?

Stop talking! he demands. Your words are treasonous.

I’m already in a cell, I respond. What is he going to do? Put me in a deeper cell?

The lion pauses for a moment as if weighing my words. I push onward. I can help you! I can take the crown far away from here, forever! I can help stop him!

I think I may have finally reached the lion when his voice, sounding almost haunted, finally says, Lord Evernight is capable of far worse than imprisonment. No one can stop him. Anyone who’s tried has ended up here. Or worse.

The barrier rattles as he slams the dungeon door closed.

I’m back in Heartland.

I blink and—I’m home.

In a rush, I stumble out of bed, my sleep-tired legs nearly buckling as I hurry to my mirror.

I look just as I did the day before Boxing Day.

The ceremony, the journey… that vile prison beneath that manor…

It was all a dream.

No. Impossible. I rub my eyes, look around, and—yes. I’m here.

I peer out of the bathroom. Where are Misty and Bonbon? They should be here already, unless… I woke up too early?

My gaze finds the stained glass windows… but there’s no sun streaming through them. They’re dark.

Is it really the middle of the night?

I creep back toward my bed, confused.

Then a flush of relief washes over me, that I’m safe, and home, and that… it seems I never left to begin with.

I’m not sure why that thought leads to a pinch of disappointment. I should be happy none of those things—becoming Fateless, being trapped in Rock Bottom, being imprisoned—actually happened. I am happy, I think.

A high-pitched noise sounds outside, making me jump. The birds? Did they sense I’m awake? My door flies open under their enchantment.

But it isn’t Misty and Bonbon, ready to turn my hair into a braided crown, holding a cup of steaming tea.

These are bats.

I gasp, ducking as they rush toward me, their wings as sharp as blades, their mouths peeling open to unleash another ear-splintering sound.

My room has gone dark. Everything is gray, just like the color of that dream I had before Boxing Day, and—

This is the dream.

I gasp awake, jolting, only to find myself still in this cell. Still imprisoned.

Only the golden cell barrier gleams through the dungeon’s darkness. My cheek is pressed against the dank ground. I have no sense of how long I slept, of whether it’s day or night. My entire body is sore from banging against the invisible wall earlier, trying to break free.

I squint through the barrier. Someone is outside, staring at me.

Smiling wickedly.

Lord Evernight.