Page 78 of Barbie: Dreamscape

Yes. That has to be why she refused to give me a Fate.

For years, I’ve done everything I could to express my gratitude to her. I’ve tried to be perfect. Flawless. Worthy of all the gifts she’s bestowed upon me.

She is the only mother I have ever known, but she’s not a mother at all.

She’s…

My enemy.

I set off at a fast, angry clip, turning down a path that the rain cloud hanging above lets me know is called Doomspiraling. My thoughts rage, hurtling through me like daggers in my mind, all finding the same target.

Has Robin always hated me? Was this always her plan?

Did she always know she was going to watch me follow her every rule to the tee, then punish me anyway by leaving me Fateless?

Did she want to be the only one in Heartland with magic… no matter the cost?

I stop dead.

Is it… is it possible that she had something to do with my mother’s death?

No… that can’t be. But why not? I don’t know her at all. She hurt me… Why wouldn’t I believe she could hurt my mother?

I think back to Robin’s face when she saw me pierce through the mists. Of how she looked when she tried to persuade me to return home before I reached Dreamland. Of course. She was terrified for me to finally be crawling out from beneath her thumb.

She was afraid—

That I would find out the truth.

That I would find my magic.

And stop her.

My fists clench, and I’m so lost in my mind I nearly collide with something solid right in front of me. A well.

Welled-Up Tears, another rain cloud sign says, and yes. That’s what I have. All kinds of tears, because of her.

I hate her.

The thought appears in my head as if placed there. I frown. I don’t—I don’t think I thought that myself.

I look around, only to see the shadows of this world inching toward me. I look down—my clothing has changed. It’s dark as night.

Come, a voice says, whispered from the shadowed marshes beyond the well. Join us.

“What? Why?” I ask out loud into the void.

Misery loves company…

I stumble back. Or, at least, I try to.

That’s when I notice my feet are stuck. The black path here has turned to tar. Sticky, gripping me.

Not letting me go.

The shadows are getting closer. And they’re not alone. Creatures are rising from the marshes, twisted, with fangs and claws. They look almost like Lord Evernight from Everland.

Stay… that voice says. Stay forever…