Page 84 of Barbie: Dreamscape

There are so many dark, heavy emotions that I’ve just… pushed down, out of fear of returning to that Nightmareland. But deep in my bones I know that I can smile and celebrate nothing and eat cake forever—yet, until I face those emotions, I won’t be able to find this magic buried inside.

I take another deep breath.

In the last few weeks, I’ve traveled across various worlds. I’ve fought against immense danger. I’ve found a way out of everything.

Still… the toughest challenge I’ve had to face resides within me.

Myself.

I inhale again. Exhale in a rush through my mouth.

I can do this. I can face the worst of me, and I can stay tethered here in Dreamland. I can look at the darkness without falling into it.

I take one last deep breath. And let it all come rushing up.

“What happened to my mom?” I ask.

I’m twelve years old, and I’ve asked this question many times before. Robin never answers, always saying it’s not the right time, she’ll tell me when I’m ready, or she doesn’t want it to distract me from my studies.

She looks up from her breakfast. I could tell she was lost in another worry, her eyebrows already pinched.

But at the mention of my mother, her face pales. “Barbie, I—”

“You’ve never told me. I think—I think I’m old enough to know now.”

She swallows. She considers me, sitting in the chair across from her. My hair perfectly done up. My outfit perfectly pressed. All my good grades that I’ve just presented to her stacked in my folder for the semester.

Finally, Robin sighs. Drums her fingers on the table. Then: “Your mother was killed by magic,” she says.

I frown. “Yours?” I ask. She’s the only one with magic that powerful in Heartland.

“No,” she says quickly. “She… was killed by fell magic, defending our land from evil beyond the mists. She was powerless against it.”

Because she didn’t have magic, I think.

It explains the armor my mom’s statue wears… I knew she was a warrior, but I didn’t think she died defending our land…

“Fell magic?” I ask. “What’s that?”

Robin shakes her head sharply. “It’s not for you to worry about, Barbie. There is no such thing as fell magic here. That’s why it’s important we stay within the mists. Here… you’re safe. You’re with me.”

And I feel safe.

I know that no matter what, Robin will protect me.

Back in the Dreamlake training grounds, I feel tears spilling down my cheeks. Robin lied. She said my mother was powerless… but that wasn’t true. So what is the truth? Did fell magic really kill her?

Or did Robin’s?

All the anger and hurt and betrayal I feel comes boiling up. But it isn’t all recent. No. There is a deep-rooted fury, a rage and hurt that was planted many years ago. I’ve always tried to bury it, so grateful for everything Robin has done to make my life easier and keep things in Heartland perfect… but now, I allow myself to feel it all.

I hate magic.

It’s true. Ever since I learned magic killed my mother… I’ve hated it.

So there it is. The block.

The reason my magic never had a chance at developing.