Providence, Somewhere

The Library at the End of the Road

The next day, there was a knock on the motel door. It sounded rather forceful, and it awoke Zelda from an otherwise uneventful sleep. She stifled a yawn, getting up and out of bed, fixing up the nightgown she slept in, and otherwise looking as presentable as possible. When she opened the door, she was greeted by the blue-and-white robot girl, holding a file.

"Hi!" the robot girl said. "I think we started off on the wrong foot yesterday, but my name's Jenny. Mind if I come in?"

Zelda moved aside to let the girl walk in. "You were with the girl in red, yes?"

"You mean WordGirl? Yeah, we work together. We find people in the forest so they're not found by the Distortion." Jenny set down the file on the desk across from the bed.

"What are those?"

"It's just a questionnaire for my records. I just need to know some basic information about you so in case you get into any trouble, we'll be able to save you. Don't worry, no one else will know anything you don't want them to, and the information will be kept in backups by confidants that are sworn to secrecy." She flipped it open. "Shall we begin?"

"Is it possible I can freshen up? I feel it would be more proper for the interview."

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?"

Zelda nodded, gathering her clothing and a towel. "Do make yourself at home; I'll be out soon."

She set for the bathroom, and it would be a while before she emerged, fresher than she felt just a few moments ago. At least, in a calmer setting, the robot was rather patient. She reminded her of Robbie's construct Cherry for some reason...

---

"Here's an introduction sheet on me," Jenny finally said, taking out a page and setting it on the desk. "Feel free to read it when you're able to. With that, I think that completes the interview."

Zelda glanced over the page, noting a few keywords: fighter, babysitter... "You certainly have a lot placed on your plate."

"You think so?"

She nodded. "But tell me, what do you do for fun here?"

Jenny stood up eagerly. "Want to know? Follow me!"

She headed out the door, with Zelda following after putting on a new pair of shoes provided to her. Outside in the parking lot of the motel, Jenny seemed... different. Instead of a humanoid robot, she took on the appearance of a vehicle, similar to the canopied wagon the princess rode in last night, only there was no bicycle.

"Step right up and come aboard the Tour de Jenny! Time to show you the fun stuff to do around here!"

"Quite a large arsenal," Zelda remarked as she mounted.

"Please keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times. Fasten your seatbelts for safety purposes, and we're now on our way!"

Zelda held on to a railing as Jenny sped off down the street. She wasn't going too fast, but she was noticeably faster than a typical horse. They made their way past a few houses, some lit, some unlit.

Back to the town center they went. Jenny stopped short of the intersection. "To your right, you'll find the diner! Good place for a hearty meal, good conversation, and music if you're into that!"

Zelda looked at the diner in awe. "We don't seem to have that in Hyrule."

"Oh, there's a lot I'm sure you're new to. Shall we go on?"

"Yes, please."

Jenny moved again, this time slower. "To the left is the Plaza. You'll have places like the video store, the comic shop, and a clothing boutique. If you see anything you like, you're free to buy it. To the right, more shops. Left again, Mayor's Office and Town Hall on the first floor. Oh, and did I forget to mention the arcade? It's behind the plaza."

Jenny made a right, turning onto a road. "Right this way, we have a chapel and a clinic. If you or someone else is injured, we have a medic on duty to help. You don't have that in Hyrule, right?"

Zelda looked at the building as they went past. "It's rather interesting."

"Only fun part is talking to the medic on duty. Don't worry, they're really nice when you get to meet them."

Jenny turned left at a T-intersection with a row of houses.

"What's that large building near the end of the road?" Zelda asked.

"That? We call that the Library at the End of the World. It's one of the landmarks we use to denote the town limits."

They stopped in front of the library, where the road's asphalt ended and the clearly marked dirt began. Zelda immediately got out, staring in awe at the structure.

Jenny whirred and shifted behind her, once again humanoid. "Guess this is a good enough place to end the tour. We'll have brunch later, I guess."

---

Marcy ran excitedly to the foggy silhouette of Anne standing up. "Hey, Anne, it's me, Marcy!" she yelled. "I thought I'd never see you again!"

As she got closer to Anne, though, she briefly stepped in something sticky and viscous, suddenly walking backwards to get out of it. The green, viscous slime was advancing, trying to eat at her shoes.

And Anne was motioning for her to come.

"Wait, Anne, why don't you jump over? You're the better athlete, really! Unless..."

Marcy sketched herself eagerly, the persona on the digital art program possessing an expression of shock that seemed a bit too exaggerated. Her focus was on that one page and what would happen next. Nothing else mattered.

Until she zoomed out, and accidentally marked the page with the brush. A thin black line streaked the page horizontally.

Nothing she couldn't undo, but now, she couldn't help but notice the page looking wrong. She buried her face in her hands, sighing in frustration. Things were off-model; this was a disaster

She heard the doors open; maybe she should just come back to this later. For now, maybe she needed to find out the new resident. She stood up, walking over to the door where Jenny and Zelda walked in through. "Jenny! Elven lady! Hail and well met!"

"Hello to you too, Marcy," Jenny said gleefully. "I was just showing Zelda around. She wanted to check out the library, so here we are."

Zelda looked at Marcy, whose eyes gleamed with excitement. "It's rather nice to meet you, Marcy."

"Just like the princess in Ballad of Zorda!" Marcy hopped backwards, dancing a little. She stopped, once again in front of the pair. "Finally! A mentor figure!"

"What happened to Eclipsa being a mentor figure?" Jenny asked.

"Eclipsa's the mayor. She's a part-time mentor. However, Zelda can be a full-time mentor with her ancient knowledge on magic and stuff. Right?"

"Is there magic in this world?" Zelda asked nervously.

"That's what Gus and Dexter are researching." Marcy started pacing. "So far there isn't, based on Gus and Eclipsa, who were magical beings but are kinda like us humans now. But then there's WordGirl and Danny, who have these cool powers, and we know for sure they're not magic, so we're trying to see if there's a general magic system that can tie everyone together."

Zelda simply looked at Jenny, subtly laughing nervously to herself. Jenny returned an empathetic glance. She looked back at Marcy. "Thank you for the information, but I'd like to get to know some of my neighbors."

"Wanna go get some brunch, Marcy?" Jenny asked. "That would be awesome for you two to learn about each other."

"I'd say it's good enough time to get some grub," Marcy replied. "Lemme get my stuff, and we'll be on our way." She went to grab her backpack and tablet.

The tragic backstory could wait.