I'm Not Her (Petscop AU)

Chapter 8

"NLM..." Care mutters to herself.

The four of them were slouched up against one of the dark basement walls, Care reading the paper she had snagged from the office board. The one with the crude drawings on it.
The bottom drawing of the girl, labeled 'NLM', shared a striking resemblance to the girl they had just helped down from the pedestal. By now she had stopped crying, although her eyes remained dull and her bottom lip quivered ever so slightly; the flower sprouting from her head still wilting.

"No one Loves Me." Paul says, answering the question Care had yet to ask, "That's what it stands for."

"That's rather solemn, don't you think?" Care responds. The monster seems to shrug.

"Solemn can be used to describe anything found down here." He had a point. Marvin grunts, flipping the Needles Piano around in his hands thoughtfully. Paul sighs, shaking his head.

"Why are you back down here, Care?" He asks, "Is there any specific reason?"

"Beats me." She says, "I thought this place had been a mere nightmare."

"Eight years..." Paul mutters, "Wanders who get out aren't supposed to fall a second time. It's not right."

"Wait, she's been down here before?" Marvin butts in to their conversation, an eyebrow raised and a curious frown curled onto his lips. Paul seems to ignore him.

"He doesn't usually like having total strangers down here for long..." He mumbles, "So unless you're significant in some sort of way–"

"Hey, don't scare the kid." Marvin interrupts, "She's just as confused as we are; if not more." Care shudders, NLM now picking at the skin around her nails absentmindedly.
Now that she took a proper look, she and NLM shared quite similar facial features. It was oddly unnerving. When she turns away from the younger girl, she locks eye contact with Paul. He squints.

"You don't reckon..." He stands up, eyeing Care up and down. She pouts.

"Huh... you do look a lot like her–"

"Do not even start." Marvin snaps, making Paul jump.
Care wasn't bothered to ask.

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The now bigger group ventured onward.

There was an obvious tension between the two monsters, Care had come to realize; despite Marvin being rather insistent on the fact that they were friends.
She couldn't label it as hatred, but more of uncertainty. And not the type of uncertainty that you'd get when you didn't trust a person, but the uncertainty you'd get when you weren't certain if what you were doing was allowed.
They acted on-edge with each other, as if they were on an endless tightrope; where one false movement could send both of them plummeting down into the Newmaker Plane's seemingly endless abyss that loomed above.
Care realized shortly after making this connection that it was impossible to fall upwards, but she felt proud of the attempt at symbolism.

NLM held onto her hand tightly, sniffling every now and then. In the rare occasions where they'd walk past decent lighting, Care could notice the huge bags under NLM's eyes, as well as the grit underneath her fingernails and the dried up snot beneath her nose. It wasn't a pretty sight to see, but then again, finding a child who didn't look like a mess after crying was near impossible.
Care wasn't doing much better herself. She was hungry once again, and thirst was kicking in too. She had an irritating headache, and her eyes still stung from when she had fallen through the wall. Her feet hurt from all the walking, but neither Paul nor Marvin seemed ready to slow down anytime soon.

"Get to Odd Care." Paul says, sounding more like he was trying to convince himself that they were on the right track, "That's all we need to do. Get the kid to Odd Care, and then through the Reception that's up there. Then we use the petals; and hopefully, they'll work this time! Unless they DID work last time, and I'm just being incredibly paranoid–"

"You're being incredibly paranoid." Marvin scoffs in reply, glancing over his shoulder, "You girls doing alright back there?"
Care gives him a smile and a thumbs up.

"I have every right to be paranoid." Paul snaps as soon as Marvin looks back at him, "This isn't normal."

"Nothing down here is normal." Marvin groans, "Thirty years, and nothing normal has happened. Stop acting surprised."

"He wants her here, doesn't he?" Paul asks in a hushed tone, "I know damn well you've noticed the obvious, too." Marvin goes quiet and looks back at the human who was busy talking to NLM, an uncomfortable expression crossing his face. Paul shakes his head.

"She is significant, and you know it. Every story needs its characters. Care is the last missing piece."

"And that's why we need to get her out of here." Marvin says worriedly as they come to an abrupt halt. Paul sighs.

"We would have done so right now, if the door was still here."

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It was far from uncommon for things to magically vanish in the Newmaker Plane.
But the entrance to Odd Care had always been an exception.
Yet there they stood, in the middle of nowhere. No door, no box with a funny symbol on it, no nothing. Care wasn't even sure if they had actually moved at all, considering the surrounding area looked exactly the same as where they were half an hour ago. Marvin looks around helplessly, stumbling forward a few steps in hopes that he'd run into what was apparently gone.
But he didn't
He looked almost like a lost puppy when he turns around to face the others.

"W... what? Why would it just disappear?!"

"Powerful sources." Paul says sourly. Care could've sworn that, if he had a visible mouth, he'd be smiling sarcastically. She glances down at NLM with a reassuring smile before letting go of her hand, walking up to where the monsters were.

"But that's impossible." She mutters, as if she completely understood what was going on, "Entire doors don't just vanish like that."

"They do." Paul responds confidently. Care shakes her head.

"Highly doubt that. Besides, whatever happened to this Odd Care place, huh?" She taps her nose, "I bet that this door has just moved spots! This 'powerful source' can't be that dumb to remove an entire location, considering it must serve a functional purpose." Marvin and Paul stare at her in uncertainty. Even NLM seemed to think the idea was farfetched. After a moment of awkward silence, Paul sighs.

"Care... I understand that you want to get home, but–"

"And I will. What do you expect me to do, huh? Lay down in this purgatory-wannabe and rot? No. I'm finding my way out of here."

"I admire your dedication, I really do." Paul says, "But some things are... well, inevitable. The door is gone. And when things here vanish, they vanish for good." Care goes quiet, her fists clench and a defeated frown spreads across her face. Marvin gives her a look of sympathy, whereas Paul only turns on his heel; NLM mindlessly trotting after him.

"It's best that you stay in the windmill." He says, "Marvin can supply you with the food and water that's there."

Care swallows thickly as Marvin pats her on the shoulder before following, beckoning her to tag along.
There was more to this. She knew there was.
And she was determined to get a view of the full picture.