The battle may have been over, but the adrenaline rushing through Patricia's blood still flowed fast and freely. Her whole body seemed to be moving, from her tightening fists to shaking legs. She gritted her teeth, eyes locked on the skull that had remained visible, still existent even when Marie's body had faded into nothing but a cloud of smoke and dust.
"Another victory." The skull's voice was low and hollow, the sound seemingly carried by some wind that Patricia could not feel, entering her ears from all directions. "And from a noble fighter no less."
Patricia's heart raced against her chest. Her whole life had been a blur ever since she and Marie were taken, when her home and old life had vanished in the blink of an eye.
Patricia gritted her teeth. "I don't need compliments from something like you." She narrowed her eyebrows.
This was what she had been made to destroy, brought alive again solely for another's death. Dr. Avian had told her about it, she'd read about it, and even seen how it could affect someone; despite all of this, nothing could have prepared her for actually seeing the skull heart face to face.
"Now what, dear child," the skull said, its teeth hitting against each other and chattering as it spoke, "do you wish for?"
"Who needs wishes?" It took all her energy to keep from spitting at the thing. Really it was barely a foot tall at most, so small that Patricia wondered if she could just crush it in her hands and forgo using her lasers entirely. "Why wait and hope for something when you can just get it yourself?"
"Why not?"
It had been a rhetorical question, but the skull's widening eyes and worried tone made her pause.
"There are some things that cannot be gained on your own," the skull said, "things that, no matter what you try to do, simply cannot be done by one such as yourself. All the determination in the world, for example, cannot get you any closer to being able to raise the dead." The skull turned, gesturing to the spot where Marie had once stood. "The girl failed, but you have the chance to make things right. Perhaps you could be pure of heart."
Patricia snorted. "You wouldn't think that if you've seen my internet browsing history."
"What?" For a moment the skull was silent. When it finally spoke again, it spoke slower, as if afraid that the words might somehow escape its mind. "What about that doctor of yours?"
"What do you know about him?"
"I know far more things than you could ever hope to learn, child."
Patricia wrinkled her nose. "For someone who claims to be so freaking smart, you don't seem to know anybody's name." She sighed. Was she really missing the Annie of the Stars made for TV movie for this?
"Patricia." Her name sounded strange on the thing's tongue, as if the word were a curse. "You must understand what you have done. Defeating the Skull Girl is no easy act, one worthy of only the highest of accords-"
"It was even easier than I expected."
"You have earned your wish, a request that can change the very fabric of the universe if you so choose. Anything your heart desires can be made yours, from fabulous wealth to power beyond your wildest dreams."
Patricia raised an eyebrow. "You can give me anything?"
The skull nodded.
"Anything?"
"Whatever you imagine."
"Anything I imagine?"
"Yes."
"Anything at all I imagine?"
"You just asked me this."
She tapped her chin. "Like I can imagine the weirdest stuff, like a unicorn with a flaming horn and sequin covered fur, and you would have to make it?"
"Your wish is my command."
"I could wish for the universe to be made of ice cream and you would have to do it, right?" Her stomach rumbled. The skull, she realized, better shut up soon because she doubted her body would let her ignore food much longer.
"That would greatly change the laws of physics and the possibility of continued human existence, or any life for that matter, but I would do as asked."
"And you can bring the dead back to life?"
"I mentioned that before!"
Patricia rolled her eyes. "There's no need to get huffy with me. I was just wondering because there are some dead historical guys, the asshole kind, that I kind of wish could be revived back to life just so that I can give them a hit to the jaws."
"If you wish revenge against them for one of their misdeeds," the skull said, "then I can surely revive them."
"So you're basically a genie."
"Unlike the mythical jinn, I can provide you only with one wish."
"Or like Santa, except evil." Patricia paused, rubbing a finger over her chin. "Satan Clause."
"Anything you ask, I can and will provide."
"You sound like a broken record." Patricia looked the skull over. There it was, floating in the air in a black fire, the sight of it both bringing a laugh to her throat and a chill to her back. She turned, looking to the city beyond. Smoke hung heavy in the air, blocking the sun and damning the city to an early night. Debris was everywhere, half of the buildings at least partially collapsed. Most of this area had been abandoned, the citizens fleeing for nearby areas that they could only hope would be spared destruction.
She sighed. All the wishes in the world, no matter what they were for, would only lead to this. History seemed to love repeating itself.
"You know, there are actually a lot of things that I wish for." She looked to the ground. "Marie, Dr. Avian, my parents, my old life - I want those so badly."
"If your wish were worded correctly then you could get them all," the skull's voice spoke, its tone rising. "That fact is a loophole of sorts."
Patricia sighed. Even with closed eyes, images still played across her mind, faces and places of a time that had long passed. "But just because you wish for something doesn't mean that you really should get it. Sometimes you just have to accept what you've got and do your best to make a better future."
Oh man, she thought. Patricia cringed. She sounded like a freaking philosophy textbook.
The skull opened its mouth to reply, but before it could even get a word out Patricia fired her lasers. Her vision turned into a stark cloud of red, and only after blinking a number of times did her sight again clear.
The air was stiller than before afterwards, the weight in her chest just a little lighter. Turning away, Patricia walked back towards the remains of the church, fists clenched tightly at her sides.