Again the sound of her voice cradled Maxwell. He felt Strawberry's spoken words safeguard him, but in a way that didn't truly relieve him. How easy would it be to embrace these feelings, to embrace this unnatural peace. The things she said were already playing back to him. He could still see the knife and knew that despite what he's experiencing, it couldn't be more than a game or tool to use against him. Still, he thought he should explain himself to help her understand. Maxwell moans softly and tries to shock himself out of Strawberry's forced tranquility.
"Thank you for the kind word but I find it strange that you compliment my talent while complaining about my lack of knowledge. Sure, I most likely need to brush up on my hermeticism and esoteric arcana later. Does that really mean i'm making it up though? In a sense all magicians kinda make it up. They find what works best for them and build upon that. As long as there's some basic framework then all it takes is the strength to wield it, the mind to learn it. It's in that marriage of power and the will to use it that you'll find me in. Perhaps you could call it an unholy bastardization of magic, but i'd say you're just being cynical."
He laughs to himself slightly as if he's privy to a joke that she isn't. "I guess that didn't really answer your questions." He struggles somewhat against his bindings and tries to become more fervent. The effort was futile for he couldn't talk back as commanding as he hoped. "I would say greed was my main motivation but that'd be a cop-out answer. I wanted to kill him simply because i'd enjoy seeing his bones char to black. It could be said that I have more reasons than that and it would be true. Just at my core I wanted to slaughter him for the swine he is."
"As to why I torched your bar and roasted those thugs. Well... I don't enjoy being possessed and attacked afterwards. Considering that I never tried to harm you. Was mostly self-defense anyway. Don't get me wrong, I liked my new place and it was a decent job."
Maxwell pauses momentarily as he considers her last question. "Can it even be said that I betrayed you when I was nothing more than a pawn in your game?"