But that wasn't what Azrael was really curious about now. There was something else eating at Azrael's mind.
"Why did you cover for me? Even after finding out I was a killer. You knew this, and you went ahead and told the authorities that I was with you when it all happened. What you did is enough to make you an accomplice in their eyes. There's only one of two reasons why you would do something like that. Either you're stupidly trying to gain my favor because you want something from me, or you're insane and you don't mind being on my radar. Which are you?"
Maddison's eyes narrowed, and she stared at the floor for a few seconds before she looked up with fire burning in her eyes.
"I'm angry."
Azrael was surprised.
"Angry?"
"Yes, I'm angry! I'm angry at everything! Everyone! The school that doesn't see us as anything worth teaching! The students that think we're going to become criminals once we graduate! The fucking world that refuses to treat us with any respect! I'm angry at them all! But I'm also a coward! I know I don't have the courage to kill or fight! I don't even have the strength to stand up to my own father! But you... What you did yesterday gave me strength. It was the first time I felt connected with anyone outside myself! You have the courage to kill your enemies without a second thought, and the will to keep going even after committing something so vile! I want to help you! I want to be there with you, and in exchange, I want you to give me strength!"
Azrael couldn't have been more shocked! The look in Maddison's eyes was a pure and unfiltered rage that would have been able to devour anyone else. Maddison had stepped forward and pressed herself against Azrael's sword. Just one move from him and Maddison would be dead. Azrael walked forward but didn't pierce Maddison's chest yet.
"Do you even know what you're saying? Do you know what I am? I am never going to stop until I've killed my way to the very pinnacle of the world. I will murder and maim both guilty and innocent alike without a second thought if it means that I will gain power. I could kill you right now and I wouldn't even lose sleep."
Maddison swallowed as Azrael's dark eyes pierced into her. She could feel her heart rate rising again, and she was able to recognize the feeling at that moment as fear. She was afraid. But Maddison was always going to be afraid if she didn't take the step now.
If she allowed Azrael to slip away from her, then she would be a coward her whole life, and she would never be able to become as powerful as she was supposed to be.
Azrael might not know this because he didn't have a God Aspect, but the other students who were under the gods of darkness were seriously held back by the school during their studies. Not only did the school give them fewer resources than the other demigods, but the school went out of its way to make sure that every demigod under the gods of darkness knew that they were being watched.
They went through psychological analysis once a week along with constant therapy and Divine Essence evaluation to make sure that they weren't straying from the right path. It made them feel like they were defects being studied for any cracks. It was demeaning, and they hated it.
Azrael didn't need to go through all that because the school already decided that he was never going to be a threat without a God aspect. As far as the school was concerned, Azrael was already on the path to becoming one of the middle class in society. A police officer at best.
Maddison faced even more of this because of how special her God Aspect and Divine Potential were. With a God Aspect from Hades and an A-rank potential that would make her one of the strongest children of darkness, they were always watching her every move, both in school and at home.
She was fucking pissed at all of it!
"I don't care what you're going to become. You understand me more than they ever will. I'm not going to hold you back, I promise! I'll learn and I'll also grow! So please, take me with you! I'll go wherever you're going!"
Azrael could only stare at Maddison for a few minutes. The declaration she made and the intensity of her words showed him that she was not saying this half-heartedly. Maddison truly believed that she could help him in whatever he was planning to do. Even knowing that he was going to be killing innocent people didn't throw her off. In fact, it almost seemed to make her more eager.
Was there really something wrong with them?
Azrael could tell that he was not normal. A normal person wouldn't have been able to kill three of his former classmates the way he did without feeling anything. In fact, a normal person wouldn't have taken the blade when Thanatos first handed it over to him.
If Azrael was anyone else, then he would've definitely refused once he knew what he had to do in order to get more powerful. But Azrael didn't refuse it. Azrael accepted the fact that he had to become a monster, and he was more than willing to go through with it.
And now, here was another child of darkness who was willing to stain her hands in blood just for the sake of becoming more powerful. It was not normal. People as young as them shouldn't be so eager to spill blood.
So maybe, there really was something wrong with them and the world had been right to treat them the way they did.
But who cares?
Azrael didn't give a damn about any of that. He was him, and that was all that mattered.
The rest of the world could go to hell if they thought he was going to change just because of the way they treated him! They couldn't subdue him no matter how hard they try.
As Azrael locked eyes with Maddison, he couldn't ignore the intensity in those eyes, and he knew that Maddison was not joking. Azrael slowly backed away from her and dropped his sword, and Maddison seemed to lose the tension that had wound her body tight as she released a sigh of relief.
Did he even need her?
That was the question Azrael now had to answer. Azrael had already decided that he was going to do this alone. He never thought that there would be anyone out there that he would depend on to watch his back, and he was willing to go through everything by himself if he needed to. But Azrael also knew that having an ally was not a bad thing.
Working alone was the most efficient way to ensure you finished your jobs exactly as you wanted to. But having someone else there to cover the tracks you might've missed was also important.
Azrael clicked his tongue in irritation at his own indecisiveness before he put his sword back in its sheath and the sword vanished into a ripple of air.
Azrael spoke up and asked a simple question.
"What is your God Aspect?"
This was what would either make or break this partnership.