"You speak as one who saw all humanity as His rival. I should not have believed an angel…albeit a fallen one…to admit to such pettiness."
"That rage, I still recall it. That rage did not seem petty to me, Captain von Bek."
"You have changed, Your Majesty?"
"I told you that I had, captain."
"You are frustrated, then, that you have failed to convince God of this?"
"Just so. Because God cannot hear me."
"Are you certain of that, Your Majesty?"
"I am certain of nothing. But I understand it to be the truth."
I felt almost sorry for this great being, this most defiant of all creatures, having come to a point where He was willing to admit to His defeat, and there being no one to acknowledge or perhaps to believe His admission.
"I am weary of the Earth and still more weary of Hell, captain. I yearn for my position in Heaven."
"But if Your Majesty is truly repentant…"
"It must be proved. I must make amends."
Lucifer continued: "I placed high value on the power of the intellect to create a luxury of wonders upon the Earth. I sought to prove that my logic, my creativity, my mind, could all outshine anything which God made. Then I came to believe that Man was not worthy of me. Then I came to believe that perhaps I was not worthy, that what I had sought to make had no substance, no definition, no future. You have seen much of the world, captain."
"More than most are permitted to see," I agreed.
"Everything is in decay, is it not? Everything. The spirit decays as the flesh and the mind decay." Lucifer uttered a sigh. "I have failed."
His voice became hollow. I found that I was pitying Him, even more than I pitied the souls who were trapped in His domain.
"I wish to be taken back into the certainty, the tranquillity, I once knew," Lucifer continued.
We stood again upon the white plain.
"I sought to show that I could create a more beautiful world than anything God could create. I still do not know what I did wrong. I have been thinking on that for many a century, captain. And I know that only a human soul can discover the secret which eludes me. I must make amends. I must make amends…"
"Have you decided how you can do that?" I asked quietly.
"I must discover the Cure for the World's Pain, Captain von Bek." He turned his dark eyes upon me and I felt my whole being shiver at the intensity.
"A Cure? Human folly, surely, is the cause of that Pain. The answer seems simple enough to me."
"No!" Lucifer's voice was almost a groan. "It is complex. God has bestowed on the world one object, one means of healing humanity's ills. If that object is discovered and the world set to rights again, then God will listen to me. Once God listens, I might be able to convince Him that I am truly repentant."
"But what has this to do with me, Your Majesty? Surely you cannot think that I possess a Cure for human folly."
Lucifer made an almost angry gesture with His right hand.
We were suddenly once more in the library of the castle. We faced one of the great windows. Through it I could see the green, silent forest and noted that very little time had passed. My body was now as solid as it had always been. I felt some relief. My ordinary senses were restored.
Lucifer said: "I asked you to help me, von Bek, because you are intelligent, resourceful and not easily manipulated. I am asking you to embark upon a Quest on my behalf. I want you to find me the Cure to the world's ills. Do you know of what I speak?"
"I have heard only of the Holy Grail, Your Majesty," I told Him. "And I believe that to be a myth. If I were shown such a cup I would believe in its powers as much as I would believe in the powers of a piece of the True Cross, or Saint Peter's fingernail."
He ignored these last remarks. His eyes flamed and became remote. "Ah, yes. It is called that. The Holy Grail. How would you describe it, von Bek?"
"A legendary cup."
"If it existed. What would you say it was?"
"A physical manifestation of God's mercy on Earth," I said.
"Exactly. Is that not the object I have described to you?"
I became incredulous. "Lucifer is commissioning a godless soldier-of-fortune to seek and secure the Holy Grail?"
"I am asking you to seek the Cure for the World's Pain, yes. Call it the Grail."
"The legend says that only the purest of knights is permitted to see it, let alone touch it!"
"Your journey will purify you, I'm sure."
"Your Majesty, what are you offering me, should I agree to this Quest?"
He smiled ironically at me. "Is it not an honour in itself, von Bek?"
I shook my head. "You must have better servants for such a monumental Quest."
Was Lucifer mad? Was He playing a game with me?
"I have told you," He said, "that I have not."
I hesitated. I felt bound to voice my feelings:
"I am suspicious, Your Majesty."
"Why so?"
"I cannot read your motive."
"My motive is simple."
"It defeats me."
His miserable, tortured eyes looked full on me again and He spoke in an urgent whisper: "It is because you fail to understand how great is my need. How great is my need.' Such souls as yours are scarce, von Bek."
"Can I assume that you are trying to buy my soul at this moment, Your Majesty?"
"Buy it?" He seemed puzzled. "Buy your soul, von Bek? Did you not realise that I own your soul already? I am offering you the chance to reclaim it."
I knew at once that He spoke the truth. I had known, within me, for some while.
It was then that Lucifer smiled, and in that smile I saw simple confirmation of what we both knew. He did not lie.
A coldness came into me. That was why He had shown me Hell; not to lure me there, but to sample my eternal doom.
I drew away from my Master. "Then I am already forbidden Heaven. Is that what you are telling me, Your Majesty?"
"You are already forbidden Heaven."
"If that is so, I have no choice, surely?"
"If I rejected you, it would allow you a new chance to be restored in God's grace…just as I hope to be restored. We do indeed have much in common, von Bek."
I had never heard of such a bargain before. Yet by taking it I could only lose my life a little sooner than I had planned.
I said: "Then in reality I have little choice."
"Let us say that your character has already determined your choice."
"Yet you cannot promise me that God will accept me into Heaven."
"I can promise you only that I will release your soul from my custody. Such souls do not always enter Heaven. But they are said to live forever, some of them."
"I have heard legends," I said, "such as that of the Wandering Jew. Am I to try to save myself from Hell merely so that I may wander the world for Eternity seeking redemption?"
It occurred to me of a sudden that I was not the first mortal soul to be offered this bargain by Lucifer.
"I cannot say," said the Prince of Darkness. "But if you are successful, it is likely, is it not, that God would look with mercy upon you?"
"You must know more of God's habits, Your Majesty, than I." A strange calm was creeping into me now. I felt a degree of amusement.
Lucifer saw what was happening to me and He grinned. "It is a challenge, is it not, von Bek?"
"Aye, Your Majesty." I was still debating what He had said. "But if I am already your servant, why did you go to such elaborate means to ensure this meeting? Why send Sabrina?"
"I have told you. I am forced to use human agents."
"Even though she and I are already your servants?"
"Sabrina elected to serve me. You have not yet agreed."