Alexander glared at the other angel. "Now wait, before you tell me it can't be done, hear me out," pleaded Stephen. "What is Lucifer's ultimate goal?"

"To rule Paradise and everything that falls under it," replied Alexander slowly.

"Right. And what is his primary preoccupation? What has he been bent upon doing the past several millennia?"

"Corrupting the beings on the planet beneath us," answered the other angel. "Diminishing the Infinite Father and His influence wherever possible and consigning souls to eternal perdition."

"Right again," grinned Stephen. "Now, what if we offered him a soul as bait in such a way that he couldn't resist trying to take it?"

"How are we supposed to do that?" snorted Alexander in irritation. "He certainly has little trouble tempting those creatures over to his side. What could you possibly offer him that would prove irresistible?"

"A Soul," announced Stephen smiling broadly, "Selected from On High for a Special Purpose."

"What. Are you talking about?" stammered the other angel. "How are you going to gain access to a soul like that? How do you even know one exists?"

Stephen's grin grew wider. "I don't and there isn't. But if we can make Lucifer think there is and that the soul is now headed to fulfill its purpose, he'll have no choice but to come after it."

"You're out of your mind!" exclaimed Alexander. "It's precisely that kind of pride and arrogance that got Lucifer and all his followers banned from Paradise in the first place! How can you be so presumptuous as to think you could usurp His divine will?"

Stephen exhaled heavily and started floating back down toward the field of flowers. Alexander followed him until they had both alit. Stephen slowly turned in a circle, scanning the terrain around them. Once he was convinced that they were alone, Stephen sank to the ground and waited for Alexander to join him. Stephen leaned forward, his face suddenly serious as he grasped Alexander's arm.

"I'm not usurping Divine Will," he whispered harshly, "nor am I so vain to think I can succeed where the Infinite Father hasn't. To believe that His willingness to leave Lucifer and his followers alive is a failure and a weakness on His part would guarantee eternal banishment from His Grace. I never said He failed or that I could do his job better. I only suggested that we help Him out by entrapping Lucifer and frustrating his plans for the beings below us. Tell me, is that really so wrong?"

"No, it's not wrong," replied Alexander slowly, "I just don't think it's within the scope of our abilities to pull it off. We're angels, but we haven't been granted powers like that -- nobody has -- since the days of the Fall."

"True, but even if we don't succeed in fully obtaining our goal, at least we'll cause some of Lucifer's plans go awry and that's not a bad thing. We could save more than a few souls if that would happen," said Stephen, the smile slowly spreading on his face. "What do you say? Are you in?"

Alexander looked away for long moments. There was so much wrong here, so much at stake and so much to gain. He exhaled heavily and stood up, staring off into the distance. Stephen remained sitting at his feet, staring up at him, unconcerned. Alexander eventually crouched down next to his friend. After another long moment, he looked up and stared directly into Stephen's eyes.

"I'm in."