"An orb? Must be a rare few of them left around, I suppose. You walked into a trap then, my dear." The Marquis grinned as he lowered himself a bit, dropping to nearly eye level with Ishtar. Even as the goddesses continued to keep her distracted and busy, it was no bother for the Marquis. After all, keeping people off their balance was a basic of making successful deals that served your interests best. A pity he couldn't just keep her otherwise the school would give him problems and he had no wish to ruin the relationship between himself and the institute. [b]"I may be persuaded into allowing you to return home, to wherever it is you came from... But understand this, I do not do things freely for people, no matter who they are. Everything comes with a price. If you are prepared to make a deal with the devil for a way back home, then we've business. If not, then I leave you here, trapped and doomed to be naught but these two's plaything for all eternity. And I promise you, they can be quite exhausting for you mortals." The Marquis grinned widely, his tombstone teeth on full display as he awaited the woman's response.

Ishtar moaned and gasped as she felt the goddesses continue to molesting her. They simply did not stop for anything. Ahhh....T-trapped here for....ohhh...for enterity. No...ahhh....please....no I don't want to be here...uhhh...forever. The blue haired student was scared. She didn't know what price she had to pay, and certainly did want to have to pay it to a creature such as the Marquis, but she didn't want to trapped here for eternity. She was scared she never make to the school again. Ahhh...I want to...to go back to th e...ohhh.....s-school. Kishtar wasn't making any easier for the trapped student to speak.

A simple gesture from the Marquis and the two goddesses then stopped what they were doing to the girl. "Be clear about it, my dear. Will you negotiate your return to your world, or will you be joining us here in Hell as one of the lost and the damned?" The Marquis grinned as he waited, allowing Ishtar the time to catch her breath and give him his answer. The goddesses, obedient to the Marquis, did nothing but stare at the student, waiting to see whenever she would be theirs for eternity or not. "I would give my answer now, if I were you. Hell does not wait for anyone, I fear, and neither do idle goddesses..." At this, the two giggled as they looked at their master and then back at Ishtar. "You should stay with us, we could show you such pleasures..." And the other spoke as well. "Yes, pleasures you could find no where else..."

Ishtar panted for a second as she slowly got her breathe back. She covered her breasts with an arm a bit embarrassed to be discussing with this with no clothes, but this not the time discuss this. I would to negotiate the return to my world. She heard the syreen calls of the goddesses as they try to lure her into staying here forever. But she just wanted to get back to school. What do I need to do to return my world.

The Marquis grinned, even as the goddesses whined in disappointment as they began to fade away, becoming less than the air around them. "Freedom over pleasure, is it? Very well then." The Marquis began to grow slightly smaller, more compacted. He was now roughly the height of an average man, his body still the same but not quite as bulky and troublesome to move around in anymore. "You've already seen a bit of this great city, this Babylon... Resurrected from the ancient past. A ghost city, with its own ghosts." The demon lord grinned at her again, deciding on what he would challenge her with. "I propose this... You traverse the city, find the orb that brought you here... And it shall take you back to your world. I realize how huge the city must seem, so I shall limit the area of this challenge to the palace alone." But that wasn't just all. "There will be, of course, other things to watch out for. As such, I shall be placing my underlings throughout the palace, to hinder your search, to provide obstacles. The rules, however? They will never endanger your life, move the location of the orb, nor raise barriers to prevent you from getting to it." The demon lord stared back at Ishtar, not even caring about the fact that she was naked and conscious about it. "How about it? Unless there are other rules you would like to add?"

The Marquis grin made Ishtar wonder if she had been made the wrong choice. However the goddesses did fade away and the Marquis did shrink down to a less scary size. So I have to get pass the your underlings to get the orb that is somewhere in the palace. That toothy grin made it clear that it was going to much more difficult than she can possibly than she think it will be. Still she couldn't think of anything to add to the rules. As long as it is physically possible for me to get pass the obstacle to get the orb, I think I can do it. How long do I have to get the orb?

The demon lord continued to grin, as if he simply found everything funny or as if it was simply his preferred expression. "That is correct. You need only find the orb to return home. There will be many of my underlings, yes. But if you are smart, you will be able to evade many of them. There will be many obstacles as well. But if you are resourceful, they will fall before you. It will always be physically possible to acquire the orb. We would not make things unfair by leaving it somewhere out of sight or far too high for you to reach... If you find its resting place, you will be able to see it right away, of that I swear." The Marquis held out a hand for the student to take, still grinning. "You have as much time as you need to find it, as in all of eternity. But if you choose to give up, even out of frustration or anger, it will be taken as a unconditional surrender and thus, you belong to Hell. Forever. Preserve, and you will triumph. Falter, and you will fail. Simple as that."

The demon smiled as he told her the conditions. It was that grin that disturbed her the most, even though he always used it. So as long as the she continued to try, she would eventually succeed. If she gave up she was doomed. Okay, I will then accept this challenge. She reached out and held the Marquis hand since he offered it. She assumed he would take to her the palace. She find out how true that assumption was. She just hoped she was up to the challenge.

The Marquis' hand closed around the student's own, and with the grin still on his lips, he spoke. "Excellent then... Let the games begin!" With that, the Marquis and Ishtar faded from the great pool, only to appear in front of the enormous doors that served as the entrance to the great palace. They had been well within the palace but for this challenge, the student would begin from the outside and work her way inside. "I wish you the best of luck in finding your way home..." The Marquis added before fading away himself, leaving her alone and naked on the marble floor. While this was not the best of conditions to begin in, it did not really matter as the palace itself was deserted, with no souls inside it save for the Marquis' underlings, his servitors that had come to challenge the girl and her resolve to get home. They would give her, and excuse the pun, hell. The great doors behind Ishtar than banged shut, sealing itself. Now the challenge had begun, and she had nowhere to go but deeper within the palace.

Ishtar looked around as she saw the great pool fade away as the two found themselves in front the great palace of Bablyon. Even though she knew it was an illusion, it was still impressive to see the hall in the glories of heyday. She could only look in awe at the marble floor and the marvelous artwork in the halls. It was then that the Marquis wished her luck and faded away. He disappeared before she could say anything, it was then she felt the cold air on the rear. The blue haired student looked down and realized she still naked and would have to go through this challenge in nothing but her birthday suit. Still if she is going to get out of here, she was going to have to go forward. The doors slammed shut behind her on their own.

Now there was absolute no choice. Ishtar took a deep breath, and with a strengthen resolve she began to move deeper into the palace.

Indeed, with no other options available to the student now, all she could do now was press on. In front of her, though, was a great door that remained sealed, preventing her from moving into the central part of the castle. upon the door's seal was what appeared to be a missing circular object, most likely serving as the key for the seal. This left her with only two options, to explore the right corridor or to travel down the left corridor. But either way, regardless of which one she chose, the fact remained. A key was necessary if she wanted to get into the great chamber within, one that had no other way in save through the locked doors. Down the left corridor, it appeared to be darker than the right, so little could be seen past the darkness. However, on a pedestral beside the entrance to the corridor was a flashlight, certainly left there for the student. And above the entrance was a golden sign with the words "Hall of Curiosity" engraved in it. The right corridor, however, was entirely lit up, showing several doors on one wall while the other wall was decorated with statues and tapestries and pictures. The golden sign above the entrance had the words "Hall of Knowledge" on it. The first of her challenges had begun.

Ishtar didn't get far until she came across a great door that lead further into the palace. It looked like there was a circular object missing in it. Rats, I'm not going to get any further until I find that object. She looked around and saw she had two options. The brightly light "Hall of Knowledge" or the dark "Hall of Curiosity". The "Hall of Knowledge" looked so inviting and obviously would be a good place to look for the missing object. But she needed to know for sure.

Ishtar walked over to the pedestral next to "Hall of Curiosity". The corridor was so dark, it was impossible to see anything down there. But there was a flashlight nearby. I wonder if I can shed a little light on the situation, the blue haired student giggled. She picked up the flashlight and shown it down the "Hall of Curiosity" to see if the flashlight would provide a better view of the "Hall" before she decided to go down it.

The flashlight did indeed do the job of dispelling whatever darkness it was shined on, but the only flaw was that the light it poured out didn't go a long way. A quick view of the corridor with the flashlight would reveal much of the same, with more statues and tapestries decorating both walls, and a lack of doors. The corridor simply seem to go on in a single direction, the very back being obstructed by darkness that no amount of light could dispel from that far away. There was, however, an instant where something seemed to have flashed with gold, very much like how the seal on the great doors itself glittered. It was potentially the key she was looking for, but it could just as well have been a trap as well. There was no way of finding out save for entering the hall herself and finding out up close. The choice was up to her, but curiosity also played its tricks on the girl.

Ishtar sighed. The flashlight was really strong enough to make quick work of the room, only shooting halfway into the room. She could see more statues and tapestries throughout the room, but that wasn't what caught her interest. In the very back of the room there was a flash of gold, it looked like it matched the door. Is that it? Did I find it? It was too hard to tell from this distance. There was only one way to find out, Ishtar took a breath and began to step forward. She shone the flashlight nearby to make sure that didn't stumble into anything...interesting. Of course in this darkness anything could happened.

When the student had entered the Hall of Curiosity, leading the way with her flashlight, it seemed as if the shadows had grown even darker, as if there were magic within this corridor. It was entirely possible that one of the Marquis' underlings was here now. It was equally as possible that they had cast a spell on the corridor, hidden a trap to snare her, or even left behind a monster or two to ambush her. There were so many possibilities when it came to the Marquis. However, one thing was clear, and that was she was now in trouble. As soon as she had moved ten feet, the doors banged shut, sealing her within the Hall of Curiosity. No amount of force would open them and it seemed that the only options were to either sit here in the darkness and wait for something to happen or track down whatever it had been that she had seen, the brief flash of gold tempting her curiosity. And even still, the shadows seem to only grow darker and darker, as if the corridor was growing in power. Yet, for all the tension she might have felt, nothing happened to the student just yet.