Ben 10 Radiant War, Volume 4

Against All Odds

The school was like a maze of passageways.  multiple hallways filled with large paintings and pedestals, suits of armor, and ceilings that seemed multiple stories high, it was like Hogwarts from Harry Potter combined with a bit of Dark Soul's inspired visions of massiveness and grandios-ness in design. 

Towering staircases to who knew where into a giant house the size of a planet..  it was crazy.. and yet, these halls were filled with students all going about daily life. 

"As you can see." Cthugha said as he led Erice and the other two girls through the bustling halls. "This place is so infinite that only Lady Tothep actually knows the contents of every room and hall in this place, in fact only about 2 percent of it is actually used as the school. Everywhere else is off limits as the moment you enter past that 2 percent there's a high chance of getting lost and never found again... all I can say is that Miss Tothep  confirmed that we use 18 kitchens out of the 2 hundred billion total.. so.. we do know we have 2 hundred billion kitchens at least."

"Th-this is her school isn't it?" Erice asked tentatively. 

"Yes.. yes it is." said Cthugha. "The children you see around you, and of course some adults, are all heroes hoping to make names for themselves, as well as help Madam Tothep combat the Outer Gods. A few of us more enlightened Outer Gods who have also learned to empathize with mortals, including myself and the Conductor of the Dimensional Train Tru'nembra, helped found this school, with a bit of assistance from the Numensapien Twilight Prankster. 

"Wh-who?"

"You'll probably meet him soon enough, it's best you see him yourself to get the full picture, describing him can be quite a chore even for us gods." said Cthugha. "Nia Tothep may be the first Trickster in the known Multiverse, but Prankster is in a league all to his own." 

"..." Erice remained silent.  She was still unsure if this was all just some huge dream. A nightmare if you would.

She clutched the Omnitrix on her wrist tightly. She didn't want it, and yet, she was afraid of losing it.

It really was all that was left of Ben. 

After traversing the halls, the group came to what appeared to be a set of double oaken doors with a symbol on it in the shape of a star with various other lines protruding through the center.  It was the symbol of the Necronomicon if Erice remembered correctly. However there was a difference. In the center, overlapping the center of the symbol with it's vibrant green color and black borders.. was the Omnitrix's hourglass symbol..  the Galvan Tech Symbol as Ben called it. 

When the doors parted, Erice found herself guided into a beautiful fancy office with stacks of books piled around the large mahogany desk.  

Nia, back in her usual young girl form, was sitting at the desk, scribbling on documents and using a stamp on several others. 

The moment Erice, Alice, and Deca stepped in however, she stopped looking busy and immediately looked up, smiling a little sadly. "Well well, never expected this turn of events did we..?"

Erice bowed her head. "Surprised I'm not Ben..?"

"A little, but then again, he was always full of surprises when it came to how he dealt with problems." said Nia.

Erice gritted her teeth and she felt her face contort with fury. "Is that supposed to be funny?  Ben is dead, but at least everything else turned out fine? Hahahaha move on?  Is that what we're going for here!?"

Nia held up a hand calmly. "Erice, you know that's not what I think."

Erice went quiet as Nia looked into her eyes.