Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10.

Full summery -

Takes place at the end of the series, after Gwen transfered to Ben's school. Ben, like the immature, tactless little doofus he was, ruined Gwen's schoolwork and pissed her off. In revenge, the girl tried out a new spell on her cousin, only to underestimate the effects of the enchantment and accidentally banished his soul to the depths of his own mind, so that his consciousness was unable to be retrieved. To save Ben, the only way for the ten year old little girl was to journey through her cousin's mind and get rid of the thing that was imprisioning his soul, but it was easier said than done.

So, here's my second story. Hope you like it.

Chapter 1 – Curiosity Killed the Cat

A beautiful afternoon it was. With the sun beaming upon the earth, a slight breeze kissing the pink cheeks of lively children, butterflies of elegance twirling along with the wind, the warm, peaceful atmosphere shattered like glass at the spear of two shrill and furious voices.

"Give it back!" Her emerald green eyes danced with rage and frustration as she desperately tried to keep hold of her precious piece of paper that was slowly slipping out of her fingers.

"Not until you lend it to me for five minutes!" His chocolate brown hair was drenched in sweat in his attempt to pull the paper towards himself against the tug of the girl as he determinedly dug his fingernails at the edge of it.

The girl's eyes widened. "You'll rip it, doofus! Just let go!"

"How about you let go!" The boy gritted his teeth, refusing to release his grasp. "I just need some reference on how to write my conclusion! Then I'll give you back your report!"

A sickening tearing sound issued from between the tug of war of the two cousins as they suddenly found themselves thrown back by an invisible force and hitting the hard concrete floor, aching and sore and each holding half of the prize.

Ben picked himself up and massaged his head, squinting at the piece in his hand. It was the lower part of Gwen's report, which meant he had what he was looking for.

"I'll just borrow this for a sec," he said, gesturing the ripped piece to Gwen, who was still on the ground, holding her sore arm. The boy started tracing his steps back to the classroom.

"Benjamin Kirby Tennyson!" The girl screamed, instantly on her feet. "You come back this instance!"

Ben turned, raising his eyebrows. "What now?"

"You ripped my history report!" Gwen fumed, eyes bulging. "I spent five hours on that!"

"So? You typed it out, remember? You have the softcopy. Just go home and print it out again."

"That's the problem," Gwen hissed in boiling anger, "the report's due today!"

He couldn't get what she was so worked up about. "Then hand it in tomorrow."

"The deduction of marks is ten percent for each day late!"

Ben sighed, rolling his eyes. Trust Gwen to make situations seem worse than they really are. He, personally, couldn't care less about handing in late work. What was the point of getting high marks when all you have to do was pass all the exams if you wanted to ascend to the next grade? Except if you wanted to please the teachers, of course, and judging by Gwen's personality, reaching the teachers' soft spots was her all-time aim.

"Well? How can I help?" Sarcasm was thick in his voice. He held out the second part of Gwen's report. "You want me to help stick the two pieces together for you with some duck tape or something?"

When Gwen remained silent and merely glared, Ben shrugged and trotted back to the building. He still had his own report to finish.

Curse that little dweeb! Gwen blinked back tears as she stared angrily at the miserable piece of what was left of her masterpiece. Sure, she could always print out another copy, but she didn't want to give a bad impression to the teachers, especially when this was the first piece of homework for the year.

She crumpled the paper in her fist, wiping the hot, salty drops away. Crying didn't solve anything. She might just accept the fact that she would get her mark deducted and a little disproval from her history teacher. Or, she could tell on Ben, so she wouldn't get into trouble.

Now that sounded like a plan.

She smoothened out the crumpled piece in her hand as it was evidence that she had really finished her work if she was going to report her cousin to the teacher. Grinning now, she sat down under a shade and took out her most treasured possession – the spell book.

It wasn't really hers to begin with, but finders keepers. Serves Charmcaster right for trying to switch bodies with Ben. Gwen flipped randomly through the pages, going through the spells she has already mastered.

She was grinning at the memory of turning Ben into a hamster as her gaze fell upon the incantation in question when something at the corner of her eye caught her attention. One of the pages of the little book seemed to be sticking out and glittering gold. Curiosity got the better of her and she turned to the page, only to find herself staring at three alien words she had never come across before.

Poderium exatorcia menterania.

Confused and puzzled, Gwen blinked. She couldn't understand why she has never seen this page before. It was as if it was suddenly there, with no reason and no source. She turned to the back and discovered a short sentence of description, which she read aloud, but just enough for herself to hear.

This spell allows enchanter to have total access and domination over another's mind.

"So…it's like a mind-controlling spell?" It seemed a little dangerous, but also powerful and useful if she could master it well. A playful smile spread across the little girl's face as she knew just the person she was going to test the enchantment on.

"Ben!" She was back into the classroom and sitting next to her cousin in a moment, unable to contain the excitement and anxiousness inside her. Thankfully, the room was empty except for the two of them.

The boy looked up from his nearly-done essay, narrowing his eyes.

"What do you want now?" he muttered, obviously annoyed by her interruption that broke his concentration on his homework.

"Nothing much. Just want to try something." Gwen took a deep breath. "Poder –"

"Wait!" She was cut short by Ben's alarmed yell as he leapt out of his seat in panic. "If this is another spell to turn me into some kind of a rat or something, then I'm out of here!"

"No," Gwen stated calmly, forcing him back down. "Nothing like that. Just cooperate for a bit, will ya?" She started again. "Poderium..."

A blue light started issuing from within the girl's right hand, glowing brighter and stronger by the second, and both cousins watched in wonder and awe. Encouraged that something was happening, Gwen continued.

"…exatorcia…"

Out of her fingers a long tentacle of blue energy emerged like a slithering snake as the classroom was filled with a sound of cracking lightning. It circled her hand once, creating some kind of a blue circle, then shot straight into the boy's chest and vanished from sight.

"Wait!" There was fear in his voice as Ben grasped the front of his shirt. "What are you –"

"…menterania!"

Gwen gasped as the radiance in her hand grew larger and larger until she was blinded by a great flash of blue. She squeezed her eyes shut against the rays that pierced even through her eyelids, the sudden explosion of brilliance causing taking her by surprise and causing her to fall out of her chair.

There was a sound like a razor gun being shot, and then everything returned to normal. The blue brightness was gone. Everything was in place; the blast of light did not blow the classroom apart.

Ben materialized behind a desk as he scrambled back up, panting, leaning against the table for support. "What was that all about?" he demanded crossly, clutching his shoulder. He seemed to have tumbled off his chair too.

Gwen shook her head, more perplexed than ever. The spell…did it work? She glanced at Ben, who didn't seem to be affected by the enchantment at all. She frowned, racking her brains for anything that might have made her spell fail. She was doing alright at first, wasn't she? And until the end, she even caused some kind of an energy bomb to blow up.

"Guess the spell just didn't work, then?" Ben's distant voice drifted through her ears, knocking her out of her deep thoughts.

"I guess…" Thoroughly disappointed, she slumped against one of the desk's legs, holding her head. Was she still too weak to attempt any of the stronger spells? It had seemed easy when she first saw the incantation, and she has been practicing her magic for quite a while now.

"Don't worry," Ben snickered, gathering up his draft papers and his report, "I'm sure you'll manage it in a few hundred thousand years or so."

"Urgh!" Gwen glowered, starting to get quite mad. "Just shut up!"

"Why should –"

It happened so quickly that neither of them were braced for it. Without warning, the boy's form went rigid, his eyes flashed blue and his hands trembled uncontrollably. As if frozen from head to toe, he stared blankly forward, silent and stiff like a board.

"Ben?" The red-headed girl reached out for the boy, shaking him slightly, concerned. "Ben?" She shouted a little more worriedly, when she could receive no reaction from him. Her cousin did nothing but stand and stare straight ahead, lips slightly parted. His skin was pure cold. His toxic green eyes were unfocused and there was neither light nor life in them.

"Ben!" Gwen was now yelling frantically into his face. Could it be…the mind-controlling spell! Oh, what has she done to him?

"Talk to me!" Tears were starting to fall, no matter how many times she told herself that breaking down was not a solution to most problems.

"Please!

So...how was that? Please review!