Happy New Year!

Attention Dudes and Dudettes: my semester is about to start back up, so I won't be able to update as often as usual. Once it actually picks up the only guarantee I can make is a chapter a month, but I'll try to get more out for ya'll. Don't worry, this story won't die, I've planned out way too much and frankly it will be awesomesauce. If you got any questions, just pm meh.

Techpriest of Tzeentch: Now that you point it out...I don't really have a good answer for that lol.

Disclaimer: I do not own Familiar of Zero, Warhammer 40,000, or anything related or pertaining to those universes.

Chapter 7: Ladies Man

"Fouquet is wondering how the hell you plan on breaking in to the vault yourself. And you know, it probably would have been easier to let her take the staff, and then just nab it from her later," Derf exclaimed while attached to the chaos space marine's hip.

"I didn't know she was going after a 'Staff of Destruction', and who said anything about breaking in? I'm just going to ask nicely..." Glacius replied as he marched across the courtyard towards the center building. He had seen the power wielded by the mages on this world, so he was more intrigued by this superior weapon than he would have been had he just arrived. He pushed open the doors and began the long climb to the top of the tower, straight up to the Headmaster's office. Glacius was a pretty charming fella, convincing the old man shouldn't be too difficult. He didn't even care that his armor was covered in blood and stone anymore, as it was no mystery where he had been.

Inside the Headmaster's Office…

"He has to be related to it somewhat, I know what I saw!" Headmaster Osmond exclaimed from behind his desk.

"Maybe, but that creates even further questions regarding-" Professor Colbert was interrupted as the office door swung open quickly, causing him to turn around him surprise.

Old Osmond raised an eyebrow at the figure that just entered his office. "Well…speak of the devil…"

Glacius could barely fit through the doorway, the top of his helmet grazing it just slightly as he walked in.

"Ah, gentlemen, I have a request I would like to make," the chaos marine stated proudly, pumping his chest out like he was some sort of Imperial Guard officer. Truth was he was just in a surprisingly good mood. Colbert was a little taken back by this unexpected tone, as Glacius was completely covered in dirt and blood and always looked ready to wage war. He turned back to Osmond with a confused look on his face.

"Depends on the request, Savior of Tristain," Old Osmond replied happily as he leaned back in his chair, smoking his pipe.

"Savior…of Tristain?" Glacius asked slowly.

"Well, that's the nickname you got that's been going around the campus. If you had not stepped in and saved the princess like that, then our whole country would be in mourning right now. We wouldn't possibly be able to bear the death of another royal family member, especially so soon," Osmond stated. He didn't seem bothered at all by the marks of battle covering the armor of the giant.

Colbert turned back to Glacius, still a little uneasy but proud nonetheless. "You're story of the battle against that golem has gotten around rather quickly, and everyone who has heard it considers you a hero."

Well…this was unexpected. The chaos marine, a prominent figure of death and destruction, the herald of doom, was being considered a champion. Almost like he never followed the ways of Tzeentch in the first place, but stayed with his chapter. He began thinking to himself.

Hmm…weeeeeeell I guess that's good news…I don't think we're at that phase yet, but hopefully it will only make things easier…

Glacius' helmet managed to hide his surprise as he responded. "Heh, what do you expect of a loyal familiar?" he said as he raised his shoulders up.

"Now," Old Osmond began again, "what is this request that you seek? I'm willing to bend far for the savior of her highness and one of my students. Just don't ask me to go into battle with you!"

Glacius liked this old guy. He was surprisingly cool and easy to work with, unlike some of the nobles who were completely full of themselves, like Mott, Louise, Guiche, and others. The princess was pretty laid back as well, maybe not all of these nobles deserved to rot after all? When Chaos took the land, the ones he liked could join him on the path of change with the great Tzeentch, and the others could have their guts rotted out by that psycho Nurgle for all he cared. Ugh, that guy was a real prick; every time Tzeentch was about to change something for the better, Nurgle would show up and just ruin everything…literally.

"All I want is to see what exactly the thief wanted, what prompted her to try and rob this place while the princess was here," the chaos marine stated genuinely.

Osmond thought for a little bit before giving his response. "Eh, I don't see why not. Come."

Well that was easy. Almost too easy. Glacius started to think that something was up and he upped his guard, preparing himself for whatever could happen as he walked with Colbert and Osmond over to the vault.

"Oh just so you know," Colbert began while they were approaching the large door guarding the vault, "you won the contest at the exhibition."

"Heh, then the master shall be pleased. Come to think of it, has she regained consciousness yet?" Glacius asked.

"I believe so. The princess was with her the last time we saw her. Also, what happened to that thief? We saw the golem fall, but did you catch her?" Osmond asked.

"Ah..." Glacius began as he placed one of his gauntlets on his chainsword. "She won't be bothering anyone again." Colbert gulped as he had a few ideas of what that meant.

"Interesting. Ah, here we are. Let me just open this really quick…"

The headmaster chanted a few words, and with the flick of his wand the gigantic wooden door began to slowly open before him. Magical lights in the vault began flaring up, illuminating the stone room. And there it was: the Staff of Destruction. Oh man, Fouquet must have been pissed right now, and Glacius giggled to himself at the thought of her trapped soul screaming in hatred, but the quiet laughter immediately stopped when his eyes got a better look at this 'staff'.

Glacius slowly walked into the room and grabbed the proper grips on it. The thing was heavy, but it was expected to be. He looked over it in awe, knowing exactly what it was.

Osmond nodded slowly. "I had a feeling you would know what this is. I found it on someone who was somewhat similar in appearance and stature to you a very long time ago. That's why I brought you down here."

There was no doubt now that Chaos had been here; or at least someone from his world.

"Gentlemen..." the chaos marine began as he held the weapon up. "…this is no mere staff."

Osmond and Colbert both had their eyes on Louise's familiar, eager to hear more.

"It's called a Lascannon…and it is a powerful weapon of choice back where I come from. Now I must ask you…how did your country get their hands on this?"

Osmond popped his pipe into his mouth as he looked over at Colbert, who nodded in approval. Tonight was going to be very interesting indeed…

Later…

"So you're saying this weapon killed that dragon-thing or whatever?"

"Yes, it was the brightest light I had ever seen, and the blue beam bored a hole straight through the creature that was about to end my life," Osmond replied.

The three were all back in Osmond's office, Glacius holding on to the lascannon that had been maintained poorly. From his judgment, it had been used back in the days before the Horus Heresy, probably during the Great Crusade mostly.

"It was then that I turned around and saw something that looked very similar to you in appearance…but…"

Glacius leaned in closer, beckoning the headmaster to continue with his story. Perhaps this information could lead him to the daemon? Or even more weapons?

"He was horribly wounded, with multiple bloody holes with scorch marks around them…"

Lasguns…probably fought against Imperial Guard…

"And his armor, despite being the same color as yours, was far more...ah...decorated. He had many skulls and spikes covering most it along with two massive horns coming off of his helmet, but he had those same red lenses that you do. He also had some sort of strange disease or something like that, as his skin that was exposed from a missing gauntlet was sickly grey with sores and small…tentacles…coming out of it."

Thoughts were running through his head rapidly, thousands of questions popping up, one after another in rapid succession. He needed more information.

"Did this man ever say anything? A name perhaps? Any other markings on his armor?" Glacius questioned quickly, his thirst for knowledge consuming him completely.

"I went over to the dying man to get a better look at him, as he had completely collapsed after he fired the weapon. I was shocked at how frightening and alien he looked up close, but regardless he saved my life, so I then asked him for his name…"

"And what was his response?" the chaos marine inquired.

"I'll never forget it," the headmaster said, lowering his head. "All he said was 'I am Alpharius' and then he…died," Osmond finished solemnly.

Glacius felt like he had just been kicked in the face by an Ork Warboss. Alpha Legion had been here. Chaos had been here, and only a mere thirty years ago! So many questions burned into Glacius' mind as he tried to sort them out into something coherent. What was an Alpha Legionnaire doing here? Did he also get banished for some reason too? Were there Imperial Guardsmen here as well? Arrrrrrrrggggghhhhhhhh!

Colbert was also listening intently, but he was smoking a pipe as well, as he needed something to help ease the knowledge into him. Glacius' helmet couldn't hide the fact that he had a million thoughts running through his head, but Colbert didn't blame him. It was obvious to the professor that this familiar didn't originate from this world, despite the fact that many students, including Louise, refused to believe that. They probably thought differently after today though.

Glacius got his mind back under control. None of those questions really mattered right now, despite how his natural hunger for knowledge was begging desperately to know more. He needed to focus on merely what he could control. Right now, he had a huge lascannon in his hands, and it could prove to be very valuable in future conflicts. And not just the weapon itself, but the technology packed in it.

"Interesting…" the chaos marine muttered. "Was he carrying any gear on him? More weapons of some sort?"

Osmond set the pipe down before continuing on. "Why yes, he had all kinds of strange equipment and items on him. Once I got others to help me carry all of the gear, it was all locked away in the palace vault, with the exception of your 'lascannon' which was brought here. There were a few parts that looked like they went with it, and those are here too."

Ammo probably. Awesome. He would need to schedule of a visit of the palace now as well. Glacius turned to Professor Colbert, another question running through his mind.

"Professor Colbert, is there any way you could, ah, reverse engineer this weapon along with the ammo? Like create a smaller version of it, or create even more ammunition? You can keep whatever you learn from it of course."

Colbert adjusted his glasses before answering, excitement running through him. He was a scientist after all, and learning about the technology behind this powerful beam weapon was way too tempting to pass up. "Of course! But I must ask…"

"Yes?"

"What do you plan to do with all these weapons? Your sword and sorcery seem like more than enough to protect Louise."

"Don't you think that's pretty obvious?" Old Osmond stated. "It's clear that he's on our side though, so I see no issues with that."

"Well then, it's not a problem. I may need your help with some things though…"

"Sure, I wasn't a tech-priest back in my world, so I don't know much about these weapons, but I'll do what I can," the chaos marine stated.

Osmond then looked back at Glacius with a new question and keen interest in his eyes. "Speaking of your world, can you explain it to us? Where did you come from, and what exactly are you?"

The chaos marine stretched out a little. "Ehh, it's a pretty long story…it only spans like 40,000 years…"

"Bah, we will discuss this later then. An old man needs his rest you know," Osmond stated with a wave of his hand.

"Heh, and I gotta clean this crap off my suit. I'll help you bring the lascannon to your lab, professor."

Later that night, outside…

Glacius didn't realize how banged up he was until he got the chestpiece of his armor off, as he could see massive amounts of bruising directly under his skin; and it took a lot to bruise a space marine.

"That's pretty bad partner, you sure you don't wanna get that looked at?" Derf asked, his body leaning up against the stone wall while his master was stripping off the armor to clean it once again.

"It'll heal. Patience my friend, patience pleases Tzeentch…"

"And who's this 'Tzeentch' guy you keep referring to?" Derf retorted.

Glacius glared back at his chainsword as he was about to go on a monologue of how great the Changer of Ways was, how he was more than just some 'guy', but his hearing suddenly picked up footsteps. They were very faint, but they grew louder and louder as someone approached from the distance. Dangit, who was up this late?

The chaos marine's entire upper armor had been removed and was in the large pot that he had used last time to clean off his armor, with the exception of his helmet that he had cleaned first before removing the other pieces. He wasn't worried about being caught of course, as staying up a little late was hardly an offense at all. He was worried about someone seeing the huge and nasty bruises across his chest, because if word got around that he was soft and fleshy on the inside, that he could be wounded, then he would have more problems than he needed right now. The news of him breaking the golem had spread pretty quickly, so this news would spread rapidly too. He had a reputation to maintain ya know?

It probably wasn't the best solution, but it would do as Glacius tucked his huge body behind a nearby alcove where he could still watch the pot and all of his gear. His purple-pinkish eyes were staring at the corner that the intruder would come around with intensity; ready to deal with a threat should it appear. He grabbed his chainsword before he retreated behind the structure, so he would be ready for anything.

The figure was some young girl who was wearing a grey, hooded robe over her body. He could see a few locks of purple hair coming out from under the hood as she approached the pot cautiously, almost as if there was something horrible hiding in there. Glacius was wishing right now that he had his helmet on, as its Auto-senses had recorded the faces of most of the students and stored them in the IFF database. Without it, he had no clue who this was, but more than likely it was just some random student that he would have to scare off. However…there was always the minute possibility of it being a thief, as that cloak was suspicious as hell at this time of night.

The woman peered over the edge of the pot, staring in at the armored pieces that had sunk into it. Glacius could see her mouth grimace at the mixture of blood and dirt that began spreading throughout the water, and she turned away to see his helmet sitting on the grass nearby as that had been the first thing the chaos marine cleaned off. And then she started walking towards it.

Oh hell no, don't you dare place your dirty fingers on my helmet you piece of-

She picked up the helmet slowly, struggling at first from the weight of it, but she eventually brought it up to eye level with her face. Glacius wanted nothing more than to run in and hack her up right now for touching something so sacred to him, but he kept his killer instinct tucked away as his finger twitched over the chainsword.

Leaving another body wouldn't help at all, but his 'patience' that he had just been talking about with Derf was seriously being tested, as the girl started giggling and put his helmet on over her head, like it was some kind of freakin' toy. Obviously her tiny body was thrown off of balance by the heavy piece of armor, and she fell flat on her bottom, still laughing to herself.

"Dude, I think that's-"

"Quiet Derf!" Glacius hissed in a whisper at his sword that he was holding at the ready. The whole situation was pissing him off, but he wouldn't make a move unless she tried to steal the armor. All of the equipment was powered down, so there was absolutely nothing that she could do with it right now, except make a fool of herself like she was already doing.

Just go awaaaaaaaay!

As if hearing his words, the girl took off the helmet while pulling her hood back up, keeping most of her face hidden. Glacius was about to let out a sigh of relief, but that's when things got weird.

The girl was still sitting down with the helmet facing her when she muttered a string of words under her breathe. A normal human would not have heard what was whispered right then, but Glacius picked them up easily as "Until next time, thank you."

And then she kissed it.

What. The. Frak.

Anger built up in him rapidly as he began imagining all the ways he would tear her apart limb from limb for her…intrusion! However, before he could give in to his violent urges, she got up and took off into the darkness, leaving his helmet lying on the ground after it had been molested.

Once Glacius was certain she was out of earshot, he emerged from behind the pillar and stomped over to the helmet. Derf immediately broke into laughter.

"What was this about patience? I saw your finger twitching over that switch, partner! Hahaha!"

"Shut up…" Glacius growled. He grabbed the helmet and slammed it into the pot, rage seething through him once more. Glacius couldn't tell who it was that had just violated his equipment, but Derf had decided against telling his master who it really was. If he just stopped and thought about it for a second, the answer would be pretty obvious, but the chaos marine was not in the thinking mood right now.

"Next time I come across that cloaked freak, I'm gonna disembowel her where she stands," Glacius muttered to himself as he added her to his hit list. The irony was too much for Derf, and he promptly burst into laughter.

The next day…

The semester was drawing to a close at last, and things were proceeding smoothly. Glacius was becoming more adept at using the psychic spells he had learned, but oddly enough no daemons even attempted to break into his mind. He was fairly certain his psychic signature was like a flashlight in a dark room for all kinds of wicked creatures to see, but the room was just empty.

Glacius also worked with Professor Colbert in his lab with the lascannon, demonstrating how it worked and sharing what he knew. The chaos marine was learning a lot about the ancient technology, and knowledge always pleased him. It would take a while longer, but a more portable version of the lascannon would soon be available. It wouldn't be nearly as strong, but it would still be considerably more powerful than those Imperial peashooters called lasguns.

Everything was proceeding nicely, and the only thing left to do was get inside the palace and acquire the wargear that laid inside. He would need to build rapport with the royal family in order to gain access without turning the whole country against him, but he felt he was off to a good start so far after keeping the princess alive and earning his little nickname.

The one thing that was starting to get bothersome though, was how clingy his master had become lately. During the day, she practically wanted him by her side at all times, no exceptions. Of course he broke that silly rule a few times when she wasn't paying attention, as he had business to attend to. She even tried to make him come to the dance with her later that night! Was she kidding? The only time Glacius had free reign was when she was asleep at night, and he had to use his time efficiently as he only had maybe eight hours to get everything done per day.

It had now been three days since he had defeated Fouquet and enslaved her soul, and the sun was coming down across the academy. It was summer vacation and there were only a couple of students left on campus such as Guiche, Montmorency, and Louise. He had seen Kirche take off with Tabitha to go back home with her, and he was thankful for that, as Kirche had been giving him weird looks lately.

He was outside studying the book late at night when a familiar face showed up.

"Hey Mr. Glacius!" the soft voice that only belonged to Siesta announced as she stumbled upon him. The chaos marine looked up in surprise, as he had not seen her in a while. His helmet was off as well as he was replenishing his strength from food he had stolen from the dining hall.

"Evening," he said blandly as he looked up at her. Siesta was still taken back a bit by how shocking his face was, but the shock subsided as she gave a warm smile.

"I have a little bit of time, so I was wondering…"

"Yes?" Glacius asked slowly, his eyes locked onto her with question.

"Could you show me that book you looking at for a bit? I'm sorry I couldn't meet up last time…" she muttered while looking down, obviously ashamed of not being able to complete her promise. She was ready to be dismissed entirely, but was instead surprised by the familiar.

"Sure. Have a seat," he stated as he flipped to the beginning of the book. This thing was full of chaotic dark energy, so he had to be careful that she didn't look directly into it, otherwise she might go mad and be lost forever.

"Now, listen carefully. Do NOT look at the words themselves, I will read them. Your fragile mind might not be able to handle it. Also, it's-"

Annnnnnd she broke the first rule already. She was leaning over him to read the first page, her curiosity blatantly throwing out any and all safety rules. Glacius sighed and didn't even bother pulling her back, as it was too late.

But nothing happened.

She kept staring into it with that silly smile on her face, as if the thing had absolutely no effect on her. This was very peculiar indeed…

"Hey, some of these words look similar to writings that my great-grandfather made a long time ago," she stated as she looked back up at him. It took a while for her voice to register in his head, as he was wondering how the hell she didn't fry her sanity from looking at the warped writings. Was it this world that was somehow affecting this…or was there something special about her?

"Huh? What was that?" the chaos marine asked after coming back to the real world.

"I recognize some of these writings."

"You know Gothic!?" the chaos marine exclaimed, his face recoiled in shock.

Siesta simply smiled before continuing on. "Well if that's what you call it, then I know a little bit!"

There was way more to this simple little maid than meets the eye. Glacius' natural thirst for knowledge slowly crept up on him.

"Tell me about your great-grandfather…"

Meanwhile…

Louise was storming out of her room and into the school courtyard as she began hunting down her familiar. She clearly told him that he was to stay right outside of her room at night, but that dumb tin can didn't listen! When she woke up to go check on him, he had vanished.

"How late does that dog plan on gallivanting around the school set? Idiot…" Louise grumbled as she marched through the grass towards the sounds of converse.

But then she saw him. Them. She saw her familiar sitting down on the grass talking with that maid girl, Siesta. She was leaning in a little too close for his comfort and smiling a lot, but what struck her most was that her familiar had his helmet removed.

She had never seen him without his helmet on. Louise could see the pale skin contrasted by his jet black hair that was cut down really short. She could make out the huge scars across his young face, and those eyes…those eyes were changing colors or something. Very strange indeed.

It wasn't the fact that he looked odd that upset her. It was the fact he had never taken his helmet off in front of her, and it also looked like he was…smiling?! Emotions twisted around in the young girl as she slowly backed away from the scene, misinterpreting it completely. It was too much for her, and she took off in the opposite direction she came in.

"What? What was all that!? Some sort of late night secret meeting!?" she asked herself in anger as she marched back to her room. "He's a familiar! And there are limits to how a familiar can act!"

She then stopped as a thought crossed her head. "Wait just a minute, why am I sneaking around like this, spying on him? OH GEEZ! THIS IS SO IRRATATING!"

Guiche was nearby at a table while sweet-talking with Montmorency. He had just given her one of his typical charms and was now leaning in to finish the deal.

"Don't be impatient! Let's have our toast first!" Montmorency exclaimed.

"Hehehe, in your presence I even forgot how a gentlemen ought to behave," Guiche chuckled while looking away.

"LOOK! A naked woman flying in the sky!" Montmorency shouted out of nowhere while pointing up. Guiche couldn't help but fall for the trick, as it was too tempting to resist.

"Where? Where!? Where, where where!?"

His averted eyes were the only distraction she needed as she poured a certain potion into his drink. It was a love potion meant to make the recipient fall in mad love with the first person they set eyes on, and hopefully it would keep Guiche from lusting after other girls constantly.

This was going to be perfect, oh yes.

But then Louise showed up, a look of gloom over her face. The blonde girl jumped a little before questioning her.

"Oh Louise? What are you doing out this late?" she asked.

"Leave me alone. And I'll be taking that!" the pink haired mage shouted as she snatched the drink right out of Guiche's hands and gulped it down completely. Montmorency stared in horror and disbelief at what had just transpired.

"Thanks for the drink," Louise stated as she began walking back inside.

Oh no…

Back in Louise's room…

Glacius busted in, his helmet back on and feeling powerful with the swell of information he had received from Siesta. Apparently she was the descendent of an Imperial Guardsman who arrived on this world a long time ago. That's why she knew Gothic! It still didn't explain her capability of reading the book, but that was a question for another time.

With so much information floating around freely in his mind, he needed to get to the palace and recover the equipment left behind by the Alpha Legionnaire. There could be valuable clues that would tie everything together, and his patience was gone.

"Master! We need to go to the palace immediately! It is of the utmost-"

Why was she looking at him like that? Glacius stopped mid-sentence as he tried to understand what the master had been doing, as her face was glowing red. What the heck was going on?

To be continued…

This will be…ah, entertaining to say the least…hehe…