Phoenix Phire

Chapter 46 - Fortifying Glory

Nix arrived at Jenzi platform a few minutes before 0700. All seven members of the Gladis Hub were waiting for him. He offered them membership in Inferno.

Darsi seemed surprised by the offer. "What brought this on Nix?" She liked calling him Trip-Seven, but she didn't want to antagonize him further.

"It's for ease of travel. By joining Inferno, you will receive a Guild portal icon on your hud. That means you can leave the Gladis Hub unassisted."

Darsi smiled at him, "I can make us all 'return to binding point' bracers. They aren't complicated at all. As long as our binding point is the Hub, we'll be able to go back and forth easily."

Nix nodded, "that's what I'm thinking also." He held out his hand and Darsi grabbed it. A few moments later he dropped them off at the Gladis Hub and then returned to Glory Island.

He covered a yawn when he stepped off the Glory platform.

/Guildchat: Nix: Going to check out the Sea-World now.

/Guildchat: Ronnie: If my houseboat is damaged, I'm going to want compensation!

/Guildchat: Nix: Sure, just ask Shae for reimbursement.

The Palace courtyard was empty as he walked through it. The beautiful Red Gold doors were open, Nix could hear the sound of voices coming from within. Pon was there with three additional Acolytes, bringing the total to nine. They were all huddled around the old mage, hanging on his every word.

Nix held up a hand and waved. "Hey guys, don't let me interrupt." He guilded all of the Acolytes as he passed through. To his surprise, each of them bowed low to him.

Off to one side of the altar was a small platform. The temple in Cyphix had a similar one, it was where he had respawned after freezing to death the last time.

[Initial Set up of the Fire Palace portal, please choose permissions from the following choices.]

1: Inferno Members only.

2: Access on individual Basis.

3: Unlimited Access.

"Inferno Members only."

[Access to Temple Seed World has been established. Please choose permissions from the following choices.]

1: Inferno Members only.

2: Access on individual Basis.

3: Unlimited Access.

"Access on individual Basis."

[Initial Set up has been completed. Please return to the platform menu to change any choices.]

Nix opened the guild roster and gave the original Inferno members access, then he stepped on the platform and chose the Sea-World.

His feet stepped directly onto the beach. He breathed a sigh of relief to see that the marina was still intact. The small cottage on the beach had grown again. He turned to see acres and acres of rolling plains, covered in knee-high grass. The Seed World seemed to have doubled in size, with just about all of that being land.

/Guildchat: Nix: Everything is fine, none of the houseboats were damaged.

Most of the Aquarions had remained on the Sea-World during the melding, they walked out of the water when they saw him.

"I can't believe this is the same tiny world I use to play in as a child." Mina walked up behind him, she had used the Deep Blue bracer to access the world.

Nix gave her portal access to the Sea-World and started adding Aquarions one by one. When she noticed what he was doing, She had them come up and present themselves. Adding six-hundred Aquarions to the portal permissions only took a few minutes. "Now each of you may come and go as you please."

Fajii was one of the last ones to receive permission. "Thank you, Nix." She knew that he was giving up something quite valuable so that her people would have a safe haven.

"Yes. Thank you." Mina placed a hand on his shoulder, they had been fighting alongside each other for weeks now and had developed a good sense of camaraderie.

Nix used his guild portal icon again and walked toward his Tailor shop.

/Guildchat: Darsi: Can we chat later Nix? I'll meet you at the docks at 1500.

/Guildchat: Nix: Sounds good. It' would be nice if each of your co-workers introduced themselves to the guild.

/Guilchat: Darsi: Sure Nix. I'm Darsi, I'm an Artificer.

/Guildchat: Dalton: I'm Dalton, a cobbler.

/Guildchat: Ronnie: You make desserts?

/Guildchat: Sharl: Oh god..

/Guildchat: Dalton: Shoes and boots.

/Guildchat: Pinwall: I'm Pin, I'm a Chef.

/Guildchat: Lena: Lena here, I'm a Carpenter.

/Guildchat: Sorbie: I'm Sorbie, I make jewelry.

/Guildchat: Blitz: I'm Blitz, I make bladed weapons.

/Guildchat: Moki: I'm Moki, I am an armorer.

Nansu and Fajii were standing in front of the Alchemy shop when Nix arrived at his door. Nansu offered him a smile, "Are those people from Gladis going to open shops here?"

Nix shrugged, "Not really sure, but I hope so." He knew from experience that the Gladis Hub possessed the best crafters.

He spent a few hours working in the backroom. He made a few bins of both male and female undergarments, then moved on to swimsuits. Finally, he made a custom black suit for himself and slipped it on. He made two more generic versions for the mannequins.

He stretched his arms over his head, it had been a long time since he had dressed up. Most of Inferno was at the Kindled Spirit when he walked in. The sudden silence pulled Hyai out of the kitchen. Nix waved and took a seat at the bar.

Wind had been sitting with Banzi across the room, they instantly made a bee-line for him. King Lubo was sitting comfortably on his shoulder. He jumped nimbly to Nix's shoulder and patted his cheek.

"Hail the King." Nix used a finger to rub his smooth stomach, the King half-closed his eyelids and enjoyed the attention for a moment before jumping back to Wind.

Wind sat down next to him, "you make that suit Nix?"

Nix nodded, "Yes. A hundred thousand credits. Currently, I can make blue, black and gray."

Wind gave him a rare smile. "I'll take three, one of each color."

Banzi nodded in agreement, "Same for me boss."

"Pick them up at the shop tomorrow." He caught Hyai's eye and motioned for her to join him. She finished serving the table and walked over.

"Looking great Nix! What's the occasion?" She was just finishing up with the lunch crowd.

"Just advertising my product. Want to head to Rhatia? It has a nice river-walk down by the channels."

"I don't have anything fancy to wear Nix."

He handed her a white box, "There are a few different colors, I'll wait."

A half-hour later, they were walking down the boardwalk that bordered the channels. The trees overhanging the walkway were blooming with yellow flowers. Hyai had chosen a simple white dress with spaghetti straps. She wore matching white sandals. They relaxed and enjoyed the night air while taking in the parade of boats that traveled the channel-way.

Hyai leaned her head against him, a smile on her freckled face. "Been a while since someone has treated this old woman so nicely Nix."

"For an old woman, you are getting a lot of looks from the men walking by. I may have to fight my way out of here to keep you."

Hyai laughed at the comment, she was aware that several men had stopped to stare openly at them.

By the time they had walked the length of the channel, they had a dozen people keeping tabs on them, both male and female.

"Where did you get those clothes?"

A man and woman were pulling a small cart down the walk on the opposite side of the channel, they had noticed them and had stopped to watch. It was the man who spoke loud enough to carry across the water.

"I made them. I have a small Tailor shop on Glory Island." Nix pulled Hyai back toward the Rhatia platform, it was still early enough to meet up with Darsi.

"I enjoyed the stroll Nix. Thanks for inviting me."

************

Darsi and her group were standing on the docks when Nix returned. They were talking with Nansu, Kyla and Fajii. They seemed curious about Fajii, but since they were from the Gladis Hub, they had no real understanding of the ongoing conflict between the two races.

"Are these shop plots still available for sale?" Darsi was nearly done with a three-year sentence, if she could establish a business in Colonial, she could have something nice to fall back on when she got out.

Nix understood the concerns of these crafters. "Yes. Not only that, when you leave Colonial, we will hold them for you until you are able to return."

Darsi glanced at her companions. "We would like the remaining plots. Would that be acceptable?"

Nix hid his smile, he had been hoping these crafters would start shops on the dock. Crafter made items were in high demand and in some cases were better then the equipment that dropped in raids.

"Nix!" Jun Li called his name, much louder then she meant to. She was with a small group, two men and three women.

Nix used the Island menu to assign the Crafters their own shops and then walked toward Jun Li. All four of the people with her looked like pirates. "What can I do for you Juni?"

Jun Li didn't mind him using her nickname, they had become good friends in recent weeks. "These are the captains I've hired for our ships." He had specifically asked her to hire five captains, she still wasn't sure what the last one was for.

Nix bowed slightly. "Nice to meet you. I"m Nix, the guild leader of Inferno." He glanced at the ship berths and noticed they were still empty. "Where are the frigates?"

"Semmi has them in Espana. It's possible to upgrade them with certain features before launch. Waiting until after increases the cost quite a bit." (Launch refers to removing them from their bottle)

/Guildchat: Nix: Can you check out ferry shuttles while you are in Espana, Sem?"

/Guildchat: Semmi: Sure, how big are you thinking.

/Guildchat: As big as they come. Once people realize what we have here, we should get a pretty big daily crowd.

/Guildchat: Semmi: The biggest is a thousand passenger, just under 500 million.

/Guildchat: Nix: Get it for me.

/Guildchat: Semmi: Um... you're paying me back right?

/Guildchat: Nix: Sorry, you're breaking up.

"Nice to meet you guys." Nix waved at them and headed toward the palace. He hadn't checked out Shae's Elemental world yet.

Halfway to the Temple, Nix slipped his green armor back on. As he approached the altar, Pon and a few of the Acolytes watched him. "Something on my face Pon?"

The old fire mage shook his head. "What you doing Nix?"

Nix pointed at the ball of flame hovering above the altar. "Right there. I"m going in."

Pon shook his head, "Unless Shae brings you in personally, you'll probably be incinerated."

Nix shrugged at them, "We'll see."

[Aura Ignition]

Bright emerald-colored flames swirled around Nix and then pulsed outward. He leaped toward the swirling ball of flame above the altar and disappeared from sight.