It took a moment for Light's eyes to adjust after emerging from the portal of light. He could have been walking into a white room filled with spotlights and still not been able to see, with how bright the portal was. Soon enough, though, he was able to make out his surroundings. It was a place he recognized from the games well, a mysterious tower atop a grassy hill. They were surrounded by stars and space clouds, and all was still.
Light had heard rumors about a canonical Yen Sid Tower, but he'd never been able to confirm it. Glancing back at Moderator Kairi and seeing how confidently she strode forward, he was sure this had to be her turf. Was it a special server, reserved only for moderators and administrators? It was certainly possible. But he didn't have much time to process it, as Kairi passed him and cast him a disapproving glance at his gawking. Lowering his head, Light picked up the pace and followed her up the stairs and into the tower.
The pair was silent as they walked, and Light kept his eyes plastered to the stairwell in front of him. He didn't really want to look up anyway. If it was anything like it was in the games, there were a lot more stairs ahead of him than he wanted to think about climbing. He glanced up once or twice, though, because he couldn't help himself, and he was glad he did the second time. Had he not, he might have run right into Kairi.
"You can wait here," she said, still not turning to look at him. Light swallowed and nodded. "I'll be right back. Don't try logging out or anything; you'll just respawn here if you do. Someone has stayed awfully late to meet you, too, so it'd be rude to just leave."
Before he could question what that meant, the crimsonette disappeared through a door, which shut with a loud thud. Light twiddled his thumbs for a moment, then decided to start browsing the room he'd been left in. It was an exact replica of one of the chambers in the Mysterious Tower from the games, right down to the books on the shelves. Curiosity getting the better of him, he went to one and tried to pick it up. To his surprise, it came loose of the shelf and practically fell open in his hands. Inside was a language he couldn't read, but he smiled anyway. The amount of effort that had gone into recreating this world – such a small and relatively unappreciated one – was amazing, and he found himself falling in love with KHO even more.
"HeartOfLight?"
Light's heart almost popped out of him at the sudden sound of Moderator Kairi's voice again. He still wasn't used to it, even though she had probably addressed him at least five times now.
"Yes?"
"Come on. Someone wants to talk to you."
Light swallowed again, unsure of what that was supposed to mean. Based on her terse tone, he couldn't imagine it was too good, but he stepped forward anyway. Emerging from the chamber, he found another flight of stairs leading straight up rather than winding around, and another set of doors. The two proceeded through it, ending up, not surprisingly, in Yen Sid's study.
Light was again caught off-guard when his eyes fell on an old sorcerer sitting behind the desk in the center of the room, a long, dark gray beard stretching from his face, and a blue, pointy hat decorated with stars and moons sitting atop his head.
"Master Yen Sid," Light gasped, bowing his head in complete instinct. He didn't care if he looked a fool to Kairi if this was just an AI-controlled NPC. He'd never met Yen Sid before.
"Ah, so you must be HeartOfLight," Yen Sid said, making Light look up again. "Excellent. Come, step forward."
Light did as he was told and stood just in front of the desk, facing Yen Sid. Kairi walked around him and stood beside the old wizard, her eyes now trained on Light rather than avoiding them as they had before. Light couldn't help but feel he was being scrutinized, but there wasn't a whole lot he could do about it.
"So, Kairi tells me you are the one who apprehended one of our most wanted hackers," Yen Sid continued, and Light's face reddened. "For that, I cannot thank you enough. I deeply apologize for any trouble he may have caused you and your friends."
"It's no big deal," Light heard himself saying before he could formulate something more respectful. "Wh-What I mean is, we handled it alright. Er, I mean, it's not your fault."
Yen Sid held up a hand, making Light stop stammering around.
"Ah, but it is quite a big deal," the wizard corrected him, then chuckled. "But how rude of me, I haven't properly introduced myself, or this lovely young lady beside me. HeartOfLight, I am one of the admins of Kingdom Hearts Online, and the Western liason for the Kingdom Hearts Online team. I suppose it would be simplest for you to just call me Yen Sid. And this, of course, is one of our moderators, taking the role of Kairi."
"It's an honor, Master Yen Sid, Kairi," Light replied, bowing to each of them as he addressed them.
"Now, despite your insistence that apprehending Belfix was no large matter, there is still the discussion of your reparation for handling this matter," Yen Sid continued, and Light raised a brow. "What I mean to say is, you have earned a few accolades, rewards if you will. You have greatly helped the Kingdom Hearts Online community, and you should be honored as such."
Light waved his hands frantically.
"Oh no, I couldn't accept that," he replied quickly. "I was just doing what I needed to, to keep my friends safe. It's really not a big deal—"
"We've been looking for that hacker for weeks," Kairi interrupted. "He was our—no, my responsibility. If I had caught him alone, I would have been rewarded. I think it's only right that you get that reward instead."
"I couldn't—"
"Please, Light, I insist. We both do."
Light fought the redness on his face hard, enough that it was barely visible.
"I really don't need anything, though," he said quietly.
Yen Sid chuckled, then waved his hand over his desk. A large book appeared, but rather than pages, it seemed to have a screen. The sorcerer flipped through it, pausing every so often.
"Let's see here," he began slowly. "Ah, here we are, HeartOfLight. Member since April… So you were one of the first to join, eh? A longtime fan, no doubt. Hmm, here I see you were placed in the top 20 in the Olympus Coliseum for two weeks straight in May, and first place twice as well, once in June and another in August. You have 80% quest completion and reached level 50 in early July." Yen Sid paused and looked up from his book to meet eyes with Light. "You are quite right. There isn't a whole lot I could offer you, is there?"
"Moderators are given bonuses based on their hacker captures," Kairi suggested. "I'd be willing to give him my bonus as a direct transfer—"
"You don't need to do that for me!" Light exclaimed, taking a step back. "If you hadn't come around, I'd probably still be fighting with that guy. Yeah, maybe I got him to hold still for a bit so you could come in and do your stuff, but you're still the one who took care of him for good! I could never do that!" Kairi and Yen Sid were looking at him now, their expressions interested. "Honestly, just getting to come here, and to interact with the real Kairi mod, and meet the admin of KHO West… That's enough! I'll remember this forever! It's all the reward I need!"
There was a silence that Light identified as awkward, though Kairi and Yen Sid seemed to spend it just exchanging looks between him and each other. Surely they were deciding what to do with him, and he wished they would just go ahead and dismiss him. As amazing as this experience had been, he wanted to get out. He needed to get out before they did too much digging in his file, found out he was nothing but an RPer these days, that he hadn't contributed to the community in a month. Really, he wasn't anything remarkable, and his track record was less than perfect. He didn't want to lose what he had…
"Well, I believe it's decided then," Yen Sid said at once, forcing Light's attention to him. "As there are no physical rewards you are willing to accept, then perhaps I could offer a position."
"Position?" Light repeated.
"Quite right. Someone of your skill is hard to come by. Whatever methods you used to apprehend Belfix could no doubt be of use to our moderators. So, I would like to extend the invitation to you to join their ranks."
Light stood there a moment, jaw slightly ajar, awed. Had he just been asked to become a moderator? Moderators were some of the most respected people on KHO. Not only did they play the parts of the Keyblade Wielders and their friends and enemies, but they were some of the best players in the community. Not only that, they were tasked with bringing order to the site and always behaving as closely as possible to their respective characters. In short, they were highly regarded roleplayers, though probably no one saw them that way except for Light himself.
"Now, it doesn't have to be full-time," Yen Sid continued. "Kairi informed me that your parents were already requesting you get offline, and I'm sure I've kept you on long enough. But as you have responsibilities outside of KHO, we would not expect full attendance. However, you could assist our moderators in tracking down hackers, ensuring safety in KHO. It's the least we could offer."
"But beating Belfix was sheer dumb luck," Light said weakly. To his surprise, Kairi scoffed.
"Hardly," she quipped. "We've been tracking him for weeks and anytime we've ever gotten close, he's gone without a trace, and the people who reported him are back at Level 1. It doesn't matter whether they're new or vets, they're eradicated every time. You getting out of that isn't just luck. Whatever you did, you have skill, and we need you to share it."
Her sapphire stare bore into him, and for a moment he was sure she could see straight through him. Her gaze didn't waver, and though he expected it to be hard, it wasn't. It was much softer than her tone, not pleading, but genuine. Her request came from the heart.
"But… how would that work then?" Light asked hesitantly. "I thought you guys had filled all the moderator positions? Unless someone was gonna quit."
"No, you are right, we do have a full team," Yen Sid acknowledged. "But I think we can fudge the reality just a bit to make room for you. Judging by your avatar, despite your inventory, I see you must be quite a Sora fan."
Light laughed sheepishly. There was no point in arguing it now, he supposed.
"Although we do currently have a Moderator Sora, I'm sure we could make room for one more. Besides, we have the Kingdom Hearts 1 model sitting around. We were going to use it for an event later on, but I think it would suit you better, don't you think?"
"Are you for real?" Light asked. Yen Sid laughed.
"Absolutely. Before I transfer your account, though, I will need some information about you for your paycheck."
"Paycheck?" Light became flushed. "Uh… that won't be necessary! Really!"
"In- game currency, then? Free labor seems a little less like a reward and more of a punishment."
"In-game is fine," Light said quickly, averting his gaze. He was sure he saw Kairi's brow furrow.
"In-game it is, then," Yen Sid replied. "Now, I will be needing to make some adjustments to your account, to give you permissions to enter the private moderator servers and such. It will take a while. Why don't you go ahead and log out for the night? I'll have Kairi find you tomorrow to give you a tour."
"Are… you sure about this, Master Yen Sid? I mean, what if I'm just a flake, and I did get lucky?"
"I am a wise man, HeartOfLight. And I also trust Kairi's judgement. I think you will do just fine. Now go on, enjoy your evening, Mr. Light."
"Y-Yes sir! It was an honor, sir! Is an honor! I, uh, won't let you down!"
Light took a couple hesitant steps back, but Yen Sid was already looking down, flipping through his book and making adjustments. Light put his fingers to his temple and opened a menu, then clicked Log Out. The last thing he saw before the game closed was Moderator Kairi, looking at him, unreadable.