Author's Note: This fic (whose title is German for "A Midnight Voice") is a continuation of my mystery timeline, and is the first part of what will eventually be a trilogy. Since this picks up from where "Folgen Sie Ihrem Traum" left off, there will be some mild Seto/Téa moments in this fic, but my main focus will be on the interaction of all of the characters, not to mention the mystery at hand. And, as always, the characters aren't mine (except for Vulsor, Travencore, Mystíca, Delphi, Aurus, and Kayser), and the story is. There is a character from a lesser-known fandom playing a role in this fic, but I may as well mention that he has repented and is in a slight AU for his fandom.


The CEO stifled a yawn as he worked on his latest endeavor; he was using his laptop computer from the comfort of his luxurious four-poster bed. The clock on the laptop declared that it was 1 in the morning, but he was tempted to keep on going; it wouldn't be his first all-nighter, and it certainly wouldn't be his last.

Mokuba often advised him against all-nighters, and he wasn't the only one; ever since he had helped Téa Gardner solve a bizarre mystery over the summer, Seto and the dancer had grown a lot closer—to the point that they had shared a kiss on the rooftop of the Opera Populaire when they had been to Paris. He had finally admitted to himself, and to her, that he did have feelings for her. She hadn't told anyone yet, for which he was exceedingly grateful.

Mokuba was the only one besides the two of them who knew about the kiss. Seto hadn't said a word, but his brother somehow knew about it, and immediately questioned him as Seto had returned from the misadventure two months ago.

"So… how was The Chase?" the boy had asked, a smirk on his face.

"The Rare Hunters got away," Seto had replied, trying to avoid the subject that he knew the boy would be bringing up. "But we did manage to get our hands on some Egyptian medallion; I figured Yugi might be able to make some sense out of it, since that's his area of expertise."

"Uh-huh," Mokuba had replied. "And what about Téa?"

"What about her?" the CEO asked, casually. "They captured her, tried to make her join them, and I jumped through the window of a French manor to save her."

"And then you were up on the rooftop of the old Opera House ruins, right?"

Seto had frozen at that point, but he hadn't denied it, which had prompted the boy to grin.

"How did you find out about that…?"

"Oh, you know…" Mokuba had said. "We've had a number of odd, but well-informed, Informants wander through town before…"

Seto smiled, in spite of himself, as he recalled the conversation with his brother. He knew that Mokuba wouldn't tell anyone, so there hadn't been a point in denying it.

Life had gone normally since that fiasco had ended. Although Bandit Keith had taunted Téa by saying that she was officially a Rare Hunter because she had worn the violet robe (albeit against her will) and accidentally got a drop of ink on the ceremonial parchment, he hadn't pursued her; she was once again among her friends. Nothing had changed, other than the fact that she was now much closer to him; they communicated regularly, talking about casual things, mainly, although she had sent him a birthday card few days ago (this was in addition to the one that Yugi and his entourage had all signed). Seto usually didn't think too much of birthday cards, usually keeping only the ones that Mokuba had given him over the years while filing the others away, but he had kept Téa's card.

And there was also the addition of the Egyptian medallion, which the Rare Hunters had been so keen on retrieving, only to later give up. Neither Yugi nor Solomon had been able to find anything particularly special with it, and they had returned it to him after nearly two months of trying to find out what they could. Their research had come up empty, so after Yugi had sent a description of the medallion to the Ishtars in Cairo, he had returned the artifact to Seto.

Seto, of course, hadn't wanted anything to do with the medallion, so he had merely tossed it onto his dresser and had forgotten all about it; it was still there, even as he sat typing.

He stifled another yawn as his cell phone rang. His eyebrows arched, wondering who would be calling him at such an unearthly hour. He half considered not answering it, especially since the caller ID's message of "NightWing Enterprises" was completely new to him. But he went against his better judgment, and he took the call anyway.

"Kaiba," he said, giving his customary greeting.

"Guten Abend, Kaiba," greeted the unfamiliar voice.

Seto's eyes narrowed; the man on the line obviously knew German. Was he someone from Schroeder Corporation? That would certainly explain why he would be calling at a time like this.

"Look, can you make this quick?" Seto asked. "What does Siegfried want now?"

"Siegfried von Schroeder?" the man replied. "I am not affiliated with him; in fact, it is quite the opposite. He referred me to you, if you will. I came to him a few months ago with a new holographic system involving shadows instead of light. He said that you might be intrigued, since it would give your holograms a new, more realistic look to them, even at night."

Seto shook his head slightly. Clearly, he was tired; he had apparently misheard something about shadow holograms. That couldn't be possible; holograms were always made from light, weren't they?

"I think we'd be better off discussing this at a time that would be slightly more convenient for me," Seto replied.

"Understood," the man replied. "My apologies; perhaps I can meet you in your office sometime tomorrow?"

"Do you really think you can make it to Domino by that time?" asked the CEO.

"The wings of the night carry me swiftly," the man replied. "I will see you tomorrow, then."

"Hold on," said Seto, his eyes narrowed. What sort of craziness was he getting himself into now? "Who are you, anyway?"

"I am the Graf Johan von Krolock."

Seto shook his head again as he said goodbye and disconnected the call. Suddenly, he starting to feel tired; perhaps he was overworked. A Graf was an old title, signifying someone with the rank of a Count. He didn't even think that such a ranking system even existed anymore; the only explanation was that this man's family had once held that title.

He cleared a space on the mahogany dresser for his laptop, his hand moving the medallion slightly. He made a mental note to get rid of it; it certainly wasn't serving him any purpose.

He then rested his head on the pillow, the pressures of everyday life departing from him, if only for a few hours. It was no secret that Seto Kaiba had more on his plate than others his age; he had just turned twenty-one a few days ago, and yet he was manning the post of Kaiba Corporation's CEO—a task that most of the people before him had only undertaken at an age that made him look like a mere child.

But a child was far from what Seto Kaiba was; he never had a chance to enjoy a childhood. That was something that Téa pitied about him. There were times when he did envy how she went about her life, happy and carefree. Her bubbly personality had taken a few hits over the summer's mystery, but she was bouncing back to her usual bright self; her friends, undoubtedly, were behind this… although Seto himself may have been a factor, too.

He was slipping into lower levels of awareness now, vaguely aware of the sounds of Domino at night. The city remained awake at night; usually, he was up with it, but sleep was beckoning him at the moment. The traffic, the fall breeze, and the distant call of an owl were all fading into the distance… all except for one solitary sound: a very distant whisper. The voice wasn't getting quieter; on the other hand, it was increasing in its intensity, as thought it was approaching closer.

The businessman's eyes opened for a moment; it had sounded as though the speaker had been in the same room. But there was no one there, and he dismissed as his weary mind playing tricks on him. The voice hadn't made much sense anyway; it had sounded like some other language… like that he had heard in his many encounters with the world of ancient Egypt.

He sighed to himself, half amused and half annoyed. After all of the nonsense that he had seen over the years, it only made too much sense that he would start hearing voices speak in ancient Egyptian.

He put the matter behind him, and slipped away into slumber.


Joey Wheeler wasn't usually considered a night owl, but tonight was different. The latest installment of his favorite video game series had recently been released, and he had finally amassed enough money to buy it. He hadn't been able to resist showing off his latest purchase to his friends, only to find out that Tristan, too had bought the game earlier that same day. One element of the conversation had lead to another, and it ended with Joey and Tristan getting into an argument about who would have progressed further into the game by the next day's dawn.

And that was why Joey was awake now. He had decided that the circles under his eyes would be worth it if it meant that he would have won the bet (lunch would be on the loser, and after spending his cash reserves on buying the game in the first place, it was a bet that Joey couldn't afford to lose).

Absorbed in his quest, the blond youth was oblivious to the passing hours. His eyes were fixed to the monitor screen, and his ears were covered by the headphones (he had wanted to enjoy the soundtrack of the game without disturbing his father). It was well past midnight when the realization hit him.

"Aw, man…" he thought, amazed with himself. "Looks like my 'five more minutes' turned into 'five more hours'… But there's no way that Tristan could beat this!"

Hunger was beginning to taunt him. And Joey Wheeler was not a person who would allow hunger to get the best of him. Finally laying his quest aside for the night, he proceeded to raid the refrigerator, seeking something amidst the bounty of fruits, vegetables, and otherwise healthy food.

Finally procuring a slice of pizza from the very back, he sat back to enjoy it.

"And there're enough pieces left for me to serve as lunch in case Tristan does win the bet," he mused. "Which he won't, of course; no one can outdo Joey Wheeler, godfather of games--"

His train of thought came to a screeching halt as a shadow flew by the streetlight outside his apartment window, temporarily blocking the light and subsequently startling him. Glancing outside, he saw a large bat circling the area. It finally landed on a tree, hanging upside-down in a typical bat-like fashion.

A frightened screech reached Joey's ears, and to his astonishment, a black-capped capuchin leaped from the tree branch to the streetlight, apparently startled by the bat's arrival. Joey had seen the monkey before (its little robe was unmistakable, even in the dim light); it belonged to a local psychic who had helped them solve another mystery during the past spring.

"Delphi?" he asked, opening the window.

The monkey chattered in reply, leaping from the streetlight and into Joey's kitchen. She immediately seized Joey's half-eaten pizza slice from his hand and happily ate away at it.

"Hey!" he said, annoyed. "Bad monkey! That was supposed to be my midnight snack!"

Delphi tilted her head slightly, as though pretending to be confused at what he was saying.

"Don't give me that look; I know you understand English, and you know that I know you know…" He trailed off, tossing the thought aside before he confused himself. "Never mind… So, what brings you to this neck of the woods, and so late, too? I'd have thought that you'd be asleep right now…"

Delphi reached into the pocket of her robe and pulled out a piece of paper. Unfolding it, Joey realized that the message wasn't written in English; it was written in the Egyptian script, which was beyond his power to read.

"Well, thanks," he said, baffled. He would have to take this to Yugi in the morning; maybe then, things would begin to make more sense.

Delphi chattered something in reply, and she then held out what was left of the pizza slice.

"Eh… no, thanks; I don't think I want it now…"

The monkey set the pizza slice firmly in her jaws and leaped back out the window. Joey watched her go, wondering what on earth would be descending upon Domino this time. Based on his previous experiences, he knew very well that it could be just about anything.