The castle loomed over you, its towers stretching high into the cloud-filled sky. As you wandered through the stone corridors, the weight of its ancient walls seemed to hum with secrets. Today was your first day here, though it didn’t feel that way—this was a place you had always known, a place you had always seen.

Your gift, or curse, depending on how you looked at it, was a burden you had carried for as long as you could remember. The ability to see the future—everyone's future.

But the future of the boy who was sitting across from you now, was clearer than any other.

Tom.

He was sitting at the edge of the grand hall, eyes narrowed with a calculating intensity that made him seem older than his years.

Tom’s eyes locked onto yours, his gaze sharper than the others. He had sensed something, something about you. He had known, even before you’d walked into the room, that you were different.

He walked toward you with the ease of someone accustomed to control, but there was something in his expression—a flicker of curiosity mixed with something more ambitious.

“Who are you?” His voice was quiet, but it carried, reaching your ears like a challenge.

You stared back at him, your pulse steady. You already knew everything about him—the choices he’d make, the things he would do. You knew that one day, his name would no longer be Tom, but something else, something feared.

But instead of giving him the simple answer he expected, you leaned forward, eyes glimmering with the knowledge that gnawed at you like a secret.

“The real question is…” you said, your voice smooth, controlled, “Who are you?”

Tom froze for a heartbeat, a flicker of surprise crossing his face. His expression quickly shifted back to one of composure, though his eyes betrayed the storm of thoughts brewing inside him.

“I think you already know the answer to that,” he replied, a cold smirk playing at the corners of his lips. He wasn’t used to being questioned.

You were a puzzle he hadn’t yet solved, and that intrigued him more than anything.