The Everlasting Oasis

Chapter 6 - Genius

"I knew it. You're a magic user... Alex." 

As he turns around, Alex's purposefully messy yet straight golden hair flows majestically. Almost as if his strands were styled to fly off like sharp blades. Inclining to his left, leaving ample area to see and remaining ferocious, his hair truly like an electrocuted bush. Interesting yet irrelevant. Most likely, this is his natural hair but it stays visually appealing. 

Simultaneously, Alex's unzipped jacket meshes with his relatively long white shirt. I'd wonder if he's not a bit cold right now but that's not so relevant right now. 

Nevertheless, Alex grins right at me. 

"Bang on, Hudson. Take a seat." 

Scanning the dimly lit undergrounds, I comment, "Uh, there's no seats."

"Yeah, the stone. Probably better than standing up since I have a feeling this might get long."

Well, I'm thinking about the same thing. There's a couple things I want to make clear.

Alex descends to the floor and cracks his knuckles, "So, first and foremost, how did you deduce that I'm a magic user, a mage?"

Hmmm, a good question. I think for a couple seconds before looking him straight on.

"I had a hunch."

"Huh? Nah, wait, that's not it. There's more to it than just a feeling, right? There has to be."

I look up and back at Alex, "A feeling based on observation, I suppose. Let me be clear, this was a gamble. Unlike just this morning, I don't have any real evidence to prove this conjecture. Though... I guess there were a couple things that stuck out."

Alex leans in, curious whilst I continue.

"The first thing I noticed was your cigarettes. Thinking back to the time I went out for a walk around this island, I never saw any tobacco plants or anything like it. At the same time, you could be growing it in your own room but that seems quite unlikely."

Collecting my thoughts, I cross my legs, "That and, well, it doesn't really serve as solid proof but your whole attitude seemed to allude to being a mage. Take your ideas toward god or the difference between perception and reality, those seemed far too removed from reality to me."

"Yeah, I guess I wanted to give you some hints along the way." He nods.

"Actually, talking about hints, that red marking I saw on the first day. Something like 'This island is cursed', that was you right?"

Alex pauses for a good second, "Huh? Red marking? What are you talking about?"

Is he serious...?

"Hold up. That wasn't you? Nah, that doesn't add up." I put my hand to my chin in contemplation.

If that message wasn't from Alex then there's only two possibilities.

One, that was a message from the murderer but, that doesn't make much sense either. There's no reason for them to do that. Surely it'd make more sense to wait it out and see what I'm capable of.

Two, it's a message from someone else. That'd mean Alex and our culprit aren't the only mages around here. That's plenty possible if you think about it but still, no matter how you slice it, it doesn't make sense to take this course of action.

In the first place, why would they go after me? Do they know something? Only just recently have I revealed myself as a detective but this red marking was on the cave at the first day.

I mean, there's a possibility that it was a mere illusion but I don't want to accept something as subjective as that.

"I wasn't aware of any red marking. Where is it?" Alex tilts his head.