Pisces Albafica

PIsces Albafica (魚座のアルバフィカ) is the legendary Gold Saint of Pisces from the Holy War of the 1700's. He is the man who singlehandedly stopped the invasion of Sanctuary from Gyphon Minos and his subordinates of Spectres. Albafica appears in Shiori Teshirogi's Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas.

Name
"Albafica" (アルバフィカ) stems from "Alba", Greek for "White" and "Ficus", meaning a group of flowers.

Special Techniques
Albafica, much like his reincarnation Pisces Aphrodite, use roses as his primary means of offense, in addition to a seprate, special technique. They are:

"Royal Demon Rose"
A whirlwind of red roses that not only destroys its target physically, but also disables their senses utilizing poisonous scent. Depending on the amount of roses used, the enemy can be rendered unconscious or dead.

"Piranhian Rose"
Black roses that completely eats away at anything that Albafica aims it towards.

"Bloody Rose"
A single white rose that is injected into the opponent's chest through the sharp end of the flower's stem. Once attached, it paralyzes the victim's senses to disable them from removing it. The white rose then absorbs blood from the body until its petals become red, killing its target in the process.

"Crimson Thorn"
An original technique that is unique to Albafica. The Gold Saint's blood is extremely poisonous, and any direct contact with it will result in death. As such, Albafica utilizes any blood from an open wounds to create threads of needle aimed at the enemy.

Beware of Thorns
When news spread of a group of spectres lead by one of the Three Judges were invading Sanctuary, various saints took action to prepare for the oncoming battle. Albafica, the Gold Saint of Pisces, took it upon himself to set a trap between the nearest village and the gates of Sanctuary. There, sitting atop of a ruined pillar, he waited for the enemies to arrive.

After killing several silver saints, Gryphon Minos and his group, which included the spectre, Deep Niobe, arrived soon enough to find that the upcoming trail had been covered with roses. The spectres felt disgusted and continued forward. The first two that landed within this field were immediately paralyzed and killed. Minos and the rest of the army were dumbfounded, but Niobe, a fellow fighter who also utilized fragrance in his repitore, explained that the roses were actually quite fatal. The Judge scanned the area, and, to his surprise, found the source sitting on a pillar directly across from them -- a Gold Saint, and one with tremendous beauty.

Jumping down to the roses, Albafica challenged the rest of the spectres to come forward. Seeing that the saint wasn't affected by the roses, another duo complied -- and were immediately met with Albafica's "Royal Demon Rose" attack. They were no match and killed. Not too far away, Aries Shion is shown to be conversing with Libra Dohko about Albafica, and revealed that the Pisces Saint was completely immune to poison, because every inch of his own body had been submerged with it -- including his blood.

Back on the battlefield, Albafica demanded another spectre to fight him, a request that Gyphon Minos himself was about to answer. He was interrupted by Deep Niobe, however, who had taken a liking to the idea of fighting an opponent with similar battle methods to his own. As a master of scent himself, the fragrance of the roses had no effect on Niobe, and he promptly charged after Albafica with a strike. The blow was blocked with a single black rose. Albafica unleased the "Piranhian Rose", which ate away a good chunk of Niobe's surplice. In retaliation, the spectre released his own poisonous scent technique -- "Deep Fragrance".

Upon seeing this attack, Albafica realized that the scent was going to travel beyond the battlefield and into the nearby village. With no other options, the Pisces absorbed all of the scent into his being, apparently leaving him temporarily paralyzed. WIth the gold saint unable to move, Niobe sought vengeance for his damaged surplice with a punch to Albafica's "beautiful face". At that point, Albafica grinned and wiped away his own blood. A bloody mist surrounded the two fighters. The gold saint claimed that Niobe's fragrance was completely ineffective against him -- he had already become one with the scent of his roses, which therefore rendered any other type of poisons null in his presence. Drawing blood from the wound that Niobe inflicted on him, Albafica vowed to prove that his blood is much more poisonous, and attacked the spectre with "Crimson Thorn". The technique killed Niobe on the spot, and even Minos was impressed.

The Gyphon approached, and effortlessly scattered all of the poisonous roses away with a single "Gigantic Feathers Flap", a powerful wind type attack. Complimenting Albafica as a marvelous puppet for him to dissect, the Gyphon taunted to Albafica that he had just lost the advantage in the fight. The Pisces retaliated with a "Piranhian Rose", which Minos effortlessly countered with his "Cosmic Marionettion". Albafica was trapped under his strings, and the Gyphon quickly ordered the rest of his group to attack the nearby village. The Judge sadistically toyed with the gold saint, first twisting his joints, then following with a punch to the "beautiful face". He then manipulated Albafica into gouging out his eyes with his left hand. The Pisces quickly dislocated his upper arm before any damage could be done, and explained that he had no intention to be played by Minos.

The Gyphon scoffed, reminding Albafica that his subordinates were already well on their way to pillage the nearest town. Albafica merely smiled in response, however, and revealed that he had already set forth traps for such an occasion. Before the spectres reached the entrance to the village, they sensed the fragrance of the royal demon roses, and each fell victim to a bloody rose to the heart. Albafica declared that he was not going to allow any of the spectres to advance, Minos included. Upon hearing of the fates of his men, Minos laughed and proclaimed that Albafica was a marvelous puppet worthy of being annihilated. Minos once again twisted Albafica's joints, but this time, Albafica was prepared: the blood from his dislocated arm formed a second bloody mist around the two men. Minos understood the gold saint's plan of attack, and challenged him. Will Albafica's "Crimson Thorn" pierce him first, or will his own "Cosmic Marionettion" break down the Pisces before it?

Even with "Cosmic Marionettion" hindering his movements, Albafica charged towards Minos and unleashed the "Crimson Thorn" with a direct hit, to no avail. The Gyphon wings of Minos' surplice protected the spectre from contact with the blood. Minos explained that he hadn't expected someone with Albafica beauty to have such a strong will to fight, but the gold saint lacked the definitive strength to defeat a warrior of his level. Albafica scowled and attempted to attack Minos again, and the Gyphon ultimately put a stop to the saint by snapping every bone in his body. The Pisces had fallen.

Kiss From a Rose
With the first obstacle out of the way, Gyphon Minos made his way to the nearby village and began to ravage the buildings. During the onslaught, he ran across a young girl who happened to be an admirer of Pisces Albafica. The girl was the daughter of a flower shop owner, and met the gold saint during a stormy delivery night when he covered her with his cape to shield from the storm. The young lady wished to thank him, but was set back when Albafica coldly instructed her to not come within his presence. Days later, the young girl related her story to her father, and felt that Albafica, while beautiful, was a very cold person. Her father denied this, and explained that Albafica had a good reason for disallowing anyone to be close to him: The poison from his training would kill anyone upon contact. Now knowing the truth, the girl understood that Albafica was, in fact, quite a strong and kind person. Holding the cape with her hands, she told her father she wanted to return it to the Pisces Gold Saint.

In the present, Minos, noticing the red rose the young girl was wearing on her dress, realized that she was affiliated with the gold saint. The girl insisted that Albafica would never be killed by the likes of him, which amused the Gryphon. The Judge then attacked the girl with a small hit, and at that point, a gold saint made the save, Aries Shion. The young girl realized that this was not Albafica. Minos wondered if Shion was trying to avenge Albafica's death, and the Aries Saint vowed that he would stop the spectre out of personal distaste for his actions. The Gryphon trapped Shion with a "Cosmic Marionettion" in response, and prepared to snap the gold saint's neck.

Suddenly, the strings were cut with a several black roses. The young girl gasped as Albafica made his return on the battlefield. Placing a single red rose to his mouth, the saint apologized to Shion for causing him minor inconvenient, and asked for a favor. Other than the enemy, make sure that no one is within his presence. Minos, of course, was shocked as he knew he had broken every single bone in Albafica's body. The Pisces approached him, and the Judge complimented his opponent on his will to survive. However, those without the definitive strength will still be unable to secure the victory, no matter how many times they try. Out of respect for his beauty, Minos offered to let Albafica live. The Pisces explained that the one thing he had always detested was his poisonous blood, but it was something that would never change, no matter if he was beautiful or ugly. In Albafica's mind, the word "beauty" symbolized everything that Minos had done, and that the spectre truly had nothing to back up his judgement of him. Albafica vowed that he had yet to reveal his power, his cosmos, and his way of life, nor did he plan to show any of it to Minos! The Gyphon accepted the saint's newfound resolve, and challenged Albafica to show him his ace.

Once more, Albafica submerged himself in the bloody mist, and used "Crimson Thorn" upon Minos. Similar to last time, the Gryphon blocked the thorns with his wings and laughed at the Pisces' futile attempt. Not too far away, Shion, shielding the young girl with his cape, observed the battle and noticed that this particular "Crimson Thorn" had much more force to it. Albafica heightened the power of the technique, and Aries soon realized that the gold saint had intended to use every bit of his blood! Exhausted, Albafica dropped to his knees, and this final exchange ended abruptly. Minos unfurled his wings and proclaimed himself the victor. He turned his attention to Shion and prepared for new fight.

However, Aries Shion rejected, and claimed that there was no reason to fight a dead man. He pointed to Minos' chest, and revealed a red rose pierced into his body, the same one that Albafica had put on his mouth. Minos wondered when Pisces had inflicted the royal demon rose into him, but Shion corrected him: It was not a royal demon rose, but a deadly white bloody rose, and one that had absorbed Albafica's red, poisonous blood! The Aries Saint pointed out that Albafica's ace was not actually "Crimson Thorn", but that particular rose. Infuriated by the fact that his inevitable death would be due to a flower and poison fluid, Minos attempted to utterly annihilate the village and its people with a huge "Gigantic Feathers Flap" as his last resort. Before any damage can be done, Shion created a deflective barrier using his "Crystal Wall". Minos cursed this turnabout, and finally fell.

Aries checked up on Albafica, who was still on his knees. Pisces cautioned the gold saint to keep his distance from him, and looked up at the rose petals flowing through the air from Minos' last attack. Albafica had surrounded himself with roses all of his life, but in that moment, he truly noticed them for the first time. With his last, dying breath, the Gold Saint of Pisces declared the roses to be beautiful.

Comparation
There are notable differences and similarities between Pisces Albafica, and Pisces Aphrodite in terms of personality and battle tactics.


 * Like many of the gold saints' reincarnations, Albafica and Aphrodite are identical in appearance.
 * Both battle with roses and poisonous fragrance to dislodge their opponent's mindset.
 * Both use the same tactic of covering a particular trail with poisonous roses to prevent the enemy from advancing.
 * Both use the following techniques: "Royal Demon Rose", "Piranhian Rose", and "Bloody Rose".
 * "Crimson Thorn" is unique to Albafica.
 * While Aphrodite is an advocate of poison techniques, it is unknown if his blood has poisonous properties like Albafica.
 * Aphrodite strongly believes that might is power, and power is justice. It is unknown if Albafica shares this particular philosophy.


 * Aphrodite is also extremely proud of his physical beauty. Albafica appears to acknowledge this trait, but is not overly concerned with it.


 * While Albafica is portrayed to be a lone wolf, it is hinted that he only does so because of the powerful poison in his body. Alternatively, Aphrodite has shown to not be hesitant to approach anyone.