- "You know I could easily kill you from a distance. It would barely take a thought. But you've been such a thorn in my side the last few years. Every chance she got - 'I don't really need you anymore. Perhaps Fathom will be better at this than you are. You're so expendable now that I have a replacement. What a pathetic creature you are, little brother, with your tiny teeth and oddly colored scales. Fathom is so much more presentable than you are.' So, no, I couldn't dispose of you from afar. That wouldn't be satisfying at all. I want to see your face as you die."
- — Albatross to Prince Fathom during The Royal SeaWing Massacre in Darkstalker (Legends).
Template:Charbox Prince Albatross was an elderly male SeaWing who lived over 2,000 years ago. The first known SeaWing animus dragon, he was also a member of the SeaWing Royal Family. Albatross used his magic for many years to benefit the his tribe, and was beloved and respected by everyone, even considered to be second-in-command of the tribe by many of his fellow SeaWings. It wasn't until he went violently insane at a delegation party that anyone realized how much his soul had been damaged by overuse of his magic. Before being killed by Fathom, he managed to kill most of his own family members.
To the present day, Albatross is still mentioned in many history texts, marking his bloodstained legacy as one of the most devastating cases of animus magic in Pyrrhian history.
Appearance
Albatross is described to be "nearly a neck-length taller" than his sister Queen Lagoon[1], with long, majestic wings[2]. His scales are "bluish gray but so pale that in places they looked almost white,"[2] while his eyes are described to be hooded[3] and so dark blue that they appeared black[2]. In fact, he is compared to the coloring of a seagull during the Talons of Power Ceremony, both in their coloring and shrewd expressions[2]. The odd coloring is said to have come from a distant IceWing relative, and continues on through the SeaWing royal family, as seen in Princess Anemone's scales. Albatross also has small teeth[4][5] and a long, hooked snout[2].
Personality
Before Albatross went insane, he was a pleasant dragon, jovial and polite to those who he had time to be around. He even joked with his nephew. However, he was not happy, as Queen Lagoon had forced him to use his power to serve her after he had brutishly mauled their sister, Princess Sapphire, out of anger by cutting off all of her claws using an enchanted clam shell. He seems to have no remorse about this spell; at the soon-to-be Summer Palace, he laughed and stated “Who swims like a feeble old duck, now?" As Fathom's animus power was discovered, Albatross trained him as a mentor, and was friendly and funny, making jokes, laughing and having a good time with his grandson until the night of the massacre. At the massacre, he turned cold and heartless, either going mad from overuse of animus magic or showing his true personality.
Biography
Pre-Series
Albatross was just a tiny dragonet when he cast his first animus spell, playing with an empty clam shell on the sunrise beach of the Island Palace. His older sisters, Princess Sapphire and Queen Lagoon, back then Princess Lagoon, came down to see what he was doing. They both started teasing him, saying that he was weirdly different from other SeaWings and that he swam like a feeble old duck. Sapphire grabbed the clam shell that he was playing with, telling him that everything would be hers when she was queen, even "stupid beach trash like this." As she mocked him, Albatross, burning with fury, clutched the edge of the shell that he still held and told it to bite all of Sapphire's claws off. It did so, maiming her terribly. Soon afterward, Albatross became the queen's animus, enchanting many objects for the Queen's use, including a conch shell that pulsed with light whenever someone was lying and starting to grow the Summer Palace. It is thought that he never felt remorse for maiming Sapphire, though he may have felt a little pity while telling his grandson the story of his first animus spell.
Darkstalker
Albatross was first introduced during a Talons of Power ceremony, although he seemed obviously reluctant to take on an apprentice and skeptical that any of the eight present SeaWing dragonets (all of which had turned two years old within the last few months) possessed any magical abilities. Although Albatross protested to Queen Lagoon, he eventually agreed to continue the tests after a heated comment from his sister. He then proceeded to roll eight coconuts down to the dragonets' talons on the beach below using his animus power. When Indigo asked Albatross how to enchant their coconuts, he explained that you used your animus powers. After Indigo questioned him again, saying "wouldn't it be easier to just throw it at you?," Albatross laughed, replying that an enchanted coconut would never miss, no matter what he did to dodge or try to block it. Indigo shrugged and did as she was told, but as Albatross suspected, her coconut did not move. However, when Fathom ordered his coconut to strike his grandfather, it wrenched itself out of his talons and smashed into his grandfather's chest hard enough to knock him backward. Albatross slowly stood to his feet, wincing and shaking out his wings once he was upright again. Without looking at the queen or any of the dragonets, he carefully picked up the offending coconut, started at it for a moment, and then held it to his chest, where Fathom thought he could hear small crunching sounds. After Albatross finally looked up and asked who had enchanted the coconut, Pearl pointed at Fathom and said that he was the one who was the animus. As Fathom met his grandfather's eyes, Albatross smiled, stating how it was "such happy news." However, out of view of the other dragons, a seagull that had been present for the ceremony was silently strangled to death by a vine that curled out of the jungle.
A few days after the animus test, Albatross summoned Fathom for their first training session. He expressly requested that Fathom come alone, probably so that Fathom would not be distracted by Indigo while they were training. Albatross had summoned him to the sunset beach of the Island Palace, where parties and royal weddings often took place. After they met at the Palace, Albatross confessed that Queen Lagoon wanted him to show Fathom his most important project, and he took his apprentice to see it. After a bit of questioning from Fathom, Albatross quieted his apprentice and told him the gruesome story of how he found he was an animus, with a warning that Fathom must always be careful with his magic. Shocked, Fathom agreed, but he then asked his grandfather if they could practice actual magic. Albatross agreed, but as he and Fathom took to the sky, a startled yelp came from the nearby foliage, in which Albatross used his magic to tear a bush free from, exposing an anxious-looking Indigo. When questioned, she retorted that she was only following Fathom to make sure he was safe. Fathom was surprised, but he was also excited, explaining to Indigo that he was going to practice and that it was even better now that she could watch. However, Albatross said that he was getting tired, and reminded Fathom that he was a wizened old dragon and that he must have heard something about respecting his elders.
A few years later, Queen Lagoon throws a party to honor their SkyWing guests, Princess Sunset and Eagle, who are there to negotiate over shore villages that are to be built in SkyWing territory. Albatross was noticeably late to the party, but he appeared after Lagoon explained a fountain to the SkyWings, which had been enchanted by either Fathom or Albatross (though it was most likely Albatross). The SkyWings panicked when they saw him, and Queen Lagoon coldly told Albatross that he would never stop atoning for Sapphire's mutilation. Albatross then enchanted a knife to slit Queen Lagoon's throat, killing her. The knife then went for Sunset and Eagle. Albatross then started killing all the SeaWings he could reach and then started looking for Fathom. He found him and Indigo inside a pavilion overlooking the water, hiding underneath a wooden boat, and threw the boat off of them. Indigo sprang at Albatross and attacked him. Fathom, knowing he would never let Indigo die, enchanted fishing spears on the ceiling to kill his grandfather. Albatross tried to stop him, but Indigo stopped Albatross by seizing his snout and viciously biting his ear. The spears smashed into Albatross' side and killed him.
The Lost Heir
Anemone made references to Albatross several times, saying that she didn't wish to use her animus powers too much and go insane like him. Whirlpool mentions he grew an entire palace before going insane, referencing the SeaWings' Summer Palace. Unfortunately, after thousands of years of service to the tribe, the palace was destroyed in The Lost Heir. Crocodile infiltrated the Talons of Peace, and tricked Webs into revealing the palace's secret location. She then alerted the SkyWing and MudWing armies, who later attacked ruthlessly with firebombs.
Moon Rising
Albatross is mentioned in the scroll that Moonwatcher reads to find out about dreamvisitors. The scroll describes the Royal SeaWing Massacre, and how his insanity influenced Queen Pearl to ban the use of all animus magic in the Sea Kingdom.
Escaping Peril
After Prince Turtle uses his animus power to take the scroll from Shapeshifter, Moon mentions Albatross while asking how Turtle is feeling. Turtle mentions that Albatross grew the entire pavilion before going completely insane, as proven in Darkstalker (Legends).
Talons of Power
Albatross is mentioned various times in the book, as a parallel to both Turtle and Darkstalker, respectively. In the epilogue, a strange pale phantom appeared on an island where a class of young dragonets was camping overnight for a field trip. It flew around the island, appearing and disappearing, and threatened the young SeaWings by hissing and snapping. At least five dragonets claimed it glared at them with "beady black eyes". This was Albatross' "ghost", created by Darkstalker to frighten the SeaWing tribe.
Darkness of Dragons
The ghost of Albatross is confirmed to be a spell cast by Darkstalker, to haunt the SeaWings.
Later in the epilogue, in Turtle's letter from Queen Coral, Coral thanks Turtle for getting rid of the Albatross ghost that Darkstalker sent.
Family Tree
| Albatross | Sapphire | Lagoon | Humpback | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eel | Manta | Reef | Splash | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current | Scallop | Pearl | Fathom | Indigo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Clearpool | Cowrie | Ripple | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| More | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Enchantments
- A conch shell enchanted to glow when it detects a lie.
- A dragon fountain on the Island Palace.
- The Summer Palace enchanted to grow and expand like a living thing.
- A chef's knife enchanted to kill whomever he ordered.
- An empty clam shell enchanted to tear off all of Princess Sapphire's claws.
- A vine enchanted to strangle a seagull.
- A weighing scale that detects the difference between male and female eggs.
- Likely many more, unknown spells.
Quotes
"An enchanted coconut will never miss, no matter how I dodge or try to block it. Go ahead and try."
"Another animus in the tribe. I'm so very, very pleased."
"Hmmm, yes, very interesting. This talon definitely has more power than that one." - Joking with Fathom.
"You may be wondering why you’re still alive. Especially when your entire family is dead." - To Fathom
"Bite her! Bite all of her claws off!" - About Sapphire in Darkstalker (Legends).
"No! Spears—"
"You've been such a thorn in my side for the last few years, grandson." - To Fathom during the Massacre.
Relationships
Fathom
Fathom described Albatross as "a kind but distant figure" throughout his life, but Albatross seemed excited when he found out that Fathom was an animus. As his mentor, Fathom said Albatross cared for his grandson, and had been a good dragon before. However, when Albatross became insane, he claimed he was resentful towards Fathom for decreasing Albatross's importance as the SeaWing animus. During the Royal SeaWing Massacre, Albatross told Fathom he could have easily killed him from a distance, but wanted to see him die.
His Sisters
Albatross's older sisters, Lagoon and Sapphire, bullied him when they were dragonets. Once, Albatross accidentally enchanted a clam, biting off Sapphire's claws when she tried to steal the clam he was playing with. Sapphire became hysterical and insane. Throughout his life, Queen Lagoon continued to take advantage of Albatross, but during the Royal SeaWing Massacre, he snapped and killed her.
Trivia
- Along with being defined as a large oceanic bird, the word albatross can also mean a physiological burden that feels almost like a curse, referencing the price of his power.
- Some speculate that Albatross is an allusion to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
- Albatross is confirmed to be of IceWing descent.
- In the epilogue of Talons of Power, the ghost of Albatross appears to come back to haunt the SeaWings, but this enchantment is later revealed to have been created by Darkstalker. Turtle later gets rid of it.
- Albatross is the first known animus SeaWing in ancient Pyrrhia.
- Tui said in a meeting that we may possibly get an Albatross Legends book sometime in the future.
- Albatross is the sixth confirmed hybrid in the series.
- Albatross is the first SeaWing known to be a hybrid, the second being Typhoon, as well as the first known SeaWing-IceWing.
- He is the sixth hybrid of IceWing descent, the others being Stonemover, Princess Sunny, Darkstalker, Whiteout, and Typhoon.
Gallery
![Grandson [Redo] by pelaghi](/wiki/File:Grandson_redo_by_meapyblossom-dcfl86h.png "Grandson redo by meapyblossom-dcfl86h.png (552 KB)")
References
| SeaWings | |
|---|---|
| Queens | |
| Royalty (Present) |
Anemone • Auklet • Cerulean • Fin • Gill • Moray • Octopus • Orca • Shark • Tsunami • Turtle |
| Royalty (Historical) |
Albatross • Clearpool • Cowrie • Current • Eel • Fathom • Humpback • Manta • Reef • Ripple • Sapphire • Scallop • Splash |
| Jade Mountain | |
| Other Dragons (Present) |
Abalone • Flounder • Herring • Kelp • Lagoon • Nautilus • Pearl • Piranha • Riptide • Snail • Snapper • Squid • Tempest • Tortoise • Urchin • Webs • Whirlpool |
| Other Dragons (Historical) |
|
| Hybrids | |
| Folklore | |
| Kingdom | |
| Kingdom (Historical) |
|
| Society |
Aquatic • Royal SeaWing Massacre • SeaWing Council • Talons of Power ceremony |