Pisco
Pisco (ピスコ, Pisuko) is a secondary ally featured in the light novel El Aleph.
As a young teen, he is a hostage of Fernando Alhorn who awakens the Stand Yawar Fiesta from the Bow and Arrow. After being rescued by Sasha Loggins, Octavio Luna Kan, and Joaquín Ruiz-Jorruda, he goes to live on a floating island on Lake Titicaca.[1]
Appearance
Pisco is a man in his twenties who wears a shirt and shorts. Due to his initially uncontrollable Stand, he has an immediately noticeable, unusual appearance. His body emits an intense heat, which can be felt even without direct contact. His build is described to be reminiscent of the biblical figure Job or a sadhu. His body is covered in large, bulging nodules across his arms, legs, and back. These nodules overlap and press against his clothing, sometimes causing sporadic blood stains on his shirt. This condition gives his body a rough, rock-like appearance, obscuring the natural contours of a regular human form.[1]
The nodules are actually stone formations underneath his skin, large enough to be likened to grotesquely enlarged tumors. When he meets Lisa Lisa, numerous needle-like protrusions are visible, breaking through his skin at various points. Some of the growths are also visibly moving, due to live fishes swimming under his skin from his ability. A large tumor on one cheek has altered the symmetry of his face, causing his right eye to droop nearly to his cheekbone and appear tearful. He is also covered in sweat from the agonizing suffering he feels from the internal stones.[1]
He has an Inca-motif tattoo on one of his arms. With Lisa Lisa's help, all of the objects embedded under his skin are ejected from his body, removing the nodules.[1]
Personality
Pisco is a solitary person as a consequence of his Stand. He chooses to live in isolation on a small, secluded island, and distances himself from family and society. His residence is a cramped and stark island that is about a kilometer long with no obstructions around it, seeming more like a wide boat than an island. He has a deep-seated aversion to contact with others out of fear that his ability would create more objects under his skin, deforming his body further and subjecting him to more pain. He can be rude as a result, shooing away Lisa Lisa and referring to her as an old hag, claiming talking to her at her age would be more tedious than talking to his grandmother. It's not that he just prefers privacy, but his impolite behavior is also a protective measure, as his condition has made interaction with others complex and potentially hazardous.
Pisco's voice is devoid of intonation and lacks vitality, hinting at a resignation to his fate. He is in his twenties, but makes no attempt to sound like he grew up compared to when Lisa Lisa saw him twelve years prior. He is burdened by the constant struggle with his ability that he refers to as a "curse." Feeling as if he is constantly dying and that his Stand is always mocking him, Pisco's mind is full of despair, initially rejecting possible ways to cure his condition unless the Speedwagon Foundation can bring an exorcist.
Despite his grim reality, Pisco shows moments of levity, albeit laced with a dark humor. His suffering has made him cynical and self-deprecating. He jokes about the bizarre manifestations of his condition, even when they cause him clear distress and embarrassment. He has an odd way of laughing, sounding like "Hyahyahya" or "Muhahaha". He laughs hysterically after mentioning that a fish is swimming inside him and biting his bladder, to the point of almost choking, suggesting that even his amusement is intertwined with pain.
With Lisa Lisa's guidance, Pisco finds renewed confidence and willpower, learning to harness his ability for useful purposes. Although initially reluctant to fulfill the absurd request she asks him afterward, he attempts to do it out of gratitude and succeeds in reproducing what she wanted.[1]
Abilities
Stand
- Main article: Yawar Fiesta
Yawar Fiesta allows Pisco to recreate objects or living beings that come into contact with his skin and mixes with his blood. These reproductions form as "stones" under his skin. While initially having no use aside from making Pisco feel excruciating pain whenever the stones are formed, Lisa Lisa's Ripple helps Pisco's immune system counter the stones in his body. Her motivation also encourages him to gain confidence, evolving his capabilities by allowing him to expel the items outside of his body.
History
Background
In 1974, Pisco is abducted by Dos Santos and Fernando Alhorn's army in Peru. Along with about 15 other prisoners, he is taken to Alhorn's hideout at the summit of San Juan de Lurigancho and shot with the Bow and Arrow. He ends up surviving and is placed in a jail at the base, similar to a quarantine ward.[1][3]
El Aleph
Prison Escape
Sasha Loggins, Joaquín Ruiz-Jorruda, and Octavio Luna Kan rescue Pisco as well as the other prisoners, but they are confronted by Dos Santos when they attempt to escape. The trio battles Dos Santos but struggles against La Casa Verde's abilities. A young mixed-race boy, who is possibly Pisco, is protected by Sasha before La Casa Verde's roots can attack him. Crying, he screams that it's all over for them. Sasha protectively wraps him in her arms, but the roots manage to grab him away. Sasha desperately asks Dos Santos to take her instead of the kid, but the vines continue choking the boy. He nearly loses consciousness and blood pours from his eyes, until Sasha manages to awaken her Stand. Her birds serve as a distraction, allowing Sasha to use the Ripple to destroy the roots choking the boy. Pisco and the other Arrow survivors are surprised to see Sasha's birds.
After the battle, Lisa Lisa, J.D. Hernández, and Sasha bring the prisoners back to the base of the Speedwagon Foundation and research their abilities.[1]
The Curse
At some point, Pisco returns to his hometown at Lake Titicaca. He gets an Inca-motif tattoo on one of his arms. However, years later, his Stand Yawar Fiesta suddenly causes the needle used for the tattoo to appear under his skin. Objects or animals that inflict various injuries he receives over the years start to randomly be recreated under his skin, such as stones and fishes. He tries removing them from his body, but it's an endless cycle since it's impossible to cut them out without creating more wounds. With all his deformities and out of fear of getting more injuries, he chooses to seclude himself from his family and lives alone on a floating island.[1]
Blood Festival
Lisa Lisa and Hernández head to Pisco's home because Lisa Lisa wants to ask him about his abilities. He initially tells them to leave, thinking that his family might have called over doctors. Lisa Lisa explains that they're not doctors and have already met before, when he was shot by the Arrow. Pisco stays silent for a moment but cautiously crawls out from his hut to greet them, recalling that they're from the Foundation. However, Lisa Lisa reveals that she can't see Stands, so Pisco thinks they wouldn't be helpful anyways and wonders where Sasha is.
Pisco describes the suffering he feels when his ability activates. He grumbles that they wouldn't be able to help him, but still allows them to enter his island. Lisa Lisa and Hernández feel an intense heat radiating from his body and notice his face drenched in sweat. Suddenly, Pisco uncontrollably urinates through his shorts. Feeling embarrassed, he explains that there are fishes swimming inside him and one is biting his bladder, making him unable to control it. He tells them about the evil spirit that appears with his ability, believing that nothing can be done unless they bring an exorcist.
Suddenly, Yawar Fiesta possesses Pisco, deepening his voice and darkening the surroundings. He claims that he knew Lisa Lisa would come because even if she can't see them, she can sense them, and it's inevitable for users of these abilities to meet each other. Lisa Lisa is confused as to who is talking, since his pronouns suddenly shifted to plural. Yawar Fiesta warns her that El Aleph will kill her. It goes further to claim that she will die alone in a dark place suffering unspeakable agonies which even her descendants would hesitate to mention, and then she will be eternally forgotten. While Yawar Fiesta is speaking, Pisco's pupils are dilated and his lips move like he is an empty shell. As Lisa Lisa goes to sit on a totora to process the situation, Pisco returns to normal. Exhausted, Pisco tells them to leave since they can't handle his condition.
Lisa Lisa gives Pisco a speech about Yawar Fiesta being an extension of his soul, metaphorically stating that his ability is not a "separate island" from him but that they "float on the same reed" together. She believes that with his willpower, he will be able to transcend his abilities, just as Sasha, Joseph, Caesar, and many others did. Nonetheless, this just aggravates Pisco more, as he doesn't know how he can manage to control it. She suggests that if he can learn to expel the stones from his body, then he can use his ability to reproduce diamonds, then become a millionaire, buy a property in Manhattan, and live on a floating island in a giant pool. Lisa Lisa takes his hand and unleashes the Ripple, gradually adjusting its output to let her energy flow into Pisco. Whilst the Ripple wouldn't heal all of Pisco's injuries, aligning his body with the sun's wavelength would strengthen his immunity and activate his body's vital functions to counter the stones. Pisco feels the pain easing away as his blood circulation improves, bringing vitality back to his face.
After Lisa Lisa does all she could to help, the rest is up to Pisco. He calmly inhales and exhales, synchronizing his heartbeat as his soul yearns for healing. As he starts crying, Yawar Fiesta's ability transforms in response to Pisco's wish, sucking up the stones inside him. His skin bulges as if pinched, and all of the stones, needles, and live fish, which were previously warts or nodules, are expelled from his body onto the totora. Since he did it once, Lisa Lisa believes his body will remember how to do it again and is relieved. Before leaving, she requests for him to reproduce the Arrow that once shot him using his evolved ability, wanting to use the Arrow on herself. Both Pisco and Hernández are speechless and tries stopping her, but Lisa Lisa refuses to run away without trying it since she still has unfinished business and is near death from old age regardless. Pisco doesn't know how long it will take and is reluctant, but tries it anyways for her sake. He ends up being successful in recreating the Arrow, and the miracle that Lisa Lisa wished for comes true.[1]
Chapters
Novel Appearances- El Aleph Chapter 7: VII - Peru Arc (Mentioned only)
- El Aleph Chapter 8: VIII - Peru Arc (Mentioned only)
- El Aleph Chapter 9: IX - Peru Arc
- El Aleph Chapter 14: XIV - Final Arc (1st full appearance)
Quotes
Quotes- “I don't know you, got nothing to talk about with some old hag I don't know.”
- “But at your age, you're not active anymore, right? Talking to you is more tedious than chatting with my abuela.”
- “Today is particularly bad. It feels like I'm being weighed down with weights and sinking in the lake. Constantly sinking, but never reaching the bottom. It's a curse, after all. Entangled in this damned curse, it feels like I'm slowly dying.”—Pisco, El Aleph Chapter 14: XIV - Final Arc
- “I can't control what mixes with my blood or when and where it'll surface. It's endless trying to remove it. It looks grotesque, too. So I try not to touch anything, to avoid making any wounds. I can only live by staying away from my family or anyone else.”—Pisco, El Aleph Chapter 14: XIV - Final Arc
- “Ain't that useless? As long as it exists, I can't escape this curse. Muhahah, I can't live a normal life.”—Pisco, El Aleph Chapter 14: XIV - Final Arc
