The lore of Assïac

"So there you have it. We now have a new thorn in our side to worry about," Daria sighed.

Following England's approval to participate in the Chess Olympics, Daria had called an emergency meeting for both Japan's men's and women's teams. While the men didn't look like they had too much to worry about, the women were a different story.

"I don't quite get it. While England does appear to have a strong line-up, I don't see why we need to hold a whole dang special session just to discuss them," Tenju grumbled.

"It's the fact that they're strong that we NEED to hold this meeting. Before this, Bette Oranje, Medeucesa Indikó, and Vittoria Giallo all represented their home nations of The Netherlands, Greece, and Italy, respectively. Of those three, Italy was really the only one vying for title contention. But now, one of their top players has defected to England."

"So Italy's now easier to beat?"

"I wouldn't say so. Even without Vittoria, their line-up is still strong. And with this new vacancy, who knows who'll fill it."

"But that's not the reason you're so frantic, yes?" Okisato asked.

Daria sighed and cut to the point. "As you know, maestros can only play in 8 of the 11 rounds. This means we now have to be far more strategic in who I play against."

"But it's impossible to know the pairings as they're results-based."

"Which is why we go in with the assumption that we'll face the top teams. But here's the issue, America, India, Prussia, China, Norway, that's 5 matchups I MUST partake in if we hope to win gold. That leaves just 3 free spots, but there are far more than just 3 strong teams out there. I already had my eye on Italy, Spain, and Poland, but now England's in the mix... And Russia probably will be too."

"Hold on, I thought they were still banned."

"I saw the news as I was coming over, apparently the president of the European parliament, Frieda Rhodes, is pushing for the reversal. She used to be one of Tsar Grigori's fiercest critics, but it seems he fell her in a DESPER match. Russia has a long storied history of chess dominance, meaning the men will have a rougher time if they face them."

"Because of the maestro?"

"While Maestro Ian Kimovich is a fierce critic of the tsar, I fear the president will force him to compete on the same team as him. The only way I could see him weaseling out is if he changed federations, but on such short notice, it'd be impossible."

"But it hasn't happened for sure, right?" Mimoko asked.

While that was the case, Daria felt it was more likely than not Russia would participate at full strength. Thus, the need for a new strategy meeting.

...

As soon as the meeting ended, Mimoko decided to relax in the secret puzzle cafe. As she did, she decided to pull up her point menu and stared intently at one of the prizes.

"Whatcha lookin' at?" Daria asked as she sat down next to her."

"This book, the Tale of Caïssa and Assïac. You used to read it to me when I was little."

"Ah right. Really brings back memories."

"What's the deal with the book?" Okisato asked as he walked over.

"For that, you'll have to buy it and see."

Okisato shrugged and exchanged his points for the book. Once he had it, he read the first chapter.

"Long ago in the heavens above, the goddess of notation, Notatia, gave birth to twin girls. The father, the god of draws, Remis, named the two Caïssa and Assïac...

...

Once the girls aged, they quickly found themselves being accosted by the other gods. Caïssa in particular was constantly hounded by Mars, the god of war, who was infatuated with her.

"So, get hit on again, sis?" Assïac asked as she lounged in the shade of a tree.

"Yes, but pray tell, what hath thou garbed thyself in?" Caïssa asked as she stared at Assïac's attire.

Indeed, Assïac had most certainly garbed herself in strange attire compared to everyone else's loose togas and bare skin. A tan long-sleeve crop top, brown bell-bottom jeans and sneakers, Assïac would easily be mistaken as a girl from the modern 21st century.

"Oh these duds? Took a little peek into the future, saw 'em, and thought they'd look good on me, so I learned how to make 'em and voila."

"Doest thou not feel great discomfort intwined in all that tight silk?"

"Nah, in fact, I feel better than ever. I'm more surprised you don't get the chills with your tits hanging out 24/7."

"Twenty four- what?"

"Ugh, it's modern lingo."

"Why doest though obsesses with the aesthetic of the human's modern 21st century?"

Assïac shrugged and simply admitted the look suited her. "Say, if you need some hints-"

"Nay, I do not need to heed thy words of spoils."

While at this point, Caïssa had yet to become the goddess of chess, Assïac had quickly established herself as the goddess of spoilers. While many believed her ability to simply be rooted in foresight, it was far more complex than that. She could only peer into the future when doing so would show a definitive result, that could in a sense "spoil" things for others.

It wasn't just foresight though. Assïac was also capable of doing things that could spoil things in other ways, such as leaving milk out in the sun or joining a team tournament and beating top teams, even though her own team stood no chance of winning.

Though the one time her power of foresight wouldn't work was when she herself was competing. That being said, she herself rarely competed in the first place. But that would soon change as her sister would soon come to be known as the goddess of chess. And seeking to play it constantly, she'd often force Assïac to be her opponent. This would lead to the start of the strife between them.

...

Okisato went silent as he finished reading. "Assïac... I had heard of Caïssa, but never Assïac. What's more, her outfit looked just like the outfit of that figurehead on the Ultima-master."

"Hmm? Whatcha mumbling about?" Daria asked.

"Ah, my apologies. Maestro Himitsu, you've seen the Ultima-master right?"

"Yes, I have."

"Did you know that the figurehead on it resembles this book's depiction of the goddess, Assïac?"

A confused look overtook Daria's face as she ushered Okisato to come in close. She then whispered that she didn't know what he was talking about as the Ultima-master didn't have any figureheads on it whatsoever.

"But I saw Red Reaper summon it."

Daria went silent as she tried to come up with why that was, but ultimately defaulted to assuming that perhaps it was something unique to Red Reaper himself. Okisato excepted that reasoning though and decided to look more into it later.

Later in the day, Daria' prediction came true and Russia was allowed to participate in the Chess Olympics instantly becoming title contenders in both the men's and women's sections due to their strong line-ups. Once Okisato heard og the news, a revelation hit him.

"Could this be the work of Assïac? No, I don't think Russia could be considered a spoiler in the traditional sense, since they're in title contention. England on the other hand... Ah, I think I get it. Thanks to England's actions, Russia was able to weasel it's way out of it's ban. Perhaps England was the true spoiler, as now the rest of the field has a new powerhouse team to deal with."