The Heavens Shall Fall

The private training ground was boxed in by tall stone walls, high enough that nobody could just jump over them and take a look. There was a simple gate leading into it, too, which the twins quickly closed after entering, sealing the room with an open-air ceiling. Looking around, it was small compared to the larger training fields, just wide enough for a proper spar for the three of them, but it would have been tight for a group. Under their feet, the ground was packed dirt, still somewhat damp but not muddy enough to slip unless someone was careless, which made Siu keep testing it with his feet.

"Huh. Didn't know we had something like this."

"Privacy is always something cultivators value," Milli chuckled, while her sister continued, grinning, "Especially when some like to train naked."

“You know,” Siu said, flexing his fingers, “if this turns into some kind of weird joke, I’m leaving.”

“You wound us,” Milli moaned, placing a hand over her chest, but at least she didn't pull her robe open. “Deeply,” Nilli added, mirroring the gesture on the opposite side.

“You two offered a spar, so I do want to stick to that.”

“We did, and it shall be just that! Promise.”

“And," Siu continued, watching them, "I hope that you will take this seriously.”

"We know, we know," The twins exchanged a glance, and for a moment, their smiles softened a little. “We are taking it seriously,” Milli said. “That’s why we brought you here,” Nilli continued, stretching her arms over her head. “No audience, no pesky interruptions, and no one is going to start asking later why the great founder of the Spirit Wardens is getting bullied by two beautiful women.”

“I haven’t lost yet.” Siu smiled, watching as the two were getting ready, tying their hair up, loosening their robes just enough to give them freer movement and be... distracting enough.

“Yet,” they said together after finishing.

Siu exhaled through his nose, but despite himself, the corner of his mouth lifted in a smile. Elder Thane was right... Sparring like this was the best way to see if he was indeed thinking right about his own affinity. Switching his focus to the twins only, closing out everything else, he lowered his posture, taking up the opening stance of the Crane.

The twins’ playful expressions shifted at once as they saw him get ready, and they opened when Milli stepped slightly to the left, and Nilli stepped slightly to the right. Their bodies were now angled in opposite directions, yet their movements had the same rhythm, and Siu's senses couldn't distinguish between the two anymore... at all. Preparing for every possible situation, Siu expected them to open up with quick strikes, which happened, but not in the way he had in mind. They weren’t fast like Kira, but that didn't matter when their bodies moved like they made up one entity, making Siu's eyes switch back and forth between them, trying to read which would reach him first. But... they were switching the moment his eyes moved, and if he looked from Milli to Nilli, the former sped up while the latter slowed, throwing him off-balance a little. In the end, Milli reached him first, coming in low from his right, her arm extended in a loose, open palm-strike, going for his ribs. He was about to start countering her when Nilli arrived a breath later from the opposite side, her hand aimed at his shoulder, fingers curved into a claw, trying to pin him down so her sister could land the blow.

They were good... That was Siu's first thought, followed by the second thought of not being enough. He nimbly stepped between them, his body abandoning the counter and switching to the Wild Cat, avoiding Milli’s strike while letting Nilli’s fingers brush past his sleeve just at the last minute. He turned his body, keeping up with the motion, back into a countering-strike as his palm was heading toward Milli’s now open shoulder, aiming to tag her and end the first exchange before they could react to it.

It was then that Milli smiled at him... Then, instead of dodging, she leaned into the line of his attack.

“…?"

It was the first time Siu had seen someone not only meet his attack but... to rush ahead to let it land? He knew that she had to have a reason, and when his palm touched her shoulder, for a fraction of a second, something soft and warm traveled through his fingers.

"...?!"

Were they at the Blood Resonance stage or...?! What was this?! The feeling was like standing close to a fire after shoveling snow, making his body instinctively want to relax. His arm slowed enough in an instant that Milli twisted away before the strike could land with proper force, causing damage. At the same time, Nilli used that same moment to step behind him, and her fingers grabbed the back of his neck.

“Gotcha,” she whispered.

Siu didn't want to see what they would do, already feeling the same warm sensation enter through his neck, so he moved the moment her fingertips touched skin, mixing the Wild Dog and Snake's grappling movements to wrangle free, rolling away from the two who now looked to be more of a flytrap than an actual human... and he was almost caught in between them. Standing up, he looked at his hand, and with the warmth gone the moment he broke contact, nothing seemed wrong, as if it didn't even happen.

“What was that?”

“What was what?” Milli asked innocently, smiling happily, while Nilli tilted her head, playing dumb. “Did something happen? Do you need to pee?”

"..." Siu just stared at them, shaking his head, not taking them seriously, “Again.”

“With pleasure,” Milli sang with laughter, but she couldn't finish and had to turn it into a yelp, because this time, he moved first.

He didn’t give them the chance to arrange their rhythm again, as his body snapped forward from a standing position, but not with the full Snake burst. However, he was still fast enough that most outer disciples would have only seen him disappear as he aimed to land between them, forcing them to choose whether to split or retreat together. Watching their choice, the moment their legs moved, he knew they had chosen to split, so Siu also chose to follow Milli. Or Nilli... he couldn't really tell anymore. Stepping after her, his hand shot out, masking a Wild Dog feint that quickly turned into a claw strike, going toward her collarbone. Falling for the hidden feint, Milli knew she had screwed up, and her eyes widened for a moment, her body just not fast enough to avoid it, already feeling that Siu would land the hit.

That was when Nilli arrived to pull her sister out of trouble. Her hand landed against his outstretched forearm, right where his robes had fallen back to reveal his skin, just before his strike reached Milli, and again, that strange warmth spread through him. This time, there was a tug-like feeling coming with it, and his strike immediately weakened and slowed enough for Milli to react. She bent herself backward in the last moment, the attack grazing past her, and the instant Siu’s lower half shifted forward to compensate, both twins moved in at once. They were now hugging and tackling him, trying to bring him down. They were running their fingers under his robes as one hand touched his chest while another brushed his elbow, along with a knee pressing into and against his thigh. It wasn't a kick, but it still scared him for a moment, thinking they were going to play dirty... But they didn't. However, the way they now hung on him, a shiver ran through him, and not because of how pleasurable it felt.

It was wrong... not because he suddenly thought of Neya, but because of the intensifying feelings that kept running through him. They were... weakening him? He could feel it... Slightly panicked, Siu twisted his now much more bendy bones, pumping all his powers into his muscles, and at the same time, using the Ox to burst out from their hug with a shoulder charge that forced both twins away, allowing him to tear himself free.

"Hahaha!" he heard them laughing as they stumbled back, but he also noticed that their laughter was breathier than before... Whatever they were doing, it was exhausting them as they were giving their all to pin him down.

“You two weren't joking...” He muttered, also gasping for air, watching the two with a new light in his eyes, "I am now even more afraid to get in a bed with you two."

"Oh, come on," Milli blinked at him, looking hurt, "Don't tell me you aren't enjoying the feelings we give you?" Then, Nilli just pointed at his crotch, "He does. I felt it through my knee... He is... blessed."

"..."

Siu only took a deep breath as he flexed his fingers again, then rolled his shoulder, squinting at the two. His body felt fine as he examined it, but not... completely. There was a slight sluggishness in his limbs now, as if he had trained for an hour instead of fighting them for a minute. He was already getting tired. It was too little to matter yet, but he noticed it and knew this could only grow worse.

“You’re draining me.” He said suddenly, a kind of realization hitting him.

"We do not!" The twins went still, and suddenly they sounded... troubled? It was surprising to hear and see. “We are not,” Nilli said slowly, as if telling it to herself more than to Siu. “We didn’t do anything like that,” Milli added, and this time Siu believed her more than before. They weren't lying, or at least, they thought they weren't.

“If not you... Then your bodies are.” He said, feeling a bit confused now. “Let's keep going,” he added, wanting to see and feel more, curious if his body would react again and start copying. Previously, it always happened when he didn't think about it or when he was close to losing. The former was no longer an option because he was constantly thinking about it... so he had to put himself in a position where it had to happen.

The twins completely changed their method in their next exchange. Instead of grappling with him, Milli approached from the front, not trying to overpower him but to constantly hold his gaze with open-handed strikes, light kicks, and constantly shifting posture. It allowed Nilli to stay at his back and, whenever possible, to appear in the gaps that Milli created, landing a touch that sent the same warm sapping-like feeling through him. Even if they only thought they were exciting him, using it to disturb his concentration, they had to start realizing there was more to it than just making him feel horny!

Through their continued exchanges, Siu had already come to know that the twins were weaker than he was. If this were a normal fight, he could have ended it several times over, especially because their bodies weren’t as conditioned as his. However, they were more flexible, which he couldn't deny. But they didn't use the Snake's form, so their strikes lacked the penetrating power needed to actually injure him. Their speed was good, but not overwhelming, and more than that, he saw too many holes that he could have exploited and countered them with.

What was incredible, though, was the fact that every time he touched them, or they touched him, no matter which, that faint pull returned and made his tiredness increase. It was there, always, coming through his robes, but it was strongest when they touched raw flesh. Even when he blocked, even when he redirected, even when their contact lasted less than a blink, something always clawed at his stamina, slurping it away. Soon, he had already identified it properly, as they were pulling the essence out of him, be it from his blood or his marrow, or what he had breathed in from the air. The twins were siphoning it away, and in turn, they were becoming more energetic every time it happened.

Well, almost, because the effort they had to put in to keep up with Siu, caused what they gained from touching him was only enough to prolong the spar before they would become winded. However, it was still working, and his arms felt heavier, and his breath took more effort to keep in sequence.

“Haaah…” He stepped back for the first time, exhaling sharply, and the twins stopped too.

“Siu?” Milli asked, now openly concerned, finally noticing that something was indeed off. "Weird..." Nilli added, raising her hand, watching it, "We should have lost by now."

“Don’t stop now.” He smiled at them, feeling that he was very close to getting a proper read on their abilities, and that, for whatever reason, the twins were starting to... awaken? Was this happening because of him? He had refused to give in to the twins' seduction for a long time, even if they tried everything to have their way with him. Was their desire finally boiling over and kicking their own affinity into gear? Or was this because they had been fooling around with Rinmei? She was looking more and more healthy, and it was clear that the Icecrown Stag's cold, which had been stuck in her, was gradually disappearing, restoring Rinmei's ability to continue cultivating. Was... was it pushing the twins into Blood Resonance? "Maybe it's both..." He muttered suddenly, feeling he was right on track with his thoughts.

“This is not normal,” Nilli whispered, probably thinking the same, glancing at her sister, who felt the same way, nodding.

“No,” Siu agreed, eyes narrowing. “Probably it isn’t. But... it seems like you two are breaking through right now. So? Don't let it slip away, I can take it! Come. Let's see what you two can really do!”

Although unsure what to do, the twins were still cultivators. Missing an opportunity like this would haunt them forever... so they simply nodded.

When their next exchange happened, Siu didn't try to focus on a counter or a strike to land on their bodies. Switching tactics, he instead watched them like a hawk. He counted the order and way Milli breathed, noticing that Nilli’s own breathing seemed not only to copy it, but mirror it in a reverse order. Maybe that was why their steps overlapped so perfectly... They were... The more he looked, the more he realized that they made a perfect loop between each other. That was when Nilli reached for his wrist, and instead of avoiding it, he let her touch him. The pull came at once, and not just because she was trying to pin him down. Once again, Siu wasn't resisting, letting them complete the move, slamming him into the ground while he kept watching, seeing it all play out, and, without thinking, he suddenly felt like he understood it. The moment that understanding dawned on him, he reached out, grabbed Nilli, and... the effect was immediate.

"Kyah!" She gasped loudly, moaning in a way that made her sister hurry over to help pin Siu down, stumble as Milli's eyes widened, unsure of what was even happening.

On the other end, something rushed into Siu, and now he felt a refreshing feeling returning to his arms, coming straight from Nilli. Seeing her sister suddenly shudder, gasping with a flushed face, Milli had reached in to pry his hand off her. Still, Siu, reflexively, countered her, grabbing her chest... resulting in an identical, but even louder cry.

“Kyah…?! Siu?” Milli groaned through a moan, "Ahhh... So strong!"

He didn’t answer because, in fact, he couldn’t... Somehow, now that he had touched them, he had understood their powers, without actually understanding... Those contradictory thoughts and feelings, along with the experience in that moment, overrode his instincts. There was a kind of hunger he felt now... wanting to... make the twins his own. His hand moved again, now gripping them both more strongly, and Siu felt it clearly now, ignoring their moaning cries that were both filled with pleasure and a tinge of fear. Sensing the latter, he suddenly discovered a hollow, wanting space within the twins, and, without thinking, his body now perfectly mirrored it. For a fraction of a second, he felt wonderful, but then... horrified. He was sapping the twins?! Did he have Void for affinity?! No... That can't be, because he was... he was... copying... theirs...?! Just thinking about that, Siu’s heart lurched, and, as if the twins' innate gift had sensed an impostor trying to destroy them, it kicked into overdrive.

Or maybe, it was the effect of having another Void-based affinity's vicinity, even if an unnatural one, that truly awakened theirs.

“Stop...” He tried to let go, but it was too late.

The thing inside the twins burst out, latching onto him with warm, slimy, invisible tentacles, as the two suddenly hugged Siu from both sides, their eyes even flashing in a hot, pinkish-red glow. As he looked into them, Siu felt the pull become something like a massive maw. His strength vanished in an instant, his ability failing to copy something like that, something that he had barely started to understand. The next moment, his body went limp, and his breath disappeared from his lungs as the world tilted sideways before he understood he was falling. He tried to activate the Ox, tried to grab onto the ground or himself, but there was nothing to hold onto. He tried to shift into Snake, to coil out of their grasp, but his body had gone way too soft, and even his thoughts slowed, dragged into thick darkness. The last thing he heard was how the twins screamed... in utter terror.