As Lilith woke, the first thing she felt was cold stone pressed against her face. She groggily pushed herself up, her arms trembling slightly, and looked around, blinking as her vision slowly adjusted to the dim light. As she noticed her sister lying nearby, Lilith also noticed she was seeing in shades of black and white, making her momentarily wonder if she’d been hit in the head. A quick assessment of herself put that fear to rest – she felt no aches or pains, just the stiffness of lying on cold rock.

She moved to her hands and knees, crawling to her sister’s side, feeling the stone pressing against her bare skin. Lilith ignored the discomfort and knelt as she reached Liana’s side. Her sister was nude, the same as Lilith, and the young woman quickly appraised Liana for injuries, nodding when she found nothing obvious. Lilith sat in a seiza position and looked around again, this time studying their surroundings more closely.

The twins appeared to be in a cave. There was only dim light, from glowing rocks of some sort. Lilith could see both stalactites and stalagmites, and she could also hear dripping water nearby. She changed to a crouching position, then grinned as she reached over and pinched her sister’s nipple, twisting it. Liana’s eyes flew open and she slapped at Lilith’s hand.

“Goddammit, Lil! Why the fuck did you… hey, why are we in a fucking cave?” Liana blinked and Lilith noticed her sister’s pupils shift as her vision apparently adjusted. “Hey, something's wrong with my eyes. I can only see black and white.”

Lilith shook her head as she stood and held out a hand to her sister, pulling her to a standing position when Liana took the offered hand. For the first time, Lilith noticed her skin color was different, much darker than before. “No, I’m seeing the same as you, Lia. And our skin is much darker now, also. We’ve changed somehow.” Lilith held on to her sister’s hand, lifting it along with her own to show her sister.

Liana studied their joined hands, then let go of her sister’s hand and stepped back. She examined herself, running her hands over her body, then looked at Lilith and examined her closely. Finally, she reached over and poked her sister’s left breast. “Your boobs are bigger, Lil. You gotta be a C now.” Liana cupped her own breasts and sighed. “Guess I’m still in B territory.”

Lilith laughed and gave her sister a quick hug. “But that’s only because you have practically no fat on your body. At least you have abs.” She gently smacked Liana’s stomach, feeling the outline of her abdominal muscles. “That means whatever changes have taken place apparently didn’t change anything other than our appearance.”

As she spoke, Lilith noticed two bags lying on the ground. They hadn’t been there before, she knew that much. Somehow they had appeared between the time the twins had woken up and now. Lilith narrowed her eyes and looked around again to see if they had company. Liana, noticing her sister’s shift in attitude, clenched a fist and also began examining the area.

Again seeing no one else, Lilith took the two steps needed and picked up the first bag, or tried to. As she lifted, the bag felt as if it weighed a ton. She frowned and let go, then tried the other bag, which lifted easily. Lilith snapped her fingers to catch Liana’s attention, then pointed at the bag on the ground.

“See if you can lift that bag, Lia.” Lilith watched as her sister moved next to her and crouched, easily lifting the bag, then looking at her. “Interesting. I couldn’t lift it at all, not even budge it. See if you can lift this one.” Lilith out the bag in her hand on the ground, and Liana tried to lift it, grunting when it didn’t budge.

Lilith picked it up again. “It seems this bag is mine and that one is yours. Since we’ve miraculously changed in some ways, I’m going to hazard a guess and say the bags are magically tied to us.” She reached in her bag and froze as a flood of information entered her brain. Somehow, she instantly knew everything in the bag. She focused on one of the items, a pair of pants, and pulled them from the bag.

Liana had done the same, also freezing for a moment, then pulled out a long dagger. “This reminds me of a magic bag from games and stories, Lil. Like a dimensional bag. It has all this stuff in it but barely weighs anything.” Liana examined the dagger carefully, then put it back in the bag. She looked at Lilith. “I don’t think we’re on Earth, or at least not the Earth we knew. We’d better get dressed and see what’s up.”

Lilith nodded and the twins began dressing with clothing from the bag. They each found pants, shirts, and boots in the bag, as well as gloves. The clothes were well-made of a material that seemed durable but light, and they fit the twins perfectly. Liana giggled.

“At least there’s no fucking bra to deal with, right?” Lilith laughed at her sister’s statement, nodding in agreement. Neither of them had much regard for those torture devices.

They finished dressing, then Lilith removed a shirt of chain mail from her bag and showed it to Liana. “I’m going to guess that if this is in the bag, I’ll probably need it?” She put the bag down and began putting the shirt on, with Liana helping after she tied her own bag to her belt. The chain shirt fit Lilith snugly, but it was heavy, as she would expect. She took out a pair of greaves and metal gauntlets, putting them on with Liana’s help.

When she finished, Liana stepped back and whistled. “Damn, Lil, you’re rocking that armor. You look great.” Liana walked around her sister, examining her, before slapping her on the ass once, hard, and making Lilith jump. “That was for twisting my nipple, bitch.”

Lilith grinned. “I needed to wake you up in a hurry, we might have been in danger.” As she spoke, Lilith tied the bag to her belt, then took a sheathed sword from the bag and fastened it to the opposite side of the belt, fiddling with it. “I guess doing that HEMA stuff while I was sleeping with Brandy was worth it after all.” Lilith removed a shield from the bag and slid her left arm through the straps.

Liana grinned as Lilith finished preparing. “It worked out pretty well for you. At least I didn’t have to mess with it to get to fuck her, so thanks for taking that bullet.”

Lilith laughed. “I don’t think she intended for you to have a turn, Lia.”

Liana shrugged. “She wasn’t complaining. And I might have let her think I was you coming back for round two. Well, I just didn’t bother to say anything when she was screaming your name.”

Lilith drew the longsword, testing the weight as Liana spoke, then sheathed it again. She raised an eyebrow as Liana stood watching her. “Are you going to get ready? Or just check out my ass?”

Liana nodded and began removing items from her bag. A pair of short curved blades that Lilith recognized as kukris, a pair of long daggers, and a bandolier of throwing knives came first. Lilith raised an eyebrow as her sister then removed a hand crossbow and a case of crossbow bolts, followed by a suit of dark-colored studded leather armor.

“Damn, what are you, a ninja?” Liana laughed and began suiting up, fastening the kukris and long daggers to her belt, followed by the bolt case and hand crossbow. The bandolier was last as Liana fastened it over the suit of leather armor.

Liana chewed her bottom lip as she considered the question. “Good question. Maybe? But what about you? Are you just a warrior? Can we learn magic here, wherever this is? I mean, you’re not weak, but you’re not a muscle-headed brute. Oh, let’s check something out.”

Liana took a torch from her bag, then a tinderbox. She lit the torch, getting the hang of using the flint and steel after a few tries. The twins both blinked as their vision shifted and examined each other. Now that they could see color from the torchlight, they realized they had dark brown skin. Lilith, upon examining her sister, reached up and touched Liana’s ear.

“Lia… we’re fucking dark elves!”

Liana touched her ear, feeling it taper off to a point, then examined her sister’s ear as well, then grinned. “No wonder your boobs got bigger, Lil.” Liana squeezed her sister’s breast once, then nodded. “Definitely bigger than before.” Lilith shook her head and sighed; Liana had a thing for boobs in general, and always had.

“Okay, so we’re definitely changed from human. Now we need to find out where we are and what else is different.” A soft cough came from the side as Lilith said that, and both twins spun, hands reaching for their weapons.

A woman stood there, hands at her sides. They recognized her as a dark elf, now that they could see by the light of the torch. The woman flicked a finger at the torch and the light went out. “We don’t really need that, now that you’ve seen the new versions of yourselves. We’ve all got excellent darkvision, after all. You should be able to see up to forty yards or so in the dark, as long as it’s not pitch black.” She winked. “And if things work out, we might even be able to fix that for you.”

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Lilith raised an eyebrow, her sword partially drawn. “And who might you be? Apparently you know who we are, since you seem to know we weren’t originally dark elves.” Liana had both of her kukris drawn, but she’d always been quick on the draw.

The woman smiled slightly. “You’re correct, I am very familiar with your shared history. My name is Malis, and if you both successfully complete the ‘quest' I am about to give you, then I’ll tell you more.” She sat down on the cave floor. “For now, to answer the earlier question, yes, you can both learn magic. But the way you learn it depends on what you want to do.”

Liana frowned. “What do you mean? Like how we study?”

“No, no. There are three types of magic on this world. Divine, innate, and arcane,” Malis said, smiling. “Divine magic, such as priests and druids use, requires that they worship a deity. Arcane magic can be studied from a book. And innate magic is… different. But each method has advantages and disadvantages.”

Lilith decided it was safe to be seated and sat down, Liana mimicking her a moment later. “And divine magic is where healing magic lies, I suppose?”

Malis raised a hand and tilted it from side to side. “Mostly, although innate casters can learn some healing magic. But they can only learn a few minor ones.”

“So if I want to use divine magic, and I’m sure I will, then I’ll need a deity.” Lilith tapped her chin as she thought about it. “And I’m willing to bet you’re one of the choices.”

“Guilty as charged, as they say on Earth.” Malis chuckled as she looked at Lilith appraisingly. “But for you, I’m the only choice. I’ve got exclusive rights, which I’ll also explain if you finish my quest.”

Malis stood up. “For now, I’ll grant you a few spells, Lilith, no strings attached.” Lilith froze for a moment as the knowledge of several spells entered her mind. “As for you, Liana, you’re an innate caster.” Malis tossed a scroll to the girl, who caught it deftly. “You can learn those for now. Once you complete the quest, I’ll give you a larger list to choose from.”

The twins stood up as well. Liana began studying the scroll as Lilith looked at Malis. “And what is this quest?”

“Oh, that’s easy. There’s a fortress a week to the west of this dungeon. Get out of the dungeon and to the fortress alive.” She shrugged. “It’s a test to make sure you’ve got what it takes. If you make it, I’ll give you more information. And as a bonus, I’ll tell you both who your mother really is.”

Liana’s head snapped up as Lilith’s mouth fell open. Malis waved, then vanished. The twins looked at each other in disbelief.

“You think she means it, Lil?” Liana looked a little uncertain. Lilith shrugged helplessly.

“Guess we have to get out of this… wait, did she say we’re in a dungeon?” Lilith grimaced. “Well, better get those spells ready, Lia. We’ll probably need them.”

Liana tucked the scroll in her bag. “Already done. It was like picking from a list, then they just appeared in my mind.” She snapped a finger and a flame appeared at the end of one finger. “That’s really cool. We have magic!”

“And we’re in a fucking dungeon. We’d better get moving, Lia,” said Lilith as she readied her shield, then drew her sword. “Hopefully it’s a beginner dungeon we can handle as a duo.”

Liana drew both kukris. “I’ll scout ahead. That armor will give you away.” Liana moved away silently, quickly vanishing into a tunnel. Lilith went over the spells she had been granted, making sure she knew how to use them. After ten minutes, Liana returned from scouting.

“Some giant rats in the next room, sis.” Liana jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “There’s two tunnels leading out from that room. And I found a trap and had to disarm it, that’s what took so long.”

Lilith eyed her sister. “How did you know there was a trap?”

Liana scratched her head. “Um, I just sort of had the knowledge of how to spot them in my head. Sort of like the magic stuff.” She shrugged. “I’m moving a lot quieter than I could before, like something telling me how to move and where to step.”

“Interesting. I’d almost say there was a ‘system' at work, but we don’t see blue boxes popping up.” Lilith pondered that for a minute. “But it’s possible there is and we just don’t get boxes like they do in the books and anime.”

Nodding slowly, Liana chewed her lip. “We’ll have to think about that. And see what other abilities we might have implanted in our heads. I bet you have a good understanding of sword and board skills, maybe not like a warrior, but better than before.”

Lilith paused at her sister’s statement. She’d fooled around with the HEMA stuff, just doing it mainly because she wanted to sleep with that girl Brandy. She’d never really been good at it, but considering what Liana said, she realized that she did actually feel like she was somewhat skilled, probably at the level of someone with basic proficiency . “Now that I think about it, you’re right. I feel like I’ve had basic training with sword and shield, and some other weapons, as well.”

Liana wiggled her eyebrows. “Then let’s go test out some magic and weapon skills on some dog-sized rats.” Liana motioned for Lilith to go first.

Shaking her head and smiling slightly, Lilith led the way. “Quit staring at my ass, Lia.”

“I’m not staring at it, but that’s because it’s covered in chain mail.” Lilith laughed at that, then jumped slightly as Liana’s hand smacked her on the ass. “Get a move on, tank person. I want to kill something.”

Lilith walked a little faster, thinking. She was pretty sure that neither she or Liana would have a problem with killing. Back on Earth, both girls had been diagnosed as psychopaths when their “father", Edgar, had made them go to see a psychiatrist. Of course, he had moved out a few months later when Liana threatened to castrate him and feed him his own testicles – she’d caught him staring at Lilith, who had been wearing a bathing suit at the time.

Lilith wasn’t overly aggressive, especially compared to Liana. She wasn’t afraid to hurt someone if needed, but she preferred manipulation. Liana, though, loved to fight. She had a way of provoking someone to throw the first punch, then she’d beat them without mercy. Of course, if there were no witnesses around, she’d happily start the fight herself.

It only took a couple of minutes before the twins were at the next room, studying the two giant rats. They were almost the size of mastiffs, Lilith noted as she gripped her sword and shield tighter. She pondered using a spell, then decided she might as well try it out. Quietly chanting, she felt a small burst of power leave her body, then felt what she guessed was the effect of the spell settling over her and, she hoped, her sister.

Liana confirmed it by looking at her and grinning, then muttering her own spell. Lilith watched as Liana nodded towards the rats. Turning to look, Lilith saw what appeared to be a duplicate of Liana appear, then it began to run. The rats, noticing the movement, turned and leaped at it. Lilith took the chance and rushed towards the rats as quietly as she could, muttering an attack spell this time.

As one of the rats bit “Liana", the duplicate vanished. Shaking its head and sniffing, the rat started to turn when a blast of black energy crashed into it from above. The energy splashed onto the other rat as well, making them both squeal in pain. As they finished turning, Lilith arrived, her shield bashing the one on her left as her sword bit into the shoulder of the one on her right.

Liana hadn’t been far behind. She was right on her sister’s heels, swerving to the right as Lilith swung her sword. Liana had been casting her own spell and finished it as she flanked the rat Lilith had cut. The rat squealed and shook its head, missing the bite attack it had aimed at Lilith.

The older twin hadn’t been idle, casting the same spell again. It hit the rat in front of her, but she had apparently knocked the second rat out of the area of effect when she slammed it with her shield. Cursing quietly, she swung at the rat with her sword, but it ducked the blow, then headbutted her in the stomach. The chain mail absorbed some of the blow, but Lilith still felt it and knew she’d be sore later.

Liana had gone to work as Lilith cast her second spell, her blades slashing into the rat. When she saw the rat headbutt Lilith, she growled and began stabbing faster. The rat turned and snapped at her, but she dodged to her right, away from the teeth. She began casting the same spell again, but the rat appeared to shake it off. Liana grimaced, but wasn’t too upset. They were still newbies and couldn’t expect everything to work.

The second rat had recovered from being stunned and was getting to its feet. Lilith bashed the one in front of her, stunning it, then readied her shield for the second rat's attack. She braced herself as it leaped at her, but still took two involuntary steps back as the weight of the giant rat slammed into her shield.

Liana stabbed the first rat one last time, the weight of the rat's body pulling it off of her blade as it died. She pointed a finger at the other rat, casting the cantrip that had been implanted into her mind. The rat hissed, but kept attacking Lilith, claws scratching at her shield. The metal of the shield made a noise like nails on a chalkboard, making the twins wince.

Lilith blasted the rat with another spell just as Liana’s second spell went off, making the rat screech. It paused for a moment, as if deciding which of the two it wanted to attack. The twins struck at the same time, taking advantage of the rat's hesitation. Lilith’s sword sunk deep into the rat’s shoulder, piercing its heart, as Liana leapt on its back, driving her blades in deep and severing its spine. The rat collapsed and the sisters stepped back, looking around to make sure the room was clear.

Lilith was panting from the exertion, not used to fighting in heavy armor. She looked at Liana, who was also breathing hard, although she didn’t seem as winded. That made sense to Lilith, since her sister had a pretty strict workout routine she had followed for a few years. Lilith exercised, of course, but not like her sister.

Liana walked over and put an arm around Lilith’s waist. “You did great, Lil. You looked like you knew what you were doing, for sure.”

Lilith finally caught her breath and smiled slightly. “It’s like you said, the knowledge and muscle memory were there. What about your attacks?”

“Eh, sort of? Some of it I knew from before, learning the martial arts and stuff,” Liana said as she wiped off her blades on the rat's fur before sheathing them. “Some of it was different, since I didn’t train with these, but not much. The magic thing was all new, though.”

“Yeah, that illusion was really cool. Was that the spell or was that your idea?” Lilith looked at her sister as she asked the question.

Her sister blushed slightly, although it couldn’t be seen with darkvision. “Well, the image was my idea, the spell lets me create whatever I think of as long as it’s only up to a certain size. And I can make it move, so it seemed like a good distraction.”

Lilith nodded in agreement as she followed her sister’s idea and cleaned her sword on the rat’s fur before sheathing it. “Definitely was. It gave us the initiative in the fight and probably made it much easier for us.” She looked at the tunnels, then at her sister.

“Well, you pick. Which way do we go?”

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