Approximately 14 billion years ago, the universe came into existence. Approximately 4.5 billion years ago, Earth was formed. About two hundred thousand years ago, the first primates stood on their hind legs and became bipedal. These early humans are now known as Homo erectus, but what wasn’t widely known was that a second and very different type of hominid evolved around the same time.

Homo demonicus, or demons, evolved right along with humans. No physical differences separated the species, but Homo demonicus evolved mental abilities that were to become magic in the future. Along with demons, the human-like genus of mammals included mermaids, nymphs, and sprites. Mermaids moved to the oceans, evolving strong webbing on their limbs to assist with swimming and gills so they do not have to surface for air. The nymphs stayed small and evolved to be very highly camouflaged in their environments. Sprites were nearly wiped out entirely by the religious outbreaks that began some centuries after evolution. Small bands of them still exist, but they are extremely hard to find.

For centuries, the genus coexisted and intermingled to the extent that they were able. This all changed when humans began to follow the beliefs of what became known as the Church. Around two thousand years ago, the Church began to defame the other species with claims that they were evil. Because of their magical powers, the Church spread lies that led many humans to believe the other species would take over and enslave the humans who had no magic. Interbreeding between the species came to a screeching halt around 200AD, when the Church began promoting the outright murder of any humanoid species that wasn’t Homo sapiens.

The sprites, being the smallest of the evolved humanoids, are now all but extinct. Being as small as they are, the surviving sprites tend to live with demons for protection. The mermaids went deeper into the oceans and took to luring humans into the water to drown them. Nymphs ran for the hills and forests and are very difficult to find unless they want to be found. Any human with demon blood in their ancestry that showed signs of even the weakest magical abilities were tried and killed as witches. Demons were hunted and killed outright the moment they showed any magical inclinations.

For centuries, the demons and others hid. What had once been a peaceful relationship was soon wrought with hardship. Lucifer and Satan, two of the most powerful demons of the time, rallied the others together and the species hid. The sprites never did recover their numbers, but they are not extinct. The mermaids slowly stopped their tricks, and the nymphs became known for one special side effect of their contact with humans. However, the demons had two thousand years to strengthen themselves.

Thirty years ago, Satan revealed himself to the President of the United States in what became known as the most effective coup in the history of the world. His brother, Lucifer, took over Europe; Asmodai and his followers slaughtered the governments of Africa; Sitri established himself as the ruler in Australia with the least amount of bloodshed. Above them all, Baal rules supreme. The demons who were said in the Bible to be the worst became the world leaders in little more than forty eight hours.

At first, the religious fanatics cried that it was the end of the world and that the Antichrist would soon destroy them all. These people were killed by the other demons that had been disseminated around the world. With the governments of the world synchronized for the first time in history, the demons were able to change the education systems of the countries to reflect their version of what had happened in history.

Soon, Demon Studies was a requirement. Biology changed to show the internal differences between the species. The world soon knew what had really happened between the humans and demons. Those people who tried to shut down the takeover were killed on the spot, and this alone went a long way in cowing the population. After only a couple short years humans became accustomed to the changes and things began to go back to normal.

However, like every human culture, the demons had a culture all their own. The news that demons still kept slaves was the biggest shocker in the developed countries. Slaves were slightly different for demons than they had been for humans. Yes, the demons still used them for menial labor, but that was more akin to having a live-in maid. What demons really used slaves for was sex.

The slave trade among the demons was a very lucrative one. The richer the demon, the better his slaves had to be. Some demons were employed simply to stalk and capture humans to be sold into slavery. After a few years some humans were even known to sell their family members – including their older teens – to the demons. Most people hated those who would sell their own relations to the demons, and they didn’t care what the reasons were. After the first five years, the kidnapping and selling of young men and women into the slave trade slowed to a crawl.

Most of the time demons only took humans as slaves, but every once in a while another type of creature would come along that would be groomed for something more than simple slavery. Creatures that had previously been touted as mythology were highly sought after by the demons. A succubus, for instance, would fetch a pretty coin at auction and bring the owner many millions in contract fees.

A succubus is the offspring of a demon and a nymph. Nymphs always give birth to female children; they only have to have a male in the picture to get pregnant. When they get pregnant by a demon, that girl is always born a succubus. The girl child is kept by the nymphs until she is eighteen. In those eighteen years, the nymphs teach her about her powers and what it means that she is a succubus. At the age of eighteen she is sent to a trainer – a male demon – who teaches her the more complex spells and, most importantly, teaches her about sex and her body.

The Church demonized succubi as sex-crazed women who could kill a man with a touch. In reality, a succubus is the most in-control magical creature. They are taught from the beginning that they must be in control of their abilities at all times. A succubus who has just come into her powers has a small amount of leeway in gaining that control, but after an amount of time she is expected to be able to control herself. Even then, a succubus’ control is a delicate balance between pleasure and pain.

Very rarely, a succubus is pushed so far beyond her limit of control that she goes insane and turns siren. Humans never actually encountered sirens, and many of the myths surrounding sirens were actually mermaid related. A siren is a succubus who has lost all control of her powers. The siren is the true creature behind the darker myths about succubi. She can suck the life from a man in a single kiss, though they prefer to have intercourse and take the life energy that way. A siren’s power has the ability to rip a person to shreds, tearing limb from torso, at a thought. Sirens, when they occur, are killed as quickly as possible; usually by another woman.

On the opposite side of the coin from a succubus is the incubus. Incubi are the male offspring of demons and mermaids. Unlike nymphs, mermaids can have either male or female offspring. The mermaids also have the ability to choose what their child is in terms of species. A mermaid impregnated by a demon can choose to have a mermaid child, whether that child is male or female. In the event that the mermaid chooses to not have a mermaid child, she can only hope that the pregnancy results in a male who might be an incubus. They do not have the power to choose the gender of the child, so a female child will be taken back to the mermaid pod to be raised by another mermaid.

However, just because the mermaid chooses not to birth a mermaid does not mean that a male child will be an incubus. The mermaid can choose to have a male demon child instead. No one is certain how this is possible, but it does happen.

In the event that an incubus is born, he is raised by his father in much the same way as the succubus. He is taught what his powers will be and how to control them, and at eighteen he is initiated into sex. Unlike a succubus, who is virtually powerless until she reaches maturity around the age of twenty, an incubus is born able to display magical abilities similar to those of a normal male demon. The incubus, though, is the perfect balance to a succubus’ power.

A normal succubus has a constant struggle of balancing her powers with her desire to take the life energy from men. The incubus is the perfect source of sexual energy for the succubus in that she cannot drain him sexually. Demons are more suited to giving up this sexual energy than a human male is, so it is more difficult for a succubus to kill them in the way that they can kill humans. But the succubus cannot kill an incubus that is bound to her as a mate.

Succubi bind demons or incubi to them within a year of reaching maturity. Before the Takeover, succubi would be kept with several demons until she took one of them as her mate. If she did not take a mate within a year, it was understood that she would never take a mate. These weaker succubi almost never turned siren, and were not a danger to the general populace. Stronger succubi would bind a mate to her that complimented her powers. This binding would assist her in keeping the temptation of her powers in check.

The binding of a mate is only done by the succubus. No demon can bind himself to her as a mate. However, there are spells that can bind demons to a succubus to a lesser extent. Life-bond spells are the most common, and they bind the lives of the two together. A life-bond spell does not form a tangible connection between the subjects, but if a demon performs a life-bond spell on a succubus and that succubus turns siren, he can commit suicide to stop her. It is extreme, but often the only way to stop a succubus once she has turned siren. The life-bond spell binds the lives of the together so completely that one cannot live if the other dies.

In recent times, it has been very rare for a succubus to bond with a mate and even rarer for a demon to perform a life-bond spell with a succubus. There hasn’t been an incubus born in nearly five hundred years, and the last one died as a result of a life-bond spell more than three hundred years ago. He was not bound as a mate to the succubus because he was born after she had already reached maturity, and there wasn’t another succubus born before he died.

It is said that a succubus always breeds true, just like the nymphs she descends from. So, a succubus will always produce a female child who will mature as a succubus. This child is stronger than the mother, but cannot exceed the father’s magical prowess. No one is sure why this is the way of it, but it is.

Second generation succubi were once common. This is believed to be the reason that incubi were more common, as second generation succubi were more likely to turn siren. The second generation succubi had a more tenuous hold on her powers, and so needed the balance that an incubus gave her in the mated bond. In the instance that a succubus gives birth, she is expected to teach that child everything she will need to know in preparation for her eighteenth birthday. In more recent times, second generation succubi have been all but unheard of. Because of this, the need for incubi has declined and the existing succubi would be less likely to know just how to train their daughters.

Very recently, the councils have begun to mandate the sterilization of all succubi to prevent the birth of a second generation. The reasoning behind this is the lack of incubi to be bound as a mate to control her. These sterilizations are done with a spell developed after modifying a long-term contraception spell, and are painless. Several succubi, in an attempt to evade the sterilization spell, attempted to leave the nymph communities before their eighteenth birthdays. They were believed to have all been captured and sterilized.

THE END OF CHAPTER ZERO