Queer stories about rising from darkness, striving for the light.

The Demons in the Chains of Blood Universe, like their Angelic counterparts, are extra-planar beings. They hail from a negative energy plane that intersects with Earth. They, too, got their name from encounters with early humans who saw their natural appearance as demonic. They, like the angels, have accepted this wholly and use demon to refer to themselves, and refer to their native plane as that of hell. They, too, have adopted human bodies and share many similarities with angels in that respect.

Demons

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Zion is the home of the demons on Earth. They have taken up residence in a part of Arizona, which was heavily damaged when the war between demons and angels spilled onto the Earth Plane. Humans believe the area to be the site of a nuclear blast of unknown origin, and have fenced off the area. Believing this trick will stop humans, demons use their powers and technology to make a radiation field around their home. They also cause a power-dampening effect. This effect doesn't function inside the confines of Zion, and they can use their powers at will. Zion is a vast complex that spans many acres of land. They built it to look like it has towers, castle features, and, in general, a mix of human-world architecture. Despite this mixture, the effect is eye-catching and somewhat beautiful.

Zion - Hell on Earth

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Arcadia is a community with exiles and escapees from Zion. It is an anarchist community, though community leaders take positions to help others. No one holds a defined leadership role, and demons generally reach consensus on what to do. Those in Arcadia value freedom and the ability to live their lives however they want. They spend their time cultivating practices that make them happy, and rarely, if ever, leave Arcadia.

One feature of Arcadia is a free radio station called Radio Free Arcadia. It often criticizes Zion, and does so in such a way that anyone tuning in either thinks it is a fictional show or that they're using code words to refer to different Earthly governments.

Arcadia - Beyond Zion

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The Codex of Hell controls Zion and, by extension, all the demons. Unlike the angels, who have a distinct leadership aside from their Pillars, the Codex holds power over everything in Zion. Leadership is determined by the strongest and best-abled demon of a particular type. If they are bested in a fight to the death, the winner takes their place. No quarter is given in these fights, as the winner is unanimously accepted as the leader.

The Codex is loosely led by the group's prime demon, as prime demons are the most powerful and intelligent of all demons. He is often called the King of Hell or the Demon King.

Demons often mix with humans and can absorb their negative energy while disguising their eyes. They, like angels, cannot use their other powers while they are disguising themselves. Demons with features like horns and extra arms can disguise these features along with their eyes.

Codex

Bellum - Represented by the greatest prime demon. Their sin is War. These demons feed primarily on aggressive emotion and action. These demons become even more powerful the more they feed on humans, and they flourish in wartime. They have red irises with black sclera.
Crudelitas - Represented by the greatest spike demon. Their sin is Cruelty. These demons feed on sadism and sadistic actions. These demons can often be hard to identify, as they do not directly commit cruel acts; however, they will be near those that are. They have blue irises with black sclera.
Desperationis - Represented by the greatest shackle demon. Their sin is Despair. They feed primarily on sadness, and usually have four arms. These demons are common in hospitals and other places where death and mourning survivors are common. Their eyes are yellow irises with black sclerae.
Ignorantia - Represented by the greatest mind demon. Their sin is Ignorance. They feed on intelligence. Often among people with little education, they thrive by acting as if they are one of them, feeding in silence through the ignorant words and deeds. Their eyes have green irises and black sclera.
Iram - Represented by the greatest rage demon. Their sin is Wrath. They feed on anger and acts of anger. Rage demons, like prime demons, thrive in wartime and other acts of violence. They will often incite anger in others indirectly or sometimes directly. Their eyes have black sclerae with orange irises.
Libidine - Represented by the greatest succubus or incubus. Their sin is Lust. They feed on sexual energy and are perhaps the least damaging to humans. They have pink irises with black sclerae.
Mendicium - Represented by the greatest shadow demon. Their sin is Deception. They feed on fear and often appear in human legends. Their eyes have violet irises and black sclerae, like the other demons.

The Codex of Hell:

The Enforcers

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Demons do not require food and water as humans do. Their bodies, though physical, are sustained by negative energy. However, if this negative energy flow is cut off, they will need physical food and nutrition like humans. To enhance their abilities, they can feed on human emotions and absorb them. Unlike humans, though, their bodies do not produce waste. All food and drink they consume is converted into pure positive energy and completely absorbed by their bodies.

It is important to note that where an angel, or in Bellamy's case, a Nephilim, does not know of this ability, they can act as a human does as far as producing waste material. Bellamy does not know about his difference, and his mother used her own powers to help him mimic humans. Once he is aware of this capacity, he can avoid producing waste material like others of his race.

Demons are naturally imbued with various powers based on the type of angel they are. The only power that all angels share is the ability to manifest a weapon of pure energy. Young angels are taught this early on, and they can defend themselves.

The most distinguishing feature of demons that marks them as nonhuman is their eyes. They all share black sclerae and irises of different colors depending on their demonic type.

Demon Physiology in Physical Form

Spike Demon—Vice is Crudelitas (Cruelty). Eye color is blue. They feed on sadism.
Prime Demon—Vice is Bellum (War). Eye color is red. They feed on aggression. They are very few, sometimes only having one or two in existence.
Incubus/Succubus—Vice is Libidine (Lust). Eye color is pink. They feed on sexual energy. There are three main types of these demons: the male-bodied, female-bodied, and androgynous bodied ones. The title of incubus goes to those of any type that are sires, while the title of succubus goes to any of those who are bearers.
Rage Demon—Vice is Iram (Wrath). Eye color is orange. They feed on pure anger.
Shadow Demon—Vice is Mendicium (Deception). Eye color is violet. They feed on fear.
Mind Demon–Vice is Ignorantia (Ignorance). Eye color is green. They feed on intelligence.
Shackle Demon—Vice is Desperationis (Despair). Eye color is yellow. They feed on sadness. They are equipped with four arms.

The Demonic Types

Demons have no gender. They are creations of negative energy, though they can reproduce. In their natural state, this combines energies to produce a "child" that grows over a period of time and is taught about the planes from the beginning. However, when they adopt a human body, things become slightly different. Human bodies had human reproductive capabilities, but they retained their ability to either Sire or Bear. Sires are those that impregnate, and Bearers are those that birth the child. In human bodies, reproduction relied on physical bodies and their capabilities rather than purely energy-based reproduction. All Sires, no matter their outward appearance, can impregnate a Bearer. All Bearers can bear children, again, without regard for their outward appearance.

All Bearers possess a system similar to a human woman's. As such, all Sires have internal systems similar to human males. Outwardly, though, their bodies match their perceived gender. Since demonic bodies don't need to digest food, male demons operate much like female demons.

During birth, the body of a demon accommodates and changes according to needs. Therefore, a birth canal is formed in both, as it is not naturally occurring even in the female-bodied demons. This formation means that the birth of children in Zion looks very similar to that of humans, even among the demons who have male bodies.

Demonic children age at the same rate as human children, and demonic pregnancies average nine months. Angelic babies and toddlers develop much like humans, except for their powers, which can develop as they grow. More powerful children will develop powers earlier than less powerful ones, and it is easy to identify those that will be powerful in the future.