The birth of the son of Death was simple enough. A bout of deep meditation and a slight shift through the lines of Sanzu. It had taken much longer the first time: Asura had emerged through Death's mask after a week, and Kid had only taken a day. The child was young this time, barely more than an infant, but if that was the price to pay for a sane successor that was what Death was willing to sacrifice.
The fragile baby was taken away and raised as a human, and that was that. For now.
The same night, another birth took place. It was in many ways more complicated than the one that was taking place just a few miles away. It took place in secret, in a dimly lit cellar in the suburbs of Death City. Candles flickered as bare feet danced, shadows of snakes accompanying the unholy ritual across the stone walls.
Mathemagicks linked through the air and touched the clay sculpture in the centre of the room, vectors darting through flesh. The woman stopped her dancing.
At the foot of the statue a cauldron bubbled away. In the light of the blue flames, the face of the statue seemed afraid, sorrowful.
The black mixture was, while still boiling, injected into the artificial veins of hardened mud. The statue moved, not much but enough to show conscioussness. Not much time was left to complete the experiment.
A lump of flesh which had been resting in a camping cooler was forced down the throat of the creature, which raised its hands in resistance. It was still too weak to resist the final part.
A knife was used to slice the crook of her own arm, and the witch fed her blood to her child. It was pacified.
A slight smile broke the snake-woman's face, pupils becoming slits as she cooed again and again the same word.
"Obey, obey, obey…"