Marvel Cinematic Universe — Non-Sacred Timeline.
New York City, 2000.
To fulfill Merlin’s dying wish, the sorcerer Balthazar Blake had spent centuries searching for a child capable of wielding the Dragon Ring.
Over the long years, he traveled from one city and settlement to another, imprisoning Morgana le Fay’s followers within the Grimhold along the way.
Yet no matter how many children he tested, not one had ever caused the Dragon Ring to react, much less proved worthy of becoming the Prime Merlinean destined to kill Morgana.
Eventually, Balthazar settled in New York City and opened an occult shop on 71st Avenue in Forest Hills, Queens.
One morning, he opened the shop and prepared to set out once again in search of the future Prime Merlinean.
After all, only the Prime Merlinean could kill Morgana, and if that day ever came, there was still a chance that the woman he loved might return to him.
Balthazar had barely stepped through the doorway when the clear morning sky abruptly went dark, as though the sun had been swallowed by an eclipse.
He looked up in confusion.
At that same instant, the wards surrounding the New York Sanctum, London Sanctum, and Hong Kong Sanctum activated simultaneously.
The three Sanctums’ defenses spread across the planet, forming a protective barrier around Earth and blocking a vast expanse of gray fog descending from beyond the atmosphere.
Within that fog were countless Beyonder Characteristics.
Whether the defenses simply failed to contain them or the Sorcerer Supreme deliberately altered the barrier, the result was the same: the Beyonder Characteristics tore through Kamar-Taj’s planetary wards and streaked toward every corner of the world like a meteor shower.
Once the last of the Beyonder Characteristics had scattered, the remaining gray fog contracted into a single sphere of light.
It entered Earth’s atmosphere and hurtled straight toward 71st Avenue in Forest Hills, Queens.
More specifically, straight toward Balthazar.
The instant he saw the sphere coming, Balthazar dropped into a defensive stance and raised a magical shield.
Instead of striking him, however, the light stopped directly in front of him.
Its glow faded away, revealing a baby lying where the sphere had landed.
Balthazar stared.
Once he was certain the child posed no immediate threat, another thought came to him—one far more relevant to the quest that had consumed centuries of his life.
“Could this be fate?”
He reached into his coat and took out a small box.
Inside rested the Dragon Ring Merlin had entrusted to him.
Balthazar approached the infant, lifted him carefully into his arms, and placed the silver dragon against the child’s hand.
He watched with mounting anticipation.
The tiny dragon suddenly fluttered its wings.
Its body shrank, came alive, and curled itself neatly around the baby’s finger, transforming into a ring.
Balthazar’s eyes widened.
‘At last.
The day has finally come….
Merlin’s successor…
the Prime Merlinean!’
Remembering the miraculous way the child had appeared, Balthazar looked down at him and said, “You came into this world like a miracle, so I suppose that makes you my miracle child. Your name will be Kez Merlin.”
A faint smile crossed his face.
“And since you’ll inherit my master’s legacy, you may as well inherit his name.”
Balthazar Blake had briefly considered giving the boy his own surname.
In the end, however, the child chosen by the Dragon Ring was destined to become the Prime Merlinean, so Balthazar decided that Merlin was the more fitting name.
…
Meanwhile, at Kamar-Taj, the Ancient One stood before the translucent spirit of a white-bearded old man.
“Merlin,” she said, “are you certain you want to entrust your legacy to this particular being?”
Merlin smiled.
“Consider it an experiment.”
His expression remained relaxed as he continued, “A crisis involving the multiverse will erupt sooner or later. Across countless worlds, I’ve chosen all sorts of people as successors. I even chose a ninja once.”
The Ancient One nodded.
“I respect your decision. Other versions of me have conducted more than a few similar experiments themselves.”
…
After Balthazar adopted Kez Merlin, the miracle child underwent an astonishing transformation.
His body aged at the rate of roughly one year per day.
The process continued for ten days before finally stopping, leaving Kez with the appearance of a ten-year-old boy.
The only troubling part was that he remained unconscious throughout the entire transformation, although every examination Balthazar performed indicated that his body was perfectly healthy.
Once it became clear that Kez was no longer aging unnaturally, Balthazar arranged the necessary documentation for him, including a Social Security number and the rest of his legal identity.
One day, after completing his usual examination of the sleeping boy, Balthazar left Kez’s room and murmured to himself, “Looks like our miracle boy is finally getting ready to wake up. I should prepare a few sorcery lessons for him.”
He smiled to himself.
“Never too early to start a child’s education.”
With that, Balthazar went to retrieve an Encantus hidden within the shop’s walls.
He had only just left when Kez’s dormant consciousness began slowly returning.
Still not fully awake, Kez unconsciously moved the hand bearing the Dragon Ring.
The spirituality within his body stirred the ring’s power, and the Grimhold sealed inside the wall of the occult shop responded to his call.
By sheer accident, its outermost layer opened.
Maxim Horvath was released.
As the first layer of the Grimhold came apart, countless cockroaches poured from within, their long antennae giving them the unfortunate appearance of tiny twin-tailed monstrosities.
There were enough of them to make anyone with a fear of swarming insects break out in goosebumps.
The cockroaches converged into a writhing mass, and a human silhouette gradually emerged from among them.
Moments later, Maxim Horvath stood there in full, a powerfully built man wearing a fur-trimmed coat and tall hat, his staff already in hand.
“Where am I?”
Horvath looked around the unfamiliar room.
No one else was in sight, leaving him with absolutely no idea how his imprisonment had been broken.
Balthazar heard the commotion and emerged carrying the Encantus.
His gaze immediately fell upon the Grimhold lying on the floor—and then upon Maxim Horvath, standing free beside it.
Balthazar attacked without hesitation.
A blast of magic shot from his hand.
“Bang!”
Caught completely unprepared, Horvath was hurled upward into the glass overhead, shattering three panes on impact.
“I have to admit,” Balthazar said, “I never expected you to find a way out of the Grimhold.”
Pinned against the glass by Balthazar’s magic, Horvath sneered down at him.
“Balthazar. Since when did you start resorting to cheap shots?”
Balthazar glanced around the shop and sensed Kez stirring in the adjoining room.
A smile appeared on his face as he realized what must have happened.
“Looks like our miracle boy waking up brought you a little good fortune.”
Horvath extended his magical senses and detected a young boy lying in the next room.
The instant Balthazar’s attention shifted toward Kez, Horvath summoned his staff into his hand and unleashed a burst of magical energy.
The attack knocked Balthazar backward and broke the spell holding Horvath against the ceiling, sending him crashing back to the floor.
The two sorcerers immediately fell into battle.
They were evenly matched, trading spells back and forth while struggling for possession of the Grimhold.
Maxim himself had once been imprisoned within the magical nesting doll, but he was far from its only prisoner; layer after layer held Morganians who had served Morgana le Fay throughout the centuries.
Their fight rapidly tore through the shop.
Horvath conjured flames that spread across the room, and when he remembered the boy whose presence had distracted Balthazar earlier, he redirected one of his attacks toward the adjoining room.
Seeing the situation spiraling out of control, Balthazar made a desperate decision.
He opened the enchanted urn nearby, seized Horvath by the arm, and dragged both of them into its sealing spell.
Unlike the Grimhold, this prison—the Grimlock—could not hold its captives indefinitely.
Its enchantment would imprison anyone caught inside for exactly ten years before releasing them automatically.
As the spell pulled him in, Balthazar twisted around and looked toward Kez’s room.
“Kez, wait for me. Ten years. I’ll be free in ten years, and then I’ll teach you Merlinian sorc—”
Before he could finish, both Balthazar and Maxim Horvath vanished into the Grimlock.
With the two sorcerers sealed away, the Arcana Cabana fell silent once more.
In the room next door, Kez Merlin finally opened his eyes.