Interlude: The First Lantern
Zealot Hidden Sanctum
The Zealots are fanatical worshipers of Dormammu who sought to merge Earth with the Dark Dimension.
They consisted of rogue sorcerers and acolytes of the Mystic Arts trained initially and led by Kaecilius, who fell disillusioned alongside their teacher with the Ancient One and desired immortality granted by Dormammu.
Having lost his family due to the schemes of corrupt industrialists, Kaecilius joined the Masters of the Mystic Arts, seeking answers.
The Ancient One promised expanding his spiritual knowledge would help him forgive those who caused the death of his family.
However, despite becoming quite a talented mystic artist, Kaecilius was not satisfied with the knowledge his mentor shared with him.
After confronting her about the same group destroying the lives of countless others, The Ancient One claimed he still needed to expand his knowledge of the arts, and only with a better understanding of the natural world would he see redemption.
He scoffed at the time wasted and the years lost to a lie, a trick of his former Teacher.
Kaecilius had beseeched his dark master, Dormammu, drawing in even more powers from the dark lord's dimension. He channeled the energy of the dimension and began intricately moving his arms.
His eyes burned like black coals, scarred by the forbidden power he so casually partakes in.
The spell was one of command; the power of the stolen artifact had many defenses, and it eluded him still.
He cursed.
He was weak. Even with the power of the dark dimension, he couldn't remove the ring from the pale white hand.
"Master, is it possible the anomaly is still alive." His former student asked him.
Kaecilius sneered at the interruption but relented after a brief moment of respite.
"The Ancient One wouldn't allow the anomaly to exist. Her hypocritical actions know no bounds. She will forsake all others for the power she wields in secrecy."
Kaecilius renewed his endeavors, refusing to give up the power; it seemed limitless. He dared not claim it was far more potent than his master dimensional energies, but his mystical senses continued to flare.
The Zealots would enact their plan by attacking the three Sanctums that offered planetary protection from Dormammu.
Kaecilius's hands flowed, eldritch energies coalescing below the detached hand.
"Yield by the command of Dormammu." He cast, channeling far greater dark dimensional energies than ever before.
He almost relented, giving up, but the ring slowly pulled from the finger and floated into the air, red other-dimensional energies undulating.
Gasps came from his back. He tuned everything out and focused on the artifact. He stood basking in the alien energies that flowed from the pulsating mystical artifact.
He reached out, attempting to grasp the ring, when it zipped backward before rocketing around the room like a crimson bolt.
He reached out again, timing it right and grasping the ring in his palm. He opened his hand slowly; the ring was warm and motionless.
He laughed aloud. "It has chosen me. With this power, I will bring the Ancient One and her hypocritical ways down."
He placed the ring on his finger, giddy, awaiting the boost in his strength. He was-
The power of the crimson red,
Can lead your soul away from dread,
And heal the deepest wounds of hate.
Let no one else decide your fate.
Unimaginable words poured from his mouth as his body began to burn in what could only be described as hellish fire that reeked of brimstone and black magic.
Kaecillus fell to his knees in anguish. He hadn't commanded the ring. The ring had commanded him.
Impossible, he thought amongst the intense pain.
He bellowed, red energies pooling around him as his body burned.
"No-" He lurched over, throwing up buckets of black bile that pulsated with dark dimensional energies.
One of his students ran over to help, but a wave of intense heat scolded him to the point his eyes boiled in his sockets; the acolyte screeched in anguish before falling backward to writhe on the ground.
Kaecilius had memories that weren't his own, a mission that he hadn't undertaken, challenges that he had known he required.
The dark dimension was a fallacy. Dormammu, like The Ancient One, had only wanted more power.
Power from extra-dimensional beings wasn't safe. He understood that now. He had doomed himself and his acolytes to a mindless fate.
Kaecilius's heart beat inside his chest. Power came at a price. His blood continued to spoil inside him, plasmoid liquid replacing the weakness that once sustained him.
He had traded one master for another. A master he knew had understood his hatred.
He had called his oath. The ring had resonated with him only after his Master's permission.
These were the thoughts of a man who burned in his weakness, for he was weak, for he hadn't been able to save his family.
Rage.
Hatred.
Freedom.
Injustice.
With blood and rage of crimson red,
Ripped from a corpse so freshly dead,
Together with our hellish hate,
We'll burn you all; that is your fate!
Kaecilius had been reborn; an electromagnetic spectrum of hatred had exploded around him; he drifted from the ground as an archaic lantern appeared inside the hidden sanctum of the zealots.
His back was to his acolytes. His wardrobe of a practitioner is gone, the sling ring gone, replaced by the only call he'll ever need.
The Red Lantern Ring.
"For we all have experienced injustice by the hands of those stronger, more talented than us." He said to his acolytes.
"Master-" His student said, shaking; the dark dimension gift bestowed upon them had begun to eat away at their very being.
"I now received the power to destroy the one who betrayed us. The one who betrays the world." He slowly turned, seeing his student's bodies turn into mindless ones.
Dormammu was a jealous master, and he had brought the ire of the dimension lord atop his leader.
He sighed.
"The bill always comes due," he uttered, watching his students wail in anguish, their arms outstretched toward him, their will be overridden.
"Her transgressions led us, the Zealots, to Dormammu. This injustice is her fault! And here we are... in the consequence of her deception."
The first Lantern of the universe raised his ring, aiming it at his former students, not his former friends.
"I shall take up your hatreds and wield their powers and set this world on fire; that is the oath a Red Lantern promises." He called on the electromagnetic forces of rage, weaving spells like a master of the mystical arts.
"For I am weak still, go beyond my friends." He unleashed the spell, burning everything in a conflagration, a magical fire not seen on this plane.