portal that Anubis opens for her to help Carter while Walt and Anubis, still too weak to move, remain behind for the time being to recover. Anubis and Walt fight in the final battle with Apophis and the rebel magicians, playing a crucial role in the defeat of the latter. Although Apophis' destruction means that the Egyptian gods must depart the Earth for the time being, Anubis using Walt as his permanent host means that he can stay and pursue a real life, something that Anubis has never gotten before. Sadie starts a romantic relationship with Walt and Anubis, finally able to be with both of the boys that she loves without having to choose between them. In The Staff of Serapis, Sadie mentions to Annabeth Chase that she's still dating both Walt and Anubis and that it's confusing, but she has accepted it. Annabeth is left confused by the comment about Sadie's "funeral god boyfriend", but she doesn't question it. Iskandar Iskandar is the Chief Lector of the House of Life. Born in the 1st century BCE, during the reign of Cleopatra VII, he witnessed the end of the Egyptian monarchy and the absorption of Egypt into the Roman Empire. He came to believe this was the fault of the gods and ended the House's policy of calling upon them; Ruby Kane's vision of Apophis rising changes his mind, but it is too late for him to make any real change. He saved Zia after her village's destruction and, sensing that she holds the power to host Ra, arranged for her confinement in an underwater prison under the watch of Nephthys while creating a shabti of her to protect Carter and Sadie, both of whom also hold the potential to become hosts of gods. Shortly after meeting them, he dies in his sleep, knowing that these three can make a change where he could not. He is succeeded by Michel Desjardins as the House's leader. Sadie briefly encounters his spirit in the Realm of the Dead while making her way through it. Michel Desjardins Michel Desjardins is the lesser antagonist and leader of the House of Life after the death of Iskandar. Desjardins is the grandnephew of Jean-François Champollion and approximately 200 years old, considered "young" for a magician. As such, he has known only the House policy forbidding the Path of the Gods. He is therefore at first