EPILOGUE

Needless to say, this scroll has been much longer than I'd intended it would be. Though it is not scribed on a tablet and therefore is not of God's Word, I sincerely hope that this isn't overlooked by those who only want the words to come from the Creator's mouth. These accounts are of my very own experiences and of the heroes within the story, as well as a multitude of bits and pieces from other angels who'd lived through this legendary event. Mortals are probably unaware of this happening, and it is probably best that it stays that way, but my personal opinion is that a few should know of this historic war, as well as the stories of the heroes whose names will be sung in hymns and passed down through millennia. They may not be heroes in the mortal world, and a few of them technically don't exist at all, but all of those who die, whether they go to Heaven or Hell, will hear of their names. The Seraphim have created new songs, ones that praise Annabeth, and there are others for every other member of the Golden Swords. The tales of the rogue, sinful humans that turned into saints amongst the heavens will be passed down for eternity. At one point or another they will join the host in paradise, and the memories of their heroic actions will live on in the hearts of angels both old and young.

Hazel and Frank were promoted to centurions for their heroic deeds and their exceptional skills within the battle, and Hazel was awarded with a pegasus from the stables named Arion. Luckily, the war sustained minimal casualties on Heaven's side. Those angels who have died will be reborn into another angel, and though they will have no memory of their past, they will still be remembered in the form of a memorial that was erected in the Machen's central square; one of marble that depicts our glorious Lord Michael and his equally glorious vessel, St. Annabeth Chase, watching over a lamb that has the names of those who'd fallen in battle engraved onto its fleece. See the statue, "Michael vigilat ad caesorum" ( Sculpted by the angel Terminus), in Machen or locate its scroll in the archives. Hazel and Frank, as well as Gwen and Dakota, do not have their own tablets like the others do, however you can get their side of the story from the angels' home in Machen and the humans' in the Third Heaven, though they have requested to conceal their address for the sake of privacy.

The humans and their fallen angel comrades were also awarded for their heroics, which is no big surprise. The fallen angels had all of their old weaponry and armor returned to them from storage, and even though the host suggested to extend their help in finding Nico di Angelo's wings, since he was the only one who was artificially fallen, the ex-death angel had declined. The humans had been given seats on the Council, whose meetings they attended despite the fact that it was optional, and became the first mortals to be represented amongst Heaven. Though a few angels disagreed, the others argued that human souls lived in Heaven as well; it wasn't just the angels, and they wanted to help and defend their home just as much as the divine powers did.

All of them had remained in Heaven afterwards, claiming that they hadn't wanted to age much more after their previous experiences, and the fallen angels that followed their lovers were welcomed into the gates with open arms, becoming the first fallen angels to live anywhere but in the Second Heaven. Their addresses have been concealed as well. Leo and Calypso went on to open literally the most popular tool shop in the universe; it received more customers every day than there were humans on the planet Earth, and its staff was numbered approximately two hundred thousand, mostly consisting of fire angels. Hephaestus and Atlas Tool Shop remains the ideal place for all of your carpenter, architect, and inventor needs, their stock ranging from light bulbs to chainsaws, and is located within the Capitol in the Fourth Heaven.

Jason and Piper live in a secluded house in the Third Heaven, with Will and Nico as neighbors, and they "do absolutely jack shit" to make up for their years of hard work in the mortal world. Though Piper has been offered many positions in all hospitals far and wide, she has turned them all down in favor for an incredibly early retirement, and occasionally models for magazines and advertisements as the companies pounce on her fame and her stunning beauty. Jason likes teaching classes to fledglings on battle, but sometimes he attracts adults, who are eager to learn human tactics that are way different from the angelic style of fighting. The "no-wings-rule" is a subject of complaint, since Jason insists that humans never had wings so therefore the tactics weren't meant to have them included, but it makes the angels prepared for times their wings are injured in a fight, though from the way that it's looking there will be peace in Heaven for many, many millennia to come.

Nico and Will have gone into retirement as well, however Will has begun taking classes from healing angels, Piper included, in order to get a firmer grasp on medicine. Even though he doesn't have the angelic abilities that the angels do, he can still perform many of the tests and tasks that healers usually do on their patients. In the war, two lovers died side-by-side, leaving their three fledglings orphaned, and the two had been keen to take them under their wing, no pun intended. Though it is a hassle to handle three rambunctious little balls of energy, they've been scraping along with minimal time for themselves.

"I don't sleep," says Will as I interview him, taking a very, very long swing of scalding and highly caffeinated coffee without breaking eye contact. There are shadows under his eyes, and under Nico's as well, which is understandable since two of the three fledglings are twins and therefore infants, the other one rolling into the toddler stage. They say that they'll get Nico's sister, Hazel (who also serves as a much-needed babysitter for the couple's handful of reprieves), is teaching them to fly so they don't have to worry.

"We still worry, though," Nico admits flatly, boasting his best 'long-suffering parent' expression as he holds an equally caffeinated and equally large mug of coffee. "Our best friends have been Red Bull and coffee. Lots...and lots…of coffee." His gaze then becomes unfocused and I left them to get their much-needed sleep before the children woke up.

Reyna has reunited with her late husband in the Third Heaven, though they live a ways from Jason, Piper, Will, and Nico, however their visits are very frequent. She has become the first human to hold a military position in Heaven's armies, and has quickly climbed the ranks. Though she has not achieved centurion status, she is demonstrating skill that angels dream of having. Her husband is proud of her and, even though she sometimes has to leave for long periods to train, he's glad that she's once again taken up her dream of joining the military and helping people.

Annabeth and Percy have an entirely separate tablet that contains their love story and there are currently several films in the process of being made that is based on just that. It is literally too long to be contained within this epilogue. Annabeth and Michael have made a seven day system, where Michael takes control on four days and Annabeth willingly takes three; the workload has become immense, having built up over the course of the Archangel's absence. Their form changes with the days, so you won't be confused whether it's an Annabeth day or a Michael day, but both of them uphold their position perfectly. Annabeth perfectly shoulders Michael's responsibilities in her time of control, and makes an excellent leader. She is calm and level-headed, which is a great contrast to Michael's hidden but fiery passion when it comes to the things he loves, and they both work together as one being. Even though Annabeth has no need for Michael to continue to heal her, she still remains loyal to the Archangel as his wounds slowly heal. It's not only because yes, Percy wouldn't be able to be her mate if they weren't joined, but also because she and Michael have developed a tough-as-nails bond that cannot be compared to anything else.

Percy serves out his job as messenger angel with renewed vigor this time around, because this time he's serving his mate(s)? and is willing to fly one thousand laps around Heaven to get their messages delivered, becoming the first (surprise, surprise!) mate to an Archangel, for Michael's brothers have yet to settle down and find room for mates. Speaking of whom, all have recovered fully and resumed their positions with minimal injuries, definitely not as bad as Michael's had been, though they've become a bit more attached to their youngest brother's messenger angel, considering that he's their brother-in-law now. Perseus has broken the record for the fastest flyer when diving down towards Earth's atmosphere to give a message to Rachel and her fallen angels, and had achieved a maximum speed of two miles per second, or seven thousand two hundred miles per hour during that time.

In this story, all of the heroes got their happy ending, and that's a big feat considering that not many tales of great champions ended in ways such as this. That's why I've sent a handful of messengers down to Earth to spread this narrative to the world's inhabitants. They will deliver it to select humans who have sworn under a vow of silence and will act oblivious when accused of their association with Heaven, not to mention that they will be executed painfully and cast into the depths of Hell if they reveal any of Heaven's secrets except through this select chronicle, which may be split into two parts if necessary. They will do their weird little human thing and get this story out there so that everyone knows the actions of these heroes, and that they should never think that they are too small or too insignificant to do things. If a handful of mortals and outcasts could help defend the entirety of existence from Lucifer himself, there's nothing that others like them can't do.

-The Third Heavenly War Scroll-

-Scribed by The Metatron-