Chapter Nine

Under The Earth

/-\ Blake Belladonna /-\

It was getting really tiresome, having these guards shadow me around everywhere.

Though Bradford had scaled back my entourage from our first meeting, it still felt like I was being babysat by the two guards that followed my every move. They even had to make sure one was always a woman for when I needed to relieve myself. Even if I could see their reasoning, it was no less humiliating. I did try to ignore them, and during some activities, it even somewhat worked. Over the three days I've already been semi-interred at XCOM's base, I've found a couple activities which take my attention away from them the most.

XCOM's gym was – naturally – very extensive. The weights were significantly lighter than those at Beacon, but I was never one to max those out anyways. I still felt several pairs of eyes on me as I set up to deadlift my usual of two-fifty pounds, even though I'd worked out several times already. Yesterday, Vahlen had done several physical exams, likely prompted by my performance in the weight room here. I'd been told to not use aura, so I didn't, and they quickly came to the conclusion that I had denser muscles and stronger bones than the Humans here did. Thinking about it more, it made sense – we had to run from the Grimm or be able to survive a tussle with them. Those who couldn't do either of those things… well, they didn't contribute to the genepool anymore.

Another surprise that came out of the physical was the discovery of just how much sexual dimorphism affected the Humans here. Apparently, women here were simply weaker as a baseline than men. It had been made clear to me that women could still get stronger and many did, but that their skin and muscles were simply less dense by baseline. This was in stark contrast to both Humans and Faunus from Remnant, who had no such differences. While our men were more likely to be larger – and therefore have more mass to dedicate to muscles – if a man and a woman of equal body size and physical fitness were to be pitted against each other… neither would win on strength or agility alone.

As I cycled through my routine, I noticed a familiar head of wild blonde hair just entering the room. She spied me just finishing my deadlifts and did a double-take. She stared in shock for a moment before changing direction and heading over to me. "Damn," she said as I put the bar down for the final time. "Aura is bullshit."

"You don't use aura during workouts," I said, rolling my shoulders. "The entire reason you get stronger from them is that it damages your muscles and they heal stronger to compensate. You only use aura afterwards to speed up the recovery process."

"Wait, so you were doing that without aura?" she said. "Holy shit. No offense, but you do not look like you can do that."

"None taken," I said. "How about you? Do you do two-fifty?"

She looked at the bar, sizing it up with its big rubberized weights sitting on the mat. "I don't usually do that much, but…" she eyed the bar again, rolling her neck. "Eh, what the hell. I'll try." She took her position, squatting at the bar, and took a deep breath. With a grunt, her muscles flexed. Slowly, the bar rose from the ground. Her muscles wobbled and strained, but she stood tall for a few seconds before dropping the bar. She stumbled back and I almost moved to catch her, but she shook her head. "Damn… that was… you do that all the time?"

"For a warmup, yeah. I think my max is four hundred, but I really don't feel the need to push that."

"Four hundre- you could lift two of me and still have a lot of weight left over!"

"It's okay, I guess," I said. "I don't really concentrate on strength training."

"Don't really concentrate on- ugh, God, you're bullshit," she said. "Well… need a buddy? It kinda sucks going alone. I used to bring Jaune along, even if he wasn't too… into… it…" her shoulders slumped. "...damnit…"

My ears folded back as I put a hand on her shoulder. "It's…" not okay, I thought. "There's nothing you can do now."

She looked behind me; to the guards I knew were still watching. "There's one thing I can do. I can help make sure nobody goes through this ever again," she said. "But… I don't know if that's the right way. I can fight, I can hold a gun, but I've never gotten any actual military training."

"Yang," I said. "Are you serious about wanting that? Is that your only hang-up with joining them? You don't even really know who they are yet."

She nodded. "Mom's been here for… months, now. I know they kidnapped her and everything, but she's still here willingly. I talked to Qrow too, and he says these people are pretty good too," she frowned. "I… know they probably won't be happy about it, but I can't just… stand here doing nothing! I couldn't do anything when- when he was killed. One moment he was fine, the next… he was gone. If I can prevent that from happening to just… a couple people – hell, even just one – it would mean… something. It wouldn't just be him dying for nothing."

My eyes met hers and I saw a fiery yet desperate determination. In that moment, I knew she'd do this no matter what anybody else said. That was the Yang I knew – the Brother Gods themselves could come down to us and forbid something, only for her to tell them to fuck off. "In that case, how's about we start training?"

She blinked. "Training?"

"You said your main hang-up was your lack of training, right?" She nodded. "Well, do you think I just magically got all my skills and knowledge from a Djinn? C'mon, I'll run you through an introductory huntress course."

"What?!" she shouted. "You're going to teach me how to… how to do everything you do?!"

"You'd need aura for that," I said, making her shoulders droop. "But I can certainly get you a head-start on things. Even if you went to Bradford right now, asked, and he said yes on the spot, you'll have to wait for him to arrange training for you. I'm sure you know that you won't see instant results, but every day we do before you enlist is a day you're getting stronger."

She let out a deep breath, rolling her neck and cracking her knuckles. "Then let's get started."

I lead her off to the track for some warm-up stretches and a short run. Her confidence had started to flag already, but I made sure she kept at it. We still had several more hours to go, after all. However, while I ran her ragged, I couldn't help but wonder…

If I'd unlocked Yang and Jaune's auras when they asked… would it have changed anything?

/-\ Ruby Xiao Long /-\

I could have changed everything, I thought. If I just stayed with the truck.

That was the only real thought going through my head these days. Sure, I'd come out of it enough to eat and… notice we were no longer on the surface, but every time I had a spare moment, that thought always cropped back up. I was in the room, picking at today's lunch – spaghetti – when the door whooshed open. I looked up only briefly, enough to see the sister that rightfully hated me, and then promptly went back to my food. I heard a sigh, but no words followed. She rummaged around in something, but quickly left the room afterwards.

I took another small bite, rolling the cold noodles in my mouth before swallowing. What had I been thinking? I'm just some stupid kid, and even when the badass ninja catgirl told me to sit it out, I still charged in without thinking and now… now Jaune was dead and I couldn't even face my sister. Penny was already gone, why wouldn't I lose Yang too, through sheer stupidity?

The door opened once more, snapping me out of my spiral. Looking up, I was met with the gaze of my mother in her coveralls, carrying a twelve-pack of cherry pop. "How're you doing today?" she asked.

"...fine…" I muttered, swallowing.

She set the pop down near the door, giving me a flat look. "You're really not, are you?" she asked, sitting down next to me and pulling me into a hug. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"What's there to talk about?" I muttered, squirming into her grasp. "He's dead. I killed him. End of story."

"Ruby, you couldn't've possibly known that they'd mind control you and… force your body to do that. The aliens' abilities are a well-guarded secret, only really known inside XCOM."

"I still shouldn't've been there," I said. "If I wasn't, then he would still be alive."

She frowned. "Have you heard the story of Delta Squad?"

I blinked. "...what?"

"Delta Squad. Before the XCOM Project was activated earlier this year, the base was on a skeleton crew – had been for years. There was only ever a single strike team on-base, plus a few security personnel. They got a call about something weird falling on a German city, so Delta went out to investigate. Four men went out… only one didn't come back in a bodybag," she said. "They'd… found a team of soldiers that crashed in the AO before Delta arrived, all but one of them were dead. The last one was being puppeted, just like you were, but nobody knew that at the time. That man was forced to kill Delta-one, and that sprung an ambush that killed the other two men before they could properly react."

"That's…" I paused. "That's… terrible, but how does this...?"

She grasped my hand from across the table. "Because it wasn't you, Ruby," she said. "Do you think a trained soldier would knowingly kill the man he knows is trying to rescue him? No, it doesn't make sense. The aliens use people for their own ends – literally," she said, a gentle look in her eyes. "No one blames you for what happened."

My eyes trailed back down to my food. "Yang does."

"Ruby…" she started. I simply looked down at my spaghetti. "Alright, I was hoping I'd get you to see reason before this, but, well, I won't delay it any longer." She stood up, drawing my gaze once more as she moved back to the door. "There's someone who's been dying to see you for days now. She knows what happened and she doesn't blame you, okay?"

"She's wrong then," I muttered. Mom opened the door and my eyes went wide. There, just on the other side, was the robotic form of my sister. "P- Penny?"

Her green-striped and doglike form whirred, servos propelling her into the room. "Sister!Ruby!" she greeted. "I have missed you enormously!"

My fork clattered to the ground. "You're… you're alive too?"

"Affirmative! I am serving as one of two artificial intelligences for XCOM Headquarters, designation: Anthill!"

"Penny, that's… you're…" I reached down, brushing her chassis as she approached. "You're… here."

"Affirmative! I apologize for not visiting sooner, the work schedule specifies that I am on-shift for days at a time before I am relieved by Intelligence!Julian! But I am now free for ninety-two hours and fifty-seven minutes!"

My eyes looked directly into her photolenses – even the dull mechanisms seemed to gleam with life. They always did. Penny was here, my sister was alive. I slid down from my seat onto the floor, immediately enveloping her frame in a hug. My vision began to blur, dampness escaping onto my face just as a whine did so from my lips.

I was told the following morning that I'd fallen asleep there after a while.

/-\ Weiss Schnee /-\

Letting out a yawn, I wandered the base in the general direction of the library. Even though most of the books XCOM had were in digital form, civilian dorms didn't have computers and my phone had been snapped in half during my… ordeal. Thus, I would be forced to walk to the library and use my allocated computer time there. I'd already looked up what titles I could check out and had done so – my education wasn't going to finish itself, after all.

I gasped when a couple soldiers in full kit suddenly appeared from behind a bend in the hallway. I looked all around, searching for the aliens that were surely-

No, I thought. I'm at their base. There aren't any aliens here that aren't supposed to be. I tried to calm my hammering heart as the soldiers calmly walked past, seemingly oblivious to the brief panic they caused me. For just a moment, though, I'd seen the burning buildings, the wrecks of military jets, the… the bodies. I shivered, trying to clear my mind by focusing on the rhythmic thump of my wedge heels against the metal floor.

I wasn't far from the library, thankfully – it brought a welcome distraction. Though a pale shadow of Harvard's many libraries, the one here was… adequate. More than I would expect from a military base, but at the same time, having facilities as extensive as I was used to would simply be impractical. Instead, there were a few aisles of physical books with shelves a little taller than I was in addition to the entire perimeter being lined with computer stations. Though they were only able to peruse eBooks – their speed certainly reinforced that fact – there were still enough for a sizeable amount of base personnel and civilians to be logged in simultaneously.

However, before the bookshelves sat an odd sight at one of the tables. Another pair of armed guards watched over someone with their nose in a book and cat ears atop their head. The book lowered just a few inches, revealing those unnaturally vibrant amber eyes staring right at me. It's her, I thought. She's the alien that… helped rescue me.

She placed a bookmark upon the pages and set her book aside, gesturing to the seat across from her. For a moment, I hesitated, but eventually I did take up her offer. "Hello Weiss," she greeted.

I gave a polite smile. "You seem to have me at a disadvantage, Miss…?"

She blinked. "Oh, you must not be read-in on that yet. I'm Blake. It's… honestly a little awkward to meet you again, though the others were too."

"Again?"

She pursed her lips. "This… is an odd situation I'm in," she said. "Where I'm from, there's an abnormally high amount of interplanetary twins with people here – including you… and me, apparently, though I haven't met her yet."

"That's…" Ridiculous, Impossible, Ludicrous, "...improbable," I said.

The male soldier behind her shrugged. "Far as we can tell, she ain't yankin' our chain."

I gave him a funny look. "I'm sorry?"

"He means I'm not lying," Blake said.

"And I'm just supposed to take that at face value?"

"I don't think it matters either way," she said. "It's the truth. Even if I can't go back and prove it."

For just a moment, I considered her words. As potentially world-changing as this information is… I find it hard to care about it more than the aliens that have already invaded our world. Plus, I had nowhere near enough computer time or checked-out reading material to fill an entire day. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to indulge her a little, I thought. "Assuming I believe you… did you know the Weiss Schnee of your world?"

She nodded. "I did. She's the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. And before you ask, yes, I know it's a car company here. They make… a lot of things, back home – munitions, airships, weapons, energy, lots of things."

"Then why do they call it a dust company? If they make so many things, why not… Schnee Industries, or Schnee Products Limited, or something?"

"Because they started with dust – a family of minerals that doesn't exist on Earth and is central to every one of the products I listed."

"But still, dust?" I asked. "Bit of a mundane name, don't you think?"

She gave me a flat look. "The people who named it have been dead so long, their hundred-times great grandchildren are lost to history. Besides, I find it fitting; both Man and Faunuskind were made from dust, and we weaponized it to defend ourselves. At least, that's one origin story."

I quirked an eyebrow. "Your creation myth includes us?"

"Humans, yes," she said. "Not Earth."

"So there are Humans in your world too… and people like you. Does that mean my twin has those on her head?" I asked, gesturing to her ears.

She twitched them. "As amusing as a thought of a Faunus Schnee is, I don't think I ever would have met you if you did. Your father has some… honestly quite evil opinions on us. He already uses us for basically slave labor, I would genuinely not be surprised if it turned out that he had a Faunus child and just… threw them out the window or something." She shivered. "He's so bad that the Schnees and the Faunus are often seen as two polar opposites, destined to fight for eternity. Ironic we ended up on the same team."

I frowned. If I was put in close quarters with someone that I believed threatened my safety… "We didn't get along, did we?"

"At first, we didn't have much of an issue – especially since I… hid my traits. However, when Ruby was made team leader you completely blew up. You criticized her for every little thing, belittled her, and just generally threw a big, extended temper tantrum that an animal was chosen over you – your words, not mine." She shook her head. "The first few weeks were rough – really rough. Our headmaster considered breaking up the team and sending us all home for a year, though we only found that out later. In the end, it was Pyrrha who finally knocked some sense into you. She was always so soft-spoken and willing to see the best in people, but one day at lunch she just snapped when you were belittling Ruby – who had been improving even over her short career as a leader – for something as simple as forgetting her pencils in the last class. You were so completely shocked by it that you just got up and walked away. We didn't see you until the next day, when you formally apologized to Ruby for your behavior and vowed to improve."

By the end of her story, my eyes were wide. "I… did all that?" I didn't know who these Ruby or Pyrrha people were, but from Blake's description, at least the former seemed like she was just in over her head and trying to get back above water. I certainly wasn't helping her with that, by the sound of it.

"I don't blame you for this. You were here, on Earth. You aren't responsible for her actions… even if she did make good on her word to improve and we eventually all became friends despite the tumultuous start," she said. "But enough about the home I'm never going to see again. What I want to know is… who are you, Weiss Schnee of the Automotive Company?"

I was taken aback, first by her statement about her home, and then that she was curious about me. "Me? I, well, I'm the heiress, as you are well aware, and I go to Harvard University. Or… did, at least." I sighed. "Being here… it won't look good when I eventually resurface."

"What do you mean?" she asked. "I was under the impression that people would attack you, if you were to leave now."

"They would, according to XCOM, but my father wouldn't see it that way. By the time I am able to leave here, I will have been presumed dead and my title irrevocably stripped," I said, shoulders slumping. "I was only at Harvard to appease my father. I never even wanted to study business – not any more than strictly necessary for the highest levels of operation."

She hummed. "Sounds like Jacques is a dick on every planet."

I gasped, hands flying over my mouth. If he heard that, there would be hell to pay. But he wasn't here. He wasn't here and he couldn't hear any of this. Slowly, I began to giggle, then fully laugh. After a few moments, I wiped a tear from my eye. "Apologies, it's not often that someone can be so blasé with their descriptions of him."

She smiled. "Well, glad I could help."

We talked for a while longer – almost an hour. I told her about baby Winter, she told me about her being an only child. I told her about growing up in California and Washington while she talked about Menagerie. I shied away from some things and she did too, but over-all, we both had a good time. When I got back to my dorm, I wondered if I'd just made a friend.

That… would be a nice change of pace.

/-\ Yang Xiao Long /-\

My heart hammered away in my chest – even harder than it had during Blake's hell-workout this morning. Even after a week of doing it, my muscles still screamed every single minute of the ordeal. It's an introductory workout, she'd said. It's for beginners. Were her people some kinda warrior gods or something? Because the way she did basic training was probably against the Geneva Convention.

Even so, my nerves were on overdrive. I'd requested a meeting with Bradford and it was only twenty minutes from now. Mom and I had a few fights over it, but I was going to do it. I was going to enlist. Surprisingly, it was Qrow who talked her into it – he said it was my choice since I was already eighteen. Mom hadn't been happy, but, eventually, she agreed. All I had to do now was convince the oh-so-wonderful Central Officer to actually let me in. Despite being one of the highest ranked men in XCOM, he was the one who picked his men… albeit from a list of candidates that had already gone through a few levels of culling by other officers.

I was practicing my speech in my head for the hundredth time when one of the side doors to the lounge opened, admitting Blake – now dressed in a white tank-top and black jeans. Though they still hadn't let her carry her weapon, she did have her ribbons wrapped around her forearms. "Yang, wait up!"

That stopped me in my tracks – when had Blake shouted anything? "Uhh, yeah?"

She approached me, ears down. "I've… thought about it and I…" she sighed. "I'm heavily reconsidering my stance on unlocking your aura."

"What?" I muttered, taking a step back in surprise. "But… but all that stuff about not letting aura get out, about not unlocking anyone else's-"

"I trust you," she said. "I… know we haven't known each other that long in the grand scheme of things, but I've known you long enough to figure out you haven't changed all that much from the Yang I know. You care about others and you want to help, especially if it means you get to knock some heads on the way. But most importantly… you know how I feel about aura. You know my hang ups with unlocking it for others. You know the potential consequences."

I nodded. "I do… even if I don't agree," I said. For just a moment, I thought back to our last argument about this. If she'd just done it then, maybe this wouldn't've happened. Then again, I was equally to blame; if I'd just made him stay home… I shook my head. That wasn't a line of thought I wanted to go down again. "What… what do I need to do to convince you?"

"I need you to swear on your life that you will, under absolutely no circumstances save for my personal approval, unlock anyone's aura."

"I won't," I said. Honestly, it surprised me just how much I meant that.

"I need you to say the words."

I took a deep breath. If she wanted to do this all knightly style, then I was gonna go all-out. "Very well. I, Yang of house Xiao Long, first of my name-"

"Yang, take this seriously."

"Fine. I swear that I won't unlock anyone's aura unless you tell me to."

She studied me for a moment before releasing a sigh. "…okay. I believe you. It… feels a bit weird, just to warn you," she said, closing her eyes. "…For it is in solitude we achieve solace… Through this, our minds are cleared and our weapons honed. From the shadow of my soul, I release yours, and by thine light, find hope…"

There was a faint golden glow that rippled over my skin, sending shivers everywhere. It passed very quickly, leaving a feeling of… well, nothing, really. Nothing felt different. "Did it…" I started. "Did it work?"

She nodded, pulling back. "Yeah, it did. You probably won't notice a difference at first. Like I said… three weeks ago? When I got here, I mean. Unlocking your aura is like suddenly gaining a third arm: sure, you can make it flop around right away, but you'll need training and practice to use it properly."

"And that's still a really disturbing image," I said.

She shrugged. "I didn't come up with it. Now, you've still got an interview to get to. I'll see you tomorrow for training… actually, bring Ruby along too, we'll do aura exercises first." Without another word, she turned around and walked back the way she came. When the door opened to admit her, I saw the two guards that usually shadowed her standing right on the opposite side.

Wondered where they were, I thought before continuing on to Bradford's office. However, her request to bring Ruby stuck with me. I hadn't talked to her at all since Harvard. She avoided me and… I avoided her. Even though I now didn't totally blame her for killing Jaune, I still said some nasty things. Things said in a moment of grief that should never have been spoken. I was – thankfully – brought out of my thoughts when I entered Bradford's office – or at least the outer portion of it. His secretary greeted me and had me sit down in one of the few chairs scattered about.

I stewed for a few minutes before I was called back. I stepped through another metal door and was greeted by a rather spartan office – a beige-painted metal desk, a few pictures on the walls, a computer off to the side, and a pair of comfortable-looking chairs in front of said desk. "Miss Xiao Long," Bradford greeted. "Have a seat." I did so. He rested his head on his hands. "So, you want to join XCOM as a field operative?"

"I do, sir," I said. "I'm just… the aliens have already taken so much from me. I wanna pay them back and I also wanna make sure it happens to as few people as possible from here on out."

"A good reason. The most common one I hear, but that doesn't detract from its value," he said. "Now, what can you bring to the table in my organization?"

I blinked. "I, uhh, you need soldiers, right? I can be one and I've fought the aliens already a few times. You know I can handle things. Oh! And I have my aura unlocked now."

He frowned. "I thought that was just your sister and Miss Belladonna."

"It's… recent. I just got it unlocked five minutes ago," I said. "But I have it now! I'll… be able to do stuff with it hopefully soon."

He hummed. "Would you unlock the auras of other strike team members once you knew how?"

I froze. That was a red-line for Blake and I would be genuinely surprised if he didn't already find out her answer to that question himself. What kind of test is this? I wondered. If I was under his command, he could just order me to do that, right? Am I gonna outright tell him that I'd disobey orders before I even enlisted? My mouth worked soundlessly as I continued to think. Would I even disobey that order? If we had an entire base full of huntsmen and huntresses… we could save so many lives.

But I'd be breaking Blake's trust. She made me swear an oath, even. Sure, she was only one person, but what she could do… her capabilities made up for that, right? Even if they didn't, I'm not sure I'd want to do that. Something like that… It's what Raven would do. I refocused on Bradford. "I'm… sorry, sir, but I'd refuse."

To my surprise, a grin stretched over his face. "That's good to hear."

"What?!" I let out. "But… if you had a base full of aura users-"

"I could change the course of the war. I know," he said. "I'm also informed that they take over a decade of training to reach Miss Belladonna's level of combat prowess. We simply do not have the time to train an army of aura-powered super soldiers. Your loyalty to a comrade is much more important in this case."

My heart sank. "Loyalty, yeah…" Some loyal sister I am…

"Even with your recent experience against the aliens and your new… potential abilities, it's still a hard-sell," Bradford continued, oblivious to where my mind went. "I know you came here with the intention to join our field ops, but I'm afraid I can't just give you that position, even if you had military experience," he said, my heart sinking. "I can, however, give you a position in Base Security with your uncle. I know it's not what you wanted, but every member of Base Security is eligible to participate in rookie screening, whenever the event comes up. That's the best I can do. You've got an opportunity to prove that you belong on XCOM's strike teams. Everything else… is up to you. Dismissed, Private Xiao Long."

I blinked, standing. "Umm, when is the next screening, sir?"

"Four days, Private," he said. "Ain't much time to waste. Just know that there's no hard limit on the number of attempts you can make. If you pass, there's a mandatory week-long integration training that every rookie has to go through afterwards, though it's very rare for anyone to fail that after they went through screening."

Nodding, I threw up a salute. "I won't let you down."

(A/N) Didn't think you'd just get to walk into XCOM and join a strike team, did you Yang? These are supposed to be the best of the best that Humanity can field, after all. Competition is quite stiff.

As for the others, they're all on-track to join XCOM in various capacities, just some have a longer road than others… and different destinations within the organization altogether. A bunch of you probably wanted to see more Pyrrha, but it'll be a little bit before that. She will show up, but she is very much not a main character in this.

Anyways, not much else to cover, so onto the reviews!

Cbrandes17 said: "It's nice to see Summer alive, and I get the feeling that Raven is going to play an...interesting role in this fic. Can't wait for more!"

She will, but not for a good while yet. I plan for BRWL to be a three-volume fic, and we're still in the first one. Earth!Raven won't appear again until V3, though she will haunt the narrative a bit. Not to the extent Jaune and Tai do, but she gets a few mentions.

Guest001 said: "Hello from the ch 6 reviewer!

Lot to cover over 2 chapters... Starting with Jaune's death. welp, sucks to be the Terran one, Remen one remains to be seen. EXALT Pyrra got grabbed, neat. Her former colleagues are gonna try to kill her if she doesn't off her self like every single EXALT goon we've tried to grab ingame... then again, Vahlan is terrifyingly effective as an interrogator... Blake and Yang start on their roads to joining Strike 6 and someone put Ruby on suicide watch! Also kinda want to see! Terran Summer and co. meet their Remen counterparts. It will be funny, sad, and glorious at the same time no doubt."

I mean, kinda sucks to be Jaune in canon too, but at least he's alive. Oh, she is very much on suicide watch right now; you'll see the security measures XCOM has around her when we see her next. Ruby really isn't doing good either, but at least she has her sister back now, that's something. BRWL and one or two others will, indeed, meet their Remnan counterparts… eventually. They're kinda busy at the moment.

Chuckson said: "interesting choice to have the second listed main character just die like that, watching this story in case he comes back otherwise this might be a bit much for me"

Fair enough. I'll tell you right now that there is no resurrection technology in this fic, so Earth!Jaune will be staying dead, though Remnant!Jaune is still very much alive. To be honest, the only reason I listed him as a main character was because of FFN's very limited character slots, and the fact that I didn't want anybody to be surprised by the Dragonslayer right from the get-go.