Ruby Rose in Arc Royale

In the context of *Arc Royale*, Ruby Rose is the first character whose perspective is shown. She first wakes up to Jaune Arc from *Forged Destiny*, designated "Knight", who is linked to her in *AR*. She later learns that other characters have been linked to different Jaunes', all with varying personalities, on the side of Ozpin and Salem.

## *Arc Royale* from Ruby's Perspective

### Discovery

#### Knight's Unfamiliarity

Ruby is sleeping in on Saturday morning, when she is rudely awoken by Knight. She initially believes that he is her father, Taiyang Xiao Long, but soon realizes it is not her father. Ruby was not used to the mannerisms of Knight, and as she stirred, she started questioning the situation, like why Knight was acting different and why he was in Team RWBY's room. After realizing it was 7:30 AM, she asked Knight to go back to sleep. To her confusion, Knight responded that they were not in the setting he was familiar with, like the Royal Palace or the Lodge. Ruby thought it was a prank, assessing her surroundings, and noting it was familiar to her. Ruby's hormones started activating, as Knight's armor and physical features reminded her of knights from medieval fantasies. Taking a closer look, Ruby noticed Knight's name and class, which she found confusing, and Knight provided little useful explanation.

#### Leviathan the Mistaken Pervert

Ruby heard Yang Xiao Long scream, and believed it was due to a misunderstanding regarding her and Knight's interactions. To her surprise, Yang was screaming because Leviathan appeared in her bed. Ruby realized something was wrong, as there were two simultaneous Jaunes'. She observed as Yang attempted to kill Leviathan, but was stunned alongside Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang when Knight conducted a punch catch. Nora Valkyrie knocked on their door, informing Ruby that they were experiencing a simultaneous situation. Ruby did not understand what Nora meant before Headmaster Ozpin sent an address, asking for Team JNPR to head to the headmaster's office, and to bring Jaune Arc as well, which Ruby found unusual.

### Ozpin's Office

#### Encountering Fate, Hunter, Barista, and Ghost

Team RWBY and Team JNPR managed to escort five Jaunes' through Beacon, where they encountered Glynda Goodwitch, who was just as confused as the native denizens and Jaunely newcomers. Ruby was shielded by Knight, but still observed her surroundings, including the additional Jaunes' from Team JNPR's room, Fate and Hunter. After arriving, Ruby observed two more Jaunes', Barista and Ghost. Ruby observed further interactions between the group before Ozpin revealed showed Ghost's emergence in Beacon's basement on tape. Ruby observed Fate's response, noting he had an angry expression and that he did not give off a warm atmosphere. At some point, Knight started questioning Ozpin if the effects were due to magic, which Ozpin tried to hide by saying magic did not exist, but was further confounded when Knight mentioned Salem. Ruby did not recognize the name, and she saw most other team members and Jaunes' did not recognize the name except for Ozpin and Barista. Ruby's confusion continued as Ozpin questioned that Knight knew Salem, and looked exasperated when Knight mentioned he helped kill her.

#### Jinn's Explanation

Ruby was about to ask more questions when Ozpin's windows opened and Jinn, the former Spirit of Knowledge and current Spirit of Judgement, emerged from a lamp. Ruby was surprised by Jinn's appearance, and was getting exasperated by the volume of confusion on a Saturday morning. Ruby was stunned, but others questioned Jinn, and Ruby silently obtained more information. Eventually, Fate interjected after Jinn explained why Jaune was chosen, Ruby saw hatred in his eyes. She saw Fate's expression change when Jinn mentioned the Brother Gods would change their realities, including ending Fate's 2000 year long curse. Jinn explained the tether principle, pointing to multiple examples including Knight and Ruby, the latter surprised at the association. When Jinn explained that if either the tether were to perish, Ruby was worried since she was now a target to eliminate Knight, although Knight relaxed her by touching her shoulder.

#### Early Fissures

Knight told Ruby not to fear, and informed Jinn to tell Salem the group would wage war. Fate interjected, stating he did not consent to such a declaration of war. Fate and Knight engaged in a dialogue, when Fate highlighted that only the "last Jaune standing" would receive a wish. Ruby noted an immediate tension in the room from this revelation. After Fate tore into Jaune for his weakness and lying, Ruby decided she did not like Fate, as she saw him similar to Cardin Winchester with his cynicism. When Fate pointed out the bias of Pyrrha Nikos, Ruby was visibly disappointed, and asked why he was the way he was. Fate looked at her with exhaustion and left, despite the efforts from Ozpin, Pyrrha, and Glynda to keep him in the office. Ruby contemplated the meta, as Ruby interpreted Jinn's proposal to facilitate back-stabbing to remain the last Jaune standing. After the drama and the Jaunes' giving themselves unique identifiers, Barista offered to make coffee. Ruby remarked that she does not drink coffee, but Barista insisted that she would. Ruby observed the subsequent interactions between the group, discussing their current situation and potential opposition. Ozpin temporarily dismissed Team RWBY, Team JNPR, and Team CFVY to bring coffee and chairs to prepare for a history lesson. Ruby escorted Knight out of the office. To ease her tensions, Knight reassured they would get through the situation.

#### History Lecture and Discussion

Ruby, along with the rest of Teams RWBY, JNPR, and CFVY, listened to Ozpin give a lecture on his eternal battle with Salem. Ruby found it crazy and shocking, but was momentarily distracted by a coffee concoction prepared by Barista. As the rest of Team RWBY expressed confusion why Knight was not as concerned about the story, Ruby was proud of him, since he had huntsman characters. Ruby observed as other Jaunes' gave their testimony on knowing Salem, of which none of them knew of her except for Barista. Ruby speculated that it was due to their differential backgrounds that they did not take the Remnant-shattering revelations with more shock. Ren suggested ditching Fate, but Ozpin countered, saying that they could not afford to not have people help since Salem had her own Jaunes'. Ruby respected this leadership quality in Ozpin, as did others in the room.

#### Fate Returns

Glynda returned, carrying Fate with her telekinesis, and Ruby was shocked to see him holding a cigarette. Glynda took pre-emptive measures to make sure Fate could not escape, and while Ruby imagined herself being embarrassed with the accommodations, she saw Fate did not express concern. As Fate and Ozpin discussed the relevance of their actions, Ruby reluctantly found herself agreeing with some of Fate's points, such as not wanting to participate in a nonconsensual war, and was relieved that Knight was more willing to fight. As Fate continued his criticism, Ruby wondered if it was an accurate reflection of his distaste with the situation. Ruby was shocked with Fate exclaimed that knowing their abilities would make it easier for Ozpin to kill them if necessary, despite Ozpin's reassurances. Fate invoked a hypothetical of whether Knight could be taken down in a fair battle, to which Ruby agreed that Knight appeared to be the strongest of the Jaunes' in Ozpin's faction. Fate also brought up the idea of betrayal and motivation to change their world, imploring Knight and Leviathan if they had something they desperately wanted to change. Ruby observed that Knight rejected any notion of a wish, while Leviathan looked towards Yang, but didn't saw a word, much to her confusion. As Fate made his final thesis, affirming only fools gave secrets and that Ozpin may have his own plans, Ruby was worried since the Jaunes' began distrusting each other. Ruby contemplated the idea of betrayal, as Barista had no combat abilities, but could conduct acts of sabotage controlling their drink supply. Ruby was worried the plan would fail before it had a chance to begin, but was calmed when Ozpin gave further reassurance.

#### Jaunes' Demonstration

As Knight proclaimed his continued support of Ozpin, Jaune was curious about his abilities and whether that made him a video game character. Knight said the struggles were real, but to clarify to both Jaunes', Ruby promised to show them role-playing games to provide context, and also hoped for stories. Fate, vindicated by his suspicion, asked Knight to lift Ozpin's desk. Despite Ozpin's protest, Knight proceeded to lift the desk with relative ease. After Blake and Yang struggled to lift Ozpin's desk, Ozpin probed Fate for more information on his ability, questioning what Jinn meant when she called him "Fate." Fate refused to respond, so they moved on to Barista, who mentioned he made coffee and was not huntsman-trained, to which Fate proclaimed they were dead men walking. Hunter interjected, saying he hunted animals, but not people. Yang, exasperated at the uselessness, asked Leviathan if he had any abilities. Leviathan demonstrated his hydrokinesis, which Ruby saw interested Ozpin. As Ozpin noted the uniqueness of the "semblance", Leviathan was confused at the concepts of Aura and Semblance, and while Ruby thought he had Aura she was surprised when Leviathan expressed shock at the idea of using souls to block damage. Ruby was confused at Leviathan's conception of Aura and wondered why he was angry. Ozpin reassured Leviathan that Aura was regenerative, which calmed Leviathan, but left Ruby concerned since she trained with her Aura and Semblance since a young age, and that potentially killing a person without Aura was a worrying prospect. Ruby watched as Ozpin attempted to unlock Leviathan's semblance, but the situation grew awkward as Ozpin kept trying to find Leviathan's soul, but could not. As Coco questioned Leviathan, Ruby saw that he looked at Fate before commenting his lack of awareness and conducted a similar mannerism as Jaune. Ozpin was content with the demonstration, and hope it would convince Fate to reveal his abilities, but Fate remained steadfast. Leviathan and Hunter used Fate's earlier words against him, thinking he may have been hiding something, Ruby noted that the stronger Jaunes' were threatening Fate to reveal his secrets. Fate eventually relented, revealing his immortal curse to attend Beacon repeatedly, which shocked Ozpin, much to Ruby's empathy, as he was the only other immortal she knew of was Ozpin. Ruby was also confused about why Fate was so frustrated at immortality if he knew her for thousands of years. Fate commented that the only combat-viable Jaunes' were Knight and Leviathan, much to Ozpin's chagrin, but both Hunter and Barista agreed with Fate's assessment. Ruby also hoped that Pyrrha would get through to Fate to convince him of the importance of the conflict.

#### Knight's Offer

Knight affirmed that he did not want his wish, and that another Jaune could have it if he so chose. Knight promised it to Fate, who Ruby noted looked tempted. Fate told Knight to offer it to Leviathan instead. Ruby noted that Leviathan wanted the wish, and was curious what he wanted it for. She also speculated about the Jaunes' of Salem's faction, and what they would want if they succeeded.

## References

1. ↑ Last [Ruby] checked, it had been Friday night, which meant today was Saturday. Sleeping in day.
2. ↑ "Dad, why...?" she mumbled. "Saturday..."
3. ↑ When had Jaune talked so fancy? Or sounded so deep of voice? And what was he doing in their room?
4. ↑ It was seven-thirty.
5. ↑ It's too early!" she whined. "Go back to bed."
6. ↑ "Funny, Jaune. Real funny."
7. ↑ Her usual curtains, her bed suspended by sheets, hopes and dreams, Yang and Blake slumbering opposite and the morning light just beginning to stream through the window. Ruby's panic rushed out of her, and she flopped back, groaning in grief and anger. He'd pranked her.
8. ↑ Jaune looked like a knight in shining armour, come to rescue his princess.
9. ↑ Dumbly, Ruby pointed. "Blurgh?"
10. ↑ Ruby flinched, realising she must have noticed Jaune on her ladder - or, given his armour, she might have thought it Cardin, sneaking up on her sister.
11. ↑ "You freaking pervert!" Yang roared, up on her feet, hair bunring gold. "I can't *believe* you'd sneak into my bed! You're a dead man!"
12. ↑ Jaune - *another*? - sat back on the floor, his hands helped up to defend himself.
13. ↑ The armoured version of her friend moved with incredibly speed, landing and catching Yang's powerful punch in one gauntleted hand.
14. ↑ "Ruby!" [Nora] gasped. "You won't *believe* what has happen-" She saw past them and squealed. "It's happening to you as well!"
15. ↑ Well... that wasn't ominous...
16. ↑ Ruby wasn't sure how they managed to smuggle *four Jaune's* - five if you counted her friend, who looked just as confused as she - through Beacon without being noticed. Propbably because it was early morning Saturday. Miss Goodwitch met them at the bottom of the elevator with wide eyes that roamed over the new figures, then waved them quickly inside.
17. ↑ The elevator was cramped, not really designed for twelve people, but the Jaune in full armour placed his hands upon her shoulders and, with a smile that made her heart flutter, shielded her from the press of bodies. Another Jaune in a white coat tutted sarcastically, stuffed his hands in his pockets and glared at the ceiling. The last glared at all of *them*, his face partially concealed under a thick, dark-green raincoat hood. Neither of the Jaune's from JNPR's dorm looked happy to be there.
18. ↑ As the doors opened, Ruby stepped out into Ozpin's office and balked at the sight of *two more* Jaune Arcs waiting before the desk. One was surrounded by Team CFVY. He looked embarrassed to be there, but friendly, dressed in black pants, a white shirt and with a green apron you might have seen a waiter wear that reached down to his black shoes. On the front of the apron was a golden stylised image of a coffee cup with steam rising from it.
19. ↑ The other looked like he was dead.
20. ↑ Ruby's attention was soon taken from that however when, with a flash of light, a dead body appeared out of nowhere, fell two feet and crumpled onto the floor.
21. ↑ "So," one of the Jaune's, one of the two that had come with Pyrrha, who wore a white jacket and an angry scowl, spoke up. "We probably all appeared like that. Just when I thought I understood everything about my fucked-up life, something like this happens. Maybe I should take the easy way out and just reset."
22. ↑ He smirked. It was not a nice or friendly look.
23. ↑ Ruby blinked. "Who?"
24. ↑ Ruby was about to speak up when the windows to Ozpin's office suddenly burst open and a gust of wind swept inside. It roared about Ozpin's desk, forcing each of them back, and when it had dissipated a strange object sat on his desk. A golden lamp of some odd design, with glowing blue dust inside.
25. ↑ The voice was feminine, deep, and Ruby wasn't the only one to yelp as a tall, blue figure appeared from the lamp.
26. ↑ It was getting old, being this confused.
27. ↑ "Is this a fucking joke?" It was the Jaune standing off from Team JNPR that spoke. The angry one. He was angrier now, glaring at Jinn with so much *hate* in his eyes.
28. ↑ Two thousand-? Ruby looked over to the version of Jaune in confusion, but he wasn't moving. His eyes were wide, pupils dilated, and he was panting heavily. His entire body trembled. It appeared he'd forgotten anyone else was in the room. His lips moves, but she was too far away to hear anything he said.
29. ↑ Jinn pointed. First to the irritable Jaune and then to Pyrrha, then to the silent one in the green hood and to Ren. Yang and the one who had been in her bed, and then the knightly version of Jaune and to her. Ruby squeaked, pointing at herself dumbly. "M-Me…?"
30. ↑ Oh. Oh, that was bad. Ruby gulped. It was one thing to know you'd somehow summoned a super cool knight in shining armour, another to realise you were involved in some battle to the death and were now a target to get rid of said knight. Her fear must have shown because a heavy, plated hand came to rest on her shoulder.
31. ↑ The news brought everyone to a standstill. The various iterations of Jaune looked to one another cautiously, and the one beside Yang took a step away from Ruby's version. No one made an aggressive move, but there was a sudden tension in the room that hadn't been there before.
32. ↑ Ruby scowled, not at all enjoying watching her friend be bullied. This Jaune was more like Cardin!
33. ↑ Ruby couldn't hide her disappointment. This was Jaune, her friend, and he sounded so… so… pessimistic. So defeated. She didn't mean to say anything, but the words slipped out. "What happened to you…?"
34. ↑ He met her gaze. Cold, emotionless and tired. Exhausted, even.
35. ↑ Even with him gone, the other versions of Jaune did not let their guards down. The knowledge they could attack one another lingered, and if Ruby understood Jinn's proposal properly then it would be a *good idea* for them to stab one another in the back early. Remove competition before they could get their guards up.
36. ↑ "I don't drink coffee…" Ruby said.
37. ↑ Barista Jaune, or just Barista, chuckled. "You will if I make it. After all, *my* Ruby is one of my most loyal customers. As are you, Ozpin. And you look very stressed. Understandable, but let us all relax with a warm cup and some cakes, no? The war won't start without us."
38. ↑ Ruby gulped and tugged on Knight's arm, leading him toward the elevator with her team and Leviathan following behind. The Saturday had started bad enough, and she had a feeling it was going to get worse before it got better.
39. ↑ "We will get through this, Ruby." Knight said warmly. "Even if I must defeat them all myself."
40. ↑ "I'll show you later!" Ruby assured Knight and Jaune both. If he was like a game then she had a few RPG's she could show him so he knew what Jaune meant. The idea of living in a world ruled by those mechanics sounded so cool. Maybe Knight could tell her stories about his adventure. Maybe they all had stories to tell about their worlds.
41. ↑ "Hydrokinesis." Ozpin leaned in with clear interest. "That is a rather unique Semblance."
42. ↑ Well duh. He had to.
43. ↑ Fuel? What was he talking about and why did he look so angry? It was like a flip had been switched with the way he was glaring at Ozpin. For his part, the headmaster remained calm.
44. ↑ The thought alone was staggering. Ruby could barely fathom it after spending her whole life training with aura. It was just what everyone had. She swung a scythe around in spars and had never given her friends or classmates in Signal worse than a bruise. The idea of slicing through someone's body with a single slash was… it was wrong. Disgusting. Terrifying. Judging from the expressions around the table, she wasn't the only one to feel that way.
45. ↑ Leviathan's eyes flicked to Fate's a second before he answered. "No." He smiled awkwardly, laughed, and rubbed his head just like their Jaune would.
46. ↑ That brought the laughter to a halt. It sounded like a threat. Probably because it was. They were threatening to team up against him unless he spilled the beans. That didn't sound fair, but then he could well be hiding his strength in preparation to do the same to them. Fate looked between Leviathan and Hunter with narrowed eyes, and whatever he saw was enough to make him surrender.
47. ↑ Ozpin stood. "You're immortal?" he hissed. Having heard his story, Ruby understood why he was so shocked. "You were cursed by the Gods?"
48. ↑ It was a lot to stomach. A version of her friend who kept re-living Beacon? That sounded so weird. Did that mean he'd known her for hundreds or thousands of years? If so, why was he so angry all the time?
49. ↑ Given it was their whole world at stake, Ruby was hoping Pyrrha might be able to get through to Fate on that.
50. ↑ Fate looked interested. For a second, he almost looked hungry. Desperate.
51. ↑ *Leviathan really wants that wish,* Ruby thought. Knight didn't, but Leviathan acted like he was more here for the prize than to save Remnant, while the others had given up entirely. *I wonder what it is he wants.* *Does Knight really not want anything? Is Fate giving up on his chance that quickly?*
52. ↑ And if there were other iterations of Jaune Arc out there, what did they want? And how far would they be willing to go to achieve it…?