Jaune Arc in Not this Time, Fate

## Jaune Arc

Jaune Arc depicted in chapter 19.

Within the narrative of ***Not this Time, Fate*, Jaune Arc**faces the personal challenge of defeating Cinder Fall while keeping all the people close to him alive. This serves as his primary motivation, although he carries the psychological baggage of a war veteran unknownst to his friends and family, leading them to speculate as to what led to his state of mind.

While this is not the first or last time Jaune has died in a Coeur Al'Aran work, it is the first time his death is treated as a dramatic aspect of the plot rather than one rooted in comedy.

> "*"For it is in failure that we achieve immortality. Through this, we are bound to our task, an endless quest without pause or rest. Cursed by duty and unbound by time, I release your soul, and by my hand… condemn thee."*"
> ― Jaune Arc, Chapter 48[[source]]
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## Biography

### Initial Suicide and Previous Lives

After the Battle of Beacon, Jaune faces depression at the loss of Pyrrha Nikos, deciding to wander into the forest to be killed by a Grimm. After being killed, Jaune awoke to find himself alive by the unseen astral entity of Fate, he uses his newfound life as an opportunity to "correct" the timeline. Unfortunately, his many attempts to do so are unsuccessful, leading him to grow apathetic and cynical.

According to Jaune, he has died from a multitude of deaths ranging from torture by Cinder Fall to Ironwood, dumped in insane asylums, given mind-altering drugs, and hemorrhaging by internal bleeding, though he himself has lost track of how many years have progressed. According to Coeur, he has died 450 times in different ways, which places an estimation of at least 1000 years based on Weiss Schnee's estimations.

### Plot Involvement

In the prologue of *NTTF*, Jaune is killed by Cinder Fall's fire abilities during an alternate Battle of Haven, leading him to be sent back to a time to around 3 BB based on Jaune's estimation of being 14 years of age. He laments it was the first time he was burned to death, along with commentating that slit throats are one of the worst ways to die as one drowns in their blood, but that explosions were a better way of dying, in comparison, as they are one of the quicker ways to go. These monologues indicate how used to death Jaune is, establishing a character trait which contrasts the initial naivety present in *One Good Turn Deserves Another* and *From Beyond*. After awakening, Jaune heads downstairs and calls Juniper Arc "mother", before opting to use the word "mum" when questioned. He cringes at the use of this word, noting that his familial relationship is non-existent.

#### The Slap

In 3 BB, Jaune backhands his younger sister Amber Arc, thinking she was a Grimm. In an apology, Jaune complies with Amber's request to take her to the video game arcade one day later. He later encountered Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie playing other games, much to his surprise as he wondered why they were in Ansel.

#### Jaune turns 15

In 2 BB, Jaune decided to not run away to train with Crocea Mors as he had done in his other lives, choosing to remain with his family and let Fate take its course, not knowing he was still part of a greater narrative which Fate wanted him to progress through. Jaune's fifteenth birthday is celebrated at the same time, which he is moved to tears over.

When inquired by Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long, Coral and Sapphire Arc noted that, while not realizing it at the time, his reaction was quite strange due to the lack of congruity in prior actions over the interval from his tenth to fourteenth birthdays, most expressive of cynicism and lethargy. Coral mentions that she was better able to connect with Jaune after this due to a similar feeling "brokenness", which led his childhood friends to avoid him as a result of fundamental differences they could not comprehend.

#### Precluding Weeks Before Beacon

After nearly getting killed by a Grimm, Jaune happened to win a lottery with the odds of 40,000 to one to visit Weiss Schnee's final concert.

### Arc Royale Divergence

Jaune was brought from the *Not this Time, Fate* continuity to the Arc Royale continuity. As Jaune possesses a white jacket, which he only possessed in his final life. According to Jinn, Jaune had been fighting to end his cycle for over 2000 years.

## Quotes

> "*His problem (among many, but his main one) was that he couldn't understand how little control he had over his own destiny. He kept trying to do everything on his own, which stemmed from him blaming himself over and over for all the previous failures. That [spiraled] into depression and self-hatred, blaming himself for Pyrrha's death, Ruby's, Blake's and deciding that each happened because he wasn't good enough to prevent them. That's why he kept trying to be better, often focusing on combative skills and trying to get more information on Cinder, etc, because he truly believed the only person not doing [well] enough was him.*"
> ― Coeur Al'Aran, October 10, 2019[[source]]
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## References

1. ↑ https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11822902/36/Not-this-time-Fate
2. ↑ https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11822902/1/Not-this-time-Fate
3. ↑ https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11822902/2/Not-this-time-Fate
4. ↑ https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11822902/39/Not-this-time-Fate
5. ↑ https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13983348/1/Arc-Royale