This omake occurs during chapter 36. DO NOT READ until you have finished reading chapter 36. Or else Ludwig will appear out of nowhere to give you some smacks upside the skull. You don't think he'd do it? Think again...

Again, this omake really feels too important to just be in the omake section, but I can not bring myself to put it in the main fic since it's not from Letha's point of view. But I am trying to write the main fic so it isn't absolutely vital to have read these omakes. They're here just so you guys can appreciate the scene fully, when Letha can never do any more than see it from afar and maybe hear about it sooner or later.

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FTaBV Omake: A Requirement For Truth

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"Well I know you of all people can't be scared of a fight, so what's up with you?"

"Hmm, just have a few...questions I'd like to ask your uncle..."

"Questions?"

"Yeah, like how someone even more proper than Flynn could have raised such a wild black widow." That wisecrack earned him a jab in the shoulder.

"Ha ha, hurry up and get your butt kicked by my uncle." Yuri flipped his fingers in a mockery of a salute followed by a wave as he strolled out to confront Ludwig.

He had questions alright. This match would be the perfect opportunity to get the answers, by force if necessary.

Waiting patiently for him was Letha's uncle. He appeared to be in a meditative state, but looked up when the announcer over dramatized Yuri's entrance. Again.

"Letha's friend," he commented. "I thought it was likely I'd face you next."

"Really," Yuri casually rested his katana over his shoulder, head angled to the side a bit as he considered the old man. "I was hoping I'd have a chance to fight you myself."

Ludwig regarded him with a raised eyebrow. "You did not believe my niece would win?"

"She's the one who wasn't crazy about taking you on, saying she was 'guaranteed to lose'." Yuri shrugged a bit, sword glinting as it rose and fell with the motion. "Went into that last fight with an even bigger handicap than she needed."

Ludwig sighed, "And she was hesitant for much of the fight. She has a strong will to live, yet a weak resolve to harm others..."

"She's done well enough so far," the black haired man felt obligated to say, "Letha's held her own against everything thrown at her so far, and anything she isn't strong enough to fight she has us to help her with." Even you, if you think we'll let you hurt her. Brave Vesperia looks after its own.

"Good friends indeed..." Ludwig drew his jian, and Yuri noted it still had a few red stains on the blade. Letha's blood.

"I'm sure you can see the need to verify that you can, in fact, kill her if it becomes necessary."

It looked like he could.

The confirmation angered Yuri. Letha had always spoken with respect and affection for her uncle, and in return...

"Have at thee, then, and let us see how capable of helping my niece you are!" Ludwig's sword cut towards him, to meet Yuri's in the air. The blades sang against each other, and again. The intensity of the clashes rapidly increased to the level where sparks flew off the metal.

"You keep up quite well," Ludwig observed.

"I'm quick on my feet," Yuri grunted a bit as the jian smashed against as his blade. "Comes from being on the run all the time!" Privately he thought the more astonishing fact was how Ludwig seemed barely winded by the pace. What would he have been like twenty years ago?

"Am I supposed to make some objection to your associating with my niece?" The veteran's mouth twisted in a grin. "As I have already said, I'll have to trust in her judgment on the matter."

"Hmph. I've always been the type to make my own judgments about people." Yuri drew back and low, ducking under a riposte from the older man's sword, and dragged his own across the ground and up in a blow that threw up sparks and golden light from the aer he'd channeled through the blade. It wasn't quite as strong as when that stranger used the arte the night before, but it was only his first time trying it.

Ludwig grimaced, but still managed to defend against the arte. Still, it broke the established rhythm of the fight, which Yuri took advantage of by executing a string of artes.

"Severing Fang!"

"Crushing Eagle!"

"Shining Dragon Swarm!"

From what he'd seen when Letha fought, the best strategy was to keep trying something new. The more often Ludwig saw a particular move, the more prepared he was to block and counter it. For a last and particularly unexpected move he used Fang Strike, his sword efficiently blocked but keeping the jian occupied as his fist impacted with Ludwig's chest.

Not as hard as he'd thought it would, though, as at the last moment Ludwig drew back to soften and better absorb the blow. They broke away and eyed each other, the elder coughing and wheezing a bit. "Unlike my niece, you're not even attempting to pull your punches."

Yuri shook his hand out, wincing a little at the slight rawness of scraped knuckles. "Yeah, well, your niece didn't hear the same things I did."

Ludwig stilled, his face an unreadable mask. "And just what have you heard?"

"Some talk just now about a job you may or not be getting cold feet over." His voice was natural, casual, but the accusation was there. Ludwig would feel the sharpness of his glare more than the cold steel of a sword could ever cut him.

"Is that so," he sighed.

When nothing more was forthcoming, Yuri growled in frustration, "Just what the hell are you two hiding? I'm starting to get really sick of all these excuses and fake stories."

"Fake stories..." eyes drifted close, and when they opened seemed more tired than anything else. "How about this? Defeat me, and I shall tell you what I know to be true. But-" Ludwig's sword swished through the air and pointed to a point between Yuri's eyes. "Know that, most probably, the only one who can tell you the whole story is Letha. How you can win her trust, even I do not know."

"What?" Surely her uncle of all people should know what was going on. But from what he was saying Letha didn't even fully confide in him! Before Yuri could get an explanation for that confusing revelation, the jian leaped towards him. He guarded just a fraction before it cut through his throat, seeing a few long, black hairs sheared off in the clash drift away.

The intensity of the fight was upped again. But Ludwig was showing signs of wearing down, stamina drained by two consecutive fights. Finally, in a burst of energy he must have dredged up from reserves, he disarmed the younger swordsman but simultaneously lost his grip on his own sword, both blades flung away. Momentarily he was at a loss, but Yuri didn't even pause as he barreled in shoulder first and an aer charged attack that resembled a wolf. "Lone Wolf Charge!" Without his sword, the move was reduced from fatal to devastating against an unarmed, off balance opponent.

The older man was knocked back and stayed down.

"And Ludwig Vitae is down! Is this the end of the seasoned warrior's run?"

"There..." Yuri gasped, "So now are you...gonna tell me what's up?"

Ludwig rose up onto one knee, head hung so that his face was hidden. "Not enough." He stood and looked Yuri straight in the eye. "Grow more, boy. More than just strength is needed to protect your friends. Learn what that is for yourself." Ludwig gave a nod to the announcer, and then started to walk away.

"Well what do you know! It seems Ludwig has admitted defeat at the hands of the next generation!"

"Wait a minute, if I won, you're supposed to talk!"

Ludwig paused only for a moment. "You didn't win though. Ask Letha, she can tell you why," he chuckled.

Yuri scowled, "Damn it, you're both real pains to get any answers out of."

"Frustrating, aren't we?" Ludwig bent to scoop up his jian and return it to his sheath. He stood silently for a time before offering, "I will tell you this much, for the fight. Letha is not of my blood."

"She already told me that much. That you found and took her in when she was a child."

"Did she now?" Ludwig's voice had a distant quality, surprised and considering. "Well then I'll tell you this instead. When I adopted her, it was not so long ago as you believe."

Yuri scowled at his back, "That isn't much better. What I want to know is why you have to kill her?"

The black and white haired head shook, but Ludwig still did not look back at him. "I do not have to, though circumstances may change. I pray that they will not."

"That doesn't answer why! What circumstances are you talking about?" But Ludwig had resumed his march, not entirely successful at concealing a slight limp, out of the arena. And Yuri had to allow his escort to usher him back inside to rest up in that waiting room so he could fight the champion in top form.

Letha wasn't there, so for the time being he would have to put a leash on his frustrated need for answers. But as soon as he got a chance...

"The only one who can tell you the whole story is Letha. How you can win her trust, even I do not know."

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Poor Yuri has so much on his plate. New guild, princess with issues both relating to her empire and talking monsters trying to kill her, mysterious krytian woman riding a dragon and blowing things up, sketchy old man, and LETHA'S ENTIRE EXISTANCE. Amazing he doesn't just go "Eff it all!" and leave them to figure out their own problems. But loyalty to the people he calls "friends" is one of his most defining characteristics.