Chapter 7: The plan

The pink-haired boy looked at the moonlight, he wasn't thinking about anything, but apparently, this became his hobby, looking at the moon before going to sleep. Even just looking at the sky, Itadori let himself be carried away by his momentary thoughts about his friends, who at that moment were his only family. - "How are they now?" - Itadori kept wondering about this.

The boy who was on the roof of the castle looks down to see a familiar figure, a girl with golden hair and a blue dress, it was Saber. Itadori catches his attention. - "SABER, HERE!" - Itadori shouts to Saber.

Saber looked towards the direction of the voice, it was Itadori waving to her on the roof of the castle. Without realizing Saber smiled and waved back, Saber was climbing and jumping from roof to roof to get to the boy.

Upon arriving on the roof, Saber sits down next to Itadori. - "Sup" - said Itadori. - "Hello, Yuji. What are you doing here?" - Saber says, sitting next to Itadori. - "Ah, I don't know, I just.... thinking..... When I was a Jujutsu sorcerer, I didn't have time to rest, I know things are going to get harder, but it gives me some relief be here, understand?" - said Itadori.

"I understand, I can say the same. It seems that now we have time to observe the moon..." - Saber said, letting go of her hair.

Itadori saw Arturia letting her hair down, he couldn't help but notice how handsome se looked with her hair down. The two were just watching the moon in silence, it was their moment, just theirs. After a few minutes of silence, Itadori asked a bold question. - "Saber.... Arturia, have you ever fallen in love?" - Itadori asked sincerely.

Saber was surprised by the question. - "Um, I never thought about it. I was already married and had a child, but it was a duty to be done, it wasn't something I really wanted." - Said Saber. - "Wow, all this so soon..." - said Itadori.

Saber looked at Itadori. - "I may look like a teenager, but in life, I was 24 years old." - Saber said. - "S-really? I thought you were my age." - Itadori said somewhat disappointed. - "With the use of Avalon, the object I was summoned made my body remain at the age I became king." - Said Saber. - 'That's when she took out Excalibur.' - thought Itadori.

"As we are heroic spirits, age no longer matters, since we don't age. How old were you in life." - Said Saber. - "Well, my body stays the same as it always has, probably 15 years." - said Itadori.

"Since you're the one who started this question, I'll throw it at you. Yuji, have you ever fallen in love with someone?" - Saber said doubtfully. - "Well... There was a girl who was a my friend, but I don't know if I had feelings for her...." - said Itadori. He remembered Nobara.

"She was killed by this Sukuna guy?" - Saber asked. -"No, but her life was taken unfairly... I think that was what motivated me to keep fighting, it was all these people I lost along the way, I want to honor their deaths." - said Itadori.

Saber goes back to look at the moon. - "You still haven't decided what you're going to ask for for the holy grail, have you?" - Said Saber. - "Yes... " - said Itadori. - "That's why we're fighting, just like you and me, those two down there are fighting to create a better world, we're going to help each other to achieve that goal. Come on, Yuji, I feel my master's presence, it feels like he It's already arrived." - Saber said after transforming his clothes into his black suit. Itadori just agrees and does the same thing.

The two climb down from the roof and enter the castle. When they arrived at the meeting room, Kiritsugu was waiting for the two to arrive. - "Apologies for the delay." - said Itadori. - "Where is Mrs. irisviel." - Saber asked.

"I haven't called for the meeting yet. Saber, go get her." - said Kiritsugu without looking at Saber. - "Okay... " - Saber said without questioning.

When Saber left the room, Itadori couldn't help but feel uncomfortable with Kiritsugu's presence, the man never looked at Itadori directly, it bothered him. "Why don't you ever look into our eyes?" - asked Itadori, but received no answer, which made him even more uncomfortable.

After a while, Saber arrived with Irisviel. - "Hello, Kiritsugu." - said Irisviel smiling. - "Hello. Then, let's get started." - Said Kiritsugu before telling his plan.

"There is a powerful field beneath Mount Enzou, having its origins in Ryuudou Temple, due to this. Supernatural spirits like Servants can only enter through the path of time. Keep this in mind when using the two servants, Irisviel." - said Kiritsugu. - 'Why doesn't he use our names?' - thought Itadori.

"There are three other places where the ley lines intersect. The tohsaka mansion, Fuyuki Church, and... this new residential area east of the city center. So that means there are four places in Fuyuki City that possess all the characteristics necessary to invoke the Cup." - said Kiritsugu pointing to the map.

Itadori puts his hand on his chin and says. - "So when the war enters the second phase, we're going to have to get one of these places as a base of operations for ourselves, aren't we?" - said Itadori, but received no response. This was irritating him.

Kiritsugu continues. - "That concludes the details about the territory. Any questions?" -he asked Irisviel. - "Are there any questions for you two?" - Irisviel asked the two servants. - "I do not think so." - said Saber. - "Not for me either." - added Itadori.

Irisviel looks worriedly at Kiritsugu. - "And what are we going to do with Caster, he seems like a problem." - said Irisviel. - "We have an ace up our sleeve regarding Caster. It may seem crazy... But he faithfully believes that Saber is Joan of Arc, which ends up benefiting us. We just need to wait until he comes to us." - said Kiritsugu.

Saber is uncomfortable with the plan and tries to retort. - "Master, this will not be enough. His evil acts will not go unpunished! We must go after him as soon as possible!" - said Saber. - "Arturia is right! We can't let that crazy guy loose like that!" - said Itadori. Kiritsugu just ignores them both. - 'Seriously, this guy... ' - thought Itadori.

"Iri, have you already taken control of the magic established within the limits of this forest?" - asked Kiritsugu. - "Yes, everything is fine. Eighteen hours have passed since you defeated Kayneth, haven't they?" - asked Irisviel. - "Something tells me he's still alive, so I'll keep an eye on that. So we must go after Lancer if he's still alive." - said Kiritsugu.

"Wait, don't you want them both to face Caster?" asked Irisviel. "Whoever, someone will have to deal with him. Obviously, those behind the Caster will be even better targets than him," said Kiritsugu. It bothered to know. "I intend to attack them by the flanks and defeat them." continued Kiritsugu.

"This is stupid, because we just don't go after him and ..." - Itadori is interrupted by knowledge. - "Master, what is suggesting is ... how despicable you can be?! Are you disrespecting heroic spirits! Why don't you want to let us fight? Are you saying you don't trust Yuji or your own servant?!" - Said know annoyed by the situation, again Kiritsugu ignores her.

"The new rule says we can only fight Caster, right?" said Irisviel. - "It is not important. I can't trust the judge of this war. He pretends to know nothing while granting shelter to the master of Assassin. It is likely that he is working with the Tohsaka. It is better not to trust him. For now, that is all . " - Kiritsugu said ending the conversation definitely.

Itadori and Saber they were walking along. - "This is frustrating! He doesn't even respect me as his own servant." - Said Saber. - "I found it strange too, the last time I talked to him, it was in that interrogation in Germany, after that he ignored me too, there is something strange." - Said Itadori. - "Do you think he hates us, Yuji?" - Asked Saber. - "I think he hates all the servants ... That was the idea that I felt coming from him. He almost never looks at us in the eye, but when he sees us, he looks with a certain contempt." - Said Itadori.

Saber agrees with the idea of Itadori. - "You're right, I think that's how he sees us ... Anyway, I need to go." - Saber seemed disappointed, but Itadori didn't know what to do, so just let the golden girl leave.

Itadori was alone walking through the castle and thinking. - 'Why does he look at us that way ... It's complete contempt.' - The boy decided to go out of the castle and sees the two hugging each other. Kiritsugu looked shaken by something, but Itadori couldn't hear, just look at that situation.

Irisviel was comforting him. She was really a good person. "Is he crying?! Maybe ... I have drawn hasty conclusions about him. So he's not an empty shell, after all." - That's what Itadori imagined.

Before Itadori turns to go to his room, the boy feels a strange presence. - "What is this?! There's someone else here!" -when the boy turned to the couple, Irisviel was already heading towards him. - "Come on Itadori! We have to get the crystal ball!" - said Irisviel.

The two were running. - "Crystal Ball?" - asked Itadori. - "Yes, so we can see who the enemy is. You felt his presence too, didn't you?" - said Irisviel. - "Yes! Let's go after this thing then!" - replied Itadori.

After everyone got together again, everyone saw what was in the crystal ball, it was a group of children walking hand in hand in the forest. - "What? Are they just children? There's something wrong there, they wouldn't have this strange energy." - said Itadori. - "Yuji, I think the enemy is trying to trick us." - said Saber.

"These children must be being held hostage." - said Irisviel. The figure finally reveals itself, it was Caster, Gilles de Rais. - "It's that crazy guy from before, there's no way he's using these kids as hostages! This guy is going to get a beating like that!" - said Itadori. - "We have to go down there to save them." Saber said.

Caster looked into the crystal ball and smiled. He knew he was being watched. - "As promised, I Gilles de Rais has returned to fetch his maiden! Feel free to come whenever you wish. I came prepared." - Caster snaps his fingers and the children wake up from their trance. - "Go kids, have fun. You just need to get away from me!"

It was a group of eight children, Gilles grabbed one of these children by the head and crushed him, the other children started to cry and run away from that monster. Itadori and Saber were shocked. - "Stop!" - said Saber. - "I'm going to... Kill this guy!" - Itadori said running there, it doesn't take long for Saber to go after him.

The two run through the dark and scary forest, Itadori hears the sounds of children crying and being killed. That made him angry. After arriving in an open area, they come across some dead childrens. - "Its... So cruel." - said Itadori.

"Where are you, Caster!" - Saber said, dying of anger. - "Welcome, especially you, Joana. What do you think of this dark spectacle? It causes you pain, doesn't it?" - said Caster while he was with a few more children by his side. - "Do you hate me? I'm sure you do."

"Release these children, you freak!" - Saber shouted. - "Go, my little ones." - said Gilles, releasing the children, Itadori crouches in front of the children and extends his arm. - "Come on, don't be afraid!" - said Itadori.

Some children were crying a lot, they hugged the boy Yuji with all their might, others went after Saber. - "I want my mother." - one of the children said. Itadori felt something, all these children who hugged Itadori, had something inside them, the boy was quick to place his hand on the chest of all the children to feel that there was a curse inside each one of them.

Itadori managed to remove the curse from within them. - "Don't worry kids, we're going to get you out of here. Do you really think I would fall for a tasteless prank like that?" - said Itadori holding the curses that looked like strange larvae.

The larvae simply exploded in Itadori's hand and several tentacles grabbed his arm. - "WHAT?" - said Itadori. "I saw you fighting Lancer and Berserker, you are good with curses, but these aren't just any curses. They engulf the user and transport you to an empty place where you are slowly swallowed by darkness." - said Caster laughing evilly.

"W-what happened? - said one of the children. - "Don't worry. Saber, take care of these children! I'm going to try to get rid of this thing. " - Itadori moves away from the children and is quickly swallowed completely. - "YUJI!" - Saber sees Itadori being pulled into that thing and disappears. - "Where did he go?" - Saber said.

"I had said I would come prepared, my virgin maiden." - said Caster smiling. Many children started to cry. - "We are going to die!" - they screamed and screamed - "You won't go, I'm here to protect you!" - Saber says determinedly.

Caster uses her spells to summon various monsters and curses, Saber was at a complete disadvantage, she was alone and still had to prevent these children from being killed. Saber starts killing each of those curses, she killed them one by one, until one of the Curses catches a child.

"Help!" - shouted the child. - "NO!" - Saber was too far away to save that child, until someone arrives to save her, another heroic spirit. - "It seems like I arrived at the right time... Isn't it, Saber?"

Saber looks at the Servant. - "Lancer!" - said Saber. - "Do you need a little help?" asked Lancer. - "WHO ARE YOU?!" - asked Caster angrily. "I am the one who will reach the heavens, I am...

Diarmuid O'Dyna!"

End of chapter 7