Within the halls of Chaldea, a celebration was unfolding. Inside the main cafeteria, the staff and Servants had all gathered to watch the announcement of one of Chaldea PR's newest project, Fate/Grand Carnival. The show had come to life thanks to the efforts of everyone at the base, and now everyone had gathered to watch the fruits of their efforts be broadcast to the world. All of the Servants that had taken part in the initial episode were fired up, loudly calling out as they saw themselves appear and joking around with their fellows. One Servant in particular happened to be much, MUCH louder than the rest, her piercing voice making itself know to all even through the chaotic roar of everyone else's voices. Nero Claudius stood proudly on top of one of the cafeteria tables, grandstanding proudly as she praised her performance as the greatest, most amazing, absolutely spectacular Servant actor of all. Not everyone shared the Roman emperor's glee, however. There was one Servant tucked away in the back corner of the cafeteria that had no smile on her face, that did not share the same enthusiasm as all the other Servants present had.
 
"Is something wrong, Tamamo?" Fujimaru Ritsuka, the Master of Chaldea, asked as he noticed the one person in the room who didn't seem to be having a good time. Tamamo-no-Mae, a foxy Caster who served as the backbone of many of Ritsuka's Servant teams, perked her vulpine ears up as she realized Ritsuka had noticed her, but not even the attention of her dear Master was able to completely remove the aura of gloom that seemed to surround her.
 
"Oh, Goshujin-sama, no, no, nothing.... nothing is wrong. Just feeling a little... left out, is all. But it's nothing you need to worry about, I promise you, your beautiful and loving fox wife will be back in top condition in no time at all! Mikon~!" Tamamo forced a smile onto her face as she uttered her trademarked phrase, posing with her fingers in the shape of fox shadow puppets like she always did to try and assuage her Master's concerns.
 
"Come on Tamamo, I know you better then that." With a soft smile, Ritsuka placed a comforting hand on Tamamo's head, scratching behind her ears to try and help her calm down and open up. "If you're not feeling satisfied with your part in the show or anything like that, you can tell me, and we can figure something out."
 
"Oh, no, no, it isn't anything to do with the Carnival, Master. Not... entirely, at least."
 
"Then what is it?"
 
"It... well... It may come off as very... petty, Master. I wouldn't want to burden you with my little grudges..."
 
"Hey, helping my Servants out with their issues is part of my job as a Master, and with all the help you've given me ever since I summoned you Tamamo, I'd be happy to lend a hand with whatever issues you might have. No matter how 'petty' some people might think they are."
 
"You are... too kind, Master. Truly." A genuine smile appeared on Tamamo's face as she regarded her dear Master for a moment before sliding closer to him, to whisper her secret grudges into his ear. "My problem is... Nero, Master. The two of us have quite a history behind us, and, to put things simply, I feel as if she's getting too much attention. I realize how horrible this must sound, and what a jealous vixen it must make me sound like, but I simply can't keep this in anymore! It isn't fair how often she's able to show up and be showered with praise and attention! She was your companion for an entire singularity in her homeland, where everyone sung her praises and practically worshipped the ground she stood on! And later she got to return in a new form in the American singularity, and played a not insignificant role there! Not to mention the Nerofests, entire events set up in her name with all of us competing on her order! Not to mention the other show Chaldea produced, detailing Nero's journey in the Moon Cell with another Master. Did you know I was supposed to be there too? I was originally a Moon Cell Servant as well, and went through similar trials as Nero, but they decided to cut me from the show! I didn't get so much as a single line despite sharing the same pedigree as that emperor! And there's more, Master, there's so much more I could go on about!"
 
"I... think I get the picture, Tamamo," Ritsuka replied, rubbing his ear after jerking away from Tamamo. Once her rant had gotten going, her volume had raised from a whisper to a near shout, though thankfully the rest of the cafeteria was loud enough to drown out her words and protect her from any eavesdroppers. "Though, now that you mention it... I agree. I feel like I've seen way more of Nero compared to you or... most other Servants, really."
 
"You have no idea how much it sets my heart at ease to hear you say that, Master. Just being able to get all of that off my chest helps too." Despite her apparent relief, a long sigh still escaped Tamamo as another loud roar erupted from the crowd of gathered Servants in response to some random proclamation from Nero. "...I wish there was something we could do about her though. There's no way any warnings or requests to hold back will get through to her. She'll just continue eating up as much praise as possible, leaving no attention for anyone else..."
 
"I... might have an idea. Something that'll put a stop to her spotlight stealing for a bit, and give you an opportunity for a little payback. Fair warning though, you might find it a little... odd."
 
"Really? Oh, please do tell, Master! I'm sure whatever you've thought up would be perfect!" Tamamo's eyes lit up with excitement as she leaned in to hear her Master's whispered plans. If anyone else in the room had any attention to spare a glance in the direction of their Master and the vulpine Caster, they would have seen Tamamo's expression shift from curiosity, to shock, confusion, and eventually settling on a mysterious expression with a hint of excitement glimmering in her golden eyes as Ritsuka outlined his plan for her. No one could possibly have guessed what the two of them were thinking of as they slipped out of the cafeteria, readying themselves for a surprise party for the boisterous Emperor Nero.
 
-- Some time later --
 
"Rejoice, dear citizens of Roma! Your summons have not gone unheard, for your emperor has arrived!" Nero loudly declared as she burst into one of the private rooms in Chaldea accompanied by a shower of rose petals.
 
"...And what 'citizens of Roma' are you referring to, exactly?" Tamamo asked, her lips pursed in an unamused grimace as she regarded the newly arrived emperor. "I'm the only one here. The message I sent was asking you for a private meeting between just us, remember?"
 
"Umu, that is true," Nero agreed, nodding sagely as she approached the sitting Caster. Her steps were exaggerated and overdramatic, with her gaze flickering around the room as if she were pretending to be performing on a stage in front of a huge crowd. "But! The hearts of the citizens are always with their emperor, so I am never truly alone! And! Though you do not give your emperor the respect and adoration she deserves, you too are a citizen of Roma! One of these days, you silly little fox, the glory of Roma, my glory, shall reach your cold, stony heart and save you from your lonely, pitiful existence!"
 
"...Somehow I doubt that very much." With a slightly irritated huff, Tamamo got up from her seat and began to approach Nero, eyeing her up like a predator would prey. Tamamo couldn't tell if Nero didn't notice or didn't care about the obviously threatening aura the Caster knew she was giving off right now, but she supposed it wouldn't really matter in the end. Having Nero brazenly standing in the middle of the room without trying to run or cause a fuss was just going to make things easier for her, after all.
 
"So, what is this little meeting about anyway, foolish fox?" Nero asked, standing her ground as Tamamo looked down on her. Despite being shorter than the pink-haired Caster, Nero continued acting like she was the bigger woman, puffing her chest out with pride even as she craned her head back a bit to continue looking Tamamo in the eye. "Let me guess. You're here to heap additional praise upon me for my performances? To acknowledge that I am, and always have been, the superior Servant? To admit that you are inferior to me in every possible way?"
 
"Wrong on all accounts," Tamamo retorted as she stomped one foot. A bright flash filled the room the moment her foot hit the ground, startling Nero as a magical circle she and Tamamo were in the middle of was activated. Before the Roman emperor could try to escape or demand answers, she felt Tamamo's hands tightly grab onto her shoulders. For once in her life, Emperor Nero Claudius was speechless as she felt herself being lifted up towards Tamamo's face. She couldn't quite understand what the foxy Caster was doing, as any direct attack on another Servant would have been severely punished by their shared Master, and yet this didn't seem like any sort of assassination attempt Nero had ever seen before. It wasn't until she felt the wetness of Tamamo's saliva on her face did Nero realize what was happening.
 
"U-unhand me at once you vile harlot!" Nero shouted, her senses finally returning to her as she attempted to wiggle free of Tamamo's grip. Her protests fell on deaf ears however, with Tamamo's only response being opening her mouth wide enough to trap Nero's head inside. The emperor's struggles doubled in effort as she felt the wetness of Tamamo's maw around her head, the fox's saliva matting her hair down while her tongue licked Nero's cheek to see what she tasted like. The all-encompassing feeling of dampness only grew more intense as Tamamo continued swallowing the blonde, busty Saber. Try as she might, Nero somehow just couldn't break free of Tamamo's hold, and her chances of escape grew even lower as she felt the tightness of Tamamo's throat begin to constrict around her as she was pulled even further into Caster's maw. Nero felt Tamamo's tongue licking every part of her body as it passed through the fox's mouth, and she kicked her legs in frustration while they remained outside of the voracious fox in the vain hope of being released. But even that faint hope was quashed as she felt her legs, gold boots and all, get slurped up into Tamamo's mouth. Nero still struggled, squirming as much as she could on her way down to Tamamo's stomach, unaware that all of her attempts at hurting or fighting back against Tamamo were instead being transmitted as pleasure to the vulpine predator. Even when she arrived at her dark, cramped destination, Nero still pushed against the walls of flesh surrounding her, refusing to give up on escaping even when she knew in her heart that it was already too late.
 
"O-oh my~! I didn't expect this to feel soo good~" Tamamo rubbed her hands against her massively expanded stomach, which her skimpy blue kimono could no longer contain. The obi holding her outfit together had long since come undone in order to make room for the new occupant of Tamamo's stomach, the struggles of which could be seen faintly outlined on her pale flesh. "You, nnh~, should really settle down in there though, Nero. It'll make things, ahn~, so much easier~"
 
"Settle down? Settle down?! How dare you, you traitorous, monstrous, awful fleabag! Do you really think I'd just quietly accept being eaten?! Never! I refuse to let this happen! Especially not to you! I'm going to get out of here and, and... and I know exactly how to do so!" Despite being covered in spit and having no room to strike an appropriate dramatic pose, a confident grin returned to Nero's face as an escape plan formed in her mind. "Listen well, fox, for you have the distinct honor of having the last voice you will ever hear be mine! I will admit that I was, at first, shaken by your method of attack, causing my masterful tactician abilities to desert me for a time! But, my mental faculties have returned just as I needed them most, and with them they have brought a plan to bring me salvation, and you doom! I all need do is summon my elegant blade, Aestus Estus, and then cut myself free! You will be slain in the process, of course, but after I tell him of what you tried to do, I'm certain my dear Praetor will praise me for my resourcefulness and scorn you for your treachery."
 
"...Only you could sound so overconfident despite being trapped in someone else's stomach." Tamamo mused, completely unconcerned with Nero's declaraction. "But, go ahead, believe what you want. Your 'daring escape' won't be happening."
 
"Oh-ho? And what makes you think that, soon-to-be-gutted fox?"
 
"By my Command Seal, I order you. Nero, accept your fate and allow yourself to be absorbed by Tamamo."
 
Nero's mind went blank as a familiar voice rang out through the room, loud enough that even she could hear it clearly despite the barrier of flesh between her and the speaker. And a moment later, the pressure of a Command Seal being used on her fell around her body, making her body feel heavy and bringing her struggles to a close.
 
"M-M-Master?" Nero couldn't believe what she had just heard, even though the voice had without a doubt belonged to her Master. Outside of Tamamo's stomach, Fujimaru Ritsuka was taking the pink-haired Caster's hand to help her move her massive burden over to a chair so she could take a seat and finish what she'd started with Nero. "Is... is that truly you? Master?!"
 
"I'm here, Nero," Ritsuka answered as he placed a hand on Tamamo's stomach. "And yes, it's really me. No magical clones or brainwashing or anything like that. I'm sure you've got a lot of questions and other things you want to say right now, but before all that, I want to tell you to try not to worry too much. This shouldn't hurt, and it won't be permanent."
 
"W-what do you mean?! Are you really fine with the glorious me being nothing but a snack for this foul vixen, Master!?"
 
"You aren't going to be 'just a snack', Nero. This is... a bit more complicated than that. And, well, I may have come up with the original idea for this, but Tamamo was the one who actually figured out how the specifics would work, so I think I'll let her explain."
 
"Thank you, Master," Tamamo chimed in with a smile before returning her attention to the new resident of her gut. "To put things in a way even you'd be able to understand, you'll be becoming a part of me soon. My body will break you down to your Spirit Origin and incorporate it into my own, granting me all your abilities, Noble Phantasms, and, well, everything of yours really~! Of course, as Master said, it isn't permanent, all it'd take is a simple spell to remove your Spirit Origin from my body and some mana to reform your body, and you'd be back to normal in no time at all."
 
"But... but why? Am I not the most glorious, radiant Servant of all? Why... why am I being subjected to being used to strengthen someone else?"
 
"Well... it's mostly a punishment," Ritsuka admitted, biting his tongue to keep himself from saying the deeper reason behind his idea of having Tamamo consume Nero was that the mere thought of it got his blood pumping. Ritsuka had never mentioned his strange fetish to anyone, but when he had heard Tamamo's complaints, he had jumped at the chance to enact his hidden fantasy. The cherry on the cake was that, in doing so, he'd also be helping and improving one of his favorite Servants in the process. It was a win-win. "Mostly. You've just been demanding so much attention lately, always declaring yourself better than everyone else and going on and on about how amazing you are. Neither of us thought you'd calm down at all if we just tried asking you to, so... we decided to do something a little more extreme."
 
"Is... is that so...? Have I... truly been going too far with my celebrations?"
 
"We wouldn't have done this otherwise, Nero. It was far past time someone reined you in."
 
"I... I see. Umu, very well then. Very well!" Nero's voice suddenly regained some of her usual energy, causing Tamamo to let out a moan as the captive emperor squirmed about one last time. "If the punishment is handed down from my Praetor, than I shall graciously accept it! I shall complete my penance with all the grace and beauty that can be expected of the Emperor of Roses!"
 
"Yes, yes, you'll be full of elegance as you're broken down and added to my body," Tamamo huffed as placed both her hands on her rotund stomach and started to squeeze, starting the absorption process. "Honestly, you really are something else. No one should be as full of energy as you are considering the position you're in."
 
There was no retort from Nero this time, as her focus had shifted to trying to face her fate with some sort of dignity. It was a difficult proposition, considering she was covered in all sorts of Tamamo's digestive juices and had the wet, squishy walls of Tamamo's stomach forcing her into the fetal position. Slowly, those walls started to shift and move, tightening around Nero as more liquid began to pool around her. Contrary to what she expected, the fluids she was being drenched in did not burn her, but instead caused a different sort of fire to be lit within her. Nero began to gasp and moan in pleasure as her clothes disintegrated, leaving her bare skin to be rubbed by the slowly encroaching walls of flesh surrounding her. She couldn't quite tell if she was melting away or simply sinking further into Tamamo's body, all Nero knew was that with every passing moment she felt more and more pleasure.
 
"If this is what it feels like to be part of the fox," Nero thought as she lost all sight of her body and felt her pleasure reach its peak. "Then I don't know if I could keep thinking of this as a punishment..."
 
Back outside, Tamamo was in a similar state of ecstasy. Her massive stomach had been shrinking back down as more and more of Nero was broken down and incorporated into the Caster's body, and her tongue lolled out of her mouth as she let out loud moans from the rush of pleasure she was feeling. While her stomach continued getting smaller, other parts of the vulpine Servant began growing as the effects of absorbing Nero into herself began to present themselves. Tamamo's breasts, which were normally healthy D cups, began to expand, skipping all the way to F cups as Nero's tits were combined with her own. Her ass, hips, and thighs all began to widen and grow as well, all thanks to Nero's essence enhancing Tamamo's already impressive hourglass figure. Tamamo's hair also began to change, with her hair shifting to incorporate Nero's braid on the back of her head and to have the Saber's ahoge poke out from Tamamo's bang. The tips of Tamamo's bright pink hair also shifted to the brilliant blonde of Nero. Even her clothes began to change, with her kimono seeming to automatically put itself back on once Tamamo's stomach had reached a level where it could be contained by her outfit again. Gold accents appeared on the upper portion of Tamamo's skimpy kimono, while the sides of the skirt shot outward to match the wide brim of Nero's dress. The new skirt retained Tamamo's signature deep blue coloration, but the inner portion that covered her front changed to the see-through style that Nero usually wore, with only a small portion of blue cloth keeping her womanhood from being seen by all. Her detached sleeves also gained some new frills and fancy gold trimmings, similar to the ones Nero wore.
 
Throughout the entire process, Fujimaru Ritsuka watched with rapt attention as Tamamo's body underwent its changes. His mind ran wild with fantasies about what indescribable pleasure she must have felt as her body was enhanced by her rival, and all the excited gasps and moans he heard from Tamamo only served to further fuel his imagination. Eventually, once the changes seemed to have finally completed, Ritsuka took a step back to get a good look at his new and improved Servant. She was still recognizable as Tamamo, but the enhanced curves and spiced up outfit would cause anyone to do a double-take.
 
"Tamamo? How do you feel?"
 
"I feel... amazing, Master." Tamamo's voice was a low purr as she sat up and began to admire her new body. "I... didn't expect that to feel THAT good, and, nnh~, it's like I can still feel Nero wiggling around inside me. Mmm~, I hope you were planning on having this 'punishment' last for a long time, Goshujin-sama, because I don't know if I'd ever want to give this up~!"
 
"You can keep her for however long as you like, Tamamo. I think that'd be more than fair." An excited grin crossed Ritsuka's face as he extended a hand to Tamamo and pulled her up into a tight hug. Master and Servant stood face to face, expressing similar looks of excitement and glee as they held each other tightly. "But, before I let you loose... we should probably give your body a quick check up. Make sure everything feels right, you know?"
 
"Oh, I know exactly what you mean, Goshujin-sama~!" Tamamo purred in response, her tail wagging excitedly behind her as she and Ritsuka turned toward the lone bed in the room.
 
She couldn't wait to show him every inch of the new and improved Tamamo no Claudius.