A/N: Greetings, readers! Been awhile, but I surmise that y'all are used to it by now. I'm so sorry that I am an irresponsible author. Since this series is on the cusp on ending, I'm trying not to be so infrequent with updates. Incidentally, I split this chapter into two because somewhere along the way I realized that a lot was happening in this chapter. Next chapter will also have a lot of stuff, but hopefully all the movement will be a good excuse for it.

Anyway, this is the chapter I've been dreading and anticipating since I first started the series! So it was fun but it hurt but I won't reveal too much. Chapter title a song by Jill Tracy!

12th Arrangement: Pulling Your Insides Out

Of course there was only one place at the end of the tunnel.

Jack wanted to be anywhere else in the world. Where he was, it was too dark, and everything hurt too much. He felt like he surrounded by something oppressive. Before him, a shadowed man was standing, with not a single detail of his face or body discernible - except for the silvery eyes that were staring at him, crinkled at the edges like he was grinning. He had a needle digging into Jack's naked body again and again, each pierce polluting his flesh with ink.

Somewhere inside himself, Jack could feel he'd been in this position before. His heavy breathing and tears were familiar. The mark of the prostitute being tattooed onto him was familiar. But the shadowed figure was new. Jack noticed the inside of his thigh, right where his mysterious other tattoo was, was bleeding freely. The symbol of Pandora's Box looked like it had been more carved into his skin with a knife than etched with a needle.

Jack screamed. He thrashed, calling for help, for the figure to stop.

"Now now, if you keep doing that, you'll scare the other patient. Be a good boy now, Jack. Take it."

The last phrases, said to him so often when he was forced to so many positions as he was fucked and defiled, gave Jack pause. He felt revolted by the commands but his body couldn't resist them. He stilled. Then wondered - other patient? Was he not the only one here? He looked around, sniffling and whimpering as the needle continued to pierce him.

Someone else was a few feet away from him. His electric-purple eyes were open and looking right back at Jack. Their body gave a jerk, in the same position as Jack, with a copy of the shadowed man before him, branding pale flesh with the same tattoo every prostitute got.

"G-Glen..."

"Take it," Glen murmured. The two shadowed men opened their mouths, Glen's voice coming out of all of them. "Take it. Take it, you slut. Take it. Take it."

"Don't say that." Jack shuddered with new sobs.

"Take it."

"But I want to give it to you." I wanted to make it feel different between us.

"You did." Glen's hand went down his body, tracing over his new tattoo below his naval, fingertips painted red from the blood.

Jack was tossed to the floor. Just as he opened his eyes, he registered several voices and the fact that he was being lifted to his feet.

"Wh-what is-?" Jack shook his head, fought out of his captor's grip. He found his balance and was alert in a second, glaring at the one who had tried to take him.

He swallowed. Several of the guard were in the room, along with Fang - and Isla Yura. Jack froze upon seeing him, wondering what the heck they were doing in his room. Oh, but the scent around him, the heavy blankets around him - neither were ones he was familiar with.

Ah. That was right. He wasn't in his room, was he? Jack looked over as Glen got up from the bed, undoubtedly also driven awake by the noise. His hair stuck out in tangled messes and the remaining bruises from last night still laid obviously on his pale skin. If it weren't for the glare that held all of his authority as a monarch, he would've seemed just like any other person Jack had slept with.

Which reminded him, the two of them were still naked. Luckily, Jack had managed to drag some sheets with him, and he held it up to his chest - less from the chill or trying to keep decency and more about keeping his naval tattoo hidden.

"What is the meaning of this?" Glen made no move to cover his torso or his hickeys.

"A thousand pardons, Your Majesty," Fang said, politely glancing down. He offered a terse bow. "I would not have done it had I not believed you were in danger in any way, you know it, sire."

"Indeed I do, yet I can see no danger here save for my wrath at you coming into my room unnannounced." Glen brushed back his messy bangs, the morning sunlight falling on his face so intensely it made his glare all the more potent. Jack was certain he'd never seen him so angry before. "Leave us to be dressed so that you may have proper audience with me in the throne room."

"I am sorry, Your Majesty, but I need you to trust me on this. This man here," he did look up then, to look at Jack, "is not who he says he is. We would apprehend him immediately."

Glen's eyes widened, as did Jack's. But as soon as Jack saw Isla Yura smile - no, back when he first laid eyes on him in the room - he understood what was happening. It was what he'd been most afraid of since he was dragged away to Glen's front door. That time felt like eons ago, and a time Jack would rather experience again, to tell the truth from the beginning - rather than be here right then.

That was probably why when he was grabbed again, he didn't fight it, too numb from the realization that he was getting cornered. Of course, Jack knew all about being able to escape from corners, but right then he felt too much guilt to even move. He tried to keep the sheet close to him, dragging it off the bed and out the room as he was taken to the hallway.

"H-Hold on, could I just get dressed?" He walked awkwardly to keep up with the hauling.

Glen went after them, keeping a sheet around himself as well. "Stop right there, Fang! That's an order!" They stood outside the room, Glen taking his hard gaze back and forth between all of them. "This is all very irregular. Tell me what this is about, right now."

No one spoke a word. But Fang looked over to Isla Yura, who had been grinning throughout this entire scene and took the attention on him in stride.

"Oh? Didn't you know, sire? I suppose you didn't, considering how far dear Jack's gotten." He made his way to Jack, leaning into him. "You're still very excellent with that tongue of yours, I see. A perfect liar with it."

His voice being so close to Jack drew out a spike of panic deep in his core. He tried to back away from him but Fang's grip held him in place. "Get away from me!" he yelled in desperation, as if his words alone would bring up a shield for him.

"Stop it! What do you think you're doing?" Glen waved his hand, and as if a wind had hit him, Isla Yura stumbled back a few steps. Glen held his gaze like a knife to his throat. "Listen to me. This is not a game. How dare you order my guard around for your personal amusement? I've made it quite clear before that Jack is one that I trust."

"Even if he's a thief?"

"Just so." Glen's eyes narrowed to slits. "Now, I've had enough of this nonsense."

"Has he managed to seduce your heart as well as your body, sire?" Isla Yura's lips were still stretched in obscene smile, undeterred even in the face of Glen's anger.

Glen faltered a bit at that, and for the first time looked around. He seemed to finally take in his and Jack's situation and the gravity of it - of the two of them being found naked in bed together, two men, both of them clearly unsuited for one another, worlds away. There were undoubtedly questions, but even Fang was remaining silent, his eyes bowed down, refusing to meet Glen's. No matter how one approached it, this was a sight no one had ever expected to see, and it was incriminating to say the least.

Of course, here Jack was the culprit.

Glen snapped out of it. "It is no business of yours."

"Truly not, but you see, I knew Jack before anyone in this room. And I know who he is. I didn't wish to keep it from you, but I did so fret that this would happen - of course, I was too late in my warning."

Jack looked up just in time to see Arthur dashing down the hallway to survey the scene. His eyes grew wider and wider by the second as he looked from the state Jack and Glen were in to Isla Yura who was wearing a grin that split his face. He focused just on Jack, pleading with his eyes for an exclamation for what was happening. But Glen interrupted, not even noticing Arthur's arrival.

"What are you talking about?"

Isla Yura nodded to Fang. "Remove his sheet. It'll be there."

Arthur and Jack reacted at once. Arthur because he understood finally what was happening, and Jack because of all the ways he wanted this to happen, it wasn't at the hands of the man he despised most, being stripped bare in every sense of the word, against Jack's will. He struggled against Fang's hands, tried to plea with the conflicted expression he saw on that tattooed face, and even just as Glen reached out a hand again, the sheet fell to the floor.

More hands grabbed at Jack, exposing him, bringing flashbacks of those early years of joining Incuse. When all he could do was be forced and held back, to look up at eyes that felt like at the time wanted to own him and destroy him in that possession.

If Jack ever thought that Glen was anything like those men that paid to have sex with him, then the expression held in his eyes took care of that doubt. A long silence stretched out, almost like all were holding their breath. Jack wished in that moment that just a few seconds of suffocating himself were enough to stop his heart. If being breathless didn't do it, finally getting the nerve to look Glen in the eyes would.

But Glen wasn't angry. He wasn't blasting Jack away with his magick. When Jack looked at him, he doubted he was even looking at the powerful Glen Baskerville, king of Sablier. No, right at that moment, what Jack thought stood before him was just a man - a man made small and defenseless. Of course, he wasn't returning Jack's stare, but staring further down his body.

Fang seemed to be the first to regain breath, and that prompted everyone else to follow. Feebly, Jack started to shake and he whispered, "Don't look."

"It's there. The tattoo all prostitutes are marked with," Fang said.

"He's a whore," muttered one of the other guards in wonder.

Glen frowned, then shook his head. "Don't call him that." He went over to Jack, picked the sheet back up and covered him with it. Jack didn't know where the defense for him was coming for - he'd seen Glen's expression. He was shocked. So why was he still being nice?

"They're not wrong," Isla Yura said.

"I don't care. That's not who Jack is anymore."

"'Anymore'?" Isla Yura gave a giggle. "Do you think this is a position he's given up? Jack's been a prostitute for many years - quite popular down at the cabaret, I hear. He's a man who lets other men pay him for intimacy. Up until the very day you decided to pick him up from wherever you found him, he was spreading his legs for someone-"

"Get out! Get out, get this man out of my sight!" Glen turned to Isla Yura in fury. His countenance seemed to visibly darken, even as his eyes flashed bright with anger. The very air around him buzzed with energy, full of raging lightning that would strike like a snake at any moment.

Although the whole company was murmured among themselves and shuffling their feet in clear awkwardness over the situation, they jumped to attention at Glen's yelling. Several looked quite shocked and fearful, two gathering the courage to finally move and grab Isla Yura. The man himself, in contrast, looked smug if anything, and easily let himself be led down the hall. Two other guards followed, leaving just Fang. He'd flinched at Glen's yelling as well - and that was all the confirmation Jack needed that this probably didn't happen often.

Glen had gotten so angry - for what? For his sake? Or maybe he just couldn't hold his own fury at being mocked on so many levels, by Isla Yura, and by Jack.

He knows now. He knows now. Glen knows who I am now, he knows I'm disgusting, that I'm a whore and a liar. He... Jack gripped the sheets tightly, unable to look anyone in the face. Glen's feet looked so odd bare, but he had ten toes just like Jack. He didn't know what he was expecting.

"Jack…" Arthur came a little closer, and Jack wanted more than anything to just fall into his arms, bury his face away in his chest. Arthur was his only certain friend in the hallway.

But still, he wavered. He looked up. "Glen."

That seemed to break whatever silent rage Glen was in. He moved all at once, dragging Jack back inside his room by the arm. "Get dressed," he said, voice taut.

"Glen, I'm sorry that happened."

"What that man does isn't a fault of yours. He always felt so - offputting to me." Glen wouldn't stop moving. He tossed his sheets to the side before turning to the door. "Fang, close the door. Wait there for Jack."

Fang nodded, still looking down as he swung the door closed.

Jack caught his clothes being tossed to him, still taking care to keep the sheet close to him for some odd reason. He couldn't take how in all the bustle, at some point Glen had just stopped looking at him. Shaking, his words started coming out in a babble, "I'm sorry, I tried to tell you I was wrong for this, I tried so many times to tell you, but I…" His reasons seemed like such a feeble thing now. He couldn't have just ended this long ago?

"It's alright, Jack. Don't worry yourself any further about it. Nothing's going to change."

Nothing's going to change. What did that mean? Hadn't Glen been paying attention at all? Why was he still continuing to reassure Jack? Something still felt so wrong even though he was telling Jack nothing was changing. Everything should be changing, because he wasn't who he said he was, he should be of no use anymore…

Then it clicked. Glen still thought he was genuinely a part of Jetrose. Being a prostitute was being excused because Glen didn't know that was literally all he was. The cold settled back in Jack's bloodstream.

By that time, Glen was dressed, all proper and regal as if the morning and last night hadn't even happened. His hair wasn't combed yet though, but tentatively smoothed down from its previously tangled state. Jack hadn't so much as put his trousers on yet however. His stunned stillness was not unnoticed.

"Jack, you need to get dressed," Glen reminded.

Jack lowered his eyes and began to pull his clothes over his body. Even though practically the whole castle probably knew about his tattoo now, he still slowly turned away from Glen as he dressed. Finally being free from that all-knowing gaze, Jack let out a shaky breath.

"Glen, you know that he's right. I was...out there on the streets, in the cabaret - that very day that I was brought to you." His mouth hung open, trying to find words to explain himself. He was going to add that the only reason he'd been out was because he wanted to take Oz and Ada to the festival, but he didn't want them to end up being his excuse - Glen was soft toward his siblings, had shown him that unforgettable sense of compassion because of them.

Right now, he would make sure that there was no soft blow in letting Glen know the truth. If he didn't, he feared Glen would keep misunderstanding him, and would keep protecting someone who - even if Glen said otherwise - simply wasn't worth it.

He was sitting all dressed up on the bed now, hands fumbling with his hair to keep himself occupied. Just like the previous day, he started with his braid with mechanical movements.

Glen hadn't moved, but Jack felt his presence behind him. "I'm sure you had your reasons."

"I do," Jack said, forcefully changing his situation to the present tense. "As I'm sure you're aware, I don't come from any kind of noble living. I'm sure Charlotte and Fang told you where I was from. Therefore, you know that I come from the bottom rung of society. And I'm all the filthy things that accompany it."

"Jack, you-"

"No." His voice was clear and forceful, but he didn't so much as raise it into a yell. But he'd turned to Glen now, giving him that same pinning stare he'd been on the receiving end of since the first day he came into the castle. "Imagine it. And not in a way that makes you want to help me. I come from the gravel under people's shoes. I will do whatever it takes in order to have a handle up on someone. I will have sex for money. I will steal, yes. But Glen, I've been trying to…"

I've been trying to tell you. No, he shouldn't console him. He shouldn't sweeten the words. Tell him. Maybe it was a bit dramatic, how he decided to word it, but he needed Glen to understand. He needed Glen to see him, the real him, unflinchingly.

He backpedaled. "I will steal, yes. But I'm not that kind of thief. The things I steal are a few extra coins from nobles daring to venture to my district. Some drugs that used to put me to sleep. Pendants off dead men I pass in an alleyway." He didn't even dare to blink as he spoke, holding Glen's gaze like a yielding knife to his throat.

When Glen blinked, then looked down at the silver on Jack's chest, of the Jetrose emblem, and blinked again. His countenance didn't betray any emotions he might've been feeling, and Jack was left vaguely disappointed by that. He wanted a pinch of anger, of betrayal, sadness - something that said all this was one big regret Glen had.

But Glen only stepped around the bed, and gently fell to his knees before Jack, taking his hands into his with a butterfly caress. His eyes were squinted a bit, and his lips were pressed together, but other than that, Jack could read nothing else.

"Jack," he said, "I've made you promises, both ones I've told you and ones I've never spoken. Right now, you could be in danger, like Lacie once was. You've undeserving misfortune upon you, and I want to end it all - I want the suffering to end, and to have Lacie again. Whether by lie or deception of circumstance, I don't think you being here is an accident. You've been woven into all this, and so - I still think we need each other. If only until Abyss is locked away."

Jack lost his breath. He didn't understand. Why was Glen on his knees? Why was he not being tossed out this instant? Well - of course he knew why. As long as he was around, he could be used to find Lacie. After that, the outcome that Jack had expected all along would come to pass. He could read Glen's words: "You may not be a part of Jetrose, but you can at least get Lacie back."

For now, he still had some use. And that was all.

He bit his bottom lip. He couldn't even dare to bring himself to squeeze Glen's bare, soft hands like he wanted to. "But… Pandora's Box…"

Glen got up then, abruptly. His bangs hid his eyes, and Jack couldn't make out his expression even if he was showing something.

"That'll be something for later," he said. "First comes Lacie. Just don't do anything further. As for the position we were caught in this morning. I'll say I was the one receiving. Everything will stay quiet if I do." His hands slid out from Jack's, and without any further instruction, he left the room.

The door remained ajar, and Jack stared after the empty space left behind with wide eyes. His lips were parted, his tongue poised for a protest that was already too late. And so he remained frozen, trying to make sense of the real situation and the impending pain grabbing his heart. The air was missing something now, and Jack hadn't realized how warm it had been lately until Glen left his view.

Now it was cold. And Jack felt like he was left looking for the other pair to something, the other end of some string, a lifeline - but it was gone and… So is Glen. It was ridiculous to think, because both of them of course were still in the castle, and safe despite the events of the morning.

Then what was this barrier that was keeping Jack from seeing anything?

"Oh…"

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry that I am who I am. I'm sorry I'm dirty. I'm sorry that you touched me, that I touched you too, daring to trace your heart... I'm so, so sorry... Glen...

By the time Arthur tentatively peeked his head in, a few tears had already fallen down Jack's cheeks without his permission. He hadn't moved, and his throat was tight and dry with held back sobs. But not even when Arthur collected his hands like Glen had did Jack break the dam. He only leaned in to numbly bury his face into Arthur's red hair, and he squeezed his hands, quivering like he was cold.

"Jack…"

"You were right, Arthur. Everyone was right. This was something I should've said a long time ago. After my use is done...I need normalcy again. I need to go back to the life I really know." He was whispering, his eyes closed, still shaking, still feeling how empty the air felt.

It hit Jack then. Harder than he thought something could occur to him.

His lie hadn't hurt a king. No, he stopped seeing just a monarch long ago. He'd hurt someone, a person, he'd hurt someone that didn't deserve to be hurt. Who Jack hurt in the past was never important to him, but then again, he hadn't had affections for any of them.

Oh. I am a terrible person, aren't I? I should never be connected to someone who is important to Glen. Even if this is some mark of misfortune, if it links to his precious person, I don't deserve it, I shouldn't be in this picture. Is this what I deserve? Or is it my punishment?

"Arthur…"

"I'm sorry, Jack," Arthur murmured. He leaned closer in, returning the squeezes of their linked hands. "I'm sorry it happened this way. I wish your circumstances could've been so much different. I - I wish I could help you, I…"

Jack blinked, another realization coming to him. In retrospect, it was a bit laughable that he hadn't seen it before. Maybe it was because Arthur was different to him than the other nobles, or the faceless people he had sex with. Really and truly, Arthur was one of his only friends. His good, honest nature attracted Jack. And, he now saw that that attraction was something Arthur reciprocated very strongly.

Being aware of Arthur's feelings wasn't an overwhelming thing like Jack it'd be. He smiled a bit, trying not to laugh because someone as good and pure as Arthur wanting to be with someone like Jack was just as impossible as a king having feelings for him. Yet here it all was. Jack wondered what it was that anyone could see in him, especially after all this.

He dipped his head further, pressing his forehead to Arthur's shoulder, and he leaned into his warmth. "It's alright," he said, voice clearer than before. "You've given me far more than you think. I'm grateful for our friendship, Arthur. Thank you for always helping someone like me - even now, having you here, I need no further comfort."

He felt Arthur tense, presumably blushing as he scrambled for words. He knew just how Arthur was like.

"O-of course I'd help! If I can be of any use to you, Jack, then…"

"No. Not use." You're not some tool like me. He turned to peek up at Arthur, offering him a smile. "Friends don't use each other. We are simply there for each other."

After a moment, Arthur returned the smile. "Then I'll keep being here for you. So - that is, if you want to talk about what happened this morning…"

"I was found naked in the king's chambers," Jack said with a defeated chuckle. "You're a smart person, Arthur. I'm sure you can figure out what happened."

"But… That is, I didn't think you'd…"

Jack sighed, rising up. "Neither did I. But...many things have happened since I've come here. That man - he gives me too many feelings at once. And it seems I did the same for him. That's probably not the case anymore, but…"

What happened last night will probably never happen again.

Arthur blinked, seeming to understand. His gaze softened to sympathy, and pulled Jack into his arms. Jack's smile started to wobble a little as fresh tears started to pool in his eyes.

"From the very beginning I knew I was so wrong for him. Why did I get this fondness for him anyway?" He started to shake, sniffing as the sadness raked over his body.

Arthur held him tighter, but his voice was gentle when he finally let out a breath and answered. "Some people just leave that kind of mark on us. It can be the most simple thing, but one way or another, they've left an impression on our minds, our hearts..."

Or bodies in my case.

"They don't have my permission to mark me," he said with a low laugh.

"Well, I bet you do a fair bit of marking yourself. You're a charismatic person, after all." Arthur said it lightly, and it was enough to soothe Jack a little.

"Right. Do you - mind if we don't go out for a few minutes more?"

Arthur shifted, coming to sit on the bed next to Jack. Very rarely did Jack ever open himself up emotionally, and admit that he needed comfort. Luckily, Arthur wasn't questioning it. Just like Glen hadn't.

Aah. I need to start now - about forgetting him. He leaned on Arthur's shoulder again, and closed his eyes. At that moment, he'd rather have the stuffyness of his home, than the cold expanse of his one-time lover's castle.

Ending A/N: I swear I haven't the core plot of this, I promise we will get to Lacie and Abyss and all that horrible goodness next chapter. I have no idea how long it'll be considering the events that will take place. It might be a bit fast-paced. Unless I decide to just. Cut that chapter into two parts as well (screams). Thank for bearing with me ;o;

So actually the reason Glen said he'd tell them that he was the bottom was because of the taboo that goes like - if you're gonna have gay sex, if people find out, it's always worse for the person who was bottoming because they're seen as like the "girl". In this case, everyone thinks Jack is some slut who seduced Glen. But if Glen said he was the one who bottomed, it would be a shock, and no one would want to execute any punishment because technically Glen had the "worse" position. So yes. Pretty interesting stuff.