The Dread Arc. It's been a while, but Dread was still here, mentally. He was just... haunting Colle. Taunting him with his worst fears and just trying to get into his head even though he tried before (and it almost worked, honestly). Colle thought that it was over, even after the Demon Steve War down in the Obsidian Citadel, and Dread had been right all along. Colle would get dragged down to the World Below by the Demon Steves after they had stopped their siege when they saw Colle, and basically named him the king of the Demon Steves, which was.... weird. It was to the point that Seer, as Rainbow Steve, the first ever, had to go down to the World Below himself just so he could get Colle back, and no one touched Colle while Seer was around, not even evil Steves such as Dread and the Demon Steves.

Colle now resided in the Desert Kingdom, which had grown quite a lot, actually! Ever since Genesis had revived the glass-turned Desert Steves and the old leaders, especially the first ever leader, the kingdom had been growing and trying to figure itself out. Even the Academy that Sharp proposed was finally finished! Colle even had his own home now, ever since the Red King banished him because he wasn't in his right mind, but that was just Dread being Dread Steve! That's all in the past now, and there is an era of peace now. No disturbances, no evil running about... it was all great! Even Sharp was still around, surprisingly.

Even though Colle was unbanished from the Red Kingdom, he still chose to stay with the Desert Steves. Sure, it cost him his sanity, but what's not to love? He wanted to see the Forest Steves thrive! And he wanted to see the Desert Steves not be... dumb, because they really cost him his sanity. Colle still went back to the Red Kingdom once in a while to help the Red Leader that the Red King had as an apprentice, and honestly, Colle didn't mind!

One night, Colle was sleeping, but it wasn't just a regular dream, Dread, as always, was just haunting and taunting him. Saying the most... horrible things imaginable, saying he wasn't enough, saying that everyone dislikes him... even Seer got roped into that too... but Colle knew his friends and buddies didn't dislike him, he knew that he was enough, he was trying his best to get over it.

This night, Seer visited the Desert Kingdom, and he found Colle. He noticed that something was off, Colle was tense, and there was a bit of shaking here and there, but more like shivering... Colle's parrot was still here, and it was sleeping too, snuggly in Colle's arms like a stuffed animal. 'It's so peaceful...' Seer thought, before gently placing a hand on Colle's arm, which prompted the Red Steve to wake up with a slight jump, but noticed immediately that it was just Seer. The parrot was still unbothered though.

"Hey, what's going on with you?" Seer asked softly, his voice low as to not wake the parrot or disturb the seemingly peaceful night. "Nothing..." replied Colle, clearly hiding something because he wasn't good at hiding lies either. He wasn't good at a lot of things, but he was good at most things. Fighting was in between, but that's not the focus. "No, I know something's wrong, dear. Is it Dread again?" Colle's expression darkened, his thin-lined lips turned into a frown at the fact that Seer, once again, found out about his troubles. Colle looked away, but gave a small nod. It was Dread indeed. "Yes.. it is.. I don't know why he isn't gone. I thought..." Colle trailed off. Seer took notice, and gently pat the other man's shoulder before laying down behind him and wrapping his arms around Colle's waist, pulling him closer to the point the other's back met his front.

"Sleep. I'm here. He won't bother you anymore while I'm here. Not on my watch," Seer muttered as he buried his face into Colle's neck. Colle chuckled, relaxing in the Blue Steve's hold, and closing his eyes, allowing himself to rest for the moment. He had to admit, he felt safe now in Seer's hold, and temporarily, Dread's shadow and presence seemed to fade away into nothing, only to be forgotten.