Chapter 2: Floor 107. Sea Of Fleeting Dreams.

As soon as he entered the elevator, the chiming of bells stopped, before promptly being replaced by classical elevator music. What seemed to be some Beethoven. Always a pleasure. Erin turned around in a circle listlessly. The walls, like many elevators, were plated with mirrors on all sides.

He stared at his reflection listlessly for a moment, before stepping forwards. Underneath him, the Elevator's wooden floorboards shifted slightly. To the side, like every other elevator out there, was a metal panel.

Unlike all those other panels out there, with an array of buttons, this one had a row of numbers, ranging from 0-9. Completing the screen was what seemed to be an "enter" button, consisting of a neon-green checkmark.

He hesitantly browsed over the panel, before reaching out to see what would happen if he put in a random number. Typing in a simple "107", his fingers hovered over the enter button for a moment. There was a bit of hesitation as he looked at the button, before he shook his head, finger pressing down.

*Click.*

Suddenly, a loud chime filled the air as over some non-existent speakers, a mechanical female voice spoke.

[Proceeding to Floor 107: Sea Of Fleeting Dreams]

The doors closed with a rumble, causing Erin to flinch slightly. Classical music playing in the background, he heard the ground rumble as the elevator "rose" into the air. Holding the camera in his off-hand, his ears tingled as the symphony of violin and cello created a dramatic atmosphere.

It was a stiffening few minutes, where he stood in silence, feeling as he lifted higher and higher up. There was something unsettling yet exciting to it, as he knew this elevator couldn't possibly reach this high in his mere one-story house, yet of course, there was also much fear too.

*Ding!*

And then, with that characteristic chime, the door opened. Erin blinked, closing his eyes as bright light streamed into the already-lit elevator. It was overwhelming and took a few seconds for him to shake off. Stepping out of the elevator, he first noticed that he was standing on the solid powdery-dirt ground. The soles of his feet sunk into it, and the feeling could be said to be quite pleasant.

Erin frowned as he covered his eyes with his fingers, before slowly parting them. And finally, he saw the view. Something he would probably never forget, even for decades to come. There were few words to describe it.

He stood upon a small humping hill of some sort, overlooking…. Wherever he was. It was a myriad landscape, filled with color, much like a canvas splashed with colorful paint. There was the sky, with hues of purple, orange, and so much more.

It was like a permanent sunset, distorted and warped about. Large morphing clouds of many beautiful colors seemed to change and drift at normal speed, and Erin could faintly see a large hot-white sun in the distance.

And then, there were the ripples. Like morning dew upon a still pond, the air around seemed to distort into bursts of color. Erin reached out into the air, his hand trailing about. It was a strange feeling, this palace. When he moved, there was something about it that reminded him of swimming through a pool….

Lastly, but not least, was the…Sea. From what the message had implied, this was a "Sea Of Dreams". And it truly delivered on that. He stood upon the dirt mound listlessly. He seemed to be standing on what was called a "sea stack".

A large towering rock formation standing over the water. Below, what seemed to be a large stretching body of water spread for miles on either side. The peculiar thing about the water was that it was completely clear.

To a frightening amount. Crystalline and practically glowing, it shimmered a light blue. Despite this, Erin couldn't see to the bottom, further exemplifying his hypothesis that it was an ocean. He felt his hairs stand on end as a strange wind seemed to sweep over him.

*Grooooaaaa…..*

Out of nowhere as he attempted to find footing on the dirt platform, suddenly, a loud bestial groan shook the area. Staring down, Erin watched as a large cascading wave practically toppled the stack he was sitting upon, a large herd of beasts ascending into the sky.

Looking up, he watched the procession, with a single thought in mind. This is simply out of this world. A giant herd of stingray-like creatures whipped their leathery "wings" about as they soared farther and farther away. Illuminated in orange light, the creatures sparkled, somewhat blending in with the clouds above. Each of them was perhaps the size of a blue whale.

And at that moment, Erin Wang finally came to the conclusion that he was in another realm. There was no way this was Earth. It was beautiful and mesmerizing beyond words, making any old computer wallpaper look minuscule in comparison. And of course, stingrays of that size never existed on Earth, as far as he knew. Also, they didn't fly.

Hastily raising his camera, he felt his body shake about as he snapped photos. If he didn't make any records of this amazing crap, then he might as well die in a hole. Surveying the area for a while more, suddenly, Erin shrugged. It was a gesture that he displayed only in many situations, but in this particular one, it meant that he had no idea what he was going to do.

Sure, he could swim quite well, but there didn't seem to be any land in sight that he could swim to. Dropping down from this stack would also mean he wouldn't have anywhere to stop and rest.

There was also the chance of being eaten by some creature lurking beneath the surface. Sure, he could see pretty well with that clear of water, but one never knew. This seemed like a fantasy-esque world, after all.

But if he didn't get off, there was really nothing he could do. There was no water up here, and he couldn't exactly make any food out of the dirt. Not to mention that any possible living people, if there were any, could see him better in the clear water.

Suddenly, Erin froze. He'd been so engrossed in this new world…. That he forgot about the elevator. Turning around carefully in a circle, he realized that the Elevator was gone. It was as if…. It had never existed. He froze for a second like a stone statue, before slapping his palm against his face.

"Ah. It seems I've made a fatal miscalculation. Whoopsie." Shrugging again in a show of regret and adaptation, Erin's eyes darted about, before he flinched, bright light reflecting into his eyes. He grimaced in annoyance before his eyes traced to the source of this light. It seemed to be coming from the palm of his left hand.

Raising it up, Erin jolted. Something…A tattoo of sorts had seemingly been branded into his arm when he wasn't looking. It was a simple symbol, looking like that of a basic house. It resembled a home… button.

Being as brain dead as he was, Erin immediately pressed his opposing thumb to the button. For a second nothing happened. And then…. Another second passed. Nothing happened. This continued for another five seconds before something notable finally happened.

*Ding!*

Out of nowhere, the clear chime of an elevator sounded, as from below, the elevator rose out in a cloud of dust. Erin's jaw dropped. It was truly hard to comprehend. Looking about for a second more, he decisively decided to open the elevator.

It was the exact same as before, save a single difference. On the metal screen, a new button appeared. This one was a home button exactly identical to the one on his right palm. Erin nodded in understanding, before tilting his head. Was this supposed to make sense? He shrugged for the third time in the past ten minutes, not wanting to think about it.

Pressing the home button, he watched as the door closed, and the classical music began to play again. Tapping his feet, Erin looked at his water-speckled clothes and his wind tousled hair. His heartbeat began to slow to normal, and he sighed in relief. While it was pretty and all, he didn't feel like staying in that "world" overnight.

Soon, the door opened, and Erin stumbled back into the hallway, his legs carrying him faster than he'd probably ever gone before, zipping down the hallway until he dropped on the mattress, the camera plopped down beside him.

Staying there for a second, he suddenly propped himself up and rushed over to his desk. Scrambling about, he quickly found a blank lined-paper notebook. Mind racing, his No. 2 Pencil wrote down all the details. Floor 107. Sea Of Fleeting Dreams. Flying Titanic Stingrays. Still-Clear Ocean. There were so many details to put into consideration as he wrote ferociously.

If his hypothesis was right…

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(A/N: Thank you to all my nonexistent readers.)