James woke to an empty bed. An empty room. No sign of his girlfriend, Puzz the Puzzle Girl. He began his daily routine; suspecting the state he'd find his girlfriend in left him not terribly excited to continue forward. Once showered and dressed, he went out to the kitchen to find food waiting for him on the dining table. As a centerpiece to the ensemble was Puzz in her sliding puzzle, frozen as she munched cutely on a piece of toast.

His frame came to a rest in the chair as James began to eat. Surprisingly, the prepared toast and eggs were still warm. His heart twinged a bit. It was clear that, despite wanting to be in her puzzle again, Puzz cared enough to wait for him to be ready to eat - showering and all - before she finished making the meal and going into her puzzle. She still valued their relationship as much as he did, and that helped relieve some of his nerves about the day.

As he was eating he studied her puzzle. It wasn't terribly complex today, a 5x5 grid of pieces. What was strange, though, was how the puzzle was already solved. He knew he was home alone, and Puzz couldn't solve it herself from inside it, could she?

James scratched his chin, gathering his dishes and washing them. He took the time to put them away and get ready, after all, after two weeks in the puzzle, minutes wouldn't make much of the difference. He grabbed the sliding puzzle and shoved it in his side bag, making his way downtown to the strange shop.

===

A small bell rang over the entrance to the store as James made his way inside. The musky smell filled his nose, bringing him back to his first visit to the store. It smelled like what he imagine a generic attic of a long past grandparent to smell like, or a thrift store with infinite combinations of people coming and going. It smelled like history, and of something else he couldn't place.

“Ah, you're back! Would've thought you'd bring the girlfriend, but no matter. How'd she like the puzzle?”

James whirled around, finding the elderly man who ran the store at his sales counter behind him. James could have sworn the counter was across the room before and was caught off guard. “Uh, yeah, she liked it. A lot. And that's why we're both here.” He reached into his bag and gently pulled out the puzzle containing his girlfriend, setting it on the counter. The shopkeep picked up the puzzle and examined it, his smile beaming as he did so.

“Ah, she's taken to it like a fish in water!” He set the puzzle back down on the counter and gave a clap, leaving Puzz tumbling forward on to the floor next to the shopkeep, toast still in her hands. “My my, so you're the girl this fine man is dating? I see why he wanted to get you something special.”

Puzz blushed, standing up before the man. She was still in her pajamas, and while more dressed than when she appeared at her Owner's office, she felt more exposed. She scurried around the counter, standing next to her Owner and feeling a little better. “Yes, hi. I'm Puzz, er, Cayla…”

The shopkeep raised an eyebrow, but before he could say anything James cut in. “And that is why we are here again. My girlfriend seems to have… well, she described it as a transformative experience being in there. Now she calls herself Puzz the Puzzle, and that I am her owner. She assures me that my girlfriend, Cayla, is still her and that nothing is wrong, but we wanted to be sure.”

The man nodded, looking Puzz up and down. He thought for a few moments in awkward silence before nodding again to himself and offering his hand to each of his guests. “Puzz, James, as you might have figured out, the puzzle, much like myself and this store, is magical. Real, actual magic.

“I'm actually not even from your Earth. I'm from another Earth, in another time, where magic and dragons and all manners of fantastical things are possible. Fantastical by your standards, rather, they're quite normal to me. You can call me Aelfgir; I'm what you'd think of as an elf from my land.

“Anyway, most people who visit my shop pick something up, and figure it's a party trick. Most never come back. Those that do just give in to what they think is an illusion, and never question it more than that. But you are different, and Miss Puzz, I believe you may be magical yourself.”

The pair stood quietly, both thinking the old man to be crazy. Puzz shook her head. “Look, um, Aelfgir. That's nice and everything, but this isn't magic. It has to be something from one of those tech companies, like Innovention or something. There isn't magic.”

“Oh, is that so?” Aelfgir held up the sliding puzzle. Strangely, it was still a puzzle and not a blank piece of wood, and inside was the second piece of toast Puzz prepared for herself. “Seems like someone wanted to come out but leave a snack for later. Speaking of which, who solved the puzzle?” Aelfgir snapped his fingers and when he opened his hand, a box was resting there. It was large, nearly a foot by a foot and a few inches tall, and far too large to conceal for a trick like he demonstrated.

“Those tech companies you mentioned, Puzz? They're why I chose to stay on your Earth. They're fascinating. Where I'm from, science never progressed much. And why would it? It's not like magic could ever be explained, and it does everything anyway. And yet, without magic, science is almost magical here. But there are still things that are impossible and that's where magic comes in.

“Take this. Free of charge. I'm curious to see what you two make of it. And, if you decide magic is real, feel free to come back. We'll keep digging up more toys for you to play with, and all I would ask in return is a favor, should I need it one day.”

James took a step forward. “Why would we take anything when she still thinks she's Puzz? How do we know this isn't just going to make things worse?”

Aelfgir responded smiling. “Perhaps she was meant to be Puzz? But don't worry. This won't make anything worse, it's more of the same fun. And if you both decide that this is too much and wish for it be Cayla again, just don't use the puzzle for a while. Then everything will go back to normal.”

Puzz eagerly shook Aelfgir's hand, profusely thanking him before clapping herself back in to the sliding puzzle. Aelfgir reached out, grabbing hold of James’s arm. “James. I know you think this is all crazy. Try it out, snapping activates it. Each snap breaks up the pieces smaller. See where it goes.” He set the new box down in front of James. “It's a jigsaw puzzle. If you need something to try, you can always write on it.”

Aelfgir gave a soft wink. “And if you doubt magic is real, how did I know your name? Now hurry home. Wouldn't want her to spend another two weeks in a puzzle because you wouldn't leave my shop, hmm?”

===

James sat at his dining room table. He'd been sitting there since he got home, a few hours ago. He got answers, and Puzz got her new puzzle, so why did he feel like he accomplished nothing today?

Because his goal wasn't answers. It was to talk his girlfriend out of this madness, and now the madness had turned into lunacy with talk of magic and elfs and whatever else.

He thought about pacing, but he wasn't sure he could stand. He wasn't sure how he even managed to get home. The old man, Ale-whatever, creeped him out. James had probably said his name, introduced himself the first time he went, and Puzz being trapped for two weeks probably came up in the conversation.

Except it didn't. He knew it didn't. So either the man actually is magical, or he was stalking the pair of them, and James didn't know what worried him more.

He looked up at where he propped up the sliding puzzle. He solved it, quicker this time. Perhaps he was learning how to figure these out. Yay. His girlfriend's face was frozen, perfectly happy and ecstatic from her conversation with Ale. James turned his attention to the other box. It rattled as he took it home, apparently there were pieces in it, but it was sealed shut.

He sighed, clapping once. Puzz tumbled out onto James's lap, and she hugged him tight. “Hey Owner!” She purred as they shared a kiss. “What's up?”

“Wanna try out that new puzzle he got us?”

Puzz eagerly nodded, rushing over to recline on the carpet. She posed as sexily as she could while wearing her pajamas. James held up the box to face her, and snapped his fingers. He turned the box around in his hands, looking at the picture of his girlfriend on the cover. Lifting it open, inside was a pile of cardboard pieces, with various colors on it. The front of the box said 50 pieces, which seemed low. So James snapped his fingers a few more times. 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600. That sounded more accurate to him, but when he checked inside the pieces were tiny. It would take him a while to solve the puzzle, and he sighed.

“I love you, Puzz.” He frowned, knowing she couldn't say it back and got to work on the puzzle, dumping out the scattered shards of his lover onto the table.