In her defense, it had been Uncle Gene's suggestion. It wasn't her fault that the trip took longer than she thought it would.
Five of these mirrors exist in the world. She considered herself lucky that one happened to be within a week's travel.
The Medeis Mirror. The mirror that could show one the thing that would make them happy.
The perfect gift for Aunt Lydia!
Lydia tapped her fingers on the desk. Her brother had been alerted not five minutes ago. She'd had no choice in the matter - Mavis had been missing for two weeks. It was time to call it quits on the hunt.
Or so she thought. The doors to the hotel opened, and she looked up, ready to greet the new guest properly-
And there Mavis was, with twigs in her hair, mud on her clothes and her body significantly skinnier from lack of nourishment the past two weeks.
She was at her niece's side in an instant, rushing to get the girl to a seat. "You idiotic girl," she muttered. "Where on earth have you been? Do you realize how worried I-... Your friends have been?"
The word-swap hadn't been missed on Mavis, but thankfully for Lydia she chose not to mention it. "I was getting your birthday gift."
It was then that Lydia noticed Mavis hiding something behind her back. Lydia scowled, placing her hands on Mavis's shoulders. "You idiotic girl," she repeated. "Next time, if it's between something you must leave for two weeks with no warning to get, and a card, just give me a card, okay?"
Mavis beamed, eyes twinkling. "It's a deal."
She stood up from the seat Lydia had guided her to. "You want it now? I know I missed your birthday, but I didn't think it'd be so far away..."
Lydia sighed a long-suffering sigh. "Fine. Hand it over..."
Mavis beamed and held out...
A... A mirror.
"...Child, you do realize that this is the most useless gift one could give a vampire?"
Mavis gave a bright laugh at the comment. "It's not a regular mirror, Aunt Lydia! You look in it, and it shows you the thing that would make you happiest in the world! It's one of the five Medeis Mirrors!"
Lydia's eyes widened, and the looked down at the mirror with a new feeling of appreciation. "...It is still not worth you leaving for two weeks without warning," she said bitterly.
Mavis laughed brightly. "I'm glad you like it!" she chirped.
Lydia sighed, and delicately sat the mirror down on a nearby table. She wrapped her arms around Mavis, pulling her close. "I prefer your presence over the mirror, Mavis. Promise me that you will never, ever do that again."
Mavis tensed, standing there awkwardly for about ten seconds before wrapping her arms around Lydia, a soft smile coming to her lips. "I promise, Aunt Lydia."
One had to be completely alone to use the mirror. So, Lydia sent Diane off to do... Whatever the chicken did in her free time, then locked her door, and looked down at the mirror.
A spirit appeared, lifting itself out of the mirror. "Hello, Lydia Dracula," the spirit said. "Would you like to see the thing that would make you the happiest you could be?"
Lydia chuckled weakly. "May as well. My niece went through all the trouble of finding this mirror..."
The spirit nodded in understanding. It reached through Lydia, grabbing onto something inside her... Something that throbbed at being touched, and sent a dull ache throughout her body...
And then, something appeared on the mirror's surface.
An image of Mavis, beaming up at her. "I love you, Aunt Lydia," the image said. The way it was said gave Lydia pause, made her freeze up and her eyes go wide.
No.
She can't.
Even disregarding Mavis's relation to her, the girl is only 114-
And as if sensing Lydia's thoughts, the image changed. The Mavis in the image became significantly more mature, looking about 214 (the equivalent of about 28 for humans). She appeared to be quite a bit taller at this age, no longer looking up at Lydia, but instead being eye level. "I love you so much," the older Mavis said, an adoring shine in her blue eyes.
...Lydia felt sick.