Dib Membrane was a lonely man. He never was able to find a job, and he was never able to find someone to share love with. To be frank, he didn't care. He had no interest in finding either things, they simply didn't matter. There were no jobs that shared his likes--no jobs that were his likes, anyway. There weren't any people that seemed to care about him for something instead of family connections, and even then, family connections barely cared about him.
Dib's father was a known miracle worker of the lands, knowing many things about modern science and new technology, things rarely even seen around the place he was moving his work. He wished just one of his children could go into his business, but neither seemed to want to. Gazlene, the young daughter, much prefered reading banned adventure books. Well, most of the time she wasn't even reading--just messily sketching big, round pigs dying in the indents of each page. And Dib, who had just turned 21, was interested in the unspeakable: he liked unrealistic things, things like vampires. Things like ghosts. Things like other worldly beings... things like the undead.
His father sometimes thought about sending him to the madhouse. No one ever thinks about those ungodly things, things that didn't exist. It wasn't scientific--it was fanciful! And his son really believed in it. "Maybe he'll grow out of it one day," he'll say. "Maybe he's not as insane as everyone speaks."
Gaz couldn't care less about what her older brother thought. She just found him annoying.
Dib sighed and leaned his head back against the padded walls of the horse carriage. No one had exactly told him where his family was moving and why--he just assumed the 'why' was because of his father's work--and wasn't too excited about it. It wasn't like he was leaving any friends behind, he had none. He just didn't want to go to another dull town.
Dull was the perfect word to describe where he was going to: a dreary town with dull tones, stains on every dull building, dull shops that mainly sold dead fish, even the color schemes were dull. There wasn't a single exciting thing about it; though, there was a forest across the bridge. Might be good for monster hunting.
"Son, are you ready to be in our new current home?" Membrane asked, breaking the hours-long silence.
"...I guess," Dib mumbled, looking out the small window.
"Oh, come now! New places give you new ideas! New ideas of CREATION! And, maybe even ideas for you of young ladies?"
Dib rolled his eyes and continued staring out the window. "No thanks, dad."
"Yeah. Dib's gonna be lonely forever," Gaz slighted.
"Hey!"
"Now now, daughter. Don't make fun of your brother--I'm sure he'll find someone eventually! Well, I'm not sure, because of his, you know, insanity." Membrane was quick to change the topic. "Well? How about you, Gaz? This is for you, after all."
Gaz just shrugged, pulling her feet up on the seat and resting her head on her knees.
"Hey--don't do that dear, you're messing the seat."
She sighed, dropped her legs, and rested her head on her hands.

"And I thought at least you'd be excited!"
Dib thought for a second, then finally asked the tugging question. "Hey... why are we moving, anyway?"
The rest of his family went quiet, staring at each other.
"You... didn't tell him?" Gaz growled.
"What? I thought everyone knew!" Membrane put his arms up in defense.
"What? Tell me what?" Dib suddenly felt a feeling of anxiety in his stomach. That, or it was road sickness.
Gaz glared at her sighing father. "Your sister is getting married."
This caught Dib's interest massively. His big head whipped around and stared at his sister, his eyes wide. "You're what?! To who? And WHY?"
Gaz shrugged again. "I don't know who."
Dib rubbed his eyes. "Of course. You're getting an arranged marriage. Again, why?"
Membrane put a hand on his shoulder. "Son, there was no easy way to tell you, but we've lost all our money. Marrying off your sister was the best thing to do."
Dib was dumbfounded. Why was he never told anything? He stared back out the window, watching the muted gray town roll by. "...When is it?"
"In two days. The rehearsal is tonight. We're trusting you to bring the rings."
Dib stopped talking.
Gaz leaned over, "Hey. If it makes you feel any better, I'm not so ecstatic about it either."
"Yeah. Thanks." Dib didn't look over.
After a few more minutes of silence, the carriage came to a sudden stop.
"Oh, looks like we've arrived!" Membrane brushed himself off as the driver opened the doors. The children stepped out, looking around and feeling the gross, moist air.
"Huh. Ecstatic now?" Dib smirked.
"Shut up," Gaz shot back.
The family walked to the largest home on the street, climbing up the tall white stairs one step by one. Membrane used the metal knockers on the stained wood door, letting out a loud clang with each drop. The arching doors slowly opened, revealing a woman with navy hair and a lapis dress staring at them. "Hello."
"Mrs... Miyuki?" Membrane requested.
"That's me... are you Doctor Membrane?"
"Yes! I have brought my daughter Gazlene here," he motioned over to Gaz.
"Ah, the girl. My son will be down any minute. Please, do come in..."
The family entered the building, the feeling from the town not leaving. The room was big and much cleaner than the outside, but still rather sad. There were two grand staircases going to different sides of the second level and several rooms along the walls. The floor was shiney and clear, but a dirty yellow color. Off to the side was a big, black, sparkling piano. Now that was something Dib kinda liked.
"May I show you around?" Miyuki asked Membrane.
"Oh, please," he nodded, and the two of them walked out, leaving Dib and Gaz standing in the middle of the room by themselves.
Dib started walking towards the piano. "So... do you at least... know his name?" he sat down at the stool.
Gaz thought for a moment, walking to sit on a stair step. "...no."
"Mh," Dib reacted, pressing the keys. Gaz closed her eyes, listening.
Dib started playing random notes, going up and down scales until he eventually figured out something he could play. In a matter of seconds, the room filled with the combination of soft notes and effects, the music making its way in and out of the rooms and up the stairs. It wasn't until Gaz made an alarming sound that Dib stopped playing and stood up. He looked towards the stairs and saw his sister on the floor, being helped up by a tall person with short indigo hair and a dark suit. "...hi." they said, holding onto Gaz's hand. Dib ran over to his sister. "My name's Tak."
Gaz's eyes were stuck on them. "Uh... hey. Are you, uh..?"
"The one you're to marry? Yes. Are you Gazlene?"
"Uh--call me Gaz." Gaz looked over to Dib. "Well I'm ecstatic now."
Dib stared at Tak, getting a weird feeling. There was something about him that didn't feel right--as if he...wasn't telling the truth about something? It was strange. Though, Dib realized it was probably how feminine he looked. But, Gaz seemed to like him, so he stopped caring.
Tak smiled a little when talking to Gaz. They seemed to enjoy each other despite this being the first time they've met. Then, he looked at Dib. "And you are..?"
"Dib. I'm her brother."
"Ah. I didn't know she had a brother."
"Of course," Dib mumbled, then grinned. "This is quite a big house... by any chance, could it possibly be haunted?"
"What? No, of course not! There isn't such a thing as ghosts!" Tak raised an eyebrow.
"Right... right... I was only making a joke. You don't seem to take lightly to humor, do you?"
"I'm very humorous--just a different kind of way. How am I supposed to know if you're joking if you keep spitting nonsense?"
"It's not nonsense!"
Gaz smirked. "You annoy my brother... I think I love you."
Tak laughed, reaching over to a vase and handing Gaz its flower. Gaz took it and smiled.
Just a couple seconds after, someone--probably a worker of the house--barged into the room. "What are you three doing?! The rehearsal is soon! Go get yourselves ready!"
The siblings made their goodbyes to the groom-to-be, letting him leave.
"...some guy, huh?" Dib elbowed Gaz. Gaz smacked him.