《The Art Of Apocalypse》Prologue (3)
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8:48 AM
Franklin City, City Centre
The first thing they do when they arrived there is going to the famous clothes store called Merci they are selling a beautiful variety of clothes such as; suits, tuxedo, dress, gown and etc., but the price for one clothing is expensive.
When they walked inside the store, they were greeted by a simple but cozy interior design.
"Welcome to Merci. How may I help you?" A woman asked politely.
"We're trying to buy some tuxedo for him. Do you have any available?" she answers pointing at Ziv who's curiously looking around.
"Do you have any preferred color?"
"Black will do."
"Okay, this way please." she said while leading the way.
The woman measures Ziv's size and find a black suit with white long sleeve inside in addition of bow tie. While the Miller Family looks at him changing on his tuxedo they are talking about him.
"Why are you doing this, honey?" Mr. Reynold quietly inquired Mrs. Fiona.
"You already know that we don't have any son at the moment and It's kinda hard for us to raise a baby now that we're both working, so I think that adopting a cute little boy like Ziv is better." she explained while tenderly staring at Ziv.
"But you know that it's much better if it's blood related child, we don't have to bother that much about their original parents." he stated.
"It's okay. His original parents had already left him on the orphan so don't worry and also if we ever adopted him we will love him like we do with our daughter."
When he heard that he sighed helplessly while glancing at Ziv who's already finish changing clothes.
"Wow! You look handsome with your tuxedo Ziv." Mrs. Fiona complimented.
"Not bad!" Mr. Reynold remarked.
"You look different Ziv!" Nicole said excitedly.
"T-thanks." he shyly replied.
"Well, we need to pay this first, then we're going to Art exhibit before going to the Opera later." she smiled at him then paid the tuxedo on the counter.
They drove towards the Art exhibit after that, then you can see Natalia's complexion suddenly brightening when she saw the Art exhibit building.
"Wow! Look Ziv it's so big!" Nicole excitedly said while Ziv nodded while looking at it.
"Of course it's given. If you don't know its one of the biggest buildings in the whole Franklin City that houses a lot of great artwork that comes from new and known artist either it's painting or sculptor they have..." Natalia explained it shows her passion towards art.
'It's just a big building. Why are you all act surprised and ignorant?' Natasha thought silently.
This is the first time all of the Miller Family visits the Art exhibit, so it's given, usually Mr. and Mrs. Miller are the one who visit here for business purpose, gossip or viewing purpose.
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When they are near the building they only saw a few people entering it.
"Mom. Why are there only a few people?" Nicole curiously asked.
"It's because Uncle Tom reserved most of the ticket pass for his friends and acquaintances." she said.
"Uncle Tom? No wonder, It's reserved." Natasha said lightly.
"How do you know him, while I don't? Unfair!" she pouted while saying.
"You only play all day. So how do you know?" she mocked her.
"Unfair. Unfair! Tell me. Tell me!" she demanded.
"Phew.. Uncle Tom is.." she helplessly explained.
Tom 'Arthur' Resyt a 32 year old bachelor that suddenly lived in Franklin City two years ago, a bachelor who's rich, refined and gentleman that people start to think he's from a wealthy family or something, aside from that the amount of suitors pursuing him is numerous. Mr. Reynold also becomes his personal lawyer when a friend recommends him when he's trying to find one.
"That's what dad said."
"Oh! That's Oh! I don't get it." she exclaimed.
"You don't need to." she shrugged.
"We've arrived kids." Mr. Reynold said.
"Yey! Ziv let's play!" Nicole grabbed his hand, then drag her inside.
"Don't go too far Nicole, Ziv!" Mrs. Fiona shouted when she saw them enter.
What Ziv saw inside the building was overwhelming. A simple yet beautiful interior complements the artworks inside. Near the entrance, he saw different type of arts such as; ceramics, abstract, calligraphy and etc.
"Beautiful!" he said with glittering eyes.
At the deepest part of the exhibit he spotted a lot of the famous painting such as; Mona Lisa, The Scream, The Creation of Adam, the Last Supper and etc., but those paintings are full of crowds that you need to squeeze yourself to see.
He already broke out of Nicole's hands because of the crowds, so he can now move freely while looking around to find some drawings or paintings then he notices some painting in the slight corner of the exhibit with few people around.
He approached it and saw 2 paintings that makes him interested. A silhouette of a man on top of a stage, bowing to his audience while the audience tossing a translucent flowers, the other one, however, is painted with black background highlighting the vibrant red rose with thorns slowly burning away by a small ember on its edge.
He stared at the paintings for a long time that he didn't discover the tha man approach him.
"What you see in the painting little guy?" the man asked.
"They're both sad." he said lightly still staring at the painting.
"Your kinda sharp kid! The one on the left is painted by a man that wants to be recognized for his performance, but he didn't get the result that he wants, then he made this. While the other one implies that being beautiful is also a thorn in your side, it will backfire to you and it will slowly burn you from your beautiful self." he explained.
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"Wow! You know a lot mister!" he said while waking up from his stupor.
"Well, some people told me that. Anyways, I'm Arthur. What's yours?" he introduced.
"Ziv!" he looks at the tall man whose head full of silver hair while having a neat grown beard and mustache.
"What a great name! But where's your parents I don't see them around here." he said while looking around.
"I don't have any parents, but I'm with Mrs. Fiona." he replied.
"Oh.. Is it Mr. and Mrs. Miller?" he feels wronged inside, so he changed the topic then he saw him nodded.
"Ziv! Where are you?"
Few minutes of talking they saw Nicole running around the place calling for his name trying to find him.
"I think your friend is looking for you." he said.
"That's Nicole mister, I should go. Bye!" he said while running towards her.
Arthur looked at Ziv running towards Nicole, then also leave that place.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller are either talking to someone for business purpose or gossiping with their friends on the exhibit. While the kids are scattered around to either; play, see some artwork, or dazing around aimlessly.
By the time it's noon they went to a restaurant, Ziv already slightly familiarizes with the 3 sisters, especially Nicole while the 2 is kinda distant with him. After that they went to the Opera House near the restaurant and the Art exhibit.
4:21 PM
The start of the Opera was 5:00 PM and most of the people are already arriving at the venue talking with their friends or looking for their seats.
"Ziv the show will start in half an hour, so just sit here and wait." Mrs. Fiona smiled while saying.
"What is the title of the Opera Mrs. Fiona?" he asked.
"The Phantom of the Opera. It has a good story and music, so you will learn a lot from it." she replied to him kindly.
He nodded, then he curiously looked around the venue, especially the stage.
"Wow! There's too many instruments there." he said while staring at it interested.
When Natalia saw he's staring at the stage intently she explained to him the parts in the stage.
"The place where the instrument is called Orchestra pit, the stage close to the audience is called Downstage, the furthest one is Upstage while the performance area is Center Stage. Where we are right now is called House; there's a three House in this venue: Left, Center and Right. There also called a Proscenium that's the reason we can see the performers better when performing or singing and the last will be Safety Curtain that curtain you see over there is to prevent injuries if there's a chance of accident. You get all of it?" she explained in a short but easy to understand explanation.
"Somehow." he said with visible confusion.
"It's okay. You just need to know about it now just enjoy the show." Natasha said while Mrs. Fiona is also looking at this secretly.
'I need him to be familiar with my daughter, then Fufuu~!' she thought while grinning foolishly.
After waiting for half an hour, musicians are now starting to sit on the Orchestra pit preparing to play the Overture while the Maestro (Conductor) is checking if every musician are ready before starting it.
Then it begins..
The Overture started, then after that the performers are starting to appear on stage singing or acting.
There's some applause after the Overture and at the end of each scene, so Ziv follows the lead of the audience.
While the people have different reaction throughout the whole performance some are; Impress on their performance, listening intently, appreciating the performance or doze off like Nicole.
While Ziv was enjoying watching the show, his eagerness to learn was evident. He truly appreciates it, especially The Phantom who's singing with a high baritone voice that complements with the instrument in the background.
"I want to sing and do like this and that too." he muttered with visible excitement in his face.
The Finale and the closing speech ended, the audience responded with deafening applause and with the addition of flower tossing on the stage makes it more lively.
"Mrs. Fiona, why are they tossing flower at the stage?" he curiously asked while looking at front.
"Ziv It's a visible way of saying their appreciation for their beautiful performance." she said in a pleasant manner.
"So that's it." he said with a look of understanding.
After the Curtain Call the audience enthusiasm died down and the people are started leaving the Opera House.
They also leave the Opera House and went to their car.
"So how do you like the performance Ziv?" Mrs. Fiona asked.
"It's good I've learned a lot thing.. so-" while he was talking, he couldn't help but slowly dropped his eyelids.
When they looked at him they saw him soundly sleeping on the back of the car.
"Why is he now asleep?" Nicole whispered her sister.
"Because he's not like you who sleep in the whole performance." Natasha suddenly retorted.
"What!?"
"He should be tired, don't bother him" Mrs. Fiona affectionately said.
After that they quietly bicker while the car is slowly making it through the orphanage.
'I have a lots of fun today' he thought before he fall asleep.
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