The sun had long since set on the vast forest, and while the hooting of owls or flutter of bat's wings could be heard throughout, it was, all things considered, a relatively peaceful night tonight. Darkness covered the land with the coming of the night, but, in the centre of it all, a dim light persisted. This was the campfire of the Sirens, and Adagio, Aria and Sonata were all sitting side-by-side on one side of it. However, on the other side of the fire, there was Forte, kneeling down and looking with curiosity upon his Mother. Aria and Sonata cast occasional sideways glances at their elder sibling, but even so, they remained quiet. All here knew that this was not going to be an easy conversation, but even so, after a good deal of thinking, Adagio let out a sigh.

"Forte...there are...there are things that I have been keeping from you. Things that, perhaps...I should have told you right from the start."

A look of concern crossed the young boy's face upon hearing that.

"What...what things?"

Adagio paused, perhaps not having expected this moment to be as difficult as it was. However, after considering her son's question, she looked to Sonata, then to Aria, before turning once more to her child.

"Tell me, Forte. When you look at us, what do you see?"

Needless to say, the boy was rather confused by such a question, tilting his head to one side to display this.

"I...I don't understand."

Adagio sighed once more before repeating herself.

"It is a simple enough question, my boy. When you look upon us, here before you...what do you see?"

Forte remained as confused as ever, but, after looking like he was straining somewhat with the question, he spoke up an answer, his voice meek and unsure as he did so.

"I...I see my Mother. I see my Aunts."

But Adagio closed her eyes, shaking her head slightly.

"No, my son. That is who you see. The question was what do you see?"

Forte retained his look of concern, and every once in a while, he would turn to one of his Aunts. But, neither Aria nor Sonata had any comforting smiles to offer him, nor any words of help. Instead, they kept watching him, awaiting his answer. After another long and awkward silence, the child finally gave his Mother an answer.

"I see...women? Three women?"

And here, at last, Adagio nodded.

"Yes, that is what you see."

Soon after, her expression become a touch more serious.

"But...what you see...is not the truth."

Forte gulped in a clear display of discomfort, before finally working up the nerve to say something.

"I don't understand."

Adagio glanced down at the ground for a moment, her face giving away just how difficult this was for her. But, she steeled herself, just as she always did, and looked her son right in the eye.

"Forte...your Aunts and I...are not human."

The boy, as one would expect, felt a noticeable chill at his Mother's words.

"But...of course you are!"

The elder Siren shook her head.

"No...we are not. We are...Sirens. Creatures of magic from another world."

The silence that now permeated the scene was so thick that even the usually-dismissive Aria couldn't help but cringe over how uncomfortable this was becoming. As for Forte, he simply stared at his Mother, perhaps hoping that, at some point, she would reveal that this was all just a joke on her part. But, one look at her face, and the intensity in her eyes, and he knew in his heart that this was no deception. The boy was, understandably, taken aback by all of this, and he opened and closed his mouth several times over, getting out nothing but false starts. But Adagio, ever patient, simply gave her son all the time he needed to get his thoughts in order. It took some time, but eventually, that moment came.

"So...I...were you always going to keep this secret?"

While the boy was indeed young, there were nevertheless moments when, like many other young people, he would say something that truly struck at the heart of the matter. Adagio grimaced, just for a moment, but she never once took her eyes off her son. That look of his, so expectant, perhaps even a little fearful, got to her, and her expression softened considerably, as did her voice, when she finally spoke.

"I...I like to think I would have done. When you were old enough. But...it seems fate had other plans in mind."

Forte looked down to the ground, looking, perhaps not relieved at his Mother's words, but at the very least accepting of them. When he looked up again, he gazed upon them all, bearing a look that was more serious than Adagio could ever remember seeing on him before.

"Tell me...everything."

The elder Siren, perhaps on other days, might have asked him to be more specific about that question. But not today. For she knew what he meant by that. Once again, she looked to her sisters, and they, in turn, gave her silent nods, which prompted her to let out a sigh as she turned to Forte again.

"Very well. It all began in our homeland. Back in Equestria."

And so, the story was told. Everything that Adagio and her sister had gone through at this point was explained to the boy, from their goals back in Equestria, to their confrontation with a certain bearded unicorn, to their subsequent banishment. Their times in the human world and everything in-between that led them to being here in this place, it was all told. And Forte, ever dutiful, simply sat there, looking not unlike a student, paying close attention to the lesson of a teacher. When the story was finally done, Adagio watched, half-concerned and half-intrigued as to how her son would react to all of this. When, at last, he did speak, his tone was, for lack of a better word, a curious one.

"So...that thing you were doing before? To those men? That...that was magic?"

Adagio nodded.

"It is. Magic unique to us alone. It is how we feed, in a sense. The energy born of the strife and disharmony between peoples. It is that power that we absorb."

Forte stared at her, just letting all of this sink in, and as before, Adagio just gave him all the time he needed. For just a moment, he looked down, at the red pendants they each wore, as if seeing them for the first time. However, Adagio's expression was one of surprise when the boy finally spoke up.

"So...it is like gathering milk from cattle? It doesn't hurt them, not really, but you get something useful out of it, right?"

Needless to say, this was not a comparison that Adagio or her sisters had been expecting, and they looked to one another with mild confusion, as well as a sense of bemusement. However, after taking a moment to compose herself, Adagio looked to her son with the first smile she had worn this entire evening.

"Yes! That's exactly it! A fine way of putting it, Forte!"

For just a moment, the boy seemed pleased that he had a grasp on things, even as innocent a grasp as he seemed to have made for himself. However, as time went on, that smile faded from him, replaced instead by a look of thoughtfulness, which Adagio noted immediately. When Forte did speak, however, the words he spoke were not what she had been expecting.

"And...what am I?"

To that, Adagio's expression softened, and she looked to him with another smile.

"Why, you're my son."

However, upon hearing that, Forte looked to her with a very familiar-looking smirk.

"No, Mother...I asked what, not who."

As one would expect, Adagio was a little shocked by such a come-back from her boy, and she turned to see that Aria was doing her best to stifle a chuckle on her part. Narrowing her eyes, Adagio soon silenced her younger sister, before looking back to her son and putting on that same smile as before.

"You are half-human, my son. While I am a Siren, your Father was human."

Forte nodded to that, his face bearing a distinctly curious look to it.

"And...who was my Father? You have never spoken of him."

To that, Adagio sighed.

"No...I have not. But...perhaps that was a mistake on my part."

After a few more moments of silence, Adagio took on a thoughtful look of her own, before, to the confusion of her sisters, finally starting to stand up. Forte and the others watched as she made her way over to a nearby set of travel-bags, heavily worn from their long journeys over the years. She rummaged around them for a while before, finally, pulling something out of it. Recognition crossed Aria and Sonata's faces, but for Forte, his was a look of intrigue. For his Mother was now holding some kind of sword in her hand. After regarding the weapon carefully for a while, she smiled softly at it before starting to walk over to the boy. Forte kept his eyes on her as she finally reached him, getting down on one knee and presenting the sword to him.

"This...was your Father's sword. Now...it is yours."

Forte was, understandably, a little excited at the gift, and eagerly accepted it. However, upon picking it up, his smile faded somewhat.

"It's heavy."

Adagio chuckled a little.

"You'll get stronger."

Looking up to her again, Forte tilted his head to the side a little.

"Tell me about him."

Smiling again, Adagio sat in earnest beside the boy, reaching around and holding him close to her.

"Of course. Let me tell you the story of your Father, the brave prince."