Harper managed to give herself a bit of room after killing the Templar after her, and she reached down and grabbed the Piece of Eden. She didn't even think about it beyond the need to get it out of sight. So she was just as shocked as anyone else when the Piece reacted to her, sending a silent shockwave out and throwing everyone around her back several feet. Wind kicked up around her, and the Piece glowed brightly in her hand.

And then it was gone, and everything stopped just as suddenly as it had started, leaving Harper freaking out.

Shea was hit by the shockwave and rolled backwards even as the two Templars she was fighting dropped like sacks of potatoes. She managed to fight her way to her feet afterwards, shading her eyes against the light and whipping wind as she tried to figure out what was happening.

"Harper!" she shouted. The sudden silence after the wind died rang in her ears.

"I'm here," Harper said, looking very pale and shaken. "I'm okay."

A Templar tried to sneak up on her, and Harper smoothly whirled and crouched low, striking him in the gut and sending him keeling over. Then she blinked and visibly tried to figure out what the hell just happened there. She hadn't even heard him coming.

Shea watched as Harper easily took out the ambush Templar. She hadn't even seen the man until Harper already had her blade in him.

"Harp?" she asked warily, taking a cautious step forward.

Harper turned to look at her, and the whites of her eyes were showing all the way around. "Shea," she breathed.

"Okay," Desmond said, holding up his palms in a calming manner. "Okay, relax. We'll figure out what happened, yeah? But for now, let's make sure there aren't any more Templars and head back to the hideout."

"You go secure the perimeter," Shea said to Desmond. She stepped closer to Harper. "I'll stay here with her." She didn't want to leave Harper alone, at the moment, not with what just happened.

Desmond nodded and slipped off silently to go check and make sure they'd gotten all the Templars.

"I don't know what happened," Harper murmured, looking at her hands as if she hardly recognized them.

"It's okay," Shea soothed. She reached out and carefully put a hand on Harper's arm. "It's okay. Whatever it was, it's over." She glanced around. "Where's the time-turner?" She'd been referring to the piece of eden as a time-turner ever since they'd gotten stuck in Renaissance Italy, so she knew Harper would know what she meant.

"I picked it up." Harper blinked. "I reached out and picked it up. As soon as I touched it, all the rest of the stuff happened." But she wasn't worried about the Piece of Eden, for some reason. Not even a little.

"Okay, alright," Shea said. She glanced around. "You don't have it in your hand. Did it get dropped? Or taken?" She wanted to make sure Harper was alright, but they also had a duty to protect the Piece of Eden as well.

Harper shook her head. "No. I would have known if it was taken, and I didn't drop it." She was quiet for a moment. "It felt... warm. Almost welcoming?"

"Weird," Shea said. She looked around again and then at Harper. "If you didn't drop it, where did it go? You're not holding it. I mean, unless you put it away already?"

"No," Harper said slowly. 'No, I didn't." An idea formed in her mind, and she blanched a bit. "I have an idea. But it's a crazy idea. And I don't know where it came from."

"What idea?" Shea asked, glancing at Harper a little sideways. "Crazy is a little bit relative, right now."

"It didn't go anywhere," Harper said, meeting Shea's eyes. "It's still here." She pointed at her palm. Very faintly, little lines of glowing light could still be seen, as the Piece of Eden finished absorbing into its new host.

"What." Shea's eyes widened as she saw the fading gold light under Harper's skin. "What the actual fuck." She looked at Harper, lost for any more words.

Harper shrugged, looking just as lost for words. It made sense, but at the same time, it made no sense at all. She shook herself a bit, still trembling a bit. "I have no clue."

"Desmond," Shea said after a moment. "Desmond might know. Or Ezio, he might know. Someone's got to know." Her eyes were still wide as she glanced from Harper's hands and back to her face.

"We'll ask," Harper agreed. Her head was starting to pound now, and although things were otherwise okay for the moment, she got the feeling that as soon as she'd had a chance to settle some this wouldn't be the end of the Piece of Eden melding with her. She shuddered. "Sooner the better."

"Yeah," Shea agreed. She glanced around, still on guard until Desmond came back from securing the perimeter. Their trainees had since scattered, but Shea wasn't worried about them for the moment; those who had survived the ambush would either come back on their own, or they would be tracked down, and neither was likely to happen until daylight again.

Desmond trotted back over to them a few moments later.

"All clear," he murmured. "Let's head back to the hideout, Ezio needs to know about this too."

Harper nodded, letting him lead the way. She stayed silent for the trip back.

"Something weird happened, Des," Shea murmured as she followed him back. "Really weird." She glanced at Harper and back again. "Kinda hoping you or Ezio might know what's going on, because we sure as shit don't."

Desmond nodded slowly. "I saw the lights and wind and shit," he muttered. "Not sure yet what it means, though. I have to talk to Ezio about this." He glanced back at Harper. "How is she doing so far?"

"Super freaked out," Shea replied, shaking her head a bit. "And I don't blame her. What we think happened... I've never heard of it before, Des, and we've seen some pretty weird shit with the Brotherhood so far."

Desmond nodded. "Yeah," he murmured. "I know." He sighed. "Well, we'll figure this out. Whatever it is."