Shea nodded and kept going. She glanced at Harper from time to time to make sure her sister was alright, and stayed close to her once they got back to the hideout.

Once they were in the hideout Desmond took off to find Ezio and bring him up to date on what had happened.

Harper, instead, sank into a chair, her hands trembling now.

Shea stayed with Harper.

"You alright?" she asked quietly. She brought one of the lamps closer so Harper had more light.

"Not really." Harper swallowed. "My crazy idea about what happened is seeming not nearly so crazy anymore."

"How do you feel?" Shea asked, pulling over a chair and sitting next to her.

Harper was quiet for a few moments. "Tired. Like... Like I know what's happening right now, but there's nothing I can do to change it." She looked at Shea. "This is going to sound crazy, but I can feel the Piece of Eden."

"That... does sound crazy," Shea allowed, looking at her. "You can... feel it? Like how?"

"I can just... feel it." Harper shrugged a bit, helplessly. "I don't really have words for it yet."

"This is all really, really weird, Harp," Shea said after a moment. "I mean, I know it must be even weirder for you, but just from the outside..."

"I know," Harper said with a little groan. "I know. It sounds unbelievable. Hell, I hardly believe it and I'm experiencing it!"

"There must be some lore somewhere about this," Shea said, thinking hard. "Argh, I wish we had a lore keeper around here."

"There is lore," Harper said, her eyes losing focus. "There have been several Pieces of Eden, and many of them have fallen into the hands of Assassins at some point or another. There has been plenty of writing and speculation on them..."

"Harper...?" Shea asked cautiously when she saw her sister's eyes unfocus. "How do you know that? Where did you hear about it?"

Harper blinked a couple times. "I... didn't hear about it from anyone," she murmured. "I just... knew?" She was starting to look more than a little freaked out again.

"Okay," Harper said, "okay. We'll figure this out. Everything will work out." She was starting to look freaked out too.

Harper made a strangled sound and hid her face in her hands. Oh this was so not good, she hated this.

"It's okay," Shea said, though her voice was slightly strained. "Christ, what's taking Desmond so long?"

"Here we are," Desmond said, as if on cue. He paused when he saw the two. "What happened?"

"Things got weirder," Shea said, glancing at the two identical assassins. She hesitated, and then forged onwards. "We think that the Piece of Eden somehow... merged into her. And I have no idea if there's any lore on this."

Desmond blinked. Rapidly. "What?" he managed.

Harper just groaned quietly from where she was still hiding behind her hands.

"I told you it got weirder," Shea said. She looked at them. "I don't know if either of you know anything about this? At all?"

Desmond shook his head slowly. "No," he murmured. "No, I haven't heard anything about this before." He glanced at Ezio, raising an eyebrow.

"Never," Ezio replied, shaking his head as well. He stepped forward a bit to get a better look at Harper. "How did this happen?"

"I picked it up," Harper murmured. "I didn't have gloves, didn't have time to grab a bag or anything, just had to grab it." Her gaze went unfocused again. "That is how it happens, through touch."

"How do you know that is how it happens?" Ezio asked cautiously. It couldn't possibly be good when her eyes glazed over like that.