"Other than how I would be kidnapped as well as why I and the great tree should do nothing to prevent my kidnapping, the only thing my future self told me was that I would become a member of your harem," Eytelis answered.
"Please tell me you weren't just flirting with me before because your future self told you to?" Adam asked with a sigh.
"Who better to trust when it comes to matters of your own heart than your future self?" Eytelis replied while winking.
"She has a point," Lorelie conceded.
"On this point I also agree with her," Stacey remarked.
"I wish I could go back in time and tell my past self to hook up with you sooner instead of being too worried about how Stacey would react," Rowena admitted.
"While I'm glad you considered my feelings, grandmother. I'm not sure I would have agreed back then, considering the extenuating circumstances that led you to join," Stacey replied.
"Fair point, I guess I did kinda force myself into the harem," Rowena admitted.
"Still, I'm not too thrilled with the idea of you wanting to be my girlfriend because someone told you to, even if that someone was you from the future," Adam remarked.
Stacey sighed before saying, "He's so stubborn when it comes to things like this."
"I know, right," Rowena replied. "Any other man would be jumping at the chance to have the bureau chief of Solarian Prime as their girlfriend, considering her beauty and standing."
"Well, that's one of the reasons we love him; we know that he will never be unfaithful to us," Lorelie stated.
"Sounds like you've all got it tough," Eytelis teased.
"More rough than tough," Rowena said with a flirtatious smirk as her hand slid down to grab Adam's crotch for a second.
"Now? Really?" Stacey asked in exasperation.
"What?" Rowena asked innocently. "It's something she'll need to get used to seeing if she joins in the future."
"I was more talking about me seeing it," Stacey retorted. "I thought we agreed not to do shit like that in front of one another?"
"Ok, I think we're getting a little off topic," Adam stated as he stepped away from Rowena, making her pout.
"Do you want to try my blood or not?" Adam turned to Eytelis and asked.
"Yes, but only a drop to start with," Eytelis replied.
"Ok," Adam replied as he lifted his hand to collect a bit of the blood that was still on his neck, only for Stacey to stop her
"Nuh-uh, not happening. Let me," Stacey stated as she scooped up a bit of his blood on her finger and held it out to Eytelis.
Eytelis eyed the blood sceptically before sticking out her tongue and giving it a lick.
Several things happened in rapid succession as the blood touched Eytelis' tongue.
The first thing that happened was that her Solarian form broke and revealed her true form.
What was revealed was a humanoid woman with bark where her skin had been. However, the bark was grey and dead-looking, with her face appearing sunken while her eyes were a dull green.
"What! But why?" Eytelis cried in surprise before she tried to cover her face in embarrassment. "Nooo, don't look at me in this state."
However, as she tried to hide her face in embarrassment, a shiver suddenly ran through her entire body before the four observers were all shocked to see that the bark which made up Eytelis' index finger on her left hand broke away to reveal what looked like a normal woman's finger.
***
Galamedees Galaxy, Solarian Prime.
It was winter within the capital city of Solarian Prime.
The great tree towered over the city and all the other surrounding trees, as its leafless branches, which were covered in snow, crisscrossed above the city.
At the base of the great tree, a team of Solarians could be seen running scientific experiments as they tried to determine why multiple planetquakes occurred from the great tree.
As they went about their work, their equipment suddenly detected a sixth planetquake which was far weaker than the previous five.
However, this one caused far more of a stir than the previous five had, and that was because buds suddenly started to appear on many of the great tree's branches.
***
"What… what was that?" Eytelis asked in shock after she felt the shiver run through her body.
"Err, Eytelis, your finger," Rowena remarked as she stared at the finger in question.
"What about it?" Eytelis asked as she pulled her hands away from her face to inspect her fingers.
"What the!" She said in shock as she saw the human-looking finger.
"Is it supposed to look like that?" Adam asked curiously. "I was expecting it to be more wood-like."
"Yeah, that's how it should look," Rowena replied. "When in good health, a Dryad's bark is almost indistinguishable from humanoid skin."
Lorelie nodded before adding, "Apparently, their bodies adapted to become like that over countless years as a form of defence."
"But how?" Eytelis asked as she closely inspected her finger before suddenly freezing for a moment.
"Is something wrong?" Rowena asked in concern as she saw Eytelis freeze; this had been her idea after all.
Eytelis didn't respond except to say, "More."
"What?" Rowena asked as they all stared at Eytelis with concern.
"More… blood," Eytelis said slowly as she turned to Adam. "Please… give… us… more… of… your… blood."
"Great tree?" Rowena asked in surprise as she recognised the way Eytelis was now speaking slowly.
"Indeed," Eytelis replied.
"I'm guessing Adam's blood helped then?" Rowena asked proudly.
"Yes… though… it… didn't… just… help… Eytelis… but… also…. I," Eytelis slowly replied.
"It helped you?" Rowena asked in surprise. "How?"
Eytelis froze again for a moment before responding, but this time it was evident that it was Eytelis herself speaking and not the great tree.
"It seems that Adam's drop of blood didn't just rejuvenate my finger but also allowed buds to grow on the branches of the great tree."
"Seriously?" Lorelie asked in shock before looking at Adam and asking. "Just how powerful is your blood?"
"That's not the most amazing part," Eytelis stated before Adam could respond.
"You mean there's something even more amazing than his blood affecting a tree in another sector of the universe?" Stacey asked.
"It's currently winter within the capital of Solarian Prime, and the great tree doesn't flower during winter," Eytelis explained. "It never has."
"Then how's that possible?" Lorelie asked.
"We don't know. That's why we request more blood, so that we can see for ourselves what happens," Eytelis answered.
"Maybe it's a similar effect to how it turns grandmother's hair white," Stacey suggested.
"That's possible," Rowena replied thoughtfully. "My hair does only turn white after I consume Adam's blood."
"What do you think?" Lorelie asked as she turned to Adam.
Adam gave Eytelis a serious look before asking, "Answer me honestly: is this purely to see what happens, or do you have a craving for more?"
"You're worried they might have already acquired an addiction?" Stacey asked, causing Adam to nod in confirmation.
Eytelis stared squarely into Adam's eyes as she said, "Neither of us feel and particular craving for your blood. All we want it for is so that I can recover and so that we can see what blooms from the buds."
Adam studied Eytelis' dull green eyes closely for a moment before nodding and saying, "Fine, how do we do this?"
"I'm guessing she can't just drink from your neck like these two bloodsuckers," Lorelie said with a smirk.
"That would be bad," Rowena began to explain. "Dryads do not possess our fangs, so if she were to try that, she would probably end up taking a chunk out of Adam's neck."
"Yeah, let's not attempt that," Adam replied.
"Maybe slit his wrist and let her drink it from there?" Stacey suggested.
"Are you seriously suggesting we slit our boyfriend's wrist?" Lorelie asked as she glared at Stacey.
"It's not like he will die; none of us would allow it, and neither would Spector," Stacey replied.
"Stacey is correct. I would not let my operator die, and on that note, I have a suggestion," Spector suddenly stated.
"What suggestion?" Adam asked.
"The safest way would be a type of blood transfusion," Spector replied.
"Would that even work?" Adam asked in surprise. "I mean, does she even have blood vessels?"
"I did say, a type of blood transfusion," Spector began to explain. "While your blood would be extracted from one of your blood vessels, it would be drip-fed into Eytelis' mouth, giving her body time to absorb it in the same way it did that first drop."
***
Galamedees Galaxy, Solarian Prime.
"Your Majesty, there's been another planetquake," Shalendra announced as she read the message on her uniband.
"Another one?" Riniya asked with a sigh.
"Yes, though this one's… strange," Shalendra replied.
"Strange how?" Riniya asked.
"The planetquake itself was of a lower magnitude than the previous ones; however, parts of the great tree are showing early signs of flowering," Shalendra said in disbelief.