Xavier
Once upon a time in the far land in the west stood a small, bountiful coastal country name Sunnydale. For hundreds of years the country stood independently from all the considerably larger surrounding countries, it withstood many many wars, plagues, natural disasters, and many rules. The main resource of the land was the sea and agriculture, especially the seaport that most of the countries in land needed to bring in cargos, and any thing that they would need to import from further away land across the ocean.
Citizens of Sunnydale were happily living their lives without worries, and with trust that their leader would protect them from any harm. In the mind of the people there was nothing their rulers, their Kings and Queens could not do, and there was happily ever after in each and every souls in the land.
All visitors were welcome here, it was not unusual for strange looking, or strange dressing group of people to be coming and going in this beautiful little country, no one felt that they needed to know where these people came from. Strangers were not a strange thing.
Hundreds of years of peace and prosperity made them all secure in their life style and trusted that the life they all knew would continued to go on just the way it was, for ever and ever.
It was a well found belief rooted in their history.
The last war in their history was more like a legend as the days went by; the ones that had seen it first hand were well in their retired age. War would soon be forgotten. Chaos and destruction was a foreign concept.
It was all so peaceful until…
One stormy night a cargo ship came through the heavy rain and thunder, out of the darkness and into the secondary dock. It was as if the ship was commandeered by an invisible crew, none of the worker at the dock saw anyone in the ship, they all were afraid to even go near it.
And their fear was not unfound.
By the second night that the large cargo ship docked quietly in the port everyone was steered clear of it, a sense of dread slowly spread across the shipyard like a slow but consistence creeping of a fog.
Several dock workers gone missing before the ship shown any sign of activity, still, no one dare to be anywhere near that large black ship.
And on the seventh night the ship disappeared.
No one had seen or heard of what became of the ship, it was as if the large, black cargo liner dissipated with the thick fog that seemed to be constant occupant of the docking bay. All they knew was that the large and seemingly empty vessel was there one night and by morning it was gone.
The vessel was gone, and evil settled in.
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A hundred years had past since that night the ship that people believed was haunted disappeared into the fog, the present of evil was felt by everyone, the cold dread that crept into their heart once the sun had set, the feeling that commanded their bodies and mind to stay off the street and answered no call at night.
People however would be missing each night, and once they were gone, no one heard from them again.
There was no evident left to tell the tale of their where about but the citizens of Sunnydale knew better. Everyone knew what became of the missing ones, or what they had become. Once the person was gone all that was left was a shell and the demon inside, making them into a creature of the night, a Vampire.
The creature that they heard only in whispers floating in the wind, stories they barely breathed to each other in the day light.
But with the legend of the evil also came story of the savior.
A tale of one girl in all the world who has the strength and power to battle evil.
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Chapter One
One hundred and seventy years to the date was the day that citizens of Sunnydale celebrated the arrival of their pride and joy, the Kingdom's High Princess.
They all welcomed Princess Elizabeth at the break of dawn, a perfect time for what the little precious symbolized for them, a new light.
Princess Elizabeth was the first Princess of Sunnydale, the first and only daughter of Hankard and Joycious, the king and queen of this peaceful little country. She was the apple of her parents' eyes and loved by all that knew her. From childhood she was coddled and spoiled by her parents, there was nothing she wanted that she did not get. Life was good and simple for the little princess.
With beautiful smile and emerald green eyes, little princess had seen no horror in her life, she remained blissfully ignorance of the disease that Sunnydale suffered. For a peaceful and seemingly quiet country of Sunnydale, silence was as deathly a disease as a black death and denial was the carrier.
And even when the towns were covered with dark cloud and dread of the always in coming night, the castle on top of the hill remain pure and bright, untouched by the trouble as if the wall outside could protect all within from any harm. It was the illusion that everyone in the white castle relied on and it was the image that they all wanted for their little darling.
Surrounding by servants and playmates, ‘Buffy' as she preferred to be called by her few confidants, spent part of her day study with some of the best teachers in the land, and part of the day, her favorite part, was spent in the garden playing all kinds of games she and her playmates could think of while the king or queen –when they are free from their royal duties—would watch on with adoration shining in their eyes.
And shining through that, a tiny hint of worry they were unable to mask.
In all her bright days and peaceful night, they never told her of the prophecy, of what was being foretold about their precious little daughter, on the day that the entire kingdom bestowed their best wishes on the little princess…
It was the only day that anyone could enter the castle and into the great hall without any official business or special permission. The day that any ordinary citizens could set foot into the – castle and glimpse Sunnydale's precious gem. Everyone, from the high court ladies and gentlemen to wealthy merchants, to beggars made their ways into the great hall, giving the little princess their best intentions accompanied by their best of everything.
All day long the king and queen sat on their thrones watching with pride at their bundle of joy with a touch of tears in the corners of their eyes. Nothing bad in this world would touch their baby, she would never know sadness, or disappointment.
But their wishes were short lived, at the end of the day, while the sun was setting and the sky filled with orange ray of the dying day an old man in grey cloak entered the great hall as the last guest of the day before the gate was close and the bridge lifted.
Queen Joycious looked up at the elderly gentlemen, smiling in welcome, but as her eyes met his she felt the drop in her stomach, a knot formed in the bit of her chest, and she knew some was not right. Her hands gripped the arms of her golden throne. The king didn't seem to notice her distress but when she got up to stop the man from getting any closer to the golden crib he stopped her with a hand on her arm, Joyce turned to look at him, seeing the confusion in his eyes and she knew that he didn't feel what she felt.
“Darling,” he started, tugging at her arm. “What is it?”
Joyce opened her mouth to answer him but thought better of it.
The old man got to the cradle, looking down benignly at the tiny baby girl inside, he bent low to speak to the child and turned to the king and queen. With a low bow he approached slowly, the guards tensed up, they were there, like a part of the furniture, unmoving, always watching, and now they are readied themselves for the moment that their protection would be needed by their sires.
The elder, however did not get any closer than a few steps, he looked up directly at the new parents, identified himself as a sorcerer and spoke of destiny into an almost empty hall.
The king and queen sat frozen in their thrones, all the royal guards stepped forward but unsure of what they were to do, spoken words was not something they could protect their sires from, but they felt the need to do something, anything to prevent that distressed look on the new parents.
Their little girl was going to be the force against the darkness as soon as the current slayer of the time past. That was how it would go.
But then the old man spoke of prophesy, of the exact moment Elizabeth 's life would change.
As soon as the bell rang at midnight of the last day of her fifteen th year she would become the only girl in the world that had the power to fight evil.
A Slayer.
At the revelation the entire p l ace seemed to fall into a stunned silence for a long moment no one made any sound as the word sunk in. In that long moment all the stories all of them ever heard of the slayer rang loudly in their ears.
Being a Slayer was a great honor, to be the protector of the innocent. But when it was their little princess... And even though the old man, whom identified himself as the watcher assured them that he would do anything in his power to make it so that the Princess would be well prepared for what was to come.
The newest royal highness was destined for far greater things than any of them could ever dream of.
The pair dreaded they day it w ould come true, wishing and praying that it would not be so, but knew that it was inevitable. The King and Queen wanted their precious little girl to be happy and carefree for as long as they could , so they agreed to never breathe a word of the prophesy and destiny till it was time .
They, however did everything in their power to ensure that little Elizabeth had the best of everything to prepare her for the inevitability, they gotten her the best fighting instructors in every fighting styles they could find, after all it was the skill that she would need most. And as for her happiness, she had the best toys, the best nanny the best education s , there was nothing the little princess wanted and not gotten.
And as they wanted, there was always a smile as bright as sunshine on her beautiful face whenever they saw her, always rosy cheeks, always twinkle in her eyes. They were secured in their knowledge that Buffy was happy and free of any worry. At least until the day that she would be burdened with the destiny bestowed upon her unwanted.
But what they did not know was that behind the bright smile of the princess, there were sleepless nights.
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Princess Elizabeth had grown to be all that her parents hoped for, a strong, independent, carefree girl, whom always smiling brightly into the daylight. Everyone loved the princess, and the petite princess seemingly, loved everyone. And she was beautiful, more so than the day she was born.
The petite princess had long flowing hair that looked as if spun from pure sunshine, emerald green eyes, smiling red lips without the need for any touch up, her statue, however petite was perfect. Her status was deceptive; she was rather strong for someone of her own age and size.
Buffy, as she liked her friends to call her, woke up in the middle of the night with a start. It was the third time this week that this happened, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand she attempted to erase what she saw in her dreams away. It didn't work out very well for the little princess.
At this moment, all of the good things about her did not help her in this quiet night. She still could not get back to sleep after such dreams. Buffy did not know where the images of strange people… demons, came from. She had never seen such creature before in her life, and yet she could see the details clearly as if they had been standing in front of her right this minute. In her dreams she could see white teeth with pointy canines dripping red with blood, large, yellow, cat like eyes.
The princess hugged herself tight, shivering in the warm room, wishing she could dislodge the scream that seemed to gather at the back of her throat, but knew better. If she screamed, her chambermaid would hear and before the morning came, her parents would know as well. She didn't want them to worry about her; she didn't want anyone to worry about her. And she didn't want to answer their questions about her dreams.
Because she wouldn't have any answer for any of them.
Buffy had noticed that there were always something that seem to be bothering her parents, the little princess knew that the responsibilities of running a country would definitely bothering anyone, however good they were, but the voice in the back of her head told her differently. She knew it was something else. Ever since she was little there was something of urgency in the way her father and mother showed their affection toward her. It was as if their time was limited.
Or maybe it wasn't their time, but hers.
She didn't know where the thought came from, but it popped into her head so suddenly that it left her paralyzed for a moment. She, however, never mentioned it to anyone, especially not her parents, doting that they were; Buffy knew that if she said something like that it would break their hearts. For her to tell them that she suspected the attention they paid to her was because her time was limited, she couldn't imagine what would happen.
But one thing she was certain of was that her parents would be incredibly saddened by that little piece of information. And she didn't want to see them sad.
Elizabeth took a deep cleansing breath, one after another and then laid back down on her soft, comfortable bed, pulling a white down comforter up to her chin, she was hoping that the warmth from her bed would help lure her back to sleep as she slowly closing her eyes.
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The morning came too soon for the little Princess, Buffy woke at the first light that hit her eyelids. She wanted to just lay there and sleep the morning away, a feeling that had become quite familiar to her now. Lately she couldn't seem to get herself up, it was as if the morning was not the time for her anymore, the only thing that seem to be giving her reason to wake up was that her parents and everyone else in the castle would be very worry had she stayed in bed all day.
Buffy picked up a slight sound of movement from outside of her sleeping chamber and she knew instantly that her chambermaids were waiting. She knew that they were trying to be as quiet as they possibly could, but apparently they weren't quiet enough, she still could hear every little movement they made.
That was another thing that she noticed too, lately, she could hear even the slightest intake of breath, little rustling of the cloth, at times it was a little too much. She couldn't turn it off.
More than once, the little Princess wondered what was going on with her body and all its changes.
A sound of whispering words reached her ears and Princess Elizabeth sat up in midst of her soft pillows and blankets, she rubbed her blurry eyes and called out for the maids to enter the room, ending their wait. She knew that if she didn't call they would've stand in front of her room until someone order them out, and that someone would have to be herself.
As soon as her voice died down and about to give into silence the heavy doors to her sleeping chamber cracked open and a head in a white bonnet stuck in.
“Good morning, m'lady.”
“Morning.” Buffy waved them inside before pushing the blanket off and moved to stand beside her own bed. She stood there for a moment, watching her maids perform their usual morning tasks while thinking about her own nightmares. Sighing tiredly, she made her way over to the ensuit, she had stopped letting her maids helping her with personal ablution years earlier and even though her mother and father had disagreed to her independent move, she ignored them.
She knew so many other little girls in the castle, daughters of the nobles and knights that did not know what to do on their own, they couldn't even tied their shoelaces or a bow on their head without their chamber maids or their nanny. Elizabeth really did not want that for herself.
Buffy slashed cold water onto her face, hoping that it would wake her up fully, but so far it didn't do the trick for her, lately she felt as if she had not been sleeping much, all day she would feel tired which would leave her exhausted by the end of the day, but as soon as the sun set she would feel a new onset of energy coming from nowhere. She thought that maybe it was due to her nightmares. But still, she didn't want to breathe a word of this to anyone.
“My lady,” one of the maids called out to her. “Master Giles is going to be here this afternoon for your lesson.”
“He isn't supposed to be here for another day or two,” Buffy stated with confusion. “Today's time belonged to Master --, isn't it?”
“Yes, my lady.”
Buffy realized that she could hear several rabid heartbeats and she stopped all questioning.
In addition to her inability to sleep at night she now could hear even the tiniest sounds and it was scaring her as well as making her feel stronger, if a little stranger.
She, however, didn't feel any sort of surprise or even panic, only calmness settled in as her abilities appeared one by one.
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“Good morning, highness.” Greeted, Giles.
“Morning,” Buffy beamed at him, watching him adjusting his spectacles, despite her exhaustion she couldn't help but glad to see him. He was her favorite of all the teachers that she had. At times she felt as if he knew more about her than even herself or her parents.
“So, your birthday is coming up in several weeks, is it not?”
“Uh-huh.” Buffy watched him taking off his glasses once again, and chuckled lightly as he proceeded to clean it rigorously with the hem of his cloak, she suspected that one of these days he would rubbed clean through them at the rate he was going.
Giles suppressed his sigh, the last thing he wanted was to upset the little princess with the news that he had, the news that he had already known since the day she was born, she was his whole reason to be doing what he was doing. Ever since the day he stepped into this castle he knew that he had been the source of the grieve that the king and queen suffered, but it wasn't his intention and even though they knew that it was not his fault they still needed somewhere they could direct their anger and resentment toward, so he automatically became that target. They had never done anything outwardly to show him as such, the opposite was true, they accommodated him whenever and with whatever he needed, after all it was for the interest of their only darling.
He had said to them on so many occasions that he was only here to help, and nothing was going to keep the princess alive longer than an adequate in all things, the knowledge, the art of self protection, the Princess needed to be an experience fighter to survive the night to night combat that she was going to face once she become a fully realized Slayer and not just a potential.
So far he had provided what she needed, and doing it without her questioning too much about all the lore and tales and myths that he had managed to add into their lesson, he also found some of the best fighters to help her with the actually surviving part of the slaying.
Fortunately, his young charge was a very apt pupil; she soaked up all the knowledge like a sponge, even when she appeared less than interested in all things that he had to say. Soon they would have to break the news to her, to reveal her true destiny, to tell her that the monsters were real, and she was the one that had to fight them. Certainly, he wasn't the only one that dreaded the day, her parents were, too.
Her sixteenth birthday was less than a month away, he could feel the time pressing closer, like an echo of footsteps coming closer and closer in an empty hallway, just a little louder with each step. Monster was coming to get them…
“Giles?”
A clear voice rang out in his ears; he had been lost in his own reverie that he forgot she was in the room with him this moment.
“Oh, I apologized m'lady. I'm a little preoccupied with the upcoming celebration.”
“Giles,” Buffy made it sounded like an admonishment. “What's with the ‘my lady' stuff? You can call me Buffy, and you know it.”
“Of course, Buffy, are you excited about your birthday celebration coming up?” He took off his glasses once again and cleaned it with the handkerchief he always kept in his pocket. He rubbed them with the intent to clear out the dust that did not exist.
“Just another birthday.” She shrugged.
Honestly, she loved celebrations, any kind, and in the castle there were always one kind of party or another, sometimes she thought that her parents just threw the party for the lack of better things to do. Of course, it wasn't true, but when there's no reasonable explanation she'd like to think that they did it for her.
“Aren't you excited that you're going to be sixteen soon?” Giles put his glasses back on and looked at her from the top of the spectacles.
Buffy didn't answer him, instead she asked about the day's lesson, and the teacher caught on, he quickly running through the list of things they were going to discuss and learn about for the day. He noticed that when there was any space for silent, which normally would be the time for her to reflect on what they were talking about, the petite princess would spaced out, which was not normal for her.
“Is everything all right, Buffy?”
“Huh?”
“You,” Giles gestured at the petite blonde princess, “seem a little out of sort today. Is everything all right?”
“Yes,” Buffy nodded once. “Just some nightmare, that's all, nothing to get your robe twisted about.” She grinned, trying to put him at ease.
“Nightmares?” Giles didn't let it go, though.
He couldn't, right now, everything about the princess was important, everything changes were significant, and he needed to know about them. He knew what she was trying to do; Buffy had always been the one that wanted to take care of everyone else, even though she didn't need to. He was proud of her for that, and he knew that her parents felt the same. But at times like these, when not everything is all nice and golden with the precious one he didn't like that quality about her, it made her brush all concern that others had about her off. Mostly, she did it to save them from having to worry about her.
Which meant that when something was wrong, she wouldn't tell anyone about it.
“Can you tell me about them?” He tried not to make it sound as if it was important. “And shall I assume that there's more than one?”
Reluctantly, she told him most of the things she remembered from her personal nightly terror, and he listened, avidly, making no comments. He wanted to explain to her, about everything, about what was happening and why she was dreaming what she dreamt. Now, he was certain, the changed was coming, and even though Buffy said nothing of her physical conditions, he knew that it had changed as well.
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Buffy made her way out of the drawing room that she had used as her classroom for as long as she could remember, Giles was different today, she thought, he was quieter, it was as if he had something very important on his mind. And his questions about her, how she was physically, emotionally, and even about her dreams. Her teacher had always been interested in all things that had to do with her. And the petite princess loved him like an uncle.
She knew he wanted what was best for her. She had known him since she was born, although she didn't remember that, but everyone told her that. He was here the day that she was presented to the kingdom, bestowing her with well wishes, which probably weren't like what she got from the rest of the kingdom, these wishes were able to manifest and came true.
The new master that he brought her today was also very intriguing as well.
She was entirely about Mythology, demon lore, creature of the night and such. Princess Elizabeth was rather puzzled as to why she had to learn all of them over again, and in more details. There was another Master that taught her about all of the mythology when she was younger, and even though she thought it was interesting, but they weren't really important. And she only had to study it for one winter, the subject wasn't brought up again after that.
So, it was curious that Giles would bring someone in to teach her all of them again now.
Also there was the concentration… last time everything was general, they didn't even talk about demon lore that much.
No matter, Giles always had a reason for teaching her, so she was going to go along, for now.
“My lady,” a voice called her into a stop.
“Yes?” The petite princess turned to face a girl, one of the queen's handmaidens, and waited, since the girl was running toward her, huffing and puffing all the while. It took the girl a few more heartbeats to get to her and Buffy patiently waited. She didn't have to ask, or guess to know that the queen's handmaiden was on a mission from the queen and probably been running across the castle to find her. She could wait a few minutes when the girl had probably been running for a while.
“M.. My Lady, Princess…” The girl was panting, and trying to get the words out all at the same time and Buffy took pity on her.
“Stop, breathe.” She ordered, the girl obeyed and took several deep breaths before started over again.
“My Lady,” she started and proceeded to tell her that the queen wanted to have lunch with her only daughter, and she was waiting at the grand dinning room right this moment, waiting with the lunch awaited. Buffy smiled widened this was one request that she was all too happy to comply as she quickly corrected her course and walked as fast as she could towards the dinning room, mind not the way that a proper lady supposed to walk.
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Giles had spent his afternoon after he parted way with the Princess, oversaw the move of his possession, he had to make sure that all of his books were being handled with extreme care, some of them were priceless and the only one of its kind, he couldn't have them ruined or fell into pieces because of some worker careless hand.
After all, they weren't just for show, they were all going to be a big help when the time came.
He had spent years collecting some of them, the coven had provided the volumes that had to do with magic, trusting them to his care, and not that they were just books and that they were rare, but he loved them, they were his source of knowledge, what he could not observe first hand he had them to teach him.
There was one volume in his massive collection that he cherished the most, one large, leather bound and gilded volume titled : Slayer Lore, that he received down the long line of people like him, people men and women who helped the slayer of each generation, if he lost all his other books this was one that he would keep.
Those books mostly belonged to others before him, men that were trusted with the wellbeing of the Chosen of that generation, men that had the chance to observe what others could not, men that felt destiny just as strongly as the one being entrusted with them. Men and women that came together out of respect for what the Chosen one had to do.
The King and Queen of Sunnydale had requested that he stayed in the castle full time, just a few of the teachers had done already while they were teaching the High Princess, and some of the lesser Princes, and Princesses, but he had always begged off. He needed to travel, to find what was best for his soon-to-be slayer, Princess Elizabeth, anything that he thought would be of some help with the fight against evil.
He needed to get everything that thought was necessary for the coming fight.
His latest trip was to hunt for a scroll of Almeiya, the text was lost for hundreds of years before he had received some clues from a coven of white witches that he was in contact with.
A sound of wooden case being dropped pulled him out of his musing and immediately Giles jumped up and ran over to where the noise came from.
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The high Queen of Sunnydale pushed open the large, heavy oak door to the drawing room as quietly as she could, all the duties that needed her attention were clear and out of the way, made way to her free afternoon, a rare occurrence at best for the country's one of the two highest authority. Hardly ever had the time for anything else other than royal duties, but Joyce tried. She needed the time for her only daughter, and always made time, even if it meant that some of the less important things got pushed aside, she would make this time.
The same could not be said about the high king, but it was to be expected. She knew he wanted to be there for their little princess, but his duties were always more important, after all the country did not run itself.
Today, after the last of document got cleared from her large desk, the queen made her way here, a drawing room, where her only little girl would be spending her afternoon.
Making her way quietly into the room, in hope of not disturbing anything, Joyce spotted the golden head of her baby.
Buffy was completely engrossed into the book, so absorbed into that she did not seem to notice that someone was coming, which was what the older blonde wanted. Lately it seemed that nothing escaped her daughter's notice, they all could be tipping toes around her and talk in whisper and she would still hear it.
Before she could reach her baby girl, however, one of the servants spotted her and quickly come to attention, Joyce sighed in disappointment when Buffy came to her feet and gave a bow to her mother, her queen. Joyce quickly waved it off and opened her arms, waiting for that petite form of her little girl.
“Hello, darling.” She kissed the top of her golden head.
“Mother,” Buffy smiled up at her, receiving another kiss on her forehead. “Are you finished for the day?”
“Well,” inclined to lie to her daughter but decided not to, lately she felt that she had to let her daughter know how important she was. “No, but nothing that could not wait.”
A smiled she got in return of the confession was worth all the workload that she had put off and longer hour later.
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It was dark, very dark, and cold night, moonless. She couldn't see any light source anywhere, not even the stars, but her eyes adjust slowly, and her surrounding became clear for her.
Stonewalls surrounding her, trees…. Garden.
She was in a courtyard.
Looking around, the place was normal at first glance, but now she could see, with unnerving quality, the state of disarray the plants were in and then the crumbling walls.
It looked familiar and yet not.
Then it all faded.
She found herself on a path, a dirt road to somewhere she had never been before.
Someone was there with her.
Long hair, brown eyes.
A smile…
Buffy woke up, right before she could see the face of the one that happened to share her dream this night. The princess gave out a tired sigh, aside from sleepless nights; she still had to deal with all these nightmares on a regular basis. Although, tonight it wasn't really a nightmare, there was no monster, no weird things in the shadow, just old ruin and a brown hair girl. The entire thing was kind of fuzzy, but the place looked familiar somehow, like somewhere she had been and known well, the girl on the other hand, she had never seen her before in her life; that she was certain of.
Nothing was frighten in this dream, this night, just strange, but it was nice, better than all the monsters she had been seeing in her nightly vision lately. A nice, and welcoming change, she was tired of the cold sweat and raged breath she woke up with.
She guessed that it was fitting, with all the changes that seemed to be going on in the castle lately. Her primary teacher had suddenly decided to moved his collections of books into the castle and said that he would stayed and spent more time in this place, something which she knew he had never considered before, even when her parents had asked him to. Buffy had a feeling that something was going on, something weird. And he was suddenly interested in her dreams, and everything about her that normally would turn his reserved feature beat red within seconds.
She didn't know what it was, but like the dreams.
It was just another change among all the changes.