Hraxanthus was impressed. He already knew considering the effort the human has gone through in order let his wish be known to the one deity who can fulfill it, he won’t be asking for anything trivial. That’s why he felt it was important to let Scott know some of the restrictions. Those were not all of them, but they were the most common ones people in the positions of granting wishes have faced throughout the history of humankind, in this realm and others.

Scott hadn’t disappointed him. Hraxanthus gently put down the book he was leafing through and closed his eyes. His face was impassive but there was a hint of a smile, which gave Scott hope that his wish might not be rejected right off the bat. Scott knew what he was asking for wasn’t going to be easy no matter how powerful the deity was. To start with, it was an intricate union of a few wishes, and Scott might be rejected because of that. Moreover, his wish involved reshaping all the events that had happened up until now, centered around his actions. No matter how large or small scale those changes may be, Scott was aware of the butterfly effect. He couldn’t prove its validity of course, but it did make sense to him.

Scott had also decided on a backup plan should his wish be rejected, that is if the deity was willing to forgive him his folly and give him a chance to ask for another wish. In that case, he would just request for the death of a few people, or even at the worst case scenario, the one who was the hardest to kill. After that, Scott would have no other option but to embark on a suicide mission against the other people on his list. It wouldn’t solve what he wanted to fix, but it would at least give him, and the souls of the other unfortunate victims who were involved with him, a modicum of peace. Since Scott believed in the possibility of reincarnation, he wasn’t going to ignore the possibility of there being an afterlife, or the concept of souls.

Hraxanthus opened his eyes after what felt like ages to Scott. The smile was still intact on his lips, but there was a mischievous glint in his eyes. Scott noticed it but didn’t think too much about it. He was only concerned with whether his wish was going to be granted or not.

“That’s a very interesting and well-thought wish, Mr.Degen. I assume you’re going to tell me the details of this…person, or the group of people…that you want to exact revenge on?”

Scott was surprised. “You mean you don’t already know? I…thought you were aware of my life and everything!”

This elicited a derisive snort from Hraxanthus. “Mr. Degen, contrary to what you may think, I have far…grander…affairs to cater to. So know, I do not know about your insignificant life, nor would I have cared, had you not gone through all that trouble in order to seek an audience with a power far beyond your imagination. ”

Although he sneered at Scott’s very ‘mortal’ habit of tending to think they are the center of the universe, Hraxanthus felt he should keep the conversation to a civil scale instead of rebuking him. After all, contrary to whatever front he was putting in front of Scott, Hraxanthus had a lot riding on this weak but extraordinarily resourceful human.

“However, that doesn’t diminish the importance of the ordeal you went through. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to miss out on any important details, to ensure your revenge is comprehensive from all angles. Therefore, Mr. Degen, you have my full attention.” Hraxanthus made a show of leaning back against the chair to get into a more comfortable position and focused his attention fully on the human. Scott was visibly nervous, but he recovered promptly, since the deity in front of him was right, even if a bit brutal in the way of delivery.

“Very well. It all started like this…”

[…]

[Scott’s past will reveal itself in relevant places as the novel progresses. I thought that way it would be more interesting and less tedious to both read and recall compared to a big info-dump in the form of a flashback. For the purpose of story, right now please assume that he told Hraxanthus everything. You’ll still get to know the aftermath of the events that occurred.]

[An hour later]

“…and so, here I am. Due to what she did, my mother suffered a heart attack and died on the way to the hospital. My father could not accept the what happened. He completely went in denial, became a mental patient, and took his own life after a few months. My sister, who absolutely doted on her, ran to her estate to confront her. Next day she was found naked in the back-alley of a biker’s bar, their ‘mark’ emblazoned on her, claiming her to be their ‘bitch’. She was violated by at least ten men. The cops turned a blind eye, all the doctors in the area released written affidavits that she wasn’t raped, and it was all in her mind, and tried to pass her off as delusional. She slit her wrist while crying my name, asking me to come save her.”

Scott paused and took a deep breathe. He realized he’d revealed every single thing about his past to someone who technically shouldn’t even exist. For that matter, this was the first time he’d said anything about his past to anyone, period. He quickly snuck a glance at Hraxanthus and found him unmoved, still seated in his original pose, his demenour stone-like. For an instant, a weird thought played in his head and he was immediate afraid, afraid that all of this was just an elaborate dream…or nightmare…that his sleep-deprived brain had concocted when he’d passed out from exhaustion at some stage. However, he refused to reassert reality by pinching himself or slapping his own cheeks. As far as he was concerned, this was a chance for him to undo everything that happened. To ensure that his family doesn’t fall victim to his choices. If this was a dream, Scott never wanted to wake up from it.

Clearing his throat, he resumed his monologue, relieved that he was at the end of his narration. “And while all this was happening, I having the time of my life in a different country, with people I considered family, people I called ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’. I was so engrossed in my fun-filled adventures, I didn’t want to talk to my mother, or my father. And god, I definitely didn’t want to talk to my sis. ‘She’d just nag and whine because I didn’t take her along.’ I was regularly on phone with *** though, the person who I’d given my heart to. She…well, she told me she missed me but she wanted me to have fun. She said she couldn’t wait for our honeymoon…just me and her, on a cruise to roam the world. She told me my family was doing well, spending a lot of time with her. She…I…she told me…” Scott started to falter, but somehow managed to blurt out his words before being completely overwhelmed with emotion. “…she told me Brianna, my…sis…was constantly nagging her to take her somewhere fun. God, I was…so annoyed at my sister. But she…she just laughed and told me…that she’s her big sister. That…that she’d always…always take…Oh god… OH GOD WHY…WHYYYY!!”

Scott broke down. Holding his head in between his hands, he dropped to the floor and in between gut-wrenching sobs and screaming fits, he let loose the pain he’d kept tightly bound, deep inside his soul. For the first time, he didn’t care about appearing strong when meeting people. Fabricating new and innovative lies every time he had to convey meaningful social conversation. Laughing, smiling, smirking with the others when they joked, moaned, bitched about their parents, their siblings, their girlfriends and boyfriends.

He was completely awash in agony, facing a full frontal assault of emotions that he’d denied himself to feel for so many years. Everything was brought to the surface today, sitting in front of this…god, angel, demon, spirit…whatever he’d managed to summon. His rational mind did try to nudge him towards sanity a couple of times, trying to tell him that such an abject display of ‘weakness’ might void his chances with this deity. But what has been let out of Pandora’s box wasn’t going to go back in so easily. Scott didn’t care what his audience thought of him. He was just wanted to lose himself in the ocean of pain and suffering. He felt he deserved this. He felt if he didn’t, he’d do a disservice to the memories of his lost family. He felt…a myriad of emotions all at the same time, neither of them winning over the other, but all of them pushing him further and further beyond control.

Hraxanthus was amused at the outburst at first, but he quickly became annoyed. Several times, he wanted to reach out and slap the pathetic wimp straight. He didn’t due to a couple of reasons. One, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to properly control his strength. He didn’t want to kill the human even before he had a chance to serve him. Secondly, as annoyed Hraxanthus was, he still found Scott’s breakdown a fascinating sight to behold. Although fully aware of the customs of this realm, Hraxanthus was by no means an expert when it came to experiencing emotions. Seeing the sheer magnitude of so many different emotions, right in front of him, and also watching a human - a pretty strong-willed one by their standards - riling under the onslaught of them - it was an enlightening experience for him. He decided to keep his annoyance in check and let the whole scenario play out in front of him.

Even though Scott’s soul masochistically desired an endless train of suffering, reality was slowly and steadily settling in. As the feelings flooding his brain slowly subsided and the sobs slowly receded to stifled whimpers, Scott realized he’d been spiraling out of control. Awareness of his surroundings made its way back into him, and Scott scrambled to straighten out his thoughts and establish rationality amidst the chaotic wreck. He knew the witness of his breakdown was the last person to empathize with him, so he just gave up any attempts of explanation, and decided to own his breakdown. He stood up, went to the bathroom and splashed water all over his face.His eyes were still bloodshot, but it had regained most of the cold, calculating glimmer that had been his ally for so many years. After drying himself off in a towel, he came out.

“Excuse me. It seems my emotions…got the better of me.” He didn’t say anything else, half-expecting a snort or a sarcastic comment. When none came, except a raised eyebrow, he sat down on the bed once again and decided to quickly come to the conclusion. “So…I was the clueless idiot, in love, and had no idea what was going on back at home. And I was purposefully kept in the dark by people around me, who accompanied me abroad. When I returned and came to know what had happened, needless to say I was devastated.” He paused and chuckled in self-derision. “The breakdown I had then was several times worse than this one, so I’m happy you’re at least spared from that sight.”

He sighed and continued. “Anyway, needless to say I cut off all contacts with this lady and her family. Ever since then, I’ve lived a life of constant vigilance. Never staying anywhere for too long. Always trying to improve my strength. Always planning. Gathering resources. Trying to figure out ways to get back at them. At first…I just wanted them dead. In fact I was in a position to do just that. But then some things happened, and I…I became aware of an alternative. An alternative I would have never believed is possible, had it been under different circumstances. But I still had to try. I forced myself to keep an open mind. I met with countless failures. But each failure burned the yearning for success brighter. And they taught me the value of patience. So I held on, exploring different avenues, going back to the drawing board again and again. And I guess some God somewhere did take pity on me, because when I was at my wit’s end, I ended up…succeeding.”

Scott stopped talking and gave Hraxanthus a meaningful glance. Even thought he couldn’t hope for empathy, Scott hoped that he’d at least managed to convey his sincerity to this being.

“And so, well…here we are. I want a way to undo the devastation caused to my family. I know it’s a very selfish want, but…” Scott let out a wry grin. “…somehow I don’t think you’d care much about that.”

Hraxanthus, who’d been a silent listener all this time, let out a dry chuckle. “No Mr. Degen, indeed not.” He realized Scott was done with his story, and was now waiting for his decision.

“Frankly speaking, what you suggested is indeed doable. And…” He gave a pause, fully knowing he was being needlessly dramatic.”…it is well within my power to grant you that. However…”

Hraxanthus scrutinized Scott’s face carefully, trying to catch the telltale sudden glimmer of eagerness,of hope, that he’d been expecting. He didn’t find anything but calmness. ‘Well well…’

“…it isn’t without its own set of complications.” Hraxanthus finished the hanging sentence, unable to get a rise out of Scott anymore. “If you’d asked for just a simple reversal of your own timeline, that could still have been managed. But you intend to make changes in your new timeline. You want to retain your memory while doing so. These are not simple wishes.”

The moment he said the word ‘wishes’, he saw a flicker of disappointment and a sense of despair descend upon Scott. It was gone pretty fast, but not nearly fast enough to escape Hraxanthus’ notice.

‘It seems you are not that strong, not yet. Well, that’s good my little puppet. After all, I need you to grow.’

“Relax.” He gave Scott a small chuckle. “You don’t have to worry about having to make just a single wish. Yes, what you asked for spans a number of separate wishes, but I am not going to deny your wish, or selectively fulfill only some of them, simply because of a technicality. However, since neither of us can deny that the complexity of your wish, here’s what I would like to propose, Mr. Degen.”