July 15th,2023. 

The Beauce carnaval stopped in a small city in northern Ontario for a week, same as every other year. 

Rollercoasters, booths, food, attractions and memorabilia, the same as every other year. 

But this year, something different was added. A man entered a small tent where a sign read “5$ fortune teller! Come see what future awaits you!”. 

The air inside the tent smelled stuffy and odd because of the candles, the layout is baren, with only a small table in the middle of the room with 2 chairs opposing each other and a crystal ball on the table, a woman who looked to be in her late forties sitting behind the crystal ball. 

“welcome, child, have you come for my services?” 

“uh, yeah.” 

The man takes out a 5-dollar bill from his wallet and hands it to the woman. 

“excellent, have a seat.” 

The man obliges to her request and sits down. 

“put your hands out” 

The woman  said, putting her hands over the table, visibly asking the man to take her hands. 

The man does as he’s told. 

“Your name is Julien Boulanger, correct?” 

The man recoils back, mouth agape. 

“h... how do you know that?! Do I know you?!” 

The woman lets out a short laugh. 

“no, we don’t. Please, rest assured, I simply remember you from online I believe” 

The man who previously looked panicked now calms down. 

“ahaha, yeah I guess that does make a lot of sense then.” 

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

She smiles and then looks down at the crystal ball, putting her hands on its sides. 

“tell me, do you believe in gods? Well, more specifically higher existences?” 

Her questions took Julien by surprise. 

“uh, well I won't confirm nor deny the possibility, but I don’t believe in any specific deity or religion.” 

“I see, that’s perfectly reasonable.” she says while nodding. 

“if one were to prove the existence of higher beings with undeniable proof, would you believe in them?” 

“uh... I don’t know, I doubt it, I'd probably acknowledge their existence but I wouldn’t worship them unless they directly contributed to making life better for me” 

The woman smiles and says: 

“I understand, and what would a god need to do to get you to worship him?” 

“I uh... I’m not sure...I had a pretty shitty life until now, so maybe I'd ask to be sent back in time to when I was 14 with the capability of creating anything I want from scratch as well as the ability to use transmutation I'd more than likely believe in the god, but I'd need that god to take part in my life and not just give me my power and leave once that’s done. I’d want a god that takes an active part in my life.” 

The woman raises an eyebrow. 

“I see, how interesting... And why would you want such powers?” 

“Well, I’d want the transmutation power to create the parts needed to create the things I want. The power to create the things I want would be to create thing’s like robots with artificial intelligence or machinery to help humankind. Although I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t like the sheer amount of money that would come with it.” 

The woman smirks. 

“and why return to when you were a child?” 

The man looks down. 

“I want to live a life without regrets, but I have many regrets, sometimes its unbearable. I want to go back in time and avoid doing all those mistakes.” 

The woman gives a warm look. 

“I see, that is indeed a very good reason. Let’s assume a god grants that wish, what would you expect from that god in exchange for you worshipping him every day?” 

“Oh, that’s a good question...umm... I think direct guidance and answers to my prayers would be nice, maybe blessings and good luck too. Maybe sometimes paying me a visit” 

The woman laugh’s a bit. 

“I see, maybe that’s where the one Christians worship failed.” 

She pauses. 

“what if I could do just that for you? Would you worship me?” 

The man looks at her, unsure how to react to what he considers to be an obvious delusion coming from a shady person. 

“uh... I mean, sure, why not.”  

(not like there's anything to lose by saying that, I can just forget about this interaction once I leave...) he thought to himself. 

The woman smiles and stands up. 

“wonderful, you may refer to me as iona. I shall grant your wishes and send you back in time, in exchange I want you to worship me to your very core.” 

The room starts lighting up, the man’s consciousness fading to black.