How do I start my story quest all over again? I have made a wrong choice and would like to start afresh without deleting my account.

a "wrong choice"? There's only one choice in the entire plotline that actually has a permanent effect on anything and it only really affects some npcs, not the player- it doesn't like, cut the player off from anything, or change what's available to them.
All 'choices' lead to the same end in this plotline, variations are pretty much invariably 'you have to fight an extra battle' or 'you get some different text to the other option' (with the one exception mentioned above)

what is that one choice that /does/ have an effect? :o my memory of the storyline is fuzzy

the point where you're staking out one of the bandit camps and can choose to wait for reinforcement or move in and attack. The effect is [hiding as highlight text for spoilers] that one of the choices gets Sheriff Thyrm of Esior's Haven uuhhhhhh... Deadified. If that happens, his subordinate Deupty Schmitd takes over his position and is the person who will henceforth be the one that you get your Esior's Haven missions from at the Barracks (but doesn't really change any plot stuff because it's pretty much the last few moments of the viridian meadows plotline before you advance to umbra forest for a new group of npcs, so it affects like, a few text screens and a little bit of what you learn about what is going on). You can see the screenshots of this event in walkthrough post 7

tysm :-D

I mean I have reached a point where I make a choice to either battle or negotiate (Ceresis' forces) and I am unable to beat him!!! Can there be a way, without deleting an account to start the whole process over from the beginning, though that may mean stat resets?

yes, you can absolutely beat him. You cannot delete accounts, and having more than one accounht is against ToS in either case.

You just have to consider what went wrong, and what your party is/how it's set up and how you can improve it, whether that be party order, element allocation, proficiency points, or equipment, or a combination

You are going to battle Ceresis eventually no matter which options you choose.

Hello! I'm pretty new so forgive me if this is unhelpful, but considering the level of the NPC you're facing-- I can see thst you are level 19. Is it possible the NPC is just too high of a level for your pets? Have you unlocked all 3 party slots? This really helped me, I have also been doing tons and tons of invasions for xp (the level flexes to your level. Your pets will get knocked out a lot- but keep grinding them until you're significantly useful during these events!)

Also make sure u are stacking the correct stats on your armor/selecting the correct points for your pets' attunement. I've found if I am burnt out on exploring I just send my pets on level appropriate missions and walk away for a bit, like go nurture or something for a lil while to chill.

I hope this helps and didnt come off the wrong way. I am figuring stuff out just like you! Lmk if you need further assistance on anything I mentioned :) There are lots of helpful guides in the forum but there isn't a search function yet so I just google search "sylestia.com + (whatever I'm having trouble with)"

Link: https://www.sylestia.com/forums/?thread=101917&page=1#7 Author: Scathreoite Time Posted: 2/26/2022 at 1:26 AM yes, you can absolutely beat him. You cannot delete accounts, and having more than one accounht is against ToS in either case. You just have to consider what went wrong, and what your party is/how it's set up and how you can improve it, whether that be party order, element allocation, proficiency points, or equipment, or a combination

I had that issue for awhile. I just grinded levels like crazy and then went back to battle him. If you die, you can wait until your pets recover and go to other areas to do random battles