Now that we're getting somewhere with the kids, it's likely a good idea to have an outline of what each quest will likely hold for you. Of course, they will not all be the same, but they will have the same elements.
Wand > Baby Ghost:
Research about what creature your child is. Be prepared for what is to come. This is the same for all guardians, so no worries - it's easy.
Minimum Length: 500 words
Baby Ghost > Infant:
This quest usually has to do with preparing for your child's arrival. They need to feel at least somewhat...wanted...Or at least secure. Make a space for them, get them something special.
Minimum Length: 500 words
Infant > Toddler:
This quest will be given to you by Kyr. It usually has something to do with tying the child back to what it was before it's rebirth. For example: Vanaja's quest involved her getting a bird companion. Kibarango's involved the child going into his first state of Rapture. And Taylor got the simple quest of gathering gems for his hoard.
Minimum Length: 1,000 words
Toddler > Kid:
This is where the quests become complex. Toddler to Kid requires a multi-post quest with flashbacks and entering the past through the child's mind. They go into a comatose state of sleep and are literally trapped in their past self's bodies.They're unable to control the body, at all. They're just forced to watch through the other's eyes. They can think independently, and they can talk, but nobody can hear them.
This quest, however, is not when they learn how they died. This quest involves learning of their baser powers. For example: Coailiann learned her minor healing ability, Gaelic, and her haunting voice and music skill but she did not learn flight, advanced healing, OR her stronger telepathy/Telekinesis. These will be reserved for Teen/Youth. The events that they see usually involve or lead up to the use of their baser powers and/or original language (if they don't already know it).
When they wake up, they're in an older body and have grown. I will suggest breaking it up into 4-5 posts minimum (one for each scene) with 1-2 growth/awakening posts.
Minimum Length: 3,000 words
Kid > Teen:
The dread Teen Quest - literally. This will be one of the hardest times for your child. Because, as a child, they get to see their life. They get to know what they were before, and it's not going to shield them. They get to watch themselves die. What leads up to it, what happens after it. They learn their life.
Just as before, they are not able to interfere in the past. They have very little, if any, control over what happens here. Some (like Coailiann) can burst through for very small parts in it (At one point, Coailiann dove at her prince who was about to do something to her past self. She connected for a moment, and knocked him down but was unable to do anything else) But in their teen quest, they also get something that will be very important.
After they watch their last breath and learn how they died, they will come face to face with their previous self. They can ask three questions. What questions they ask are up to them, and it can be anything. But they can only ask three questions. These questions should help them move onto the next stage. Help them accept what happened.
Sometimes their former selves will give them something to take back to the present with them. It may be a selkie skin (in the case of the selkies), a necklace...something important to them in their past life. It can be living or inanimate, but it cannot be a person. Could be knowledge, as well, or a trait from their lives.
Once they've done all they need to do in the past, they will return back to the present and awaken from their state with the knowledge and the gift given, as a teenager.
This is also a multi-post quest, and I suggest it be broken down into 8-10 separate parts.
Minimum Length: 10,000 words
Teen > Youth:
You thought the Teen quest was bad? Well, this one matches it, if not succeeds it in difficulty. Your child does not watch yourself die, they do not learn anything about who they were - instead, they find if they have the strength to become what they're supposed to become. The strength to move on, and accept, what happened. To embrace their second chance, or to fall apart. It is here where they decide to move on, or allow themselves the final, peaceful death that they were denied before. Here, they face what brought them their death before - be it physically, should the person/thing still be alive...Or in yet another dream, should they be unable to face it in reality. You can have them choose to go seek it out, or it can seek them out.
In this quest, you may choose to have another Ghost accompany you. Some may not be strong enough to face it alone - and that's okay. But here is where they are offered closure. For example: Coailiann decided that she needed to face the man who raped her and left her to die in order to be able to move on from it. For her Youth quest, she will travel to Ireland, with a friend, and return to the Sidhe court to face the reigning king.
Minimum Length: 12,000 words
Youth > Adult:
To Be Explained
