Hey, I have a question about Sundays! If that's not too spoilery: How do naetas work? Like, it was mentioned that they can change over time which makes sense. But when do you get them? And if you lose your mark, do you lose your naeta? That was hinted at a bit with mercury I think?
Oh boy! Well, there’s some stuff I can’t explain because it would be super spoilery, but I’ll do my best to explain. All of this stuff will come up in the fic, eventually, but I’ll explain it here too and link to it in the encyclopedia.
Naeta are the physical manifestation of a person’s soul. They represent your true self, your subconscious, your mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being, as well as the ideal you strive toward. They embody what you believe to be important, and the things you want to focus on, whether in yourself or in others.
Naeta are, by definition, sentient. They have thoughts, feelings, concerns, and their own free will, to an extent, but will always work in your best interests and well-being, even if they seem to do things that you really, really don’t want them to do.
Every person has a naeta, and a naeta will always embody these things. Some people’s naeta grow with them, turning from babies to adults to elders as their people grow. However, some forever stay young, such as a kitten always being a kitten, or stay old, such as an elderly caribou.
A naeta can be any animal, so long as it isn’t inherently as intelligent as a person, and the animal technically exists in the world and has a soul. This means that monsters can’t be naeta. So, if Grimm do exist, which I am not saying they do, they couldn’t be naeta.
A person is born with their mark. Marks tend not to change position in life, as the focal point of a person’s aura, that is, where their aura tends to congregate, is where the mark forms. So, unless a person goes through a great change which also completely changes their aura, their mark will not move.
The mark can change shape and size, but will tend to solidify by the time a person is thirteen years of age. Naeta change as a person does. What you idolize as a child may not be what you idolize as an adult, but most naeta are fully formed and unchanging by the time their person reaches 18-21.
There are a few exceptions to this, the largest one being gender. If a person discovers their gender identity is different from what they thought, the gender of their naeta will change as well. Some naeta will also change name and shape in order to help with this transition. Being true to yourself can change your ideals, after all, and your well-being, so naeta change with that.
If a person loses their mark, they lose their naeta. Naeta must be called through the mark. Without a mark, you can’t call upon a naeta. As a naeta is a piece of your soul, losing it can destroy a person. Many people who’ve lost their naeta become depressed, paranoid, and anxious. They fear change, they struggle with self worth and mental health, and they often feel lost and alone, regardless of their support systems.
It’s very much like losing a twin or a loved one, and it leaves a hole in your very soul, your very being.
Many people who lose their naeta never recover from it.
Trauma also affects naeta. Whether that changes their shape, colour, or strength, depends on the person. Great trauma can completely change a naeta! It’s very spooky.
Naeta can also be killed outside of losing the mark. This is incredibly rare and incredibly difficult to do, and involves soul breaking, which is, well, an advanced, outlawed, and banned magical technique involving outlawed materials. Soul breaking is nigh impossible. And it has been centuries since a reported case.
There are some myths that a person can recover their naeta, even after it has been killed or their mark has been destroyed. However, there are no reported cases of this.
But really, that’s not something you should concern yourself with.