Prologue
It is said that the best place to hide is in the most obvious and unlikely place. In most cases this is in public, living among people and blending in. This method of invisibility, of illusion, is probably one of the finest. The hidden can live somewhat normal lives; living, working, shopping and socializing free of prejudice and discrimination. However, the knowledge that they are living a lie and of the hidden fear will always keep one on edge. It is a terror so deep that it enables not one moment of true rest because it is never safe. This is due to the fact that the safest place to hide, among the public, is also one of the most dangerous. Anything unusual, anything unknown is a threat and has the potential to send them into a panic, and panic they will… it is inevitable. Anything that does not fit in is also a threat. These things can send the public into a horror so deep that they become like animals, unknowing and unreasonable. They rush forward as a herd, blindly attacking anything that moves. The hidden have no chance. And so they must live every moment on edge, every moment in fear. Never resting, never relaxing, never living. They must always be on edge, always analyzing and always fearing those that fear them. It is the safest way.
However, one cannot blame the public, they cannot be held accountable for their fear because the hidden cannot be the hidden unless there is a reason to hide. From what the public are shown these are the scum of the Earth, the thieves, the kidnappers, the murderers… people that do not care for the lives that they destroy. And for the most part this is true however, the public cannot see that there is more to it then that. They do not see the runaways and the victims. They do not see the beauty and the desperate hope in these people. And they do not see the mutants. However the mutants see them. These unique people were once one of the public themselves and would have viewed the hidden in the same way, until a situation came along that revealed their powers and at the same time opened their eyes to a whole new world. For the first time ever they were able to see both sides as they truly were. And so they do not blame the public, they just fear them. The public are too close to the mutants, it is too easy for them to slip up and reveal their powers. Even though they mean no harm the pubic will see the danger behind those powers and hate them. Also the public are too close to a government group that do know about mutants, they are too close to finding out the truth and they are pushing the mutants too close to being discovered and an all-out bloodbath, a mutant genocide. The scariest thing is that the public are just normal people; children, men, woman, housewives and grandparents and yet they unknowingly hold so much power. The power to save… or destroy.
Despite all of this the mutants remain human, they remain stubborn in their hope that one day there will be freedom, a safe place where they can truly live again. With their powers but without fear. It is the one thing that keeps them going and unites them. After all, hope can lead to reality… someone just needs to take the first step.