VALERIAN

TO PROTECT AND SERVE

Born and raised in New York to a single mother, Clyde had always wanted to do her mother proud. She had raised him all on her own, and he had always sought to do her right. Excelling in school, in sports, and whatever else he put his heart into, Clyde was just a selfless achiever who had everything he ever wanted in his life. He had a caring mother. He had plenty of friends. And by the time he graduated from college, he had a girlfriend he was sure to marry. Rose McIntyre was her name. A red-haired Irish girl, fiery as the shade of her hair. Believing that he could do more if he was given the opportunity to, Clyde would become a police officer. When Clyde would turn 24, Rose would give him the biggest gift he could ever ask for. A son. Henry Valerian.

Turning into a father was a big deal to Clyde, for he knew now that he had a life that was fully in his responsibility. Someone he had to take care of, just as his own mother had taken care of him. It would come to no surprise that losing his son would hit him as hard as it had, for all good things must come to an end. Clyde would fall into a downward spiral, when Henry passed away at the age of 2, struck by what the doctors had described as an unexpected and sudden death. Clyde would blame himself entirely for Henry's death, calling it his greatest failure as a father and as a person.

This eventually led to a rift between him and Rose, and everyone else, and soon enough, Clyde would find himself left alone to wallow in his own despair, having not only lost his son now, but his wife and his job as well. It was only after the intervention of his mother, who suggested him to move out of the city and country, and away from anything that reminded him of Henry. Though reluctant at first, Clyde would relent eventually, and he would find himself in the prosperous city of New Paris. Here, he would try to start a new life, even if he did not feel like he deserved it.

However, this was what his mother wanted, and he wanted to do right by her, at the least.