Twin-lunar despotism.

Vladimir turned around to the direction he was previously going to. He remembered the words that the mayor had said to him before. He remembered the whole discussion.

Vladimir knocked on a wooden door. It slowly creaked open, and he peered through the small opening that it had given him. The mayor, sitting on a comfortable chair behind his desk did a small hand sign for him to come in. Vladimir pushed the door open, and closed it behind him. His purple trenchcoat flowed behind him as he walked over to the table, to sit on the only chair in front of the table.
"Good morning, Vladimir," the mayor granted.
"Good morning sir," Vladimir answered quickly, "you called?"
"Yes, in fact, I did," the mayor had answered, "I would like to begin with a very simple question. Do you know what Mafia is?"
"I've already had it on my back, yes," Vladimir answered, remembering the time where he had taken the wrong door in a restaurant, which brought him to a top-secret room, where dozens of men dressed in black were discussing. "why?"
"Have you ever seen this sign?" the mayor asked, reaching in a drawer of his desk, and pulling out a piece of paper. He unfolded the paper on the desk. It was a letter. The mayor pointed with a pale finger, the bottom of the page. Vladimir leaned in, inspecting the paper closely.
Where the mayor's finger was pointing at, was a sort of signature. Two circles, one black and one of a dark crimson color, each slightly overlapping each other. On the touching side, there were two smaller circles of the same color as the two circles, forming a sort of shape that resembled two crescent moons sticking to each other. Vladimir frowned, and looked up at the mayor.
"Yes," Vladimir answered honestly, "I've only seen it once, though... As a tattoo. On a man's forearm, if I remember correctly."
"Would you be able to describe this man?" the mayor asked, slightly tense.
"No, sorry, he was wrapped up in towels, or something. He was sleeping, and his forearm poked out of his clothes. I didn't really bother, to be honest."
"Where was he?" the mayor demanded, standing up.
"Uh," Vladimir replied, searching, "I really can't remember. What has this to do with him?"
"He's part of the two-moon mafia. They've been causing trouble for long enough in the world. In deserts, mostly, doing illegal trade of black gold and such," the mayor explained. Vladimir stood silent, thinking. He couldn't remember a thing of the man he had seen. Nor where he had seen him. But he was sure he had already noticed that marking.
"Vladimir," the mayor uttered, breaking Vladimir's thoughts, "Meet me here, in exactly two weeks. By then, I'll have decided what you need to do."

Vladimir sighed heavily, continuing to walk away from Raven and the horses. He really wondered what the mayor was going to do with him. He was hoping not to send him where a lot of policemen resided. That would only make his fears worse.

Raven watched as Vladimir left, and then Merlas said something to her.
"You want to what?" Raven asked the mare, confused. Merlas quietly repeated her request, and the demoness sighed.
"I suppose you're right. Best keep an eye on him." Raven murmured a few words of a spell, cloaking Merlas' wings from view. The mare nodded her head once in thanks and trotted after the part angel.

Vladimir thought he heard the hitting of horse-feet on the ground behind him. By reflex, he took his bag and turned it right behind him as he quickly turned around to meet the horse. Luckily for him, he was able to notice at the last moment that the horse wasn't the same one which had nearly eaten his bag. He relaxed, heaving the large object over his shoulder again, remarking that the horse didn't have its wings anymore.
Some sort of weird spell, I guess, he thought. But why the heck are they following me? If one would follow me, I would much prefer Raven. At least she LOOKS like a human.
Vladimir sighed, rolling his eyes, and continue walking in the direction of where he needed to go.

Merlas silently walked at Vladimir's side, looking around the city. Her hidden wings were tucked close into her sides. She shook her long mane. It always disturbed her when she couldn't see her wings, but she had sensed something about this man, and to her, it was a part of her duty to the clan to investigate such things.

The brown-haired half-angel continued walking, nervously glancing around street corners every time he would pass one. After a quarter-hour of walking, Vladimir appeared in front of a tall building.
The windows reflected the sunlight , making Vladimir have to squint to be able to at least look at the facade. He pushed open a glass door, making sure his bag didn't bump into anything.
Casting a sly glance in the direction of the woman behind the shelter, he discreetly shuffled over to the elevator. He hoped that the horse wouldn't be able to follow him until he got out of the building.
After pressing a small silver button, the elevator took him to the twelfth story. A small ding announced that he had arrived to destination, and Vladimir nearly tripped out of the elevator.
There was a large hall, ornamented with diverse accessories such as fancy lights and green plants, that led to a small, normal-looking door. Vladimir walked until that door, without bothering to contemplate the variety of things that were trying, in vain, to satisfy the eye.
Vladimir hesitantly knocked on the door, remembering the last time he had done so. He pushed it open, and saw the mayor in his seat. He gave him the same hand sign, which Vladimir immediately recognized, and Vladimir closed the door, before putting his bag against the desk, and sitting on the only chair in front of it, as he prepared to listen to what the mayor had to say.

Merlas stood opposite a hitching post, resting one back hoof in the attempt to look like a normal horse, even though Shire cross Arabs are rare in the desert. She knew that Raven would be back in an hour or so, or at least she hoped. There was definitely something unsettling about Vladimir.

The mayor ominously began by standing up, his hands easily rested on the slick wooden surface of the desk. The unfolded letter had been delicately laid down on the table, right in front of Vladimir's eyes. He took his chance to glance at the sign which he had only seen once out in the open.
"Vladimir," the man announced, looking at him with stern dark brown eyes, "we have thought and discussed about this. Do you remember our last meeting?"
"Yes, very clearly, sir," Vladimir replied. He didn't want to seem impolite in front of somebody important, especially that he could send Vladimir in prison as easily as snapping his fingers.
"Then this is what we have as information," he answered, turning around, to face the window. He curled his arms in his back before he answered. "The two-moon mafia's main residence is in America, New York. We want you to disguise yourself as one of them and take out as much information you can get before we pass to our next phase."
"Seems like a good idea, but," Vladimir replied, not wanting to sound rude, "how do I get to America?"
"To make you as unnoticeable as possible, we already bought the tickets for the next plane."
Vladimir twitched.
"Wait, what did you say? That last word..."
"Plane."
"Plane?!"
"Plane."
"I hate planes!" Vladimir opposed, remembering the last time he had taken one. To his knowledge, he was the only survivor of that flight. But, far as he was concerned, it was their fault. There should be maps to find the toilets in planes.
"I'm sorry, Vladimir, but that's your only choice for now. The car is waiting for you downstairs."
"I'm not going."
"Do you prefer living your life in a 4-square-meter cell?"
"I'm going."
Vladimir turned around, picked up his bag, and headed for the door. As he put his hand on the doorknob, the mayor wished him good luck. Vladimir gulped, and closed the door behind him once he had gotten out.

Merlas watched the car that had pulled up out of the corner of her eye. She was half dozing, resting a back hoof. She wondered if Raven was going to be back soon or whether she was going to have to follow this guy herself.

As Vladimir reluctantly descended the building, a faint little voice at the back of his head kept repeating the same thing over and over again.
I don't wanna go by plane...
Vladimir looked up, and saw Merlas from behind the glass.
Same goes for flying horses.
Vladimir stepped out, sighing heavily. He turned his blue eyes over to the car that parked in front of the building, obviously waiting for him.

Merlas watched Vladimir walk out of the building, looking troubled. She nickered quietly, wondering what was wrong. His body language was repluctant, as if he was being pushed into something he didn't want to do.

Vladimir forced himself to keep his eyes on the car. With a last sigh, he dropped his bag on the ground. He opened one of the large secondary pockets, and he pulled out a long, folded purple trenchcoat. He put it delicately on the ground, and he took his leather jacket off. He folded it, and put it back on the ground. Afterwards, he took one long, black leather glove.
Vladimir pulled the trenchoat over his white shirt, and tightened the two straps on his chest. After this, he hesitantly grabbed the gloved, and pulled it over his left arm. He tightened it cautiously, knowing that he wouldn't be able to take it off again before long.
Vladimir proceeded to put his clothes back into the bag, heave it over his shoulder, and walk to the car. He opened the black, shining door, and threw his bag in. Crouching as not to hit his head on the top of the car, he crouched inside, and slammed the door shut. A low murmur was heard past the glass of the windows, and the car immediately departed.

Raven touched down lightly out of sight on Merlas' back, the other two pegusi having returned home. The demoness patted the black mare's neck before sweeping out into the street, the hood on her black cloak pulled over her head to hide her violet hair. She spotted an all-too-familiar purple trenchcoat and started to follow it. She didn't know how she could have missed it in the first place. The stink of the holy water was stronger to her than the rest of the smells in the city put together.

The car used an already-made road to get to their destination. However, straight and long, one couldn't deny the incessant bumps of the used path would get on one's nerves. Vladimir held as good as he could onto the chair, his bag flopping around and about on the seats. Quickly, he attached it with a belt, and did the same to himself.
The car accelerated down the road, making Vladimir's heart skip inside his chest. He firmly closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down. He filled his chest with air, and blew it all out slowly. He repeated this action multiple times, feeling as if it weren't working. The driver in front opened a small window between them.
"Hey, everything's going all right in there?" he asked.
"Yeah... Yeah, nothing to... Worry about," Vladimir answered, trying to stiffen his voice. The window was shut close, and Vladimir let out a huge sigh. He glanced at the car's side mirror, and noticed a violet-haired woman on a black horse. He recognized that horse. Without saying anything, he gulped, wondering why they were following him once again.

Raven had run back to get Merlas as soon as she had seen Vladimir getting into a car. The mare snorted, shaking her mane and leaping into the air from a standing start. Raven wound her hands into the long black hair in front of her, keeping an eye on the ground below to make sure that they were still following the car.

It wasn't quiet as it normally was up in the air. The city saw to that. The grinding of factories and coughing of cars followed the demoness into the air along with the stench of the pollution. Raven rolled her eyes mentally, her eyes following the target car.

Luckily for Vladimir and his fears, the airport wasn't far away from the previous city. Once the car budged to a halt in front of the gigantic building, Vladimir was handed the correct fake papers and passport to get to the plane. He was then reluctant to get out of the car, but was kicked out anyways. The vehicle roared away, leaving Vladimir in front of the airport.
Gulping, he entered and tried to make something comprehensible out of all the signs and electronic time-tables. From here, it would take nearly a day to get to New York, he thought coldly.
Vladimir, after many losses and painful losings, found himself in front of the metal detector. Vladimir managed to remember that he had his gun on him, and he wondered how he would get past the detectors and the people at the same time.

Raven landed Merlas near the runway, telling the mare that she should start a flight towards New York. The black pegasus nodded, rearing up and leaping into the sky again. Raven smiled slightly at the sight of the departing horse before going into the terminal. She spotted the purple trenchcoat heading through security and shook her head. She walked up to him placing her cloak and belt into one of the trays through the scanner. She noticed that Vladimir was in a pickle, and Raven remembered why. He had a firearm. Raven walked up to him, playing the part of a girlfriend. She put an arm around his waist, standing on her toes to whisper into his ear.
"Play along with it," She hissed before placing an adoring look on her face, pulling a small black wallet-like thing from her pocket.
"You forgot your firearms license again," She said, holding up the wallet.

Vladimir was panicking as he saw that he didn't have the papers he needed to get past. Trying to gain some time, he smiled idiotically at the security man who just lifted one eyebrow. Vladimir checked his pockets in a vain attempt to create a miracle. He looked back at the security man, who started frowning.
Vladimir's heart nearly ripped past his rib cage as he felt an arm curl around his waist. He turned his eyes to see the violet-haired woman at his side, and he blushed to a deep hue of red. Trying to concentrate on what he needed to (in Vladimir's case, that was nearly impossible, especially in his current situation) he turned to the security, and grinned hesitantly. He didn't want to disobey the orders he had heard from the madam. Especially orders that seemed this strict.
"Uh... Uh, yeah," he baffled, reaching into his trenchoat, and slipping the weapon out from his side, while quickly grabbing the wallet that Raven had lifted and showing it. "S...Sorry."
The security man just smiled, grabbing the gun and the license, checking it. He then nodded, and let Vladimir throw his bag into the detector. Vladimir then passed the barriers, and the man followed by checking him up with a manual detector. Nothing. Vladimir mentally gave a sigh of relief and got his bag, as well as Raven's cloak and belt, handing it to her.
"Here... You go," he murmured, still slightly shivering from the past experience.

Raven quickly wrapped the belt around her waist before clipping the claok around her shoulders. She then looked up at Vladimir.
"You really are just a little bit thick, aren't you?" She said, although this was obviously not a question. She shook her head at the man, sighing.
"Well, now it looks like we're both stuck here..."

"I could've found out a way," Vladimir replied, rolling his eyes, "anyways, you're stuck here because of yourself. Come on, if you still want to follow me, we need to get to the plane."
The sub-angel turned around and started walking away, rearranging his gun under his trenchcoat and heaving his bag on his right shoulder, heading for the direction he was supposed to get to. Thankfully for Vladimir, it wasn't very far away. Vladimir's thoughts were luckily concentrated on his task; get to New York as fast as possible, and start searching for the twin-moon Mafia.

Raven sighed silently again, following the part angel through the ariport terminal. She wondered why she had actually followed the trouble-prone man into the airport.
Ah, yes, I remember. Because of the fact that I still need to watch him, especially if he fights so I can plan strategies in case of attack. And I suppose someone has to be there to save his sorry hide.

The demoness had taken the supposed gun license back and was looking at it, trying to imagine wht the plane ticket would look like. She gave a small smile. The paper was actually blank, but several spells had made it so that it looked anyone with a telepathic ability and showed the others what the holder wanted them to see.

Vladimir, arriving to his destination where two air hostesses were standing (exaggeratively smiling, as always) he took his plane ticket from his trenchcoat. The driver only had given him one, so he didn't really know how Raven would be able to follow him. He showed it to the hostess, who checked it, and let him enter.
Vladimir nodded and slowly started walking into the airplane. The mere comfortable, cushion-smell of the air vehicle reminded him of the worst. He gulped at the thought of the immense nothingness below him he had faced that certain day. Shaking his head, he took another step and walked up to a seat right next to the emergency exits. His hands gripped the chair tightly, and he closed the windows, trying to calm himself.

Raven showed the air hostesses the blank paper, and they smiled, letting her through. Raven allowed a small, sly smile to grow on her face briefly as she walked along the tunnel that connected the terminal to the aircraft. She took a seat next to Vladimir, placing the little wallet an a pocket before taking off her cloak. No point in wearing it on a plane.

Vladimir's eyes widened as he noticed Raven. Glancing around, he then gaped at her, an incredulous expression crawling over his face.
"H... How did you manage to get here?!" he murmured, as to not warn the other passengers, "You didn't have a card!" Vladimir's ocean eyes shivered anxiously as the uncontrollable thoughts about his last plane voyage. It clung like a symbiote to its host.

Raven held up the little wallet.
"Psychic paper," She said with a smile. "Anyone with telepathic ability can use it. Shows people what you want them to see. With the security guard, he saw a fireamrs license and the air hostess saw a plane ticket. Easy enough."

Raven wasn't an empath like her twin, but she knew that Vladimir was uncomfortable about something. Her smile turned slightly evil.
"Scared of flying?"

"Thanks for the reminder," Vladimir muttered, rolling his eyes and tensing on his seat. "I hope they have some of those sleeping pills... Or else, I'm going to have a night without sleep." Vladimir sighed silently, lowering his head and trying to relax. "I have my own reasons to be stressed like this. Always going somewhere, always being searched for... Yeah, kind of a wild life... I was lucky to actually find someone who wasn't totally bent on ripping my insides out with a rusty spoon, back at the city."