As one of the people at the very top of this world, Nick Fury recovered after a brief moment of surprise.
"So where do we find Snake Lady?" Fury glanced around the place, which was no smaller than a little city. "I don't want to hunt for a needle in a haystack."
"Snake Lady has always been there. That's never changed." The Bubble-Bursting Drink Darcy had been forced to buy flew over. He caught it and displayed its label. "You'll soon understand why Snake Lady is the most honored person here."
Fury looked. On the bottle, a silver hand held a bottle of golden liquor.
He looked up and saw a flag bearing a silver hand flying high atop the tallest building in the center.
"Let's go."
"Wait." Darcy opened the bottle, took a swig, and belched icy bubbles. "You're going. Not me."
Fury snapped, "Are you kidding me?"
"Sorry, Fury." Darcy looked nervous, his gaze evasive. "I already broke the rules by bringing you in. If anyone finds out, I won't be able to keep working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."
In all fairness, Darcy had already done more than enough by risking condemnation to bring a Muggle here.
Darcy lowered his voice. "Whatever you do, don't let anyone know you're a Muggle."
"A Muggle?" Fury asked, puzzled. "What's that?"
"Someone who can't use magic." Darcy swallowed nervously. "Especially an American Muggle. People here aren't very fond of Muggles."
The former head of the United States Department of Defense had done something stupid.
That incident had sent the entire Plymouth Settlement's opinion of Americans plunging to rock bottom.
Out of the corner of his eye, Fury spotted a drunken wizard who had used the wrong spell and set his own robes on fire. His eyelid twitched. "I'll do