Marcus wasn't in a rush and took his time to enjoy the city as he walked with Zoro and Kuina. Well, they kept Zoro in front of them so he wouldn't disappear and get lost. But Marcus still enjoyed seeing the city up close and in person compared to what he saw in the show.
Loguetown wasn't done properly in the anime or even the manga for that matter. Besides Loguetown being the last stop before the Grandline, it was also a major trade hub for East Blue. The harbor they docked at was a good example of just how popular it was, since it could easily handle fifty large sized ships. Apparently it wasn't the only one either, since there were a couple of other smaller harbors that were less visible.
As for the city itself, it was a massive sprawling metropolis of buildings. It was the biggest city had visited in the world so far and he was thoroughly impressed with it. Their group stopped a couple times to get directions and after half an hour they arrived at a small store with weapons displayed in the windows.
As they stepped inside they were unenthusiastically greeted by an older man. He glanced at them only for a moment and ignored them once he saw they were only kids. At first Zoro and Kuina were looking through the weapons on the racks but Kuina was disappointed with all of them. Zoro himself didn't really care since he thought the two swords he already had were good enough.
Marcus in the meantime was looking through the bargain bin area hoping to find what he was expecting to be there. Unfortunately after looking through everything he couldn't find the sword he thought might be there. Kuina was also finished with her search and went up to the man behind the counter.
The man glanced at her for a moment before he went back to his newspaper as he said, "We don't sell weapons for kids here."
"That's good, because we weren't looking for them… What are the best swords you have here? Do you have any Meito?" Kuina said as she looked at the man.
He slowly put his paper down and stared at Kuina as he asked, "Do you have any idea how rare a Meito type of weapon is? Do you think they just grow on trees or something?"
Marcus stepped forward and pulled his sheathed sword from his belt to show the man as he said, "I have one right here and she is also carrying a Meito. So no, we don't think they are that rare."
The man finally took a better look at Kuina, Marcus and Zoro for a moment before he glanced at their weapons. At first there was no reaction, but then his eyes practically popped out of his head as he said, "Wado Ichimonji!"
The man turned to get a better look at Marcus's sword and sucked in a cold breath as he said in a lowered tone, "Eternal Rest."
Marcus slid his sword back into his belt as he said, "So do you have anything close to a Meito in quality? Or should we look somewhere else?"
The man shook his head as he said, "I have nothing that good in my store…"
"But I'll gladly buy your swords if you want to sell them." The man said as he eyed their swords with greed in his eyes.
Marcus rested his uninjured hand on the hilt of his sword as he said in a flat tone, "We aren't selling our swords to anyone."
The man glanced towards Marcus and froze as he noticed the cold expression on the boy's face. It took him a moment to recover but when he did, he quickly said, "The only place that might have a Meito is the Shop near the marine base. I heard the owner there has a family sword worth a lot of money."
"Where is it exactly?"
The man grabbed something from under the counter and quickly pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil. He sketched a map really fast with easy to understand directions on how to get to the shop. Once finished he handed the paper to Marcus as he said, "This will help you find it."
Marcus took the paper and glanced at it before he smiled at the man and said, "Thanks."
After they left the place, they started to walk towards the marine base so the map would be useful. It only took ten minutes to reach the marine base before Marcus stopped to check the paper he was given. When he looked up Zoro was missing while Kuina was busy looking at a shop window full of clothes.
Marcus looked around the area for a few moments but his small height combined with the amount of people made it impossible to find Zoro easily. Marcus shook his head slightly before he mumbled to himself, "This is what I get for taking my eyes off of him…"
Marcus stepped closer to Kuina and asked, "Did you see where Zoro went?"
Kuina's head snapped around and she scanned the area quickly as she said, "No… I told him to stay next to you cause I wanted to look at something for a moment."
"It's fine, he couldn't have gone far…" Marcus said as he glanced at the clothing shop before he asked, "Didn't you buy some clothes not long ago?"
"Yeah, but they were the only clothing we could find and it doesn't fit right. That's why I only bought a couple of things at the time. I was hoping to buy some clothes that are a little more comfortable to wear when we finally got to a big city."
Marcus glanced at the clothing store for a moment before he said, "Alright. After we get Zoro some swords I'll give you money to get better clothes… But first let's go find Zoro."
Marcus and Kuina split up and searched the area for about ten minutes with no luck, so they decided to head towards the sword shop they were pointed towards. When they entered the store they heard a girl as she said, "I told you already, my name is Tashigi, not Kuina!"
In front of them stood a girl, almost a spitting image of Kuina except she wore red framed glasses. Sure there were slight differences, but if someone said they were twins, no one would think twice about it. In front of her stood a shorter boy with green hair who Marcus and Kuina were just looking for.
Marcus glanced between Tashigi and Kuina to find Kuina with her mouth hanging open and eyes widened. Marcus smiled slightly before he pushed Kuina's mouth closed and said, "Finally found you… And you're talking to a different girl than your crush."
Zoro and Tashigi both turned to look at Marcus and each had very different reactions. Tashigi almost mirrored Kuina in shock while Zoro blushed slightly before he said, "It's not a crush! We promised to become the world's best swordsman!"
"Yeah, I am sure that's all it is."
Kuina finally recovered from seeing her doppelganger and asked, "Why do you look like me?"
"Uh? No way." Tashigi said as she shook her head before she said, "You're the one who looks like me!"
"How old are you?" Kuina asked.
"I'm twelve."
Kuina narrowed her eyes as she said, "I'm also twelve."
"I turn thirteen in a couple weeks."
Kuina clicked her tongue as she said, "Looks like you win this one, my birthday was a few days ago."
"What?!?" Both Zoro and Marcus asked at the same time.
"What's with all the yelling? I told you five minutes and I'll be done with your sword." A man's voice came from the back of the shop.
"Your birthday was a few days ago and you didn't say anything?" Marcus asked as Zoro nodded in agreement.
Kuina shrugged helplessly as she said, "We were on the ship and besides it's just a birthday."
"We celebrate everyone's birthday, why do you think we wouldn't do the same for you?"
"We were on an island for all of them, mine happened while we were at sea and like I said, it's just a birthday." Kuina said with another shrug.
Marcus shook his head as he said, "It's not just a birthday, it's your birthday! You should enjoy it and have fun with everyone during it."
Before anyone else could respond, a man with black wing like hair on the sides of his head walked out of the back and froze in place. He glanced between Tashigi and Kuina for a few moments before he asked, "Why are there two Tashigi's?"
Tashigi pouted cutely with puffed out cheeks as she said, "There's only one Tashigi!"
Kuina nodded in agreement as she said, "I'm Kuina."
The man glanced between the two girls before he handed the sword in his hands to Tashigi and said, "Here's your sword."
Tashigi took the sword as she said, "Thank you Ipponmatsu-san."
The man nodded slightly before he asked, "Who are your friends?"
"Friends?" Tashigi asked as she looked at the others for a moment before she said, "I don't know them…"
Tashigi pointed at Zoro and said in an annoyed tone, "And this boy was following me around calling me Kuina."
Marcus nodded in understanding as he said, "Now it all makes sense. He must have followed you thinking you were Kuina… Even though you're in different clothes and wear glasses."
"Then again he's an idiot who only really cares about sword fighting." Marcus said as Kuina nodded in agreement.
Ipponmatsu glanced over everyone before he asked, "Well what do you kids need? Want me to…"
Ipponmatsu's eyes widened as he noticed the swords on Marcus and Kuina's waist before he asked, "Where did you two get those swords?"
Marcus placed a hand on the hilt of his sword as he said, "It's a family heirloom from my late mother."
"This was a gift from my father."
Ipponmatsu frowned slightly at their answers before he asked, "Did you come to get them cleaned and sharpened?"
Marcus pointed at Zoro as he said, "We came to find him some good swords. A couple of Meito's if possible."
"A Meito? Do you think they are easy to find because you already have some?"
Marcus shrugged as he said, "No, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Plus some other shop said you would be the best place to find decent swords."
Ipponmatsu waved towards some swords on display behind the counter as he said, "Those are the best ones I have, but they aren't cheap."
Marcus glanced towards Kuina as he said, "Help Zoro check them out, I'm gonna look around."
Tashigi studied Kuina and her sword before she moved over towards Marcus who was looking through the rest of the shop. She looked at his sword for a few moments before she asked, "How long have you practiced swordsmanship?"
Marcus glanced up from the swords in front of him before he asked, "Five years. What about you?"
Tashigi patted her sword as she asked, "Almost seven years… It's rare to find kids my age who train in swordsmanship, do you wanna spar against me?"
Marcus pointed to Kuina and Zoro as he said, "You have to beat both of them before I'll even think about it."
"What? Why?" Tashigi asked as she stomped her foot down and puffed out her cheeks.
Marcus turned towards the bargain bin section of swords as he said, "Because both of them together can't beat me."
Tashigi glanced from Kuina and Zoro to Marcus before she asked with a tone of disbelief, "Both of them can't beat you?"
"Nope. Not even when I'm one handed." Marcus said as he showed her his still healing palm.
"Well I'll fight them and after I win, you'll have to fight me… Deal?"
Marcus shook his head as he said, "If you beat them I said I'll think about it. Now if you beat either of my older brothers, I'll gladly fight you."
Marcus glanced towards Tashigi and studied her for a few moments before he said, "But that won't happen. You're too weak compared to them."
"I'm not weak!" Tashigi said as she went to stomp her foot again, only to trip over herself and almost fall over.
Marcus was able to catch her in time before he chuckled as he said, "Weak and clumsy… Not a good combo."
Tashigi blushed slightly as she stood back up before she said, "I'm not weak. I've fought with pirates before and I train at the marine base a few times each week."
Marcus's hand reached for a sword hilt wrapped in a deep almost blood red colored cord as he asked, "You've fought pirates? What's the biggest bounty you've claimed?"
As Marcus's hand wrapped around the hilt of the sword he felt something his sword would do sometimes. He felt the sword and its thirst for blood which was very potent. Marcus grinned slightly as he pulled the sword from the barrel as Tashigi said, "I've never claimed a bounty. I've only fought pirates while training with the marines."
Marcus raised an eyebrow at that as he asked, "You plan to be a marine when you grow up?"
Tashigi nodded her head and unconsciously rubbed the hilt of her sword as she said, "Its the best way to help me achieve my dream."
"What's your dream?"
"My dream is to liberate all of the Meito's of the world from evil people so they can't be used to hurt anymore innocents." Tashigi said with a wishful look on her face.
As Marcus studied the sword in his hand that was radiating blood lust like crazy, he said, "You'll need to get a lot stronger if you want to accomplish something like that."
"I will." Tashigi said with conviction.
Marcus nodded in response before he held the sword up and said, "Zoro, I found something good."
Ipponmatsu glanced up and his eyes widened as he said, "Absolutely not! I'll not sell that sword to a child!"