The Tarot Café is a manhwa by Park Sang-sun (박 상선) being published by Sigongsa in Korea, and distributed by Tokyopop in the United States. Seven volumes have been published in Korea, all of which have been translated into English. Each chapter starts or ends with a modified tarot card often relating to the story, featuring well known commercial tarot decks replaced with story characters.
Plot
In contemporary Great Britain, Pamela is the owner of a mysterious Tarot Café. After midnight, she receives supernatural clients who come to her for advice through tarot readings. From cats to fairies to vampires, they tell her their stories even as she unravels their past, present and future through her cards. In exchange for her advice, they pay her with beads of Berial's Necklace, which Pamela gathers for her own secret ends.
Characters
Pamela: Pamela was orphaned at age eleven when her mother was burned at the stake for witchcraft. As a result of her mother's begging, she was spared, despite having the ability to foresee the future. Led away from the village by a priest, Pamela was abandoned in the forest. After a chance encounter, she was raised by a dragon named Ash, who ultimately became both her lover and her mentor. Years later, Ash was murdered, and whilst dying in Pamela's arms, inadvertently gave Pamela his immortal life through a drop of blood from his heart, which manifested as a mark on her forehead. After trying unsuccessfully to end her life by many means, she makes a pact with Belus. In exchange for collecting the beads of Berial's necklace, he has agreed to kill her. Now, hundreds of years later, she is the wise proprietor of the Tarot Café. She is both kind and stern with her many customers, particularly her "special" ones. In her own words, she doesn't profess to know the future but instead depends on examining her clients to fully understand their motivations and problems. Also to aid her is a vast store of esoteric knowledge, particularly identification of magical creatures, and her companion Belus. Pamela is a kind-hearted young woman, shown when she takes in the young werewolf Aaron after he comes to her for a tarot reading, but at times cynical about humanity (though not quite to the extent of Belus). She has a complicated relationship with Belus, who she is bound to by a pact. While they outwardly appear to dislike each other and violently deny any sort of romantic relationship with one another, they tolerate and ultimately depend on one another for strength (or a good shove in one direction or another). However, he is simply an aspect of Belial, and being a devil he toys with her, revealing his true form and forcing her to choose between seeing her mother in heaven by killing Ash, and living forever. When she is saved, she remains close to Aaron and Neribos, saying goodbye to him when he dies. When Belus returns, he attempts in desperation to re-establish their old contract. However, she reveals she has decided to live, and tentatively lets him back into her life after he admits that he's lonely. It is implied they stay together and begin their relationship anew.