#ohhh this always ends up happening. fun cute au takes turn into Deep territory

[journey-to-the-attic]

Do you think IK or the brothers would ever find out about all the times she's died in past loops? Does Barbatos even know, would he tell them if he did?

i feel like barbatos would figure out pretty quickly that ik's appearance is an anomaly within the way things usually happen in the loop, and if i were to put an ironic torturing-him twist on this - potentially this is the first cycle where he 'gives up', i.e. takes a step back and doesn't try to interfere - so he realises that he's been making things worse the whole time by involuntarily causing ik's premature deaths

honestly i think he'd just keep it to himself entirely, out of guilt and also not wanting to ruin everyone else's mental states with the knowledge of these endless cycles that they haven't even noticed they've been trapped in. he doesn't see a reason to burden ik in particular with the idea that she's 'meant to be dead', so he doesn't say anything

though potentially ik herself becomes aware on her own, and barbatos admits what he knows upon being confronted. mayhaps one will become fully aware of the cycle upon death, but will forget by the next time it begins again, and ik (who cannot seem to stay dead ever) has another dies-but-is-brought-back-within-the-same-timeline experience that leaves her aware

alternatively we leave the poor kid alone and she breaks them all out of the cycle with the power of love and empathy, and barbatos just eventually comes to peace with the fact that he couldn't have ever done that on his own. maybe once he's sure they've broken out of the loop, he'd confide in diavolo, but even then he'd want to leave ik and the brothers in peace

(don't get me started on how the brothers would react if they became aware of the previous deaths. i feel like, as cruel as time is, they'd have been involved in a significant number of them - whether or not having done so directly, maliciously or carelessly - especially since poor barbatos is the one that keeps accidentally aggravating them)