Perhaps if the gods of my world also feared death, they might have acted differently. But the gods don't age, nor die of disease. And they certainly have no need to rely on mortals.

[Homura nods at Helios' sympathy.] They shouldn't. But that's not the end of the story. If I had remained down in that prison, I'd hardly be who I am now after all.

The gods are devious, and their methods purposeful. They couldn't kill me outright, but living a meaningless existence in that dark prison made me hope for my eventual death. As a half-mortal, I would die one day, and that was my only source of relief from the emptiness.

But it didn't happen quickly enough for the gods, so they let me out of the darkness, with a question: "How long do you intend to live?"