"Actually, as it turned out, I did," Santa said. "Being evil, he was powerful and relentless, without mercy. Nothing like me at all. I had hope, resolve, and good-intentions, but it wasn't enough. Almost, but not quite. Anyway, to make a long story short, we had both exhausted almost all of our power fighting against each other. So we made a truce and used what little power we had left to implement it. That's why I'm down here and he's up there. For many years, I've regretted that decision, but there's nothing I can do to change what happened. What's done is done."
"Maybe not," Jon said. "Not with something like this." He held up the wishing stone.
