Lost Dreams: The last Magus

Steve is a 15-year-old boy, who is in fencing. People laugh at him for it, but his kind nature keeps him from hitting his classmates. This and his fencing skills pay off. A girl in his class named Lucy, whom Steve has been in love with for 2 years, develops feelings for him, and they hit it off. Steve's best friend Jake, whom Steve saved from a bully of their school named Bruce when they were both 8, is an honorable and perhaps a little too valiant person, who, having learned how to use guns, vows to protect the Steve and Lucy from ever getting hurt by anybody. For an assignment for Biology class, ivolving studying the local wildlife, Steve, Jake and Lucy visit a cave in the forest near the city. When they arrive, they are trapped by Bruce, and Steve and Jake lose conciousness. When they open their eyes, Lucy is gone...
Steve pledges to find her, and he and Jake trace Bruce, when something unexpected happens...

Characters:

Steve:
A boy who is very loyal, and who helps others whenever possible, but can hold a huge grudge against his enemies, and won't forgive them until they have paid for their actions. He won't raise a finger against them though, because he doesn't like to fight. When Lucy is kidnapped, though, he decides to discard his pacifism and will do anything to get her back.

Jake:
A boy who is very hot-blooded, and often gets into trouble. Whenever Bruce threatens Steve, Jake steps in and Steve has a hard time not to make him hurt the bully. He is very loyal to Steve, though, and thinks he has a debt to Steve he can only pay back by saving his life.

Lucy:
A girl who seems just like any other girl, but isn't, though she doesn't realise this until she is kidnapped... (For now, enough said)

Bruce:
A bully and kidnapper whose motives seem unclear.

I'm trying to create a modern-styled jrpg, that still has an oldschool Final Fantasy SNES-like feel to it. This means I'm going to try to put in several optional dungeons, and sidequests. This also means I'm going to include random battles, although some people might not really be all that thrilled by that. :)
If anyone would like to volunteer with spriting, scripting or anything else, be sure to say so! All help is greatly appreciated!